Mission complete

Our aim to finish Mum's bag before she returns home is accomplished. She did a wonderful job of it.

And if she happens to leave it behind, I wouldn't complain!

The details:

The pattern is Monica Poole's 'Spice of Life', a well-written pattern for an easy-to-construct, very stylish bag.

The main fabric is an Echino cotton/linen, purchased from The Home Patch, with a plain linen trim.

The star of this design is the spring-loaded handbag frame, which allows the bag to 'snap' open and closed. It works like a dream, and is good quality hardware. The frame was also purchased at The Home Patch.

Mum's bag is lined with a bird print fabric that my beautiful blogging friend Janelle sent me a while ago. It was just perfect for this project - thanks Nellie! 

The pattern has wonderful instructions for incorporating a zippered pocket, and a really sturdy, removable bag base.

I think there will be more of these bags made, I love it!

Mum's bag progress

I have returned from the netball run to find Mum sewing madly. I fully expected that she would not have progressed at all considering that when I left her, she had her brain fully engaged with a Sudoku! She has a thing for Sudokus!

But as she often does, she proved me wrong. She has the bag exterior together, the linen handles constructed and the lining completed. Alright! The lining even has two pockets, one of them with a zip closure. Legend!

Progress is likely to slow as it is approaching wine o'clock. But I will be back when there is something blog worthy to report.

Mum at work

The aforementioned bag got off to a slow start. Neither of us felt brave enough last night to cut into the Echino - we were both tired and a bit doughy after a glass of champagne! This morning saw us running about after the kids' sport.

But this afternoon, Mum is ready for business. She is busy quilting the outer layer as I type. Hope to be back soon with more progress ... after I get Miss 15 to netball and back :) Hope you are getting some sewing time this weekend too. Bloom x

Raw materials

Mum is visiting, which meant our inevitable visit to Anni Downs' lovely The Home Patch store in Bathurst today. We boldly declared as we walked through the front door that 'we really didn't need anything today'. An hour and a half later we exited sheepishly, with a brown paper bag full of lovelies. We now have a busy weekend of sewing ahead of us!

We are hoping to transform

a stunning piece of Echino linen ...

... plus a lovely pattern 
from Monica Poole of Moonshine Designs ... 

... plus a very cool handbag frame ...

... into something beautiful!

Productivity is likely to be 
inversely proportional to consumption of this:

We will keep you informed!

Spinning Wheel Ride

If my last post wasn't enough excitement for me in one week, the Garden Issue of Australian Homespun arrived in my mailbox as well. I may have gasped just a little when I opened it ...

 

A quilt that I made back in January is gracing the front cover! Very special!

It is made from Amy Butler's luscious fabric line, Soul Blossoms, and is my representation of a bright, summer flower garden.

The fabrics in this line are wonderfully vibrant, and the full blown florals spoke to me of the 'flower power', infamously psychedelic times of the late 60's and early 70's. I called this quilt 'Spinning Wheel Ride' for the 1969 song by Blood, Sweat and Tears. I thought this song was psychedelically just right, and has a very matter of fact, and positive message about trouble in life! For me, it says: leave your trouble behind, and enjoy the exciting ride life has ahead for you, all astride a painted pony!

What goes up must come down

Spinnin' wheel got to go 'round

Talkin' 'bout your troubles it's a cryin' sin

Ride a painted pony let the spinnin' wheel spin

You got no money and you got no home

Spinnin' wheel all alone

Talkin' 'bout your troubles and you never learn

Ride a painted pony let the spinnin' wheel turn

Did you find the directing sign on the

Straight and narrow highway

Would you mind a reflecting sign

Just let it shine within your mind

And show you the colors that are real

Someone is waiting just for you

Spinnin' wheel, spinnin' true

Drop all your troubles by the riverside

Catch a painted pony on the spinning wheel ride

The blocks are simple kaleidoscopes, although that center join takes some mastering, and was the source of some cussing, I must confess. But I conquered it in the end ... after 35 of them!

Belinda of Eucalypt Ridge Quilting worked her magic with an edge-to-edge design called 'Denali' by Anne Bright .

The Homespun team did a beautiful job of making my quilt look good. How I love that pale blue bucket lavishly filled with apricot roses!

Australian Homespun and XLN Fabrics are very generously running a competition to win one of TWELVE fabric kits to make 'Spinning Wheel Ride'. Details are on page 12 of this month's magazine (No. 99, Vol 12.8). International distributors of the magazine are listed below.

All good things ...

... come to those who wait! I finally received some copies of the Moda Bake Shop book, Fresh Fabric Treats. And I can at last reveal my contribution, a jewellery wallet.

Like all Bake Shop projects, the challenge was to create something new and unique with one of the Moda precuts. For me, that precut was a honey bun of a muted, olde worlde line called 'Luna Notte' by 3 Sisters. 

The fabrics seemed to me to be calling out for a soft brown grey linen and some pearl button detail.

The wallet unfolds and is able to be hung from a fabric covered hook. My thought was that it would be handy to use while travelling.

