Lifes Treadmill

Gosh it has been so long since I last posted I may have even by passed a season.
I seem to be on that treadmill of life. You know how it is, you get up and go to work, spend the day so engrossed in the task at hand , the hours pass so quickly it is then time to go home, get the dinner, do a few more chores, sit on the lounge to catch a little telly and maybe put a couple of stitches into some cloth, then nod off just as you start to get engrossed in a program , you come to and its time to go to bed. Next day you do it all again.
My life is taken up with a project at work ( I feel sure I have mentioned this previously) we are migrating our computer system to our parent company's box. This has posed a few problems as our parent company is German and before we start anything we have a language barrier to break through, terminology is another hurdle not to mention the distance so time zones tend to disrupt normal routine.
I was on the project for the original implementation of this computer system over 11 years ago , time has faded the memories of the amount of time and energy that goes into these projects to ensure a smooth transition with as little disruption to normal trading of our business, not to mention travel that has been involved.
Recently I travelled to our Auckland office for some training , it was Autumn and the trees were displaying the most glorious leaf colours. I thought I would share some photos of some lovely old timber homes known as 'Villas' on Auckland's north shore.

I came across these villas in Birkenhead, a lovely harbour side suburb which is home to a wonderful needlework shop 'The Embroiderer'. Unfortunately it was Sunday and it was closed but they had a lovely window display.

These villas are built from timber and quite often are perched behind a picket fence.

These days they are very sought after and often they are relocated from their original sections. (Block)

O how I would love to live in one.

My work has been keeping me well occupied, however I have managed a little stitching.

As you know I attend a class with Brigitte Giblin and as always Brigitte has something to inspire us with.

This project is very portable and great for plane travel and also indulges my passion for hexagons.



this project does not require too much fussy cutting

now before I can reveal the finished article, I can tell you some really exciting news, Brigitte is about to launch a new website, where she is going to sell her patterns, that you will be able to download immediately. None of this waiting for the postman.

so if you love this purse just as I did you will be able to purchase the pattern from Brigitte.

I so enjoyed making this purse, you can use any leftover hexagons from previous projects or you can make new ones using your favourite scraps of fabric.

It is fun to include a few fussy cut hexagons.

I think you may even be able to purchase the clasp from Brigitte. I don't think it will be too long before she has her website up and running and as soon as it happens I will post the address for you.

I know many of you are also interested in my clamshell quilt and have enquired about the technique I have used, once again this is a Brigitte pattern that will be available for purchase.

If any one reading this is interested in taking a class with Brigitte I know there are some spaces available at Material Obsession at Gladesville, just give Cathy a call.

I am still plugging away at this quilt, I took to our holiday place last weekend and threw it over this chair , I just loved the way the light of the late afternoon sun draped itself across the quilt. I don't have too many rows left to complete this quilt, I really need to get cracking and finish it so I can hand quilt it this winter.

Last weekend we had a public holiday here in the Eastern states of Australia, celebrating the 'Queens Birthday' the first couple of days the weather was very bleak and cold.



We just love walking along the beach when the weather is like this as the light for capturing images is rather interesting

none of these images have had any enhancements, this is exactly how it looked.

These photos were taken with a very simple point and shoot, one that I always carry in my handbag ready to capture the moment.

The month of May is when we hold 'Australia's Biggest Morning Tea' a fund raising event to raise money for Cancer research.

I decided to hold such a morning tea with my colleagues.

Another of my passions is cooking so out came the mixer


and the cookbooks, ( I can highly recommend both of these books)
as well as some favourite old time recipes (This apple cake has a yummy maple syrup sauce) served with it. (If you are interested in the recipe drop me a comment with your return email)

a couple of slices

using one of my favourite ingredients (Lemon)

made for a great spread

enjoyed by all and raised some much needed funds.

Wow that was quite a post, loads to catch up on.

My project has a 'Go live' date of July 1 hopefully after that my life should return to more normality and hopefully some more stitching time.

Thank you for all of your emails of concern , I really appreciate it.

Happy stitching until next time

j

A Small Finish and How I Fussy Cut

I thought it was high time I reported a finish. I think you all know I am a huge fan of Blackbird Designs. I cross stitched this back in 2009. It is no trouble to whip these cross stitches up, finishing them is another story. The instructions given are really easy to follow , I have no idea why I stall when it comes to this process. I have filled this Strawberry with Silica sand as per the recommendation however it was suggested that the wire sandwiched between the leaves should be glued. I am not and never have been a fan of glue so I sewed around half of the leaf and then slotted the wire shape inside and continued on sewing. After a couple of goes this way I finally managed to get them to resemble something that looked like leaves. I must admit I did think alot about Janet(Read Janet's posts about the frustrations of constructing some of her soft toys and bags) The thought did rush through my mind, should I just throw this in the bin, however I persevered. I am not altogether thrilled with the outcome but I will be able to stick my pins in the strawberry part.

I have had many requests for my method of fussy cutting so here goes.

