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Monthly Archives: July 2008

California Dreaming

Today’s post is inspired firstly by a fabulous book I bought from our local library’s written off book section. I bought this wonderful hardcover coffee table book for $1 and it is in as new condition though it was published in 1975. It compliments perfectly the fabric from the Waverley Jacquards sample book which Kara gave to me earlier this year. This is high quality very thick upholstery fabric which is best used with medium to heavy weight velvets etc. I have a few ideas for the use of this fabric and after seeing the cover of this book am keen to get a move on and make something with the samples….just too glorious to lay around!

The second inspiration also came from the book ….gorgeous oceans and various summery scenes. It has been snowing and near to snowing again here in Sydney….don’t ask me why…global warming or a repeat of something that only transpires every few hundred years? We do not have records for very far back so it is hard to know but its more a case of necessity than inspiration really that I find myself knitting this scarf in the tones found in my bowls of beads and also in the book. I did have to hunt for the wool in my storage area but the book inspired me to get started! I keep these beads near my computer as a little positive reinforcement that summer or at least brighter days will return. A little colour therapy and inspiration combined, and maybe one day i will get around to stringing the necklaces…when my fingers are a little less frozen!

Scrap quilt

This is the quilt from my header, it was made to use up a lot of the squares which I had unpicked from other projects as well as scraps from other projects. Red was also featured quite heavily in each block and I used  mix of light, medium and dark florals. This was the first quilt where I actually followed the rules of patchwork and quilting regarding tone in the design process. I eventually sewed all sixteen blocks and then added some sashing from a pair of vintage tablecloths I found in a thrift shop. I just had enough for the sixteen blocks so was unable to make it bigger even if I had wanted to.

I used the top as a table cover for a long time and eventually sandwiched it together …backed with some Asian style fabric which was predominantly red to highlight the reds featured in the twenty five patches and then tied the quilt. The quilt has been well used and has held up to machine washing even though a fellow quilter who follows the rules once frowned at the ties and said I had not done them the right way. It has been a very popular quilt on flickr and I am planning on making one in slightly larger squares and also some with non floral hand dyed fabrics.

Satin sandals

Heavenly handbag

Stunning satin

These sandals were found new at my local thrift store, along with two other pairs that I have since taken back as they absolutely killed me to wear them. These are comfortable and awfully cute although I have since given them to a friend who at sixty does not need new knees! They were new and I saw they were $130 in a shop in Westfield Bondi Junction, I bought them for $7. The fabric on the inside of the shoe is satin and absolutely stunning! The handbag is another that I had seen in Tree Of Life in Westfield Bondi Junction and was ecstatic to find in my local thrift shop for $3. So a stunning set for $10…that is spectacular.

Oh and in the middle photo is my son Christopher…isn’t he gorgeous? oh and I found that photo frame at my local shop too and if you look closely you may see a few of my coloured glass vases.

Thrift Find

handbag

Luckily I found this wonderful padded jacket at a charity shop as it is toatally freezing here…the WYD pilgrims were indeed fortunate that they were sleeping out last week not this one…it has rained almost all day today and absolutely stormed overnight. Very good for the drought but making it quite chilly. I am sitting here in my coral fleece dressing gown as well as a fleece blanket and the convention heater is on 1200 watts…we cannot go any higher than that or it blows our entire unit’s power supply!

I love this silk handbag which I also found but will not be using it in the rainy conditions in case it gets ruined. I saw this bag a year or so ago in The Tree of Life store in Westfield Bondi Junction so was delighted to find it. The book is one my husband found for me…I love vintage and indeed any kind of jewellery and it looks a treat against the creamish off white of the handbag. The whole lot goes so well together that it is going into the flickr group which has colour themes and thrift shopping!

Okay the bag was $5 as new and the book $4 and the padded jacket as new from Myer was $8….a good haul!

This is a quilt I made in 2005 with upholstery fabrics. It was inspired by the Kaffe Fassett book Glorious Patchwork ….Page 115, where he had made a remarkable pair of curtains. The book may be available in libraries for people who do not have a copy. As this quilt only has 25 blocks it was quite simple to organise the fabrics. The main thing is to get fairly monotone fabrics.

I found a curtain panel remnant in spotlight which was the main influence in the choice of other fabrics. This quilt has wadding inside to make it soft and puffy and it was tied with crochet cotton and has the same fabric on the back of the quilt as the feature fabric. The quilt is quite rich in tones in real life and is now living with a friend that I met that year. When first was invited to her house I was astonished to find that her drawing room had little embroidered antique chairs in similar tones as wellas leather sofas in beige leather. After a few days I showed her the quilt and she petted and stroked it and went very quiet. Several days later I brought the quilt to her saying that it would be used in her home whereas it was simply in storage in ours. She took me shopping a few days later to buy enough fabric to make a new quilt and also treated me to lunch. The family have been told that the quilt is only for her, quite an honour as she lives in her house surrounded by quilts.

I am collecting fabric now to make the set of curtains as I love the drama and lushness of them…..dripping with fringing and positively gleaming with textures, getting excited thinking about it now.

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