Matching Pegs

I have written this post over 5 days, because, in the midst of school holidays, kid-centred programming has commenced in the Matching Pegs household.  Here is a random pretty image to brighten up this post- Happy Wanderer (Hardenbergia violacea) from our front yard.

At the recent “Girls Day Out” I asked Leanne Beasley about how she marks her dark applique pieces.  She described using metallic gels pens, which I thought this was a great tip that I would like to try one of these days.  It got me thinking that I should discuss here what I use for marking my applique pieces.

Given that I use a method of needle turn applique where the marked line alone determines the edge of the finished applique piece, (as opposed to methods that use freezer paper, and sometimes starch or glue, to determine the edge of the finished piece) a clear, high-contrast, thin line, that will not wear off as you handle it is really important.

Because I have had a little practice with needle turn applique, I am quite happy to mark with a permanent line because I know I will turn it all under.  I quite often use permanent pigma pens, because they are clearer to see than some other less permanent markers.

For those who are new to needle turn applique, it can be hard to turn under every little millimeter of marked line.  For beginners,  I would recommend marking with a line that will disappear if possible.  On lighter fabrics I use the ubiquitous blue, wash out marker*.

This is a new pen I have been using to mark dark fabrics - made by “Matilda’s Own”.  This white marker washes out with water OR disappears when you iron, (so you need to think carefully about how you are going to use it,  you don’t want to iron it off by mistake).  As you draw with it, it goes on clear, and it appears as a white line as it dries, which can take some getting used to.  The best thing about this pen is that it does create a very visible line that does not brush off/blur as you handle it, as chalk can do, and of course it all washes/irons out.

When it comes to attaching my applique pieces to the background fabric, I am a great believer of basting.  Firstly I pin my pieces in place with fine, but normal length pins (as I don’t own any applique pins).

Next I thread up a needle in a light colour thread (to make sure there is no chance of the thread marking my piece permanently) and make a knot at one end.  I make diagonal stitches to hold the piece in place, taking care not to sew in the area where the applique allowance will be turned under.  I finish off my basting with a large back stitch and leave a thread tail, so that it is easy to pull out the basting thread once the applique piece is all sewn on.

Here is a look at a larger piece I completed earlier, where you can see a bigger expanse of basting.  Actually it is the loopy piece you see finished above.  As you can see, I cut the inside away as I was sewing.  For those that are intrigued, wondering what the hell this shape is, it is largely abstract - I will reveal it all….eventually.

I hope you have enjoyed a little look at how I mark and baste my work - do you have any special tricks you would like to share?

* If you use these markers, take great care with where you leave your work.  If you leave your work in the sun, it can set the lines so that they will not wash out.

Thank you so much for all the lovely Birthday Wishes.  My birthday was much better than expected.  Even though we could not take Julian out of the hospital, we found an empty common room, and had some lovely cupcakes my sister had made for the occasion.  Michaela and I took in some festive helium balloons, so cake + balloons = mini birthday party for 5.  These interesting flowers are actually some ornamental cabbage that Mum gave me on the day.  They look amazing, and last really well - they look exactly the same now, 5 days later.

Luke, the kids and I had a yummy pizza dinner out, and then I went to my weekly sewing evening, where the girls spoilt me like crazy.  Turns out that some of them were actually stalking me when we were shopping in the patchworks shops the previous weekend.  They were following me and buying some of the fabric that I ooohed and ahhed over.  I also received tea related gifts, candles, decorative pegs, (see they know me well) and one of Debbie’s lovely handbags.

Today I had a blissful Tuesday to myself and accomplished quite a bit.  I finally dealt with the old sheers in our bedroom.  I have hated these since we moved in 7 years ago!  For ages I have had the plain sheer fabric to make new ones, more in keeping with our taste.  The problem has been getting an empty house, so that I have the floor space to measure them up and cut them out. Voila!

Having just past the shortest day of the year, it is unsurprisingly dim in our south facing bedroom*, so this picture is not the best.  If we did not live with the school at the end of our street, I might not have bothered with sheers at all, but everyone knows we live here and the morning school traffic would all be able to see in if I didn’t have them.  Instead of me in my PJ’s, this is what they will see.

Keeping with the bedroom theme, I also got out another work in progress that I worked on a little more.

I took this photo before I filled in the white spaces you can see, they are now gone.