Along with the tools shown below you also need a sheet of Templastic, which believe it or not is also in the picture but sitting on a white bench it is a little hard to see.

I draw around my template , on the outside and the inside. My templates have a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

I then colour in my seam allowance. I do not cut out the centre, it can still be used as a window but I use this to draw location markers from the fabric underneath.

You can see what I mean with these examples from a couple of my previous templates. They are reuseable, just rub out the lines when you have finished.
This template included the seam allowance , I drew around it and ruled 1/4 inch inwards. Once again colour in the seam allowance as per previous instructions.

Once I have made a decision on the shape that I wish to repeat I place the template over the area and draw some marker lines so that I will be able to line these marks up exactly

as I repeat this process for the next 5 hexagons.

You can draw as much detail as you feel necessary

Before you lift the template off the fabric , ensure that you draw around the outside of the template on the right side of the fabric. This will be taken to the back of the cardboard shape so you won't see the marks.

Cut shape out on the line.

I always make a small dot on the right side of the fabric (using a water soluble pen).

I can then line up the paper piece with a 1/4 SA.( SA= Seam Allowance)

This is a closeup of the dot.

you can see in the photo below the paper piece with the 1/4 inch seam allowance. It is important to get this accurate so that your shapes line up exactly.

when you feel that you have your 1/4 inch seam allowance aligned exactly, I use a spring clip to hold the first turn over of the seam allowance in place. ( I find that sometimes when using a pin the fabric moves and knocks the 1/4 sa out of alignment)

This somehow acts as a third hand and holds the fabric piece steady to get your first couple of stitches in place.

I find this method works for me and allows an accurate 1/4 sa all around.

The more of these you make the more dexterous you become.

I always sew my centre in last

I like to audition different fabrics to decide what I think suits the centre.

Generally it is a flower centre, sometimes though it can be just a spot or something quite geometric.

I hope this may give you a few tips to help you with your fussy cutting. If you would like any further explanations please leave a comment and I will endeavour to answer your queries.



I wish you all happy fussy cutting, but can I say it is addictive and it changes the way you look at fabric from here on in.

Happy sewing

j

Fiddling and Fadling with little Progress

More than a month has passed since my last post and as the title suggests there has been little progress to report.

I am still working on my clamshell quilt, if you remember back to a previous post when I referred to myself as the queen of starts, it really made me think just how many projects I have on the go. That thought just depressed me. I needed to take stock and stay focussed on the tasks at hand.

This project is not happening as quickly as I would like, although I have to say I am really loving it as I get to play with lots of pieces of my favourite fabrics.

it is growing all be it slowly.

Of course there is also some cross stitching on the go, I need this for the traffic lights. I can't bear to be sitting in traffic or at traffic lights without some stitching, that is just an utter waste of time.

Blackbird Designs is one of my most favourite designers atm, their projects are lovely to stitch, they have loads of lovely pinkeeps and samplers and pincushions (a girl can never have enough pincushions, needlebooks and scissor fobs).

This project is the 'Peacock Pinkeep' you get to sew on lovely linen using luscious silk threads in such wonderful colours. They really take no time to stitch , one just needs to set aside some time to make them up.

Hopefully I will have some finished items to show you soon.

I have also mentioned in previous posts the wonderful fabric club from Patchwork on Stonleigh.

This year Susan and Christime have decided instead of a pattern each mailout to have a type of 'Block of the Mailout'. It is based on an old cross stitched sampler. I think the centre is going to be pieced in some way but the outside borders are based on old basket motifs. I am going to have my backgrounds on different sized black spots on an off white .

These baskets are in my favourite shade, Raspberry.

Once again we are in the Port Stephens area for the Easter break, fortunately the weather is behaving.

On my walk this morning it was wonderful to see families out enjoying the lovely weather, catching the end of season swims and hoping to catch something to cook on the barbie.

It was just so peaceful , wonderful for recharging my very depleted batteries.

The local council have done a lot of work on the Bridle Path , there are some magnificent native trees

this being a favourite, isn't the bark amazing, the tree almost looks barkless.Iykwim

I hope it won't be too long before posts but I must confess I have a huge project on at work. We are in the process of migrating our computer system to our parent company's system. This involves loads of testing, loads of communication with my German colleagues (language barriers). This is really zapping me of all my mental strength, please bear with me , this should be over at the beginning of June.

Wishing you all much happiness this Easter.

j

A Very Wet Brissy

My travels for work have commenced for 2010, first city off the rank is Brisbane in the state of Queensland.
Brisbane is supposed to turn on good weather, it has not stopped raining since I touched down on Sunday evening. Added to that the humidity is running at about 100% or so it feels.
Today we are expecting gale force winds, hopefully that will blow the humidity away. as always on my travels I need my trusty companion(not Mr L & R this time). Thought you might like a look at what makes it into a girls travelling bags

this was the result of last nights effort in between watching My Kitchen Rules, blog surfing and a little cross stitch.

oh well off for another day, I hope you all have a great day

j