Shibori Dyeing Class

Friday was so much fun.  Bre works 4 day weeks so she was off and she had rescheduled the shibori class we were meant to take in May.  We were both pretty stoked about it.   Driving to the shop we went across the longest bridge in Melbourne.  It was really beautiful.

We were a little early so we had some amazing pastry at a local shop.  I'm telling you, there are these little places every other block and they all have wonderful food.  This place is definitely a foodies paradise.  I had an apple croissant and Bre had a chocolate coffee cake kind of thingy.  Both were delicious.

We walked a couple blocks back to the Handmaker's Factory where we met Nichola, the instructor.  She is a cute, perky woman who has this amazing studio to teach different crafts. 

She had been very gracious about rescheduling our class while I was here.  We waited a few minutes for the third lady, Masha, to join us as she had the wrong time for the class start.  Nichola is a great teacher and very organized.  She had two big pots of the indigo dye cooking when we arrived and had set up all the towels and blankets.  She had a printout of all the instructions so we didn't have to worry about taking notes and could focus on the experience.

She demonstrated 3 different techniques before we got started and then it was off to the races with us starting out trying all three techniques on fat quarter size light cotton.  They all turned out so pretty.  Then we got a scarf size piece that we could try anything on.  I used all three techniques on mine.  Awesome.  It was great she had all the right equipment for all of us to do what we wanted at the same time.

We broke for lunch and Bre and I walked a couple doors down for Japanese food.

I had this great Udon noodle dish.  Yum.   There was a gentleman sitting outside the restaurant with the cutest little Yorkie.  Bre had to stop for a cuddle.

In the afternoon, we were free to dye whatever we brought so I did a light weight hoodie I ordered before I left.   I was pretty pleased with the results.  Bre dyed some t-towels the she had ordered from the U.S. they turned out amazing.  She really had a great knack with the plastic discs.

It was a lovely day, learning new things, meeting new people, and sharing a great experience.

On the way home, we stopped at a quilt shop that Nichola recommended, Amitie Textiles.  This is a very cute little shop with a lot of beautiful fabric.  There were some really cute patterns and a whole wall of notions.  I picked up a set of hexie templates.  Almost every store I've been in so far has had a plethora of English Paper Piecing notions.  Love it.  I've worked a little on the ones I've brought with me and it is very relaxing.  There were three ladies in the shop and they were all very helpful.  They had some fabric that wasn't exactly quilter's cotton and wasn't linen either so I asked about it and found out it was double gauze.  Not something I've seen much of in the U.S.   So a bought half a meter of the cutest French Bulldog with glasses fabric.   Such fun.

It was a really nice day with Bre.  Love spending time with her and learning stuff too.  Life is good.

Not Quite As Planned

I spent some time in the morning on Wednesday planning the day.  Checking out where the quilt shops were and adding in the Phryne Fisher house as well as Sun Bookshop where I think they carry the Phryne Fisher coloring book.  I do have my priorities!!!!!

So I mapped out the route, for a pretty good day with 5 stops.  I even went on to Google maps and found the most efficient sequence of stops.  So proud of myself.  Then I got to the first quilt shop and son of a gun, it was out of business.  Poop.   I called the second shop to make sure they were still open.  I can be taught.  They were, and I programmed their address into the GPS.  I found it easily but parking was a major issue.  Cutting Cloth is across the street from a train station so finding a parking place meant I had to park about 8 blocks away.  Good thing I only brought comfortable shoes to Australia.  (Like I own any other kind of shoe.)

Cutting Cloth is an awesome quilt shop.  It is beautifully decorated and has some really really gorgeous samples hanging all around the shop.  The fabrics were right up my alley and there were a lot of notions scattered through out the shop.  I could have spent a fortune in this shop.  I especially loved the patterns which seemed to me to all be from Australian designers.  Things I'd never seen before, each pattern being cooler than the next.

The store isn't huge but it is packed with tons of lovely stuff which I ogled for about 25 minutes before I asked the owner if I could take some pictures.  She very nicely agreed so I was disappointed when I found out that I'd left the SD card for my camera back at Bre's.  I shot pictures with the old iphone I'm using here which my daughter has graciously provided for me.  But the pictures aren't quite up to what I'd hoped for.  I ended up purchasing patterns for a sewing box and this robot quilt.  How cute is that!!!!

The shop owner was very informative and helpful.  She sold me the pre-cut cardboard for the sewing box and talked to me about the tape I would need.  She totally understood why I'd pass on the $18 double sided tape that was made in Illinois.  She also gave me the name of the designer who is coming to her store to teach this quilt.

