The Stitches and Craft Show

Mum and I went to the Stitches and Craft Show yesterday (Australian craft show). In the past you went to the show to gorge yourself on quilts and patchwork fabric, and beading and paper stamping if that's what you were in to. This year it has been taken over by a new company who have totally changed the show.

For a start we walked in at 11.45am on the first day (traditionally peak period), then immediately turned and looked at each other with a smile of glee, as there was hardly a soul there! So we started our tour right around, and suddenly realised that it is a very different show than last year. There was a broader representation of different types of crafts, and the focus was very different. The feeling we got after being there for 30 mins is that the show was aimed at a very different group of people this year. It was geared at the young and hip crafter who didn't really know how to sew or knit or whatever, but who wanted to learn. There were workshops making pincushions ie sewing 2 circles together and stuffing them etc, how to knit and purl, how to trace pictures onto fabric, how to crochet etc. There also was an area where crafters were encouraged to recycle or repurpose old clothes and tablecloths etc, and we watched a fashion parade of clothes that were 'upcycled'. We could only see one or two garments ever being worn, even by the 'young and hip' let alone we 'old and conservative'.

You could see what they were trying to do. They were trying to grab the blog reading, apron and soft toy making, sock knitting crafters of today, but I wonder how many of those people were aware that the show would have anything for them. It seems that these days if you have a popular blog you can write a book about all the new ideas that you have had, which is all just a rehash of stuff your Grandma did, but many of the young crafters of today haven't known that, because they've never been taught.

I'm sounding negative I realise. Many people would have gone with an expectation based on previous shows and been disappointed, which is probably where I sit, but I could see their vision, and wonder if they'll go broke trying to put it out there to the 'new breed of crafters'.

So what I'm really saying is if you go there to buy fabric and rulers and stuff, don't bother, but if you want to learn some basic crafts, go along.

Anyway, enough about that. It's quilt washing day today as the sun is out and the breeze is lovely. I'm also trying to hurry through a basic quilt for my soon to be 6 yr old niece for her birthday. Her attitude to life can be summed up by the wall plaque my Mum gave her for Christmas - "If it's not pink it's not worth having", coupled with a very definate idea of what she likes and what she doens't like. A year or two ago I crocheted her a poncho (pink) and no, she didn't like it. So the secret is to make something, hand it over, then run, because if she doesn't like it it's possible to be offended. So I have bought some fabric at Spotlight, made some 4 patches on point, and am going to make it into a strippy quilt with alternating pink flowery fabric and 4 patches. Deadline is 2 weeks so have to get to it.

But before I do that I have a quilting friend who lives on the next island coming over this afternoon, so I have to go upstairs and vaccuum - my standards are low, but not too low!

Rain, rain, go away...

...come back another day. Although all we hear is 'drought, drought, drought', and are on permanent water restrictions, there has been so much rain lately that I'm over it. In 2 days we had 12+ inches, and it has been raining for a few weeks. The mud squishes up through your toes, the grass is totally out of control, the house smells like a wet dog, the tanks are overflowing, and it is impossible to take good photos for your blog!

My Japanese Quilt came back from the quilter. I'm pretty happy with it, and I'm particularly happy that I didn't have to do it myself! I know I got a bit of a shock when I found out the cost, but in retrospect, it wasn't that much - I just wasn't prepared. It has been done with an all over pattern of clouds, but as the quilt is very dark, and navy thread was used, you can't really see the pattern too well.


I have the binding on now, but have yet to do the handsewing. As it is so dark, it isn't really a job for night-time (the eyes aren't what they used to be), so I must get on with it during the day. It will be so nice to have it finished, especially since it was done in 2006.


I have been moving on with my Checkerboard blocks, and am also trying to cut out another quilt as a leader-ender. I've tried to do this in the past, but find I want to get on with it, rather than a bit here a bit there. But this time I'm going to give it a go, as I like the idea of 2 for 1. I don't like cutting out fabric much, and always do it bit by bit through the construction of a quilt, but this time I'm going to try and cut it out before I start on it. Well a fair bit of it anyway...


I've also been doing a few 1930s hexagons, with no real plan in mind. I started on them after I finished the 1800s hexagon quilt top, as I quite missed having a hand project - I didn't think that would happen. They are 1 inch hexagons. I'm not getting along with it very quickly as work takes up all my spare time, but it doesn't help to be doing so many things at the same time, either, but we all know how it is!

