Goodbye... my sweet friend....

*sigh*.....

don't you just hate saying goodbye to your favourite fabric???? *sniff* *sob*..


I have just a 6" square of this fabric left. I bought um, maybe 5 years ago? maybe longer?? I have searched a few places online to see if I can buy more (I have the other colourway but I want the blue one) Its a Judie Rothermel for Marcus Brothers Textile and has nothing noted on the selvedge which range it is from (there is a similar one in the Civil War tribute range but alas its another colourway)... Do you have any lurking in your stash ? I'd be happy to swap for fabric, currency, firstborn child???

its been in a lot of my quilts and gifts and today, I decided to cut all my scraps (CW ones) into strips to start a new leader /ender project.. not sure which leader / ender project I want to do (I am over 4 patch blocks at the moment but they are so quick to make) maybe a courthouse steps??

I have also decided today to kill my kids.. I am home sick from work... I have a cough that sounds like a seal, and as I basically work in a call centre, thought I'd better keep my germs at home! So why throttle the kids?? they have used all the bloody internet..... AGAIN!!!!!! ARGH!!!!

Nothing much quilty happening here at the moment.. trying to sort out the house for christmas.. The house looks like a warzone at the moment, and being sick will put a dent in my 'spring cleaning time'... I have a bazillion sequins to sew on too.. I am getting to the point where I'd pay someone to sew on sequins.. a few mums from another dance school get stuff sequinned overseas.. I am thinking I might have to look into that one!

I have been buying fabric (again) I love the Black Friday sales in the US! 30-35-40% off vouchers have been landing in my inbox... I got some CW's for $3.75 a YARD that's bloody crazy! here?? CW repros are $22.00 a metre (we have parity with the US $$$ at the moment) so basically 1/6th of the price! No pics yet, but will share when the fabric arrives!



Thought I'd leave you with a pic of 'el diablo' or Cosmopolitan Bernard the Cat of Questionable Parentage (aka the Bastard cat)... This is where he sits of a morning when I leave for work.. I dont think its cause he is going to miss me, I think its more of 'drats I was too slow to sneak out of the house' pose..


This is a pic of Miss Bailey the Wonderdoggie... she isn't well at the moment and a trip to the vet yesterday, well lets just say she'd better get better! She has PLANTAR WARTS.. Whose doggie gets PLANTAR warts??? she has had one off already (thanks for Coming that'll be $498.00 for one foot).. she has them on her front two paws so if the drugs dont ease the pain / itchiness she has to have them off.. she is 9 years old, with a heart condition, so any operation we have to consider seriously... Pets! argh! We do have pet insurance which is fortunate!!

well that's enough from me..

Lissa

Pussycat Pussycat where have you been?

Not sure where the pussycats been.....

but I've been to Bathurst! Last weekend I headed off to the Bathurst Bun Fight, a lunch for quilters in the area..

Of course on the way to Bathurst there are quite a few Quilt Shops (its a four hour drive from my home)...

I stopped off at one Quilt shop and asked if I could use the bathroom.. Now I have been to this quilt shop, its a very LARGE one in Sydney which I wont name, but the cashier said no they didn't have a loo (LIAR I have used it before) but I could use the one across the carpark at the PUB.. now I am sure the PUB really would get pi$$ed off with peeps using their facilities but not spending $'s there.. But after a 2hr drive that should have taken 1hr, I had no choice!

So what did I do? I used the loo, then got in my car and continued... I wont say never ever again, but I wont be visiting that store anytime soon. This is the same store I visited last year to buy a machine and no one could help or serve me so I bought my machine back in Newcastle... I was cashed up last Friday (got my tax refund last week) and would have spent a lot there.. People get annoyed with me when I tell them I shop a LOT overseas, but I think a store of this size that has regular classes and a LOT of custom should allow their customers to use a toilet.. its not a big ask is it??

Anyhoo, I travelled another hour and visited Post Office Patchwork at Glenbrook.. They had a class happening at the time, but couldn't have been more helpful. I bought a few CW repros.. can't have too many of those!

Next stop was about an hour away, (darn roadworks) at The Stitching post Katoomba. I did manage to find some more fabric, fancy that, and a cute button.

Ok by this time it was well after 1pm, and I thought at this rate, I'll be broke so I drove onto Bathurst.. But before I could go and see my friend I had to (yeppers HAD to) visit Hatched & Patched at Bathurst. Now I did resist fabric (not much in the way of CW repros) but I did find some much wanted Felted Wool, a book and a pattern or two..

