Stuff 'n' Updates

Am just watching "The Zoo' on television.

OMG - I am such a sucker for baby animals :)

They just had a baby langur (sp?) monkey on. Oh. My. Goodness. So very, very, very cute!!

So, what's been happening? Well, I've FINALLY finished my Bento Box Quilt (per last weeks post). I've also finished the bulk of the cross stitch on my Les Lapins project, so now just all the outlines to do (bleurgh. My least favourite bit). I've finished 95% of a skirt for work - just need to attach the lining and finish the waist and hem. My first item of clothing that I have made since Home Ec in High School...

Hmmmm......what else?

Let me see...Oh yeah! My work and Facebook stalker! I really shouldn't laugh, but there was this guy that works for the same company as me who had taken a sudden and unexplained liking to me. It's a long and complicated story, but suffice to say, through a bit of subterfuge and a few little white lies (I know, I know!!!) my friends and I believe we have staved off any potential issues. Of course, I now have an imaginary boyfriend. He's pretty hot, you know (lol). A cyclist, 6 foot 5, in great shape, works as an engineer....what!!? Well, if I'm going to have to lie about having a boyfriend to see off a potential stalker/suitor, I am totally going to make it worth my while :D

Anything else.....oh yes.

ItotallymadeoutwithanotherguybutItotallydontknowwhereitsgoinganditssupercomplicatedandohmygoodness.

::ahem::

Sometimes I wonder what I'm thinking.

But usually only after I've done something I probably shouldn't have.

Cos THATS when you should do your thinking...

I love...

...long weekends (how very Aussie of me!)...
...the smell of freshly baked cakes (lemon meringue cupcakes today, banana bread yesterday, apple custard tea cakes for Brown Owls on Saturday)...
...a surprisingly good book that I picked up on a whim at the library...
...and, the feeling of achievement when you finish a project...

YAY!!!!

That's right! I've finally finished the Bento Box Quilt that I've been working on for, ummmm.....

::scampers off to check her project diary::

::footsteps slowly coming back::

...umm, yeah. Appears I didn't write it in the project diary. Lets seeeeee. It would have to be well over 12-months.

Easily.

If not longer.

So, let's not keep the finished project from you for any further length of time.

Taaaaa-daaaaaaaaaaaaa!

It's kind of a crappy perspective, but I did have to stand on my kitchen bench in order to get up high enough to get the whole quilt in shot, so, hey, I took my life into my own hands peeps, just so you guys could see it ;)

The basic construction is small rectangles of indigo Japanese fabrics, combined with coloured Japanese fabrics. Each square was made up of 8 separate rectangles - 2 coloured and 6 indigo. The two coloured rectangles are of the same fabric and are sewn together with the indigo fabrics on the outside.

The backing fabric is a black koi carp all over design, and the borders are plain indigo fabric combined with some spare squares in the corners and the side borders (mainly because I ran short of border fabric...). I then machine quilted the outside row of 'boxes' using white cotton to mimic sashiko stitching. The top and bottom borders are quilted on a 45 degree diagonal, again using white cotton.

I have to say that there are bits of it that I'm not all that impressed with - nothing wrong with the design, just my rendition of it. As usual, my issues with the backing fabric catching were there - it's like I'm cursed!! The front piecing is alright - the main section is the best. I didn't really think out the side borders very well and was also running out of fabric, so (to me anyway) they seem a bit half-a$$ed. But, I am VERY proud of the binding. I hate making binding, mostly because its so time consuming and I usually scald my fingers on the steam iron and such.

Additionally, I generally manage to muff up my binding attachment. I think this is because I was sewing it onto the front and back of the quilt at the same time. What this caused was the back of the binding to not always attaching properly, and it makes the quilt quite hard to manipulate around, and quite frankly its just a drag. And I always end up with binding issues - like crappy corners, uneven hems and such.

This time, I sewed the binding to the front of the quilt using my machine and then hand sewed the back of the binding to the back of the quilt. Worked a freaking treat!!! A bit more time consuming for sure, but a 1000% improvement on the overall binding look. Corners are much neater and the stitches on the back are practically invisible.

So that's one less thing off my (freaking massive) list of 'Things To Do'.

Now if I can only sort out my personal backing fabric "issues" all would be well...

Screen Printy Goodness :D

As promised, screen printy goodness from yesterdays Brown Owls meet.

The apple design is mine. It is quite daunting being presented with a blank sheet of paper, and there was quite a bit of sitting and staring at the page around the table!!

The cute little helicopter belongs to Justine (who organises the Perth Upmarket, which BTW is on next Sunday, 7 June at the Perth Town Hall. Go to www.perthupmarket.com.au for deets).

And check out those two little puppers!!! Too cute, Ebony and Ashy *head tilt* ahhhhnnnn :)

Thanks heaps to the wonderful Kirsty for letting us take over her home for the afternoon (and threaten to steal the puppers away!!!).

Much fun was had by all.

I may be heading off to obtain screen printing supplies...

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Day 31 of 31 (definitely NOT 365!!!) Whew! Kind of glad that those 31-days are over. Not that it was particularly onerous or anything, but sometimes I felt like I was grasping for something to write...But, the exercise WAS good for getting me used to regularly blogging, no matter what the content :). So, whilst I doubt that I will be blogging every day, I will certainly be doing it much more regularly than I was prior to the month.

Brown Owls - hoot! hoot!

Crafty Brown Owl goodness went on today.

!!!!!!!!!!!!SCREEEEEEEEENNNNNNNN-PRINTINNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!

*ahem*

So. Much. Fun. Haven't done screen-printing since art in High School (which I took to a TEE level thankyouverymuchandlearntallaboutimpressionistsandthedadamovementblahblahblah).

My last attempts at screen printing seem to have been a tea-towel with a rather terrible rendering of a plant of some description in a delightful primary red and navy blue. My mum still has (and uses) this terrible attack on the fine art of screenprinting. I also seem to recall doing tee-shirts in Applied Art. Sopme trite copy of a surf shirt design slithers through my memory.

Todays efforts? OMG!!!! So much cooler.

Pictures are ready to be uploaded. More on this tomorrow. Promise :D

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Day 30 of 31 (or a not-very-likely 365) Bought a snuggly new jacket yesterday. Wore it today. Mistake. Still too hot. Sweaty. Yech. But I looked cool :)

..I've got Friday on my miiiiinnnndddddd.....

Yay!

Foundation Day Long Weekend here in WA.

Three consecutive days of craftability.

Brown Owls meet tomorrow (ooooh, screenprinting...) and other big plans afoot to actually FINISH the Bento Box Quilt...course, I have said that to myself the last three weekends...

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Day 29 0f 31 (or 365...or not) Meh. Friday's suck ar$e. Longest. Week. Eveeeeeeerrrrrrrrrr.

My Creative Space

How cute is this little set of drawers that my Mum bought me for my birthday last year!

She reckons its supposed to be a spice drawer, but I use it in my craft room to hold all sorts of sewing pins, safety pins and small buttons.

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Day 28 of 31 (or 365) Is a Cup Noodle considered a balanced meal, do you think? Perhaps if I also have a banana?

Cookies

I can HIGHLY recommend the Double Chocolate and Chilli cookies from this cookbook.

Sans chilli.

Delicious, chocolatey goodness. And easy to make :D

My cookie-filled, fattened up co-workers agree...hehe...
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Day 27 of 31 (or 365) Very, very, very cold in the outdoor pool at training this morning. I suggested to my coach that we hop out of the pool and go indoors to watch the men's waterpolo team train (um, PHWOAR!!!!!), but she said no. Heart of stone, I tells ya :)