Handmade Christmas - tutorial treats

This Christmas I made several presents and decorations using the tutorials of several clever people out there in Blogland - here are a few:

Melleny's Christmas star YouTube tutorial
Domesticali Origami wreath


Old Red Barn Co Headband
Linaloo Decorated candle
Heart of Mary Notebook cover with penholder

It was all so much fun, I can't wait until next Christmas!.....

I think I might start a little bit earlier. September, perhaps?

Thoughtful Friday

" Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little,

and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so let us all be thankful"

- Buddha

UFO round up

I'm taking stock and writing NY resolutions...... let the 2009 Fabric diet and fitness programme begin!

I commit to:

• completing 2 UFO's before every new project
• using more fabric than I buy
  

  

This will be my main challenge for 2009 - to complete this Texas star scrap quilt mad from feedsack/30's prints. Of course the irony here is that my "scrap quilt" has absolutely no scraps in it, all the fabrics were bought with this quilt in mind. Although I shall had some scraps left over..... so, perhaps that might count? :)

I also hope to complete Leanne Beasley's Butterfly Garden, but in this I am at the mercy of the shop through which I am getting the BOM from - it has been 12 months, and so far I have only received 6 blocks. I will commit to catching up with the blocks that I have received though.

My UFO list is actually not all that scary:

Texas Star
Butterfly Garden

The WIP list is not that bad either:

Checks and Planes
I Spy (photo at the top and link above)

The WHIMM and PIG list is very long, but that's another post.

our new fancy...... Nancy

Little Possum made a new literary friend today - "Fancy Nancy" has found her way to our bookshelf complete with glitter. We love Nancy and her fancy ways.... there's a girl who knows how to accessorise and to add a little sparkle to her day! I am reminded of the little adage "There will always be something in life for the person who can bring her sandwich outside and call it a picnic".

As soon as we finished reading the book, LP created "The Fancy Club" and I was invited to the inaugural meeting.

LP was chairperson and was giving a little lecture on what it means to be fancy. It is an exhaustive list covering everything from clothes to manners..... e.g. being kind, being honest, not poking people while at the table and (this is my favourite) not picking snot out of your nose and eating it (ok - do I need to point out that I meant this was my favourite item on the list, and not my favourite pastime?..........)

even Horsey the hobby-horse dressed up and looked very fancy indeed wearing LP's silk flower girl dress.

We read this book as a literary dip in the water, but we will definately read more of Fancy Nancy!

Christmas........

Photos - not enough taken
Food - far too much taken :)
Family - just the right amount!

We had a lovely Christmas, I was very good and stuck to handmade presents - with the exception of books..... I haven't quite mastered the art of printing yet :) Ironically, most of my presents were electronic. Notable exceptions being a lovely basket full of cookies from Maryanne, a cinnamonroll wreath from the Rigbys, and my lovely teacup candle from Carli (thank you!!!).

The best present this Christmas was the opportunity to spend a little time with auntie Beres (MOTH's aunt) who had travelled down from Brisbane. She's witty and sharp as a tack. The children have only met her once, but they got on like a house on fire. On Boxing Day Beres celebrated her 80th birthday, and what better way to spend your birthday than with a game of tennis? Sadly the photo of Beres and Turtle on the tennis court is not in my camera...

Thoughtful Friday

"Love came down at Christmas;

Love all lovely, love divine;

Love was born at Christmas,

Stars and angels gave the sign"

- Christina Rosetti

Merry Christmas!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Handmade Christmas - pencil rolls

In my quest for handmade presents this year, I decided that pencil rolls would make a perfect present for nieces and nephew. I searched for patterns and found one at Pink Chalk Fabrics. Pencil rolls must have been an inspired choice, because the following week Toni had her pencil roll pattern published in the Handmade magazine and Homespun magazine's Kids Issue has a pencil roll made using the wonderful "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" fabrics. All of a sudden I had an abundance of ideas.

I decided to combine elements from all three patterns and made a strippy lining in rainbow colours to match the colouring pencils I had bought while using Hungry Caterpillar fabrics for the outside layer and pocket. Instead of using a third layer of muslin or flannellette in the middle, I substituted interfacing with iron-on pellon for the outside layer.

Selecting fabrics from the stash was a whole lot of fun!

At the end of it all my work table out on the deck was a bit of a mess.

I made one 24 pencil roll and two 12 pencil rolls (ran out of interfacing, otherwise I think I would have made some more!). The 24 pencil roll is for our oldest niece and I thought she might feel a little too grown up for the hungry caterpillar so for the pocket I used a fabric bought at IKEA last year.

Thoughtful Friday

"Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony"

- Thomas Merton

a word on weather..........

I love summer, but I must admit that I a get a little cranky on days when temperatures go above 30C .... my polar genes are not comfortable in the heat. I feel a little like my tomato plants, limp leaves and a bit on the droopy side. Then I found this little verse and it cheered me up, so here it is!

