Dyeing to have fun

I just bought two new colours, rust orange and burgundy so of course had to had a play with them. I particularly wanted to do some overdyeing as well so did some icky pieces with a navy overdye and then some others with what I had hoped was a dark red but was too fuchsia-ish.

I used some dry fabric that had already been soaked in soda ash and spooned the colours on to cover as much as possible. I used variations of the two browns, a medium blue and some apricot. A greenish colour that I created seems to have disappeared on the fabric but there are patches of blue amongst the terracotta and burnt orange tones. There is a small pinkish tinge from the apricot. I am quite happy with how things turned out.

A little something

Well it was small and not quite a quilt or wall hanging - a notebook cover in fact but it was at least creative. I quilted a piece of a dye wipe up cloth in a random pattern, added small strips of dyed fabrics cut with my wavy cutter (I needed an excuse to use the blade) and top stitched around the edges in a nice thick threat which gave it a very rustic look. I am quite pleased with the effect and have left it so that I can slip if off the notebook. I am hoping that over time the strips of fabric will fray and give a more worn look.

All in all I was pleased with what I had accomplished, so much so that I have some more notebooks that I think I will do and keep them for presents.

A bend in the road

I have wanted for a long time to do more art quilts but never know where to start. I have lots of inspiration but never know what to do with it. In the meantime I get off onto making some quilt blocks and soon become totally distracted with something more traditional. At the moment I have about 15 plus quilts sitting around at various stages of completion from needing borders, needing sandwiched and of course needing quilted.

I did have a bit of a think about it all over at 43 things and I will send all the sets of blocks (except for some more "personal" ones away to a quilt orphanage and let someone else have the pleasure of putting them together and sending them away to orphans in Indonesia. That will then clear the deck for me once all the other tops are slowly finished.

This will leave me to dye more fabric (as if I don't have enough), print and otherwise embellish the fabric and then do something with it. I do have a couple of ideas that I will play with, perhaps in smaller sizes first.

And of course I can keep my stash and traditional blocks to my Friday club nights when I can do lots of piecing which I do find peaceful and relaxing just to sit and sew. These can be the bed quilts that I can make for myself and friends. Afterall there are all those cat fabrics, the horse fabrics, the orientals, the greys (what did I have in mind there), all the wonderful batiks and all the other small collections of fabrics.

All that being said I should plan to go and organise the orphanage parcel - it is a very cleansing feeling to pack up blocks that you have had sitting for a long time and feel guilty about not using. And of course an orphan somewhere gets a lovely quilt.

Being Brave

I am a step closer to opening up my blog. I am considering joining a web ring which will open me up to visitors (which it is all about). I feel a bit of an intruder going to so many blogs and not always leaving a message but I do try to in a regular basis just to give some feed back to the blog owners, I mean they are baring their souls to a lot of unknown people. And of course I then wondered where on earth I came up with the name of my blog or my ID - I suppose in an effort to be totally anonymous but that will have to change. At the moment this is still my small collection of thoughts - I enjoy the release that it gives me to put them into words.

Friday Quilt Night and stuff

I enjoy the monthly quilting nights that our group has down at a local school. The lighting is good, the room is well set up and equipped and most of all the company is great.

I took a small wallhanging with me to quilt but forgot to take the thread holder with me - well that is my excuse, it doesn't help that I couldn't decide what colour thread to use - or should I use different colours. I did a Ricky Timms Convergence with fruit fabrics, red, orange, lemon and green. I thought of doing nice swirly lines to break up the criss cross of the pattern. Anyhow that wasn't done and I did a small bag instead with some of my Japanese fabrics. I hadn't really thought out what I was doing much and should have selected a plain fabric to bring with me for lining. And then I really should have used some pellon to give it a bit more body but I was being a tad lazy which really didn't serve me well in the end. There wasn't quite enough fabric of the ones I selected to cut out in a single piece and so had to do some piecing which in the end you don't notice. It turned out well after all the mistakes and reverse stitching that was made. After discovering the blot Tote-along I am keen to make myself some more bags and try to have a variety of styles as well as colours - it is fun to have a different bag for every occasion and event.