The flowers are looking a little intense and flat.  I plan on adding thin over-painting to give more subtlety to the colours as well as more colour graduation and shadows.  I used to paint with oils years ago, but I am using acrylics (having no time to wait for oils to dry) , so I am making it up as I go - I hope the over-painting works, I may have to use some kind of medium - anyway the fun I am having is more important than exact technique.

I also did a little sewing today - but that’s another post, for another day.

Do you have sheers on your windows, or can the public see in?

*For northern hemisphere readers - a south facing bedroom here, is like a north facing bedroom over there.  If a room faces due south, it doesn’t get any direct sunlight, and tends towards dark.

I am feeling pretty down today.  Tomorrow is my birthday, I will be 35, but it is not my age that is getting me down (I’m a spring chicken after all).  Tomorrow will not be the same because my twin brother will be spending his birthday where he has been for a while now - in hospital.  We are hoping he will be well enough to come out for about an hour for lunch, but if not it will be a very subdued occasion.

To cheer me up I have been looking at the fabric I bought on our girls weekend away.  The two lovely green batik fat quarters caught my eye at Patchwork Charm in Shepparton.  There are so many colours squeezed into those fabrics, but I can see I am developing a fascination with my favourite colour at the moment -soft apple green.  The fabric under the fat quarters is one I purchased recently for the sashing of my fat quarter quilt.

The fabrics above are all from The Country Thyme Patchwork Shop in Mooroopna - the store that ran the “Girls’ Day Out”.  They are for another one of my secret projects, most likely a male softie.

The fabrics below are from a store that is just a year old -”Anam Cara”, in Kialla Lakes, Shepparton (No Web address)

The fat eighths just caught my eye - take it from someone that loves applique, you can do quite  bit with a piece of fabric this size.  I hadn’t really considered it until recently, but the metric fat quarter and eighth are slightly larger than the imperial ones - something that has to be considered by the budding designer you know.  The beige has a crackle pattern that I have been looking for, for stitcheries, for ages.  The spot is a lovely soft coffee colour that somehow seems to go really well with brighter, clearer fabrics - it is for stitcheries as well.

These lovely fabrics are from the Shepparton “Spotlight” store.  They seemed to have a pretty good selection, (I often can’t find anything I like at my local Spotlight - although I have not been there for a while) and like all Spotlight stores, the fabrics were of a good price.  This stack adds up to 2 metres, and cost only $25, which would be pretty unheard of at an independent patchwork store here in Australia.  I think this pile is going to be a secret female softie, (hopefully I will be able to spill the beans about my secret some time soon).

Anyway, writing this post and looking at my fabric has really cheered me up, and I am sure my kids and hubby will make my birthday special, even if it is not the same without Julian.

On the weekend 6 sewing friends and I traveled to a very pretty part of Victoria for a sewing (and purchasing) weekend.  On Saturday we visited 3 patchwork/fabric shops around Shepparton, had a wonderfully relaxed dinner at a Thai restaurant in Nagambie and stayed at our friend Simone’s lovely little cabin on the Nagambie Lakes - what a view!

At Spotlight in Shep we found a pretty funny game in the discount bin and took it home to have a play after dinner.  “Stitchopoly” is of course a version of Monopoly - you collect stitches instead of addresses, and you build Studios and Patchwork shops instead of Houses and Hotels.

I am pretty sure that the Ladies would kill me if I posted a photo of us all playing “Stitchopoly” in our PJ’s (and most of them can probably run faster than I can), which is why you will have to make do with a photo of Molly our guild mascot, who amassed quite a fortune, but was asset poor.

On Sunday we squished into one of the people movers, (expect I was the princess who gets car sick so I must admit I was  comfy up the front) and drove about 30 minutes to Mooroopna, to the “Girls Day Out” stitching retreat, run by the “Country Thyme” patchwork shop.  It featured our three favourite designers Melly, Rosie and Leanne!  In our little goodie bag, we got 10 designs - there were so many delicious projects to choose from, but I decided to learn a new skill, so I chose Rosie’s Punch needle project.

On the left is the view from the back, which is the side that you work from.  You can see here what it should look like when it is finished.

This project ends up looking like a very cute little carpet, with lovely springy pile made with embroidery floss.  The punch needle has more than a whiff of danger about it, and with the fabric stretched tight in the hoop (weavers cloth, adhered to a pretty cotton on front) it makes quite a punchy drum noise as you work.

