Lady parts

Well, sewing still seems to be bumbling along without much focus.  Thank goodness for bees!  After a shortish hiatus, I rejoined the bumbling honeys and this time round we're doing travelling quilts.  As usual, I was scratching around for inspiration and sat on my sofa staring at the Georgia O'Keefe print that Laughing Boy got me for our first Christmas together and there it was... my starting block....  I love Georgia O'Keefe and her flowing, sensuous, suggestive style.

Dark Iris I by Georgia O'Keefe taken from georgiaokeefeprints.org

I thought it might be an interesting challenge to improv a block based on this print. I have not really embraced improv before and to be frank it frightens the bejeesus out of me.  So it took me about 4 weeks (on and off, stop, start, stop, worry, start - you get the picture) to finally finish my starter block (very late)...

So all the things I love about Ms O'Keefe - fluidity etc - I seem to have managed to anglify them!  But I am quite chuffed that I did this all with an image in my mind and some fabric on the table.  So my starter block for "Georgia on my mind" has begin its journey and should be back with me as a finished quilt top next year.  I've asked my bee sisters to keep a simple colour palette of greys, whites and greens if possible and to just do what they feel is right - no need to slavishly copy other O'Keefe works.  I am excited to see what returns.

Check out this Georgia O'Keefe site for more examples of her lovely works.

four months on.... still no wiser!

It's been four months since my last post.  Lots of reasons/excuses.  Not much sewing going on here over the summer.  I have finally found some time today and I can't find my rotary cutter!

*facepalm*

 

Spring 2015 Bloggers Quilt Festival

Hello there. It's been a while.  And to be honest, I was pretty sure that it would be a while longer before I knocked on again.  In fact, I felt that I shouldn't enter this Spring's festival due to the lack of co-ordinated blog and sewing activity.  However, something happened to change my mind and I have decided to enter Bonadoochi in the large quilt category....

Check here for the full story but the short version is that two very dear friends of mine decided to create positivity for their family in a time where life just kept throwing them pain and part of this involved a renewal of their wedding vows. I asked them for a favourite song they had and was given "Everyone's got to love sometime" by the Korgis to work with.  Bonadoochi quilt took me way long that I had hoped (nearly a year in design and construction) and is by far the biggest quilt I have ever attempted.  Too big for me to quilt so a good friend did the (fantabulous) deed.

When I gifted this quilt,  it took a while before either friend realised what it was all about and then the reaction was just wonderful.  I think the words resonate so well.  The reason I have decided to enter it for the festival is that they have recently suffered another heartbreaking loss.  This is in dedication and tribute to them both and Spence senior (may he rest in peace).  Beautiful people who I am so lucky to have had in my life.

Quilt Details
Size: 90" x 80"
Fabrics: for the heart, all from stash and many have been there a while so from memory lots of Anna Maria Horner, some Joel Dewberry, a smidge of Denise Schmidt and some randoms
Fabrics: for the background - Carolyn Friedlander Architextures
Fabrics: binding: Denise Schmidt Chicopee
Fabrics: backing: Tula Pink birds and bees
Quilted: professionally (in all senses of the word) by Trudi Wood

Another weekender....

...but not a bag!  A much better weekender, which involved sewing, cake, lashings of tea, chat, laughing and more food.  A sewing retreat weekender!  Huzzah!

Nearly a year ago, the Stitching Together ladies mused on organising a weekend away dedicated to sewing.  9 months (and 1 impregnation) later and we were packing up Hannah's roof rack and heading to Norfolk on a Friday and staying until Sunday.  The venue was a B&B called the Old Bakery in Hindolveston run by a lovely couple Alison and Mike.  Alison is a quilter and so, as well as the usual B&B clientèle, she offers quilting/sewing retreats and workshops.  We made what, in retrospect, was a school girl error of stopping for lunch on the way because if there was one constant over the weekend, it was food!

Anyway, my usual approach to retreats is to pack erratically and wing it.  This time I had a plan and actually planned for the plan. I was going to FIGHT THE FEAR and make a chuffing dress already.  Yep, my dressmaking demons would be tackled head on by making the Mortmain dress from Gather Kits which is marked suitable for"ambitious beginners!"  I'd bought the pattern and fabric (from the Village Haberdashery) last August....

directional print fabric, you nutter!

As usual, I need to make things a little trickier so I decided to buy some slippy dippy fabric to fully line the dress too.  Matching thread and metal teeth zip joined the dressmakers carbon paper and other various tools.  I even took an old sheet that Tanya had given me to make a toile.  People - I was taking this seriously!

So we arrived just after 2pm and were immediately offered coffee, tea and two choices of home made cake (delish).  Then it was unpacking, setting up and sewing.  We were staying in the holiday cottage but were given full run of two big rooms in the main house for our sewing activities.

thanks for the photo, H

We sewed until 7, where we were served an amazing two course dinner, with a trio of desserts...

all using local or home grown ingredients

Then it was back to work, for another couple of hours or so.  My sewing yodas were on hand when I had a big wobble - "follow the pattern, you must" (thank you Hannah!) - and to help with great hints (Lizzie!).  At the end of day 1, I had made my toile and realised that the size 16 fitted me perfectly - no FBA needed thank goodness.

