2018 Goals & update

Happy New Year  

2018 Goals - my year of 4’s

• Spend more time with hubby and put the ‘4-second’ rule into action - Did you know that it only takes 4 seconds to look at a person when they talk to you for them to appreciate and recognize that you are taking notice of them and that they are important to you at that moment.
• Make 4 things for each of my 4 children - I have so many things that my mum and dad made for me, that I treasure, and I want to pass that same love on to my kiddlywinks.
• Complete the crazy patchwork quilt that I started 4 years ago.
• Play some more with freeform bobbin lace and weaving.
• Knitting - I want to learn more than just the basic stitch, and stop being afraid of knitting.
• Make a start on My NZ Dolls House - aka 'Pilli Pala' - and the furnishings within.
• Work on 4 of my embroidery WIP’s. I’ll be happy if I get even one of these 4 finished.

That’s my lot….. apart from all the crochet projects that are a part of my ‘normal’ daily life too.

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Here are some of the projects that I finished in the last couple of months of 2017 and didn't get to post on here about.

Debra the Zebra Firberart- freeform crochet, bobbin lace, & weaving.

I made my Rock Pool bigger and better, and finished it in time for the Regional Embroiderers Guild show, where it won 1st place in the 3D category.... woohoo... go me.

A decorative freeform crochet box.

I've a YouTube video of it HERE where you can see the whole thing better.

A couple of woolly hats for His'n'Hers' Christmas pressies.

The one on the left is a pony tail beanie.

And this is the beginning of a mandala blanket.

Whatever you do in 2018 make sure you have FUN.

Happy Stitching

2014 - Plans - Ideas - Goals - Dreams

Hi everyone, I'm back from my hols, and raring to stitch.

Plans, Ideas, Goals & Dreams

This year I am going to make another crazy quilt.

It will differ from my last one in a few ways; colour, style, theme, and process.

My colour scheme this year is going to be from 
purple through pinks, reds, oranges, yellows and golds 
and will probably include some black, white and neutrals too.

The style will be slightly traditional in its overall look but probably will not be labelled traditional, and may even be classed as contemporary. 

Perhaps "rustic" or "naive" might fit what I have in mind for it.

Those of you who know me well will know that Free Form Stitching will play a big part in the crazy quilt too.

As for the theme - it will be  Straight From The Heart 

with a hint of love, 

so hearts, flowers, birds, doves, music,

names, monograms, poems, quotes & symbols,

will be included in the embroidery and embellishing, hopefully without too much gush or frills.

THE PROCESS of creating the Crazy Quilt (bed quilt) 

will be a different way of working for me. 

I have thought, long and hard, about what other commitments I have this year, and how I am going to get my stitching fix when I am travelling back and forth to Hawkes Bay with the house moving process (which we anticipate will take us most of the year to sort out).

So I have planned a crazy quilt that I can create in small pieces each week (small enough to keep in my handbag) and then, hopefully once a month, attach each small piece to a bed-sized whole-cloth backing fabric.

Oh, a couple of other things about these small  STITCHERIES  - 
They will be of irregular shapes and sizes as befits a crazy quilt. 
The background fabric will have to fit into a 6" embroidery hoop. 
The motifs & symbols etc. will be stitched all over them before being attached to the backing, butting up against the straight edge of the next Stitchery. 
Straight running stitch will be used to attach the Stitcheries to the backing. 
Raw edges will be showing.

This is what I have managed so far over the last two weeks while we were in Hawkes Bay.

I started with a heart that I appliqued with blanket stitch to a dusky pink velvet base fabric, then hand stitched a meander over the heart, and added some raised circles in pink.

I crocheted a couple of flower shapes. 

Then added the heart outline, latticework, another crochet shape, buttons, beads and French Knots etc.

Week One complete. 

Week Two started with another heart, but a braid one this time.

Then came a swirly thing in pink and black, and another latticework pattern that was inspired and developed from the pattern on the fabric.

A random bit of crocheting created the appliqued purple piece.

Then came some Lazy Daisy flowers to fill the empty space on the right.

Both of these stitcheries are about 5 inches square. I will cut them in different shapes with 3, 4, 5, or 6 sides, depending on what shape is needed to fit all the Stitcheries onto my backing fabric.

