Oh, didn't I mention?

I made another quilt!

I was sitting on my bed a few weeks ago, thinking about what pattern I was going to use for the queen size quilt I wanted to make for my bed. It's going to be in red, black and white with a bit of grey mixed in. I was there pondering the delicious fabrics I had and their light and dark values, and realising I may need some more light value stuff I pulled out the bag of fabric and started to sort. In the middle of this sorting, I realised I have some totally gorgeous fabrics in colours OTHER than red, black and purple, and wondered if I could make a nice quilt without using these 3 colours.

Starting with a cute Moda fabric that had green and blue birds eggs on it, I started to build up a little pile of complementing fabrics. Beige, brown, greens, blues...even an oriental fabric in tan and teal with metallic gold highlights. I decided that I wanted to give the "string" style of quilt blocks a go, so I cut the fabric into strips and got stuck in. The first block was great, so I did more.



After a while, I ran out of patience. I liked the piecing on paper thing, but it was pretty time consuming and I tend to lose interest if I haven't made discernible progress after a few days. So instead of the original idea I had of making a wavy chevron style pattern with the squares, I made the quilt much smaller and made 9 big blocks instead. I had to buy the chocolate brown and solid teal fabrics as I didn't have them already, but I loved how these colours look together and may use them more in the future.




This quilt is small, about 140cm square, which is big enough to have it on the couch and just snuggle under or use as a pillow or what have you. (Mostly, it's just beautifying the couch, the suede is very unforgiving but it was a freebie so hey, I shouldn't complain!) I really like how it looks, the only problem is I made some of the seams too small and there are a few little seams that have popped open already after the boys "rough-housed" on the couch the other day. I'll fix it, soon, it's just too bloody hot at the moment to have it on me. And then next time, I'll just make it with a bigger seam allowance. Problem solved!

This month, it's quilts.

Yep, it's true. Crochet has been put on hold for a while as I indulge my love of fabrics. I've always looked at quilts and thought, "Wow I'd love to make one of those...but it looks hard!" I guess that's because I hate measuring and calculating and blah blah blah. I'm not so fantastic at maths but I go all right, it's just that for some reason I seem to screw things up when I'm trying to be precise. You know that saying, "Measure twice, cut once" (shut up, it IS so a saying!) well in my case it's more like, "Measure thrice, cut once, measure again then swear like a sailor since you're just that little bit under as to make a total hash of it". Ok that saying will never catch on but eh, that's what happens around here.

Anyways, it all started with the quilt that I gave my mother for Christmas:




I'd cut up the squares for myself originally, with the intention of making a queen-size quilt for my bed. Ambitious for a beginner, I know, which is why it landed itself in the "unfinished objects" pile after I sewed together about 20 squares. There it stayed for the best part of a year. Then with Christmas approaching I thought, "Hey that'd make a nice little lap quilt! I'd just have to back it with something..." and not long after I saw a polar fleece throw at Ikea for about $6. So I bought one, sewed it onto the squares with some shiny metallic thread, and before I knew it - I was in love with this little guy! Of course, from that love was born a new crafting obsession.

So my brother-in-law's girlfriend got one for Christmas too. As did my son, his was different - my first attempt at a proper 3-layer quilt with wadding. He chose colours, I just put it together:




I went with a simple pattern for ease, yet somehow I managed to screw it up too. The squares aren't all perfectly square, I blame my hand-cut fabric for this. I have now invested in a rotary cutter, a few quilts too late I think, but my "slicie" as I've been calling him, is my new friend. He helped me create this quilt for my best bud's birthday:



I really like this one! Originally, I didn't like it so much. There was none of the black sashing and all those fabrics together just looked way too busy. So in the fashion of pretty much everything I make, I had to change something at the last moment to rescue it from the brink of ugliness. I think I achieved that goal.

Very little of what I make ends up like I originally planned. I think in this way, my crafting has helped me to adapt better, and go with the flow. I'm usually an all-or-nothing kind of person, where it has to be a certain way or I want no part of it. Control freak, I hear you say? I'm not so much of a control freak, as someone who has a vision and can't rest until it's realised. But making something with my own hands...I guess it shows me that even when something is in my control it still doesn't always go how I expected. A very good lesson that translates into life.

Long time, no...something.

Hey y'all,

It's been a while since I blogged last. In fact, over a year. Oh. Well anyway, lots has happened in the last 12 months so instead of trying to go back and talk about everything I've done since then, I think I'll just start from now and refer back to things I made last year.