Rosie was a great teacher - I was inundating her with questions because that is the annoying kind of student I have always been - but she was very patient.  She did tell us that punch needle would be frustrating at first, and she was right, but I can tell it is just the right kind of project for doing in front of the telly - punch, punch, punch.

Sadly I think I have ruined my project.  I have pulled out the threads so many times that I have frayed the pretty pink front fabric, as you can see if you follow the blue arrows in this picture.

The word in the picture is actually “Welcome” and it is hard to read because it needs all the background punching around it to help it stand up properly.  Clearly I am a beginner, you can see down there by the red arrow where a loop is way too long, but I think I have been getting better as I go.  I would like to get some more weavers cloth (punch needle has to be done on this type of weave) and draw up something to have another go.

Melly taught me how to do proper colonial knots (I only knew how to do the french variety) and we caught up on each others news.  Melly and I have become friends over the last few months, we get together occasionally to teach each other what we have learnt ourselves about using Illustrator and Photoshop.  We have both discovered quite a bit, but we always have some new trick to show each other.

Our whole table waited until the venue kicked us out, because we were keen to hear Leanne talk about her method to sew rick-rack on a curve, and how she does her needle turn.  As a needle turn devotee, I was keen to hear about how Leanne does hers - there are about a gazillion ways to needle turn!  She uses a method similar to the one I like - using no freezer paper or starch.  Listening to her I learnt about a glue product she uses to baste her applique pieces to the background, and that she uses silver gel pens to draw her lines onto dark fabrics.

I was really inspired on the day, not just because the designer’s work was all lovely, and not just because of the charming company I was keeping.  I was inspired because it was a taste of where I want to be in a few years.  Someday I am going to be standing up there, at the front, taking a class.  It is a goal I will get to in time, and you can say “I knew her when she played Stitchopoly in her Pj’s”!

Thanks Simone, Debbie, Anita, Christine, Madeline, and Maria for a really great weekend.  Thanks Melly, Rosie and Leanne and Country Thyme for a lovely “Girls Day Out”.

Well we had a fantastic day at the Star Wars Exhibition at Scienceworks on Friday - It was a fabulous birthday for a 7 year old boy.  This attractive chappies is C3PO, sans gold skin.  We also saw Storm Troopers, Wookies, R2D2, Darth Vader and many models of Star Wars Vehicles.

We had fun trying different wheels on our robot, and running it through it’s paces.

We even got to play with a pretty authentic looking Light Sabre.

During a staged piece on Robots, Michaela got a little scared, but Amelia was there to make her feel safe (it was actually pretty dark - I took this photo with a flash).

After a full day out we came home to a lovely dinner and a fantastic Yoda Cake, decorated by Luke in less than a half hour!

If you are thinking of going, make sure you pre-book your tickets.  We did and avoided queueing for over an hour, we were escorted stright on through.

Thank-you for all the support after my last post - things are still a little crazy and stressfull around here, so rather than reply to comments individually, please consider yourselves thanked, I really appreciate it!

Just a very quick post - I went through my third kitchen drawer a little while back, and pulled out a few tea towels that had holes in them.  Rather than getting rid of them, I cut them up, (discarding the holey bits) ironed up the raw edges and zigzagged them, and now ta da - Lunch Wraps.

My kids have old style lunch boxes.  I know that there are great, purposed-designed ones for sandwiches on the market, but I wanted to keep using have we already have, and wanted a way to wrap up the sandwiches, to keep them separate from the other things that I pack in there.  This way I am not using cling wrap, or paper that just gets thrown away.  I just throw these in with my general washing.

Tomorrow is Rory’s 7th Birthday, and we are all going to the Star Wars exhibition at Scienceworks - (school is convieniently having a curriculum day).

On Saturday I am taking off with my sewing buddies for 2 days in the country, at a sewing retreat with Melly, Rosie and Leanne - so all in all, things are looking up!

Friday was a craptastic day - truly spectacularly crappy.

The health system let down a member of my family in a way that could have had dire consequences (and almost did).  Sundays paper had a whole article dedicated to the exact problem my extended family was dealing with - a problem with the system that is ongoing, and unlikely to change soon.  To say more would reveal more than I am prepared to - it is not my story to tell.  We spent the long weekend recovering from the emotional trauma, and staying close to home.

