A tova top & a case for a fabric hoarding gene

My grandmother always cautioned my mother and me that, when she died, we were to get to her house quickly and remove her fabric stash before Grandpa found it!

With the online popularity of the Wiksten Tova top, I decided I'd dust off my all-but-retired garment-making skills. I asked Mum if there was a suitably soft cotton in the stash inherited from Grandma. Sure enough, we found this very pretty cotton - all 8.5 metres of it! The Boy calculated we could make two-thirds of a tennis net, but we opted for a Tova top (or four)!

The Tova top looks universally flattering in the many photos on the web, albeit most are worn by stick-thin, tall and young beauties. Undeterred, we printed out the extra-large and got sewing!

I am an Australian Size 12 (inching closer to a 14 every day it would seem) - the extra large Tova pattern fits me perfectly, without alteration. It is super comfortable, and conveniently disguises a multitude of sins around my midriff. It unfortunately doesn't help with the thunder-thigh issue lower down, but that is surely beyond the capability of a single pattern. 


The only thing that I'm still coming to terms with (other than having to cut out an XL) is the neckline. I had hoped the collar would stand pertly rather than flop open. My dressmaking mother is hovering, eyes glinting, quick-unpick at the ready with a view to redrafting the collar. But I've decided life's too short for that.

I hate having my photo taken because it forces me to acknowledge the form my body is taking with age. But in the interests of confronting my pride, here I am, the best of apparently hundreds of takes :) Admittedly, I resorted to hiding behind tree trunks to obscure the thunder thighs, but there you have it.

I will definitely make this pattern up again. It is well written, and very achievable. The yoke inset is the trickiest bit. It is conveniently available as a PDF download here.

I have no idea what Grandma was intending when she bought 8.5 metres of this pretty print. But I think she would be very happy that it is seeing the light of day, and being used at last.

Seeking beauty

The first week of the Easter break has flown by for us in a flurry of travelling and spending time with family, thereby causing a blog hiatus - apologies! We've spent the last few days at the farm, and there has again been some solace in the garden for me.

The garden is not at its best after a very wet summer. We have lost plants to fungal diseases, the roses are covered in blackspot, and the pests and bugs are having a grand old time! So I have to work a bit harder to see the beauty!

In the garden's 'ugly' phases, it's time to appreciate contrast in form and colour, such as a shock of pink against the bronze, velvety seed heads of fountain grass ...

... the contrast of sweet purple & white 'Geisha Girl' duranta against a background of box elder foliage, turning deeply golden in the autumn sun ...

... more brilliant pink, 'Sophy's Rose' in contrast with the aging bronze flower heads of Sedum 'Autumn Joy' ...

Beauty can be at its strongest as plants age, passing from exuberant and flamboyant, to promise of future fertility and regeneration. Rose hips form and swell ...

... the albizia is laden with pods, crackling in the breeze ...

 ... fragile papery flower heads of agapanthus, 

burst with new seeds ...

 ... and perhaps the most spectacular post-flowering display, the seed head of my cardoon, 

architectural and breathtaking ...

The roses are fighting valiantly 

against fungal foe and waves of aphid. 

There are still occasional treasures to be found, 

such as the pristine 'Winchester Cathedral' ...

and the penultimate performer, 'Graham Thomas' ...

And of course, when nature throws up a bout of humidity and warm weather, an ideal breeding ground for bugs and disease, it also breeds beauty like this:

Beauty is surely everywhere if you look closely!

Meet Amelia

I'd like to give a shout out to a lovely young girl I met at a local market on the weekend. Amelia Herbertson is in the last throes of her university degree in Graphic Design, and is newly establishing herself as an artist and printmaker.

Amelia's work is beautifully detailed and shows a level of quality and care that belies her youth. This exquisite lino print bird made its way home with us, and is settling in nicely!

You can find Amelia on Facebook, or over at her blog, and her work in her Etsy Shop. Please pop on over to her, say hello and encourage her in what will surely be a bright artistic future.

