Craft Along - Week 3

Hey everyone,
Well where did the last week go, it's Friday already. My grand plans for a second post went out the window. I did take some photos for one but that's about it. I have been spending a lot of time head down bum up in the garden. With daylight saving starting last week I find it takes a while to get use to the light time difference and I still work until darkish, forgetting that it's now 7.30 or so. Then it's a rush to get tea ready, eat and bed. I do like it though as it's an extra hour to get stuff done, YAY.
Anyway I'm guessing that you're here today for the next instalment in the Mystery Project Craft Along. After the last weeks computer drama it's nice to be back on the desktop where I have access to everything. Thank goodness it was only a power supply issue within the computer so that fixed I'm a happy chappy. I have put a link on last weeks post for the printable instructions as promised.
How did you go last week? The ladies at Craft Group seem to enjoy it and found it easy enough. This week should be easy and enjoyable too.
This week you will need:
  2 x square in a square
  7 x coordinating strips
  wadding/batting
  homespun/calico
  embroidery thread

PRINTABLE INSTRUCTIONS
Mystery Project Craft Along - Week 3
Lay the 2" strips out so that you are happy with how they look.
Sew the 2 strips on each side together and then the 3 middle strips together and iron.

Trim the 2 pairs of side strips to 18½"
From the 3 strip middle piece crosscut 2 x 2" strips and 1 x 6½" strip (see below)

Sew the bottom of the heart blocks to each end of the 6½" strip and sew the 2" strips to the top of each heart block and iron.
Sew the side strips to either side of he centre piece and iron.

Lay the homespun/calico down then the batting and then place the patchwork piece on top.
Pin the layers together well and quilt as desired.(See note below)
Trim the batting and backing.
Zig zag around the edge with a long stitch to hold the layers together. This will make the next step easier.

NB: I quilted in the ditch around the square in a square block and the inner square, then ¼“ from the seams on all the strips with the sewing machine. I also used 3 strands of the embroidery thread to do some feature quilting on the inner square.
Pull the threads through to the wrong side, tie off and trim. There is no need to sew them in because they won't be seen when the project is finished.

That's it for this step. Probably a bit more work than last week, depending on how much quilting you decide to do. Do you like how it's looking? I hope so. Next week will be the final step and you will find out what you're making.

Hope you're enjoying yourselves.

Thanks for popping by and until next time 

TOODLES

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What Would You Like To Do on a Craft Getaway Weekend?

Hi Everyone,
I'm a little bit excited, oh well maybe a lot. My friend Marita, who has recently opened a B&B, (Marita's Place) and I are getting together to offer Weekend Craft Getaways in the beautiful Upper Murray region of north east Victoria.
Marita will look after the accommodation, meals and bookings and if you head over to Marita's blog she has most of the details about cost and what is included. The craft program is yet to be finalised, that is my part of the deal. I have lots of ideas but am having trouble deciding exactly what to offer. What would people like to do or learn?
If you have been following this blog for a while you will be aware that I do lots of different crafts and I love them all, so the options are:

PATCHWORK

Very basic, beginner to intermediate, machine or paper piecing, small or large projects.
I specialise in strip piecing where possible and I'm constantly on the look out for new quick easier ways to get excellent results. And I don't necessarily follow 'the rules' of patchwork.

APPLIQUE

My preferred method for applique is using freezer paper but I can do needle turn or buttonhole.

CROCHET

Beginner to intermediate, plain to fancy, small or large projects. Reading patterns (written or charts).

KNITTING

Beginner to intermediate, plain or fancy, small project. Reading patterns.

DOLL MAKING

Beginner cloth dolls and softies.

PAPERCRAFTS

Beginner quilling (paper filigree) and 3D origami.

OTHER CRAFTS

These are a few of the other crafts I could can offer and various basic crafts also. Or a combination of crafts.

 

As you can see there is lots to choose from, so I am hoping you will be able to help me by answering

What would you like to do on a Craft Getaway Weekend?