I saw a quilt pattern that I liked in a Keepsake Quilting catalogue - actually it was a cushion pattern that I liked. Of course it met my favourite criteria - super simple. It was made in batiks in the picture and that would be a good option or in dyed fabrics. The decision would be whether to have the same fabric for sashing throughout or different fabrics for the sashing - it would work with different fabrics. And then of course I could use my commercial fabrics for it instead - they really do need to be used. That is where I really need to find some good patterns - I enjoy scrap quilts.

On the inspiration front I joined a new group called Abstract-Challenge and they have a monthly challenge on a pre determined subject - it is to be an 8 x 8 quilt and the subject is to be interpreted in abstract. They encourage lots of talking about inspiration, design, colours and then of course to submit a photo for everyone to see. I am hoping that this will help me get away from all the traditional patterns (not that there is anything wrong with them) but I want to do more art quilts.

43 Things

I have just been over at 43 things trying to keep up to date and make some entries - more like plans about how I am going to achieve them or my progress on tackling them. I think I will need to make some paper lists to help me with them but I find such things so personal that writing them where someone (that I know) might read them is hard. I find it difficult to share my feelings and emotions. Writing lists does help me keep my mind clear about what I am doing but those generally are different types of lists. My 43 things list is almost like a list of quasi resolutions and I suppose that I don't want the feeling of failure when things go wrong and I don't achieve what I would like to. I know that nothing can change dramatically overnight (or can they). I think I procrastinate too much to voluntarily make major changes and even knowing this doesn't help me. It is not too late to change but perhaps if I make small changes every day, a little goes a long way and a little every day soon adds up. Now I need to make a list of those small changes that I can make every day to remind myself that things can be better organised and I can achieve more.

Where did it go?

I know I had a wonderful inspiration for a new project.

I went through all my dyed fabrics yesterday and sort of sorted them into groups of colour and multicoloured to see if anything called to me - it didn't but last night when I was asleep...............

I am sure that it was a wonderful idea - darn I should have woken up and dived down to the lounge to draw on some paper - none of this notebook by the bedside for me - for a start there isn't a lamp there and I don't think the rest of the family would appreciate a light going on and disturbing their sleep (husband and three cats that is). I am sure there were circles somewhere - it is Shirley's fault that I am thinking in circles. But what was I doing with the circles.?

Oh well then it might come back to me later - want to do some overdyeing and dye printing next week and that might bring on some inspiration.

It is difficult dyeing multicoloured fabrics - not so much the act of dyeing but I look at the fabrics and don't want to cut them up and I am seriously not up to par doing a whole cloth quilt or anything remotely arty with my quilting, just meanderings of a giddy spider.

I bought an art magazine recently that was wonderful to look at - quite different to looking at quilt magazines yet so many of the art works could translate very easily into fabric - there were one or two that I rather liked the look of and thought were quite inspiring. Let's see where that might take me then.

Indecision

I want to be getting on and starting a new project, I know there are a lot that need to be finished but I want the excitement of starting something new. But what? I look at all my fabrics - I love them dearly but nothing calls to me. I wonder should I do some printing - I want to do some printing but again no strong direction comes to me. Should I do some silk paper - well yes that would be fun but to what end am I making the paper? If I have no goal, no inspiration then there is no creative spirit coming forward.

I do want to do some overdyeing on some pieces and have bought some more navy dye to add to my stash - I want to do some deep dark blues, reds and purples for the overdyes, then do some discharging and then some overdyeing again in pale washes. Hmmm, I might just get the fabric out, plan the ones to be used for overdyeing and decide on the colours for them. That will be a project for another weekend I think when I can dedicate some time.

