cold feet

cold feet
Originally uploaded by djbebe

We had a hail storm on Saturday night - it was very loud and fairly short but it left a mountain of hail. This pic was taken at 7am the next morning - Calico had fun exploring but got very cold little paws!

In other news, I'm putting some brooches and coasters on a stall at the IWC at USQ on Friday. I won't be there though - one more wedding in Armidale. Then wedding season will be officially over - 3 weddings in 4 weeks is a bit taxing really.

No more progress on the baby quilt - I've been getting ready for the market - covering boxes with fabric, labelling etc. Also preparing a submission for Reverse Garbage's Christmas market. Working on an idea for manly cuffs.

samples for mixtape

samples for mixtape
Originally uploaded by djbebe

Posted off to mixtapezine today in a rush - hope I didn't forget anything! I didn't leave work quite early enough to get all my jobs done before my physio appointment so I was running late all afternoon - hate that! I posted 12 cuffs and 18 brooches, with discount vouchers - so if you've ordered a "special edition" of issue 2, you will get one! yay!

Also posted this bag to California - one more item sold on etsy!

In other news, these baby shoes from tinyhappy arrived in the mail yesterday and they are ever so sweet. Not sure yet whether to give them away or keep them...

pink elephant quilt

pink elephant quilt
Originally uploaded by djbebe

This is a closeup of the hand-quilting I'm doing on the baby quilt (my third - quilt that is, not baby) for my brother's second baby, due in February. Aren't I organised?! Should be finished in another week or two. I'm quilting it from the back, using the print as the template. So I'm stitching around pink elephants, and tigers, and flowers and giraffes. Easier than drawing templates! I went to visit my nan for lunch and went with her to the retirement village's "craft ladies" group; I took my quilt and did a bit of stitching, while listening to the ladies chatter in the background. What are you doing there Madge? Ohhh, I'm just crocheting around the edge of this hankie, the cotton hankies that my Cheryl used to get for me down at... Oh here's a pattern for 3 ply, you can't get that any more, it's all gone 4 ply... Yes it was all Azalea and do you remember when Jet came in? Oh yes it was 12 ply - that was fast knitting! Ohhh, and have you been listening to the news? My Beryl's in Phuket but thank goodness I got a text message from her yesterday and she's ok... And how about Dulcie, she shouldn't be still living on her own in that house...

A very relaxing soundtrack to hand quilting!

I also spent some time in Brisbane on the weekend with Kim and did some ironic? satirical? handquilting while sitting next to a machine-quilting frame. I can see the benefits of machine-quilting, especially for large projects, but I still prefer the more forgiving, meditative approach of handquilting. I'm about a quarter of the way to being finished!

green wasp bag

green wasp: exterior
Originally uploaded by djbebe

Based on the now famous wasp bag pattern I made this. (And I got to be the first, apart from the original wasp bag, to post it up to flickr - yay!) All from my stash - which is why it doesn't have a magnetic clasp but I think it has enough body to overcome that - and I like a basket bag anyhow. I got this roll of green vinyl thrown in for free when we bought a timber and glass cabinet at a furniture closing down sale - bargain! I think I was much more excited about my roll of green vinyl than I was about the lovely cabinet. So this is its first use - turned out well though the vinyl was a bit of a pain to sew. Gotta get me a teflon foot.

blue dandelion kimono vest

blue dandelion kimono vest
Originally uploaded by djbebe

I decided to have an internet-free weekend - amazing how much you can get done! So I made a list of all the things I should be doing - starting the baby quilt for my brother's impending second bub, sewing brooch backs on the mountain of denim-backed brooches I've churned out, etc etc. And I decided to do something completely different - namely, make a couple of new shirts for myself - we have 3 weddings coming up in the next month and I've got nothing to wear! I got this blue dandelion fabric from Gardams (I love that shop not only for all the gorgeous fabrics but because they wrap your purchases in brown paper and tie it with string) in Brisbane last year. It's cotton with a subtle herringbone weave which gives it a really soft texture. And, from the leftovers I made this darling little "vest" from a thrifted vintage pattern - thought I should start trying them out instead of just collecting them... Kim it was going to be for you but I really like it! Still deliberating! Not that I even have a bub, or would ever dress myself and bub in the same fabric...? Would I? Maybe I should just make another one.

And then I was on a roll with the vintage baby pattern thing so I churned out a couple of sets of bloomers with matching singlet tops. I even appliqued, though I skipped the part where you iron on interfacing to stop the stretching. But they didn't turn out too bad. Baby clothes use hardly any fabric - this still isn't helping thin out my stash much!