Almost wetting pants with excitement...

...beacause I'm about to head into the city for the day, sans kids and husband, for a Japanese patchwork hand-quilting course at Kimono House.

Can't say more now, must go catch the train. After grabbing that spare pair of underpants.

Let the quilting madness begin!

My creative space...

I'm so glad Kirsty's got the creative spaces back up and running for the year... now I will have more impetus to both create and blog! It is quite clear to me now just how much participating in this meme last year kept up my enthusiasm for both.

Today I'm up to my ears in shades of green...

Ugh, I feel a little ill looking at it all. These bits of fabric are supposed to be coming together in a slightly-haphazard-but-mostly-symmetrical 12 block quilt top for my sister. Siffice to say she likes green. We picked out the fabrics for her last year and tried to figure out together what she would like.

 Naturally, I launched in late last year without really planning, as I tend to work better as I go. Problem is, I now don't really know what I'm up to, and I've spent the morning so far ironing these kind-of-log-cabin squares and attempting to calculate sashing requirements. Not that we really agreed on a size, either!

I think I've learned from this that, in quilting, I really DO need to visualise a little more clearly where I'm going prior to cutting and sewing. It is a little harder though when I'm trying to visualise on behalf of someone else, and I don't really have full ownership of the project...

Meanwhile, I'm trying to save my eyeballs from green-overload, and shock myself into cleaning the bathroom, by wearing my favourite apron, this whacky bright smock number (and hiding unwashed hair under old t-shirt, classy!). I'm showing you because I want to make something similar for a friend, but I need to ask whether making an apron for someone to clean the house in would be considered demeaning?!

Anyway, after I've tackled the soap scum I'm going to come back and check out what YOU'VE been up to. Join in here.

Learning to receive.

When I came back from holidays last week I found the most embarassingly large package awaiting me.

I had found out before Christmas that I won Lyn's giveaway over at From One Mum. So I was anticipating the arrival of this book...

... but not the arrival of:

a stack of vintage trims and buttons

a copy of Mixtape

an amazing array of vintage and new fabric squares and scraps

TWO moda charm packs

some fabulous and hilarious vintage craft magazines

Lyn, my girl, that was a massive haul! It only strengthens my resolve to craft from my healthy stash this year and make some great stuff with what I have. I've been getting particularly excited about making a scrap quilt with all the mismatched patterns, colours and styles of scrap-sized material I have, and Liz' contribution will feature strongly there. (I think the challenge of a scrap quilt is to somehow harmonize all those disparate elements... I think it's cheating when someone's "scraps" are from the same coordinated line of designer fabrics!!)

I don't know how you feel when you are the recipient of someone else's generosity, but I actually find it hard! I find giving without expectation of repayment sits easily with me (It is more blessed to give than to receive, Acts 20:35). But when I receive stuff, I start feeling indebted, and assume I'm meant to repay in kind or I'll be letting people down.

My lovely and perceptive craft-blog-friend Sally chastised me about this when I made noises about 'making something in return' after receiving her amazing package of goodies a few months back. Of course, sometimes we DO give in order to get back, but sometimes gifts are just that - a gift. Not swaps or barters, not ways of 'buying' my loyalty or seeking my custom. Sally asked me to take her package graciously and treat it as an exercise in receiving.

Well thanks to Lyn I now have another opportunity to practise the act of receiving graciously. Ouch, it hurts! But thank you so, so much.

decluttering my approach to craft, 2010

How do you go about setting creative goals? Is it all about completing a list of projects? Learning new techniques? Maybe setting up a stall or shop?

I don't think I've ever really set creative goals before. I often make life resolutions around the new year (vague and sweeping, helpful but not binding) , and have done so again this year, but for the first time I've decided to nut out what I want to do creatively in a more specific way.

Part of my bedroom 'inspire wire', on which I've hung items with textures, colours and patterns I'm drawn to

First, here are some things I learned about myself as a crafter during 2009:
- I love trying different creative techniques, but am most drawn to fabric-related craft;
- I am prone to creative 'attention deficit', which has resulted in lots of unfinished or badly-finished items, as well as a few too many craft/stash related impulse purchases of which I am ashamed;
- I'm more naturally interested in the aesthetic side of sewing (exploring textures, layers, designs, embellishments, originality) than the technical side of sewing (following patterns, making complex items, using fancy sewing gadgets or finishing things properly);
- I like the idea of making clothes for me and for the kids, more than the reality of making them! (This has a fair bit to do with the lack-of-technique thing as well as the time-consuming factor);
- I have decided I have no interest in selling things, but I would like to work on making some 'signature clutterpunk' items to swap and give away.

Having identified these things, here's where I'm heading in 2010:
In general I would like to...
- Narrow my creative focus and go for a bit of depth and technique instead;
- Think through projects first and execute them more carefully to help avoid frustration and waste;
- Use what I have already and make few, if any, craft purchases.

And I hope to do this more specifically by...

1. Focusing on quilting

I have done some very simple piecing and quilting, by both machine and hand, and I have loved it. There is so much scope for playing and expressing yourself in quilt-making, and yet there is a simplicty that I'm drawn to as well. I have plans for a lap-quilt, a wall-hanging and an already-mentioned bedroom quilt (on which I would like to experiment with all sorts of techniques!).

