Fifty Flower Friday

So I haven't partaken in the OFW that so many are, that's because I am just too unreliable, so here is fifty instead! This is a total of 350 hexies sewn together. At first I felt I had made HUGE progress, that's over half of the 80 centre flowers done! woot!... wait, I calculated how many hexies all up will be in this quilt.... over 2500. Perhaps 350 isn't impressive after all. I really cant wait to finish the last 30 though, they are all basted ready to go, then it is on to 12 around the outside in a solid colour, and then 8 white ones so they are ready to join together. after finishing a flower with 7 hexies, 20 will feel like slow going. I am hoping my motivation to slog through this will be because at this stage I will be able to lay the pieces out and begin to see my quilt !!

So I begin my hexie journey

Remember HERE when I share with you all one lonesome little Hexie?
Remember when I said I wasn't sure if I would make any more??
Obviously I decided I would :)
I bought up a layer cake of Moda Summer House from Need it, Want it, Quilt (Totally recommend Them btw) and plan to make 80 flowers from it, I will surround each of those flowers with a coordinating solid, then white between them all before I assemble it and each flower has a soft yellow centre.

That said I have no intention of rushing this. This is a 'when I feel like it' project. Not being known for my love of hand stitching I don't want to push myself, and yunno.... without the pressure, I think I actually might like this hand piecing gig.... stay tuned, but not too closely, this may take a while...

Macro Mail

Guess who just got a macro filter in the mail :D

Wordless Wednesday - 17-8-2011

One flower, JUST one flower?

So I did it, I contacted my local guild. I am going along this coming Saturday to meet them all. I am so looking forward to it. The lady I conversed with via email was super helpful and said that most ladies will bring some hand stitching or some knitting along.

With that in mind I couldn't help but notice the masses of hexie flowers around, every second blog I look at is taunting me with them, yes taunting. I have always had a love for these. I did attempt to make them years ago, but alas my accuracy back then was less than lax and they were horrible to sew and horrible to look at and I haven't tried one since... well until now. Of course hexies would make a GREAT carry along stitching project to my guild meetings. Heres the thing though, do I want to commit to it? I cut the templates from paper by hand, then the fabric and did it the old fashion way and honestly while the flower was so quick, the prep was tediously annoying , must plumb the depths of the web looking for better (read faster options)

So as I sat there with my almost finished flower I hesitated before putting that last petal on. once that petal is done I will know... am I making a hexie flower or a hexie quilt? I am pretty sure it is a quilt :D I might have to spend some time cutting out and building a stash of the papers and consider how I can make the basting go quicker (if ever you have contemplated commenting, now is it baby! HELP).


I think the key here is to not stress it. I dont plan on having it done this week or year, I am entering into this knowing it is going to be a 'when I feel like it' long term project. If I never get it done, although that isnt my aim!, I have something to hand my daughter.


So there we go, a long term hand pieced quilt commitment by me, the queen on the instant gratification and believer that EVERYTHING can be machine stitched!

In other news I have a little lap quilt that I should have finished in the next few days to share and I have a few (8) 36 patch blocks to share too.....

its 50/50 so I am joining the world of quilting (more).

I have been quilting now for what what will be half my life this year, yep from here on in, in my life I have been a quilter more that I have not... I quite like that. Seems appropriate that I should do something I have not done before, so I am joining a my local guild, and participating in a quilt-a-long.

The Guild part I havent done yet, so I will talk about that when 1 have.

The quilt-a-long, I have. have a look over here at Crazy Mum Quilts this is where Amanda Jean is hosting this great quilt-a-long.

This is going to be a great project for me for several reasons; it works so well with the fabric I received from Lyn at Blue Bird quilts which I have been BUSTING to use, and it is a nice simple block and I tend to get a little to caught up in making complex things at times.

It is a 36 patch and I will be making it with a combination of a cream and other fabrics, some from the fabrics I received from Lyn, some from my stash, some from my nanna's stash (oops) and then I might have to shop for the rest (OOPS).

So I got started today, I hope to make 6-10 blocks per week, probably closer to the 6 :P and I hope to make this big enough for our Queen bed, because despite being a quilter for half my life!! I tend to make quilts for everyone but me, and my bed has never worn a quilt WOW.


So this is my start, I sew mine the full 6 fabric across. I have used three fabrics other than the cream here and will be making 2 from each colour. I hope to cross cut these strips and sew the block tomorrow... maybe :D


Quality control around these parts are very stringent, but I passed, just.....

When 2 chickens are no longer enough

Well you see our 2 chickens are slowing down wit their laying, so many suggested that we "put them in the pot". Clearly we will never make it as any sort of farmer, we just couldn't do it, so we had to upscale. Our 'crappy corner', you know... that spot in the back corner of your garden that has the compost bin, the loose pavers etc... That area that is never going to grow grass or look pretty.... well ours is now a chook yard. they don't care about the compost bin, the pavers work great to 'dig proof' the bottom of the fence. So now our 2 old Isabrowns can retire there, we can bring in a couple of new younguns and keep the cycle going as apparently this yard can hold about 10 chooks if needed. No head chopping required.