Cutting Cloth didn't have any of the patterns for this quilt by Lorena Uriarte so I've contacted her to see if I can purchase one.  Keeping my fingers crossed.  The owner also gave me the name of another shop I should visit, which I thought was very sweet of her as well as directing me to a great place for lunch.

OMG, this vegetable tart was delicious.  I almost licked the plate.  By the way, did you know lemonade in Australia is fizzy?  I didn't.

Since my good camera was out of commission and I had to drive very close to the central business district to get to my next stop, I decided to head back to Bre's and do the remainder of that trip another day.  I want a good picture of that house and I want a picture of me in front of it.  Hopefully Saturday.

I picked up Bre from work and we ate at a vegetarian place near her office, Vegilicious. So good!!!!!!  I had something called Sexy Oven Baked Field Mushrooms.  Swoon.

Today, Thursday, I let Bre have the car and I just took a walk down to the Prahram Market where fresh produce and meats were in every direction.  It was a couple kilometer walk but the brisk air was pleasant.  Now I'm chlling and napping until Bre comes home.  I'm loving this trip.

Lovely Melbourne

On Tuesday the weather was bright and sunny in Melbourne so I told Bre to take the car and I would ride the tram downtown to take the free circle tour tram to get a feel for the city.  I went out for a marvelous breakfast of avocado toast.  The bread was to die for with all kinds of interesting seeds.

Afterward, I opened the public transportation app to figure out how to get downtown.  Easy schmeasy, according to the app one tram no changes and I'd be there in about 25 or 30 minutes.  Well I walked 20 blocks in the wrong direction before I figured out what was happening.  Now it was two trams.  Missed the second one by one stoplight.  But I was headed in the right direction, or so I thought.  When I arrived at the destination I'd programmed into the phone I was still a few miles from where I needed to be.  So another 15 block walk and I caught a train to downtown where I was finally able to hop on the City Circle tram.  I'm sure I did some serious damage to Bre's myki card.

The City Circle tram uses an 75 year old tram car and is free to ride.  Basically aimed at the tourist trade but many locals ride it as well.  There is an audio recording that informs you of the tourist attractions in the area.  I figured out a couple of things I would like to go see because of that ride. 

There were many Public Transportation people around to help me find the correct tram back to Bre's which only took one tram this time.   I can be taught.   At my stop was a Woolworth's, which is a grocery store here, so I picked up a sandwich for lunch as well as the ingredients we needed to make the Mexican Quinoa casserole we were having for dinner.  I got some major walking in and I enjoyed the day. 

Having fun with Bre

I am so enjoying my time with my daughter.  We are so lucky to get to spend this time together.  One of the perks of being retired.  Quality time, gotta love it.

We've eaten some great meals.  I mean great meals.  You all know I love hanging with my mom but between her picky eating and me being vegetarian, there are about 5 places we can eat together.   So adding some variety to the mix is a welcome change.  The food here is so fresh and pretty.  I may have to take out a bank loan to pay for all of it but is will be worth it.

On Monday I put on my big girl panties and drove.  Have to say, the adrenaline was rushing as I got into the driver's seat on the right side of the vehicle.   To make the experience of driving on the opposite side of the road even more fun, it was raining and the brakes on the rental were extremely touchy.  I got Bre to work, nearly putting us through the windshield a few times, but we both survived and once the vehicle was parked, she walked me to the breakfast place close to her office so I could compose myself before trying it on my own.

Fortified with a Chia Latte and a chocolate chip muffin, I headed off to my first quilt shop visit.  I made my way to Patchwork on Central which is a pretty little shop in a very quaint shopping area.  It was very small but had a wonderful selection of shot cotton (weft one color, weave another color) and some other tantalizing fabric but I really wasn't much tempted as their fabric prices in Australia are very high.  Most were between $22 and $29 per meter which is more than I care to pay and much of it is available in America for much less.  I am only going to buy Australian fabric that I can't get in the US.  (I'm writing this statement, so hopefully it will actually happen.)

Back in the car, I headed to Bre's apartment to hang out until it was time to leave to see Tula Pink.  That drive was interesting.  I did okay on the roads but had a fight with the GPS as it took me to two wrong locations before I got to the right place.  I'm sure it had nothing to do with operator error.  Bad GPS!!!!!!  It is one thing to go out of your way when you are driving where you know what your doing.  It is another thing all together when you are driving on the opposite side of the road.  I wanted to throw the thing out the window but then I wouldn't have been able to find my way back to Bre's.  Oh the pain!!!!!!

