(We later made a mask to go with them, here.)
Wednesday, 15 January 2014
Of Wings
Did I ever tell you how much I LOVE Pinterest? And did I ever tell you how much I HATE Pinterest? Oh. My. Gosh. I don't even know where to start. There is so much inspiration there, that I could pin and pin and pin all these things that I want to do and yet never ever get around to doing them, probably because I'm too busy pinning. I could dream my whole life away. And then feel so guilty that I have spent so much time looking for things to make, to do, and have never done any of them. Ok. So it's not really that bad - I have made a concentrated effort to reduce Pinterest use -put the iPad down slowly and back away- and have actually also played some things with the wee lads and made some stuff. Like these wings. Super ultra cool bird wings.
(We later made a mask to go with them, here.)
(We later made a mask to go with them, here.)
Monday, 30 December 2013
Coffeeeee
It's no secret how much I love coffee, and how, over the past five years, I have come to depend on coffee - (who would have thought those two lovely wee lads would be such terrible sleepers?). I drink flat whites. From my espresso machine with the built-in grinder. I *love* my coffee machine. No, really I do. We take it away on holiday with us!
But all that was just to set the scene, to let you know how much I value coffee. My sister-in-law drinks plunger coffee and I drew her name in the Christmas Present draw (well, that's not strictly true, my husband did, but somehow I ended up organising her present too...). So anyway, I like to give personal presents, different presents, homemade presents, ones that are difficult to put a price on.
Two days before the posting cut-off date I was still trying to come up with something for her, when it came to me in the middle of the night - she uses a tea cosy, so why not one for her French Press? And I even had some insulated batting to hand (a well-intentioned purchase which was never actually made into an oven mitt).
So here we have it, a coffee cosy!
But all that was just to set the scene, to let you know how much I value coffee. My sister-in-law drinks plunger coffee and I drew her name in the Christmas Present draw (well, that's not strictly true, my husband did, but somehow I ended up organising her present too...). So anyway, I like to give personal presents, different presents, homemade presents, ones that are difficult to put a price on.
Two days before the posting cut-off date I was still trying to come up with something for her, when it came to me in the middle of the night - she uses a tea cosy, so why not one for her French Press? And I even had some insulated batting to hand (a well-intentioned purchase which was never actually made into an oven mitt).
So here we have it, a coffee cosy!
Wednesday, 25 December 2013
The Magic of Christmas
Remember how magical Christmas was when you were little? The lights, the beautiful tree with its star or fairy or angel perched atop, the treats, the presents and Father Christmas (or Santa or Santa Claus or whatever you called that jolly fat man who travelled around the world faster than the speed of light pulled by nine flying reindeer).
Magic.
Creating that magic for my wee lads is important to me. I make Christmas Calendars (as my mum did for me) and bake Christmas biscuits (Vanillekipferl). We have a tree and add plenty of sparkles around the house. We visit The Enchanted Forest with its beautiful mechanical Christmas displays. We leave biscuits and beer out for Santa (my boys have a different name for him than we did - different era, more influence from American media) and carrots and water outside for the reindeer.
I wonder how much longer this will last. Max is already 5. Won't he find out from friends at school soon? And what about the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy? Other magic I encourage whole-heartedly.
Magic.
Creating that magic for my wee lads is important to me. I make Christmas Calendars (as my mum did for me) and bake Christmas biscuits (Vanillekipferl). We have a tree and add plenty of sparkles around the house. We visit The Enchanted Forest with its beautiful mechanical Christmas displays. We leave biscuits and beer out for Santa (my boys have a different name for him than we did - different era, more influence from American media) and carrots and water outside for the reindeer.
I wonder how much longer this will last. Max is already 5. Won't he find out from friends at school soon? And what about the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy? Other magic I encourage whole-heartedly.
Monday, 25 November 2013
Presents for a 3 Year Old
Can't believe my wee baby is turning 3 already! Some presents for a busy lad: a swim bag (or gumboot bag) with waterproof lining and a cape. What little boy doesn't need a cape?