Day 2 started a two course breakfast! Thank the Lord I had roomy troosers!  Then a full day's sewing, interrupted only by Alison bringing refreshments and cake, a two course lunch and two course dinner...

chocolate trio

By the end of the day, I have made two more dresses - the outer dress and lining version, all french seamed to within an inch of existence....

unlined and unzipped but extremely satisfying

Check out the pattern alignment of the top and skirt - a happy accident :)

Day 3 and another two course breakfast. Oh.my.giddy.aunt.  And we had to get as much done as we could before lunch at 1pm (with elevenses included of course!).

This is where things started to go a little awry. I think it may have been that croissant after the american pancakes.  Anyway, see that squint zipper ^^^^^  That took me three hours to put in and it was all wrong. And the bottom of the zip on the right hand side as you look at the photo is all queer too and the waistband doesn't line up. But on the plus side, I am loving the fit across the back, if you excuse the dodgy posture.

The others were more productive...

simply awesome cross stitch by Hannah

and Hannah's foxy quilt top

a maternity dress for Lizzie (and a skirt for her Nancy)

an adorable baby quilt by Tanya (along with cushion covers)

However, by then we had run out of time and I had run out of patience, having bent two needles in the zip inserting process. So it was a quick pack up and tidy around, then lunch (more cake, obvs.) and packing the car.  Big hugs to Alison (with plans to return!) and we were off, never to eat again.... well, not for a while anyway.

A brilliant focussed weekend, with lovely stitchy friends hosted by a fab couple.  If your interest has been piqued by the Simply Solids Sew-in Retreat in September, I would say go for it. The chance to have dedicated sewing time to focus solely on what you want to do, with no pressure to attend classes, is a brilliant opportunity.  You will be with people who will help and support you and vice versa.  I can't guarantee that you will be able to eat your own body weight in cake though..... Or head of to Mike and Alison's in Norfolk and take your elasticated waistbands!

I was hoping to show off my finished frock by now but after breaking 4 (FOUR) more needles and the dress nearly getting flung out the the window along with the sewing machine and my sanity, the zip is still not fitted.  But I did have a Eureka moment this morning on the drive to work - use a different type of needle, stupid!  So that's the plan (and a not exposed zip either).  Watch this space for my first fully finished frock......

Flowered Up

Remember when a weekender meant something other than a bag....  distant memories indeed.  A little like the workshop run by Mandy at one of our first EMMQG meetings two years ago next month.  The plan was for us all to make an Amy Butler Weekender bag, guided by Mandy who had already bitten the bullet and made a lovely one.  I could only stay until lunchtime because Forest were playing at home that afternoon!  I managed to get some (but not all) of the pieces cut out before heading home to look after the wee man while his dad went off to the footie.  The bag pieces were packed in a box and shoved under the wardrobe.

About 6 months later, I sewed up one of the sides of the bag, added piping (really badly) and again it was all packed away.... out of sight, out of mind.

Last month, nearly two years since starting, I decided to pull out the box from under the wardrobe and finish the b*gger!  I was working on half memories of other people's experiences and working with some dodgy sewing done 18 months ago.  I mostly ignored the pattern instructions and decided to do a couple of things differently....

I put a zipped pocket on one side....

trust me, that pocket has a zip!

 I put a seam in the middle of the pocket on the other side....

honest guv!

I used leather handles that I've had for years, bought for some forgotten project, instead of the fabric ones.  I didn't put pockets at the ends of the zipper panel, just because.  And I kind of sewed the lining in as I went along, which kind of sort of worked....

didn't all go according to plan....

And after some focussed sewing days, I had a finished bag....

It's sooooooo not perfect but it's ok.  The whole experience did allow me to see how much better my sewing is now than then.  The bits I did two years ago annoy me a little because I would do them better now but still I am glad it's done. If I was a good girl, I would unpick some of it and redo but that ain't going to happen.  Made with some of my most precious MM fabrics, it is now my sewing machine bag and I love it!  AND it's finally off my flipping WIP list - woohoo!  I feel a little lighter :)

PS a little musical interlude for those of you in a nostalgic mood...now where did I put that smiley face t-shirt......?

going on a bear hunt...

Just as I was sitting down to write this post, I started singing "I'm going to write a blog post, it's going to be a big one, what am I going to do? I'm not scared".  With immense apologies to Michael Rosen, it made me giggle.  Anyway *awkward shoe shuffle*, cracking on....

After my last post, Pennie commented that I should join up with the #sew4sanity gang over on IG. The rules are pretty straight forward:

1. finish something I've started
2. sew with hoarded loved fabric
3. make something that's not a quilt (like a bag or garment)
4. sew something completely outside of my comfort zone.