Luckily I had left in plenty of time to see Tula Pink at GJ's Discount Fabric in Fairfield.  I was even early enough to be about 5th in line.  I did a bit of shopping before getting in line and bought some English Paper Piecing 2" hexies and a template as that was very reasonably priced.

I just want to say Tula Pink was a blast.  Very sweet, entertaining, funny and talented woman that she is, her two hour talk flew by.  She talked about getting her start in fabric design.  Loved that her job as artistic director at record companies necessitated her hiding her quilting addiction.  She felt Snoop Dog would no longer want her working on his stuff if she showed him her quilts.  Probably a good call.  She walked us through how she came up with her Elizabeth line, the inspiration and thought processes involved.  The quilts were lovely.  I especially loved when she told about selling some of her quilts to help raise the down payment on her house (or studio can't remember which) and within a month or so she had remade each and every one she sold because she missed them so much.  Love that.  I'm so glad my trip from Missouri to Australia coordinated with her trip from Missouri to Australia.

Australia - I Finally Made It

My trip to Australia from Springfield MO was very eventful.  I left on Tuesday June 14 scheduled to  arrive in Melbourne on Thursday June 16.  Things did not go as planned.  The first leg of the journey from Springfield to Chicago was plagued by bad storms which meant too long of a wait to land at O'Hare so we had to go refuel in Indianapolis.  That meant I missed my flight to LA and the connecting flight to Melbourne. 

I barely made the last flight out of Chicago to LAX and had problems getting a flight the next day to Melbourne.  United's flight was full so after some persuading they booked me on the Quantas flight the next day and got me a hotel room with some meal vouchers thrown in.  I was impressed with the customer service. 

I decided to chillax at the hotel and headed over to the airport about 6:30 p.m. 3.5 hours early for my flight since I'd heard that security had really long lines.  Good thing I did since United had booked me on a flight out the next day.  I had to walk 6 terminals around LAX to get to United Customer Service and thanks to the wonderful lady working the makeshift booth there I was able to get on the United flight that night with an aisle seat in economy premium.   YEEE HAAAW.  Have to say I was much calmer than I would have been before I retired.  Chill, chill, chill.

Finally arrived in Melbourne on Friday morning after more than 15 hours in the air, and got the biggest hug from my beautiful daughter.    Oh that was worth the entire flight and all the problems.

We came back to Bre's apartment which is very nice but up three flights of stairs.  I'm going to be in better shape when I get back.  After showering off the flight, we walked to a quaint little coffee shop and I had a wonderful french omelette with potatoes in the middle.  Heaven!!!  Have to say I've eaten 4 meals here so far and the food here is marvelous.  They seem to use the freshest ingredients and presentation is beautiful.  However, when I saw the prices I was floored.  $45 for a breakfast for two!!!!!!!!  Have to keep in mind that these are Australian $$$ and I'm on vacation. 

Bre and I have walked through several cool and fun shopping areas and had dinner with one of her friends last night.  I spent the first night at Sarah's house since Bre is dog sitting her huge 120 lb. dog, Flex.  Sarah is riding her bike in the Trans America Bike Race so Bre is helping her out and watching Flex.  The dog is so nice but huge.

As I was leaving the U.S.A., I found out that Tula Pink is doing an Australian tour and she is in Melbourne today not too far from where Bre lives so I'm headed over to see her later this afternoon.  How odd is it that I have to travel halfway around the world to see a woman who lives about 250 miles from me.  So excited.

I drove for the first time today to take Bre to work.  Not pretty but I didn't hit anything.  Keep you fingers crossed I get better at this.

More to come soon.

Project Bag Tutorial

Last year on the bus trip my mom and I ran, we made project bags for everyone as their gift.  I had a bunch of help making the 40 bags we needed, my mom, Roberta, Kathy, and Twyla who put on all the binding.  They took a big chunk of my sewing time last summer but I've gotten a lot of compliments on the bags and I've seen a number of people using them so it was worth the effort.  Several people have asked how to make them so I decided to write this tutorial.  

I bought a pattern but it wasn't written well and I didn't like the way it was assembled so I decided to make up my own pattern.   This isn't my typical response to a bad pattern but what the heck, it is basically just a square.

Materials list

2 Fat Quarters
18" X 22" of batting
15" or longer zipper
5" width of fabric for binding
13" X 14.5" vinyl

Walking foot or zipper foot (optional)
teflon foot (optional but very helpful)
Wonder Clips

Instructions
1. You need to quilt the fat quarter, all of it.