There are lots of components on the inside to accommodate your jewellery. From the top, there is a band for holding hair clips and pins or brooches. The tiny rolls untie in the middle for storing all your diamond rings(!). Below that is a zippered compartment, constructed with clear vinyl.

The pink ties are for holding bangles securely. A felt flap, punched with tiny holes is for your earrings.

And at the bottom of the wallet are a series of loops to hold necklaces. The pink elasticised band is for holding pendants securely, and to prevent your necklaces from tangling.

I feel so honoured to have been asked to contribute to this book. The publishers, Stash Books, have done a beautiful job in bringing together a diverse mix of inspiring projects. 

I have three spare copies of 'Fresh Fabric Treats'. As much as I would love to give them away, they are, in part, payment for my contribution to the book. I am selling these copies for AU$21 each. Please email me if you would like to purchase a copy, and I will let you know how much postage will be to your destination.  

My sincere thanks to my lovely friends, online and otherwise, who have encouraged me to pursue my interest in design. I am indebted to you all. Without you, I'd not have had the courage to design anything! Bloom x

Mum? M-u-u-u-u-m?!

On my last trip home, I nagged and nagged my mother to finally finish her basket wallhanging.

Always one to please, she obliged me :)

 The pattern is called 'Basket Quilt and Pillows #57' by Bareroots. There are some better photos in a previous post. 

Poor Mum - the nagging is over! 

When this little quilt was finished, she quietly reminded me that she started stitching it at Dad's hospital bedside in his last days at Royal Prince Alfred. Hmmm ... I was suitably humbled. I will hitherto try to stop hassling my mother about her UFOs. And perhaps focus on mine?

Daybook entry #9

Outside my window ... not today, but recently. 

Today is equally cold, but regretfully no snow.

From the kitchen ... a birthday cake for my now 10-year-old blossie. She requested a Beanie Kid cake. Thankfully daughter #1 rose to the challenge and produced this masterpiece for her sister!

 For those uneducated in BK mania, Beanie Kids are little teddy bears, unique to the Australian market I think. New designs are released each month, in every theme you can imagine. They are inexpensive, addictive and very collectible. 

Source

I am stitching ... blocks for a new quilt using the lovely Figtree Quilts 'Strawberry Fields'.

I am reading ... the last couple of chapters of 'The Help'. I have been searching for some time for 'that book you just can't put down'. I found it in this book. It is the story of black maids working for white housewives in 1960's America. It is at once heartwarming and infuriating! A wonderful read.

I am inspired by ... a creative website that I came across during the week, Dear Photograph. The site invites you to take a photograph of a picture from the past matching it to the same place in the present. A very cool concept! 

Source

I am listening to ... a beautiful song by a young Aussie songwriter, Jamie MacDowell, written for his sister and played at her wedding. I bet there wasn't a dry eye in the house!

Have a great weekend. Bloom x

Two favourites from the Art Express exhibition

Back to our visit to Art Express, an exhibition of the best of last year's Higher School Certificate works. One of my favourite works was an astonishing drawing, worked in graphite on recycled library books.

Regretfully, I didn't get a photo of the work in its entirety. It was displayed at knee level and was roughly a metre square. Discarded library books were pieced together to form a 'recycled' dimensional canvas.

The artist purposely illuminated sentences from the books. Her drawings were beautiful, especially considering her chosen canvas. It is hard to believe these works are done by 17-year-olds. Amazing talent!

A second of my favourite pieces was 'The Good Wife's Guide'. This one made me smile! It is a clever series of photographs inspired by a set of 'housewife's rules' that the artist found in a 1955 issue of 'Housekeeping Monthly'.

From the artist: "These rules, placed on women by women, are my way of representing the impossibility of perfection and, through humour, deconstructing our futile struggle to achieve it."

The artist must have had a ball dressing up as a '50's housewife for the photographs. Although each image is so carefully composed and detailed that it must have take her an eternity. She also prepared a poignant video to accompany the stills. I have included a few of the panels for you to see. If you click on each image, it should be large enough for you to read. Enjoy!

Warming the cockles of my heart ...

... or perhaps stomach! Not sure that stomachs have cockles? 

A cold winter's night in Bloom country is conquered with some warming French onion soup. 

french onion soup

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

7 onions, peeled and thinly sliced

salt & pepper

1.5 litres good quality beef, chicken or vegetable stock

8 slices sourdough baguette, toasted

gruyere cheese, grated

Put butter & oil into a thick-bottomed, non-stick pan. Add garlic & onions, season with salt & pepper and stir. Put a lid on pan, leaving it slightly ajar, and cook slowly for 50 minutes, stirring occasionally, without colouring onions. 

Remove the lid for the last 20 minutes so the onions become soft and golden. Stir occasionally to prevent the onions from catching on the bottom.When the onions are soft, add stock. Bring to the boil, turn the heat down and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. 

Ladle soup into four bowls, top each with two slices bread. Sprinkle with grated cheese and put bowls under grill to melt the cheese.

p.s. poorly focussed photo = direct result of Bloom's raging hurry to devour soup :)