And you can mix and match so one project could cover more than one of the rules.  The aim is for it to be a monthly goal to meet all of the rules. At the same time, I've been waking up thinking about patterns and sewing, so McMojo is clearly feeling better and (whisper it) a bit keen.  

These two things have given me the incentive to get off my backside and make the side kick tote I promised Sue, the incredibly patient winner of my giveaway in October last year. To meet the rules, I used some hoarded Tula Pink raccoons for the lining (#2), I made a bag (#3) and I took myself completely out of my comfort zone by putting in my first ever flush zipped pocket into the bag lining (#4).  Boom!

I couldn't quite get my head around the flushed zip until I realised it was like a porthole then it all clicked and I was away.

not perfect, but not bad for my first time

It was only after I'd finished that I'd figured out that I could have practised on scrap fabric rather than going live with the poor raccoons. D'oh!  Anyhoo, it worked out OK. The rest of the bag came together pretty easily.

I need to iron it!

It was a fab accident that ninja racoon showed up and hit the middle of the zip and it give anyone not allowed in the evils!

I added a wee label, you know, to make it more designer!

So, this bag has really helped get me back into the swing of things and ultimately, I really enjoyed sewing it together.  I haven't quite got my sewing space organised yet and am still losing things all the time but it's all about forward momentum.  Just got to make a couple of wee mindings and this bag will be heading off the its new owner and I feel a little lighter.

Now to choose a WIP to finish...it might even be my weekender...Now that would be a bear hunt!.....*feels a little faint*

rethink

Happy New Year to you all.  I hope you have had a grand festive season and are all set for 2015.  We had a quiet Christmas, if you can have one with a toddler trying out his karate moves on you with the heavy end of a pumpaloon. And the workmen next door taking a total of one day's holiday (New Years Day) from using a pneumatic drill on our adjoining walls.

The usual pattern for the first post of the year is to do a review of the past year's makes and set out a plan for the coming year.  I'm going to divert slightly from that, partly because of my miserly output in 2014.  A grand total of two quilts, a shed load of bee blocks (but not as many as planned as I decided to take time out of of the current Bumbling Honeys Bee) and some other odds and sods.  I say two quilts but I realise I've just shown you one so here is the second, a swap for the #IGminiquilt swap thingy. My partner was pretty vague (like I usually am) but had this image on a pinterest board about her favourite quilt colours....

from a great site : http://www.inaluxe.com/

So I chose to copy slavishly use it for inspiration and came up with this....

paper pieced from a made up, slightly wonky hand drawn pattern

My partner went on a big overseas holiday the day I posted this to New Zealand so I don't really know whether it was what she wanted, but hey she liked it on Instagram so that was a relief.

I was fortunate enough to have Nikki from the Ochil Tree as my making partner. I have long been a major fan of Nikki's work so was stoked with this lovely Cotton & Steel creation...

usual apologies for crap photo

On Hogmanay, I spent two hours in a loud (but I have to say quite lovely) soft play centre where the wee man hooned around and I tried to draft my crafting goals for 2015.  The notebook I used had my "to do" list for 2013 and 2014 and it would seem that I have achieved almost nothing from either list.  I could cross out 2014 and write 2015 (which is basically what I did in last year) but no.  I have a slightly different plan.  Use what I have learned, namely:

• setting goals for the year doesn't really work as it is easy to think "manana, manana".  Perhaps setting myself a monthly make or WIP to complete would work better.  Chunk things down, as it were.
• I use "fear" as an excuse not to start things. Even things I've done before so shouldn't be frightened of.
• I can be creative and driven (bonadoochi, even the mini quilt up there ^^ shows that I think) when I am inspired.
• I am super untidy and it stifles me.  I need to get my sh*t organised so I can feel less burdened by it all.
• My health has a direct impact on McMojo and having spent the last 6 months in various stages of poorliness, it's time to set up and take responsibility for becoming healthier.  I hope that this involves #sweatnsew but it will definitely mean better eating.  I am loving "A Modern Way to Eat" by Anna Jones and feel inspired to return to my vegetarian past (part time anyway) as a way of boosting my immune system.
• McMojo will not be told what to do.  For much of the past few months, I have tried to make her go to rehab, she said no, no, no!  I need to trust that McMojo will work it out and come home to me.  I really think she is on her way back, which is nice.  She needs to be inspired home.
• I love love love Instagram but miss the in-depth inspiration that blogs give me.  I have badly neglected my blog reading and commenting this year (I feel really bad about this).  I hate Bloglovin' with an unnecessary passion so need to sort all of this out.  Inspiration from my fellow creators is key to pushing me on.

So here is my plan, I am going to buy myself a new sewing machine this year (not sure which one) but will only do so if I actually use my current one and finish things.  I am not going to list what I will make now as things change and you never know what direction they will take but there are a number of WIPS that need whipped and some things I'd really like to make.  I will aim for one make a month, excluding bee blocks!  I will try not to get enticed by swaps but never say never.  

Onwards and upwards (now to find my seam ripper under all of this mess......)