2. Cut a 14.5" square from the quilted fat quarter as well as 2  1.5" X 14.5" strips.

3.  Sew the zipper to one of the quilted strips, right sides together using a 1/4" seam.

Turn the strip right side out and top stitch.  I used my walking foot with the 1/4" inch guide to install the zipper and then run the guide right next to the teeth to do the top stitching. I seem to have more control this way but I'm sure a zipper foot would work as well.  I like to use a 16" or longer zipper so I can sew the zipper on without the pull getting in the way.

4. Repeat for the other strip.

5. Sew the vinyl to the zipper strip matching the 14.5" sides using a 1/4" seam.  The vinyl should be on the right side of the zipper strip using a teflon foot.  If you don't have a teflon foot I've read that you can put Scotch Brand Magic Tape on the under side of your of your metal foot.  Don't use pins to hold the vinyl in place.  The holes won't go away.  I used Wonder clips.

6. Turn the vinyl under and top stitch in place.

7.  Line up the top of the zipper unit with the fabric  to the top of the quilted fabric square. Keep them lined up with Wonder Clips.  The vinyl will be hanging over the edge of the quilted fabric square.   You can trim it off now.  Before you start sewing, make sure the zipper pull is inside the square.  Take it from experience  the bag will be useless unless the zipper pull is inside the square.

8. Sew 1/4" around all 4 sides.  (Is the zipper pull between the two lines).  You need to make sure you use the teflon foot on this or the vinyl will be distorted and crooked.  Trim the zipper.

9.  I used a 2.25" strip for the binding.  You'll need 2 width of fabric strips.  Sew the binding on as you normally would.   I used the short version of the binding tool.  I use the longer one all the time and the only difference is the short one is a bit more fiddely.

Kelly's Doctor Who Quilt

My friend Kelly, who I met through our mutual love of Star Trek Next Generation, is going through a tough time in her life.  She is the main caregiver of her father who has Alzheimer's,  So I thought I would try to put a smile on her face and make her a Doctor Who quilt.  Kelly and I share a slight obsession about Xena, Star Trek Next Generation, and Doctor Who.  It is my opinion that Kelly is a little more obsessive about her TV watching than I am because she built a website about Xena and she even writes a blog on her TV obsessions called "Thoughts from a TV Geek".  I'm not going to mention I may have been the bigger STNG nerd since I did write a few fan fiction stories.

Wait I got a little off track, back to the Doctor Who quilt.  My friend Mary made a Doctor Who quilt for her grandson who's probably about 10 or 12.  My daughter does accuse me of having the TV IQ of a middle schooler.  Anyway, Mary had some leftover fabric and gave it to me.  Score.!!!! Turns out the fabric she gave me was 5.5" width of fabric strips so they were easy to cut up in to approximately charm pack size.  I was on the hunt for a cool charm pack quilt and found this one from Leisure Arts.  I decided it was simple enough I could figure out how to make it without a pattern.

I used EQ7 to draw it out and figure out the yardage I would need for the background material.  Such a wonderful tool.

The design I put together needed some dark background fabric which I found at Joann's and I was off to the races.  I cut the 5.5" squares from the Doctor Who fabric using my handy dandy 5.5" fussy cut square from Fons and Porter.  I ended up with 64 squares which was perfect for my design.

Then I cut the black background and white stripe cutting them to the appropriate lengths.  However, I should have just strip pieced 1 white and two blacks together then cut them in the appropriate lengths.  Even without the strip piecing putting the quilt together was pretty easy.

Once the top was assembled I wanted to design a really cool quilt motif in 5D Quilt Design Creator.  This is the software I use with my Viking Platinum 3000 and the Quilt Sew Clever robot.  I love the robot because it allows me to do designs I would never be able to do freehand.  I thought it would be fun to have the names of all the companions since the reboot in 2005 and a few T.A.R.D.I.S in the panograph I designed.  It took me 2 or 3 hours to get that done but it was pretty fun.

I grabbed some of my gray backing fabric and warm and natural batting and threw them on long arm machine.  After my problem with the robot on my last quilt, I was a little apprehensive about this pattern running correctly, but it ran flawlessly.  Yeehaw!!!!!!!!

It quilted up quickly and I giggled each time I saw the T.A,R,D.I.S. stitch out.


 I was pretty happy with the end result

Fun, fun, fun.  I hope Kelly likes it and gets a ton of use out of it but regardless, I had fun putting it together.