tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51561961789327533602024-02-28T10:29:23.343+11:00Buttontree LaneA blog about making things and the gentle art of procrastination. I sew, quilt and crochet. I garden and cook. I ride a sky-blue bicycle. I believe food always tastes better in vintage Pyrex.Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054854689952896339noreply@blogger.comBlogger787125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156196178932753360.post-90302589131317995702018-06-27T21:23:00.000+10:002018-06-27T21:52:51.472+10:00Comings and goingsJust because I’ve not been around here much doesn’t mean my life has become completely bereft of fun. Quite the opposite, in fact! I will probably take a couple of posts to tell a few stories, but I might start with last week.<br />
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Last week I went to Sydney for my annual sojourn to the Sydney Quilt Show, and this is the fifth time I’ve entered. I love this quilt show. Heck, I love this quilt guild! I always have the best time catching up with my besties. I feel like I belong there - it’s kind of hard to describe, but everyone there is so open and warm. It almost makes me want to move closer to Sydney. Joking - I love Canberra too much. But coming up here for the week each year is always a great holiday and a break from the everyday, plus I will never complain about a week off work!<br />
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My quilt this year is called “365 Stars Around the Sun” and is made from 365 hexagon stars that I made from birthday to birthday. There are a lot of meaningful blocks - made to represent friends that passed away, moments with my family and friends, walks in nature - you name it. This all makes it an incredibly personal quilt and it has shot up the charts to be my number one. I can’t wait to hang it when it finally comes home.<br />
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The entire top was pieced by hand using the English Paper piecing technique. I machine quilted it with vertical lines 6/16th inches apart and hand quilted the centre blocks with Perle 8 thread.<br />
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A couple of weeks before I started quilting the quilt, I was decluttering my dress fabric stash and rediscovered a cotton-linen fabric designed by Melody Miller, originally intended for a skirt. I absolutely love the fabric but it would have been a horrible skirt on me as its definitely not my colour. But it became a fabulous quilt backing!<br />
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Sadly I managed to acquire both a virus and a pretty painful condition in my hands and thumbs called DeQuervain’s Tenosynovitis just as I was about to start the quilting - so the straight lines were a struggle to do without hurting myself further. </div>
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But I did it, and I've promised myself I wouldn’t do any hand stitching for a while, but not before I performed a happy dance when it was all finished. </div>
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So Sydney last week was great. I spent some time volunteering at the show and also at The Applique Guild of Australia table in the guilds area. I didn't need to buy anything except pins, new ergo scissors and a cutting ruler, but in the end I bought just one piece of fabric and a heck of a lot of coffee! The quilt show was incredible - you just can't believe the amount of talent on display until you actually go to one of the Sydney shows. </div>
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My hoop sample has been on display at the quilt show entrance this week again so that’s always a thrill. I really should offer to make another one sometime soon.
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On Wednesday night I attended Blak Box at Barangaroo with a friend. It was amazing.</div>
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And on Friday night I headed to the Sydney Opera House to head the Central Australian Aboriginal Women's Choir. Most amazing night of my life.<br />
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I’ll leave you with a photo from a rainy Tuesday when <a href="http://bluemountaindaisy.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">Rachael</a> met me at my favourite slice of heaven, <a href="http://thefabricstore.com.au/" target="_blank">The Fabric Store</a> in Surry Hills. What a couple of goofballs! Honestly though, she’s one of my favourite people in the world so it’s always a blast getting together. One day we will get the pink dumplings we ordered, and not the green ones, hey Rachael? ;)</div>
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Actually I’ll leave you with one more photo - of a spectacular sunset as seen from my back door a couple of weeks ago. </div>
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Back sometime soon with stories on my trip to the Blue Mountains ... for quilting of course! </div>
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<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054854689952896339noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156196178932753360.post-26358248283641678862018-02-26T22:16:00.000+11:002018-02-26T22:16:51.150+11:00Life: an updateHello hello hello! I’ll admit I was a little recalcitrant on the blogging side of things last year but I’m not apologising.<br />
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So how's life for me?<br />
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<u><i>Shop girl</i></u><br />
Remember how I used to make project bags for knitters and crocheters for about 8 years and then I retired from bag making in November 2015?<br />
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Well I really missed the thrill of buying lovely new fabrics and crafting them into something both beautiful and useful. And I missed the interactions with customers and the thrill of an irregular shop update.<br />
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So I'm out of retirement. I’m back on <a href="https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/buttontreelane" target="_blank">Etsy</a> for the interim because it wasn’t sustainable having a website and also paying to use Bigcartel. I’ve made a heap of bags already and completely sold out of some of them (there are still some in the shop right now) and I’ve also got some beautiful fabrics waiting for me to cut out and sew. I’m a bit excited!<br />
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<i><u>Making clothes</u></i><br />
We had three weeks away from work over summer and it was magnificent. My vegetable garden got some attention, we decluttered like no one's business, saw some great movies at the cinema, and I spent time in the sewing room.<br />
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I made a total of three skirts and four Springfield tops, all much needed in my closet since my big closet curation late last year. Admittedly two of the tops were already cut up and/or half sewn and discovered during the decluttering. But they are now finished. And I used the Upton sleeve to do a sleeve hack on the Springfield and it totally changed the look of the top. I have a new favourite top for work now!<br />
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<u><i>Quilting</i></u><br />
I finished of my 365 stars project on the eve of my birthday (September 2017) but after that I rarely touched a needle. I needed the break. I worked a little on the Ice Cream Soda BOM, and finished off the last 30 blocks for the Stepping Stones Quilt. Over the last month though I have been working on getting at least one quilt ready for the Sydney Quilt Show in June. It's slow work, this piecing-by-hand business, but gosh it's fun and a bit of a lark especially when I get together with friends to stitch.<br />
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I joined <a href="http://www.theappliqueguildofaustralia.org.au/" target="_blank">The Applique Guild of Australia</a> a couple of years ago however they are mostly based in Victoria so it's usually an online thing for me until I catch up with a few of the members at the Sydney Quilt Show each year. I realised we needed a Canberra chapter (also known as "coffee and cake and stitching"), and we had our first meeting towards the end of last year. Our next meeting is this weekend and I'm hoping to make it a monthly affair. If you're interested in joining us, drop me an email and I'll send you the details. There is an expectation that you'll be a member of the guild at some stage, but honestly it's a great guild and there is also the opportunity to attend <a href="http://www.theappliqueguildofaustralia.org.au/2018-applique-academy/" target="_blank">something like this</a> every couple of years.<br />
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<i><u>Swimming</u></i><br />
It's not summer without finding Michelle camped at the local outdoor pool early in the morning. This year I joined the Lap Legends challenge, mainly to keep myself accountable. But I had to swim 77.7 km to be eligible for prizes at the end of season BBQ and I never thought I would be able to do that in 4 months. Just keeping myself honest was a prize in itself.<br />
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Well bugger me if I haven't done 88 km since the end of October! It turned out that I really needed to swim before heading to work each day to maintain my sanity (seriously, it works. By the time I get to work I've swum 30 laps of a 50 metre pool, talked to really lovely people about the weather! The light! The clear water!, had a shower and slowly driven to work. I have no more cares! And I'm more productive). My arms and shoulders are really sore and I'm having to do a ridiculous amount of stretching before swimming to prevent injury, but I've never been stronger or fitter. The challenge now is how to keep that up once the pool closes in a couple of weeks.<br />
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So that's it from me for now. Just the usual quilting, sewing, swimming routine around here, chucked in with work and life. It's pretty sweet!<br />
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<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054854689952896339noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156196178932753360.post-78405546530956695792017-12-27T08:00:00.000+11:002017-12-27T09:41:38.930+11:00My sewing philosophyA year or so ago I read a marvelous blog post by Meg McElwee from Sew Liberated titled "<a href="http://blog.mamaliberated.com/sew_liberated/2016/04/a-philosophy-of-sewing-a-habit-of-mendfulness.html" target="_blank">a philosophy of sewing</a>". At the time I read it I had absolutely no inclination to sew clothes and couldn't see myself sewing any time in the future. I had a fabric stash that was stressing me out because it hadn't been sewn up yet and the amount of space it was taking up could have been used for other things. My pattern hoarding was getting ridiculous - PDFs printed out and never taped together.<br />
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Basically my sewjo had run off into the bush somewhere and didn't want to be found anytime soon. I was devoid of inspiration and energy to sew clothes. I didn't even want to go into my sewing room.<br />
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On reading Meg's post I started thinking about what sewing meant to me, and how I could get sewing to fit back in with my life again. I mean, I LOVED sewing my own clothes. And not just because I hate going to the shops. My clothes fit better and look better and no one else is wearing them. Why wouldn't I sew for myself?<br />
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I remember telling a few friends about the blog post, and how much it had affected my thinking. But it took a year to finally write my own sewing philosophy. I had to work out a few things first, and a couple of things happened which totally changed my outlook on clothes sewing.<br />
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The first was minimalism. I've been trying to minimise our stuff and lives for the last few years, but I still have a long way to go. Does this thing bring value to my life? Is it easily replaced? Is the memory better than the actual object? Is this stuff stressing me out? All these questions get asked daily here, and not just by me. I'll be honest - I hadn't yet used it in the sewing part of my life, and I needed to.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/39307541801/in/dateposted-public/" nbsp="" title="Cutting"><img alt="Cutting" height="640" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4686/39307541801_03fd6e8e11_z.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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The other thing that happened was <a href="https://www.stasiasavasuk.com/stasias-style-school/" target="_blank">Stasia's Style School</a>. Again, it was a newsletter from Meg that alerted me to the existence of such a thing. I enrolled in Style School 9 in September, and IT CHANGED MY LIFE. For the previous year, for a variety of reasons, I had lacked sparkle and was just trying to hide myself away and it was hurting me! It was allowing other people to take advantage of my lack of confidence. And it was hurting the people around me! I realised I had to start showing up and by showing up, I mean SHOW UP. Every day during the course we did an exercise. I found my smile again half way through week one. WEEK ONE! I got my confidence back by week three. I rediscovered the importance of colour, fit and accessories; about congruency and finding out how you want yourself to be seen by others. It took me five weeks, but I discovered my power words and I now use them every single day.<br />
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The final week was a closet curation exercise and oh boy did it get cleaned out. It took me 10 hours to do the hanging closet, the shelves and my tallboy dresser. I went through the laundry basket, the ironing basket and the spare room. I'm just waiting for holders for my accessories and I'll be all set!<br />
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This was before I had minimised my closet a couple of months before.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/25431848368/in/dateposted-public/" title="Closet curation"><img alt="Closet curation" height="640" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4726/25431848368_31e68778ef_z.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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And this was after I minimised (by doing the <a href="https://www.theminimalists.com/game/" target="_blank">30 day minimalism game</a>).<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/39300662541/in/dateposted-public/" title="Closet curation"><img alt="Closet curation" height="640" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4683/39300662541_0ce9b5dc62_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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And this was after Stasia told me what I <i>really</i> should be doing.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/38592198294/in/dateposted-public/" title="Closet curation"><img alt="Closet curation" height="640" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4686/38592198294_787261e023_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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In a nutshell, I got rid of a LOT of clothes. I started to see clothes that could be worn across all seasons (not all my clothes mind you - sometimes I like that 6 month break from linen skirts!). I saw what no longer fit me or flattered me and I got rid of it. I now only hang the woven stuff - all the knit stuff and cardigans is folded on the shelves. Nothing is stored away except travel stuff and winter cycling stuff (top left shelf). I've never felt calmer getting dressed in the morning.<br />
