Rubber Mesh

My favourite play thing from yesterday’s “play day” was a rubber mesh pot mat that Erica picked up from a $2 shop. It worked well both as a stamp and for rubbing:

New Camera

I have a genetic predisposition for accumulating cameras. For a while, I’ve been planning on getting a camera small enough to fit in the side pocket of my pistachio travel organiser and compatible with my existing digital camera equipment. I was able to purchase this model when I was in New Zealand:

An excursion to Muriwai Beach on the west coast from Auckland was an opportunity to try it out:

One day, I plan on getting a digital SLR but my new camera complements the 12x zoom that I already have and will be ideal for travelling.

Home (phew)

I’m taking a break from the Sydney Quilt Show today, returning home to Casa da Praia to pick up the car so that I can collect my allocation of quilts when the show closes tomorrow.

It’s also an opportunity to test the “Super Satchel” that I purchased on Day 2 of the show. My Rasant threads seem quite at home and happy to be all together again after being housed in a collection of boxes. I’m pleased too with the Handi-Bobs that I purchased from Punch with Judy. I’ve been intrigued with these gizmos since I first read about them on Lisa Call’s blog. Unfortunately, they don’t clip onto cardboard spools but they do work very well with my other threads on plastic spools and will help me keep my threads and bobbins organised.

 

Quilt Show - Day 2

Thankfully, day 2 of the Sydney Quilt Show proved to be less frenetic than set-up and opening days. I was called in to do a morning of demonstrating machine quilting, something I really enjoy doing as I get to chat to everyone who stops by and to answer their questions. I also sneaked out to peruse the stalls in the marketplace. Today’s big purchase was an Artbin Super Satchel thread carrier from www.crafttainers.com.au.

If it works when I pop home on Saturday, I may just have to buy another on Sunday.

360 Degrees

I bought a 60 degree triangle ruler on sale more than five years ago. That it was absolutely essential that I try it out TODAY for the first time (when I have 1001 things to do for the Sydney Quilt Show) is testament to the seductive power of a classic design.

(Guess which quilt caught my eye yesterday at The Cottage Quiltworks.)

Bounty

I may have returned home without my car but I made sure that I took my shopping with me. A selection of 1000m spools of polyester thread purchased from Win On Trading in Canley Vale (thanks to the tip off from Lisa) along with a 5000m spool of lime thread. (After all, you can never have too much lime thread.)

I found the 250ml and 500ml squeeze bottles at the Essential Ingredient at Crows Nest while I was killing time waiting for my car to be repaired. My last set of bottles leaked at the neck but these ones seem to be much more functional. I can’t wait to try them out on my next dyeing day.
    

Before & After

It’s a year since I first wore a hole in my “Buttercup” ironing board cover. Things have deteriorated somewhat since then and today I finally replaced the cover with its “French Blue” cousin:
  
I’ve been using Interface Australia covers since David first found them in a market in Mudgee over ten years ago on a wine tasting weekend. For the year ending 30 June 2008, if you quote the code “QG 25″ when purchasing Interface Australia products, they will donate 20% of the sale (excluding postage) to the Quilters’ Guild Community Quilts project. For your assistance, here is an Order Form.

Compartments

Boohoo! In a moment of machine quilting frenzy, I inadvertently swept my favourite knick-knack container onto the floor, breaking the lid hinge in the process. I’ve purchased a replacement container but it’s just not the same. To demonstrate my point, I bring to you Exhibit One:

In the foreground, you can see my old container, complete with:

• a handy long compartment for marking tools, scissors and pens; and
• another handy compartment big enough to hold spare rotary cutter blades and a container of glass head pins.

At the back is its lesser cousin. All small rectangular compartments and only one “big” compartment that cannot fit scissors, pencils, blades or pins. Woe is me.

Postscript: In case you’re wondering, this is my magic container that I take to workshops with me. Hence the panadol, bandaids and cotton buds…

Not so nifty notions

When you live a fair distance from a well-stocked specialty patchwork and quilting store, the marketplace at events such as the Sydney Quilt Show has extra appeal.

I may not return home with quite the same haul as Helen’s foray at Quilts UK but I do cruise the aisles with intent and invariably come home with a bag of goodies from vendors such as The Thread Studio and Punch with Judy. And of course I can’t go past Dyed & Gone to Heaven without picking up a scrap bag or two to supplement my own dyeing endeavours.

I try to be selective and discerning in my purchases but sometimes I goof. Fallling into the “it seemed like a good idea at the time” category are such items as:

• Strip Piecing Rulers - a set of six 23 inch perpex rulers, ranging in width from one to three inches, which I thought would be perfect for making this jacket pattern. Alas these rulers are no substitute for a decent 24×6inch ruler which sits flat and even across the full width your fabric and doesn’t move around;
• 10″ block Seven Sisters Templates - I know I wanted a hand piecing project for travelling but the diamonds on this beauty are only one inch across. Who did I think I was kidding?!; and
• The Curvemaster Foot (sorry Caity!) which never quite lived up to the hype, at least not on my machine with this operator, although I can sew a mean curve with my regular quarter inch foot.

If you have ever suffered an attack of gadgetitis with ill effect, I’d love to hear your story!

(Sorry no photos today. Photos would mean having to clear my workspace which is currently covered in Quilt Show paperwork.)

Playing by the Rules

Now just because I enjoy free-cutting and freeform piecing does not mean that I take shortcuts on workmanship. Nor does it mean that I airily dismiss the skills required for precision piecing. We should all take the time to work on core quiltmaking techniques so that we have the skill set to execute the many quilt ideas that come into our heads whether traditional or contemporary style.

Although I am not a great gadget afficionado, there are some tools around that actually work. One that comes to mind is the Pineapple Rule from The Great American Quilt Factory in Denver, Colorado:

I’ve yet to make a Pineapple log cabin style block with it but the ruler is BRILLIANT for trimming up Square in a Square and Flying Geese blocks. I used this ruler to good effect in Vintage: