Well, I was curious....

During my recent work trip, there was a chance to have a little break one afternoon. And, visiting a local craft shop seemed a natural thing to do. :-) There, I discovered the balls of what I call 'ribbon' in various variegated colours for making a 'fluffy' scarf. But how? I was curious....So, I bought a couple of them to try out. They were quick and easy to make and were definitely very 'effective' accessories for winter wears, judging by the many occasions that I was stopped and asked to explain how it's done (7 stitches of garter stitch and used up all ribbon of the ball). The range of colours available for the ribbons was so attractive, and I couldn't get passed those shades of blue/green colours. :-)

....Then, one thing led to another....I was inspired to make a few more scarfs (for children, this time) after seeing (and feeling) those beautiful wools that were hard to resist at this year Sydney Quilt Show.! Thanks to Katrina, my sewing friend and monthly school canteen buddy. She got me going with my knitting and crocheting, in between the English Paper Piecing and some hand quilting I'm working on at the moment. So, tatting is taking a back seat for now (but not for long, I don't think - I would like to finish the edging for my piano runner soon).

 

mE and my Show quilt

I was a volunteer, white glove lady, on the first day of the 2012 Sydney Quilt Show at Darling Harbour, Sydney, today. It was good experience and fun. I have learnt quite a few things about quilts and quilting, both by hand and machine, while on duty. After looking at and admiring all the exceptional and exquisite quilts on display, I have come to realise that, being a practical kind of person who I am, I probably wouldn't make a quilt that would be a prize-winning quilt. I very much prefer to make a quilt that is 'effective' and can be re-made by others without too much difficulties. And just as well, unlike tatting, I haven't had a desire to make a prize-winning kind of quilt, either.... I had a chance to take a few photos of my own Show quilt after I finished my white glove duty. Meg Orr, my quilting teacher, whom I respect and am very fond of, was very kind and insisted that she must take a photo of me in front of the quilt. Here they are....

Time does fly, but here is my Show quilt for this year

Since my last post in March, I have been keeping very busy with organising my overseas trips, on top of everything else that I manage to fit into my day. I'm off to Europe again, for a couple times this year. The tricky part was for me to be back from the second trip in time for my trip to AMQF in Adelaide at the end of September. And, yes, I will be back from Sweden one day before flying to Adelaide. So, never mind the jet lag, I will be sure to cope, and keep awake and entertained by Ricky Tims's seminar/workshop.! ....After this year travelling, I hope to be staying home and having more time to spend on my sewing and tatting. My Gammill Statler Stitcher has been wonderful, so far. Apart from my own quilts, I have quilted a few quilts for friends (and for a fee). My latest quilting project has been completed last night (5/06/2012). It's my Show quilt for this year. It will be on display at the Sydney Quilt Show next week. I have got an idea for the quilt pattern from a picture of the quilt called 'Fresh Traditions' by Darlene Zimmerman, published in the American Patchwork & Quilting, February 2007 issue, while reading about the border basics. All fabrics were from Craft Depot's last year sale. The 'journey' wasn't all according to plan. Nonetheless, I'm very pleased with the quilted quilt, including the variegated 'Poppy Blaze' Signature thread and the 'Daisy Doodles' E2E pattern by Apricot Moon Designs that I have chosen for the quilt. I have named my quilt 'Blooming at Night'. Here are some of the pictures.

 

Blue Ribbon for Blue and White Square Doily

A couple of years ago, my 'Blue Ribbon' doily didn't live up to its name and came third at the Castle Hill Show. This year, the 'Blue and White Square' doily has made it to the top and came first. The doily is now sitting on a round table next to my rocking chair where I sit on when having a quiet time to myself. As for the bookmarks, one came second and one received a highly commended tag. I took photo of all prize-winning tatted pieces for the next newsletter of Tatters' Guild, NSW Branch, due out at the end of this month. So, here are the pictures of my winning pieces. The variegated red bookmark is on its way to Russia. Are you reading this, Boris? It's for you. Cheers.