I anticipate making at least one small Stitchery each week, sometimes more than one if I have time. This means that I will have something to show each week, hopefully.

And I will have a goal of attaching a months worth of Stitcheries to the backing for a 

 monthly reveal , 

and to show how the quilt is progressing.

Other projects for the year include:

The annual challenge for a Freeform Fiberart work - theme this year is One Colour, 

Deadline = 1 May.

Edit and create the official book for the above challenge. 

Deadline = 1 June.

Learn how to tat.

Make crocheted garments and publish more patterns for my Etsy shop and Ravelry.

De-clutter the house to make it presentable to prospective purchasers.

I think I have a busy year ahead.

Big Progress on CQJP's

Busy, busy, busy, stitching, designing, sewing ~~ sewing, designing, stitching, busy, busy, busy.

Arranging the Crazy Quilt 2012 blocks.

The design that I liked best was having the twelve blocks around a centre panel. I had originally planned to have the centre panel as one whole piece of fabric in a colour that was used in the embellishing on the main blocks, namely teal or turquoise.

After auditioning many fabrics in that colour range I changed my mind (I'm allowed to do that).

They were all too strong and powerful and dominated the quilt.

After spending a whole year hand stitching these 12 blocks, I do not want the centre panel to be the focus, so I opted for making four more crazy blocks for the centre but in the muted white/greys that are a part of the main blocks.

So, over the last couple of days I have machined 4 crazy quilt blocks, but so far only hand stitched on one of them. I should have the other 3 hand stitched in the next few days, and then I can start sewing the blocks together.

Here are the 4 white/grey blocks.

Work on that crazy quilt continues .

Designing the Crazy Quilt 2013 blocks

Last year was great. 

I worked through my chosen 'limited' colour scheme and theme, and completed each of the 9" blocks with loads (and loads) of hand stitching, texture, beads and other embellishments. 

I enjoyed every moment of it......

but, oh boy, it was hard work keeping up with all that hand stitching.

This year........I'm changing the PACE 

This year..... I am in URGENT need of some colour in my life

This year.... I am going to use all the BRIGHT colours in the colour wheel
This year.... I will not use any DARK shades of any colour

This year..... I will NOT be using embellishments

This year.... I will use only THREADS on the blocks

This year.... I will use my SEWING machine more

This year..... the blocks will NOT be square

This year.... the 'blocks' will be a few DIFFERENT shapes and sizes
This year.... I will use only use fabric that is in my STASH, I'm not to buy any more fabric

This year..... I am going MINIMALIST

This year.... I will create a very NON-TRADITIONAL crazy quilt 

This year.... I am aiming for it to be an ART quilt, of sorts(!!)

This year .... I'm creating a bigger CHALLENGE for myself

Ok, so who picked up on the 'minimalist' bit, haha.

Are you wondering how a crazy quilt can be minimalist ~~~ so am I ~~~ but I'm going to give it a try anyway, lol. I need to spend less time on this quilt than I did on last years quilt, because I have other projects and 'deadlines' that take priority this year.

In my previous post I showed you the fabrics that I will be using.
So, using those fabrics (and I have since added some purples to the mixing pot) here are my first two "bare shapes" for this quilt. 
The black outer bit is only a card template at this moment, just to give you (and me) an idea of how the final shape of these particular blocks will look, so it may (or may not) not be black in the final work.
Each one measures roughly 11" x 5" at it's widest and longest points.

This year.... I am going to have some FUN.


And now...... on to TAST 2013

This is going to be a completely separate project from the quilt.

It will take the form of a wall hanging, and, again I want to use lots of BRIGHT colours.
I will make (create) the surface of the background from wool, and fiber, and fabric.
There will be NO design element for the stitches. 
It will be totally random. 

CHANCE will determine every aspect of this.
I will take whatever TAST stitch occurs each week - that is the first RANDOM aspect to happen that I have no control over.
And then.......every placement, every thread, every fiber, every stitch, every characteristic, every style - will be taken by chance, and will be innovative, fresh and contemporary.
I have a plan of how to achieve this, but as this post has already become an 'epic' novel, I shall save that detail for another post.


So there you have MY GOALS for 2013. 

Having now put it down in writing, I am accountable.
Here's to a BUSY year ahead.

Happy Stitching