The quilts looked so nice on the beds, and some of the locations were quite stunning. Pop over to the Monday Modern Flickr group to see some of the others' quilts, I've only posted my two here.
15 September, 2013
My new quilts on old beds
We set up the Monday Modern quilt exhibition at Highwic House this morning and it was a lot of fun - what a nice way to spend a sunny Sunday morning, lugging quilts all around a gorgeous old Victorian house and strewing them artistically on beds and chairs and any surface that wasn't already full of objects. Hazel came too and helped a little and enjoyed it so much she thanked me for letting her come.
The quilts looked so nice on the beds, and some of the locations were quite stunning. Pop over to the Monday Modern Flickr group to see some of the others' quilts, I've only posted my two here.
The quilts looked so nice on the beds, and some of the locations were quite stunning. Pop over to the Monday Modern Flickr group to see some of the others' quilts, I've only posted my two here.
11 September, 2013
Being a perfectionist
Many (many) months ago it was my turn to have bee blocks made by the Monday Modern group.
It really is exciting to have them done for you, and they look great all together! The lovely ladies got me up half a Queen-sized quilt - and the rest are up to me!
I'm finding the concept of 20-odd blocks a bit daunting! I'm not a fast sewer at the best of times, and envy those who are - I spend a lot of time visualising (which is free and can be done on the couch), then worrying, and planning, and working up to cutting and then cutting (which is the job I really loathe and put off), sewing and then it usually sits awhile while I work up to doing a back, then it sits awhile longer because I don't like quilting much on my little machine. See even my description of the quilting process is long and drawn out! So I've started back into the stars but I can't quite remember what my plan was for the bits I already have cut out so it's going to be slow getting back into it and then I'll have to do a bunch more cutting - I'll need to find the original tutorial I used to make up the instructions I handed out (if I can remember which one it was). The main problem though, is how SLOW this is going to be because I have to press each seam as I make it, and that slows things down big time. I'm better at not being totally perfect at things than I used to be, but I still require a certain standard from myself and I can't be slapdash. I don't think I'm being OCD or anything, I just wouldn't be happy if I knew I hadn't tried my hardest to do the best job I could. I don't care so much if the result isn't perfect, well ok just a little, more that I tried hard. Not pressing the first seam when making the individual points would be slacking off in my books. Why am I so hard on myself when I'm not on others? See I'm just using this blog as cheap therapy ;)
It really is exciting to have them done for you, and they look great all together! The lovely ladies got me up half a Queen-sized quilt - and the rest are up to me!
I'm finding the concept of 20-odd blocks a bit daunting! I'm not a fast sewer at the best of times, and envy those who are - I spend a lot of time visualising (which is free and can be done on the couch), then worrying, and planning, and working up to cutting and then cutting (which is the job I really loathe and put off), sewing and then it usually sits awhile while I work up to doing a back, then it sits awhile longer because I don't like quilting much on my little machine. See even my description of the quilting process is long and drawn out! So I've started back into the stars but I can't quite remember what my plan was for the bits I already have cut out so it's going to be slow getting back into it and then I'll have to do a bunch more cutting - I'll need to find the original tutorial I used to make up the instructions I handed out (if I can remember which one it was). The main problem though, is how SLOW this is going to be because I have to press each seam as I make it, and that slows things down big time. I'm better at not being totally perfect at things than I used to be, but I still require a certain standard from myself and I can't be slapdash. I don't think I'm being OCD or anything, I just wouldn't be happy if I knew I hadn't tried my hardest to do the best job I could. I don't care so much if the result isn't perfect, well ok just a little, more that I tried hard. Not pressing the first seam when making the individual points would be slacking off in my books. Why am I so hard on myself when I'm not on others? See I'm just using this blog as cheap therapy ;)
ETA: I came back to change how I worded this post, I don't know if anyone else thought it sounded a bit whiny and self-pitying, which I didn't intend at all, so hopefully now it reads more like I intended! Plus I've been working at not pressing that first seam today (with mixed results on the personal development front).
10 September, 2013
New Quilts for Old Beds
The Monday Modern quilt group is putting on an exhibition at Highwic House here in Auckland starting on the 18th. It's such a great pairing, an old house and new quilts, I think we're all pretty excited about it! It's nice and casual too, the quilts will be displayed on the beds and around the house, so along with the quilts you get to see all the other neat stuff at Highwic. Given my professional interest in the past, combined with my love of modern quilts, I'll probably be all overcome and stuff.
If you want to read more about it, here is the media release from Highwic. I have to admit that when I googled the exhibition I got kind of a rush to see that the first page was almost all about us! Now I suppose I'd better go and finish the binding on my offering...
