Here is a photo taken of my lady out in the sun so her details show up better. It took me an hour last night in front of TV to make the six bead hat pins. The best part was spending time in the bead shop choosing beads to compliment the ones that came with the kit. Tonight I thought I would cover a wooden coathanger with wadding and cream satin, then cream lace, wind cream silk ribbon around the handle and trim it with the large silk rose and 2 leaves. Another heirloom for 2 hours play???
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Half doll hat-pin cushion
Just to prove that I haven't been idle while DH has been digging, I received a kit for a "hat pin poof" from Flights of Fancy Boutique which consisted of a 16 circle of crinkled fabric, a large silk rose and two silk leaves, 2 long hat pins and a bag of assorted beads with which to create the hat pins themselves. I started by gathering the circle of fabric during my lunch hour and stuffing it at home that night. I played around with the flower, added some more flowers of my own but still wasn't happy with it. I draped the cheap cotton crocheted lace collar over what was now an 8 inch cushion and voila! A skirt! I had the repro half doll so put her in the middle of the cushion and gathered it up tight, threaded some silk ribbon through the top of the collar and I have a beautiful authentic looking hat pin doll. The whole thing took about an hour and a half to complete.
My studio 011
I just had to include this on my blog. I took a photo of DH digging when he stood up and asked "Are you taking a photo of me?" and while he was talking, I took one. The Lemon, Mandarin and Grapefruit trees have been moved to the other end of the yard and so far, none show signs of rejecting their new home. Thankfully we haven't had any rain yet or the house would be full of that sand, sand and more sand.
My studio 012
This is the same area of ground looking towards the back fence. Fortunately the studio has got to be 900cm from both the back and side fences so the lovely Orange Trumpet Vine creeper from the garden at the back can stay. My husband is going to brick pave the 900cm areas around the studio so that it can be kept clear of junk.....what's to bet that junk will appear in the newly created 'storage area' very quickly??? The studio will run five metres along the back fence and come forward 4 metres to meet up with the brick paving in the foreground.
My studio 008
Here's an update on my studio. All the plants and pots have been removed from the corner of the yard and DH is busy levelling off the soil ready for the concrete slab.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Christening Gown 001
Photo of my mother-in-law's christening gown made by her grandmother in 1910. The doll in the cabinet next to it is dressed in a dress and petticoat made entirely by hand using very vintage pieces of cotton broderie anglaise material, some of which is hand-embroidered. It seemed a shame to have it all in bits in a drawer so I dressed her in a circa 1910 outfit so I could display the fabric.
Christening Gown 002
Close-up photo of the yoke of the christening gown. I must apologise for the little 1960s nudey-rudey to the left of the photo......I will make her a dress, soon!
Sunday, June 04, 2006
My bag 003
Here is a close-up photo of the front of the bag showing a beaded hand-dyed butterfly motif which was one of first attempts at "painting" the dye onto lace. Sandie gave me some hand-dyed ribbon which I put to good use and she also gave me the little tatted motif and mauve flower at the top, while Mary Lewis sent me the glittery ruffled ribbon in the front. I printed the lady out onto cotton and embellished her, the pansy and diamond shaped motifs were received in swaps and my pride and joy - that mottled piece of fabric at the bottom - silk crepe which I dyed at a dye course I did several years ago. I enjoyed working on the crazy quilting part but I get impatient when it is time to actually put the thing together.
My bag 001
This is the tote bag I finished today (well, I've still got a little bit of handsewing on the inside to to). I bought the raggy fringe from Flights of Fancy boutique in USA then had to choose colours to match. The fringe was a sludgy purple/cerise pink/olive/turquoise/old gold blend so was quite difficult. I put a plain fabric back on it with matching lining. The handles are from my usual source! Charity shops!!!!