I did notice on a couple of blogs that some dyers who put their dye on with a brush then let the fabric dry (flat). I am not sure of the benefits of that but it could be an interesting way of putting the dark overdye colours on which could be quite rough with the brushing and leaving streaks of light colours as well as a small amount of scrunching to cause some texture as well.

But I still need to get on and find some inspiration to start a new project.

Time Flies

It is hard to believe that it is nearly 9 weeks since Ken left for his trip. I was thinking that I had not done much in the way of quilting compared to what I was hoping to do but when I wrote down all the things that I had done it was a big list. My last job are two 9 patches for a swap and finish sewing the binding down on Tony's quilt so that I can take it to Christchurch with me. And of course I have four tops that have been sandwiched and are just waiting for me to find time to start quilting them.

Ken will be coming back to lots, broadband (without the dramas), the water tank saga (I think the tank needs a good clean out), the broken tree limb (or what is left of it) and whatever else can be found.

I am trying to find my next big sewing project and so far nothing has called to me particularly strongly. I really need to get in and start to use more of my stash. Now that I have decided that it is okay to send quilts away to be quilted I can sew larger tops quite happily. Mind you I will hold the three back that I want to send away until after I come back from the US - I want to save my money for the trip first. Of course if I want to commit fabric to larger quilt tops then I want to be more sure of what I am doing with an even larger amount of fabric at stake. I know that my love of the scrap quilts will dominate my decisions.

There are the fabric collections to take into account as well - the cats, horses, ethnic, japanese, greys, bali batiks, and some other smaller sets of co-ordinating fabrics. I need to start thinking about some of these and how to use them.

Let's not get sidetracked

I find it so hard to stay on track with what I am doing. Whenever I am doing something I want to have it completed now and become impatient and start to lose interest. One project can often inspire you for something else that you just have to start straight away and before you know it you are drowning in many many works in progress and no inspiration to finish them.

I am trying to work on getting some of my recycled clothing down - I want to make a large quilt with some of the shirts (cut intou four inch squares). And of course while doing this I hit on an idea to use the pockets (large squares containing the pockets cut about 6 inches) on a wall hanging and use the pockets to put small treasures into etc.

I am trying not to get too side tracked onto new projects and stick to what I am trying to achieve and that is to get the list of unfinished projects down by actually finishing a few things. Some of course require more work than others and if I didn't procrastinate and got down to it then a few more would be finished or closer to being finished. At the end of the day all I want to do is start a new prject - it is the sewing that I enjoy - it is soothing and relaxing. And of course I keep getting new ideas.

At Christmas I have started to try and work on a small project (8 x 8) easy to start and easy to finish - sort of. It is a bit of a play with what we did in the Dottie Moore class. The project is not so much important in itself but the creativity that it brings to me. To come up with a small sketch or drawing and then to execute that in fabric. I started my first one as a sketch of a woman in a flowing garment - Because of the small jumble of fabrics for her garment I didn't want to use any fusible web and used my glue stick instead. I am pleased with what I accomplished - there were one or two compromises made but I am happy with them. I now have to decide what to do about quilting it or attaching it to the backing rather than just the glue. Could I peel it off the backing and perhaps put it onto some fusible web and then iron it back - it would put off having to decide about stitching.

My second effort was a palm free. I had seen the idea a couple of years ago and was very taken with it. So pencil in hand I drew a sectioned palm tree on a scrap of paper. It was a bit untidy but a good start so I fished out some webbing and my scrap dyed fabrics and set to work. The background is very dark so I needed bright colours for the tree, an orange/red trunk and light bright green fronds. The fiddly part is cutting all the shapes out and laying it out. At the end of it I was very impressed with what I had done.

This is something I should try to do more often - I will try to do the drawings myself even if I have a picture in front of me that I want to try to emulate - I rather like a folk art theme. Something creative every so often like this would keep me going and sooner or later will lead to something bigger. I don't think I will keep them for a larger project but let each one stand by itself. I might find one that I particularly like and want to do a series on a theme or use them as a gift for someone.

