(Inter)national Quilting Day

Okay... Saturday was the National Quilting Day in America (the third Saturday of March). So I figured that since there are so many quilters worldwide, why not stretch it out and make in and International Quilting Day :)

So... what did I do? Well, I went out with a group a like minded quilty friends to the Wine Country Quilt Exhibition, held at Pukeora Estate, Waipukurau. Over 150 quilts were on display, and surely there must have been something for everyone to see. Just gorgeous quilts; ranging from the traditional to contemporary. Loved seeing so many quilts with hand quilting. Just beautiful. I loved the "utilitarian" quilts, where people had used wool fabric from garments and made those into quilts.

Other "stunners" for me was a whole cloth quilt, and a beautiful storm at sea design. Hard to choose a favourite for viewers choice.

Sorry, can't share any photos per the terms of the exhibition.

Quite a few merchants were there too. Oh so tempting!

I walked away with 2 purchases. One was a fat quarter for Mum's quilt. I took one of the fabrics Mum selected so I could try and get a match, in a darker shade. The problem with the fabric was it wasn't quite blue, and wasn't quite green - really hard to match too. I was very excited to find something. The one on top is the fabric I purchased. Now I have to see how far I can stretch one fat quarter! Eeek! They didn't have any more of this at the show, and there is nothing on the selvedge to help me find more. Ah the mark of a creative quilter :)


So these are the fabrics for Mum's quilt. Mum chose them all except for the gold fabric in the middle, and the dark greeny/blue one.


My other purchase was a jolly roll (equivalent to two dessert rolls in one pack) for my string quilt. (Yes another work in progress).


Both purchases were from the same vendor, Susan Claire Quilting, Country Patchwork Patterns & Crafts. I'm not affiliated in any way to this vendor, but do check out their web site. If you have a chance, check out their store as well - they have such a lovely range of fabrics in stock.

I now feel motivated to start drafting Mum's quilt. It's going to be quite a challenge.

Enjoy your weekend everyone.

Another New Project

I've already mentioned that I have a lot of projects in progress, and yes, my focus had been to complete them. So I am somewhat hesitant to start yet another new project, but I hasten to add that there is a good reason.

The new project is something for Mum. While Mum was looking after me, we went out and she selected some fabric that she liked. After looking through some quilting books, she selected a design that she liked. To be honest it's rather daunting and really hard. So... I'll be taking my "inspiration" from the design, and hopefully the finished project will be something that she likes. It's going to take a long time to make it, as I will machine piece, and hand quilt.

I've been waiting until I have felt well enough before I draft the pattern. I'm hoping that next weekend I can get started, and develop the pattern.

Not a lot of other news. Today is my first day without taking the pain meds. So far, so good. Still tired and sore. Taking things easy and will be puddling through the day.

Create

I came across this today, and I thought the essence of the message was beautiful:



Be inspired, create, make something truly beautiful in this world.

Back at Work

I knew it would be a difficult day, but I didn't expect to be so tired and sore.

Yesterday I bought 8 litres of ceiling paint. It was on special, and I feel like I got a very good deal. The sale continues until April, however once all stock is gone - it's over. I noticed that they only had a few buckets of paint left, and I needed one more. But the second one needed to be colour matched, and the bucket of paint tinted. Today I went in with my colour sample, and got it sorted. I also bought some filling compound to address the various jobs around the house.




Some of the other things that I was working on while off work were the vintage jumper, a jigsaw puzzle, and the yo-yo quilt.

As you can see the sleeves have been finished on the jumper. I need to sew the pieces together, and complete the band around the neck.


Mum and I made great progress on this jigsaw puzzle.

Mum also helped me colour match the yo-yos. They will be joined into 9-patches later.

I had thought I might spend the evening watching TV and working on some hand crafts. Nothing really inspires me, and I am so tired. So it will likely be an early night tonight. So far I haven't been able to sleep through the night - I'm hoping that tonight will be different :)

Missing Mum

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was about to have surgery, well on Wednesday the 17th it was done. In my mind, I thought that I would recover much more quickly than I did. Even today I feel really washed out and tired. Might have something to do with doing the edges on my lawn. (Don't worry Mum, I didn't mow the lawn as well).

There have been many people who have been supportive during my recovery, and I am thankful to them all. From my craft groups, church home group, to friends - everyone has been wonderful. But I would like to say a super special thanks to my Mum!!!

My Mum is a very busy lady. She works full time, maintains her home, and has an active social life. I was so incredibly blessed that she came down the day before my surgery. That's in itself is a mission - as I am over 6 hours away by car.

Mum did so much for me; like taking me to and from the hospital, driving me around to places like the Doctors and pharmacy, doing the grocery shopping (several times), all the cooking and cleaning, making cups of tea, and bringing me glasses of water, making sure I had my medicine, helping me walk, helping me out of the chair, and heaps more.

My Mum left on Friday, and at 40 I'm not ashamed to say that I really miss my Mum. I don't miss her because of what she did for me, which by the way I HUGELY appreciated. I don't really want to admit this - but I really wasn't capable of looking after myself. I miss my Mum's company, I miss being close to her, and my life is a little bit empty when she isn't around. I love my Mum :)

Vintage knitting update

Well it turns out that the mistake I thought I made wasn't one. The front and the back of the original garment was inconsistent. I have made other mistakes, but I figure no one else will know... Except for you :)


I've finished the front. So glad that the "tricky" part of knitting is over. You wouldn't believe how time consuming it is using more than one colour. My personal preference has always been to use one colour of yarn, and be challenged through a pattern or stitch complexity.


Just starting on the sleeves.


There will not be a lot of progress on my crafts for the next few weeks, as I am scheduled to have some surgery (my gallbladder will be removed), and don't expect to be up and about for some time. This is because I don't respond too well to anaesthetic.

Thanks Mum for coming down to look after me. I don't know what I'd do without you. Love you heaps.

Vintage improvement

The great thing about using an existing garment as the pattern, is that you can see areas that you would like to improve or do differently. For example, I've decided to "knit-in" the hem, rather than sew it down after I've finished. Replacement on the left, vintage on the right.


Changing the placement of the increases to be sympathetic to the design elements was something else I wanted to do.

Vintage increases.


Replacement increases lining up with the "pyramids".


New and old side by side. (Yes I have already noticed THAT mistake).


So now I am working on the front... here's where I am up to... I call it "the danger zone" because it gets so tricky, and tension is really important.