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But the best thing that happened was it eventually helped form the final version of my sewing philosophy. I have a clear idea of what I want to wear and what I need to sew, but also how I go about doing that with no stress whatsoever. So here is my philosophy of sewing. It's not for anyone else but me. It's certainly not a judgement on others and how they sew.<br />
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<b>1. My sewing will be thoughtful and it will be slow.</b></div>
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<b>2. I will make clothes that I love to wear, that suit my body shape and personality, and make me happy.</b></div>
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<b>3. I don't make things to be worn once or twice, or for only one season. The aim is to wear my clothes for years. </b></div>
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<b>4. My home made wardrobe is about quality, not quantity.</b></div>
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<b>5. I will sew when I feel like it, even if it's for just 5 minutes.</b></div>
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<b>6. I will aim to go into my sewing room every day, even if it is just to look at it.</b></div>
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<b>7. I won't sew to deadlines. </b></div>
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<b>8. I will always investigate the stash I have before I buy new fabric.</b></div>
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<b>9. I will sort through my stash and sell or give away what I can no longer use. The aim for my stash size is a maximum of 20 pieces of fabric (not including linings).</b></div>
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<b>10. If I buy new fabric, it must be sewn up in the next couple of weeks, and before anything else.</b></div>
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<b>11. I will only cut one item out at a time. And I will only sew that one item at a time.</b></div>
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<b>12. I will be thoughtful with my pattern purchases</b></div>
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<b>13. I <u>don't</u> need to make very single item I wear. </b></div>
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<b>14. I will mend and alter clothes when I can, and when they are worth keeping..</b><br />
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<b>15. I deserve the time I spend sewing. I need it.</b><br />
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So far this philosophy has worked pretty well for me. I have cut out and sewn just one thing at a time. I go into my sewing room every day without fail. I stop sewing when I feel like it. I definitely haven't sewn to deadline and I take my sweet time. And the stash is getting scrutinised quite thoroughly during this holiday. I'm finally excited about sewing again! And about inserting more pieces in my wardrobe that suit me and make me happy.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/38599963034/in/dateposted-public/" title="Hand stitched hem"><img alt="Hand stitched hem" height="640" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4688/38599963034_4522817d5e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Do you have a sewing philosophy? Has sewing stressed you out without you even realising it at the time?</div>
Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054854689952896339noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156196178932753360.post-62802534570549786522017-12-26T13:56:00.000+11:002017-12-26T13:56:42.272+11:00Christmas Skirt 2017My love of Christmas has been forever, but my habitual making of Christmas skirts or frocks commenced in 2010.<br />
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This was the year I realised Christmas at my in-laws needed some brightening up, so I ordered this Echino birdie fabric especially from Etsy and made a skirt. Winner.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/5299517856/in/album-72157622967523035/" title="Christmas Skirt"><img alt="Christmas Skirt" height="640" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5088/5299517856_9c2b1059bb_z.jpg" width="427" /></a><br />
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In 2011 we'd just returned from New York so I made this dress with fabric I purchased at Mood.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/6652389167/" title="Christmas Frock"><img alt="Christmas Frock" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7015/6652389167_d1f6f0dd92_z.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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In 2012 it was another Bendigo Christmas so I went with the bird theme again, this time with fabric from IKEA.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/8321629660/in/album-72157622967523035/" title="McCalls 3507 - Christmas Skirt 2012"><img alt="McCalls 3507 - Christmas Skirt 2012" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8499/8321629660_e0a8f7a35c_z.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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In 2014 I spent it in Canberra alone, so I had Merry Kaftanmas with the fabulous Bimble and Pimble.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/16109898195/in/album-72157622967523035/" title="Merry Kaftanmas - Simoplicity 2929"><img alt="Merry Kaftanmas - Simoplicity 2929" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8681/16109898195_ae305abb8f_z.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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2015 saw me being lazy and taking up an existing old me-made dress by 7 inches so I'd be more comfortable at our friend's place for lunch. I'm calling that a Christmas Winning Dress.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/23345222424/in/dateposted-public/" title="Untitled"><img alt="Untitled" height="640" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5815/23345222424_9abc4e2bde_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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I can't remember what I wore last year, but it was really hot so probably shorts and a Springfield top ;)<br />
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2017 sees us spending another Christmas in Canberra without family. Recently I did a total closet cleanout (which is a whole other blog post) so I'm now very short of casual summer skirts and need to make more. I found this Japanese linen/cotton fabric at my local fabric store last weekend and thought it might be perfect for a Christmas Day celebration. And it was. The linen top was made a couple of years ago. The photo shows both skirt and top very crushed after a wonderful lunch and some sofa-lounging watching trashy Christmas movies.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/25430794578/in/album-72157622967523035/" title="Christmas skirt 2017"><img alt="Christmas skirt 2017" height="640" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4590/25430794578_e3850d52d7_z.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas Day no matter how you spent it or who you spent it with. We have a really lovely day at home with some splendid food and a lot of lounging in the back yard. I now have three weeks off work so I'm hoping to get some sewing in at some stage, as I have a stash to use up and some closet gaps to fill!<br />
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<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054854689952896339noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156196178932753360.post-57302645448415819352017-07-17T20:37:00.002+10:002017-07-17T20:37:44.005+10:00Lucy Boston went to the circus, and then she went to SydneyHey hey chickadees! How's everything going? Stuff is pretty cool here. Went to Fiji, went to Sydney - you know, just a typical year!<br />
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For four years now I have entered the Sydney Quilt Show, and it's always a blast. I have made the BEST quilting friends thanks to the Sydney show. For me it's worth the effort and expense of taking time off work and staying in Sydney for at least 5 days so I can firstly have a little holiday and me-time, and secondly so I have the time to catch up with everyone at the show! This year was a little different - my lovely mum decided to fly down from Cairns and stay for a few days, which was just wonderful! She'd never been to a big quilt show before, and she also got to meet my friends (and she loved every single one of them).<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/35137647014/in/album-72157686274169986/" title="Lucy Boston Went to the Circus"><img alt="Lucy Boston Went to the Circus" height="480" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4305/35137647014_b0023bb20e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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This year I decided to finally finish my Patchwork of the Crosses quilt and enter it. This pattern is a little different to the typical Lucy Boston version however - instead of one inch pieces, it used 1 1/2 inch pieces, and the blocks are also appliqued onto a background, not joined. I bought the pattern from the designer <a href="https://cherrypiedesigns.com/" target="_blank">Cherry Pie Designs</a>, at the last ever Darling Harbour show before they demolished the convention centre, and showed it at the first ever exhibition at the new Darling Harbour convention centre.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/35977513735/in/album-72157686274169986/" title="Lucy Boston Went to the Circus"><img alt="Lucy Boston Went to the Circus" height="480" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4308/35977513735_0aac645f8d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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I was fairly pleased with how Lucy came together as a top. The striped border was thanks to my stubborness at being obnoxious about my fabric choices, my husband's insistence that a red and white circus stripe would be perfect, and the latest Tula Pink tent stripes hitting the quilt store at the exact same time. I honestly thought, on getting home, that I'd made a mistake getting red and cream, and not red and white, but it kinda turned out perfect! (Perfectly obnoxious, that is!)<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/35167329403/in/album-72157686274169986/" title="Lucy Boston Went to the Circus"><img alt="Lucy Boston Went to the Circus" height="480" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4325/35167329403_49eb1a50d9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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The quilting was when things went pear shaped. I started quilting a diagonal line from the top corner to the middle, turning 90 degrees towards the other corner. And then I repeated it every 3/8 inch. This started going a bit awry towards the middle of the section, but I persevered. By the time I got back from Fiji in early June, I finished off that first section and was faced with a massive bulge at the middle of the side border. So I spent two days unpicking it all - one quarter of the quilt, just gone. The bias blocks and the fact I hadn't cut out the fabric at the back of the applique had done me in, creating puckers and bulges, and if it hadn't been for mum coming all that way to see me and my quilt I would have withdrawn it from the show.<br />
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I ended up quilting horizontal straight lines 3/8 inch apart, and it turned out a lot better than I expected! It's not at all perfect, but I don't do perfect, and I was just happy it was done and not too much of an embarrassment to be hanging at Australia's biggest quilt show.<br />
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Phew.<br />
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And then <a href="https://quiltnsw.com/quiltshow/" target="_blank">this</a> happened.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/35977399405/in/album-72157686274169986/" title="Lucy Boston Went to the Circus"><img alt="Lucy Boston Went to the Circus" height="640" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4298/35977399405_d5017d4b1a_z.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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I will admit I did get a phone call from QuiltNSW the day before I left for Sydney. And I will admit I was really shocked at getting that phone call, especially given my category - Pieced Quilts, Amateur, predominantly machine quilted - seemed to have a really large number of entries (33) in it. Perhaps I'd won the meat tray*. Or they'd just made a massive mistake and had called the wrong Michelle.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/35844728271/in/album-72157686274169986/" title="Lucy Boston Went to the Circus"><img alt="Lucy Boston Went to the Circus" height="640" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4324/35844728271_5500ac016f_z.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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It was pretty sweet having mum there with me when they called my name out at the awards ceremony on day 1. She was so excited, as was I. I think I was just in shock that this had happened for the second year in a row, but the difference was that last year I <i>knew</i> my quilt was awesome. This year I was happy just to have entered it!<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/35137524724/in/album-72157686274169986/" title="Lucy Boston Went to the Circus"><img alt="Lucy Boston Went to the Circus" height="640" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4298/35137524724_b7333f0fc6_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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So yeah, there she is. Lucy Boston who went to the circus one day, and to Sydney the next, and earned a pink and red ribbon for her efforts.<br />
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While I'm talking about the Sydney Quilt Show (which was awesome by the way - so much colour! 410 amazing quilts!), I'll tell you more about the hoop display that QuiltNSW erects near the front entrance of the show. Last year was the first year they'd done it and it was so successful and got people talking about the different techniques and styles on show. I was asked to submit a hoop quilt of my own for this year's show, so I replicated my <a href="http://buttontreelane.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/sydney-quilt-show-part-1.html" target="_blank">Across the Universe quilt</a> but on a much smaller scale.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/35977375785/in/album-72157686274169986/" title="Hoops display"><img alt="Hoops display" height="640" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4301/35977375785_84b31d5955_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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And here are the some of the other hoops - pretty chuffed that one of the hoops that my quilting bestie <a href="https://bluemountaindaisy.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">Rachaeldaisy</a> made was hanging close by mine. I'm imagining they never stopped talking, much like the two of us :)<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/35977397145/in/album-72157686274169986/" title="Hoops display"><img alt="Hoops display" height="640" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4330/35977397145_ee9916e61f_z.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/35806870082/in/album-72157686274169986/" title="Hoops display"><img alt="Hoops display" height="640" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4309/35806870082_d70e1058ac_z.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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I think this post is long enough now, so I won't share with you the other quilts at the show. Hopefully soon though!<br />