I stayed with my friend Christine, who has the cutest house, quilts everywhere and things to look at (had to try not to touch everything, was like a kid in a lollyshop)... Headed off on Saturday for a Crepe lunch with some other quilters in the area.. Now I have to tell you about the Crepe I had for dessert.. it was SOOOO sickly but yummy... Mars Bar & Marshmallow Crepe.. that says it all I think...

Now I have to tell you, I was SUFFERING BIG TIME on my trip last weekend.. I had a very bad fall on the Wednesday.. I fell down stairs, not sure what happened one minute I was at the top the next half way down.. I fell down 7 stairs.. they were aggregate concrete ones.. I had a scratch from my ankle on one leg all the way to my 'askyamother' on the other, and a bruise that cannot be described.. it only hurt when I sat, walked, laid down or breathed... not much really at all! have two haematoma's on my thigh and ten days later still very much bruised and sore!

Now it wouldn't be a Fabricologist anonymous blog without some pics of my latest 'spoils'


I bought Annie's new book, its so lovely I might even make something out of it! LOL a Lynette Anderson Pattern (for a needle book cant have too many of those), some cute salthouse buttons, one was VERY eccy for a button (can't beleive I paid what I did for a button) but I got a similar one for a third of the price and its nearly as cute.. of course you can see I got some FABRIC repro's of course.. I had told myself, only cheddar and purple cause I dont have a great deal of either in my stash.. alas, couldn't find too many more and had to come home with some fab!

This pic the hexagons is a pattern / kit I bought at Hatched & Patched, its for a pincushion, you can't have too many of those either.. its quite large and have finished the top part even quilted it, so now just have to put the sucker together, its about 6" round and about 4" high when done... the blocks are 3 more for my Farmers Wife Sampler, 20 down only 91 to go! LOL


OK petals, thats it from me, off to make a Lasagne for dinner and hope Cosmo the devil cat isn't like Garfield wanting Lasagne!



Lissa

Lesson for Lissa!

Hello possums...


a Lesson I have learned...

When Bailey the Wonderdoggie does her 'I've-caught-something-and-I-am-playing-with-it-to-the-death' bark DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES CALL HER!!!!


why you ask dear reader??

Um she could have a SNAKE... yes, a #_)($*#)(#&%# snake!!! OK, it was only a Red Belly Black Snake, poisonous, yes... deadly, well not so much to humans but fatal to puppy dogs and devil cats...

Cosmo (devil cat) had to have a squiz, he come charging back to the house... Bailey the wonderdoggie, I called her and she trotted around from the back of the shed with it still alive (in the death throes) in her mouth!!! She is so darn lucky it didn't bite her, the anti-venom is VERY expensive... Dags (aka the Super DH) was at work and the first question he asked me was 'how big?' I said 'I dont )_(#*)(*&&^% care how big, if it is bigger than a worm and its hisses, its a _)(*#&$#)@*(& snake!' I was hanging washing on the line at the time with no SHOES on...


that dear reader, is the peril of living in Australia, most of the worlds most poisonous snakes live here, and I am darn lucky it was only a redbelly black snake and not the BROWN snake (second most venomous in the world) that was Road pizza out the front of our HOUSE... last weekend..

In Australia, we have VERY imaginative names for our snakes, black snakes- they are black, brown snakes - um they are brown, red belly black snakes - you guessed it, red bellies on a black snake.... SUCH imagination!

Its spring in Australia and this means the snakes are waking up..

Anyhoo, enough about snakes..

Where have I been? well I haven't been a complete slacker.. I've been busy... busy working, reading, studying, and I have managed to fit in some sewing... The darlings have killed their computer so they are hogging mine, actually I've lost mine to the boogers, so I have to find me a new laptop... My laptop I have now isn't compatible with my printer so I dont have a printer either, something about Windows 7 and no bloomin' patch (grrrrr) keep getting errors, talk about frustrating!!!!


I am off to retreat next year and we are going to Kiama, its about 4-5 hrs south from here

So what have I finished... well I've finished a dance costume (yeah one down two to go), and whacked the binding on not one, or two but FIVE quilts since May...


OK apologies as well I am the worlds worst photographer... I took these early this morning out the back on the clothesline, i was fighting the wind and the devil cat (I think he may have snuck into a pic)

First up... This is the Perth 2008 Signature Quilt.. the theme was ' Batik'.. I tried to put the oranges in the middle and radiating like a sun.. going to green for the bottom and blue/purples for the top.. I love the border fabric took, its a purple/blue pink colour.. of course I didn't have enough, so its heavily pieced and I had to put something in the corner, but it is OK..

Second up...

