Warm and Woolly

Love, love, love knitting with really fat wool.  14ply on 7mm needles - I knitted each of these jumpers for my sons in 2 weeks apiece!

Patons Inca Wool (Sheep and Alpaca) and a Patons Inca Pattern Leaflet.  I knitted one straight after the other, but because of the differences in colour and size, I didn't get bored.

The kids chose their own colours...

The first jumper is nice and classy in classic black with flecked grey.

The second jumper has been nick-named:  "Chocolate and Choc Bits" (I think he may have been hungry when he chose the colours!)

Dragonfly Roses

Another Bag!  Nice and large with lots of room, this is such a great hand-bag.  Designed by Nicole Mallalieu for Australian Homespun Magazine (issue 57).

I made this particular bag with a very special Aunty in mind for her 60th Birthday.  The fabric is reminiscent of Tiffany Stained Glass with dragonflies, roses and leaves, giving it a lovely 'comfortable' feeling, so well suited to a bag which will have lots of use.

The entire bag

Front flap and clasp detail.  There is a magnetic snap underneath. 

Hidden under the flap, inside the bag are two pockets and a very roomy interior space for lots and lots of 'stuff'.  Next time I make this pattern I will modify it slightly to include 2 zipped pockets; one on the inside for little bits and one on the outside for keys and public transport fare cards.

Handle detail.

The handle is nice and wide and very comfortable when I tried it out for length.  I am definitely going to have to make another one of these bags for myself - although how many bags can a girl really have?  Never too many! LOL!

And... my Aunty loves it - her surprise and delight when she opened this gift was wonderful, which is what makes making gifts all worthwhile. :)

Great Sewing Room Clean Up & Machine Trapunto

In light of lots of recent posts on a Yahoo group about having a clean and tidy workspace, I got motivated.  Too much clutter was really preventing me from wanting to even enter my sewing space, let alone sew.



Left:  The Magazine and Pattern Shelving


Right:  The Book/Project Shelf












For 3 days I folded, sorted and re-packed my fabrics, threads, patterns and whatever else was in that space.  Guess what? - the cupboard doors now work because they are not jammed up and there really is a floor in there! :)

I have taken out all clothing fabrics and patterns, not quite sure where they'll go yet, but it is such a relief to have finally admitted to myself that I am never going to do anything with them.  I will find someone who wants them sooner or later.





Right and Left:  Both Fabric Cupboards

The Four IKEA "Billy Bookcase" Shelving Units Together

My reward to myself?  I have just sewn the Three Free Motion Machine Whole-cloth 16.5in panels which I am doing with Trapunto.  They will be joined together to make a nice large runner for my dining table.


I have 4 projects out at the moment, in their boxes as my focus of what to work on that I can finish - using the theory of only working on 4 things at once:

a)    3 x Machine Trapunto Whole-cloth Panels (for my table) (see photos right)
b)    Quilted Shoulder Bag/Purse (present)
c)    Alphabet Animals Panel to quilt for a baby (due March); and
d)    Japanese 4 patch QAYG 80in sq quilt.

Only d) is on my Project Database list as part of an UFO challenge, but that's OK, because I have decided to work on what comes to the top of the pile, as eventually I would like to finish every project in my sewing room.  If I have all of the fabric and threads in bag/box in the sewing room and don't need to buy a thing, it's a project, started or not and it's all stash until it becomes a project.


I am now contented and can see a way forward.  My UFOs are not weighing me down any-more, I have gorgeous projects and purpose.

Thank you all for 'listening'.

* - UFO = Un-Finished Object
 - QAYG = Quilt As You Go

Black and Gold Ripples

The week before Christmas I was sewing my little heart out.  And, here is the result.  The Raspberry Ripple Bag as designed by Melly and Me.

A very roomy bag, with a zip pocket on the inside, this is classy and elegant.

Full view

Showing Texture

And....... drum roll please........ my Mother likes it!  What a relief.  Just as well because it was her Christmas present.

I used Green!

For those who know me, I am really very much a 'blue' person when it comes to colour.  However, in a change of taste I suppose you would call it, I knitted up something in Green!

TA DA - here it is.....  A very Green Shawl.

The entire shawl with the yarn label.

Knitted with Panda Astraka (300g = 300m)  - 100% acrylic on 8mm circular needles and knitted in stocking stitch, making a different texture on each side.

I really like the effect of 'tiger stripes' in the yarn as it knits up.

1 single ball of yarn = 1 shawl.   So very, very easy.

A close up to show the texture.

The shawl has been gifted to a friend who is having a major life change and moving away so that on a cool evening she can wrap it around herself and know that her friends are close by in her heart.

Possum Baby Wrap

One of the nicest things I think I have ever knitted.  Soft, warm and cuddly with an incredible texture.  The raised garter stitch pattern has given the wrap an interesting look and stops it from being boring to knit.

Possum Baby Wrap.
Pattern:   from Issue 15 of YARN Magazine.
Wool:     Supreme Possum Merino (made in New Zealand)  colour - Natural
             40% Possum Fur;  50% Merino Wool;  10% Silk

Very, very soft and very light in weight (50g of 4ply  = 210m)

Opened out

And... Closed

Once I started to knit with this wool, I really could not put it down.  It was really very addictive knitting.

Several people have wanted to know how you can make knitting yarn from a possum.  I have no idea.  I think to find out will require some research, although I'm not that bothered, I just want to keep on knitting with the wool.  :)

Challenging Challenge!

Way back in February this year when Donna asked several people if they would take part in a challenge which she would host.  

"Yes" I said.  "It will be great, especially as it is using Australian Gum Leaf fabric."  