The ultimate goal is to keep the creative energy going and challenge myself to get other larger projects nearer completion so that I can get onto my next small picture.

The small inspirational project needs a name - you know - "I must do XYZ before I can get onto my next ??? (small inspirational project). Something fun and catchy. Something for me to think about while I procrastinate. As usual the name will come to me at an odd moment.

Possum Dancing

Darn that jolly possum. He hops up on the roof and clambers about making a racket - running this way and that - like little possum races around the roof. And then down he comes and into the garden, he particularly loves the Rheus tree but it is too brittle for his weight at the tips and they keep breaking under his weight. I keep hoping that one day he will break his neck. I can't think of any ways of getting rid of him that is safe and doesn't endanger the cats. They are particularly thoughtful of me when we hear the possum on the roof, they all snuggle closely to me to reassure me that they are there keeping me safe. And they are very brave and come outside with me sometimes when we hear the possum and stay very close around my legs to the point where they almost have a peace pact, all to ensure my safety.

The rain over the last fortnight has kept the possum away a lot of nights but I am sure he makes up for lost time racing around the roof on the nights when it is not raining or is a little drier. I don't know what it is about the roof that he does this or is he after the birds and their chicks that nest under the roof that he is trying to get to. Whatever it is I wish it would stop and leave me in peace.

Company at Christmas

What is it about people that they cannot conceive that there are some people who want to be by themselves, even at Christmas. I got to the stage I had to tell lies about what I would be doing on Christmas Day just to have peace. I was happy to be by myself afterall it is just another day. Admittedly I did decide to clean off the kitchen table and put all my quilting things away - Christine was coming on Boxing Day - and I wanted things to be tidy for the two days. And of course my Christmas treat was a box of Cherry liquor chocolates - yum, although I didn't actually eat many. And utter decadence, I made a chocolate cate - nothing fancy just a plain microwave cake that wasn't quite as good as an oven cooked one but it was good. '

Christmas Eve was a wonderful hot day and so what did Christmas Day do - it was wet and cold and then of course come Boxing Day it was wonderful and not again - grrrr.

The water is still not right - still that smell of sulphur. Oh, that is right I forgot to mention that the neighbour forgot to shut an irrigation gate one night and flooded our property - really flooded the place well - the poor cats were trapped in the house as it was totally surrounded by water. Thankfully it wasn't too too high but darn well high enough. And I think that some of the water may have seeped into the tank. Although I don't like to think of that because it has never happened before - I mean why doesn't it seep in when it rains or is there not enough to cause a problem them but with the flooding and all the shit and much that is carried in the water there was. I keep trying to think that it is the Council that is at fault but then surely someone else would have complained about it surely? I keep hoping that eventually I will get ahead of whatever is infecting the water and eventually dilute it out - dreams are free.

Christine's quilt just needs the binding now to finish off and of course a label. She has decided that she would like to hang it on the wall at first so I will put a hanging sleeve on it for her. So to give her a bed quilt I have given her my dyed fabric quilt - the one that I hand quilted all my old microwave dyed fabrics - it is a wonderful and colourful quilt with a very simple four patch and half square triangle blocks.

It was wonderful to catch up with Christine and to spend a couple of hours with her. Ritchie is wonderful too - he is so easy to talk to and comfortable to be with.

And now back to life as we know it . Must set up the sewing machine and start to do some more work on my WIPs and UFOs. The garden needs some work (clearing weeds) and I must do some more housework - dusting would be a start.

And thankfully people left me alone at Christmas - I was worried that I would have lots of people checking up on me but in the end they left me alone which is what I had wanted all along. Phew!