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I haven't entered the Canberra Quilters Exhibition this year, for a number of reasons, so Lucy is now safely hanging on our living room wall at home, above my nana's table, and behind the orange sofa. She seems pretty happy, and she has increased the happiness in that room ten-fold.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/35937417866/in/dateposted-public/" title="Lucy at home"><img alt="Lucy at home" height="640" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4318/35937417866_52b3e0a090_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*there's no meat tray, <i>but there should be.</i></span><br />
<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054854689952896339noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156196178932753360.post-60512442026157396272017-04-09T18:49:00.000+10:002017-04-09T18:49:17.718+10:00Putting the "slow" back into "slow lane"My physiotherapist told me a couple of years ago to quit using flippers when swimming my laps. It was hurting my back and probably not doing my swimming ability much good either. For the first summer I swam without flippers I really missed them. I missed not being able to keep up with my faster friends in the medium lane, and I missed not having the power to overtake slower swimmers when I needed to. Also doing handstands in the pool with flippers on is pretty hilarious.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/33083982594/in/dateposted-public/" title="Untitled"><img alt="Untitled" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2879/33083982594_7a0b8d0876_z.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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The following winter I realised I was OK without them. There was a lot less to take to the pool (just goggles and ear plugs and a towel!), and really, life in the slow lane could be pretty sweet. The people are chattier. There is a lot of "you go first. No, you!" and "isn't this weather magnificent?". But the best thing is that it takes me longer to do my 20 laps, so I get to stay in the pool longer. And I've given myself time to develop my breathing and my stroke technique and probably I'm not that much slower than I used to be with flippers.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/33114086153/in/datetaken/" nbsp="" title="Untitled"><img alt="Untitled" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2846/33114086153_70a1b14461_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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This morning while doing the slowest backstroke ever known in the history of lap swimming, I was staring at the pool ceiling and I realised that my life, over the last couple of years, has moved to the slow lane as well. Probably 90% of my patchwork is done by hand - in fact I haven't been in my sewing room to do anything than iron for weeks. Rather than fix the irrigation system in the vegetable patch (it snapped off when a guy came to rebuild the beds) I have watered everything by hand the last two summers. I just prefer it. I spend most lunch hours alone at a coffee shop, either stitching or reading.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/33797155991/in/datetaken/" nbsp="" title="Untitled"><img alt="Untitled" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2843/33797155991_5744f75e26_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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And I didn't even think of blogging for close to 5 months.<br />
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I no longer say "I'm too busy" - because being a main carer of someone you love is a privilege and shouldn't be confused with "busy-ness". I say "I'm exhausted" a bit too much but that's when I decide an early night is in order and go to bed.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/33541876680/in/datetaken/" nbsp="" title="Untitled"><img alt="Untitled" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2908/33541876680_9499385551_z.jpg" width="480" /></a>
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Being in the slow lane is pretty sweet. All the other slow-lane life swimmers are pretty nice, mainly because I'm choosing to spend my time with nice people. By spending most of my sewing time on the couch in the living room, I get to have some pretty great conversations with my husband because that's also where he spends most of his time. Occasionally I'll dip under the lane ropes to get into the fast lane and use a sewing machine, but it's pretty brief. And I do the occasional crazy thing like drive to Sydney by myself to go to a quilt guild meeting, but it's so nice to come home again and be slow.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/33885629606/in/dateposted-public/" title="Untitled"><img alt="Untitled" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2920/33885629606_55cf40ce34_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Anyway, hi. Nice to see you again.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/33927163955/in/dateposted-public/" title="Untitled"><img alt="Untitled" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2910/33927163955_e1ba3370d9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054854689952896339noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156196178932753360.post-54975396038948255042016-11-30T21:18:00.002+11:002016-11-30T21:21:04.635+11:00300 stars to goI've been diligently (mostly - a couple of times there has had to be a bit of a catch up!) making <a href="https://buttontreelane.blogspot.com.au/2016/09/365-stars.html" target="_blank">a star a day</a> since September 27, and I've made 65 so far. <br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/31229653566/in/dateposted-public/" title="image"><img alt="image" height="640" src="https://c7.staticflickr.com/6/5596/31229653566_36b40d734e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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I can't tell you how much fun I'm having with this project! Just the simple act of sitting down for 30 mins each day to make one simple star by hand is so calming, especially when worries come up.<br />
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I have a coffee at lunch at my favourite cafe and I make stars. I went home to Cairns recently and I made stars there too. I sit in waiting rooms and glue papers for the following week or make a star. I've made stars that other people have picked the fabrics for. I've made stars while I have breakfast.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/30457997963/in/dateposted-public/" title="image"><img alt="image" height="640" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/6/5452/30457997963_53e43ce69e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/30897960790/in/dateposted-public/" title="image"><img alt="image" height="640" src="https://c7.staticflickr.com/6/5631/30897960790_5df0e728bf_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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I'm going to be making stars for another 300 days, and I'm not at all unhappy about that.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/31265820655/in/dateposted-public/" title="image"><img alt="image" height="640" src="https://c8.staticflickr.com/6/5816/31265820655_421b191046_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054854689952896339noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156196178932753360.post-31381981986261392172016-11-13T15:42:00.000+11:002016-11-13T15:48:35.571+11:00How to applique your EPP without pins and stress - a tutorial<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I was making a Project 48 block last night where the instruction was to applique the EPP to a background fabric. It's something I do quite often in my EPP projects, but I find when I explain the concept to people, they sometimes don't understand how I do it, or how easy it is. So on finishing this block, I thought I'd do a little photo tutorial to show you.</div>
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This technique works with either blocks, or entire quilts, or side strips. </div>
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(And I'll apologise now for the state of my hands and the macro shots. I've been gardening like a mad woman the last couple of weeks so my hands are a mess; and my little Canon camera has a mind of its own on the macro setting, giving me a horrible glamour filter each time. It's like a freaking Doris Day movie every time I look at the photos. Probably best given the state of my hands, but sorry about that.)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJuzo9rY2GrxMVWcA9rK2m79jFmvibY9JVyCsLcesYpRd6iT34w4KzQ9E3A0AypO0lZJSObqWitxJmf82eEJcOk4Bvad093qnbvINQ6Q8Zib0d3TpuRcz-7VPQyK7qjdGT6gFPDd92kGk/s1600/IMG_9599.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJuzo9rY2GrxMVWcA9rK2m79jFmvibY9JVyCsLcesYpRd6iT34w4KzQ9E3A0AypO0lZJSObqWitxJmf82eEJcOk4Bvad093qnbvINQ6Q8Zib0d3TpuRcz-7VPQyK7qjdGT6gFPDd92kGk/s400/IMG_9599.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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So this is your finished EPP block, unpressed but still gorgeous.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS8u535rdQM91C3Lcvp9S09iG3TOI_n0vvHj-pSllV7ysFY5oZMjQip8kULXpGCdMZ2DzSyKNs6q3stlSVEGjRgEdOicMrC14aVwma8bf0qms8rO_jOztijlGYXdlWkp6c5JpqNzXgBjg/s1600/IMG_9600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS8u535rdQM91C3Lcvp9S09iG3TOI_n0vvHj-pSllV7ysFY5oZMjQip8kULXpGCdMZ2DzSyKNs6q3stlSVEGjRgEdOicMrC14aVwma8bf0qms8rO_jOztijlGYXdlWkp6c5JpqNzXgBjg/s400/IMG_9600.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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And here is the back of it.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyYoU9BZyWfshdUCJhL2Ndlr_5oiANXwpzU4hYJSo_PYfcMJ06iLFkzfztOYgjPDRVtwBbrBGTlaKmulkLJvubBnRg_bVAetnw3egH1UxhyUjI7dNtSJ97x3kdc25-RsqumP_sER-161E/s1600/IMG_9601.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyYoU9BZyWfshdUCJhL2Ndlr_5oiANXwpzU4hYJSo_PYfcMJ06iLFkzfztOYgjPDRVtwBbrBGTlaKmulkLJvubBnRg_bVAetnw3egH1UxhyUjI7dNtSJ97x3kdc25-RsqumP_sER-161E/s400/IMG_9601.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Give the back a bit of a press with a hot steamy iron. Don't push back and forth. PRESS. You want to put a permanent crease in those outer shapes, especially.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSR6EXyekTvUgIcvXB4NHvHH5ffB19QiDW2LybtiHWlAXG3iGuOrY2ILs97rdinkny4v1EOvCkOn6QKRPFpbNEb7w1xuqbsj4rdVhW4cIIIsYxIuX10Azt4r-OhxMp1DYTYJQgVHTB80E/s1600/IMG_9604.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSR6EXyekTvUgIcvXB4NHvHH5ffB19QiDW2LybtiHWlAXG3iGuOrY2ILs97rdinkny4v1EOvCkOn6QKRPFpbNEb7w1xuqbsj4rdVhW4cIIIsYxIuX10Azt4r-OhxMp1DYTYJQgVHTB80E/s400/IMG_9604.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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If you've glue basted as I have, take a cuticle stick (one of the wooden ones you get in packs of 3 at Priceline) and gently use it to lift the fabric from the paper. It will kind of pop. </div>
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If you have used a scant amount of glue, kept the glue away from the edge, and used a decent seam allowance, this will be easy. If you haven't, then you're doing EPP wrong. Sorry, but you are. I'll come by another time and show you how to EPP properly, I promise.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4MIAyNi6IUGg_JXUWVCflUJLlkGO2x1uFRqSvJ3wP0N__U0JWvS2IqCnPugb1IRCZxyXM_x2MzMsec7Vw-l7CwMQhP8qTCl7T1iK_Z9DswFStzTxsXDKvPWr9zs9YLmUwp6EU3Bd1v5g/s1600/IMG_9606.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4MIAyNi6IUGg_JXUWVCflUJLlkGO2x1uFRqSvJ3wP0N__U0JWvS2IqCnPugb1IRCZxyXM_x2MzMsec7Vw-l7CwMQhP8qTCl7T1iK_Z9DswFStzTxsXDKvPWr9zs9YLmUwp6EU3Bd1v5g/s400/IMG_9606.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Use your cuticle stick to lift out the papers as you release them from the glue. </div>
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Or if you have thread basted, just clip the threads and pop the papers out!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHWXUtDKFueorKy1kB-1kf_cYKZ_7H9cngwqeJUrh5B6aodYgqUbSA454a1g4u-9UJ2NIfVsfV-RPmHAwNSDn3nOvMgyFsiDiTyYumXEfQSja9ny-bhf5c6zbtmkQc12xSc7SyGrvfypg/s1600/IMG_9608.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHWXUtDKFueorKy1kB-1kf_cYKZ_7H9cngwqeJUrh5B6aodYgqUbSA454a1g4u-9UJ2NIfVsfV-RPmHAwNSDn3nOvMgyFsiDiTyYumXEfQSja9ny-bhf5c6zbtmkQc12xSc7SyGrvfypg/s400/IMG_9608.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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This is the back of the block after all the papers have been removed. Don't worry about the seam allowances that have lifted, because ...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIbMZOA3OGNk1WE-xJj1QHGig8cKlQ531BBnQwCfsZE1s5f-ylfbkUceVNuQqnU-694aQH62ksaFX54Z4cb6Z3gaD661nmVLdByvLek5bWDGMqy2LyBhAiLA8fmOtMCDRyZVXNK3gd9O8/s1600/IMG_9610.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIbMZOA3OGNk1WE-xJj1QHGig8cKlQ531BBnQwCfsZE1s5f-ylfbkUceVNuQqnU-694aQH62ksaFX54Z4cb6Z3gaD661nmVLdByvLek5bWDGMqy2LyBhAiLA8fmOtMCDRyZVXNK3gd9O8/s400/IMG_9610.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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... you'll get the chance to give them a bit of a press. Again, PRESS, don't move the iron back and forth. You want those seams to maintain integrity. If any of the seams move and go a bit skewiff, just use your fingers to re-position them and press them gently back into place (preferably without burning your fingers). Easy!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkGag9bpa9ygMNEu30COHS76HdcrWxCCrDj8iqtX_ebIDMwnCnZMKPGCs8YsahEA-DQezB-TciEkHj4glFnRdddiDcPOV4wC_HPozWs1yjvzbCRPytDm3gq9m8LviMjgfH11LvLmrGjNk/s1600/IMG_9620.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkGag9bpa9ygMNEu30COHS76HdcrWxCCrDj8iqtX_ebIDMwnCnZMKPGCs8YsahEA-DQezB-TciEkHj4glFnRdddiDcPOV4wC_HPozWs1yjvzbCRPytDm3gq9m8LviMjgfH11LvLmrGjNk/s400/IMG_9620.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Grab your spray starch of choice. Mine is Crisp because I can get it easily at my IGA. Yours is probably something else a lot cooler and funkier. It doesn't really matter. </div>
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Give the front a quick spray of the starch and press with a dry iron. Do the same with the back, pressing so you don't dislodge all the fine work you have done with your seam integrity :).</div>
