Stash wash…
28 Monday Feb 2011
Posted in Sew journal
Monthly Archives: February 2011
Wonky stars and madness
27 Sunday Feb 2011
Posted in Sew journal
Tags
crazy patchwork, liberated quiltmaking, patchwork, quilting blog, sewing blog, sewjournal blog, Wonky Star
Wonky stars! Who would have thought they were so hard? I kept getting them the wrong way round and with no points and etc., etc., etc.
My first attempt ended with a mutant wonky star which you can see below. My second attempt was more presentable but I felt bad about all those failed attempts and wasted pieces of fabric. So I pieced all the failed bits together plus some of my own scraps and made my swap partner a crazy block which I’m calling “This way madness lies”!
I hope she likes it.
Now I can show you my last swap block
26 Saturday Feb 2011
Posted in Sew journal
The block I made for my swap partner, Linda, in the Block Swap Adventure has finally (after 3 weeks!) arrived at her house so I can show you how it turned out. Here it is. It was hand-pieced and I made it using freezer paper templates.
Mr Tiggy takes matters into his own paws
25 Friday Feb 2011
Posted in Sew journal
Mr Tiggy decided it was high time he penned his own blog post and tried to mucscle in on the keyboard as you can see.
Unfortunately his spelling left a lot to be desired and so he was banished pretty swiftly. In the meantime his outdoor “brother” Mr Roscoe was pretending to be a sleeping tiger blending into the soft bed of Mondo Grass in the dappled sunlight streaming through the leaves of the Crab Apple tree. What a life!
Block Swap Fabric arrives…
24 Thursday Feb 2011
Posted in Sew journal
The other day I received this pack of fabrics to make a wonky star block for Jessica. Such interesting fabrics. I’m having a hard time deciding how to use them. This will be the first time I’ve made a wonky star block I’d better go and look out my Gwen Marston Liberated Quiltmaking II book and get cracking!
A must see video for all women – a tool that finds 3x more breast tumours, and why it’s not available to you
23 Wednesday Feb 2011
Posted in Sew journal
I usually try to keep to quilting and handwork related subjects on my blog but I think the importance of this video cannot be understated. If you live in Australia I would urge you to write to the Minister for Health, The Honourable Nicola Roxon MP at nicola@nicolaroxonmp.com and ask her to ask her department to investigate bringing this technology to Australia.
The video is only 22 minutes long but really well worth watching. I’m sure you’ll learn something – I know I did.
Ships that pass in the night
22 Tuesday Feb 2011
Posted in Sew journal
Tags
photos, quilting blog, sewing, sewing blog, sewjournal blog, Sun Princess in Sydney, Sydney Harbour
It’s been a bit like that with my husband and me at the moment. He’s been working most weekends and late nights to help process all of the thousands of claims for assistance from the Queensland and Victoria flood, Queen;and and Northern Territory cyclone and Western Australian bushfire victims. So Sunday was a rare day we had together.
We headed into the city with a bit of a picnic and went to the the Botanical Gardens on Syndey Harbour. It was hard to find a quiet spot with Tropfest and the Open Air Cinema going on but we managed. Driving in the Botanical Gardens is lovely with all the old fig trees leaning over the road.
And then we saw a real ship passing by. This is the Sun Princess making her way out from Darling Harbour and into the open sea. 
Then we picked a bench in a nice shady spot for our picnic and enjoyed the views.
We even got to see the Rose Bay Sea plane taking off.All in all it was a really lovely Sunday afternoon.
How to make klosjes
21 Monday Feb 2011
Posted in Sew journal
I’ve had quite a few enquiries about to make and how to draft a pattern for klosjes. Here goes…
Klosje patterns
For those of you that have Electric Quilt you can search the block library for a block called Spools. This is a klosje block. You can then pick what size you want and print out your template or cutting instructions.
For those of you without EQ there are two ways to make klosjes that I’m aware of. The first uses 13 pieces and is made up of a nine patch where the corner blocks are made from two half square triangles like this.
13 piece klosje
You can draw this up in the finished size you want then cut out a square and triangle as templates and add 1/4″ for seam allowance when you draw round them on your fabric.
The second way, and the way I actually used, is made up of 5 pieces as shown below. Cut out the centre square and one of the other four pieces to use as templates and add 1/4″ seam allowance when you draw on your fabric.
5 piece klosje
How to sew the 13 piece klosje
To sew the 13 piece klosje first sew the half square triangles together so that you have four square blocks. Then sew the nine patch together by sewing in rows and then sewing the rows together.
How to sew the 5 piece klosje
To sew the 5 piece klosje first sew piece No:1 to the centre piece No:3. Then sew piece No:2 to the opposite side of the centre piece No:3. Then sew pieces 4 and 5 using Y seams at the junctions. I hope this helps you all. If you have any questions please leave them in the comments below and I’ll try to answer them on this post.
My Spiral Scarf is Finished!
20 Sunday Feb 2011
Posted in Sew journal
Yesterday I finished my spiral scarf and I’m very happy with it. I used two balls of the Noro Silk Garden Lite (125m on each) and I think that it’s a great length.
Spiral Scarf Knitting & Crochet Patterns
19 Saturday Feb 2011
Posted in Sew journal
Tags
crochet, knitting, knitting patterns, quilting blog, sewing, sewing blog, sewjournal blog, Spiral scarf
I’ve had quite a few comments and emails asking about patterns for the Spiral Scarf. I’ve knitted this scarf before and I’m using a generic pattern where you work out for yourself how many stitches you want and then calculate the rest from there. However, for those of you who would like a pattern here are some links. The first ones are commercial patterns for sale – albeit only $4.65 and the others are freebies. The list contains both knitted and crocheted scarf patterns.
Spiral Scarf Patterns for sale:
Free Spiral Scarf Patterns
The Bebop Party Corkscrew Pattern
Hannah’s Crocheted Cotton Chenille Spring Ruffle Scarf
The Crocheted Flirty Corkscrew Scarf
Washington Post Spiral Scarf Pattern
Interestingly some patterns have a few stitches and knit lots and lots of rows and some patterns have lots of stitches and knit just a few rows. I can’t speak crochet so I don’t get how those pattern work, sorry.
Anyway have fun with these.