Approaching Christmas at speed

It is that time of the year once again when we are bombarded with advertising for all the sorts of expensive gifts we should be buying and all the cheap knick knacks in the shops that only come out for Christmas. All the food and the decorations, all the wine, and even more food. And then there are all the Christmas parties that everyone seems to feel are necessary.

Why do we need all this - why can't it be simple and relaxing shared with friends and family without all the stress that we put upon ourselves. It becomes so expensive buying not so wonderful presents for people you don't really like and don't see all that often anyhow.

Why do we do it? Is it because that somehow we are not seen as fitting in with everyone else, that we dare not step off the line and a touch of oneupmanship creeps in - we have an image to maintain. What happened to the simple handmade gifts and homemade food?

I would rather a nice picnic with friends somewhere relaxing and enjoy their company without the stress of buying presents and far too much food. Yes, I would like it simple and easy.

Managing by myself

Well it is a month now that I have been by myself and I have been fine - I think the only time that I really needed someone else around was when establishing a broadband connection was being difficult, now it is just expensive.

I haven't done as much as I would have liked but I have tried to be steady with my quilting and keep doing something each week. I have a lot of Christine's quilt quilted, Tony's quilt just needs binding which I don't think will be an easy job, I have nearly finished sewing the binding down on the second wall hanging and now that I have found the Japanese Black fabric I can do the binding on the third.

I have started on the Club Quilt Challenge and have most of the top made - very imaginative with four inch square sewing together 10 x 8 squares. I am not sure about a border or not and I will tie it with buttons I think and add a couple of shirt labels.

I was questioning myself recently, do I really need to keep all the furnishing fabrics. I mean what am I really going to do with them. The same goes for a lot of the fabrics that I have got from the Op Shop - what am I going to do with them. Oh yes, it would be nice to do some art quilts/wall hangings but will I really get there ??? But then what will I do with all those fabrics, I don't want to just give them to Tracey - I don't think she deserves them. The furnishing fabrics are easy, I can give them to the Tuesday group for charity quilts.

I really should look at a lot of the other things that I have lying around as well. All that beautiful silk needs to be made up into whatever it was that I planned to make with it. All the wool that I bought for needle felting - well perhaps Shirley might like to have it. I really didn't get into the trading cards much as I wanted to and still might do something provided it is fabric which means there is a lot of "stuff" that can go out and I can give away some of it to people who do scrap booking.

If I have a good "dung out" I can concentrate on quilts and not be side tracked as I so often easily am. It will give me more space and room in my quilt room.

With all the rain we have been having I haven't got into the garden as much as I wanted to - there are a small number of jobs that I wanted to do and some plants that need to be put out. The poor lawn needs mowing too - I don't know when Derek is going to come again but I may have to do it myself when the weather dries out a bit.

Time Management

I have two months of just me and the cats so I want to manage my time a bit better. It is amazing how much more time I seem to have when I am by myself. I think when others are around me I slow down to their pace and don't do as much.

I have sort of made a plan of some of the things that I want to do and if I break it down into weeks and so much every when then I should achieve something if I can stick to the goals. As long as I make them manageable goals and can maintain the momentum.

There is so much that I want to do. Of course there is the quilting - I have a lot I want to achieve. I have three wallhangings that I want to get the binding done one, I want to try and get as much of Christine's quilt done as I can if not finished. I also want to finish Tony's quilt and the puff quilt that needs to be tied. After that everything is a bonus I suppose. There are a number of quilts that just need borders to finish them and I don't want to have just plain borders on all of them either. And if I get the borders all done then it is down to making backings for them all and starting to sandwich and quilt some of them. I really don't want to start any major projects in the meantime but that is easier said than done.

I have my swap parcel to put together and that needs something hand made to go in it so I must remember that too.

Back to my plans. I want to go through the house room by room and do a minor spring clean in all of them. And then there is the garden - I want to tame more of the jungle out the back and tidy up the small area by the computer room and plant the shade loving plants that are sitting on the deck in the full sun.

Not a lot eh?

