Selvedge bag

You guys know I collect selvedge of course and I have been saving up for a big project.

But after making the notebook cover for Jem I decided to make one for myself using selvedges.

So I started piecing them together and I couldn't stop. I seriously ADORE how they look together so as my piece grew I decided to turn it into a bag.

It occurred to me that a predominantly white bag wouldn't last long so I decided to cover it with PVC.

I really really like it ! It is a super simple construction and I had to hand sew the handles on (that was a bit of a chore and I actually had to dig out the the thimble!)

I would love to make a big quilt out of selvedges - I know , this from a person who has yet to finish the one and only quilt....but hey a girl can dream.

This bag took almost 40 strips of selvedge - can you imagine how many I would need for even a little quilt- and there is almost no fabric at my place with selvedge still attached.

I don't even know why I like them so much, they just appeal to me.

Sounds like an excuse to buy more fabric if ever I heard one!

Lights on but nobody"s home

No post yesterday, busy all day and by the time I was ready the teenager boy-girl - pizza-lollies-horror movies- musicals- more lollies- sleep in the tent even though it is only 4 degrees had kicked in.

They were great though and kept the noise to a minimum but I still had that crazy wake-up every hour to see if I could hear them thing going on. So a little tired and zombied today (hence the title)

Yesterday involved some more painting, I got the final coat on the blackboard wardrobe and another coat on the grey /green of the hallway. Here is where it stands today.

The right hand side needs one more coat in the morning and then I will start on all the trim !

I am not usually a talk about the weather kind of person but seriously what is going on? We have had huge flurries of hail today and the outside temp is currently a gnats whisker over 4 degrees.

In crafting news - all is not lost ! I am still in awe of the bag of fabric I was given and slightly disturbed by my mothers rather pushy request to iron it - ALL. ( My mother and her ironing is a post or two all of her own so we might leave that)

Yesterdays bit of craft was finishing off some sock-critter type presents for two little girls

and todays craft (and no it was not ironing all that fabric ). .......well lets just say something exciting is afoot !

Everything old is new again or you guys are really going to hate me!

Oh dear, where to start.

The day kind of followed the plan, I went to the gym and the op-shop (no luck) then to the paint shop -Home and washing, sanding, filling sanding and eventually some painting. I got half the hallway done for the first coat - that grey green is hard to cover so I am working on that - still a long way to go (there are 6 doors in this hallway) .

In the back of my mind were the presents I have planned for some little girls (need calico) and need a trip to Ballarat Patchwork for some stripey fabric.

YIPPEE !! The new challenge for their blog Scrap Bag is up and running and it is a Dick and Jane challenge. You have to make an apron or a smock. I have an idea already but I really don't want to use my Dick and Jane stash so I had to buy some more ! (That's a crafter's logic for you).Pop over and sign up !!! ( you know I did think of calling this post "The Dick Challenge" but thought better of it.)

Miss Emma had a "little surprise" waiting for me in the back room. Someone had dropped off a bag of old fabrics. (here is the hating me bit coming up right now)

These were an assortment of styles and not really suited to patchwork so she offered them to me.......old fabric........free fabric.......lots of fabric..........and seriously cute fabric........You should have seen the other customers faces as I heaved this out through the shop with a jaunty "just put it on my account!"

The pieces in here range from 12 inches right down to wee little scraps. Some of these old fabrics are so "right now" if you know what I mean and these little pieces will be lovingly washed and ironed and saved for very special projects.

Some of the weird chiffony stuff and other pieces will be taken to the art room at school. Lots will be offered to friends and when I am organised some will become presents for here on the blog too.

Come on guys..................As if I would keep it all to myself ! Stay tuned..................

The power of the Blog!

Hiya guys !

Guess what ? The dearest person ever - Miss Jane of the crooked road has helped me out with my wish for the spotty fabric slicker from spotlight.
Now, the thing is I have never met Jane, and only saw her blog for the first time this week - I don't think she knows me and yet she went out of her way to check out if her Spotlight had the fabric, then she convinced them to put the whole roll away and then sent me the details.
Can you believe this? Lots of people offered to check their local stores for me, blogger friends and people I have never met. Do you live in a world where people will go out of their way to help strangers, where people will spend some time making a perfect stranger happy, even though they get nothing out of it?