A mini menagerie

One of my local quilting haunts, Marally Craft, generously provided me with some fabric to make up a sample for an upcoming craft fair.

 

This cot quilt is an adaptation of the small quilt in my 'Abracadabra' pattern. 

I simply replaced a row of blocks in the original pattern with some raw-edge appliqued animals from the feature fabric. 

The quilt is made entirely from flannel fabrics, mostly from Laura Berringer's range called 'Fluffy Jungle' for Marcus Fabrics, with a couple of 'Celebrate Seuss' flannels by Robert Kaufmann for good measure. 

The feature print from the 'Fluffy Jungle range proved to be perfect for fussy-cutting and appliquéing, with 'stitching lines' all but printed on the fabric for you to follow - sweet!

It is a very cuddly little quilt, and my first serious venture into the world of flannels. I found the fabrics have a little more 'stretch' or 'give' in them than quilting cottons, but were easy to use, and appliqued nicely with the help of some Heat-n-Bond Lite.

My bent for pieced backings continues unabated - I incorporated some left over blocks in the backing, primarily to give me a bit more width to play with since the quilt is so close to 44" (one fabric width) finished. See, there is method to my madness!

Critters

On my work desk today, some cute little critters. 

More news of their escapades soon I hope :)

Hard copy patterns available

After what seems like an eternity wrestling with Adobe Illustrator, I have this little icon to show for my troubles.

Thankfully, the icon is of more significance than the making of it. Due to demand, I have arranged a limited print run of some of the patterns available in my shop. If you prefer to purchase hard copy patterns and have them arrive in your post box, then this option might be for you. My patterns also remain available as PDF files delivered to your email. Bloom x

Something blue

Something old, something new,

Something borrowed, something blue,

And a silver sixpence in her shoe.

I whipped up a little blue keepsake for a friend who was married on Saturday.

Evidently the rhyme is Victorian in origin, and is wished for good luck.

• 'Something old' represents continuity with the bride's family and the past.
• 'Something new' is for optimism and hope for the marriage
• 'Something borrowed' is traditionally something special loaned from a happily married friend, and signifies that friends will always be there for the bride in times of need.
• 'Something blue' symbolises purity, love and fidelity. Blue was evidently a popular colour for wedding gowns in the late 1800's, and is the source of the phrase, 'Marry in blue, lover be true'. 
• And the silver sixpence in the bride's shoe represents wealth and financial security.

This is a favourite gift I like to make for brides. The pattern is by Marg Low and is called 'Sweet Heart Birdies'. It uses one of Barb Smith's woodcut buttons, called 'Kissing Birds' available at Theodora Cleave. I used some beautifully silky smooth Cosmo Seasons variegated embroidery floss 8076, purchased from Patchwork Orange.

Funnily enough, the 'marry in blue, lover be true' saying is but the start of something bigger! Who ever knew?!

Marry in white, everything's right

Marry in blue, lover be true

Marry in pink, spirits will sink

Marry in grey, live far away

Marry in brown, live out of town

Marry in green, ashamed to be seen

Marry in yellow, ashamed of your fellow

Marry in black, wish you were back

Marry in red, wish you were dead

Marry in tan, he'll be a loved man

Marry in pearl, you'll live in a whirl

Waste some time with me and my boy ... OK GO!

If you don't have the privilege of living with a thirteen year old boy who can educate you about OK GO and Goldberg machines, then allow me to do you a favour! Courtesy of my boy, sit back and enjoy ...

Definition: A Goldberg machine is a deliberately over-engineered machine that performs a very simple task in a very complex fashion, usually including a chain reaction.

This next clip makes me laugh! These guys are so imaginative and clever, but obviously have far too much time on their hands!



And the last one is especially for our dear dog-loving friend Peg @ Happy in Quilting. Watch out for the goat!



OK GO do something productive Bloom instead of laughing at these guys!

Happy happenstance

Happenstance? 'Happenstance' you say Bloom? Hmmm, I am reading Charles Dickens at the moment, so my use of 'happenstance' is his fault.