Adelaide 2009 Signature Quilt.. the Theme was 'Wine and Roses'.. we could use any fabric as long as it was 'wine' coloured or Rose coloured.. I did this pattern like a spinning pinwheel, the centre is the four of us that shared a room.. I really LOVE this border fabric, when I bought it it was on sale.. and I thought it would be fine for a backing, but it seems to work really well with the fabrics of the quilt... I got the binding on these two quilts over the weekend.. put a the back of the needle through the tips of two fingers.. painful, but glad to have these suckers done!

Third quilt...


This year our Quilting Retreat was in Bathurst... The Theme was 'Recycled Flannelette shirts' (Flannelette - flannel for NON aussies)... it had to be a certain size or bigger, I went bigger of course.. Did I enjoy making this quilt? um no, I have learnt that Flannelette MOVES a LOT.. I ended up having to put interfacing on the back of the fabric to stabilise it, it moves a LOT.. and of course I left it to the last minute and the local longarmer would NOT quilt it even after I had booked it in, and told them what I was doing.. I left pockets on and stitched them down by hand (tacking).. I found a lady at the last minute and she did it for me THAT DAY.. and had no problems at all.. I restitched buttons on and I think its great!.. the kids / cat loves this quilt as it is so snuggly warm! I just wish I had more variety of colours.. I bought the shirts at opshops and only wanted cotton so I was very limited by what I could find and the opshops wanted $7-8 for each shirt.. I think I used about 10 shirts plus one for the float border..

Fourth quilt This quilt was supposed to have a pie border.. I bought the 'pies' to do it, but man they were fiddly! So I just made it a bit bigger.. ok, a LOT bigger.. I might learn how to make small quilts one day.. This quilt started as a 'leader / ender' project, I mean you can't waste thread now can you when you are finished sewing a block.. Doesn't matter that I have a 'SABLE' (Stash Above Beyond Life Expectancy), but cannot waste 10cm of thread! this is living on our lounge at the moment to keep the cat fur off it! (The shed on the left of the pic is Baileys Kennel - soon to be relocated refurbished for my quilt room - we wont talk about that though its a VERY sore point)

Quilt Number Five!!

This is a nine patch quilt.. it was from a swap organised through a blog last year.. I love it, its CW repro's.. the only thing I would change is to dye all the shirtings, they just look too white in this pic, I am not brave enough to over dye it.. yep, a cat in a pic.. his fur looks a tad funny at the moment he doesn't have spots but is losing his winter coat and getting his summer coat, which makes the house look like it has a layer of mohair! grr@ hairy Cats!

Lastly.. I thought I'd better drag out the Farmers Wife Sampler Quilt.. I am doing it as a BOM from Homestead Hearth in the US.. I had only done 7 blocks, and got bored / annoyed with it.. I printed off the templates, and my darn printer had 'scaled' them so the first few I made were too small, so I remade them.. there were over 100 pages of templates, with one template per page... ARRRGHHH!.. the book had no measurements in it just a reference to the template.. the pic aren't to size, so you have to draft some.. but lucky some wonderful person has got Paper Piecing Templates for each block and one page per block, still 111 pages, but all the templates for each block there and I have not done any PP'ing before and it certain makes it a tad easier when some of the pieces are 1 15/16" measurements.. so the total is now 18 (one is missing from this pic, I think the cat stole it)... I am not 100% happy with my blocks, some of the fabrics need a little more contrast but I'll keep going and may redo some when I am done, I'll wait and see how it looks first..

Well thats enough from me, I am sure if you have got this far you are bored poopless!

'til next time petals!

Lissa

Remember Mois???

Hello possums...

Yes I am still alive and kicking... what has the ol' Lissa been up to since April???

Um well, May seen me visit a retreat! It was Mothers day weekend... and a whole lotta fun.. I drove and picked up a few peeps along the way.. Bathurst is 4.5hrs from here, but it took us 10.. there were a couple of quilt shops along the way that we just had to visit!

Then the 17.05 I had a birthday, well I dont remember my FORTIETH.. so it doesn't count does it???? I was soo darn sick, I would of gladly curled up and died that week, I had a monster of a flu.. hung on for 4 _)(#_)(#*$@# weeks..

June come along.. yep I was still sick, but I did manage to finish two quilts in May, so I did have something to snuggle under.. not much happened in June...

July pooped its head and I have had FOUR yes FOUR root canal treatments, so far this tooth has cost nearly $2000... so guess where all my $'s have gone??? thank god for health insurance, but I am still out of pocket a LOT...
Oh speaking of pooped.. we all had Gastro.. the week the kids went back to school, of course kids can't get sick in the school hol's now can they??? so we had the 'out of body experience' (was a chucky gastro btw) for a bloody week.. LOVELY..


august is here, and I thought I'd better do a quick post to let peeps know I am still in the land of the living, nothing really to show of what I've been up to, cause I haven't been up to much to be honest!