I have put together a little survey and it would be great if you could take a minute to pop over here  and answer just 7 questions. Feel free to add any ideas or comments (on the survey or here), the more input the better and I will be very grateful. Plus one lucky person who leaves their email address on the survey by August 10th will get a little crafty gift made by yours truly. (This is the first time I have done a survey like this so please let me know if there are any problems)
The first Craft Getaway Weekend is planned for 19th, 20th & 21st of September (Friday night arrival to Sunday afternoon) and bookings will open on the 10th of August. For the first getaway there is a discount for multiple bookings. We will be catering for small groups (4 to 8) so if you have a few friends that are interested we can tailor a program to your liking.
I will post details of the craft program (as will Marita) when I get the results of the survey. If you have any crafty (or like to be crafty) friends send them this way because I would like as much feedback as possible.

Thanks for popping by and until next time 

TOODLES

 

 

I would love your feedback.

You can either comment here, or you can also comment or follow me on Facebook 

or Instagram @oneearlybird

 



 

Yay It's May

Phew I'm glad April is over. I'm not one to wish my life away but I'm glad that I can get back to doing what I like without time constraints.........
Or so I thought when I started writing this post 10 days ago. I started writing quite a lengthy review of April's activities which I was going to do in parts when I got half way through the first part and it disappeared. I started over again but it was taking too long so now a quicker review in point form with photos all in one post.

Man From Snowy River Festival:
For various reasons I didn't end up participating in, looking at or watching anything at the Festival but if you want to see some great photos go to Great Art Photos.

30th Anniversary Getaway:
Ross and I don't usually make much of a fuss about our anniversary but we thought 30 years was pretty significant so decided have a few days away. We headed to Narooma on the south coast of NSW(New South Wales, Australia) on the Monday, down the coast to Lakes Entrance in Victoria on the Tuesday, across to Melbourne on Wednesday and home Friday.



Narooma, Mallacoota, Mumbulla Creek Falls, Lakes Entrance. 

Australia Quilt Convention:

The whole reason for heading to Melbourne was for this quilt show. I haven't been for a couple of years and this year it was fun to take my daughter, Heidi, along as a new patchworker. Heidi has been to quilt shows with me before but this time with different eyes, not just looking at the lovely quilts but analysing how they are made and different techniques.

 

A few of my favourites



And a few more



Another favourite(loved the textures & techniques), newbie taking reference photo(makes her a real quilter), newbie with her very own large cutting mat and my purchases.

Easter:
Easter is usually spent camping, 4 wheel driving, motorbike riding and various other activities with Ross' family. This year our base camp was on the banks of the Murray River only about 10 minutes from town.

 

Camp activity, relaxing, reading, cooking, colouring in for the young adults with the 3 year old, who has lost interest.

A drive to the beautiful Budong Falls

Lower Budong Falls looking up

 

Lower Budong Falls looking down

And of course Easter always includes making heaps of these, about 5 or 6 dozen Hot Cross Buns. If you would like the recipe it is on Heidi's blog, Hide and Go Cook.

Women on Farms Gathering:
This event ran pretty smoothly and was a great success thanks to the organising commitee and volunteers.

The 30cm square patch I designed and made as our contribution to the perpetual banner.

The patch on the banner.

Some of my quilts on display in hall.

Instructing a workshop on Kudusama flowers and other paper folding.

Getting our garden ready for the gardens tour was the most time consuming activity for the month and I forgot to take any photos while the women were visiting. Oh well, they had a lovely time.

So that's it for April, busy though it was, it was full of fun and overall it was a great month. Now it's back to "normal".
I'm hoping to be back really soon so until then toodles.