More Blocks

I have made a few more blocks, and I'm getting them done a lot easier now, thank goodness. The one on the right, with the purple, was very difficult to photograph as the colours came out very different to the real thing. This photo is with flash I think, so the colour is a bit more accurate. When I look at the original quilt I notice that it has a lot of double pink and brown, so I'm working on a few more blocks in that colour.


In other quilting news, my Mum has encouraged me to get an old quilt-top quilted by paying for most of it as a birthday present. The cost is a lot higher than I anticipated, so I will pay for the batting to make it a bit cheaper. Mum had a lot more realistic idea of the cost than me, and she was happy to pay for it.


It is my old Japanese quilt top that I've had for a while now. As I was ironing it I looked at the skill level, and like to think I have improved a little since then! There were plenty of unmatched seams and no system of ironing the seam allowances - I do try harder to get it right these days. I have to say though that I did not hit it off with the quilter, so I will probably try someone else next time.

Will have to make this a quick post as I must go to bed for a sleep as I'm starting a run of night shift tonight. Lately I haven't even been turning on the computer while I'm working, which isn't like me. I'm usually pretty obsessive about checking the email, but find that once I log on next thing I'm running late for work, which is a no-no here as I have to stick to the waterbus timetable. Miss the boat by 10 secs and the next one is an hour away. One of the girls from work lives on the next island from me, and she was telling me the other day that she missed the boat this week. She could see it over at the next island, but had to go home for half an hour then come back for the next one. I've only done it once when I over slept a few months ago which made me 30 mins late for work - the big problem is on a Sunday night when the boat I get is the last boat! I can tell you that you would receive a very cold reception when you rang up, as the hospital is staffed very tightly, and they probably wouldn't be able to replace you at that time of the night.

Checkerboard Blocks

I've made a few more checkerboard blocks. I thought I'd make some that have a few different fabrics in them, as in the original quilt. How hard could it be? Well I have to tell you that they are going in the 'how hard can it be?' file.


The incorrect sewing together of strips mentioned in the last post was just the begining. I certainly don't think that I have an incorrect impression of my skill level as a quilter. I mean I've never made anything with curvy or circular seams and 'set in seams' do not live here. I can't do applique, hand quilt, do paper/foundation piecing with any ability (this is why the Civil War Diary Quilt is in limbo). I've never made an art quilt, sewn anything by hand except hexagons, can only machine quilt in straight lines and am generally pretty slow when it comes to sewing.

So why do I look at pictures in books and magazines and think 'how hard can it be?' Thinking on it now, these things aren't that hard, it's just that I sew by the seat of my pants most of the time, make things up as I go along, and cut and sew with my mind NOT on the job at hand. The blocks are 9 x 9, and each strip is 10 1/2 inches in length. We can all see that this means you usually end up with one extra strip after cutting. Now I know this, but do I cut off that extra piece and put it aside? No. I sew all the strips together, and then wonder why I have a block that is 10 x 10. Or in the case of the blue one above, I ended up with an 8 x 8 block for the centre, and wondered how that happened. So then I took off the last strip I had added to the already completed checkerboard block, and went about adding the outer strips. Why then did I have a block that was 9 x 10 before the addition of the last strip?? How stupid can you be? As I had been so diligent ironing the seams the right way etc, I had to undo the seams for each row so that I could get the extra row of blocks off. Then I had to resew the ends of the seams, re-iron the seam allowances and add the outer row of squares.

So what starts out as the easiest type of block you can sew, ends up taking for ever as I haven't been paying attention. I've just finished another block which is red and yellow, with a row of a different red running diagonally across the corners and I can't begin to explain the making of that! In the end I had to draw a 9 x 9 grid on a piece of paper and colour in the different fabrics, and set the block out almost square by square to get it right. I haven't taken a photo of that one as my new camera is doing something weird with the colours. I'll have to have a look in the manual - something to do with white balancing I think.

So I made this blue one to give myself a break. How embarrassing.


I followed a link from someone's blog to Jenny Bowker's blog today, where she writes about a quilter who has lost the lot in the bushfires here in Australia. Once you get used to the miracle of being alive, imagine thinking about the loss of your stash? When these natural disasters happen you always hear about people who aren't insured (!) or under-insured for their house and contents. It usually makes me think about my insurance, and whether it's enough to replace it all. How do you put a price on your stash? I mean it's hard enough thinking about the value of sheets, towels, kitchen dishes, books and furniture etc. What has been spent on the stuff that quietly sits in the stash cupboard? Not that you could replace most of it anyway - out of production etc.