03 September, 2013
Charity quilt challenge
The latest Monday Modern quilt group challenge is going to be making a quilt for charity using fabrics from Helen's post-quilting shop stock. She brought along a couple of boxes of FQs and told us to go for it. At first we're all "yay it's like Christmas!" but then faced with so much choice I actually found it a bit daunting! I started out going for blues and greens but then suddenly remembered Rita at Red Pepper Quilt's Instagram post yesterday morning with a WIP shot of a 'low-volume' quilt she's working on. It made me all happy because it looks like spring so I thought I could go with that kind of fabric selection. Luckily I had my phone with me to have a look at it because she's got some surprisingly bright colours in there, which puts paid to the idea I have so far subscribed to that 'low volume' is just a euphemism for 'pastel'. This is what I ended up with:
I'm not 100% sure about all the fabrics (I've already pulled out three to return to Helen which don't go, although Hazel is very keen on one so perhaps I'll just buy them), and I'm sure I'll add in some from my own stash but I have a pattern in mind, and two months to do it - stay tuned!
Other things that are making me happy at the moment:
Kowhai flowers and spring arriving
This photo taken in Edmonton - it's so Canadian it makes my heart ache a little.
And this little girl and her pug and how much they love each other (he does really, despite the pleading look in his eyes here!)
I'm not 100% sure about all the fabrics (I've already pulled out three to return to Helen which don't go, although Hazel is very keen on one so perhaps I'll just buy them), and I'm sure I'll add in some from my own stash but I have a pattern in mind, and two months to do it - stay tuned!
Other things that are making me happy at the moment:
Kowhai flowers and spring arriving
This photo taken in Edmonton - it's so Canadian it makes my heart ache a little.
And this little girl and her pug and how much they love each other (he does really, despite the pleading look in his eyes here!)
25 August, 2013
Bathroom storage vessels
When I was in Edmonton my friend Jess and I ordered some Knitpicks wool. I'd never heard of them before, and as it turns out they don't ship outside of North America anyways (in this day and age? Seriously?), but they really do have a wonderful range of colours, particularly in cottons. I ordered a ball each of a range of colours, including their Cotlin range, which is a blend of cotton and linen and meant to be good for dishcloths etc. I always have good intentions of making such things but I think I must have a subconscious issue with the idea because somehow it never happens and now I've used most of it up making containers!
The pattern calls them bathroom storage vessels but I don't think I'll use them there, in fact I'm not entirely sure where I'll use them but they're fun anyways! I used the Cotlin doubled to give more body and they're certainly solid (though rather squishy despite that) but boy did it chew through the balls! I have no white left, and very little of any of the other colours either. Sheesh. The bowl is about 16cm wide and 9cm deep and the pot is 10cm by 14cm. I wish I'd done some more rows in the dark grey Wallaby to show it off better, it's my favourite of the whole lot. I have a ball of red left too, which would look great with the leftovers of the Wallaby, so maybe I'd better bite the bullet and do a dishcloth?
The pattern calls them bathroom storage vessels but I don't think I'll use them there, in fact I'm not entirely sure where I'll use them but they're fun anyways! I used the Cotlin doubled to give more body and they're certainly solid (though rather squishy despite that) but boy did it chew through the balls! I have no white left, and very little of any of the other colours either. Sheesh. The bowl is about 16cm wide and 9cm deep and the pot is 10cm by 14cm. I wish I'd done some more rows in the dark grey Wallaby to show it off better, it's my favourite of the whole lot. I have a ball of red left too, which would look great with the leftovers of the Wallaby, so maybe I'd better bite the bullet and do a dishcloth?
22 August, 2013
Slipper boots
One of the first things I did when I got to Edmonton was go through my mum's yarn and find something to do these slippers in. I ended up using this quite coarse worsted weight wool that she bought in 1980 here in Auckland from a carpet manufacturer who sold their short ends (which aren't all that short!). This amazes me for two reasons, firstly that there was ever places like that in Auckland because there sure aren't now, and how beautifully things keep in Edmonton with the low humidity and lack of wool-munching insects! The range of colours she has is wonderful, I would love to know what the carpets were like! Anyways, I made mine two-tone because I wasn't sure if there was enough orange to do them, although in the end there was plenty.
The pattern is very quick and I think you could probably make a pair in 2-3 evenings without any trouble. You start by doing the cuff in the round, and then switch to rows to do the sides and back, then switch to rounds again and come around the bottom and across the top of the foot for a couple rounds, before switching to rows to finish up the top. The soles in the pattern don't have much shaping other than some increases and were very narrow, so I started with a couple more chains at the heel and then increased more and only on the outside of the front so it matched my feet more closely. The original has quite a square toe which doesn't really suit my very tapered toes although I do like the look of it in the book! My slippers have a much more shaped look at the end there which maybe doesn't look quite as neat but they fit beautifully.
Despite the coarseness of the wool they are surprisingly comfy and I don't need to wear socks or anything (as you can see by my scruffy legs, I need to prep more for photoshoots obviously!). I still need to put the leather on the bottoms. They are supremely warm and will be very nice on cold days, although perhaps a bit too warm at the moment!