Prepare to embark on a crafting voyage!

Soft squishy friends

I don't know what's happened to me recently, but I look at the toys around for kids and think, "What a load of garbage!" It could be that they really ARE garbage, what with their one intended use that allows minimal imagination, the likelihood that they're made in China with lead based paints, or the fact that I am slowly turning into a cross between the mother from Malcolm in the Middle and an angry Nana. Take your pick, they're all in some part true.

Anyways, I decided that I'd make a few soft toys for Christmas for the kiddies. Here's my first few toys:



The pirate kitty - looks kinda like a little devil!




"Peanut Girl"




Pillow-y dollface thingy



Lovabun

I like them, they're different. And squishy!

Just like Nana used to make!

I've finished a few more presents for Christmas, these ones are of the old school "Nana crochet" variety. No, they're not tea cozies but almost as good as.

First up is an Aussie football scarf. Look at that green and gold goodness! The funky tassles! This is crochet as it's been for generations...well, at least the generations that support football. Yay team! I'm not a fan of tassles, but this was a gift and it was requested that they be added.




Ok, this is classic Nana crochet, but for good reason. How useful is a hanging hand towel? All right, no need to answer, it was meant to be rhetorical. Anyway, I love these things and I reckon they make a perfect little gift for someone, especially as a housewarming present. I see a lot of them at craft markets, but they're made with tea towels cut or folded in half. I like to use the thick, high quality cotton face washers, they're very absorbent and soft (tea towels can be quite scratchy) and come in some awesome colours. I bought some face washers with the printed jaquard pattern on them (you know, cut away in the shape of a flower with a flower printed over the top, giving it a 3D effect?) so that I can make some ultra-retro funky ones.

Something edible!

Ok, today I'm going to post something OTHER than fabric or fibre crafts. Mmm, rocky road! I just gave my very basic recipe to my friend and thought, well since I've just written it up I should blog it. So, here is the *recipe* I use but keep in mind, I change it every time I make it. This is perfect to make then pop in a nice tin or container as a Christmas present. Or, you know, you could just eat it yourself. Whatever, I'm not the boss of you.

- approx. 400g of chocolate
- approx 200-250g of marshmallows
- half bag of red licorice
- selection of nuts & peanuts (cashews are our favourite)
- some sultanas or craisins (dried cranberries) or other dried fruits
- desiccated coconut

Line a small baking tin or tray (like a loaf pan?) with greaseproof paper. Melt just less than half of the chocolate (I use the double-boiler method on the stove, a big bowl sitting over a pan of steaming hot water, but if you're confident in not burning the choc you can do it in the microwave) then dribble some on the baking paper in the tray. Start to lay down a foundation of marshmallows, licorice, nuts and dried fruit in the melted choc and when that's done, pour over some more melted chocolate. Sprinkle some coconut and some more of the smaller ingredients like the nuts and fruit, and dribble the rest of the chocolate over the top. Then make another layer of the bigger stuff like the marshmallows and licorice, and melt the rest of the choc. Just continue to make layers of the choc and the other ingredients until you've used up all the choc. Stick it in the fridge for a few hours, then you can use a big-arse knife to cut it into the size pieces you like.

Obviously, you can use half the amount of ingredients to make a smaller batch, but in my experience with Greg and myself (and a little help from Dylan too!) it's so good that even using the big block of choc, the batch doesn't last very long. Gone in just over a week?? I usually cut the licorice pieces in half before I put them in because Greg likes to have a little bit of everything in each piece, and I have to say it looks really pretty when you cut it in half. I've also used choc orange chocolate before, which was really good! You could really put anything in there that can be choc dipped, maybe even some crushed biscuit chunks? I used up a few leftover pieces of smashed choc honeycomb in the last batch I made. The key is, quality ingredients will give you a quality result. I made the mistake of using cheap marshmallows on the first batch I made and it was rubbish! I haven't done that again.

I can tell that we are gonna be friends!

Well, here it is in all it's finished glory - the red white and black blanket! I thought the dramas I had with this one would end my love affair with crochet, but now that it's done and sent off to it's intended recipient (and if this is YOU then please act shocked when you open it!) I have to say, I'm really happy with it.

So now that we're all friends again, let me explain from the beginning why this blanket nearly drove me up the wall.

The original concept was simple: a blanket made up of 9 squares (50cm each) so it would be 150cm square. It was to be in different tones of red, black, white, grey and burgundy. Each square would be made using a different crochet technique, so that it had a patchwork feel to it.