A very simply-hand-quilted lap quilt I made for a friend's wedding, using plain linen on one side and this patterned echino double-gauze on the other.

2. Making ONE garment in 2010, and doing it well!

Yep, I'm really lowering my ambitions here... but I'd like to hang up the 'Hack Refashionista' approach for a bit and work on making something that will fit me well AND LAST. I am going to do this with the help of Thread Den Sewing Lounge, who run a heap of classes from basic techniques to pattern drafting. My Christmas gift this year was a voucher to cover a few classes here, and I'm VERY excited! I've not had any professional sewing help and I can't wait to check out the timetable and decide which classes to take.

3. Developing a 'clutterpunk line' of simple things to make for gifts and swaps

OK, so this is the most vague of my goals. I haven't made many repeat items in my time (apart from Swineys, but that joke was over a while ago...). I guess I would like to have several 'something up my sleeve' items to make for friends and crafty types which is useful for them, fun for me, and at least a bit unique. Hmmmmmm. At the moment I'm thinking about aprons - but kind of more wear-out-of-the-house-if-you-dare aprons than clean-the-bathroom types. Hmmmmmm again. Thoughts?

OK, so writing this down is clearly of more benefit to me than to you. But if you have read this and drop in regularly, perhaps you'll be able to prod and poke me during the year, to say 'hey, how's that garment coming along and are you fudging the seams there missy?', or 'boy you need to do something other than quilting, it's getting boring', or 'hey, if that decoupaged-macrame-scrapbooking thing isn't part of your quilt/garment, drop it NOW!'. Because that's what creative friends are for, right?

Refreshed.

Poppy's Cottage B&B where I spent a peaceful night with my Beloved (and NO KIDS!)

I have just enjoyed three weeks...

eating

drinking

running

talking

playing

resting

ignoring my blog

ignoring your blog

avoiding sewing, crafting and thinking

shirking as many domestic and child-rearing duties as I could get away with...

and now I'm ready to be back.

And I'm really looking forward to 2010.

2009 retrospective: blog posts that have made me think.

image here

I have a few more posts in me before I sign off for a couple of weeks over the Christmas-New Year period. There hasn't been much crafty show-and-tell on this here blog recently, but that's ok. The things I have been making, I can't really show you until after the birthday, Christmas and wedding celebrations have passed!

Meanwhile, it's been on my mind a while to mention some of the blog posts which I've found the most striking this past year. The majority of blogs I read fall firmly into the craft/art category. I love to see the creative things people are getting up to, gather inspiration, celebrate achievements, admire techniques or drool over fabrics and notions. But I also love to read a blog post with a bit of meat now and then; a discussion, a reflection, an out-there opinion or personal confession. Such posts often inspire or challenge me in some way, and more than once I've been moved to act or change something.

Here are a few of the posts I've found most thought-provoking in 2009:

M*: 21st century dad
Melanie's wise reflections on being the breadwinner and having a stay-at-home husband gave me great insights into something completely beyond my experience... and reminded me that communication is EVERYTHING.

Raglan Guld: About me
Leonie's honesty in this post (delivered in her usual casual, off-the-cuff humourous style) started a few back and forth emails between us about various issues including PND and alcohol addiction. It was a bit of a wake-up call for me and our conversations prompted me to cut my alcohol consumption to almost zero, which has been a good thing for me and my family. 

Thornberry: Market groupie
Lara's post about craft markets, quality, and why people do or don't make to sell, was a timely one. The post and some of the replies helped me to clarify a few of my own thoughts on the matter... bottom line is, I won't be leaping in to sell craft any time soon!

Consumption Rebellion: What is 'joyful consumption'?
OK, so most of Eilleen's post present food for thought or a challenge of some type. And this is actually a post from 2008 but I read it after starting my blog. It prompted some soul-searching and made me think about how I could challenge my own consumption habits by thinking about what I could gain rather than what I was giving up. My decision to take the Wardrobe Refashion pledge is an example of something that came out of this soul searching...

Foxs Lane: My nest
Kate's candid thoughts about her head-vs-heart struggle in deciding not to have more babies, and the challenges it was presenting to her identity beyond 'mothering', were insightful and challenging for me, particularly as one who does not yet feel that my family is 'complete' (but wonders how I'll ever make that decision, if it's mine to make!)

Are there particular posts that have got you thinking this year? Do share!

My creative space...

I'm still not so much for the words or the creating myself at the moment... instead, I'm enjoying that my space is filled with the creativity and generosity of others.

Kate's gorgeous, even-better-in-real-life crochet christmas potholders. I won them, and they make me so happy. They're never going near a pot though. Nor is the handmade brown and blue potstand which my friend Beck found for me in Wanaka, New Zealand. I think I'm going to dedicate a hanging space in my kitchen for handmade kitchenalia... I could look at these all day!

A copy of Stitch bought for me by my creative friend Jo, a lovely for-no-apparent-reason gift with lots of interesting and funky projects. I'm diving right in after I've finished that sandwich...

And the JOY Christmas card... it's one of Lisa Stubb's prints. The orange, the typography, the bird, the sentiment: it was love at first sight for me. I'm framing this one to go up somewhere in the house. Because even when the joy isn't flowing easily, it's there for the finding...

More creative spaces at Kirsty's (new) house, which is looking mighty fine. And thanks Kirsty for the space-sharing in 2009... you're ace.