Tuesday Treasure

Some treasures reduce me to tears..... 

 " Hi Nana!"

I am linking up with Melody's Tuesday Treasure today

... and that was the weekend.....

A couple of hours down the road and we went to the Abbey Medieval Tournament this year....

wonderful banners and lots of people dressed up

medieval birds of prey

harpist

swordfighting training

knights in shining armour

fighting over damsels

musicians serenading

so much to see and do......

I've been playing with my Wiscasset making Half Square Triangles....

... into pinwheels...

Three different sizes

and planning how to join them together

This is my first block for Little Patchwork Village by Rosalie Quinlan

which I first saw over at Peg's (thanks Peg - I love these)

I am using a Cosmo thread for the first time

it does sew lovely and smoothly and I love the subtle variegation

........ and, and, and.....

 do you remember my Bag with Nanatude?

well Wanda is making one but at the same time turning her skills into making a proper pattern.... so exciting and I got such a kick out of someone wanting to make it, oh, oh, oh - I can't wait to see the rest

I do hope you can spend some time in your Happy Place this week

Picnic Day..............

I'm going to join in with Melody's Teddy Bear Picnic today ..... we are having  a cold spell here in Queensland and I think it is coming from Melody's place so I thought I would provide a little quilt for everyone to snuggle in....

In 2009 we discovered we were expecting our 4th grandiebaby.... 

I had done applique before but no piecing of little pieces and it was fun going and choosing a bunch of colours to go together - I wanted the quilt to suit either boy or girl...

stitch in the ditch quilting around the blocks

I do love the little bugs in each block

teddy bear expressions.... mmmm

in the ditch quilting around the shapes

early attempts at free motion quilting (I traced the design on first with water soluble marker)

Little grandiegirl looked cute snuggled up......

I hope everyone manages to keep warm at the picnic....... 

I'm off to go visiting HERE and then sit and a do a bit of stitching ....

and of course I hope you find some time to be in your Happy Place today....

Tuesday Treasure at Melody's

Those special Tuesdays when I am organised I like to join in with Melody's Tuesday Treasure where we can tell about something we are treasuring.....

My Grandmother and my mother were both very community minded women and were active members of the Womens Institute (WI) which is similar to the Country Womens Association here in Australia.  The WI would do a lot of fundraising, crafts, teach each other skills but also an important work of advocating for new laws and rights for groups in the country.

Well, life happened and we had to move both grandparents and parents in the last 1970's away from the country town they loved and into a more secure city location...... and I think they both missed their beloved WI where they had played leading roles at one time or another (Chairperson, Secretary etc.....) and served on countless committees..

The WI hall was sold and that part of our history was over.....

6 years after we had immigrated I got a call out of the blue from a friend from way back and who I had lost touch with.... only to discover she lives 15 minutes away - it was wonderful to rekindle an old friendship .... we get together regularly and one day she brought me a gift....

Can you believe it these are chairs from the WI hall

The seats are made with leather strips (rimpi) woven and are surprisingly comfortable - much better than solid wood for sitting through meetings!!

Of course I am thrilled to have these in my home - and to think Granny and Mum would have sat in them and they travelled around the world to come and live with me...  They are great for spares around the dining table.

These are some meeces I have made

(I actually made them a while ago but poor things got forgotten)

I have weighted them with a bit of rice.....

the pattern is from Bustle and Sew  

I couldn't see the pattern there now (there have been some changes to the blog) but there is always lots of fun things to see and quite a few patterns available....

They are rather addictive to make...... mmmmm

I hope you find time to visit your Happy Place

Stitchin' and Stitchin'

When I first started Patchwork and Quilting I thought it was a matter of buying some perfectly good fabric, cutting it into little pieces and sewing it up again to make patterns.....

Little did I realise the amazing wide range of other mediums there are.... stitcheries, applique, free motion quilting to name a few.......  I love it....

Last week I showed you my Raggedy & Friends quilt which I learnt so much on and I also hosted a give-away for a Charm Pack of Grace.....  so I've just had a chat to Mr Random.....

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

29 

Timestamp: 2011-07-04

and this is going to Tonya at Hillbilly Handiworks.......  I hope you can find something fun to make with this Tonya..... please send your postal address.......

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I also asked people to send a Stitching Tip.... wow, what an amazing assortment.... and they were such great tips that I thought I'd share them with you....  thanks everyone - these are YOUR tips and they are so good that I will link these onto my Tutorials page.....