No pics to share, I can't remember where I put my camera.. silly Lissa.. I could use my iPhone but I'd have to dig out the instructions (I think I put them with my camera, both have been MIA for about the same time)

BUT I have been laughing myself silly at this site..


People of Walmart! I swear I have never laughed so much ... do people not own a mirror? and what makes it OK to go shopping in a bikini??? dont understand that one..



anyhoo, next post will have pics...


Lissa
VERY itinerant blogger
sometimes quilter!

Do you EQ???

Did you know there is a New EQ out very soon?? EQ7???

Now I have a hankering to win a copy of this, and you can too!

just go here and you can win one of ten copies and also win a copy to give away on your blog!

How freaking cool is that????

petals, I will give you all an update of whats doing in the "Land of Lissa'' have been crazy busy instead of just plain ol' crazy lately.. EOM sucks, work sucks and I am running away to retreat next week (YEAHHHH)



Lissa
who knows she has not enough warm clothes where the retreat is, might have to drink lots of alcomohol to keep warm!

I'm Not Crazy.... My mother had me tested...

Anyone else out there LOVE the Big Bang Theory??? It's essential viewing in Casa de Lissa...


I just love that show and Sheldon on it, he is too darn funny.. My favourite line he says is "I am not crazy, my mother had me tested!'... and Bazinga! is a word that has entered Casa de Lissa's dictionary! We have bought Seasons 1&2 on DVD and the kids have watched it sooo many times..


Just had to share with you petals I got LOTS of happy mail today...


Happy Mail = SQUISHY MAIL!!!
I got four, yes FOUR parcels....





Two from the US - apple core stamp & Klojses (bad spellink there) and two ink pads.. I am going to hand piece these two quilts and cannot be bothered tracing around templates blah blah blah, too boring and life is too darn short.. so I got the Cindy Blackenberg templates from Pappy's Quilting...

The fabric on the left come from Quilt Fabric Closeouts, I am embaressed to say how much this fabric cost, there is 11 x .5 yards and one yard of another 6.5 yards for under $30 US I beleive (Plus postage very much a bargain for australia)

the stuffs at the front, well let me say.. I am bloomin confused.. I am in a Retreat Angel / Mortal Swap.. the angel sends to the mortal and at retreat all is revealed.. today I got a parcel from Victoria and one from New Zealand.. am I confused? Um yes! first parcel I got come from South Australia! either my angel is a get about or is super sneaky, I am going with super sneaky... I got Breast Cancer Scissors, they are Fiskars which are fantastic scissors.. I got two FQ's of red, I am trying to get reds/pinks for a project and the other parcel I got a 'Muffin' which 40 x charm squares, a fridge magnet and a very cute notepad! Am I spoiled or what??? Of course I deserve to be spoiled...


its four flippin weeks to my birthday, I could just be having a birthday with a ZERO in it... hmmm lets just say its before 5 but after 3...

Knee is sore as all get out, but I am sure I'll survive.. beast of a GP didn't give me a cortisone needle yesterday but some more pain killers! I dislocated my knee again on Saturday, but I am sure I'll survive to whinge another day!

Well now that you possums have got over the shock of me posting twice in the same week, let alone same month/trimester I am going to head off and play with fabric!!!!

Lissa

Friday Night Stitch In - April

Hello possums...

first off, I thought I'd show you all a pic of my baby.. Now like most babies this one is more like a toddler than a baby.. it doesn't behave itself all the time and needs a stern talking too occassionally (although I dont think I ever swore at my 2 yo's) I have had it for yikes, six months now and it cost me a couple of weeks pay.. the automatic scissors are brilliant (when they work and dont unthread the whole $%#*& machine) and the automatic presser foot lowering is lovely (cept when the machine is feeling bullimic) but it SEWS beautifully and behaves itself more than the Janome piece of crap I owned.. that machine wasn't A lemon more like an ORCHARD of them...

OK now to friday night sew in.. I am sorry I can't show you the front this is my retreat challenge quilt and a few of the retreatees visit my blog so I cannot show it, but this is the back! LOL
I had this quilt booked at in a local quilt store months ago, I dropped it in when I said I would and they informed me 'that they couldn't quilt it'.. now was I upset? um you betcha! Because of my knee injury crawling around on the floor is not an option I cannot baste a quilt even if my life depended on it, I just can't do it.. I dont quilt tops very often as I dont have the time or the inclination.. I was very disappointed, and then remembered a lady who gave me a magnet for her quilting business three years before, and even better, it was still stuck on the fridge! Rang her Monday, dropped it in Monday and picked it up Friday.. the ironic thing is, she owns the EXACT machine the shop does and had no problems quilting it... if you are in Newcastle NSW you can go HERE for more information.. If you aren't in Newcastle, she is happy to do mail orders for her quilting service in Australia...