Now the irony of this is, that once we put our old chooks who hadnt laid in months, into their new bigger yard, they were so happy they started laying again..... so we will just go with the chooky flow with that one.

It isnt quite finished in this pic. the timber on the right of the pic still had to go up and after the worst of winter is over we are going to plant some berries along the exposed side to screen it off a bit. Hopefully this will make it a little more attractive than it is at present.

The yard itself was quite easy, 3 sides were already there, we just had to build 1 (and a bit) and the gate, which id actually bits of our old fence, reclaimed (thanks to Dad and his welder)

so thats that we have a proper chook yard, finally! yay!

I am inspired

SO... I was lucky enough to score a lovely package of fabric from Lyn over at Blue Bird Quilts. When Lyn contacted me I told her that I had plans to use the fabric to applique something pretty onto a border of an existing quilt (I haven't share it with you as yet). When I got the fabric yesterday I realised that was just not going to happen, for 2 reasons. Firstly WOW at how much Lyn sent me! (Lyn that was uber generous, and much more than I expected!) way too much for some border accents. Secondly, they are just too nice, these girls deserve a show of their own.
Ever noticed that things seem to trend on the blogs? well I follow more blogs than I want to admit too (you are all so interesting) and on the quilting blogs at the moment there is soo many people flashing their divine English paper pieced hexagons. One of those is on my long term to do list. I have also noticed some clamshell quilts popping up like here and here (there are others that I will link to when I find them). THAT is what these fabrics need to become, I have some yummy vintage cream to go with it even! BUT just like the Hexagons, my life just isn't that accommodating to the time needed for hand stitching.

So I am going to do som experimenting with this pattern and machine piecing, I will keep you updated, will be interesting to see if I can do it justice. Also if anyone knows of a free clamshell template, please feel free to tell me :D I tihkn I will buy a proper one for the real thing, but for my research, just a printable freebie will do.

Last note, just want to send a massive public thank you to Lyn for her give away, I love the spirit that I am beginning to discover exists in the quilt blog circle. I am feeling compelled to pay it forward and do a give away myself, so keep an eye out, might have to throw some homespun into the dye pot very soon ;)

Harvest is done

I shared Harvest with you all here and again here and while I think the name Harvest is so fitting, it still reminds me of harvest time, it is pretty damn fitting for the winter palette too!


It was knit from A Swell Yarn Shop 'Duet' sock yarn. I just love this wool, it is lovely soft, but very durable. The colourway is just stunning, I have several other skeins from ASYS and none disappoint.

The tunic is knit on 4mm needles and I would guess is about a size 2. It is a little large for Meika, on purpose. it used a little over 200gms.

This is another of my "I can be bothered following a pattern" knits. it has a square yoke, knit in garter stitch, the arms are straight and quite wide and the body has a very gentle flair out, just to give it some shape. All knit in the round. In short very quick and very easy but with a final result that I am rather happy with.

When pumpkins are on special

When pumpkins are just 99c a kilo, its only 5degrees outside at lunchtime and its overcast and sleeting, when the kids are snuggled up in front of the heater watching a movie, and ask for something super yummy for dessert that night... Seriously how could a mummy not go and cook up a storm! Pumpkin pie and pumpkin scones. The good were received with nods of approval all round whilst they ate. They even knew about the pumpkin in it... go figure!

Autumn shrug

This is another "I'm a slack blogger' catch up post. The name kind of gives away just how long aro this should have been posted. It is knit from my own design, made up as I go along! The wool is Knittery Merino, dyed by the lovely Kris over at MonsterKnits.

Lemongrass, another FO

This is my latest offering :D, it isn't even a back dated one! the last sock came of the needles last night while the recipient; my Sister in Law, waited patiently for them, and was then kind enough to pose for me for some pictures!


These socks are my own pattern, made up as I go, as I so often do! My SIL is a great person to knit socks for. See I have teeny feet, so after knitting for me, knitting for someone with a size 9 foot is horribly epic. SIL however, has tiny and considerate feet, thanks hon! The other advantage is that it is super easy to get the right size.... when it is my size too.



They are knit from Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Heavyweight in colourway 'Lemongrass'.

Hungry Caterpillars

This is a post about an old FO but one I haven't shared before, there will be a few of those, such is the life of a slacko blogger!


Like so many others I fell in LOVE with the Hungry Caterpillar print range. Like so many others I had to have some.



This quilt was super quick to make, with the top done and quilted in about 2 hours!! Helped by the fact that mostly, I machine stipple my quilts (without a frame) and this one is stitched-in-the-ditch. I had forgetten how fast that is. Sometimes we just need that fast gratification, and this certainly did it!


