Serviette holders from scraps

I tried this free and downloadable Quilting Arts project - napkin rings. They were so easy to make and I really enjoyed the personalising with beads and hand-stitching. Each ring is made from rectangles of main fabric, some iron on stabilise; and a smaller piece of coordinating fabric. I sewed some beads onto the overlap section ... and here they are.

Silk tops and nests

This week I've been "playing" with silk tops, mohair and other fibres - making "nests" - and doing lots of hand sewing / quilting. Very good for the soul. I am able to recline in a lounge chair, conveniently located in the sewing room / studio and elevate the troublesome foot on a dining chair - perfect for hand sewing and entirely medicinal.

Indigo journal cover

It's hot and yucky. 40 degrees on the verandah and it's just gone 3pm - the chooks are lying underneath trying to get a bit of cooler air. There is none. I'm resting my foot - it remains encased in compression stockings that don't go so well with the weather - but I'm doing exactly as I was told to do - and have been finishing some hand sewing projects. A journal cover as a 70th birthday present - to record the event with everyone who celebrated it! Not mine, of course. I made up some Christmas napkin rings - we don't use napkins, and we don't sit up at the table for formal Christmas lunch in the heat - but the rings look lovely ... I'm almost tempted to convert.The journal cover was sewn from fabrics I dyed with Ankie King and Maxine O'Toole some time ago - Indigo galore - beautiful fabrics and a wonderful time spent with Ankie. If the opportunity arises ... it truly is a few days not to be missed. Beaded and stitched with various threads, including a silk and stainless steel thread I obtained from the Fibre Festival in Brisbane earlier this year.

Felting the slow way

I've been so slack - and looking forward to the end of 2009 ( I recall thinking similar thoughts about a year ago). This year has been quite a roller-coaster - with many opportunities to learn things, not necessarily related to fibre, quilting or threads. Suffice to say that we were reminded that life is precious 7 times this year, our Christmas card list certainly shrank, and as I see the year out with a tiresome fracture in one foot I'm actually thankful for it and will complain no more about it. I've been playing with one of those "must-have-but-why-did-I-buy-it" kits from one of those "they-all-look-the-same-but-can't-miss-it" quilt fairs and started playing with felting .... and got a bit carried away. Thankfully, I got over myself quickly. It really was a lot of fun, rather therapeutic if you don't count stabbing yourself with the barbed stabbing thing - perhaps the gadget that does it much quicker is a faster option but I did love playing with those fibres.