Tuesday 22 May 2012

Finally got some time!

Well, I am really pleased to report that I finally got time to do some sewing for me! I have some cute retro kids fabric, and it was making me twitchy, not being able to start sewing with it! Anyway, once my latest skirt was finished and delivered, it was all systems go. The quilt top is just simple squares, but it looks great, and was fun to piece. I also had a go at making baby bibs, very fiddly, but it worked out well.
It got me thinking about my favourite thing to sew: quilts. Well, I really like piecing tops best, and hand quilting & piecing, with machine quilting quite a bit behind! What about you? What is your favourite thing? Quilts? Clothes? Small things? And what do you do with all your creations...keep them? Sell them? Give them away?
So as far as time to sew goes, how did you make it work? Did you clear a bit of time recently? I think it's helpful to think of the bigger picture, too. Sometimes, we seem to have no time at all to sew, or do what we love, but we have to believe that in a little while, we'll have more time, and it will happen for us. Hard to think of while we're in the middle of a busy patch! So, I hope that you enjoy your sewing when you can, or if you are too busy, that time becomes available to you soon!
Jo xx

Saturday 12 May 2012

I made some time !

I did it! I really did I made some time in my day to tidy up my sewing space and do some sewing - yippee!!!
How are you all going with your time to sew ?

Friday 11 May 2012

Mothers' Day

Almost the most special day of the year...well, for all the mums out there, it should be! I lost my own darling mum over 16 years ago, and I still miss her, especially since the birth of my children, but I love to spoil her mum, my super-special grandma. I had a bit of a dilemma about what to get her this year. I often get her a book, of course, and she loves soaps and hand creams, but I was a bit luke-warm about all those options...(do you know where this is heading yet?!?)
I only had my brainwave yesterday, and of course, it was MAKE HER SOMETHING! It is a bit shocking that it took me so long, but in my defence, I have been flat out finishing off my commissioned quilt (check out our Facebook page to see the finished quilt), and my brain has only be focussed on that. I needed something that was quick and easy to make, that she would like and use, and would be something suitable for a gift. So eventually, I decided on a placemat. It was simple to make, just 5 jelly roll strips in Maison de Garance by French General. I used 1 1/4 extra jelly roll strips for the binding, and quilted it simply in a cross-hatch pattern. I'm giving the placemat to her tomorrow, so let's hope she likes it!
Happy Mothers' Day to all the mums our there, if you are lucky enough to still have yours, make sure you spoli her and let her know how much she means to you! I'll blog next week about how the placemat was received!
Jo xx

Monday 7 May 2012

Rediscovered love

Well as I sit here alone in a cafe sipping a hot chocolate and nibbling on some bruschetta while I wait for my little chess champ to finish his first night of competition chess , I finally have some time to share the realization I came to over the weekend.
For weeks or maybe months now I have heard Jo and I repeatedly bemoaning our time poverty about sewing. As I handed her the delicious fat quarters of kaffe fassett fabric I gave her as a thank you gift for looking after my furry and feathery kids this weekend just gone, she sighed and declared how lovely it would be to actually have time to sew something with them. This made me think we obviously need a big brainstorm to institute more sewing in our busy lives! After all it is a great source of joy to both of us and surely we can make that more important!
We will catch up tomorrow night for our group sewing night - I wonder what we can come up with !
How about you, how do you manage to fit more sewing in to your days? Maybe we can find some hints!
Kx

Tuesday 1 May 2012

Sewing weather

Well, the Adelaide Hills have turned on some lovely sewing weather today! And I took advantage. It was my first day at home in weeks, just the school run, then all day doing housewifey things. Washing, cleaning, baking, and sewing! I have almost completed the top of my commissioned quilt, just need to find a nice fabric for the border, then that part of it is all done. Plus finished another skirt, another thing to cross out of the order book!
I was thinking about tidying up my sewing corner. It is looking very crowded and cluttered, but how do I make more space? What do you do about all your sewing things? Put them away, in boxes or drawers? Or have everything out, for inspiration? I like a bit of "inspiration", but it can get a bit overwhelming after a while!
What do you want to achieve this autumn? After all my orders are done, I am dying to make a couple of quilts, one from the new Lintott book, and the other an self-designed one. I still have a number of tops that need quilting, but I find them less interesting then the piecing, so we'll see. I think a gal always needs a UFO or two around!
Jo xx