 

 



 

Easy Hexagons & More

Hi everyone. I hope you're sitting there with a cuppa and biccy or even a cut lunch cos this post is a long one.
I love to quilt. I also love to make it as easy and as quick as possible. How do I do that? I strip piece when I can, chain piece, use starters/stoppers and I looooove to use tools; sewing machine(of course), rotary cutter & mat(of course) and specialist rulers & templates.

The ruler I have been using a bit lately is the one you can just see on the top, the Hex N More ruler. This ruler has been developed by Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts. It is designed so you can easily cut hexagons and other shapes from 2.5, 4.5, 6.5 or 8.5 inch strips and sew them together on the sewing machine. Machine pieced hexagons, yes. I bought one before Christmas and it sat in my quilting  accessories drawer until I could decide what to do with it.

This year I have decided to use my stash particularly the older fabrics as much as possible. I have been quilting on and off for about 13 years so I have collected quite a lot of fabric. When I started the colours were vintage & muted; reds were maroon, yellows were mustard, greens were olive, blues were greyish, and checks/plaids were very popular too. I want to use up some of these older fabrics to make way for some of today's new vibrant colours and designs.

A fraction of the stash

 So what to make with Hex N More? Firstly I thought I would try hexagons with a heap of floral scraps about 5"x8" that I bought years ago as a scrap bag.



Floral Hexagons - 59"x51"

I tried to alternate darks and lights with each round of hexagons. It is more obvious in the inner rows than the outer but overall I'm happy with it. One knee quilt made without having to buy anything. The fabric for the triangles, borders and backing also came from my stash. I even joined two off cuts for the batting.

 

Next I thought I would try the trapezium shape with checks. I have a drawer full of checks and stripes that I bought mainly for doll dresses in my doll making faze. So let me introduce you to "Spin Your Partner & Let Go"

Spin Your Partner & Let Go - 63"x46"

Some of my quilts get more creative names than others. This one was telling me two names. The original design from Jaybird Quilts is called "Tiny Dancer" so with that in mind and the checks, I thought of a country or bush dance. The two different checks in each block look like they're spinning so the quilt was named "Spin Your Partner" very early on. The bush dance idea also influenced the choice of green for the background triangles to represent a paddock. The second part of the name came to me when I was quilting. I was trying free motion quilting for the first time and found I had to "Let Go" of my need for perfection. Another good name for the quilt. I debated over the two names until I realised they actually made sense together.

Wonky quilting

I wasn't loving this quilt when I first put it together. I think that was because it didn't turn out as I had expected. The individual blocks are not defined enough and its not as ordered as most of my quilts. Anyway I grew to love it while I was doing the quilting. I have recently bought a walking foot which has made quilting easier and quicker so "Spin Your Partner & Let Go" has more quilting than I have ever done on a quilt before. I now love this quilt; the checks, the busyness, the wonky quilting, the feel, even the backing which is preloved sheet, that I bought at the op shop ages ago. 

For the third quilt I used Hex N More to basically fussy cut triangles for a kaleidoscope quilt. I have had the sunflower fabric put aside for this purpose for a while and I knew I had a stripe that would go with it but I couldn't find it until recently.

This is the second kaleidoscope quilt I've made and I enjoy the mystery of them. You're never sure what pattern you're going to get until you've sewn the triangles together.  Aren't all the patterns pretty and in some of hexagons you can hardly tell that the original fabric was sunflowers.


Sunflower Kaleidoscope - 40"x28"

Generally I don't like to over quilt my quilts as I think it takes away their warmth but as this is a wall quilt I took the opportunity to do quite a bit of quilting on it.

Hex N More is certainly very versatile. Three totally different quilts using one ruler/template, that's good value. All three were made without having to buy any extra fabric so that's good too. And these aren't the only stash busting quilts I've made this year but the others can wait for another day.

Next time will be something different so I hope you join me then. Toodles




 

Starters & Stoppers

Hi I'm back and so are you, if you're reading this, or maybe you're a first time visitor, either way, yay. I mentioned last time patchwork is my current crafting passion. I like doing lots of crafty things, knitting, crochet, cross stitch, papercrafts and the list goes on, but patchwork is it at moment.