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Your EPP block is now prepared for the next step!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy49GqMz2Zv-vyE8GOVHYkF8K3DGB9-qrNryk2ACzcdCzm2ldNRTMo1RWdsZ9ZF_mpOiQhLBB5a_bRfP8trPD8-SHVdfOUqvMRJN99f2jQInBea89MVe6UX0pItGIwY0xY7s8cRVNOXQM/s1600/IMG_9621.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy49GqMz2Zv-vyE8GOVHYkF8K3DGB9-qrNryk2ACzcdCzm2ldNRTMo1RWdsZ9ZF_mpOiQhLBB5a_bRfP8trPD8-SHVdfOUqvMRJN99f2jQInBea89MVe6UX0pItGIwY0xY7s8cRVNOXQM/s400/IMG_9621.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Take your background fabric, and press it in quarters and open it back out so that you have registration lines for placing the EPP on top of it.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDktPdm-22Rk_SGAUwDHDNfRkRWCrbrp5X51vdvwcX_HoHfVH7q2XoKPPDjdMfqv6yrjrKF5BZu-SRnsfyfRfJtIYzeiFLnTbcgJWeLSuqF1Sbvgcps8efz69SeJdwvj5YX43zutXJkPE/s1600/IMG_9622.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDktPdm-22Rk_SGAUwDHDNfRkRWCrbrp5X51vdvwcX_HoHfVH7q2XoKPPDjdMfqv6yrjrKF5BZu-SRnsfyfRfJtIYzeiFLnTbcgJWeLSuqF1Sbvgcps8efz69SeJdwvj5YX43zutXJkPE/s400/IMG_9622.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Position your EPP on top of the background. See how it is centred perfectly?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZQD0Sx1wQja1_MDPIQd3JcRgJaEiQebdDX7UGmVxc8QbD7JQUEBa_6UgMUVuI1lbUiXPjKptb_RDCxwSgP6VEKvRgyAPU6tVPBuQfU9fUGXSunwh6ViSIl_0HP44LnFOulSXMcan4s34/s1600/IMG_9623.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZQD0Sx1wQja1_MDPIQd3JcRgJaEiQebdDX7UGmVxc8QbD7JQUEBa_6UgMUVuI1lbUiXPjKptb_RDCxwSgP6VEKvRgyAPU6tVPBuQfU9fUGXSunwh6ViSIl_0HP44LnFOulSXMcan4s34/s400/IMG_9623.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Roxanne basting glue is your new little friend. I use the one with the steel nozzle because it makes gluing minimal and accurate. Very important!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTQWyHbr9UN7jkjZ3RujzQwtcBskJB0lzjv-XsfuqujHz9EuiUxO60_c6Z9yS0VJ-3P3AfhuH3VDQHzet3ZrdO_CZT9rP2ABCPMRvl390HlWm5PtgGSXBfkzXxxLWvfuiEyTuFyQfcA6I/s1600/IMG_9624.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTQWyHbr9UN7jkjZ3RujzQwtcBskJB0lzjv-XsfuqujHz9EuiUxO60_c6Z9yS0VJ-3P3AfhuH3VDQHzet3ZrdO_CZT9rP2ABCPMRvl390HlWm5PtgGSXBfkzXxxLWvfuiEyTuFyQfcA6I/s400/IMG_9624.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Fold your positioned EPP block gently forward at the half way line without moving it off the position you placed it in. Gently dab a little dot of glue inside the seam line, just on the corners will do it. This is where it pays to have a 3/8 inch seam allowance on your EPP. Trust me - you do NOT want this glue anywhere near where your needle will be because it when it is hard it is damn near impossible to get your needle through it and your will curse this technique forever and ever. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKpnZ125JkiPdf0RRh8J3dfGyEv6QgG_8RdjYDbUkpEhWficKdN0YO1GcXS-KQG7zr-g4cZbuYsXFPwRHimsR8CRG22fhu_zULvr_uj5xDcLEoXU3tD-u4qdPvPulgtpYzQiYKAKkeSYs/s1600/IMG_9627.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKpnZ125JkiPdf0RRh8J3dfGyEv6QgG_8RdjYDbUkpEhWficKdN0YO1GcXS-KQG7zr-g4cZbuYsXFPwRHimsR8CRG22fhu_zULvr_uj5xDcLEoXU3tD-u4qdPvPulgtpYzQiYKAKkeSYs/s400/IMG_9627.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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When you have glue dots on all the corners, gently flip your block back to where it was originally. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1PrOEAL6D4iReAv-Eka7wqQkDeVBGnIQTjfK0R6wWV62bNs2pIrmou9TPqw1G39SSFJZyzscVf-1lRvlM5N4AGVlmCeXd98DNHr86W1Svrnu6uT_pIvnp8gaxjfg2cudqA4GyaC5EM3I/s1600/IMG_9628.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1PrOEAL6D4iReAv-Eka7wqQkDeVBGnIQTjfK0R6wWV62bNs2pIrmou9TPqw1G39SSFJZyzscVf-1lRvlM5N4AGVlmCeXd98DNHr86W1Svrnu6uT_pIvnp8gaxjfg2cudqA4GyaC5EM3I/s400/IMG_9628.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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PRESS the glue dry with your iron (dry iron).</div>
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Now flip the bottom half back and dot with glue again. Don't forget to also add glue at the seam allowance near the centre line. Flip it back...</div>
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...and press. The glue should now have dried. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ7bZtc1ATlKvQZIuV1uZb7mwd8g688BmjONonqzXsoGM9s55X0O_zRXMpNPU76T8lgiNDdbnq8GSybKn0_iVyPg2hKm3yjsRPkW7XvjPwnueM9r5aNBEgDhnGA_rqr8KGMAbYxYO9_n8/s1600/IMG_9632.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ7bZtc1ATlKvQZIuV1uZb7mwd8g688BmjONonqzXsoGM9s55X0O_zRXMpNPU76T8lgiNDdbnq8GSybKn0_iVyPg2hKm3yjsRPkW7XvjPwnueM9r5aNBEgDhnGA_rqr8KGMAbYxYO9_n8/s400/IMG_9632.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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This is how I double check it's all attached. Just kidding. But look! No pins required!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTtys94uUMjxBxz-rk1LSsS8WRGKAyEwrCHZFi2_oovmulI29vbEPwI1PFadGcXi_usUpTSpxA5xnUyDc-UZPV7w-6yfpiJjA57lPrla6R4BcOJR_kq4yfN80D1IZYtS_x8ByLogNH2NU/s1600/IMG_9638.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTtys94uUMjxBxz-rk1LSsS8WRGKAyEwrCHZFi2_oovmulI29vbEPwI1PFadGcXi_usUpTSpxA5xnUyDc-UZPV7w-6yfpiJjA57lPrla6R4BcOJR_kq4yfN80D1IZYtS_x8ByLogNH2NU/s400/IMG_9638.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Find your best matching thread. I use Superior Egyptian cotton exclusively for all my applique because it's bloody lovely. And no one is even paying me to say that. I get it in the donuts in all the colours because I do so much applique in so many bright colours. But other people swear by Aurifil 50/2 cotton, or silk, or Superior bottom line. Use whatever you can afford and whatever suits the work you do.</div>
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As for needles I only ever use Clover Gold Applique No. 10. I tried the Hiroshima Tulip needles but they weren't as bendy for my style of applique (I swear by Tulips for EPP though). Again, use the needle that suits you the best.</div>
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Knot your thread and come in from the back. Start a little beneath the applique, and just catch a couple of threads at the seam fold.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEi0SvO2N2rKtSdR8B6JXVQVGCHCGXwTMVWzs0QrhuRxFO4Ic6F9UPSBAecKmP1TdoEKU3XVmotYZAkggjeUpfld7KrMRlJN7VmndkPjblaR06DB_PUDMsTK2_isyE00Snr5nAaiAKamE/s1600/IMG_9644.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEi0SvO2N2rKtSdR8B6JXVQVGCHCGXwTMVWzs0QrhuRxFO4Ic6F9UPSBAecKmP1TdoEKU3XVmotYZAkggjeUpfld7KrMRlJN7VmndkPjblaR06DB_PUDMsTK2_isyE00Snr5nAaiAKamE/s400/IMG_9644.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I do a stitch every 2-4 mm. Depends on the curves an intricacy. But this is an EPP block with straight edges - every 4-5 mm will do the trick.</div>
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The points are important. Make sure you take a stitch at each one to secure it. If you don't, your points can invert when you wash or iron the block again.<br />
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And here's what the back looks like.</div>
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Keep going until the whole block is appliqued. You can choose to cut the back out if you like, later. Just carefully trim 3/8 inch inside the stitching lines with sharp scissors, making sure you don't cut through the front part.</div>
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And there you have it! Told you it was easy!</div>
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Please ask any questions in the comments below and I will answer them there. Hopefully you'll find this tutorial helpful!</div>
<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054854689952896339noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156196178932753360.post-16036650515754325752016-10-30T18:40:00.000+11:002016-10-30T18:40:02.779+11:00Finished: A baby quilt for SIt hasn't happened very often in my working life but I'm currently working in a close-knit team of very supportive colleagues who also double as Very Lovely People. Two of those Very Lovely People are having babies very soon, and I love to make quilts that people will use, so win-win, right?<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/30567982401/in/dateposted-public/" title="Baby Quilt for Sam"><img alt="Baby Quilt for Sam" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5619/30567982401_f7c620d550_z.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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My colleague S finished up work last week so I rushed to finish this UFO from a few years ago. I made it as part of a Craftsy class on improv piecing with Jacquie Gering. I pieced the top and then never knew what to do with it so I put it aside. It turned out to be the perfect size for a baby.<br />
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I found some wool batting in the stash - cotton is my preferred batting for home-quilting, mainly because it's sticky and quilts don't tend to pucker, but for a Canberra baby playing on the floor, I think wool is a nicer batting.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/30356316500/in/dateposted-public/" title="Baby Quilt for Sam"><img alt="Baby Quilt for Sam" height="640" src="https://c5.staticflickr.com/6/5441/30356316500_183a497b09_z.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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I am really enjoying using up the bigger bits of my stash as backings at the moment. This one is a very old Kaffe Fassett print. I bought it for $2 a metre back when Home Yardage were still in Canberra, I suspect around 2003. I bought it in another colourway too - I remember asking the cutter if he realised how cheap this fabric was - it normally went for $27 a metre at the quilt stores. He told me he had no idea who Kaffe Fassett was. No wonder they went out of business...<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/30022539543/in/dateposted-public/" title="Baby Quilt for Sam"><img alt="Baby Quilt for Sam" height="480" src="https://c8.staticflickr.com/6/5758/30022539543_6d677741d4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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I basted on the kitchen table and quilted it in 90 minutes. Just straight lines in a grid pattern using the heavier-weight Aurifil 28/2 thread, but it will be chucked up on and dragged through the garden and used for rainy day forts, so it needed to be durable.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/30567929391/in/dateposted-public/" title="Baby Quilt for Sam"><img alt="Baby Quilt for Sam" height="640" src="https://c8.staticflickr.com/6/5570/30567929391_a0b326b59f_z.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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Because the top had been sitting around for 3 years collecting dust, and the backing had been in my stash for about the last 13 years, I gave it a wash and tumble dry after binding it. It stood up to the abuse really well, and then I steam ironed it on the linen setting so it at least looked nice enough to gift. She loved it. Her husband loved it. Her little toddler loved it. I'm so happy it's going to people who appreciate <strike>fine art</strike> quilts. I hope her baby boy enjoys it for years and years.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/30567909481/in/dateposted-public/" title="Baby Quilt for Sam"><img alt="Baby Quilt for Sam" height="480" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5339/30567909481_99641c47bf_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<b><u>Details:</u></b></div>
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<b>Pattern</b>: Swirling Stars by Jacquie Gering (Crafty class)</div>
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<b>Size: </b>54" x 40" </div>
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<b>Fabric</b>: stash and scraps; and Sketch by Timeless Treasures as the background (I think!)</div>
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<b>Quilting</b>: Machine quilted, straight lines, using Aurifil Mako 28/2 thread in white (2024)</div>
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<b>Batting</b>: bleached 100% cotton</div>
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<b>Started</b>: July 2013</div>
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<b>Finished</b>: 20 October 2016</div>
Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054854689952896339noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156196178932753360.post-48044823526287049312016-10-11T20:46:00.002+11:002016-10-11T20:46:27.105+11:00Finished: The gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, farmers' market quiltThis is a story about Helen's quilt. In mid-2013 I started making a quilt out of fruit and vegetable fabrics - all purchased when I was at the SCQuilters retreat in Townsville in 2012. I loved how quirky the fabrics were, but had no idea what to do with them originally. I ended up piecing a quilt made from half-square triangles with the intention of giving it to my friend Helen for her birthday. She has to avoid dairy and gluten and is also a vegetarian and is super healthy so she was the perfect recipient. Plus she has the BEST sense of humour so would totally get it.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/29625807093/in/dateposted-public/" title="Farmers' Market quilt"><img alt="Farmers' Market quilt" height="480" src="https://c6.staticflickr.com/6/5638/29625807093_90b50e1f8e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Four of us were driving to Melbourne for her 59th birthday party/house renovation warming party in late August 2013. One of my friends was already making her a quilt, and life happened, and quilt exhibitions, and I ended up not getting the quilt finished in time. No matter, I thought. I've made her two <a href="http://buttontreelane.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/square.html" target="_blank">quilts before</a> - I'll give it to her on her 60th.<br />
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I haven't been to Melbourne as much as I'd have liked to over the last couple of years and I just never really thought much of that quilt again for some reason. But I'd made plans to have a little holiday in Melbourne by myself around the long weekend recently and was going to see Helen (5 weeks after after her 62nd birthday - bad friend!) so 4 days before I left I decided to finish the quilt and give it to her.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/29625683463/in/dateposted-public/" title="Untitled"><img alt="Untitled" height="640" src="https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8271/29625683463_07d5a0d22d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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The piecing of the back took me half a day. Normally it would take half an hour. I just couldn't seem to grasp how a tape measure worked. But I finally got my shit together, basted it, quilted it and bound it. I managed to get a lot of gardening, a lunch out, two swims, and an afternoon drinks session with sewing friends in that time. It helps that I didn't quilt it that heavily, I suppose. Also I'm a super-fast binder. I LOVE binding.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/29625779353/in/dateposted-public/" title="Farmers' Market quilt"><img alt="Farmers' Market quilt" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5740/29625779353_98daca01b6_z.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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I took these photos in my hotel room an hour before I met Helen for dinner in Northcote. She loved her quilt. For once I've made her a quilt for her bed (it is 60 inches, so a bed topper) rather than her wall which makes me happy. I like keeping my friends warm, especially those I've known for more than half my life and who now live so far away.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/30255617525/in/dateposted-public/" title="Farmers' Market quilt"><img alt="Farmers' Market quilt" height="640" src="https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8630/30255617525_188f9c6f8c_z.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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I quilted it with Aurifil thread 50/2 weight in a green colourway. It blends really well with the quilt. I did a diagonal design half an inch away from the bigger diamonds, and then in the ditch horizontally and vertically. The quilting probably took me about 2 1/2 hours, but it is utilitarian and it definitely won't fall apart.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/30220524036/in/dateposted-public/" title="Farmers' Market quilt"><img alt="Farmers' Market quilt" height="480" src="https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8128/30220524036_db38670012_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<b><u>Details:</u></b></div>
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<b>Pattern</b>: My own - using HSTs</div>
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<b>Size: </b>60" x 60" (finished block size 5")</div>
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<b>Fabric</b>: Various fruit and vegetable fabrics; and a green and white spotted fabric background</div>