The pattern is very quick and I think you could probably make a pair in 2-3 evenings without any trouble. You start by doing the cuff in the round, and then switch to rows to do the sides and back, then switch to rounds again and come around the bottom and across the top of the foot for a couple rounds, before switching to rows to finish up the top. The soles in the pattern don't have much shaping other than some increases and were very narrow, so I started with a couple more chains at the heel and then increased more and only on the outside of the front so it matched my feet more closely. The original has quite a square toe which doesn't really suit my very tapered toes although I do like the look of it in the book! My slippers have a much more shaped look at the end there which maybe doesn't look quite as neat but they fit beautifully.
Despite the coarseness of the wool they are surprisingly comfy and I don't need to wear socks or anything (as you can see by my scruffy legs, I need to prep more for photoshoots obviously!). I still need to put the leather on the bottoms. They are supremely warm and will be very nice on cold days, although perhaps a bit too warm at the moment!
13 August, 2013
Back
So I did have good intentions of blogging while away, and the app was there on my phone, but nope I was having too much fun! We crammed quite a bit into a month including camping and two trips to the mountains. Hazel had two extra weeks off school in addition to the two weeks term break, so I felt I had to make things at least mildly educational.
A rock circle we built in the Pembina River (engineering, hydrology, public art)
The girls playing down by the river near the campsite (engineering, environment)
On the train to Jasper with Jess and the girls. Instant noodles for breakfast after a 6am start - class all the way! (transport, nutrition, cultural differences)
Inukshuk at Angel Glacier pond (it was tiny, about 15cm high tops). I have totally fallen in love with inukshuks and plan to make a big one asap (cultural heritage, climate change, environment, engineering)
We picked lots of raspberries in the garden (food, sustainable living, foraging, eating what you grew)
Visited the Tyrell Museum (dinosaurs! evolution, fossils, teeth, general coolness)
Admired the prairies... (landscape, crops, transport, spending hours in a car and not driving your family crazy)
...and the badlands... (landscape formation, not hiking before a violent thunder storm, how flash floods develop)
...and the Rockies again up at Lake Louise (environment, finding the nicest hotel in the world, hiking without whining, putting up with a little discomfort without whining, how good it feels when you get there).
It wasn't all education, nature and pretty photos though, I did get in some crochet! I'd taken a couple books to show my friend Jess who wanted to learn to crochet (which she did) and I was taken by a sudden desire to make a bunny that's in Simple Crochet by Sara Sinaguglia for her daughter Amy's birthday present in February. It was a little down to the wire but I got there the day before we left. I made things a lot harder for myself by deciding that the only wool in my mum's stash that would do for the stripes was this gorgeous marigold crepe stuff, but it was in quite short lengths for reasons I was never entirely sure of, so it had to be tied together and it made things a lot slower. The inside was a total mess of ends but as it turns out Jess likes sewing in ends and she volunteered to do it. I would have liked to have spent a bit more time on the face, especially the whiskers and mouth, but needs must and overall I'm pretty happy with it. Hope Amy is too!
A rock circle we built in the Pembina River (engineering, hydrology, public art)
The girls playing down by the river near the campsite (engineering, environment)
On the train to Jasper with Jess and the girls. Instant noodles for breakfast after a 6am start - class all the way! (transport, nutrition, cultural differences)
Inukshuk at Angel Glacier pond (it was tiny, about 15cm high tops). I have totally fallen in love with inukshuks and plan to make a big one asap (cultural heritage, climate change, environment, engineering)
We picked lots of raspberries in the garden (food, sustainable living, foraging, eating what you grew)
Visited the Tyrell Museum (dinosaurs! evolution, fossils, teeth, general coolness)
Admired the prairies... (landscape, crops, transport, spending hours in a car and not driving your family crazy)
...and the badlands... (landscape formation, not hiking before a violent thunder storm, how flash floods develop)
...and the Rockies again up at Lake Louise (environment, finding the nicest hotel in the world, hiking without whining, putting up with a little discomfort without whining, how good it feels when you get there).
It wasn't all education, nature and pretty photos though, I did get in some crochet! I'd taken a couple books to show my friend Jess who wanted to learn to crochet (which she did) and I was taken by a sudden desire to make a bunny that's in Simple Crochet by Sara Sinaguglia for her daughter Amy's birthday present in February. It was a little down to the wire but I got there the day before we left. I made things a lot harder for myself by deciding that the only wool in my mum's stash that would do for the stripes was this gorgeous marigold crepe stuff, but it was in quite short lengths for reasons I was never entirely sure of, so it had to be tied together and it made things a lot slower. The inside was a total mess of ends but as it turns out Jess likes sewing in ends and she volunteered to do it. I would have liked to have spent a bit more time on the face, especially the whiskers and mouth, but needs must and overall I'm pretty happy with it. Hope Amy is too!
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