This week, I have been assembling a gift.
It’s to be handed over on Monday 29 February, so I can’t show the whole thing till then, but here are snippets to give you some idea.
After our big trip south, it has been surprisingly hard to get back into my ‘sewzone’; many distractions, a lot of dirty, dusty house to clean, but finally I’m making some progress. The patio paving has sprouted a thicket of weeds, the vegie beds have disappeared under a thatch of nutgrass, the lawns are mid-calf length, thanks to all the lavish rain that appeared just as we went away. I look at all of it, and resolutely turn my back and sew, before I realise that it’s time to make lunch, or supper, or bring in laundry, or make a cake because the Dowager is coming round for coffee.
Once we’re into March, and my next short trip to Melbourne at the end of this month is over, normal service will resume. I think… I hope… I have F2F blocks to make, some Selfish Sewing and a couple of items of clothing to finish.
Speaking of F²F; the first year is coming to an end in May. For the 2016/17 session, the participant list will be finalised in April and the next round will start in June this year, so if you would like to join in, let me have your name, blog/email address and contact details and I’ll add you to the list and send you some information. We can easily do it with more participants, but any less and either everyone has to make more than three blocks 😦 or there will not be enough blocks at the end to make a good sized quilt 😦
Finally, I just wanted to share a lovely piece of non-fabric loot. I have widespread arthritis, especially bad in my left hip (replacement one of these years, I hope) and my hands. On bad days, I lurch along with a cane to take some pressure off it. Up to now I’ve used one of those collapsible telescopic canes that you can fold up and put in your bag. Trouble is, they’re not very rigid, a big defect when you’re putting most of your weight through it. My lovely BIL down in New South Wales, a talented cabinetmaker, has tailor-made me my own cane. The shaft is American oak, there is a small collar of Australian oak at the top, and then a hand carved rosewood handle. How lovely is this? Solid as a rock, elegant, and made to fit. He’s planning to make more to show and sell in the local Easter Art & Craft show. I reckon he’s onto a winner. And he takes commissions…
Right, back to the chores.
I confess, I was a bit nervous about this one. I wasn’t sure how the Aida fabric would quilt up, compared with the softer quilting cotton fabrics. I was terrified of mucking it up, so I made a sample using the same fabric and quilted that. It seemed to be OK. There were a few small tracking marks where the new walking foot’s feed dogs had gripped onto the surface, but I though the result was pretty good. So I took a deep breath and got going.
It’s lovely. The firmer fabric hasn’t stopped the texture forming, and there’s a gorgeous soft ripple which catches the light beautifully. It’s a really nice contrast with the slightly nubbly texture of the background and stitching. I’m so pleased with it!
