Fashionably late - and a new Quilt Show fashion?

I'd just about abandoned the idea of writing a wrap-up post on the Sydney Quilt and Craft Show when this arrived in my Inbox. 

Well (I thought to myself) if it's not too late for a sophisticated soul like Molli Sparkle to do a post on  how he made and used his cute mini quilt / sash at the show, then who am I, a card-carrying member of the glitterati, to beat myself up over being just a tad late to the party?

I've been itching to cut into my FQ bundle of Emma Jean Jansen's Terra Australis, but I'm waiting till Terra Australis 2 is released shortly and I can add some of her extra colours to my fabric palette. 

For now, however, I gave that itch a little scratch by snipping off some teensy weensy pieces of said Terra Australis to foundation paper piece a name tag with my Instagram handle so any of the Sydney quilters I 'play' with on Instagram but haven't met in real life might identify me and say 'hi'.

The 'wing span' of each of those flying geese is approximately 1/4 inch, so I can safely say I still have oodles of my special fabric left.

My name tag worked! Apart from catching up with old friends like Jen, Sel, Michelle, Lissa Jane, Heather, Lisa, a couple of Sues (and more), the lovely Louisa and Lorena recognized me too, as did the delightful Molli, seen here helping our group of three Di's and a Sue take a #selfiewithsparkle

Sue Miller, of Fabric Garden, the 'fabric enabler' from whom I bought my Terra Australis bundle, had plenty to tempt us, and Di B, Sue M and I happily scrambled to sign up for her 6 month Mini Quilt Club using patterns by Julie Herman (Jaybird quilts). We also came home with Jaybird Quilts' Hex 'n' More rulers in both the full size and the mini. Sue's stall was an absolute delight!

A few new fat quarters from here and there might ... (ahem) ... have come home with me too.

Helen Godden had me dreaming of owning a Sweet Sixteen quilter after her fabulous demonstration, but unless I win the lottery that won't be happening any time soon.

And with next year's St Luke's fundraising stall already on my mind I bought patterns from Cameron - James Designs to make the adorable Digby the Dog and Stripes the Cat. It was so hard to choose from this wall of cuties!

I didn't receive permission from Paddington Patchworker Isabella Klompe to share her quilt until after I had done my previous post on Quilt Show favourites, so here it is now, a pretty fantasy in black and white.

And did I mention fashion? Here's the selvedge skirt I made to wear on the first day.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then my friend Linda, who inspired me, can take a big, deep bow. 

Her Name Dropper skirt, which she made to wear to the AQS Quilt Show at Paducah earlier this year, was A line, but I felt a straight, pencil skirt might look better on me.

Before I started I sorted my obscenely large collection of selvedges into colour piles. I'd decided on a rainbow colour scheme, with the full spectrum running across both the front and the back.

 

In a similar fàshion to Linda I sewed selvages together, end to end, to get strips of each colour long enough to reach from waistline to hem. When I use selvedges I like to leave at least half an inch of coloured fabric attached.

From my commercial straight skirt pattern I cut 3 base pieces from some neutral yardage that had been in my cupboard for ages. Since it was going to be covered up the pattern wasn't important as long as it was pale enough not to show through.

I started from the side edges, working in, covering the base fabric with selvages. To help keep my strips relatively straight up and down I pressed a seam down the centre of the front piece, and used my tape measure to measure and pin one selvedge at a time all the way down before machining.

For the two back skirt pieces I used the centre back edge as a guide to keep my selvedges straight, until the base pieces were completely covered with selvedges.

I sewed as close as possible to the neat edge of the selvedge, being careful to cover and catch the raw edge of the previously sewn selvedge underneath.

Once all three skirt pieces were covered I turned them to the reverse side and trimmed off the excess selvedges to make them the exact size and shape of the pattern pieces. Then I sewed darts, inserted the back zip and finished the skirt following the pattern instructions, with just one variation - I left the waist of the skirt without a band attached, and simply trimmed off the hem edge to a suitable length. Then I bound both the waistline and the bottom edge of the skirt using a nice black Japanese fabric whose origin escapes me right now.

In keeping with the selvedge theme, when Di B and I went back the next day I wore the selvedge Stable Bag that I made last year. Selvedge overload? Quite possibly!

Let me leave you with one final colourful pic from the quilt show, the brilliant sunset we enjoyed as we waited at Glebe Island, footsore and happily weary, for the ferry to take us home.

April Photo a Day Digest 4

Day 23 – Time

April is the very best time to visit the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, when the trees wear their glorious autumn colours. I took my daughter Sarah’s cat MoMo to his new home here today.

Day 24 – I saw this person today

This is my darling, cheeky friend, Moo. I saw her today but since she’s a little camera-shy I thought I’d use this shot taken at another time.

Day 25 – Life is……   

Fragile. Needs no explanation.

Day 26 – Childhood

It seems I had dimples, even from a very early age

Day 27 – Earth

With much tender loving care the bare earth left where the builders killed the grass has sprouted and become a healthy looking green lawn again.

Day 28 – My Sunday

Day 29 – I wore this today

Loving my new made-by-me selvage Stable Bag

 Di

A Weekend Making a Stable Bag = A recipe for restoring one’s equilibrium

Take nine delightful quilters (Sue’s missing from the photo).

A gracious hostess, Margaret, content to sit and sew hexagons and keep Matilda and Chester happy.

Two whole days at Di B’s cosy harbourside home, taking over her sitting room.

A little bit of silliness (of course!)

And the opportunity to sew a Stable Bag - a project that’s been on all our Bucket Lists for ages – while having our hands held by a friend who’s already made several herself.

It was too good to pass up!  It’s been ages since I’ve had a needle and thread in my hands and I tend to get a little twitchy if I go too long without stitching. Do you?

You’ll see versions of this nifty bag everywhere on the internet, including this jazzy one here, but while everybody loves the design it’s had the (deserved) reputation of being a notoriously challenging pattern to make up.

Daphne showed us how to make a version with outside pockets using a Cathedral Window-type fold-down edging, something I haven’t seen elsewhere.

Our feature panels couldn’t have been more varied, but every single one was such a beauty. Janet’s panel (above) has been in her cupboard for many years just waiting for that special project to come along.

Don’t you agree, Pam’s golden oriental fabric looks fabulous edged in bright red?

Here’s Desley’s, teamed with a rich burgundy co-ordinating fabric.

Glenda was our first finisher.

Then Gillian (above). And then Di B (below).

Mine was just a little different because I chose to use strips from my selvage box to create my feature panel. I really like it .

By the afternoon of day two we were able to line up our bags for this photo, and feel mighty pleased with our results.

After two days by Sydney Harbour in the company of cheerful ladies, stitching my selvage-style Stable Bag, I confess I’m feeling much more stable myself .

Thank you, Di, Margaret (and Matilda) for hosting this wonderful weekend.

 Di