 

Motivated by the wonderful adaptation of 'Great Expectations' on the ABC, I am trying to read ahead before next Sunday's episode. Catch up with last week's episode on iView, or read it with me by downloading a free copy on iTunes. Oh, the irony, or is it juxtaposition - Charles Dickens now on iView and iTunes! 

Sorry, I digress! Since first posting to this blog over five years ago, one happy happenstance has lead to another and I find myself designing patterns. 

Last October, I was invited by Australian Homespun to contribute a design for a new project-of-the-month (POM) initiative called 'A Trip to Remember'. The POM is a series of 10 projects, one per month until December, each with a travel theme. All projects have been constructed using Amy Butler's dramatic new line 'Lark' (below), and the the series is being launched in this month's issue.  

There is an awe-inspiring roundup of designers who will present their creations over the next 10 months, including:

 Natalie Bird of The Birdhouse

Jodie Carleton of Ric Rac

Lesley McConnell of Faeries in my Garden

Natalie Ross of Natalie Ross In Stitches

Majella Rush of Kookaburra Cottage Quilts

Monica Poole of Moonshine Designs

Nicole Mallalieu, of Nicole Mallalieu Designs

Brenda Ryan of Thimblestitch

And even the inimitable Ms Butler herself. What a treat!

I am weak at the knees and completely humbled to be in the company of these amazing women. I feel like I'm in a real-life version of Sesame Street's 'one of these things is not like the others'!

Each designer was generously supplied with fabrics of her choosing from Amy's range. I chose these:

My brief was to construct a garment bag. Concepts for my designs are usually directly inspired by the fabrics - their colours, scale and mood. Amy's 'Lark' fabrics struck me as flamboyant, extravagant and dynamic. I decided on an appliqued panel with a floral 'flourish' twining from top to bottom.

The applique background was problematic, with just the right shade of 'almost black' unrepresented in my stash. Thankfully the lovely Rita @ Red Pepper Quilts came to my rescue with some perfect Kona 'Pepper'. Thanks so much Rita - you were a godsend!

The reverse side of the bag has a central zipper ...

... and two zippered pockets for safe keeping of jewellery, stockings etc.

It is a bit hard to see, but there is a gusset all the way around to accommodate several garments, and the bag is finished on all edges with a fine bind. It is fully lined inside.

It is particularly special that all projects in the Australian Homespun's 'Trip to Remember' program will be donated to Alzheimer's Australia. This organisation is the peak support body for people with dementia and their families and carers in Australia. The projects in Homespun's program will be auctioned or raffled to raise funds for this important cause. I doubt that there are many women who are not affected, indirectly or otherwise, by the suffering caused by dementia.

This month's issue of Australian Homespun (No. 106) is just hitting newsstands now. 

Australian Homespun can also be purchased in a digital format from Zinio.

An inheritance

Last Friday was the fifth anniversary of my Dad's passing. He has been on my mind. In fact, not a day goes by when I don't think of him. Of my many passions, two are directly attributable to his influence: my love for gardening and for reading. He told me often how, as a child, his father would rouse on him for 'always having his head stuck in a book'.

As a child, two of his favourite books were 'The Good Master' by Kate Seredy and 'Reach for the Sky' by Paul Brickhill. They in turn became favourites of mine, and now my children read them.

I have just finished reading a book called 'The Language of Flowers', a debut novel by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. I enjoyed it enormously. It is the story of a young woman, tormented by memories of a childhood of mistreatment at the hands of a succession of foster parents. Psychologically scarred, her preferred way to communicate with others is through flowers and their Victorian meanings. Her journey is to learn to trust the love of others.

This book is warmly written, and an easy, uncomplicated read. As a gardener, I loved the powerful role flowers played in the narrative. For me, the story's appeal is in the concept that flowers might comfort psychological distress and nurture hope. 

And so my two inherited passions, gardening and reading, came together with this book, read in February 2012, as I thought of my Dad.