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<b>Quilting</b>: Machine quilted, straight lines, using Aurifil Mako 50/2 thread in green (2890)</div>
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<b>Batting</b>: bleached 100% cotton</div>
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<b>Started</b>: July 2013</div>
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<b>Finished</b>: 3 October 2016</div>
<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054854689952896339noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156196178932753360.post-57626105377612921102016-09-29T20:28:00.001+10:002016-09-29T20:30:04.692+10:00365 StarsI love birthdays. A lot of people don't, for their own reasons, and that's fine. But five years ago some <a href="http://buttontreelane.blogspot.com.au/2011/05/foggy-with-good-chance-of-afternoon.html" target="_blank">horrible</a> stuff happened and I almost died, and since then I have tried really hard to see the good side of things, to enjoy every little moment, and to make the most of what I have been given. It gets a little tough sometimes, especially in the last 18 months with my husband picking up a disability, and with our families so far away. But we get by, and we still live a happy and simple life.<br />
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For my birthday this year I decided to start a new quilt project (surprise surprise), but with a bit of a twist. I'm going to make a star block every day for 365 days. And it's not just any star block.<br />
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It's a teensy weensy star, and it's English paper pieced!<br />
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I've made one every day for the last three days, starting on my birthday on the 27th but my husband bought me the papers as my birthday present over a month ago so I've been slowly preparing fabrics since then.<br />
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I had decided I wasn't going to fussy cut any of the fabrics, but then the papers arrived and I realised the pieces were a lot smaller than I thought. So now if the fabric deserves to be fussed over, I will. Perhaps.<br />
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Each star takes about 25 minutes or so. I've been sewing them after I have my shower and breakfast, while drinking my coffee, in the time I'd usually take to read the morning paper. It certainly makes me a lot less stressed in the morning, I've noticed. Some days I'll end up doing it in the evening, but as I've discovered, life is too short for hard and fast rules, and it's only quilting.<br />
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I'm using the pattern by Karen Styles of <a href="http://somersetpatchwork.com.au/current/patterns.htm" target="_blank">Somerset Designs</a>. The pattern arrived with the plastic templates, but because I decided to EPP it instead of hand piecing, I got the papers and acrylic templates from <a href="https://www.paperpieces.com/" target="_blank">Paper Pieces</a>. I still haven't got much of a plan for these stars.<br />
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I'll probably just make it up as I go along. Should be fun!Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054854689952896339noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156196178932753360.post-40350395995711702232016-09-12T21:07:00.004+10:002016-09-12T21:07:43.742+10:00Because quilting = pure joyGosh I'm loving quilting at the moment. I'm loving it so much that I have finished all but one of my Lucy Boston blocks.<br />
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(This is the view that greeted me when I was closing the curtains in the living room after dusk on Friday night. It's my sewing room from across the deck. We are so lucky to live in this old house.)<br />
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I also made plans for two new quilts - one I will tell you about in a couple of weeks, but the other is the Stepping Stones quilt by Irene Blanck. It has octagons and squares. I've loved this pattern for a long time, but then it popped up in the last Quiltmania issue. I've already made two blocks and goodness me I love them! The octagons and squares are 3/4 inch, which makes a small square but a large octagon. Perfect size for EPP.<br />
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And I don't think I ever told you about <a href="http://www.project48quilt.com/" target="_blank">Project 48</a> - it's a year long quilt with one block being issued a week. I started around Easter - a few months after most other people - and have made only half of the blocks so far, but it's been a lot of fun. Here are a few of the blocks.<br />
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I also headed up to Sydney by myself a couple of weeks ago for a QuiltNSW general meeting. After over 20 years of us only owning one car, I bought a second car earlier this year. But because I mostly ride my bike to work each day it hadn't done many kilometres. And I felt like having a few hours alone listening to the Hamilton soundtrack (loudly) and working out the cruise control so off to Sydney I went for the day. I'd never been to a meeting before, but it was a wonderful day spent stitching, talking with old friends and making new ones. And it was informative as well with the guest speaker being Sarah Fielke talking about her old and new quilts the guild business meeting taking place, and <a href="http://bluemountaindaisy.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">Rachael</a> was also there talking about her Best of Show quilt.<br />
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By the end of the day I felt a little bit tired but also exhilarated and inspired. It was such a fantastic Saturday. I'm so glad I'm a member of QuiltNSW - the members and committee have always been nothing less than welcoming to me since I joined a few years ago. I'm not as elegant with my words as Rachael, so head over to <a href="http://bluemountaindaisy.blogspot.com.au/2016/08/a-fun-day-with-quiltnsw.html" target="_blank">her blog post</a> for more on the day. I can't wait to go to another meeting - hopefully I can get to the next one in October.<br />
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I think a lot of my love of quilting at the moment has to do with not having any exhibition deadlines hanging over me. As much as I don't let quilting stress or burn me out, I never realise how much of a commitment of time I've promised to it until the date of entry has passed and I suddenly have some free time. It's fun just creating for the heck of it when I have the time and the inclination to stitch. Long may it continue!<br />
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(My garden is looking a bit weedy at the moment though! And I have a lot of quilts to blog.)Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054854689952896339noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156196178932753360.post-49500440840522395172016-08-14T18:01:00.000+10:002016-08-14T18:01:29.106+10:00I love LucyBack when the Sydney Quilt Show was still at Darling Harbour (probably in 2013), I purchased a pattern called "Lucy in a Hurry" from <a href="http://cherrypiedesigns.com/" target="_blank">Cherry Pie Designs</a>. It was a different EPP shape, and the block came out quite large so I thought I could have a crack at it with my usual brighter fabrics rather than the reproductions in the pattern. I remember getting home to Canberra and putting in an order for the papers and template, and I got started soon after they arrived.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/28353936633/in/dateposted-public/" title="Lucy in a Hurry block"><img alt="Lucy in a Hurry block" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8133/28353936633_2be2f56e00_z.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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I happily made nine blocks of the sixteen blocks required, and then glued them all on background fabric ready for appliqueing. I think I sewed two down ... and then got so bored I put them on the shelf and didn't give them much more thought. <br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/28893990311/in/dateposted-public/" title="Lucy in a Hurry block"><img alt="Lucy in a Hurry block" height="640" src="https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7547/28893990311_088f67669f_z.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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While I was finishing off the large Lotta quilt, I rediscovered them and decided to finish off the nine I had to put into a quilt, and call it done. After all, this year I have only finished two quilts and that just annoys the heck out of me. Also my sewing room is getting out of control - an unavoidable annoyance when you both quilt and sew clothes. There are gadgets for just about everything, and fabric for quilts and clothing and oh my. You should see it. You should see the floor. It's not pretty.<br />
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For the last week when I've had fidgetty fingers after work, I've been appliquing those blocks down. I now have six. I ran into Carol from Cherry Pie Designs yesterday at the Canberra Quilt Show, and said how easy they were to applique - really they would probably take only an hour.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/28351349494/in/dateposted-public/" title="Lucy in a Hurry block"><img alt="Lucy in a Hurry block" height="640" src="https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7621/28351349494_6aa90592e3_z.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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Guys, today I timed myself, and it took exactly 35 minutes while watching the Nadal-Del Potro replay.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/28865695062/in/dateposted-public/" title="Lucy in a Hurry blocks appliqued"><img alt="Lucy in a Hurry blocks appliqued" height="480" src="https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8421/28865695062_2091fe9a46_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. HECK. What a waste of time having such lovely blocks sitting in the corner for so long. These are the six I've done so far - I'll finish the rest tonight. And then I'm going to start making the other seven blocks and finish the quilt. I have some gorgeous fabric and scraps in the stash and I can't wait to see how they all go together. It will take a bit longer to finish now, but it will be worth it.<br />
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I hunted through the sewing room this afternoon and found the papers, but no template. I found a quilting hoop, the missing snips I bought at a quilt show three years ago (yay), and some threads from a prize that I'd forgotten I had, but the template took about an hour of tossing things upside down before I found it.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/28893954051/in/dateposted-public/" title="Lucy Boston honeycomb template"><img alt="Lucy Boston honeycomb template" height="480" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/9/8563/28893954051_ed1fda3df2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Sure I'll start making more blocks, but perhaps I should give my sewing room a big clean first.Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054854689952896339noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156196178932753360.post-8069762454360752702016-07-19T06:30:00.000+10:002016-07-19T06:30:31.282+10:00Zen and the Art of Quilting in a Straight LineFirst up, the two pyramid blocks I was still owed from the last post. I made these on Saturday morning before I basted the monster quilt.<br />
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And I basted the monster, so I've earned another pyramid block.<br />
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But first, the quilting. (I get two blocks once this is done!) I've given myself a week to finish it.<br />
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It will be a tight timeframe, but I'm really loving quilting this. It's the biggest quilt I've even quilted myself, and I'm realising, while it's all just straight lines, that I really have to practice my breathing while doing this. Shoulders down, back straight, eyes down, breathe. Relax. Sew.<br />
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I took a rare afternoon off work today, and went to the National Gallery today to experience some incredible Australian quilts in the Collection Studies Room with some other Canberra Quilters. I saw a Mary Jane Hannaford quilt up close, and a log cabin quilt by Sarah Monument with the most exquisitely tiny blocks. There was also a crazy quilt made with gorgeous laces and hat trimmings. It made me think about the time these women spent making their quilts - I doubt they ever thought their work would end up in the National Gallery! They would have worked at night time, after the day was over, with poor light and by hand. My quilt was pieced by hand but under strong light, and it is being quilted by machine. But I'm tired when I get to quilting, as they probably were, but I tell you, I sleep especially well after an hour or two of quilting this beast (and you should see my biceps!)<br />
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<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054854689952896339noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156196178932753360.post-42731424049851494222016-07-11T22:06:00.001+10:002016-07-11T22:11:32.126+10:00The reward system<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Nine days ago, I realised I had a massive EPP quilt to finish piecing, then applique the sides on, baste, quilt, bind, sleeve and label. In just 27 days.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I now have 18 days left but at least I'm a little closer.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19.32px;">That reward </span></span><span style="line-height: 19.32px;">system</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19.32px;"> I </span></span></span><span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="line-height: 19.32px;">mentioned</span></span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19.32px;"> in my last post has definitely been doing the trick. Because I love making the pyramid blocks so much (and also Liberty. Total swoon), having that little carrot at the end of each task has helped break up the tedium of a boring queen sized quilt.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19.32px;">I prepared 11 blocks, and divided them up into rewards for milestones. I'm allowing myself to make one block at the end of each process:</span></span></div>
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<ul style="color: #1d2129; line-height: 19.32px;">
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19.32px;">Finish the EPP </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19.32px;">Pull the papers out and starch the edges </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19.32px;">Trim the side borders and glue EPP top to them</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19.32px;">Applique by hand</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19.32px;">Sew the backing</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19.32px;">Baste the quilt</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19.32px;">Quilt - I'm allowing myself two blocks for the epic task of quilting a queen sized quilt</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19.32px;">Bind by machine</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19.32px;">Sew down by hand</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19.32px;">Label and sleeve</span></li>