OK onto my next project... my Farmers Wife Sampler Quilt blocks.. I have had a little frustration with these blocks, the first set of templates were printed incorrectly, my printer had scaled them..... so i had to reprint the whole 103 pages again.. frustrating?yes.. I think this problem could be alleviated by having a one inch square on the .pdf page and you could see and measure the first printed one was correct... Pics are a bit dark, cause I take crap pics... LOL

I have a few more cut out ready to go.. My gripe with this quilt is there is no pattern.. not one of the templates has a measurement on it.. very frustrating but I think the frustration is worth it.. I'll put more pics up when I get more done.. I am machine piecing this, and I am becoming an expert at unsewing real fast!

Yesterday I went to see "Wicked" in Sydney, I liked it (can't say I LOVED it but I thought it was good) but Missymoo aged 12 3/4's didnt' like it at all, too much singing apparently.. um I explained it was a musical and thats what happens.. she enjoyed shopping at Paddy's Markets and the factory outlets before hand much more! kids eh???

well thats enough from me, I have probably bored you shiteless if you have got this far!

Lissa

PS that pic of my sewing machine, thats my sewing 'area'.. I dont have a sewing room, my machine sits on top of an old singer treadle.. thats it... one day when one of the kids move out or when Dags (aka super DH) finishes my shed I might get more space than treadle machine top!

Gotta LURVE a Four Day Week End

g'day possums...

we've had a four day weekend this weekend, something about chocolate / easter ??? I LOVE four day weekends!

So what did I do?? I SEWED!!!

What did I do? Um, well I may of worked on this...

The top was finished (apart from borders) wasn't happy with how some of it was laying so did some rapid unsewing and then fixed it (sort of).. I have been auditioning borders for it, I am thinking of going with a chocolate float and perhaps using the background fabric as a solid border but maybe scallop it? I've not done a scalloped border before so I would like to try this! Oh crap, after studying this post, I HAVE SEWN SOME (a lot) in the wrong way.. bugger bugger poop.. looks like I have some un-sewing ahead of me.. oh pooop.. I hate UNSEWING!

what else did I do? well I got busy finishing off

I made four of these bags, I just had to sew arms on, I do have to sew buttons on the arms, but the buttons I have here (only a few 000's of them) none of them looked right so I'll be off to the quilt store sometime this week to find some suitable ones.. These dolls are called "Sewing Sue" its a pattern in the Kindred Spirits "Needleworks" book.. I changed it a little, it had a lot of embroidery on the legs / arms and button hair.. I like red headed dolly's so I gave my dolls red hair and freckles.. I just need to add the buttons and a wee bit of rouge and they are done...

I have also finished off my 'Challenge Quilt" for the quilt retreat next month, I wish I could share a pic but alas is a SECRET challenge.. its off to the quilters this week.. the challenge was 'recycled flannelette shirts' the whole front of the quilt had to be shirts except the binding... to say it was a challenge was an understatement... they stretch and play silly buggers...

I went to lunch in Sydney on Saturday with this mob . I don't get to go as often as I'd like, its a 2-3 hr round trip for me, but I try to go a couple of times a year!

I have been busy working on an old lost project, miniature dresden plates I started these um, a long long time ago.. I used to stitch them whilst waiting for Missymoo at dancing...

Now for a gripe.. today, I wanted to start a BOM that I had bought from the US.. I'll not name it, as I don't want to be SUED BUT.... there is a CD that you can print templates off, there is a site you can go to to print templates off, but no where does it mention what size they should be... grrrrrr... I made one block and it measures 6x6 I thought OK.. but they are supposed to be 6x6 FINISHED not unfinished... talk about frustrating.. the book doesn't mention this either, it just says 6x6 nothing about finished or unfinished...

Now is it just me or am I being unreasonable, that a pattern that has cost me $'s, should have the measurements for at least the squares that are involved in the quilt??? apparently my printer settings are out, so I'll have to wait to get ink / adifferent printer to reprint them, BUT the clincher is, the pages that print off there is nothing to check if your print settings are correct... I have printed patterns off the net before that have a 'test square' on the page so you can check this...
OK, I have vented now, so I am happy! LOL

I am off to start dinner, my dad is coming up for a baked dinner, and of course I get to cook it.. we also ran out of vegies so have sent the dags out to get some more.. I am into "Meatless Month #4".. not sure how long I'll go on, cause I think about meat constantly! LOL not good for a vegetarian I am thinking..

