Five years, and it's finished!

 I've been working on this little stitchery for about 5 years I think. That's the label added.

It was a project I would take out from time to time... the kind of stitchery I do when I;m not desperate to work on something. 

Does that ever happen to you? You're desperate to work on something, cannot be swayed from doing it, or if you stop to create something that needs to be made for a gift by a certain time, you just KNOW you will be sidetracked big time, and it could be ages before you come back to it...

Well, you're right, I am describing myself. 

This little Santa stitchery took up so little space in a bag that it was easy to transport for a project on the go, away for the night or something like that.

No wonder I didn't get it finished! I haven't been away for a night for a very long time. Hahahaha.

That surrounding Christmas tree fabric was the inspiration, I just wanted to use it in something, and it was so expensive I bought the least possible amount. Have you ever done that?

Jumbleberry Santas

Are you every so much in the zone that you forget to take photos of your creations? I feel like I've been creating, creating, creating, and forgotten to take photos. So this is what we end up with! A video of 3 little santas I am making from the "Jumbleberry Santas" pattern by  May Blossom.

I actually went to a quilt shop and sat in on a class, it was wonderful to connect with new ladies and make some friends.  Just Country Crafts  (one of my local shops) had kits of wool felt ready to choose. I choose the purple based one, and added another couple of pieces to add definition.

Maybe I did, and maybe I didn't (that's a big YES! YES! YES! of course) buy a big pack of wool felt in many colours while they were available.

I find wool felt is blink and you miss it, especially in the subtropics where it's too hot to think of using it in a quilt.

I have a couple more projects I'd like to finish for this year's addition to Christmas decorations. 

I am a little bit sad my Pumpkin and Ravens quilt wasn't quilted in time for Halloween, but no matter, I have asked Mum for special custom quilting, and I would like it in time to exhibit at the Townsville Show next year, so I need it by about April/May 2022.

2022. Wow how does that sound?

As Above So Below

I've actually stitched out two of these cross stitches, and decorated this frame to look a bit like a magic mirror...

This one can hang on the wall near my witchy stuff. 

What do you think?

 

Goddess Kali small quilt

Oh, this is my goddess Kali altar cloth set up. 

It took me a lot of energy to hold space for the creation of this altar cloth, particularly as I made another one at the same time for someone else, and she wasn't energetically ready for hers yet.

I love creating sacred spaces of intention. Here I am, connection to the ancestors position.... high vibe, my key.

Hello Goddess Kali. The Destroyer. 

Taking away the old path, so that we must take a new one.

 

Do you make clothes?

Do you make your own clothes?

How many times have you seen a dress you'd like, but it doesn't fit you or suit you?

I love wild and bright, so my intention to make my own clothes would be to choose the fabrics they are made in, without being a slave to pattern or colour that didn't suit me.

This is a dressmaker model I picked up, but to be suitable for draping (as a way of creating the pattern and then making the dress to fit MY unique body), it needs to be padded out exactly to my shape.

Once it's padded out we put a conforming dress over the top.

Then compare the body shape.

This was more difficult than I thought, and it was about getting it exactly even, getting the measurements right, building up the shoulders and more.

See how the front is not even, a bigger bulge on one side than the other.... This has to be completely pulled out and padded out again.

Wow, talk about confronting... facing your own body shape, standing next to it.

Then later sitting at the table looking over at the dress model and realising that I am not as big as I thought I was. Why do I think I'm bigger than I am? Is it because my favourite clothes are too small?

Do I need to go shopping with $2k to rebuy my entire wardrobe so that I feel good at my current size?

Do I want to make because I think I want to save money (it's usually not cheaper so sew your own unless you are comparing to couture)?

What about when my body shape changes and I need to spend 3 days padding out my dress form again?

These are all questions that need to be answered before I go any further. 

I've already made many clothes that if I tried them on in the shop I would've said "oh, that doesn't suit me" and wouldn't buy them. But after spending time and money sewing, it's harder to say I won't wear it. Especially if you've made the item to wear for a special occasion. 

So, I ask again. Do you make clothes?

 

Just the binding to go

Almost 4 years in the making, 3 of those where I didn't get around to the applique border, I have bitten the bullet and completed the quilt with gorgeous Tula prints for the border instead of applique.

I wasn't satisfied with a few attempts I made at the applique, (this was a quilt where I tried out a few applique techniques). And the original fabrics weren't available anymore. The local quilt shop I bought them from had changed owners, and the new owner decided not to stock those fairy frosts.

Here I am at another local quilt shop, where I've been going on Tuesdays for a couple of years now.

I quite like the ladies in the group, some of them are particularly dear to me.

I just stay away during mask mandates. This has disrupted our social gatherings on every school holidays.

The binding is machined on, now I get to enjoy the hand stitching process in the evenings. 

This will be a Christmas and birthday gift to the in-laws this year. Their birthdays are both within 2 weeks of Christmas, and it is a very big gift! I know they will understand.

I can't wait to gift this and present finished photos on the bed.

 

cake creations time

It's that busy time again for Mum when I'm organising a kids birthday party in the sub tropics. We decided to go to a special park with a huge play area and under cover tables and chairs, but we needed to start the party at 9am.

Yes, prior experience has led us to the realisation that it's too hot for children to play after 11am at that time of year, and you can't stop children from running and sliding and having fun,  until they are overheated and that's dangerous.

My new friend Maria made this cute platter for the party.

My brief was fruit, cheezels, jellies, juice, party bags.....

And of course the cake. Next year, we will go to the local free swimming pool. Plenty of shade for parents, shallow swimming if needed. BBQ to cook the chicken dinosaurs, and much cooler for all the children.

It was so hot, we had to go by the Strand on the way home for some fresh sea air... and of course a quick tree climb.

Phew! Party done for the year!