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<span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="line-height: 19.32px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/27623716464/in/dateposted-public/" title="Untitled"><img alt="Untitled" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7738/27623716464_0d96e04b85_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So far I've made two blocks. I actually have another two blocks owing to me, but I'm saving them up till I can find my sewing machine amongst the rubble of quilt show prizes on the sewing table at the moment (a BOX of rulers! Can you even imagine what that looks like or how amazing it is?). Of course, the moment I can find my sewing machine, I'm going to be piecing the backing. Gotcha. Another block rewarded.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; line-height: 19.32px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/27623598143/in/dateposted-public/" title="Untitled"><img alt="Untitled" height="640" src="https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7452/27623598143_b3c9a3ca97_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; line-height: 19.32px;">I have used basting glue a heap of times, usually for little blocks or little quilts. I've never basted a large top to long strips of fabric before, as I did with this quilt to give it grey homespun sides. NEVER AGAIN. What a messy, fiddly crawling-on-the-floor job that was. But the sides are on now, and appliqued down, and my butt muscles have recovered. Maybe I'll do it again ...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #1d2129; line-height: 19.32px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/27958409860/in/dateposted-public/" title="Untitled"><img alt="Untitled" height="640" src="https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7454/27958409860_2bff8579eb_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="line-height: 19.32px;">I really need to stop blogging about it and get moving - 4 years in the making (I started it during the last Olympic Games!) means it's definitely time to to finish it and get it on my bed.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="line-height: 19.32px;">Anyone want to come over and help me baste it? I promise toned abs and tight butt muscles by the end of it.</span></span></div>
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Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054854689952896339noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156196178932753360.post-53862195446037384372016-07-02T06:00:00.000+10:002016-07-02T06:00:29.201+10:00On slow stitching, and joining inI am a slow quilter.. Most of my quilts are hand pieced or appliqued, and in the last few years I have resisted the fad of making "quick quilts" unless absolutely necessary (group quilts and emergency hugs are exceptions). It makes blogging about quilting extremely boring when everything I make is works in progress, but that's who I am as a quilter and I'm proud of that. I take my time. I procrastinate. <i>I start new things.</i><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/27914917132/in/dateposted-public/" title="Panama Pyramids"><img alt="Panama Pyramids" height="480" src="https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7622/27914917132_ae199d9837_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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In my last post I shared that I was joining a sewalong to make the Panama Pyramids quilt by Linda from <a href="http://quiltsinthebarnaus.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">Quilts in the Barn</a>. It's taking place on Facebook, and other quilters' versions are all so different and lovely that I couldn't resist making my own. I purchased the plastic templates from Linda at the Sydney quilt show and since I've been home in Canberra I've been thinking about fabrics and colours.</div>
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In the end I decided on Liberty. Between a Liberty club I was in for a year, and my dressmaking scraps, I have accumulated a fair bit of it.</div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/27982193146/in/dateposted-public/" title="Panama Pyramids"><img alt="Panama Pyramids" height="480" src="https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7358/27982193146_f00d0f658a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The templates make life so much easier, and not being the most accurate machine piecer in the world, they certainly help out in that department. That's not to say there isn't an element of wonk in my of the blocks I've made so far, though.</div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/27736660180/in/dateposted-public/" title="Panama Pyramids"><img alt="Panama Pyramids" height="480" src="https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7657/27736660180_a4ede63db1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Last night I spent the evening cutting out a heap of blocks. Remember that queen sized quilt I entered into the Canberra quilt show? I have exactly 28 days to finish it, and I've prepared some blocks as little rewards for when the applique gets boring, the quilting makes no sense, and I'm sick of putting on another bloody sleeve.</div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/27736629170/in/dateposted-public/" title="Panama Pyramids"><img alt="Panama Pyramids" height="640" src="https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7331/27736629170_0a4eb96bbc_z.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054854689952896339noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156196178932753360.post-49334660510377763072016-06-27T20:57:00.000+10:002016-06-27T21:29:20.232+10:00Sydney Quilt Show Well hi there! It's been almost 5 months since my last post. Life got a little, ah... well I won't say "busy" but a better word is "distracted". My husband had a second hip surgery in early February and then had (and still has) some pretty serious complications, so there was that. And I started a new job in an entirely new field, so there was that too. And I'm running the house single handed and becoming a master of the meal prep, so again. And I entered the Sydney Quilt Show with a quilt that wasn't even a finished top yet.<br />
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(People (of the flummoxed type, I expect) sometimes ask why I enter quilt shows given that while I am obsessed with quilting, I don't take the whole exhibition and judging thing or even quilting seriously. AT ALL. Look people - if you haven't worked it out yet, it's so I have a reason to finish quilts.)<br />
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So I entered the quilt show with an unfinished quilt, and I worked really, really hard to finish it. And it totally paid off, because not only did I get a quilt finished, I also got this!<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/27933549525/in/album-72157670296877305/" title="Seven Garden Maze - second place"><img alt="Seven Garden Maze - second place" height="480" src="https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7486/27933549525_01e64ce584_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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I got a phone call from the President on the Sunday morning before the show that I had won "something" and to say I was shocked would be an understatement. In fact, when I was standing with my friends at the awards ceremony last Wednesday I was convinced, after they had called out the judges commendations for the small or wall quilt (amateur) category, that they had made a mistake in calling me, so sure was I that it must be one of those awards. Nope. Second.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/27321100774/in/album-72157670296877305/" title="Being awarded second place, small quilts category."><img alt="Being awarded second place, small quilts category." height="640" src="https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7269/27321100774_8d585cd5fe_z.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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Yep. Chuffed.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/27933520395/in/album-72157670296877305/" title="With my quilt, just after pinning it."><img alt="With my quilt, just after pinning it." height="480" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7336/27933520395_07312696c7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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The quilt is called Seven Garden Maze and was designed by my good friend Cathy Miller, also known as the <a href="http://www.singingquilter.com/" target="_blank">Singing Quilter</a>. She made hers originally in silk dupioni and it is STUNNING. I decided to pick homespun for my version (solids, the cool kids call it) except for the ocean blue which is a Kaffe Fassett shot cotton. The borders of each maze are not black, but very dark brown (from memory Kona Espresso).<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/27320170433/in/album-72157670296877305/" title="Pinning the ribbon"><img alt="Pinning the ribbon" height="480" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7292/27320170433_d4a222d301_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Each hexagon is 1/2 inch. I machine quilted each wedge from side to side to form it's own secondary labyrinth. I also faced it with 1/2 hexagons because quite clearly I was insane - just this sewing of facings took me a couple of weeks. I handed in the quilt to the person-before-the-dropoff-person just in time.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/27831891832/in/album-72157670296877305/" title="On the early morning ferry with Team Di"><img alt="On the early morning ferry with Team Di" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7640/27831891832_35ddae3993_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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So Sydney! It was pretty spectacular. I spent 6 days up there, and unlike last year I didn't injure my back the night before, or get laryngitis while I was there. So this year I got to talk! And walk! And spend heaps of time with friends new and old. I had a fantastic time. I spent three days at the quilt show, mostly volunteering, with the highlight being day one. A group of us friends stood together at the awards ceremony, and then this happened (and this is only a few of us who won ribbons - aren't we a talented bunch?)...<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/27856413161/in/album-72157670296877305/" title="Jennifer Davis wins second in Commercially Quilted category"><img alt="Jennifer Davis wins second in Commercially Quilted category" height="480" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7345/27856413161_6c552f13c8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/27856430301/in/album-72157670296877305/" title="Beth Miller wins first in Pictorial Quilts category"><img alt="Beth Miller wins first in Pictorial Quilts category" height="640" src="https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7675/27856430301_fc2eea3c4e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/27856439001/in/album-72157670296877305/" title="Rachaeldaisy wind first in Anything Goes Mixed media category"><img alt="Rachaeldaisy wind first in Anything Goes Mixed media category" height="640" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7471/27856439001_d8662720ba_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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The biggest surprise though was when my lovely friend <a href="http://bluemountaindaisy.blogspot.com.au/2016/06/super-big-exciting-news.html" target="_blank">Rachaeldaisy</a> won best of show! I've stolen this photo quite blatantly from the guild's Facebook page, because it is just so classic (and we were all a bit emotional!).<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/27654821330/in/album-72157670296877305/" title="Rachaeldaisy winning Best of Show"><img alt="Rachaeldaisy winning Best of Show" height="332" src="https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7549/27654821330_69ffaeb410_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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What else about Sydney? Oh there is so much. I took photos of quilts but don't have permission from the makers to post them (because I forgot to ask), so instead if you want to see some winning quilts (including Rachael's amazing masterpiece) go to the <a href="http://quiltnsw.com/quiltshow/" target="_blank">QuiltNSW website</a>.<br />
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Oh, and one last thing. I decided to start another new thing (all the other new things are meant to be in a post all of their own, there are so many) and this new thing is the Panama Pyramids sewalong. <a href="http://quiltsinthebarnaus.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">Linda Collins from Quilts in the Barn</a> is running the sewalong and while she was working at the Quiltmania stand during the show, she brought along the original antique quilt that launched a 590 member sewalong. And I got to hold it and stroke it and really appreciate that amazing yellow. Aren't I lucky? It's absolutely beautiful.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/27934601365/in/album-72157670296877305/" title="Holding Linda's original Panama pyramids quilt"><img alt="Holding Linda's original Panama pyramids quilt" height="640" src="https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7578/27934601365_77cfc6c0f5_z.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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It was a fantastic show. Heck - it was a fantastic week! A friend came to stay for a couple of days early on and we went to the Isabella Blow and Collette Dinnigan exhibitions. I had dinner with friends, and the Sydney Spoolettes. I met up with my quilting friends at the show each day, met some online friends finally, had a little meet up with some beautiful women from <a href="http://www.theappliqueguildofaustralia.org.au/" target="_blank">The Applique Guild of Australia</a> who were visiting the show and I got to take the first and last ferries from Circular Quay with my friends <a href="http://snippetsnscraps.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">Di</a> and Di most days.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/27322749534/in/album-72157670296877305/" title="Untitled"><img alt="Untitled" height="640" src="https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7265/27322749534_cf884a86c0_z.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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By Saturday I was buggered and so ready to go home so I got to the airport a bit earlier and sat in the sun at Gate 19 and stitched some of Chester Criswell while watching the planes take off and land. That was nice. I might have snoozed a bit. And since I got home to Canberra I have been absolutely freezing after the warmth in Sydney. But I can't wait for next year.<br />
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I've entered the Canberra quilt show in August with another unfinished work in progress. I have 32 days to finish it. And it's queen sized. Ha.<br />
<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054854689952896339noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156196178932753360.post-81594970769314408382016-02-09T08:59:00.003+11:002016-02-09T09:00:00.545+11:00An update on ChesterSince I last wrote about my Chester Criswell quilt <a href="http://buttontreelane.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/we-need-to-talk-about-chester.html">5 week ago</a>, I've managed to make seven blocks. SEVEN! I'm not too sure how that happened as it seems like such a rare thing to have the time to sit on my butt and sew, but being a massive tennis fan probably helped, as did a four week holiday and then yesterday (when I made my seventh block) sitting by a hospital bed.<br />
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Guys, this is Rachel Dickey. Rachel, meet everyone.
