Sometimes simple is best.
Saturday, 28 May 2011
Table Runner
On of my most favourite recent fabric purchases, was a 1/2yard of Echino Rondo in Turquoise. It is a light weight cotton/linen blend, is 62 " wide, and has a wonderful drape. The multi coloured print was perfect for a table runner to bring our meals area some colour during winter.
Sometimes simple is best.
Sometimes simple is best.
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
Queen Anne's Lace
It has been perfect crochet weather this week. After seeing Kate's lovely scarves using the Queen Anne's Lace pattern, I put hook to yarn to make one for winter. I used a pattern I found at This Domestic Life which has helpful photographed steps. It is a quite straight forward pattern and it was relaxing to crochet while watching Master Chef.
I used 1 1/2 balls of 8 ply wool yarn from spotlight and a 4.00 mm crochet hook. I crocheted 50 medallions.
I will definitely be making more of these.
Saturday, 21 May 2011
50th Wedding Anniversary
Last week, my parents celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary.
We celebrated the happy occasion with a lovely cocktail party last weekend with family and friends. As it was their golden anniversary, the theme was gold.
Mum and I made the invitations....
and Mum made all the flower centrepieces, which were arranged on mirror tiles, with some scattered gold and white hearts on the tables.
We made up chocolate Bride and Groom boxes as party favours. I used the Cricut Tie the Knot cartridge for the boxes, and then embossed the dresses with the Cuttlebug. Mum assembled all the boxes and added the ribbon and pearls.
Mum ordered the cake from Sugar and Spice. They printed one of their wedding photos on a layer of fondant for the top of the cake (white chocolate mud cake) - it was delicious.
Mum's wedding dress was on display. My sister and I used to love trying her dress on when we were kids.
It was a wonderful party and we all thoroughly enjoyed helping them celebrate such a special milestone.
Thursday, 19 May 2011
"The Craft Room"
Sarah and I were thrilled when the lovely people at Cloth, Paper, Scissors asked us if we would like to be interviewed for a special feature they were doing on Mother and Daughter Creative Teams in the Studios Magazine (Summer 2011).
Apart from the thrill of being featured, it also prompted us to do a big tidy up of our creative space which was an added benefit. Here is a peek at a couple of the pages showing our Studio.
Studios Magazine is not widely available in Australia, so it was lovely to receive our complimentary copy this week and have a good read of it. There are loads of lovely studios featured and it has given us a few good ideas of how we can make the best use of our space.
Here are a few more peeks into our Craft Room...
Our Craft Room doubles as a guest room a few times a year. When guests arrive we fold away the work tables and move the sewing machine out, and set up the guest bed which is stored in the adjacent ensuite bathroom when not in use.
My son regularly joins us in the craft room to paint his models, which he finds is a good stress reliever when he needs a break from his Year 12 study.
Looking at these pictures is a good reminder for me to do another tidy up! The hard part is keeping everything in the Craft Room in its place, especially with three of us working in there! (The room is 11 ft 8" x 11 ft 4"; 3.5 x 3.4 metres).
I am off to the Craft and Quilt Fair this week - I will be trying hard not to add too much more to my ever growing stash! Wish me luck...
Apart from the thrill of being featured, it also prompted us to do a big tidy up of our creative space which was an added benefit. Here is a peek at a couple of the pages showing our Studio.
Studios Magazine is not widely available in Australia, so it was lovely to receive our complimentary copy this week and have a good read of it. There are loads of lovely studios featured and it has given us a few good ideas of how we can make the best use of our space.
Here are a few more peeks into our Craft Room...
Our Craft Room doubles as a guest room a few times a year. When guests arrive we fold away the work tables and move the sewing machine out, and set up the guest bed which is stored in the adjacent ensuite bathroom when not in use.
We use Ikea Expedit Shelving to store our growing collection of books, magazines, and supplies. Old wooden cigar boxes (that my parents bought at an antique sale) store stamps and masking tape; a suitcase that my Dad received as a 21st birthday gift holds a stack of quilts; and my childhood doll house stores fabric. We have framed some of my Grandmothers vintage sewing patterns to fit with the sewing theme.
My son regularly joins us in the craft room to paint his models, which he finds is a good stress reliever when he needs a break from his Year 12 study.
Looking at these pictures is a good reminder for me to do another tidy up! The hard part is keeping everything in the Craft Room in its place, especially with three of us working in there! (The room is 11 ft 8" x 11 ft 4"; 3.5 x 3.4 metres).
I am off to the Craft and Quilt Fair this week - I will be trying hard not to add too much more to my ever growing stash! Wish me luck...
Saturday, 14 May 2011
A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That...
I haven't been around here much lately - there is plenty going on in the sewing department but not a lot that I can show just yet. However I have distracted myself from the pattern writing with some of the following .....
Baking -
For our Mothers Day celebration with the extended family, I made up some baby Lime Syrup Cakes, using this recipe.
and Butterfly Cakes - always a favourite! I love the little baking cases - they came from Japan. Does anyone else buy baking cases when they travel?
Online shopping
(I had a birthday recently and had some birthday money to spend). I added to my Kokeshi collection with two more kokeshi dolls.
and bought a stack of fat quarters of the DS Quilts Picnics and Fairgrounds collection. Can't wait till the rest of the fabric range goes on sale at Spotlight this week.
more pyjama making
I made up some more pyjama pants using the lounge pants pattern from Sewing Green. This time I added the cuff ( unfortunately there is an error in the sizing of the pattern for the cuff - so check here if you are going to make up the pants). I love the fabric - it is Honey Child by Jennifer Paginelli.
gift packaging
I covered another noodle box - this time using fabric. I used spray adhesive on the back of the fabric and adhered it to the noodle box. I think this would be a cute way to package up a gift for a quilter.
and quick sewing.