2000 Visits on 29th February 2012

At the end of last month (February), by chance, I have caught the moment when the visit to my blog reached 2000. When I started writing the blog back in May 2010, with the encouragement from Linda Robertus, every so often, I would be wondering if there would be anybody who would take time to read about what I have written. So, having 2000 visits on the blog has proven to me that, yes, my communication and sharing of my craftwork do reach people in the community. I'm very happy with how it's going and have decided to incorporate my (part-time) machine quilting business into the blog. I have also set up my own domain for the blog; www.mountcolahquilt.com. Mount Colah is where I live. It's about 8 minutes drive north of Hornsby (from the shopping mall), along the Pacific Highway. I provide my machine quilting service to my friends who quilt and other local quilters in Hornsby, Asquith, Mount Colah and surrounding area, and it's slowly taking shape....so far so good. :-)

Blue and White Square Doily

I really like the purple and teal square doily pattern by Debbie Arnold and would like to make one for myself. It would have taken me a long time to accomplish the task if I didn't have a deadline to work against. So, the deadline for entries to the Castle Hill Show this year comes in handy. I picked blue and white colours for my version of the doily. After 10 hours into tatting the doily, using cotton size 50, I broke a couple of tatted stitches while sewing in the tails. Now, what did I want to do....give up or start again? I would have felt some kind of failure to give up, so have decided to have another go. This time, cotton size 20 was chosen so that I could actually see what I was doing and I could appreciate the stitches better. Rainy days and being sick with flu helped me to sit still longer at one time. A few long sessions of sitting down and a total of 50 more hours later, I have managed to finish the doily. It will be on its way to the Show this week. There was 'trying time' in the process, with having to unpick a few rings and chains when I wasn't fully alert and didn't read the pattern carefully. If some people think unpicking sewing stitches is hard, try unpicking tatted stitches. The former one would seem 'easy peasy lemon squeezy', as my Sunshine often says. :-) I'm, of course, pleased with the doily. I have also felt that I have had a good share of tatting split rings for quite some time, from now. So, I will just stick with tatting rings and chains for my next tatting project....But before embarking on another tatting project, my next immediate task is to find a place for this newly finished doily in my 'spacious' home.!!

Tatting time

From the end of December through to the beginning of February, it seems to be the period of my 'annual' intensive tatting. Quilting takes a back seat during this time....But before I started my tatting for the year, I thought to myself that I must finish the cushion cover first, and I did. Here it is....My sewing room is cluttered with fabrics, and so, it's hard to believe that I didn't have enough of the particular blue fabric for the binding. But it was true. So, the left-over red binding, the closet to my hand, came in handy....

And....I would never learn as I have done it so may times....cutting fabric while I'm half-asleep.... I didn't cut one of the back panels quite wide enough, hence, creative thinking was put to good use. With different colours of the wools to match the buttons and the zigzag stitch, I was able to hide the seam where I joined the two pieces of fabric.!!!

I also managed to fit in another quilt for my 'Sunshine' before he started his BIG school (kindergarten), in the first week of February. It's 'Thomas the Tank Engine' and is his current 'favourite' blanket. I quilted it on my Gammill Statler with Laurie Thomas's 'box maze' pattern. I used the flannel flat sheet, which had never been used, as the backing.

 

 

Soon after the cushion and the quilt were finished, my 'annual' intensive tatting has begun. I started off with tatting an edging piece for the 'Hanky Panky' Exchange with the Canadian tatters. With all my good intention to tat a complicated edge, it didn't work out, and in the end, I went with my own favourite scallop edge pattern that I could tat with one eye closed.!!! Sewing the piece on the handkerchief wasn't too straight forward, and so, took some time before I got it finished, washed and ironed. As soon as I have shown it to my fellow tatters at the Guild's February meeting in a couple of weeks, it will be on its way to Canada.

Next pieces that I have tatted are the bookmarks to be entered to this year Castle Hill Show. I have got free patterns from the experienced tatters who kindly share their patterns through the internet. I'm grateful for them all. I, as usual, modified the patterns slightly, to my liking....Up to this point in time, I have only kept the first bookmark that I ever tatted, and all the other bookmarks, including the prize-winning ones, were given away. I intend to keep two of the three to myself this time. The other one is most likely to be travelling to a friend in Russia.

 

 

 

....When I was learning to tat 4 years ago, 'split ring' was quite a daunting technique to accomplish. Being the person who I am, I took on the challenge (my own), and after a few crooked split rings, I'm quite comfortable with the technique. I'm now ready to start a doily with the pattern dominated by split rings. I really like the pattern, and again, it's free through the internet. I'm very much thankful for it. This doily will be my next and last substantial tatted piece for this year....I hope to finish it within this coming week, and with the cotton size 50, I'm sure to have my eyes crossed for a few days after that.!!!