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Mary Wilson. This block proved I really need to mark out my appliqué piece placement before I pin the pieces down. That top right red tulip bit was unpicked twice. Single piece blocks are so much easier.<br />
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Jesse Jackson Smith was appliquéd in a night. So fast. Single piece block - see what I mean?<br />
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Lovely Eliza Whiteside with her inability to trace and cut the pattern properly. I love that this block has replicated the original with all its faults. And then I've added some faults of my own (all charming ones of course).<br />
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Adaline Gibson was another quick block - done over two nights. She's my 15th block, and marked the end of the 15 background blocks I'd precut a few years ago. Time to cut some more. Luckily I have a stash of text fabric.<br />
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This was finished during the men's tennis semi final last weekend - Elizabeth Cummins. I love those little hearts, and how it looks like people holding hands. I thought the fabric would give me a headache, but it didn't (this photo does though).<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/24274896224/in/dateposted-public/" title="Untitled"><img alt="Untitled" height="640" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1623/24274896224_6bfe0e8844_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Elizabeth Crosby, also known as The Deathstar (seriously!) because of this photo:<br />
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After I got back from the hospital last night, I put all 17 blocks on the design wall to decide where to go, along with some prepared blocks. I have also prepared a massive 24 inch block which was made by the bride's mother. It is very intricate and looks very difficult and I worry that such a huge block will detract from the look I have going on here. I will leave it on the design wall a bit longer and have more of a think. I want to make 25 blocks, and this block would mean I wouldn't have to make 4 of them. But then again ... so many curves and corners to be done, and it is kind of intimidating.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/24276152903/in/dateposted-public/" title="Untitled"><img alt="Untitled" height="480" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1473/24276152903_baf00cfcd3_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Where to from here? But do I want to hand quilt it? Machine quilt it? Enter it in a quilt show this year? I don't know, but I know I have rediscovered my love for these blocks and I just can't see myself stopping making them for quite a while. Also I'm on carer's leave for the week while my husband recovers from another hip surgery so I'm sure there will be stitching during the napping.Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054854689952896339noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156196178932753360.post-43850654906279653192016-01-24T16:41:00.000+11:002016-01-24T16:44:27.287+11:00Simplicity 1920 - a (much) repeated pattern for the winA couple of years ago I muslined up a top from the Simplicity 1920 pattern. It was a disaster, mainly because of the w-i-d-e neckline that left me a wee bit frustrated when it came to making the top sit nicely on my shoulders. Without showing bra strap. Yeah, that.<br />
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However towards the end of last year I had a wedding to go to and little time to make a nice top, so I reached for Simplicity 1920 as it was the shape of top I was after. I added about an inch to the neckline, ignored the shoulder/sleeve vents, and made it in red silk.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/22761752753/in/dateposted-public/" title="Untitled"><img alt="Untitled" height="640" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/711/22761752753_a8bc73a691_z.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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It was lovely. I still wear it each week, but making it without the sleeve vents was a massive mistake. I have narrow shoulders and, thanks to swimming every day, guns. I needed that space in my sleeve to allow movement (and gun-flexing).<br />
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I wanted to make it again, in linen this time for my long summer staycation. So I made three.<br />
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I made this one first out of a yellow hanky linen I'd purchased from Addicted to Fabric a couple of years ago. Its my favourite.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/23945777294/in/dateposted-public/" title="Untitled"><img alt="Untitled" height="640" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1490/23945777294_2a87c75214_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Siobhan and I went to Addicted the day before New Years Eve - her to get buttons and my opinion, and me to pick up a white linen and another nice plain colour that would go with most of my summer skirts. This olive green is such a gorgeous colour. I made this top on New Year's Eve and wore it out to the movies that night. It gets worn constantly.<br />
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I'm not much of a white fabric fan, but heck - it goes with everything.<br />
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In the last week of my staycation I dedicated my sewing to work clothes. So I cracked open the Liberty stash. I'd never sewn with Liberty in my life. I was justifiably nervous.<br />
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This is the "Kussman" print with Icelandic horses. I bought the fabric at Addicted ages ago. I really, really love this top. I've already worn it to work with a black-grey textured skirt and it's not often I get compliments on what I sew but there were compliments. Lots of them.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/24206203939/in/dateposted-public/" title="Untitled"><img alt="Untitled" height="640" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1603/24206203939_090faa1c24_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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And this is Liberty's "Wiltshire Berry" fabric. I bought it at Shinjuku's Okadaya in Tokyo. I always thought it would be perfect with a black skirt, so I made a black skirt too. The fabric is unbelievably pretty.<br />
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I'm not sick of this pattern yet at all. I've cut out another two tops for work in the last week, and I made up one during Canberra Sewing Crew social sewing yesterday. I almost finished another, but I made a massive mistake in overlocking the neckline because it was fraying badly, and then slicing into the neck with my overlocker blade. Such a rookie mistake - I was embarassed. So it's sitting in the naughty corner for now until I can work out how to fix it.<br />
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Here's the version I made yesterday. I used a beautiful printed lawn from Tomato in Tokyo. It has toadstools and squirrels and owls and bunnies on it. I will never be too old to wear fabric with those things on them.<br />
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Since my red silk version, I've added between 1 and 1 1/2 inches to the neckline, both front and back. It seems to work for me. Weirdly the bust darts are in the right place for me, when normally they are too high. I actually have never followed the pattern instructions for this, so I don't know whether I'm supposed to make the bias for the neckline, or even if there is a bias. But I just use store bought bias binding. It works for me, and for this top.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwwDGCB07VkHSpCbAaWfZx3VRuDGZFIZSVxwpqHXU-Sw8Bnqo57Y7WDqONfCt6JQ5wK4lVJpw2wuUKrhX2j7NaLvjxB-b4a-iPXY8OGv5Lvqq6j6i4bBclNU0hw53Z9MB0ogdRkaOqGpU/s1600/Simplicity+1920.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwwDGCB07VkHSpCbAaWfZx3VRuDGZFIZSVxwpqHXU-Sw8Bnqo57Y7WDqONfCt6JQ5wK4lVJpw2wuUKrhX2j7NaLvjxB-b4a-iPXY8OGv5Lvqq6j6i4bBclNU0hw53Z9MB0ogdRkaOqGpU/s640/Simplicity+1920.JPG" width="500" /></a></div>
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I've added the line drawing for the pattern here to demonstrate the wide and low neckline. I'd also really like to make that jacket, but without all the shirring on the sleeve and back.<br />
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All up, it's a simple but really nice top, and very comfortable to wear. I take my time with making it - doing all the top stitching of the vents and arm holes, and it probably takes less than two hours, including cutting. It's a good, versatile pattern, and definitely a key article when it comes to building a basic wardrobe.<br />
<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054854689952896339noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156196178932753360.post-92045930111443684842016-01-12T12:47:00.000+11:002016-01-12T12:47:55.335+11:00The Unblogged: Hot Flush DiamondsIn undertaking the great sort-out of Spring-Summer 2015/16, I've discovered a few unblogged quilts , so I thought I might start a series called The Unblogged. Knowing me, I'll still be blogging the unblogged until 2017, but to show you how dedicated I am, here's the first Unblogged.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/24243521911/in/dateposted-public/" title="Hot Flush Diamonds"><img alt="Hot Flush Diamonds" height="640" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1690/24243521911_7650e70dc1_z.jpg" width="496" /></a><br />
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It's a monster and it was too big for the clothes line and too heavy for anyone to lift so I cleaned out my closet of skirt hangers and got the ladder out to hang the quilt on the tallest gutters of my house. Oh, and it's 36 degrees celcius outside and SCORCHING. You're welcome.<br />
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I started this quilt at a <a href="http://buttontreelane.blogspot.com.au/2011/02/my-creative-space-workshop-in-colour.html" target="_blank">Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably workshop almost 5 years ago</a>. Good Lord. I finished it last summer, I think. I only say that because I really can't remember, but I do remember suffocating under this huge quilt last summer, so perhaps.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/23699107453/in/dateposted-public/" title="Hot Flush Diamonds"><img alt="Hot Flush Diamonds" height="640" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1647/23699107453_933ea0f2fd_z.jpg" width="427" /></a><br />
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I didn't have much of a clue when I was putting this together. I followed the pattern for Cool Diamonds (from the book "Kaleidoscope of Quilts") to a tee, which meant the quilt size was much bigger than was practical. We have a low queen sized bed, and this quilt is really more a king sized or bedspread size. It's so long it hangs to the floor, and I can tuck my pillows underneath it. Not the most practical size, and also very heavy. So this quilt doesn't get used too often, but it really is very pretty to look at.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/23699243243/in/dateposted-public/" title="Hot Flush Diamonds"><img alt="Hot Flush Diamonds" height="427" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1559/23699243243_0c030710a7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Raylee from <a href="http://www.sunflowerquilting.com.au/" target="_blank">Sunflower Quilting</a> quilted it in an orange Rasant Thread and I really like it. I didn't want the quilting to blend in, and I wanted it to acknowledge the amount of orange that had crept into the quilt.<br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/23699275873/in/dateposted-public/" nbsp="" title="Hot Flush Diamonds"><img alt="Hot Flush Diamonds" height="640" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1473/23699275873_0731f799b5_z.jpg" width="427" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script><br />
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I backed it with Martha Negley bamboo print and some spare Kaffe from the binding fabric.<br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/24030390510/in/dateposted-public/" nbsp="" title="Hot Flush Diamonds"><img alt="Hot Flush Diamonds" height="640" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1589/24030390510_a5993867d4_z.jpg" width="458" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script><br />
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I called it Hot Flush Diamonds because in the book there is a Cool Diamonds pattern, and a Hot Diamonds pattern. I'm pretty sure they are identical except for the colours used. I started out with a cool green quilt but it was bland, so we added orange and suddenly it wasn't such a cool quilt anymore. There were definite temperature spikes in there. Hot Flush. Enough said.<br />
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<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054854689952896339noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156196178932753360.post-53569766632521864452016-01-05T18:14:00.001+11:002016-01-05T18:18:48.723+11:00We need to talk about ChesterSharon from Two Bits Patches, the creator of the Chester Criswell Block of the Month <a href="http://buttontreelane.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/the-chester-criswell-quilt.html" target="_blank">that I started three years ago</a>, has decided to start sending emails once a week to reinvigorate those of us (*cough* like me *cough*) who had fallen by the wayside. It was the gentle kick up the butt I needed. I mean, there's only so much needle turn appliqué a lady can do before she goes stark raving mad! No wonder I'm so slow (I'm intensely insane already).<br />
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Chester Criswell is a very traditional signature album quilt - originally made in turkey red and green back in 1852 in Pennsylvania. I'm a traditional kind of quilter, but I'm not one for the traditional colour palettes so I've been doing mine in bright modern fabrics, on a text (or course) low-ish value background.</div>
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I've had the nine blocks I thought I'd made so far up on the design wall the last few weeks (and then today I found a tenth!! Oh Reuben Stubbs - you always were trouble) so I thought I'd finally document them and put them up here on the blog for posterity and fact checking (this is how I found the tenth block, actually. He was on the blog a few weeks ago. I knew Reuben wasn't a figment of my imagination!)</div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/24159729436/in/dateposted-public/" title="1. Jane Wilson"><img alt="1. Jane Wilson" height="480" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1582/24159729436_43f3b55b97_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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1. Jane Wilson</div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/23559018003/in/dateposted-public/" nbsp="" title="2. Elizabeth Cowan"><img alt="2. Elizabeth Cowan" height="480" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1583/23559018003_2ce3bafe52_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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2. Elizabeth Cowan (done using a different technique with "wash out" stabiliser. I hated the technique, and it didn't wash out at all. I would love to do this one again one day.)</div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/24159702676/in/dateposted-public/" title="3. Priscilla and Joseph Turner"><img alt="3. Priscilla and Joseph Turner" height="480" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1627/24159702676_59c71e6099_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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3. Priscilla and Joseph Turner (again, done with the dodgy technique described above before I realised the evil stuff wouldn't wash out (and hence why the grey fabric has gone crinkly)).</div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/24077731312/in/dateposted-public/" title="4. Nancy and James R Smith"><img alt="4. Nancy and James R Smith" height="480" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1675/24077731312_bd9b49a917_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
4. Nancy and James R. Smith</div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/23558970573/in/dateposted-public/" nbsp="" title="5. James Carlile"><img alt="5. James Carlile" height="480" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1568/23558970573_a28ee4ffb9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
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5. James Carlile</div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/24077692812/in/dateposted-public/" title="6. Reuben Stubbs"><img alt="6. Reuben Stubbs" height="480" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1690/24077692812_7c241a3ddc_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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6. Reuben Stubbs </div>
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/24103112701/in/dateposted-public/" nbsp="" title="7. William and Harry Clendenon"><img alt="7. William and Harry Clendenon" height="480" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1548/24103112701_e306c36372_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
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7. William and Harry Clendenon</div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/23817880169/in/dateposted-public/" title="21. Mary Trayner"><img alt="21. Mary Trayner" height="480" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1525/23817880169_04b0327d58_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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21. Mary Trayner (this is when I took the blocks back up after more than a year's break and decided to start working backwards. Didn't last long.)</div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/23890050130/in/dateposted-public/" title="23. Mary Watkins"><img alt="23. Mary Watkins" height="480" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1687/23890050130_e016479c71_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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23. Mary Watkins</div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/24159535386/in/dateposted-public/" title="25. Sarah Stubbs"><img alt="25. Sarah Stubbs" height="480" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1540/24159535386_6cdd321f41_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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25. Sarah Stubbs</div>