How difficult can this be?  I wondered to myself.  After all, it's not the first Australian Fabric Challenge I have taken part in.

Boy Oh Boy - if something was going to go wrong, it did on this particular project.  This has been the most cursed project of my existence!

For 4 or 5 months I wondered what I could do that was different to previous projects - because you should challenge yourself with a challenge shouldn't you?   I eventually found a great project in a McCall's Quilting Magazine which looked like waterfalls.  I loved it.  I cut out the blocks and then disaster struck... I had a major oops with my fabric.  Laundry + bleach + hot water = faded fabric - moral of the story - do not knock red wine over in the sewing room when bathroom cleaner is sitting in the laundry sink!  Sheesh... My poor cut out pieces of fabric, they looked like little cleaning rags in the laundry.  The fabric lost all of its colour.  Ordered some more fabric.  It arrived.  Cut out the pieces all over again.  Laid out the quilt -   WHAT WAS I THINKING?  The quilt top looked terrible.  Quite awful in fact.

I put the project aside.  At the same time we had some major family upheavals going on.  I simply couldn't figure out what to do with my cut out pieces of fabric to have them redeem themselves and play nicely together.

Back to the drawing board!

A few weeks later, it happened... Brainwave!  Suddenly an idea hit me like a lightning bolt out of the sky - A BAG.  Yes, that's it.  Make a bag.  Why didn't I think of that before now?  Quickly, only a couple of weeks left until the great unveiling of the Challenge.  I searched through my multitudes of bag making books and patterns until I found it - the perfect pattern.  Now, the pattern gave another challenge; to make my already made and cut out pieces of fabric fit. 

Frogging (unpicking).  Lots and lots of frogging.  A little retro fit of the pattern and voila - it works.  My excitement was mounting because in my minds eye, I could see the finished project and see myself using it.  By this stage, there was less than 1 week left until the dead-line.  I'm sure I can finish this - how long can it really take?

Unfortunately I didn't get my challenge finished in time for the unveiling and a last minute issue meant that I missed out on seeing the other challenge items at the 'reveal' lunch.  Such an anticlimax.  All that work and excitement only to miss out completely.

The photo below shows how far I have gotten with my challenge item.

Although, all is not lost.  I plan to add two zippered pockets to the bag - one outside for keys and the other inside in the lining.  Maybe a mobile phone pocket too.

Watch this space - I plan to show you the completed bag very soon.

And -  I would like to give credit to the ones who completed their challenges - you can view them here - Quilt Challenge 2012.  An incredible group of wonderful and talented ladies.

xxx  Andrea

Floral Trellis

Take one Layer Cake, some extra fabric off the bolt and some white for contrast; then have a play and viola!  The recipe produces a large single bed quilt top.  I know it's not quilted yet, but it will be - my plan is to quilt while it's the holiday season.

Floral Trellis

My own design - the first time in a long time that I have made up something by myself.  It's a very bright and happy quilt and I am really looking forward to quilting it.

Blogging Again!

Gosh, it seems like forever since I have published anything here on this blog - I'm sure it's feeling very lonely! :)  Life has given my family some interesting curve balls lately, so while I have actually been knitting and sewing, I haven't been blogging - but now I'm back and hopefully there will be weekly posts again, just like my earlier blogging days.

Nothing too ambitious to post today, just a simple blue, white and taupe Ohio Star block.  Finishing at 6in square, this block will become part of the Kilmore Quilters banner.  Each group member has been asked to make a block which best represents them individually so the true diversity of the members can be represented. 

Because I just love star blocks and the colour blue - I couldn't resist making my favourite block of all time - the Ohio Star.  Simple, effective and just plain nice - ahhhh.....

Sparkling Opals

The fabrics I have chosen for the Bloggers BOM which Jackie from Canton Village Quiltworks has organised, remind me of Opals.  Those beautiful stones have an inner fire which glows and I feel that the Kaffe Fasset/Phillip Jacobs fabrics I have chosen for my quilt blocks glow like opals.

It was mid-August when I stumbled across the project and just "had to do it".  I became so excited that I made all the 12 blocks below in one day - it was a long sewing Saturday, but really, what's a girl to do when it's pouring rain outside for hours on end?

** Block captions contain the name and blog name of each of the designers.

Block 1
(Sherri McConnell - A Quilting Life)

Block 2
(Vicki Welsh - Field Trips in Fiber)

Block 3 - Split Star
(Stephanie Dunphy - Loft Creations)

Block 4
(Pat Sloan - The Voice of Quilting) 

 After making the first few blocks, I found that I really needed to reduce the number of fabrics I was using.  My blocks were not looking too good - think psychedelic pizza - so I re-made the blocks with fewer fabrics and darker value colours. Then I achieved what I call perfection - blocks that glow!

Block 5 - Sands of Time
(John Adams - Quilt Dad)

Block 6
(Amy Smart - Diary of Quilter)

Block 7 - Churn Dash
(Allison Harris - Cluck Cluck Sew)

Block 8 - Triangle Squares
(Amy Lobsiger - Mrs Schmenkmen Quilts)

Block 9 - Jewel Box
(Cathy Underhill - Cabbage Quilts)

Block 10
(Pam Vieira - Pam Kitty Morning)

 Block 11 - Split Ohio Star - not yet made.... :(

Block 12
(Amy Ellis - Amy's Creative Side)

Block 13 - Star in a Star
(Sarah Fielke - The Last Piece)

 I can't wait until the 25th October, when the final step will be revealed - will it be another block or layout?  Who knows.  Just like a mystery quilt, you don't know what each step will be until it is shown to you....