Oh and the MRI.. *sigh* not good news... I am needing an operation, but I have to wait until I get less of me to have it.. I have given myself to September to shift some lard... apparently the problem is if you are a fat blonde tart that you can get stress fractures where they take a 'shingle' of bone from one bone to fix the knee cap.. my knee cap is moving 2-4 cm's... it was happening a few times a day, but now it is nearly every time I get up from sitting... and its also 'locking' so I have to sit down again to hopefully get up again before it unlocks.. fun and games!


take care possums...


Lissa
PS pics um, 'borrowed' from Pennie/scquilters blog my camera is flat - again!

Friday Night Stitch In :O)

Hello Possums....

I did it.. I got some sewing done!!! yeah!!!

If you have a weak stomach, avert your eyes....... NOW!!!!

this poor tangle is not a dismemberment... its four dolls I am making, I mean, why make one when you can make four???

The pattern is a Kindred Spirits pattern from "Needleworks Book" there are quite a few projects in there I'd like to make...

I also traced this pattern off and got some small amount of embroidery done... Its a Rosalie Quinlan pattern (which for the life of me I can't remember what it is called)... I have actually traced this pattern before, but someone (pointing at 'self) might of thought it was new fabric and chopped it up in error.. silly lissa... so it was retraced and the whisperweft straight on the back so I dont make that mistake again (well not for a long time)...


I did also do some 'secret sewing' I wish I could show you, but its a secret... I am off to retreat in May and we are having a recycled flannelette shirt challenge, the top has to be 100% recycled flannelette shirts... flannelette is a _)#(*$@#(%*& to work with.. I HATE it.. To be honest, if I hadn't paid $6-8/shirt and bought 11 of them, I would of abandoned this challenge, but soldier on! I got some interfacing at spotty the other day ($2/m or $7 for 10m's?? no brainer there)and it has made a huge difference... :O)))


well thats all thats happening in the land of Lissa.. Having my MRI on my poor old fat knee on Monday (well both knees are old and fat, but one is sorer than the other)... wish me luck!




Lissapoo

Where did February Go???

No pics with this post possums.. secret squirrel/sewing happening here...

so I wanna know... who stole February??? I am sure I blinked and it disappeared...

I have had a crook knee all year, seen the surgeon last week and not so good news.... I need an operation... my kneecap keeps dislocating and popping out of its home.. painful? um yes... I am having an MRI in a weeks time, so wish me luck.. The surgeon gave me the worst case scenario and its not lookin' good.. being a fat blonde tart hasn't helped the issue either, so please wish me luck... the other downside is that my right knee is so sore I have been favouring my left leg, so of course now thats playing up too... I knew this was coming, something about seeing the same surgeon 12 years ago perhaps??? you just can't rush into these things..

Not much happening here.. usual mum / family stuffs.. I am hanging for the school holidays so I can get some serious sewing time in (after work of course)

I am really hanging for the annual quilt retreat I go to.. Missymoo 'gocco-d' my signature squares last weekend, so that was a huge time saver... just have the fabric to add to them and I am done.. I am working on the challenge quilt too for the retreat (its the secret squirrel sewing)

I have a new 'puter, the old one, well lets just say I got sick of fighting the kids for it! LOL I needed a computer for my courses..

Oh the only other news I have.. I have been reading blogs about "Meatless Mondays".. so I turned a Meatless Monday into a Meatless Month, now its been a Meatess 'trimester'.. three months.. am I missing meat?? not too much (although I could kill a honey king prawns from the local chinese takeaway).. I'll go back to eating meat a couple of nights a week.. do I feel healthier? maybe but I am so tired.. I am anaemic anyways so I guess this hasn't helped... havent' lost any weight either, which is poopy, but I guess if you substitute meat for chocolate well... teehee.. Actually I tell a lie.. I have more or less got my lactose intolerance under control.. gave up tea last year (never drank coffee) been about 7 months since I had a cuppa... gave up soft cheese and milk so I think I have it under control.. if I could give up choccy........


anyhoo enough blathering from me..


Lissa

One PLUS ONE does not equal TWO

I am dumb.. I mean COME ON!!!

I had a stack of 4 patches left over from my 4 patch variation quilt, so I thought I'll make the onpoint 4 patch quilt.. well lets just say I can't add up.. I was 90 short, not one or two or twenty but NINETY!!! Oh my god.. I hate to admit it, but I have signed up to do a distance learning course this year in ACCOUNTING?? is that funny or what??

I have a four day weekend this weekend.. I managed to snaggle a day off work on Monday before the public holiday..... so I am thinking to myself... FOUR DAYS OF SEWING.... I'll get a head start Friday night after work!