It was made for Anameika, and so is cot sized, which I don't making, because even though they use them on cots for such a short period of time, they are used as kid sized lap quilts for years after. In this house it will see a good 3 years use on the cot though, as it is also used as a toddler bed.

Harvest

Harvest, because the colours remind me of the wheat crops and pale blue skies at harvest. Needless to say, I am loving the colours.

There are few things sweeter than a bunch of freshly picked flowers. Except maybe when that bunch of flowers are painstakingly cut, trimmed, and forced into submission, I mean delicately arranged, and handed to me by a sweet 5 year old boy. It mgiht be my parental bias coming through here, but they are the most beautiful vase (ok Vegemite Jar) of flowers (well wild daisy's) ever.

It was 26 degrees on Friday

It is 16 today, and certainly less than that now!

I love the idea of winter, of cracking wood fires, comfy lounges and many hours spent under a blanket knitting away. Sadly that doesn't happen here. No wood fire here, we have forgone the beautiful flicker, the ambiance and that warm that seems to travel to the bone like no other form of heating, for the convenient and cheap natural gas heater, and my knitting is not done on a big comfy arm chair, heck I don't think we would even fit one in, instead it happens on a office chair made from a converted Monza rally chair while I read long and laborious chapters of textbooks.

Somehow, I still love that coziness of winter. It seems that when the heater comes out, so too does the knitting. I cast on a little something today. I am free-styling this baby so it may never see completion, but I am feeling positive.

Oh and this wool is just DEE-vine. I just love garter stitch when it is knit with a lovely wool like this one,

There are 2 little people in this house

And they just got one hell of a frowning for THIS.... there are 5 separate balls of wool, 3 socks and what I would expect will be hours of untangling in this mess.

little projects.

Just a quick visit today, HEY, better than no visit at all, which seems to be the norm!

I have knitted a shrug for Moo. It was such a quick knit, very quick, I got change from 100gms. I must try to make the most of this while she is little enough for there to be such thing as quick knits. It is finished now and just waiting for me to run the ends in and I will share some photos. Until then, here is a quick peek at the divine colour...




Also this is something I am working on for my sister in law. Best get cracking! these mornings are starting to get a little crisp and they will be needed soon ..

Be back soon... ...ish

The Academic's Munchie Buster

There are only so many websites a girl can look at in an attempt to avoid study before she gets bored and needs a snack.... Enter "The Academic's Munchie Buster", a super dooper moist and rich, chocolate self-saucing pudding. It is made as a single serve, in a big coffee mug or any container you want. It is quick to make... but once it is cooked, the rule is you have to study while you eat it! Deal? deal? DEAL!


Ingredients
2 squares of chocolate (crumbled or chopped up)
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
1 egg
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons of cocoa
2 tablespoons of self raising Flour
100mls hot water (from the tap is fine)

Method
Place the chocolate and oil in the cup or bowl you wish to cook the pudding in, and microwave for 30 seconds on high.

Give it a quick stir to blend, if there are sections that are not totally melted it doesn't matter.

Add egg and mix well (the choc/oil mix should only be warm, not so hot to cook your egg, but it is best to check..)

Add the flour, 2 (1tbsp reserved for sauce) tablespoons of the sugar and 2 (1tbsp reserved for sauce) tablespoons of the cocoa, mix well.

Pour the warm water on top and sprinkle over the remaining sugar and cocoa and give a gentle swirl to mix it.

Microwave on High for 2 minutes.

It will rise quite a bit and bubble as the sauce settles to the bottom so you really do want a big cup.

When it is done, top with some cream and HIDE to eat it...

Enjoy, and get back to your studies.

No bullet points this year.

There seems to be so dang many people posting new years resolutions. I don't want to. Sure I have tried to set new years resolutions in the past, both you and I know I didn't keep them. By the end of January I cling to them as they become painful chores. February sees them become twinges of guilt. June.... What new years resolutions??

I do see the appeal though. I am honestly finding it hard not to say to myself in my head "this year I will..." and it is probably best I restrain because honestly when I think of it, all my declarations really only bring forth an image of me being some demented reincarnation of the perfect 50s house wife.. making more clothes, baking more, meals from scratch, my perfectly renovated 50s house and sure I want to do all those things but public announcements made in bullet point format are not going to get me that.

So it has been a while since my last post. I do have some Xmas wears to share with you, some baking, and I am sure a few other things.. they will come later. For now I just want to share my op shop purchase... a whole whopping fifty cents worth
To be honest though, I cant see myself using any patterns really soon except for maybe the sun hat, it is divine. I hope to attempt one for Moo very soon :D Otherwise, some of the designs will make great starting points for a few of my on ideas.... hmm.... Talk soon guys