Thursday, June 01, 2006
My studio 001
Well, this would have to be the best thing that has happened to me in a lifetime! Eddie and I paid a deposit on a studio for me to be built in the back yard. It will measure 5 metres across by 4 metres deep and will be insulated on the walls and ceiling because of our high summer temperatures. A split-system air conditioner and heater will be on one wall and a large window in the other. This is the corner of the garden which will have to go, as you can see, not much there anyway.......shame about the lemon tree! Eddie has decided to clear the fences of creepers and paint them all green with terracotta capping before the studio goes in. The front of it will line up with the brick paving of the patio in the foreground, the brick paving where the garden lounge is will go, the back of the studio will be the back fence and it will go about as far again to the left of the photo. I am a very happy little Vegemite at the moment!
op shop finds 001
It was a beautiful autumn day, so my husband Eddie and I both took the day off work and drove to a country town east of Perth called Toodyay. We wandered around the main street, had a lovely meal in one of the local pubs and I went shopping in St Vincent de Paul's charity shop. These were the best op shop finds I have discovered in a long time. I paid just $10 for both tops, the red one has swirls of red pearls in three sizes with other swirls of red glass beads and the yellow linen blouse has rayon lace around the sleeves and collar, a different wider rayon lace around the top of the sleeves at the shoulders and four rayon lace rose motifs on the fronts. I think the blouse must have been made up white and then dyed because everything is exactly the same shade of yellow.
cq storage 003
On one of the crazy quilting on-line groups I am in, we were discussing storage systems for our crazy quilting fabrics. Here's my method - simple clear plastic containers holding 6 inch squares of fabric sorted by colour. My beads are are in clear containers with divided sections - also sorted by colour. I find it helpful to always cut my material up into 6 inch squares straight away so I don't finish up with a pile of second hand clothes, yardage fabrics and odd shaped pieces.
SRE flowers 001
Dianne gave me some left-over coppery coloured knitting yarn so I thought I would include it on her bag somewhere. It was a coarse, scratchy metallic braid and I tried just stitching it along a seam which didn't work so I worked some basic silk ribbon embroidered flowers along a seam. To my surprise it worked really well and apart from having to use a needle with a very large eye and having to really tug it through the seam, it wasn't hard to sew. The end result is some very satisfactory daisies which added sparkle and glitz to the crazy quilting.
Back of Dianne's bag
This is the other side of Dianne's bag. I added buttons and needle-turned and slip-stitched a vintage applique along the long seam near the top. The bag was lined with a dull orange self-patterned cotton quilting fabric.
Front of Dianne's bag
The barter system is alive and well at my place! A work colleague, Dianne, knitted me a winter scarf and hat, a summer weight dressy scarf and finished off a woollen cardigan I started knitting in 1995 and never finished. In return, I made her this cq bag. The photo makes it look uneven, but believe me, it was perfectly balanced in real life! Dianne wears a lot of browns and autumn colours so it seemed a good choice of colour for her bag as well....and because some of the variegated velvet had a bit of dull turquoisey blue in it, I was able to add the very vintage velvet flowers and leaves at the top. This is the first side I did, although the bag doesn't really have a front or a back.
Maureen Bonds Christmas tree 003
Solvy DYB RR. Maureen Bond made a large picture for us all to embellish. It was a room with walls, floor, fireplace and of course, a Christmas tree. I chose to make a wreath for the wall which was a green pipe cleaner wrapped in funky fibre and a sort of green holographic tinsel with red beads sewn on. The clock was a piece of dark brown fabric appliqued onto the mantlepiece with a button clock face. Mary Lewis had already added the candles around the Christmas tree and Anne had put the star of the top and the button stockings on a gold cord. I hope Anne doesn't mind but I put her stocking buttons on the fire place and decorated the tree with gold cord and lots of tiny charms and bead ornaments. This was great fun and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
margaret's block
Firstly, the Solvy DBY RR. After I finished Mary Lewis's cream on cream block, I received this bright orange, yellow and green block from Margaret Price. Wow, this block was so challenging because these are not the sort of colours that I normally work with, however I really enjoyed myself experimenting with 3D flowers and charms. The appliqued butterfly introduced brown colour to the block so I was able to balance it up with the dyed lace and the stitchery along the sides of the sheer braid with vinyl orange flowers. The flowers around the little gold "My Garden" charm were single tatted flowers which I worked in white thread and then dyed orange and yellow.
I'm back blogging
It's been nearly three months since I actually sat down and blogged. Life and work have taken up so much of my time and inclination that I have ignored my blog to the point that many of my friends are asking me when I'm going to add something. I'd feel guilty leaving it any longer. Obviously they've taken a look and found nothing new.......sorry everyone, I'll try not to leave it so long again. Anyway, I'll try and work out what's been happening since March and include as much as I can think of.