C+S Aussie Charm Swap!

Ms Midge is running another charm swap for the Australians out there!

...I still haven't used the charms from my Amy Butler charm swap. Although they might do quite nicely for the pieced curtains I'm planning for the lounge room from the Concerto quilt pattern...

WIP Wednesday: the one with all the things I haven't done

So, that thing where I had a great long list of stuff to do? Yep, none of it is even close to being done.

Life and work and the quilt show and more work and work and ugh...

WIPs

Backing for USA Hurray is on the way!


With cute cat for size comparison.

The Sydney Craft And Quilt Fair happened. I went twice - once on Wednesday and again on Saturday with a US friend who was visiting at the time.

I bought a lot of fabric - dressmaking fabric, mostly: some black-shot-green dupion that I've been hunting for years, and a lovely green-and-purple silk chiffon. Both were cheap as chips!


And some glass beads and bag handles and Vilene/interfacing and 6m of Liberty lawn...

...the Liberty lawn will hopefully turn up in time for me to make a couple of dresses out of it - and then possibly scraps? Which I'll probably sell because I have too many scraps already.

Speaking of the Sydney Quilt Show, while I couldn't get my quilts completed for that due to a torn calf muscle, I did have a small hand in the Sydney Modern Quilt Group's 2015 group quilt:


That pink row is done by me! Including the Mendocino Mermaids!

And the arrival of a bundle of Far Far Away reminded me of a Heather Ross fabric print I'm looking for: the original Munki-Munki print gnomes in any colourway - not the Spoonflower, please. I've heard that the Spoonflower prints are not very lasting at all!


If you have gnomes, please drop me a mail: seldear at yahoo dot com. I will happily swap 1:1 (or more) for original Mendocino Mermaid prints...

Oh, and while I was at the Quilt and Craft Fair, my, um, credit card slipped and now the Plain Jane Passacaglia has competition!


But I'm steadily working away on the rosettes... Just not as steadily as I'd like!


Other things

Finally, let me leave you with a laugh (well some of you, since this picture will make no sense to anyone but an Aussie, or someone who spent their young adult years in Australia):


*grins*

How's your week (well, fortnight, it's been that long for me)? Gotten anything done? I'm linking up to Freshly Pieced's WIP Wednesday (as I always do).

to do list - June

Good Morning, Monday!

Before we get to the list, have a pic of me and my friend dressed for the popup speakeasy in Melbourne Gaol for the Festival of Phryne (Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries) on Friday night:


Unfortunately, my SD card failed on Saturday morning and I lost a heck of a lot of other photos of us from that night - including pretty much all my photographs from the last six months, which I'd stored on the SD card in question (and didn't back up, DAMMIT).

I'm really very annoyed about that - and annoyed with myself for not backing up more often.

--

Anyway, here's the mid-year TO DO list. (You know what they say about aiming for nothing...)

Quilting
- The Promises Of Spring
- Swarm
- Honey Honey
- French Farmhouse

Backings
- USA Hurray
- King of Bling (red letter day)
- Under The Sea (Mendocino quilt)

Binding
- Odyssea (binding)
- Darling Violetta (binding)

Aussie Handmade Birthday Club
- April
- May
- June

Yes, ambitious, I know, especially since there's really only two weeks of June to go. But it's DAMN THE TORPEDOES AND FULL SPEED AHEAD!

July

Piecing
- Camille Roskelley 1
- Camille Roskelley 2
- Imagine Greater (Heather Ross)

Clothing (for August Round The World)
- 2 summer dresses
- 2 cotton trousers (1 elasticised ankle/waist, 1 loose ankle/elasticisted waist)

WIP: the one with 1920s fashion

So, I have been doing almost no quilting this week - just a little handsewing and dressmaking.

WIPs

Millefiori Madness

One more rosette complete!


Still a ridiculous number to go...


It would probably be better if I did it every time I stepped on a train. But i'm not stepping on trains quite so often lately...


Other things

I have a friend who is hugely into the Miss Fisher Mysteries - a TV series set in 1920s Melbourne, and made in Australia. With looooovely costumes.

A number of events are taking place for fans of this show during June, including a Popup Speakeasy in Melbourne Gaol, several walking tours around the city, afternoon teas, and a dinner with one of the actors - Miss Fisher's Butler.

My friend figured that since I was down here and the costume tour was down here, she'd make the trip from the US, and so on Friday night we're going to the Popup Speakeasy in Melbourne. Appropriately dressed. (Well, as appropriately as one can given it's midwinter in Melbourne and 2015.)

I purchased two patterns from Ageless Patterns 1920s clothing patterns - the Monte Carlo dress, and the Paris Promenade dress - and have spent the last week or so umming and aahing about making them. I've finished the Monte Carlo dress and am working on a wrap for it.


We'll see about the Paris Promenade dress - TBH, I'm wondering if I could get away with doing it in cotton instead, as a kind of afternoon tea dress... :)

But here's me in the Monte Carlo, with a few accoutrements:


The hair will have to be different, of course - I think I'm going to do a Gibson Tuck, although it might take an army of bobby pins and a lot of hairspray to get it to sit properly. My hair is coarse and thick and doesn't play nicely with about 90% of pretty Pinterest how-to-do-your-hair tutorials...

--

Still thinking about what I'm going to be doing re: patchwork quilting in the coming weeks. It takes a lot of effort...

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced...

WIP Wednesday: the one with very little

So, the sprint turned into a hobble. Friday and Saturday were bad days for the leg, so I didn't end up getting the quilts done. Finding a commercial quilter who could do at least one of my show quilts within a week proved problematic, so I've dropped entirely out of the Sydney Quilt Show. :(

WIPs

Still Swarm By Sel and The Promises Of Spring. They have backings, the issue is now getting them quilted. I have a very specific vision for The Promises Of Spring, but Swarm by Sel could be done in an all-over panto pattern if needful. If.

Anyway, while my board is clear and my space is clean, it's time to get back to backings and bindings...
- USA Hurray
- King of Bling (red letter day)
- Under The Sea (Mendocino quilt)
- Odyssea (binding)
- Darling Violetta (binding)

Oh, and the AHBC Birthday swaps for April and May, in which I've let myself get bogged down in uncertainty and self-criticism.

*sigh*

I may have to get a move on: I have a friend coming to stay from the US on Saturday and the only place to put her is in the sewing room!

Millefiori Madness

Still sewing slowly on the commute, although I'm liking the current rosette - gold diamonds and magenta centres - so pretty!


Other things

June-July quilts

1. 2 Camille Roskelley quilts
2. Imagine Greater: Heather Ross quilt

--

Linking up to Freshly Pieced and WIP Wednesday.