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It's a wet and cool day in Canberra today so I've spent this morning at the pool (naturally) and this afternoon avoiding the mess in the kitchen and prepping block 10 Rachel Dickie. Once I deal with the mess in the kitchen, it'll be leftovers for dinner, a nice gin and tonic, The Flash on DVD and Rachel and me.</div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/23817831769/in/dateposted-public/" title="Rachel Dickie in progress"><img alt="Rachel Dickie in progress" height="480" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1441/23817831769_8810d062d1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I really love holidays!</div>
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Anyone interested in a tutorial on how I prepare my freezer paper appliqué? Or are you all down with that already?</div>
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Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054854689952896339noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156196178932753360.post-79396791959353693232015-12-26T13:11:00.002+11:002015-12-26T13:14:50.656+11:00Happy Handmade Christmas<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/23677754730/in/dateposted-public/" title="Untitled"><img alt="Untitled" height="640" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1599/23677754730_7cd152c864_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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The spirit of Christmas didn't clobber me over the head until the week I finished work - the week before Christmas. I don't have many people to buy presents for - a few friends, and a small family. I refused to go overboard this year - in embracing my new aspiring-to-be-a-minimalist lifestyle, I don't see why anyone else wants plastic junk either. I certainly don't want to buy it.<br />
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I wasn't anticipating making anything by hand for gifts. But I do like to sew for stress relief, and there was a pattern I'd been itching to try from <i>Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts</i>, so I got to cutting and sewing the night before my last day ... and then the next thing I knew I had six quilted coasters for a little Christmas gift for each of my workmates.<br />
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I used a lot of my stash of independent screen printed fabrics - Ink and Spindle, Auntie Cookie, Publisher Textiles to name a few - and also cotton batting scraps that I'd been hoarding for a project just like this. I think they came up really nicely! I enjoyed sewing them a lot more than I thought I would - I would even get up early before swimming laps to quilt a couple, and then hop on my bike to the pool.<br />
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I ended up making six different sets, and everyone who received a set (or a single) told me how nice they are. They didn't take long to make - once the fabric and batting was cut it took about an hour or so to sew up a set of 6. I still haven't made any for us at home - but I'm working on that.<br />
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My nephews are ages 9, 5 and 3 and I really wanted to make them something useful. They get so spoiled at Christmas with toys from Santa and the grandparents that it made me think I'd be a little more comfortable if Aunty Michelle could make them something ... that wasn't Lego (don't worry - in case you think I was sucking the joy of Christmas for my sweet nephews, they got a little Lego too. Next year - probably not. Sorry kids.)<br />
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I sewed the two older nephews a colour coordinated pencil roll each - again the pattern was from <i>Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts</i>. Cutting all those little fabrics strips was a total pain in the arse. But sewing it together was a blast - I had a lot of fun constructing it. The fabric was all stash fabric, and even the grosgrain ribbon ties were from the big box of trims I had from my Blythe sewing days. The only thing I had to buy was the set of pencils.<br />
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For the three-year-old I made a crayon roll. I loosely followed <a href="http://www.skiptomylou.org/on-a-roll/" target="_blank">this tutorial</a> from Skip to My Lou, however I adapted the measurements for a pack of 12 crayons, and constructed and quilted it like I did with the pencil rolls up above (one continuous line of quilting).<br />
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My one mistake was not making the roll wider to allow for chunkier crayons. In the end I had allowed for 1 inch pockets, but really they needed to be closer to 1 1/4 inches. The crayons are a little bit too squeezy for my liking, but my sister-in-law reckons they'll be good for his fine motor skills, so what would I know?<br />
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Apparently the gifts were well received and a great idea for the days that the boys have to join mum in the office. The nine-year-old is a little cartoonist in the making so I hope he enjoys using the roll.<br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltingmick/8270965999/" nbsp="" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Christmas 2012"><img alt="Christmas 2012" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8210/8270965999_66474bfba0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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This is a stock photo from 2012! For years now I have been making several batches of granola to give as gifts - head to the two dollar shop to get some nice jars and fill them up, add a bit of garden twine and a packing label listing what's in it, and it's the perfect edible Christmas gift! I used to make Christmas cakes, but granola is better for you, and the oven doesn't have to be on for as long to bake it.<br />
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And finally, what's Christmas without a new Christmas frock? Well, no Christmas frock was made this year, sadly, but I did spend a little time on Christmas morning taking up the hem of my first ever Simplicity 2929 by 7 inches to wear at Christmas lunch at our friends'. It was a warm day so this voile dress was perfect, and those big roses make it feel very Christmassy indeed!<br />
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Finally, I hope every here had a lovely Christmas Day, no matter how you spent it or who you spent it with. I really missed seeing my family this year but travel was out of the question so we made do, and friends came to the rescue, and thank heavens for Australia Post getting the presents to everyone on time!Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054854689952896339noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156196178932753360.post-91061659289765111512015-12-25T18:01:00.003+11:002015-12-25T18:01:38.059+11:00Another quilt for SusanThis is the quilt that Julie and I made for our friend Susan for her birthday.<br />
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We made a scrappy quilt using the Cheyenne block - with newsprint fabric for the "low value" (really not that low value at all) because Susan's late dad was in the Canberra press gallery.<br />
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I finished the top with 20 minutes to spare before her party in September. We gave her the quilt top, and then grabbed it back off her as we left. My back wasn't playing fair and I had planned to quilt it myself. Julie helped with the basting (thank heavens) and then finally I had a window of painfree-ness a couple of weeks ago where I could quilt it. Just 720 inches at a time before resting, but within a few days it was done. Julie sewed the binding on using the <a href="http://www.ellabluefabrics.com/collections/ellas-basics/" target="_blank">Ella Blue Basics</a> place names fabric in white and black, and it was ready to give back to Susan. Only 3 months late, but better late that never.<br />
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I quilted straight lines 1/2 inch from each seam to give a grid effect. It's quite a simple way of quilting, but anything other than straight lines would have ruined the different patterns that this block gives you in this quilt. I used Aurifil 50/2 weight in colour 1135 (yellow) and it turned out really well in a quilt that gives a bit of a yellow vibe (for a scrappy quilt). Also I'm on the whole "using what I have in the stash" bandwagon at the moment and I have a lot of this yellow Aurifil laying around. It's the perfect sunny colour for a very happy quilt.<br />
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We got pretty cheeky with the backing - I had a few metres of firemen fabric that I bought for a few dollars a metre at a quilt shop sale a few years ago. Again with the stash. We also used 100% cotton batting. I'm such a fan of cotton batting for home quilting - it sticks to the fabric so the pinning isn't as important, and it gives a really nice finish to the quilt after you wash it. I washed Susan's quilt before we gave it to her so it has an immediate snuggle factor.<br />
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It's <a href="http://buttontreelane.blogspot.com.au/2005/10/susan_7565.html" target="_blank">not the first quilt I've made Susan</a>, but the first I've made with another friend. It was a lot of fun getting together over a few weekends, sewing, trimming, sorting and joining. In the mad sorting out I've been doing over the last few months, I discovered another quilt I made to give to a friend over 2 years ago, but never quilted. I have a few more weeks of leave from work, and that's definitely on the list to finish.Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054854689952896339noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156196178932753360.post-4067695615198281482015-11-29T18:46:00.001+11:002015-11-29T18:49:17.064+11:00FINISHING - Report #2Well it's been 21 days since my last report. So much has happened in that time, including a second borking of my back (a different part this time). I'm feeling so talented at this back business I just ... can't. Anyway, I'm feeling better every day, although some days have been less than impressive. But occassionally sewing does get done!<br />
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Also I've been reading <a href="http://www.theminimalists.com/ee/" target="_blank">this book by The Minimalists</a> as part of my research into living my life more meaningfully, with less crap. And it's really good. Quotably good. I'm learning a lot about myself and the reasons why I feel so uncomfortable living in a cluttered home and life. So this finishing project has been a perfect "dip of my toe in the water" of minimalism.<br />
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Not too much to report on the actually finishing side of things this time - but I have progressed quite a few things too. The first UFO finished is that block from Chester Criswell that I thought I'd lost at the Sydney Quilt Show. I FOUND IT!<br />
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And I finished it. Best appliqué of my life, done spectacularly well while sewing under the influence of serious painkillers. Sarah Stubbs is the name of this block. Tick!<br />
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A friend and I had booked in do the Suitcase Rummage a couple of months ago. I was a bit touch and go in the days leading up to it as to whether I'd actually make it on the day, but in the end I even felt well enough to sew a few Sunnyboys that were hanging around cut out and ready to sew! We did the Suitcase Rummage, and I made a serious dent in the vintage Pyrex collection and a few other unused things in my house so all up a great day. Yay minimalism!<br />
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I also made another project sack for a special request that was very overdue, and managed to work some more on the Final Bags Ever.* Labels? Tick. Batch sewing of handles and tabs? Tick, tick.<br />
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And while this wasn't on the UFO list, it was on the essential sewing list. I was attending a wedding - dress code "Elegant Garden Party" (best dress code ever, by the way) - and so I finished that red silk top I wrote about in the last post, and also cut up my old <a href="http://buttontreelane.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/2011-christmas-frock.html" target="_blank">2011 Christmas frock</a> that was now too big for me, and made it into a skirt.<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Killing myself laughing in this photo because my husband was photobombing while taking forever to walk into the living room (he's had hip surgery - I forgive him for being slower than a snail). Finally he ducked out of view and I could take this photo.)</span></i><br />
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Now for the "moving slowly, but at least I'm moving" UFOs.<br />
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Mary Watkins (from Chester Criswell) is slowly but surely getting there. I reckon if Australia doesn't get bowled out before stumps tonight I might have it close to finished.<br />
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The centre section of Anna Brereton is being sewn together! Hallelujah! Long, long way to go on this project, though. And that's OK.<br />
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And finally a quilt that a friend and I made for another friend's birthday ... in September. We basted it a couple of months ago, but wrestling a quilt through a sewing machine when you have a back injury is not my idea of smart, or fun. But this morning I started. Just straight lines. I sew 720 inches, and then I stop for a few hours to rest. I'm maybe a quarter done on this. By next update, God willing, it will be finished and back to my friend to bind it.<br />
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Hopefully my next update will be quicker than three weeks, and I'll have more to show that is actually finished. This year I've cut right back on the social events I normally get roped into doing leading up to Christmas - so as of 9 pm next Sunday (when my choir has sung its final note at our Christmas concert) it will be nothing but business-as-usual (gardening, housework, working, swimming, the usual friends stuff, and of course sewing in between).<br />
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*After more than 8 years making project bags for crocheters/knitters/crafters/storage hoarders, I've decided to finally (!), officially retire. The bags I have cut out are the last bags I will make. I hope to have them all in my online store in the next couple of weeks. I will write a pattern for the project sack, but not before the end of the year. If you want to keep updated on when the bags will go in the store, the best bet is my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ButtontreeLane/" target="_blank">store's Facebook page</a>.<br />
<br />Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054854689952896339noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156196178932753360.post-19865628721287321072015-11-08T17:57:00.001+11:002015-11-08T17:57:21.483+11:00FINISHING - Report #1Two weeks ago I reported that I was determined to finish things that were half-finished or mostly-finished or cut-out-but-not-quite-started.<br />
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Two weeks later I have very little to report. Not one to make excuses, I have however been gardening a lot since we got our new vegetable patches. I've started riding to work again in the last couple of weeks which just makes me exhausted and lazy by the time I get home. But riding! YAY! Also back injury rehabilitation takes a lot of spare time - like an hour a day of exercises. Probably gardening is not the best thing for rehabilitation but my physio hasn't complained about it yet!<br />
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BUT I do have things to report, even if there are very few of them.<br />
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This is Mary Trayner from the Chester Criswell Block of the Month I started a couple of years ago. I think I've made a total of 8 blocks now - and by "think" I mean that I seem to have lost one. I'm sure it's in the spare room somewhere...<br />
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It gave me the opportunity to start the next block already prepared with freezer paper - Mary Watkins. She's a bit of fun, mainly because all I can see is the Batman symbol over Gotham City.<br />
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I finished three bags for my <a href="http://www.buttontreelane.com.au/" target="_blank">online store</a> - these were already made and just needed the lining attached and topstitched down. Should have made them much sooner than this - I've already sold two of them. I have more bags cut out and ready to sew up and I'll be making more tonight.<br />
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Finally, I finished the skirt, which I am calling The Skirt of Multiple Inappopriate Patterns But I Don't Give a Hoot. The skirt was already made and the lining cut out. All I had to do was sew the lining up, attach it to the skirt, face it, hem both lining and skirt (the skirt all by hand) and add a hook and eye. Phew! It actually took me longer than I expected but I was so relieved when it was done. Bonus points for really loving it too.<br />
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My finishing has to take a bit of a break for the next few days as I now have to make a top to wear with my new skirt (and it's urgent, because not only do I have very few clothes to wear to work, I need this top to wear to a wedding next weekend, along with a skirt I am refashioning from a too-big dress). Once they are both done though, I'll be free to <strike>garden to my heart's content</strike> finish more things. I must admit it's satisfying to finish UFOs - but it's also frustrating that I ever let it get this desperately bad. I'm on a bit of a minimalist research binge at the moment and I expect there will be some massive changes in this house over the summer.Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054854689952896339noreply@blogger.com4