Monday, 15 July 2013
A Real Quilt for Max
It's finished! My first ever full-sized quilt. Full of imperfections, but I love it, and I hope Max does too. I'm looking forward to giving it to him on his 5th birthday.
Now that was a journey - not at all like doing his lap quilt. It took about 7 months, 5 of which it was sitting idly while I decided what to do about the less-than-perfect stitching from my not realising that my sewing machine tension actually went higher than 5 (in my defence, the marks between the numbers abruptly stop and the wheel becomes quite stiff to turn. I thought that 5 was all it went up to). After deciding to and then working myself up to unpicking a quarter of the quilting, I plunged into it and managed to finish that and the whole thing quite quickly, well in time for his birthday.
I spent so long making the quilt top perfect - the squares were lovely and uniform, pieced in perfect straight lines, the quilt sandwich was lovely and flat and I used tons of pins, but it all turned to custard when quilting. Although it turned out much better with the tension set on 8 (not 5!), I still had troubles with uneven stitches and bunching at the ends of each square - I used a walking foot, but it was a super cheap one from a Chinese Ebay merchant, and to be honest, it didn't really look like it was doing anything, so I'm thinking the quality was a bit shonky, that and my machine is only an entry-level model, not made for such big projects (and is in desperate need of a service). The binding was an interesting affair - I have never bound anything before - I had a very limited amount of fabric left over for it, so the strips were only 2in wide - I would have preferred them to be at least 2.5in, but it worked out anyway. After reading a gazillion posts on binding, I decided to use a cross grain binding and to do the entire thing on the machine - none of this hand stitching for me - I'm far too impatient!
I'm so thankful to the person who advised that I should perhaps start with a single quilt, before throwing myself into a king!
Now that was a journey - not at all like doing his lap quilt. It took about 7 months, 5 of which it was sitting idly while I decided what to do about the less-than-perfect stitching from my not realising that my sewing machine tension actually went higher than 5 (in my defence, the marks between the numbers abruptly stop and the wheel becomes quite stiff to turn. I thought that 5 was all it went up to). After deciding to and then working myself up to unpicking a quarter of the quilting, I plunged into it and managed to finish that and the whole thing quite quickly, well in time for his birthday.I spent so long making the quilt top perfect - the squares were lovely and uniform, pieced in perfect straight lines, the quilt sandwich was lovely and flat and I used tons of pins, but it all turned to custard when quilting. Although it turned out much better with the tension set on 8 (not 5!), I still had troubles with uneven stitches and bunching at the ends of each square - I used a walking foot, but it was a super cheap one from a Chinese Ebay merchant, and to be honest, it didn't really look like it was doing anything, so I'm thinking the quality was a bit shonky, that and my machine is only an entry-level model, not made for such big projects (and is in desperate need of a service). The binding was an interesting affair - I have never bound anything before - I had a very limited amount of fabric left over for it, so the strips were only 2in wide - I would have preferred them to be at least 2.5in, but it worked out anyway. After reading a gazillion posts on binding, I decided to use a cross grain binding and to do the entire thing on the machine - none of this hand stitching for me - I'm far too impatient!
I'm so thankful to the person who advised that I should perhaps start with a single quilt, before throwing myself into a king!
Tuesday, 15 January 2013
A Cowboy Quilt
So, in my new obsession with quilting I want to do EVERYTHING! I am SOOO excited about it! I have found so many different quilts and objects I want to sew. I absolutely want to do a rag quilt for our bed and have already started on the planning, but then thought I'd better start with something a bit smaller than a king-sized quilt, and I came across some super-cute cowboy fabric at the Spotlight sale...perfect for a 4-year-old boy's single bed!
