If you're so funny then why are you on your own tonight?

I have just written several attempts at a post about being home, and being alone, and the process of binding a quilt but GOD it was so boring so I deleted it each time. Instead, here's the photo recap of my morning. It's like a choose-your-own-adventure, but with a broken ruler, a rotary cutter and a sewing machine. Gah! The excitement! And there was some self-indulgent auditioning of the unbound quilt on the spare bed, too.











See you in a couple of days, when this is all over.

And if a ten tonne truck crashes into us

It was actually a double decker bus that hit me when I realised this afternoon I still had to bind, sleeve and label this big bad bugger. I actually love doing the binding on quilts, so this will be fun. A heavenly way to die, almost (sorry to all those Smiths fans out there).



I love the way the quilter quilted this. Caroline recommended a poppy pattern, and given the name of the quilt is "Summer Haze" I thought it was very appropriate.

When I went on my little jaunt to Queanbeyan yesterday, I popped into a couple of ops shops and came away with these. The mugs, not the bodum (although I've had that bodum so long it's almost vintage itself).



Anyone who understands my true love of vintage Pyrex, will know why I had to buy them.

In the days before digital cameras ...

The original sunnyboy bags, originally uploaded by quiltingmick / michelle.

Before I blogged, I had a quilting website called "Quiltingmick". (Yeah! A real surprise, that!). Actually, it still exists. I logged all my quilts, mum's quilts, the quilting thingies that I was making. I just went through it again (the memories!), and there are the sunnyboy bags I first made.

I wonder what happened to that little brown fellow? He's cute. I'll have to track him down.

So here's a photo taken in June 2002, on my old table, in my old courtyard, with my old point-and-shoot camera. Gosh, how times change.

*****
This morning I went to Spotlight and checked out their yarn clearance. I managed to snaffle some Lion Brand 10 ply cotton (dishcloths for everyone this year!) for $4.99 and some Cleckheaton Country 12 ply for $2.99. I'm going to make a few baby jackets for Karinya House.

I'm curious though - why is this 12 ply so hard to get? It's fantastic stuff, but oh, the limited colour range. And I have to go to Queanbeyan to get it? Nuts.

This is ... part of my owl collection

I've been fascinated by owls for years. Bugger Harry Potter - it was all about Hedwig.

I had no idea I had a collection though - I always believed my collecting was restricted to Blythe dolls, vintage Pyrex, old buttons, amigurumi and Mary Wesley novels.

Seems I was mistaken.



From left to right, there's:
* a cloisonne toothpick holder mum bought me in a Chinese gift shop in Dickson
* a Rabbitsmoon owl
* a Betty Jo brooch
* a Sri Lankan handmade and handwoven owl bought in Kuranda last month
* amigurumi by Ana Paula Rimoli (she has a book out now!)
* and a Blythe hoodie from M for Monkey.

Then there's all the owl fabric, and the owl chimes outside. I think I need to get some owl earrings.

Thanks for the free-for-all theme this week, Angela.

We’re gonna stick it out until it comes together

At 10.05 AEST last night, Cleckheaton Country Silk left Cérilly, bound for a neck warmer time trial which would test, tempt and lead to his ultimate fate. Should crumpets be imbibed before or after the arrival in Saint-Amand-Montrond? Would a cup of Irish Breakfast tea be frowned on by the anti-doping organisations?

Temptations shunned, and the occasional slipped stitch overcome, Country Silk arrived at the destination, forearm-weary from the tension of two strands, in a time of 57:21.76.



Later, at 11.45 pm AEST, (after a feed bag of crumpets, cloudberry jam and a cup of tea), Patons Shadow Tweed departed Cérilly. Forearm pain was no problem for this single-strander. All was going well until he noticed that he was still in the 6.5 mm gear rather than the 6 mm gear...and then fatigue overtook and a little one hour nap on the couch happened. And then it was 2 am and ...

Oops. That was almost as bad as falling off the starting ramp while wearing the polka dot jersey. Oh the irony.