Well apparently I do. If you think I am surprised , astounded, gob-smacked - I am.
I (very ) occasionally read papers and hear the news on the radio and I was led to believe that we lived in a heinous world where everyone was doomed and we had no community spirit. A world where we all snatched and grabbed and got what we could for ourselves so we had more than the others.
Today I believe the world I live in is filled with fabric and felt, it is peopled by folks who love sewing and knitting and felting , spinning and dyeing and beading and paper crafts and printing and painting, crotchet and patterns and giving and sharing - this is the world I choose to live in- no it is not about getting fabric, it is just about people caring, A perfect complete stranger did something nice specifically for me today . It wasn't a random nameless faceless act - Jane did something for me and I want to say A HUGE THANK YOU - yes I have found the fabric I wanted but seriously and more importantly , if Jane did this for me , then maybe the rest of the human race is not so bad after all.

the fabric of my life...........

I have fabric from projects past

I have fabric I have bought and never used

I have fabric bought, donated, given and thrifted

My fabric collects fabric

I have old fabric so thin it needs to be backed to be sewn

I have fabric that holds memories of baby clothes and Christmas dresses

I have fabric whose history belongs to families I have never known

I have serious serious fabric.......

and now I have this............

and I yearn for THIS

Everything else seems immaterial

( ha ha ha................... immaterial get it ?? get it ???)

What a day !!!

Today I went to the Melbourne Quilt and Craft show .
Before we left I had to prepare my "car craft"- everyone had some car craft except the driver and Annie gave Kate crochet lessons in the back seat.

I took along a bit of embroidery and the yo yo maker.


I was really hoping to have my "Big Project " finished to take along today but it was not to be - Here she is, just ever so slightly unfinished. This is the first Nanna-trolley or shopping jeep I have reconditioned with fabric - all the others have been oilcloth and I am quite happy with it so far - I have about another eight of these stashed behind the bedroom door ready for a recondition, funnily enough I don't have a spare eight weeks to do it in.



I quilted the back fabric to give a bit more body and I need to attach the lid and she will be finished. I am not sure if it needs a little something- I was thinking a little red "something " on the black fabric in the right hand lower corner????

So all of this was before we even left... the day was huge and I shall tell you all about it tomorrow (my birthday ) and show you all the delicious fabrics I bought and all the new projects I have planned............

Whiplash challenge.

The hardest part of this challenge may be me trying to get the whiplash button on here !!!

As part of the Whiplash challenge on Whip up I have made a doll quilt or miniature quilt.

I had so much fun with this that I thought I'd show you how I did it. (Mind you it is so easy I am sure you could just wing it).

Yep.... thats right its all made from selvedge !!! I just love how it turned out !! I am soo excited by this I am planning a bigger project !

1. 
   
   

   Step 1. Cut the selvedged edge off your fabrics leaving 1/4 inch of fabric (this becomes your seam allowance.) Then with right sides together sew two pieces together and press open, showing selvedge.



2. 
   
   

   Step 2. If you have nice thick selvedge you may be able to join one pair to another pair - giving you four (or more) joined togetherwithout losing all the details.




3. 
   
   

   Step 3. When you have pieced a few strips together you can begin to foundation piece them. I cut (ripped) a piece of very light cotton to the size I wanted and then simply began sewing the strips on. Sew as close to the very edge as you can but remember that this is the selvedge so it is not going to fray.



4. 
   

   Step 4. Continue on adding your little pairs of selvedge strips ( or bigger ones) until you have the size you require. I used my walking foot for this part.

5.

Step 5. When you have pieced all your strips , turn over your work and trim the edges, squaring up if you need to.

Step 6. I used cotton batting in this little quilt and I quilted it very simply by running some lines of stitching across the quilt in a "stitch-in-the-ditch style. My finished quilt is almost fat quarter sixe measuring approx 18 x 20 inches. Then of couse a bit of binding and your done !!!

I really love this project and am keen to do a bit more with selvedges. I have been chopping them off every scrap of fabric in the stash.

The added bonus to this project is, when asked about all the fabric in the stash I can honestly say "of course I use them all I have put almost all of them into a quilt !"

Miss Eloise says it is very snuggly !

Sewin' shoppin' and swearin'

I have been sewing this week, working on the quilt. For the life of me I cannot get a photo that's decent - how do you take photos of quilts? All of it with no details or just a little section ? GGGRRRR - that's where the swearin' came in.

But I can't stay cross for long because this week I bought the best fabric from Shannon over at Aunty Cookie. She made this fabric - like actually designed and magically created her own - off the bolt fabric. She is one talented woman !!! Go on - go over and have a look................

Isn't it great?

The fabric is spectacular and that "kind of detail impressed me"(LOL) That is what is written on the fabric. The handwriting even had the little arrows on it that's guides children's writing - I just love it.

I am imagining a handbag with a red wool base -or cherry red with the fabric and then red handles - but i did spend some time this morning wrapping it around the existing cushions on the lounge and it look great - I just need a little something red in there............

Her new design with the birdies and trees I am also in love with as well as the fabrics that Lara of Kirin Notebook is working on. Seriously, this is fabric paradise.