For a while now, probably about a year or maybe two I've been using starters or stoppers(I think that's what they're called).
"What are they?" you ask.
They are little scraps of material that you sew through the machine at the end of a sewing run so you don't have to lift the presser foot to pull out the fabric and cut the thread. It also means you don't have to hold and fiddle with threads before you start the next line of sewing.

If you haven't tried it, do. It saves time; no up and down with the presser foot, no pulling fabric out so you can cut threads, no fiddling around with the thread before you can sew. It also saves thread, which doesn't seem like much but given that you have to pull out about 7cm(3") out each time you cut threads this can add up when making a quilt, even when you chain piece. It does mean though that you need to keep a pair of scissors or snippers near the machine to cut thread instead of using the thread cutter on the machine. I very rarely use it anyway.

Well, the other day I had a revelation while I was sewing together my latest quilt, instead of using a scrap of material why not use these.

 

I have several containers of various size scraps that I  have saved from my previous quilts. When I finish a quilt I cut the scraps into convenient sizes 1.25" to 3.5"+ of either strips or squares. My 2.5" container is by far the fullest so I decided to use them. Each time I needed a stopper I paired a light and dark square and sewed them together. Brilliant, yes? By the time I finished the quilt I had quite a nice little pile.

At some stage I will pair these together and make 4 patch squares to use in a quilt. I don't know about you but I find sewing individual squares together, particularly when there's a lot them, a bit monotonous. Now I have saved a bit time and boredom next time I make a scrappy quilt.

There you go a time saving tip for when you're patchworking. I don't suppose I'm the first person to think of this idea but I thought I would share it with you.

Where is the quilt I was working on. Well I'm not ready to reveal that yet but here is a little teaser. It is a stash buster involving my red fabrics and it has a modern twist.

 Has that got you curious? Til next time, toodles.





 



Taking the Plunge

For some time now I have been debating with myself about whether or not to start a blog. As you can see the affirmative side has won so here we go. We will be fairly basic to start of with until I get the hang of things but it's better to do something than nothing perfectly.

 

You can expect a sharing of anything that interests me and my interests are many and varied. I love to do lots of different crafts and like to look at & appreciate many more. I enjoy gardening in my extensive garden & looking at other people's gardens, cooking (particularly baking) & trying new recipes. I am also interested in nutrition & exercise, art & photography, spirituality & alternative therapies and anything quirky, even though I'm not quirky myself.

 

Hmmm where to start. Maybe with now and later on I'll do some catching up(which could take a while).

 

On the weekend, while I was Youtube surfing, I discovered zentangles or rather I discovered the name zentangles. My second daughter used to spend hours doing something similar, but I didn't know it had a name. You have probably seen them yourself, and like me, thought they were pretty/interesting but not something you could do. The Youtube clip made it seem simple, so I ordered a couple of books via the internet, but I couldn't wait for them to arrive so I grabbed a scrap of paper, a pencil, a uni ball pen & an eraser.

This is the result. I was pleased with how it turned out and really enjoyed the process. So then I googled some images for reference, found a fine liner(more control over the ink and doesn't tend to bleed through the paper) and a special "leather" bound book with blank pages and I was off and running.



It is very relaxing, easy and in a way exciting, yes maybe I need to get a life but that's the way I tick. I could "waste" hours doing this but is it wasting time when creating something so lovely. Those that know me would say I can be a little bit of a perfectionist so I find this quite freeing, no planning, just go with the flow. It is also so portable and you only need basic supplies. I think I may be hooked.

When I was Youtube surfing I was actually looking at patchwork clips so, that being my current crafting passion, I'm now planning to make an abstract quilt from one of the designs, but that will be a little way down the track and for another post. 

Well there you go, the first step taken, they say it's always the hardest. Hope you enjoyed and you come back to visit.