The first square to be completed was the skull square. I'd seen a pattern on Flickr (thanks to underthevalley http://www.flickr.com/photos/nat_neko/3456699344/ ) and wanted to give it a go, and so I did. I loved the result but decided I didn't care for making picture designs in crochet as there are far, far too many ends to weave in. And we all know how I feel about end-weaving! So I went back to my list and changed the few squares that would require much end-weaving. The only one I left was the square with the wording, I figured I was writing block letters and the end-weaving was minimal, so I wrote myself a pattern for the words and got stuck in. I learned that it doesn't matter if you're working in straight lines or doing small patches of colour, there's still a hell of a lot of little fluffy end bits that need seeing too. Hmm, let's re-assess the patterns, I say.

Next was a black and white checkerboard patterned square (which sadly, didn't make the final cut). I decided I'd make it like 5 little scarves, alternating between black and white after so many rows, then stitching them together side-by-side at the end. I thought it would would quicker than making granny squares and stitching them together, and there would be less ends. True, there were less ends. But it wasn't quicker and the end result was a square that wasn't actually square but rectangular. Bum.

So, feeling peeved I started on the mitred square and was pleased with how it looked. It's a great pattern and nicely geometric, but when I laid it out with the squares and rectangle I'd already done, I decided that geometric shapes need balance and symmetry, so I had to complete 3 more to make the corner squares. However, I ran out of the yarn I was using and had to use different yarn on the 4th square. No big drama, *recipient* won't notice, right? Just keep going...

Next was a gorgeous square made from 9 granny squares out of the Jan Eaton "200 crochet blocks" book, in the red, white, grey, black and burgundy colour combo I had originally intended. It's pretty, I think. However, you may notice it's not part of the final blanket.

So now I'm up to 8 of 9 of the squares. Good, I'm on the home stretch now and I just need one more square to finish it off and hooray! we're done. I decide to make a nice striped square with the same colours of the Jan Eaton squares so that they all tie in to one another. It worked up quickly and again, I think it looks lovely.

I clear the loungeroom floor of everything and lay out the squares, but I don't think it looks right. After about 15 minutes of "what if I swap that one with this, and rotate that one like this...." I look to my husband and say, "It sucks and I hate it". To which he tactfully answers, "It doesn't suck baby, just...have you tried...?" and suggested the layouts I'd previously tried. Nothing. I sighed, picked up the checkerboard square and say "It's all your fault, you just don't fit in!!" and toss it in the spare room. Again, it's the symmetry that bothers me. It just isn't balanced and I need to find something similar to the skull because then it'll be even and it'll be perfect.

I need something gothy, something punk and symbolic...hours of fruitless internet searching yields nothing but a migraine that leaves me blind in the right eye. There's nothing for it but to write my own pattern. Gasp! Hence the ankh pattern was born, and I stitched it up and was well impressed with the result. (See previous post for patterns).

Then, looking at the squares laid out again, I turn to my husband and say "The squares with the grey have to go - but what will take their place?" Unfortunately, he's an xbox man and doesn't know much about crochet (other than, it's what I do!), so I jump back on the internet and search for free patterns. After a day of seaching, I decide I'm willing to pay for something. Another day, no results. Bugger it. So, I create the crow pattern. I stitch him up and I'm happy with that one too. Although, I did realise about 3/4 of the way through I'd used 12 ply yarn while I'd been using 8 ply previously. Probably had something to do with the yarn band being in German or Dutch or something. Hmm. Oh well I'm almost done now!

The last square. This is it, the final showdown. I was going to try a dragon pattern I had, but pulled it undone 3 times and decided it just wasn't going to work. The problem is, I like to work in double crochet (trebles for UK terminology) so this messes with the patterns. I do 2 doubles per one stitch on the chart when working across, but only one for the height since it's a double and is already twice the height. This means that the design ends up being a little fatter than the chart represents, or a little shorter than it's supposed to be. This was the reason I dismissed the awesome pentagram design from Sooticas Dream on Flickr ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/sooticasdream/3476198617/) because it'd mess with it too much. Then I had a brilliant idea. I'd work the pattern from the side, so that it stretched it up instead of out. Success!

Then yesterday, I laid it out and thought "Yes, this is it!" and whip stitched those suckers together, then finished off with a border of white single crochet. It's done, as of 12.35am last night. I posted it off this morning, and now I am happy again. Next project please!!