• Weaveline is great to use as a stabiliser on stitcheries 
• when you are doing redwork check your thread to see if it is colourfast
• Use some spray starch particularly on those loose weave fabrics and they will hold their shape.  You can apply 2 or 3 light sprays (better than one heavy spray) until the fabric has enough body to hold its shape.
• when doing big projects such as quilts make sure you have a few bobbins already wound in the colour you are using.
• when you want to hand quilt straight lines use paper masking tape...it's inexpensive, comes in different widths, no tracing marks to get rid of and just peels off without residue when you're done.
• stitch what you love and leave the rest to someone else.
• a great tool when quilting is freezer paper , draw out the shape you want to quilt and iron it on and presto and instant template that will stay in place long enough to quilt around either by hand or machine and can be reused .
• use iron on interfacing when doing stitcheries , it helps hide the threads well.
• wearing a pair of the magnifying glasses. I can see the end of the previous stitch better when back stitching....
• I used to make templates of all my pieces, drew around them on the fabric and cut them out....I love that now I can use the rotary cutter, it is so much better.
• I like chain sewing when putting a bunch of the same pieces together.
• One of the things I like to do with some stitcheries is to use a piece of batting under the stitching. That way the design shows up nicely and gives a bit more dimension.
• I like to free motion quilt barefoot! I get a better control of the foot pedal without shoes on!
• The best hand stitching tip I can give is (can I explain it in words???) Take a thread ( 40 cm long) bring ends together and thread needle. Take needle through fabric from back to front, then when making first stitch put needle through loop in the back. (Get it??) This prevents the need for a knot at the end of the thread!
• be careful of your fingers!
• I like to use an embroidery hoop,
• make sure the needle is sharp and I 'strip' the threads by separating them and then put them together again before threading the needle. 
• I think the trick is to take your time with something new or else it will end up in the sewing room in a box in the furtherest corner.
• My tip for stitching is run your needle (carefully) through your hair every now and again. The natural oils in your hair make your needle glide through fabric. I used to do this with nappy pins when my kids were little and thought I'd try it when hand sewing. It really does work.
• When starting a row of machine stitching, I wind the hand wheel so the needle goes into and out of my fabric. This way, when I then put my foot down, the thread doesn't come out of the needle, magic!
• YOU CAN DO IT, SEW GET TO IT!
• wind a few bobbins before you start to quilt...
• My tip is be willing to try other tips and methods because you never know when you'll find something wonderful ... and if it's not for you then use what you're most comfortable with.
• read the instructions properly.
• A generous dose of spray starch will help with flimsy fabrics.
• Spray starch outside, so that way I don't have to mop the floor afterwards!
• Pop the blocks in a box first before you spray GLUE (or starch), if the day is windy that way you don't get it all over yourself

I'm sure as you read through this you will find at least one useful tip you can try ....

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At the moment there are 3 blogs I read that have some fun Stitching (and other learning) activities going on - you may know them but just in case......

Tonya from Hillbilly Handiworks (yes - she of the won the Grace Charm pack fame) is doing a series:

Last week there was Paper Piecing and a lesson to make a heart, this week there is an introduction to English Paper Piecing ... and there is lots more planned..... even if you don't do them all I know there will be lots to learn....

Wendy at The Crafters Apprentice is hosting:

with a challenge for us to try and new technique/craft and link up with her.  Wendy has some links and tutorials for adding a button as her LANT.  You can read more about it HERE

My LANT this month is Needleturn...... HHHHEEEELLLLPPPPP

Then Helen from Hugs from Helen is hosting

with Step by Step instructions for different stitches... This week is some straight and running stitch... although I have done this before I am going to try to go through the lessons... I need the practice and I kindof taught myself so I know I will pick up a lot of better ways of doing things

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and since we are talking Stitchin' I finished up my June Birdie Stitchery this weekend.... I thought I was up to date but the July one is out....

This is a free BOM from Little Miss Shabby....

I hope you can spend some time in your Happy Place this week

Oooops... a bit late

I was supposed to draw for the Quilt Baby book yesterday... but it is still Friday somewhere in the world I think.....

I would so love to send everyone something and I am very pleased to have Mr Random as a friend to make the choice of what goes where......

True Random Number Service

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

15 

Timestamp: 2011-07-02 02:24:17 UTC

Number 15 is Rosie ....

Rosie is quite a new blogger and also recently became a new grandmother so I hope there will be something lovely for little Max in the book..........

Rosie is a farmgal and has made some lovely quilts and goodies and if you haven't met her why not pop over and say Hi... and have a read over HERE

and now seeing it is Saturday here I will draw for the Homespun Magazine....

Here are your random numbers:

18 

Timestamp: 2011-07-02 02:34:59 UTC

Number 18 is Narelle..... from Pins and Whiskers....  Narelle always has lots of different things to look at and she hosts a Christmas One Item a Month activity.....  pop along HERE for a read...

Well done ladies.... I will email you for your snail mail addresses......

Did a couple of hours hard labour in the garden this morning and tonight Hubz is taking me out for dinner as it was our 32nd Anniversary last week....  for now I think I need to tidy up some space in this little room of mine.....

Hope you find your Happy Place today.....

I know I can, I know I can.....

Only 2 more posts till I get to 200 ....... I wonder why I feel that is a landmark.... anyway... it has all been such fun....

I was going to show these for June... but last night blogger wasn't playing nice and I couldn't sign in - did anyone else have that problem?

I never managed any Christmas items in June - hopefully this month will be better - lots of people like to celebrate Christmas in July here down-under - I haven't yet but perhaps it's a good time to start.....

Onward we go..... some time ago I won a lovely stitchery bag pattern by Michelle Ridgeway... I have been working on it for a while but finished it last week...... and was able to give it to a special friend yesterday..... (you see she always come to play stitch with me with a plastic container - there's nothing wrong with plastic containers - I use them myself - but I thought she would like something pretty to put it in....)

little bits of embellishment

lace and buttons

french knots on ric-rac and rows of daisies

bigger daisies

very cute stitchery.......

(If you look carefully you can see I forgot to stitch the doohickey that the spool is fitted on to.... I did fix it up before I gave it will one of those permanent pens..... Ooooops - but now she know I really did handmake it)

Although done in June this will have to kick start my July goodies..... that's okay

Michelle has tabs on her blog to her patterns - maybe you would like some ideas for those Christmas in July pressies?

I'm learning needleturn........  mmmm ....

Hope you find your Happy Place today