In a Garden

I had a wonderful gardening weekend - in other people's gardens. The NZ Trillium Group had their annual get together this weekend and there were some wonderful gardens to visit. It was pouring rain but that didn't stop a good turn out but it did stop me after I got soaking wet despite a good jacket and umbrella. It is totally inspiring the wonderful large country gardens that some people have that cover more than a few acres, especially when they do all the work themselves! It inspires me to get into my garden more and try to tame the jungle and reclaim some of the garden beds from the weeds. I don't want to take on too much that will draw me away from my quilting but I really should spend some time each week in the garden. I think the first tasks will be to do lots of spraying with Round-up to kill off the weeds and then to put down lots of compost and mulch. After that it is to carefully maintain each area as I bring it back into some semblance of order.

I also bought some small treasures for the garden but it isn't worth getting too carried away and buying too many at once. For me often the best way to keep track of myself and what I am doing is to have a gardening type diary and write all my plans in that.

Ken will be away soon and I have my plans for when he is away - time will need to be found for gardening in all my plans - there seems to be so much that I want to do during this time - two months will go along very fast.

Creative Urge

My creative urge seems to be waning at the moment. I am keen to start something new but just cannot find something that calls to me. There are lots of ideas that I am keen on but again nothing stands out. I really must get into my stash and start to use it more but when I decide go look through for a set of colours there doesn't seem to be much selection - if I want a dark blue they all seem to be medium or pale or too patterned or not quite the right colour or shade. I have been dyeing lots of fabric lately so the creative urge hasn't quite left me but when it comes to making a decision to overdye some fabric or do some printing then I seem to not quite find the time or the weather is wrong or some other reason. I am the same with housework at the moment too - mind you I am always like that with the house work.

When Ken is away for his two months sabbatical then I really must get stuck in to all the things that are sitting waiting for me. There is so much to be finished off with my patchwork and I really must put Christine's quilt together and start to quilt it for her. I thought I might set up the sewing machine on the dining table which will give me lots of extra light during the day and at night I can have the TV on for company. I really should dive into 43 things and add my plans to that - I really don't go there much but it is a good place to put those sorts of private lists. Ahh those secretive little lists that I have on bits of paper in my pockets and in notebooks. I keep meaning to have a book of lists and one day I will have one - it can be an art book too with doodles in it and some pictures just to give interest in it. Another of my wonderful ideas that really doesn't seem to go far I suppose.

What's happening

After a big busy weekend retreat I am going to have a lot of quilt tops sitting waiting to be quilted - ten in fact. I think I might send a couple of them away to be professionally done just to get the numbers down (and they will be my largest quilt tops too). There are five quilts that just need borders and three to be bound. I am on the lookout for something new to get on and start sewing.

Small change of plans

My timing has had to be changed and I now go over to the US in July. Hopefully I can get to the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. It would be good too to catch up with other quilters over there - I always enjoy seeing what other people are doing.

Time Flies

My goodness it is so long since I have written anything. Have things been bland and boring - not really, but I suppose there just hasn't been anything that seemed exciting enough to inspire me to write. And of course now there is.

I have finally decided when I want to travel to the US next year. I saw a quilter on TV who takes week long residental workshops in her home - it look good and sounded great so I contacted her and it all has gone from there. I am now hoping to spend a week with Judith Trager at her home in Boulder, Colorado. And finally I will go at the end of April and hopefully catch the AQS show in Paducah Kentucky and end up home again mid June. It feels good to have started to make some definite decisions re my travel.

It is not long until Ken is away on his own trip too - only about 5 weeks which is not long at all. I have big plans for myself when he is away. I want to do a spring clean on the house and set up my sewing machine in the dining area and quilt there during the time he is away. I will have to get Christine's quilt done then as it is the only bit opportunity of time that I will have. I really need to get on and quilt a couple of my other larger quilts as well.

Lots to do, lots to plan - lots of my beloved lists to write!