Determined to win the time trial, Shadow Tweed ripped out and started again 10 hours later. Agitated by the annoying voice of Michael Slater on Wide World of Sport, and interupted by the mister asking for a shopping list, he ploughed on to finish in a time of 51:22.53.



The Maillot Jaune belongs to Patons Shadow Tweed!

Who can it be now?

Tonight on the Tour de France, it's a time trial, also known as Stage 20: Cérilly to Saint-Amand-Montrond, and the Alone-Along continues.

As such, we have our contenders lined up for Tour de Neckwarmer, both champions in their own right.



Racing for CSC is Patons Shadow Tweed. He is a strong yarn, soft when he needs to be soft, and warm at just the right time of the year. While he does tend to shed fibre everywhere, he also can be crocheted single strand, making him a strong contender for the Tour de Neckwarmer.



Shadow Tweed's closest competitor, and the yarn tipped to win the Maillot Jaune in Paris on Sunday night, is Cleckheaton Country Silk, racing for Silence-Lotto. Soft, oh so soft, and known on occasions to make fibre artists gasp with delight, Country Silk is only able to be crocheted double strand, a risky tactic given this yarn's general lack of support from his Silence-Lotto team members.



Will the support vehicles hinder or help the competitors?

Only a time trial will tell. Stayed tuned for the Tour de Neckwarmer, tonight on SBS at 10 pm.

The business of selling

I've never been a financial whiz-kid. I'm hopeless with bills and finances and taxes. Even my last job, where I had to control the project finances, ended in tears. I am financially stupid..

So when I started my second Etsy shop, I was in a quandary as to what to do about prices. So I guessed (!) the cost-per-item of the materials I was using, and then slapped a profit figure together. I figured it would all come out OK in the end. Besides, I was living my dream of making beautiful things that other people appreciated, and that should be worth enough, right?

Well, no. I've already had to adjust my postage costs, mainly due to this post which was eye-opening to say the least. Effectively I was charging buyers for the envelope and the postage, but then giving away the time I spent filling in addresses, verifying Paypal and Etsy addresses, and then standing in line at the post office three times a week. For overseas buyers I was even taking a $1 hit, as I felt $5 was way too much for overseas postage. Nuts.

So this morning I actually sat down and worked out the cost of materials per item and I suddenly could barely breath. When I joke to my friends about me now earning 50 cents per hour, it seems that is in fact what I earn. Let me explain. To make a $15 USD sunnyboy bag, I am actually putting at least $8.20 of materials in each bag, but mostly it comes to about $10. The outer fabric I use is not cheap - it varies between $36 and $44 per metre, but I buy it because it's excellent fabric, unique, screen printed and Australian. So it costs me between $6.70 and $8 for the outer fabric for each bag. The pellon works out at 87 cents a piece. And the zipper ranges in price from $1 to $1.34, depending on where I buy it.

What I haven't included in the price is the cost of thread, the postage charges for the fabric I buy, the exorbitant paypal charges, the Etsy fees, the petrol money in getting to Belconnen for the cheapest zippers, the electricity to run my sewing machine, overlocker and iron, the time it takes to measure and list an item on Etsy, and numerous other things. And obviously, I haven't included the true value of my time. From beginning to end, from ironing the fabric to actually turning it inside-out and zipping it up, each bag takes me a little over an hour.

So here's the problem. I obviously have to put my prices up. But if I do that I risk alienating potential buyers, and then the stuff doesn't well at all. I'm competing with US sellers who can get really cool fabric at dirt cheap prices (for instance, patchwork fabric in the US is about a quarter of the price it costs me in Australia). And a lot of Etsy sellers also under price their own product - for what reason, I don't know - so that it appears they are actually making a loss. That's hard to compete against!

I'm in a quandary and it's way to much to think about on a weekend that I was going to stay away from the sewing machine.

Please don't think this is a big whine. I am just getting my thoughts down in writing, and to also explain to you all that if my prices do go up, you can understand that loving the job you do is not an excuse to pay yourself 50 cents an hour.