My family gave me a new phone for my birthday and I used some thick industrial felt that I had left over from another project to make up a cover for it. I added a little doiley that I had crocheted up a while ago. Simple but effective.
Pinterest
I have also been spending time at Pinterest - very addicting.
Have a great weekend!
Baking -
For our Mothers Day celebration with the extended family, I made up some baby Lime Syrup Cakes, using this recipe.
and Butterfly Cakes - always a favourite! I love the little baking cases - they came from Japan. Does anyone else buy baking cases when they travel?
Online shopping
(I had a birthday recently and had some birthday money to spend). I added to my Kokeshi collection with two more kokeshi dolls.
and bought a stack of fat quarters of the DS Quilts Picnics and Fairgrounds collection. Can't wait till the rest of the fabric range goes on sale at Spotlight this week.
more pyjama making
I made up some more pyjama pants using the lounge pants pattern from Sewing Green. This time I added the cuff ( unfortunately there is an error in the sizing of the pattern for the cuff - so check here if you are going to make up the pants). I love the fabric - it is Honey Child by Jennifer Paginelli.
gift packaging
I covered another noodle box - this time using fabric. I used spray adhesive on the back of the fabric and adhered it to the noodle box. I think this would be a cute way to package up a gift for a quilter.
and quick sewing.
My family gave me a new phone for my birthday and I used some thick industrial felt that I had left over from another project to make up a cover for it. I added a little doiley that I had crocheted up a while ago. Simple but effective.
I have also been spending time at Pinterest - very addicting.
Have a great weekend!
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
Holiday Sewing
After a few weeks of working on some design projects, I just felt like some straight forward sewing over the weekend. I made up a couple more pairs of pyjama pants, something I desperately needed now we are finally getting some cooler weather.
I also made up some Fold Up Eco Bags using the pattern from I Love Patchwork. These are a great stash buster project and will be good to pop in with gifts. I love the inbuilt pouch for storing the folded bag when not in use.
I have been wanting a new long term scrap quilt project to work on - something that I can just pick up for a few minutes at a time after work etc when I feel like some repetitive sewing. I have been quite taken with the Butterfly Scrap Quilt that is in From Quilters Studio, a Japanese sewing book (see image below) . More recently, I have also seen quilts made in this style here, and here.
The blocks measure 4 1/2 inches and I used the foundation paper piecing method. I think it will keep my busy for a while and should be a great scrap buster.
I received a lovely order of Japanese fabrics today from SuperBuzzy. Some Suzuko Koseki (love everything with vintage sewing supplies);
some cute Love Bugs and Darla Horses
and some Echino fabric. Sarah thought this fabric would make a perfect table runner with its colourful repeating pattern - it will brighten up our meals area over winter.
Sadly it is back to work for me on Thursday.
I have been wanting a new long term scrap quilt project to work on - something that I can just pick up for a few minutes at a time after work etc when I feel like some repetitive sewing. I have been quite taken with the Butterfly Scrap Quilt that is in From Quilters Studio, a Japanese sewing book (see image below) . More recently, I have also seen quilts made in this style here, and here.
The blocks measure 4 1/2 inches and I used the foundation paper piecing method. I think it will keep my busy for a while and should be a great scrap buster.
I received a lovely order of Japanese fabrics today from SuperBuzzy. Some Suzuko Koseki (love everything with vintage sewing supplies);
some cute Love Bugs and Darla Horses
and some Echino fabric. Sarah thought this fabric would make a perfect table runner with its colourful repeating pattern - it will brighten up our meals area over winter.
Sadly it is back to work for me on Thursday.
Sunday, 1 May 2011
Covered Noodle Box
I picked up Decorating With Papercraft at the library this week. The cover project, Cardstock and Wire Cartons, was my favourite. I went to make it today and realised that the template in the book for the noodle box needed enlarging by 200% and not wanting to enlarge by hand, I decided to simply cover a noodle box that I already had in my stash.
If you would like to make one, here is what you need:
Remove the wire handle from the box using some long nosed pliers. The noodle box can then be flattened out. Trace around the outside of the noodle box onto a piece of scrap booking paper, cut out the shape, and then glue the pattered paper to the noodle box. Using a small hole punch, punch holes in all layers, using the holes in the existing noodle box as a guide. Refold the box using the score lines in the noodle box. Make sure that the four holes on each side are overlapping and then use the pliers to reattach the handle.
All in all it was a quick project. I think these covered noodle boxes would be a terrific way to package up treats from the kitchen as a gift (the purchased noodle box has a waxed coating so it would work well with cookies etc). You could also pop a gift voucher to your favourite Asian restaurant into the noodle box and add some chopsticks for an Asian inspired gift. They would also make great favour boxes or gift bags. I will definitely be making some more of these.
If you would like to make one, here is what you need:
- small noodle box (available from craft stores)
- 1 sheet of scrap booking paper
- glue
- pliers
- small hole punch
Remove the wire handle from the box using some long nosed pliers. The noodle box can then be flattened out. Trace around the outside of the noodle box onto a piece of scrap booking paper, cut out the shape, and then glue the pattered paper to the noodle box. Using a small hole punch, punch holes in all layers, using the holes in the existing noodle box as a guide. Refold the box using the score lines in the noodle box. Make sure that the four holes on each side are overlapping and then use the pliers to reattach the handle.
All in all it was a quick project. I think these covered noodle boxes would be a terrific way to package up treats from the kitchen as a gift (the purchased noodle box has a waxed coating so it would work well with cookies etc). You could also pop a gift voucher to your favourite Asian restaurant into the noodle box and add some chopsticks for an Asian inspired gift. They would also make great favour boxes or gift bags. I will definitely be making some more of these.
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