There are very motivated people making blocks for bushfire relief, but for the slack ones like me you can send a few pieces of fabric to help this lady rebuild, especially as she is hoping to teach other women in her situation how to quilt.

Fires and Floods

The terrible bushfires happening in Australia are quite a long way from where I live, thankfully. It sounds as though it was a terrifying ordeal for those in the path of the fires. I live half way approximately between the Victorian fires and the floods in North Queensland. I grew up in a town in Northern New South Wales where it flooded a few times a year when I was a child, and my Dad grew up in Ingham which is currently under water.

I saw him yesterday and he was talking about the floods that occured there when he was a child, and said that one day he was looking over the balcony to the flood waters below, only to see a decent sized crocodile swim in through the back gate and then out the front! Scary.

Out of Practise

It's a bit scary isn't it? Stop sewing for a while and end up right back at the beginning. At least I had the right sides together I suppose.


I had a good think earlier about cleaning out the walk in pantry (ie pretty big with a bench in there etc), then I thought 'or I can sew, even though the temp up there is about 36 deg C'. It only took about a nanosecond to make up my mind. I am making these blocks with 2 inch strips (1 1/2 inch finished squares). The original has 1 inch finished squares. There are some checkerboard blocks with only 2 fabrics, and quite a few with more fabrics, but they are still laid out with some sort of order. I can imagine the original maker with all her little squares trying to make the blocks look planned, and she has done a good job. Some blocks have fabrics of almost the same value, some are bordered in a dark blue, one has a 9 patch right in the middle of the block with a lighter fabric, then the rest of the block has just the 2 fabrics.

I need something easy and fast to get going again, but then I spend so much time trying to choose fabrics that I have decided to just go to the stash and choose something quickly, and just go for it.

Then all I need to do is sew them together right...

Knitting in Summer

It seems pretty ridiculous, doesn't it, but the thing is that it's a small project and it doesn't sit on your lap to make you hot. I have a good friend living in London who showed me a bubblegum pink, chunky, cable knit cowl that she liked the look of (?), so of course I said "I can knit you a nicer one than that!". Famous last words... So I have finally started it, the pattern is from Joelle Hoverson's book Last Minute Knitted Gifts.

The yarn called for in the pattern is 100% Superfine Cashmere x 2 skeins - yeah right. I suppose being the owner of Purl in NY makes this possible, but sadly not for me. There is only 1 shop in Brisbane that has nice yarn, so I went there to do the 'feel test', ie soft enough to be against the neck while being affordable. I ended up with 2 balls of Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino, which has 55% Merino wool, 33% Microfibre and 12% Cashmere. It feels quite nice, and although being a 5 ply it feels a bit heavier.


I have not used a circular needle before, only the dpns for the socks, but I thought if I could handle them this circular thing should be breeze. So I only had to start it 5 times before I got it... I was super careful about not twisting the stitches when I closed the circle, but somehow this happened, but did not become obvious (to me) until I was about 3 rows along, but in the end I got it going. I quite like the circular needle, the only downer is that you never reach the end of the row so gratification is delayed - I like mine instant, and countable thanks.

Nevertheless I'm powering along now and am getting closer to the end of the 2nd ball. You can't really see it in the photo, except from the back, but the 5th row is a purl row, then back to knit. I think it has something to do with controlling the degree of curl-up of the edges, which I hope will happen after a spray of water and a night pinned to the ironing board when finished. The point I'm trying to make is that I have to do the purl row 5 rows from the end of the 2nd ball. How does one know when this is? I have a recollection of reading somewhere that it takes 4 times the yarn than the length of the row to knit a row, but I won't be quoted on that. Does anybody have some advice? I'd like to make full use of the yarn if I can.

I'm nearly finished so once I find out how to know when to start the last few rows it will be done. It's still pretty cold over in Europe (and the USA and Canada), so it should arrive before spring. I just hope she likes it as it isn't exactly like the one she saw.

PS I have just noticed a link to Corrections for the book. Call me naive, but I sort of think the patterns should be checked enough times so that they are accurate when you go to make them!