WEATHER
Whether the weather be fine

Or whether the weather be not,

Whether the weather be cold

Or whether the weather be hot,

We'll weather the weather

Whatever the weather,

Whether we like it or not.

just a WHIMM

One of the best thing about quilting is planning the next project (usually while still trying complete anywhere between 1-5 others). The quilt in the photo above (i.e. the quilt on the left) has caught my eye. It is a quilt designed by those clever women at Material Obsession and the pattern will be published in their second book in May next year. I think it will make a great stashbusting quilt, and would probably help clear out some of my scrap bin as well.

PS! For non-quilters:
WHIMM= Work Hidden In My Mind - a planned project which progresses to a
PIG (Project In Grocery sack) once I have gathered/bought fabrics for it and then to a
WIP (Work In Progress), but hopefully not a
UFO (Unfinished Object) and definately never a
WOMBAT (Waste Of Money, Batting And Time)....

summer.....sea, sand, sun.... Christmas

On my trips around BlogLand, I have wistfully read about first snowfalls and seen picture- postcard-beautiful photos of wintery landscapes and Aurora Borealis. Just by looking at the photos of fir trees, branches laden with snow I can feel the cold air and remember the sensation of the little hairs in my nostrils freezing and of the chill of snow falling down your neck from one of those branches. I have suffered snow envy.

But, then I remember that at the moment the grass is actually greener on this side of the fence, quite literally.... and then we have a day at the beach like yesterday, and I am happy to be walking around barefoot in summer clothes and not rugged up for a polar expedition!

Just in case

patterns in the rock

Life is good

yes..... I do quilt!

I suppose you could be forgiven for wondering since I haven't actually posted about quilting for aeons. Quite unforgivable for someone who has called her blog Carpe Quiltem. Incidentally there is another blog by the same name in Holland now, so I am suffering from an identity crisis.

But, I digress.... and now it's back to quilting:

This quilt pattern is called "I Spy" and was designed by Trish Harper. I completely fell in love with the bright colours and decided that I absolutely had to make it. It's been a UFO for awhile as I took a little break finishing the pieced blocks. But, I should have the appliqued blocks finished by the end of this week, and then I will be able to assemble and quilt next week. Hand quilting in bright cotton perle, my favourite!

The quilt top below is called "Checks and Planes" by Jenelle Kent. This is a stashbusting project, and was so quick and easy to assemble. At least the 'checks' were..... As I was cutting strips and squares with my rotary cutter and then chain-piecing on the sewing machine, I pondered how superefficient quilt making has become. I'm sure a time-travelling pioneer woman would marvel!
are you wondering about the 'planes' part? There will be appliqued aeroplanes around the border, all in check fabrics. Another handquilting project, and I also decided to use up all the leftover strips to make the binding. Am quite looking forward to the end result!

Higgledy-piggledy garden part 2

Back in October you may remember I started our higgledy-piggledy garden.I am happy to report that the experimental gardening seems to be working out quite well with the exception of my capsicum plant where the leaves closely resemble mesh, obviously proved a temptation too far for some little insect.

The herbs are thriving, and the strawberry patch off to the far left is growing so well.... we're going to have a great harvest of strawberries next year! My vegetable garden is so happy. I had to give the cucumbers and zucchini a bit of help with pollination which involved a soft paint brush and the identification of male and female flowers. Thanks to Suzi for helping me along that particular part of the gardening learning curve!!

I have so many pumpkin plants of different varieties that I see a lot of soup in our future... I may have to gather pumpkin recipes so I am open to hearing your suggestions! :)

Handmade Christmas - wrapping paper

One sunny Saturday morning:

2 eager children in charge of a roll of paper + 4 trays of paint + stamps, brushes and hands=

homemade wrapping paper for Christmas!

Fascinating, isn't it, how craft projects seem to take up so much more time in planning, setting up and cleaning up than the actual crafting itself?

But, it was worth it for a lovely time together out on the deck, painting and using our stamps that we had made:

The sponge stamps were made cutting up kitchen sponges, and for the other stamps we glued string/twine into a shape.

Thoughtful Friday

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes"

- Marcel Proust

Starry, starry night

I love the Starry Night painting by Vincent van Gogh, the swirls in the sky remind me of the Northern lights.

Enjoy this musical tribute to his art.

Handmade and recycled for Christmas

We bought a new cover for the ironing board the other day.... about time since all our clothes had lattice print after ironing. What do you do with an old ironing board cover? The fabric was not much good with all the stains, but the lining...... that nice fluffy heat resistant lining? Although it was too compressed for ironing, it still has a lot of mileage in it. Couldn't bring myself to throw it out, so thinking cap went on.......

/light bulbs go off in brain/ Oven mitts and potholders!! What better material to use for lining oven mitts?

I got 2 long rectangles and some squares out of the lining, and made the first one yesterday in a nice Christmas print. Forgot to sew a little hoop in the binding for hanging the thing up.... but I'll unpick the seam and sneak one in.

I am now pondering embellishment of the pockets..... I am thinking some applique holly leaves and suffolk puff berries to match the print, but I may settle for glued on green felt leaves.... I'll see how I feel later. But, now I have to go back to the sewing machine and quilt the other rectangle and squares! I am feeling quite Christmas'y making all these presents.... much more than when I go shopping for presents. It must be that making the gift is a gift itself...... double giving, double soft mushy feeling!!