Friday - it was 43C coming home (43c = 109F apparently).. so no sewing too freaky hot..

Saturday - well it was hotter, they said it was 42C in Newcastle but I am out in the sticks and no chance of an 'ocean breeze' out here.. how hot was it?? damn hot! so I did manage to do a bit of sewing on the said four patch (pic is in previous post) I have about 9 rows to go and about 90 bloody 4 patches to make.. Oh and of course I can't just use any old fabric so now I am searching the stash for my scrappy quilt 'til still look scrappy but not like 'the stupid cow ran out of fabric and just used any old thing to finish this sucker' look.. you all know that look? I got mighty cheesed off with myself so I just fiddled with my hexagon quilt (only one row to go peeps)

Sunday - well its not hot, its overcast and I have a few things on the go already.. I really want to finish my four patch top but I keep getting distracted by kids / cat / fabric fondling

I have a confession of sorts to make.. Well I dont really think I need to confess as this blog IS called 'Fabricologist Anonymous".. I um, needed some fabric to finish off this quilt.... (some have seen it before)....

... and its friend the backing...


Yes, dear readers, its the "Bendigonia Behemouth"... another 'additional factoring error' in ALL its glory....
Now when I half made this top (the nine patch / cobble stones) I had realised I had grossly under estimated the fabric I needed so I swiftly went and bought another 8 meters (um 9 yards for you non metrics amongst us).. well of course do you think I can FIND what was left over??? approx 4 yards of fabric disappeared.. Now I am thinking I may, just MAY of used it for something else (signature squares for last years retreat???) anyhoo, so whats a girl to do??? (this is the confession bit here petals)


GO SHOPPING!!!!!

OK of course the quilt shop I bought the original fabric at, doesn't have any left and hasn't dealt with that mob for awhile... so I did buy some other stuffs... so the next shop I went to, well that had something so close that I am going to use it and stuff what anyone says... and of course, the little wool shop nearby had a heap of stuffs on sale, so I mean, COME ON... whats a girlie to do???

You likey??? See the fabric on top, you know the Bella solid??? well thats all I went out to buy... LOL I did get some lovely burgundy batik (if batiks can be lovely - eek they still feel like shower curtains) for a wee floaty thing on the Adelaide Signature squares.. and I did get a red oriental to put with the Bendigonia Behemouth.. I am still mathing out how to sort that one out.. (I want the 9 patches to be centred the siggy's? not so fussed).. the rest is stash.. isn't the French fabric lovely???? most stores in here have sold out of that sucker so I was lucky to 'find' that much.. no charm squares to speak of anywhere down here!

OK I am going back to the ironing board, back to the sewing machine as I want to have a few things accomplished on my days off...


Wish me luck petals and pray there is no adding up for me to do!



Lissa

Friday Night Stitch In

Hello petals...
I signed up for the Friday Night Sew in (button on the side there).... what did I get up to??? well considering I nearly forgot about it ROFL not a lot! I had a crap day at work (I am a debt collector for the state government) so one of the girlies at work and myself took ourselves off to the bar after work.. of course I was driving so I could only have a couple of drinks (two large vodka's) so of course, I couldn't run the gauntlet home so I had to wait a wee while for my drinks to 'absorb'.. do you know what? vodka makes me sleep (I am an insomniac btw)... anyhoo, what did I get up to??? wellllllll


the centre of my Adelaide Signature Squares is done.. I am going to put a border around this and as I had two more signature squares I am putting them into the border.. the backing is washed, I have the rest of my batiks out so I have audtioned a few and will do a pieced border..

This top should (and I use that word very loosely) measure about 60 x 72 " when done.. a large lap size...

I am not a fan of batiks, I like the palette I just dont like the 'feel' of the fabric.. it reminds me of the shower curtains that would stick to me when I was a kid trying to have a shower! I loved it when my parents reno'd the bathroom and we got a slidy door no more sticky shower curtains!

of course, I had started the signature squares, so wasn't a HUGE amount of sewing involved (two hours mebbee???).. so I dragged this out..


I am a 'leader/ender' sewer.. I made these four patches as leader enders last year, I made the four patch variation out of them and have enough for this sucker.. (well I might have to make some more but not too many).. I ran out of the double pink fabric so I ordered some from the US.. I bought it in backing width as it was a lot cheaper than buying it by the usual 44".. crazy... anyhoo, I am half done with this one.. I did have to do a bit of unsewing with this top, cause I kept sewing the flippin' triangles on the wrong way! doh! This top is made out of 19th Century / Civil War reproduction and a couple of 'would be if they could be's'... its more pink in real life that in the pic, I just suck big time at takin' pics.