Figuring largely in our long weekend was the mammoth task of cleaning out our garage - a garage that is too narrow to park the car in, and currently serves as a storage area and a workshop.  That image at the top is a painting I did years ago, which had been residing in the garage for a few years.  Sadly it  is damaged and stretched out of shape - and is now sitting on the junk pile in the driveway.

Even apart from events I alluded to at the start of the post - there has been a lot of angst in the Matching Pegs family.  Our house is bursting at the seams, and we have been crunching the numbers on extending our house or selling up and buying a new one.

If we extend, we will be knocking over the garage, if we move we will need an empty garage.  A third option is to sit tight, and create an amazingly wonderful studio/crafty space out in the garage.  Which ever plan we go for, we need an cleaned out garage.

While it does have its own unique beauty, I think there would be a whole lot of work involved in turning it into a beautiful studio!

In just under 2 weeks I am going away on a sewing weekend with the girls to country Victoria.  Seven of us are going to take part in “Girl’s Day Out” with Melly Hurlston, Rosalie Quinlan and Leanne Beasley.  I am sure we are going to have a hoot, and I really can’t wait.

The patchwork shop that runs this event (Country Thyme) has asked that we all bring a block to be made up into quilts that will be raffled as part of the “Biggest Cuppa Tea” Charity event for the Cancer Council.  The theme for the block is Pink, Yellow and White, and you can see above what I have made.  It gave me a chance to try raw edge applique, and I am really pleased with it.

After I had finished and pressed the block I re-read the instructions and realised that I had missed reading one tiny word - flowers.  It was written with the Pink, Yellow and White, where the theme was discussed.  I am hoping that the  floral fabric will be enought to tie it in because I don’t have more time to redo it.

Oooops - made any crafty mistakes lately?

Way back in January 2008, when I started this blog, one of my first posts was about this handbag that belonged to my Great Aunt Rita.  It is one of my most treasured possessions, and I always wished that I knew more about it.

Thanks to a recent episode of Collectors, I now know that it is a Lucite Handbag, probably from the 50’s.  “Lucite is a type of plastic which was used in aeroplane manufacturing during the World War II. After the war, it was allowed for use in the production of luxury goods including Lucite handbags.  These glamorous bags were made in America and almost entirely in New York”.

There are no trademarks on the bag so I am not sure which manufacturer made it, but it sounds like it is highly collect-able.   As mine is in very good condition, it could be worth a bit, but of course it is worth far more than money to me.

On another note, here is a really interesting (long) article about measuring childrens’ ability to delay gratification, and what that indicates about their ability to achieve in life.  It starts off describing “The marshmallow experiment” from the 1960’s where pre-school kids were given a marshmallow, and told they could eat it, but if they could wait until the researcher returned, without eating it, they could have two, instead of just one.  Only about 30% of kids could wait, and some kids ate the first one almost immediately.  The article is about the ability to master self control, and I found it via Unclutterer, another interesting website about taking control of the stuff in your life.  The people at Unclutterer mention the article in the context of training yourself into “having routines in place that keep the clutter out of your home and office and the self control and diligence to systematically complete the routines that keep your life in order.  Doing these not-so-fun tasks everyday ultimately pay off because you have more time and less stress in your life overall”.

It all sounds so good - I read Unclutterer because I wish I was a little better at dealing with all the “stuff” in my life (school notices, bills especially) but it all makes me wonder - as a 4 year old, would I have eaten that Marshmallow - would my kids?

What about you?  mmmmmm, marshmallow………

The other day I turned this little pile of clothes and some polar fleece into this - Mr Olden Days Rory!

He was visiting an historical school/farmyard/community type setup with his school (not Sovereign Hill, one closer to home).

He had a great day, but “It will take too long to tell you all about it Mum”!

I did learn that he did really like the blacksmith a lot though.

Thanks for the compliments on my quilt for Amelia - I don’t really have time to reply to comments at the moments.

I am spending my free time building a website to coordinate helpers who are stepping in to help one of the families in our local community.  The father of the family has been struck down with a flesh eating disease, and has had extensive surgery on his arm to save his life.  He will be having skin grafts and rehab for about a year.  This has been very scary and a major blow, especially as he is the worker and driver of the family - his wife is vision impaired.  If any of you out there have used the web to co-ordinate help in a similar way, I would love to hear from you.

Anyway, back to Old Time Rory - I think his lost teeth (yes, he has already lost another one) make him look even more cute and old-timeish.  if only it wasn’t so hard to get him to smile!