Let me share my working out, so that it might save somebody else all the calculations I made. We use the metric system in NZ, however, since many of the quilting tutorials I've been reading are written using the imperial system, I have had to work out everything in both centimetres and inches. (Oh and just for fun, choose the odd one out: Liberia, Somalia, USA, Burma (aka Myanmar). See answer below.
So I wanted to make a simple square patchwork single quilt (that's approximately a "twin" for those in the US). Our single beds measure 92cm x 188cm (36" x 74") and I chose to make a quilt 60.5" x 75" - long enough to drape at end of bed once in position below the pillow- that works out to be 11 x 14 5.5" squares. Once the 1/4 inch seam allowance is added, you need 6 inch squares -154 of them!
I am thinking I want to bind it in the brown polka dot fabric and since I have never bound anything before, I have been watching loads of videos on cutting continuous bias binding and binding quilts. I'm still a bit nervous about it. I still also need to make a pillowcase, but don't have a lot of fabric left, so it will need to be pieced together.
But anyway, it's progressing and I'm quite excited about it.
More later!
Oh, and the odd one out of Liberia, Somalia, USA, Burma is:
Somalia - the other 3 are the only 3 countries in the world to still officially use the imperial system!
Let me share my working out, so that it might save somebody else all the calculations I made. We use the metric system in NZ, however, since many of the quilting tutorials I've been reading are written using the imperial system, I have had to work out everything in both centimetres and inches. (Oh and just for fun, choose the odd one out: Liberia, Somalia, USA, Burma (aka Myanmar). See answer below.
So I wanted to make a simple square patchwork single quilt (that's approximately a "twin" for those in the US). Our single beds measure 92cm x 188cm (36" x 74") and I chose to make a quilt 60.5" x 75" - long enough to drape at end of bed once in position below the pillow- that works out to be 11 x 14 5.5" squares. Once the 1/4 inch seam allowance is added, you need 6 inch squares -154 of them!
Brown polka dot squares still to be cut.
Half finished quilt top.
I am thinking I want to bind it in the brown polka dot fabric and since I have never bound anything before, I have been watching loads of videos on cutting continuous bias binding and binding quilts. I'm still a bit nervous about it. I still also need to make a pillowcase, but don't have a lot of fabric left, so it will need to be pieced together.
But anyway, it's progressing and I'm quite excited about it.
More later!
Oh, and the odd one out of Liberia, Somalia, USA, Burma is:
Somalia - the other 3 are the only 3 countries in the world to still officially use the imperial system!
Sunday, 13 January 2013
Quilting: A Change of Heart
I had NEVER been interested in quilting. For me, the word conjured up images like this:Fussy, green, maroon and brown geometric nana-quilts.
However, recently I stumbled across the photos below and immediately fell in love with rag quilts.
After trawling through quilts on Pinterest, I discovered that quilts can be amazingly beautiful!
Some of my favourites are:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/114724021/modern-patchwork-quilt
I'm loving the square look and I really like the yellow squares in the middle of each block to pull it all together. Great fabric from Lotta Jansdotter.
ididntsaybanana.blogspot.com
Pinwheels in super cute colours as a baby quilt. Preeeetttty.
http://www.magpiequilts.com/2012/02/chevron-quilts.html
Mmmmm...Chevrons!
I have made a few baby quilts/lap quilts, but never a full-sized one, nor one with anything other than patchwork squares. See two of my little quilts here and here.
But now, some days it seems all I do is think about quilts and quilting. Strange how this obsession snuck on me. I even have a Quilt board on Pinterest!
After first seeing the above rag quilts I decided I want to make a king-size one for our bed and spent hours calculating sizes of block and how many fabrics I'd use and how much I'd need. I ordered some spring-loaded snips, a walking foot for my machine, spent ages scrolling through pages and pages of fabrics trying to decide what to use. (I think I have found the colour story I want to use, but more about that later.)
After such a burst of enthusiasm I then stopped to think and decided, prudently, I believe, that I should start with a smaller project. I have now started a single quilt for Max's bed. More about that soon.
And now, back to my sewing machine!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)