Because I've been loving doing this. It's been the perfect antidote for what was ailing me, for addressing my frustration at not being creative enough. I couldn't think of a more perfect job.

We stopped the clock so Mrs. Murphy couldn't tell the time

My friends who don't crochet are missing out on a good thing. I don't mean to boast, but that 85 minute neck warmer from the other night must have been slow. Last night I made another neck warmer with two strands of yarn in only 65 minutes, including the time it took to sew the buttons on.

Maybe I'm getting a little stir-crazy with all this alone time, but neck warmers are suddenly all I want to make. They are fun. Quick. I can use my vintage button collection. Did I mention they are quick?



Pattern: Could it Be Any Easier? Neck Cozy by Karen Deane
Yarn: Naturally Sensations 10 ply (Merino/Angora blend) in Claret Red, two strands held together. I used a skein. Fantastic yarn - it didn't shed, and it is super soft around my neck.
Hooks: 6.5 mm bamboo for starting chain, and 6 mm for the rest.
Notes: I am a crocheting legend. Modest, too.

As for other things I want to keep on making, I've done an update in the shop, with new sunnyboy quilted pouches and project bags.

Oh freedom! Oh freedom!

The relief of not continuing with the hand dyed quilt was extreme, to say the least. I celebrated by watching the last 12 episodes of season 7 of Gilmore Girls ... and now I have nothing left to watch during my lunch breaks. (Note to self - go and buy Veronica Mars). At Tuesday night's Stitch 'n' Bitch, I was asked what I was going to do with all that (admittedly skewiff) fabric. I replied I was going to bin it, but Caffeine Faerie spoke up and said I should put them in some sunnyboys. I suppose I might - it would help allay some of the $90 I wasted on that kit. So you know, coming soon and all that.



My Tour de France Alone-Along came to a bit of a standstill during the last week, but on Tuesday night I started again. Project finished in 85 minutes. I know, I couldn't believe it either.



Pattern: Could it Be Any Easier? Neck Cozy by Karen Deane
Yarn: Patons Shadow Tweed in colour 6909 (purple/lavender)
Hooks: 6.5 mm bamboo for staring chain, and 6 mm for the rest
Notes: How quick was that? 85 minutes? And that included sewing the vintage buttons on. This is for Patricia, who complained on the phone on Tuesday night of having a cold neck when she went to bed at night. It was sent to her yesterday in a care package, along with this:



Pattern: Anne by m.k carroll
Yarn: Te Awa Natural Wools 8 ply in claret.
Hook: 5.5 mm
Notes: Not the softest wool in the world, although it has a lot of bounce. I can't imagine getting this scarf too close to the skin, so it's definitely about the style more than the warmth. I made it as long as I am tall (175 cm) and it only used 104g of yarn. I have enough for another scarf.

This morning I finished nine project bags, including one custom order. I'll be making sunnyboy bags over the next couple of days, so there will be an update over at Buttontree Lane around about 9 pm on Friday night (tomorrow). Sound good?

Believe me mama, I ain't gonna mess around

This quilt has ben kicking my arse for days. A huge mistake in the pattern, unpicking 56 blocks, re-sewing them ... and then when I start sewing the rows together I discovered none of the points in the star were pointy. And then my rows started differing by 1.5 inches, just like this one. 1.5 inches in a 100 cm quilt was a leeeeeetle too much to deal with.

That's when I knew the quilt had beaten me, and I withdrew from the wall quilt category of the Canberra Quilters' exhibition.

At least I didn't have a total meltdown like on Saturday night, when I fell into a crumpled, sobbing heap on the floor as I came to the awful realisation that my Saturday night was to be spent unpicking.

I hate quitting. I really hate it. Quitting, not quilting. I love quilting.

The good news, of course, is that I can finally get my custom orders out of the way, and there might be some sunnyboy bags in the shop in the next couple of days. I'll keep you posted.

The other good news is that I still have another quilt in the show, and it's LOVELY. And the points(mostly) match. I can't wait to see how the quilter has worked her magic on it.