This top should measure around 80" square when done.. not sure about adding a border to this quilt, but if I do, it'll probably be about 90" square

Now I would of liked a finish last night, I am trying to get all my UFO's up to top stage so I can start some new stuffs LOL


My hubby asked the question last night... 'where are we going to put all these quilts?'

My reply was 'bend over and I'll show you!'... hahaha.. we have a quilt 'chair' I have quilts piled up so high that they are toppling over :O) its a VERY unusual decorating item, one I've not seen one those home reno shows..

anyhoo, thats it from me.. I am off to do some sewing and off to do some washing while the sun is out.. its a beautiful day here in Newcastle Australia and NOT HOT.. woohoo.. last Saturday was 15C (30F) hotter than our temp we are expecting today..wooohoo..


take care petals :O)

Lissa

Tempting the Fates (or the evil pussy cat, whichever!)

Now now, dont be surprised, tis a post from me, again in the same month even... what is going on with the world, has it gone crazy??? I intend *cough*cough* to blog about my finishes or even flimsies, so at the end of the year, I can actually say 'Holy crap I did finish some stuffs'.. so without further ado...

I have been playing with blocks this week.. Once a year I go to quilty retreat with about 150 of my closest friends.. now this is always fraught with a little apprehension, as I dont like crowds.. thinking about it even now, I get that heart in the throat feeling, but I go each year and have fun each year and get a wee bit tipsy (sometimes drunk even).. and I sign up again for the following year! This year we are off to Bathurst, which is about a 5 hr drive from here :O)

Anyhoo in thinking of the retreat, I thought I'd better work on my signature squares from the LAST retreat (of course the year before and the year before that aren't finished but we wont go there)... Last year was half square triangles the theme was 'wine and roses'.. the colours had to be wine or rose coloured and batik (or rose)...




This is my first layout.. I thought hmm its so-so.. went to get a drink and a snack.. and come back to this....I know I was very very stupid.. I mean, he was EYEING off the blocks in the pic above, but sheesh from quilt layout to destruction in seconds... I swear he must be speedy gonzales! :O)

well seeing tho the booger cat didn't like this layout.. I tried this...

what do you think??? I think I like it.. the four that make up the pinwheel's are my roomies and I at the retreat.. I have a bit of fiddling with colour placement, but I am happy with this..

I also finished these two tops this week, and they have been posted off for a quilty holiday already... The first top is the blocks from the 9 patch swap I did with Christine last year..I am very happy with this.. I did try blue and also red as the alternating block but the brown sets it off nicely.. this will be a lap quilt for the lounge (we have big laps here)


This quilt top is from an AP&Q magazine from early last year.. it was supposed to have a 'pie border' (english paper pieced circles) now I just knew I'd never get it finished so I added more blocks to make this quilt humungous.. its a very very large twin size, I just added a very small float of 1" and then another border which I'll trim back to 3".. I think it looks good... my eldest boy likes it so I might have to share!


Speaking of booger cats (he is no longer a ba$tard cat by the way, he has been very loving this week, he is not a friendly cat at all, but he has been wanting to sit near me, and follow me around and snuggle next to me when I am watching TV.. I know, he must be on some chill pills or something!) The kids think this pic is funny, cause you can't see his legs or tail, its all there peeps.. the kids call it 'octocat' but alas, a cat doesn't have eight legs silly kids, but its still funny.. this is cosmo's fave sleeping position...


This is his other fave spot to sleep.. I chopped my sons head off, as he'd KILL me if I put his ugly mug on my blog.... he has just had most of his hair chopped off.. he has one of those 'rock band' hair do's now.. oh the joys of almost 16 year olds.. I shouldn't complain as 3 years ago, he wouldn't brush his hair or wash it without us nagging him, now I am always looking for my hair straightener! The beast's hair 4 months ago, was longer than mine and was heading to his waist.. he had 8" off last hair cut! its lovely hair though.. If only his 14 yo brother would look after his hair.. boys eh??? anyhoo... here is a pic of Cosmo the no-so-bastard-cat in his fave spot in the world... awoken by the beast for the photo opportunity! (yes it is a shoebox a smallish shoebox for a very large fluffy-bastard-cat)

well off to do some sewing and some washing.. we have sunshine today after 3 weeks of very iffy weather.. of course sunshine after 3 weeks of raining makes 1. the grass grow VERY long and 2. makes the weather very muggy :O( muggy = poopy weather.. Dags mowed the lawn on Thursday and I swear it needs doing again.. Miss Smelly is off to her friends for a swim in the pool so I'd better get some clothes on.. apparently going out in the car in your pj's isn't acceptable it embaresses 12 yo's.. who would of thunk that???

take care and quilty huggers.. 'til next time


Lissa