The chill inspires!

Well so much for the fun foray into all things digital and technological! Despite best laid plans the podcast never made it to air this Saturday! We were just all so busy having fun! It would have seemed churlish to interrupt the flow of creative ideas!

One of our regulars decided to cut out yet another project! We're going to have to check what she is doing with all of these cut-outs! This time she was using an actual pattern not a much loved item from her wardrobe! She utilises a delightful technique of placing plates upside down on her pattern to keep it in place on her fabric rather than pinning. It is certainly much quicker but I don't trust myself to be able to cut out the patterns without the pieces moving! Maybe I just need sharper scissors! Looking forward to how these pieces come together!

I was delighted when a newcomer announced she had been following our progress all year on our blog! (It makes one feel a bit warm and fuzzy to know that folk are following our progress and I'm not just talking to myself in blogland!! Please feel free to add your thoughts so we know you are there!) Finally the stars aligned and she was able to join us in person not just spirit! A couple of trips to the car and the sewing machine, overlocker and associated accessories were in place ready for action! As our tables are a great size and on castors so that they can be placed in the best lighting, they are ideal for for cutting out and sewing up projects. There's plenty of room to have the sewing machine and overlocker out ready for action. For a self-confessed beginner she produced a delightful little skirt for some lucky little girl.

Our crotchet expert continued to work on squares which are destined for a quilt for some charity organisation - I've forgotten the details - will try to write them down next time! It's a great way to share one's skills with others who are not having such a great life experience at present! Apparently this social sewer is interested in crazy quilting too. One of the library books on this topic could help stir the creative pot!

Our 'FOML expert in all things fabric', thought she'd get some time to work on her digital scrapbook as her deadline for this project is fast approaching! However.... our regular cross-stitcher decided to walk on the wild side and buy a beginners????? quilt project kit. She has always had a yen to try a quilt and somewhat naively thought a kit might a good starting point! For someone who has sewn most of her life this was a foray into a surprisingly completely alien world! Thank heavens for our 'FOML expert in all things fabric'!

The kit was rather full of surprises! The fabric was not cut into the required pieces! The instructions for cutting the pieces was written in 'quiltese'! Shock! Horror! Quilts are worked in imperial measurements - such things as inches, quarter inches, eighths of inches  - not a decimal in sight! The list of necessities that were not included in the kit was a source of dismay. 'FOML expert in all things fabric' now morphs into 'knight in shining armour' and makes mercy dash home to her quilt factory and brings back such necessities as an iron, a cutting board, a cutting wheel, a tape measure to mention a few.

'FOML expert in all things fabric' now translates the 'beginner' quilt instructions. Cross-stitcher now quite cross-eyed and completely beyond working in imperial measurements! Quite dismayed to learn that quilting requires precision!  Cross-stitcher now needing to channel Peter Brock's advice - 'always bite off more than you can chew and then chew like mad!' Eventually after some therapeutic ironing and some origami style folding by 'FOML expert quilter', cross-stitcher calmed and set on track to start cutting six-inch squares the quilter's way - a seriously sharp wheel not scissors! Apprentice quilter now applying much grunt and carefully cutting first strips and then squares. Concentrating....concentrating... oops! loss of mental application and off the cutting wheel skews! Now definitely not a square! 'FOML expert in all things fabric' now 'expert in all things psychological'! Apparently this is not the end of the world and there is still the definite possibility of a quilt at the end of these squares, not-so-squares and strips!

OMG! It's past 4 o'clock! Do we really have to pack up?

Certainly looking forward to the next instalment in what appears to be the beginning of a quilt-making saga! It was so much fun to be part of such productive and creative socialising on Saturday!  If you'd like to join us - we meet next at Gordon White Library Community Meeting Room at 1pm on Saturday 26 July. Just bring your project along or bring your library card and borrow some of the great craft resources to get you started.

I might just borrow a couple of 'Handmade' magazines just to keep the inspiration flowing!

Make the most of this amazing weather and keep on stitching!

Last Saturday of the month means it's Social Sewing Saturday!

Why is it that as the weather cools one wants to get sewing! The chill seems to bring the creative juices to the surface! The mind begins to whirr and the fingers begin to itch for a needle and thread!

I heard a great show on By Design on Radio National back on 31 May and am hoping to share it with you all tomorrow! It's all about downloading your paper patterns and printing them at home!

It will require some technological dexterity and that will be a monumental challenge but nothing ventured nothing gained! I do have some of the paper patterns that were prepared earlier!

In case you can't get to Gordon White Library Community Meeting Room, tomorrow at 1 pm here is a preview.


Looking forward to seeing what projects are going to pop up for viewing and discussion!

See you all tomorrow!

Just itchin' to do some stitchin'!

May's second Social Sewing Saturday

There were a few projects on the go on Saturday. We had a follow-up on one of the projects from our early May meeting. Unfortunately the wonderfully made-over skirt did not meet with daughter's style-guide so mother is now engaged in therapeutic unpicking which despite utilising a quick-unpick is never quick! Discussion among fellow sewers brought up a few solutions to the problem so we look forward  to viewing  the next model.

Another favourite blouse is waiting in the wings to be replicated. The much-loved top was pulled this way and that in an effort to flatten it and draw an outline onto some pattern paper which hopefully heralds the beginning of a new 'favourite' blouse.

There was much envious discussion about a member's visit to a delightful fabric store on the Sunshine Coast. This sewer's heaven often features in Dressmaking with Stitches magazine so there was a distinct green tone to the discussion.

A newcomer was hard-pressed to believe that enthusiastic sewers cart their sewing machines along on SSS to continue working on their projects.We assured that this certainly was the case. To tide her over, she had brought along some knitting and some crochet and worked between the two projects as her fancy took her.

Another newcomer thought she'd sample the social part of SSS first and came along to socialise and thus become inspired. I'm not sure whether it's a reflection of our group or not but she seemed to think that a crazy patchwork project to use up some of her scraps might be a good starting point.

Our resident cross-stitcher soldiers on with the outlining of her project. As regards time consumption the kit has certainly been a worthwhile investment. It looks set to occupy her for some time yet. SSS seems to be the only gap in her timetable when progress on the project can be made.

I heard a great program on Radio National on Saturday morning discussing downloading and printing patterns from the internet. Unfortunately I reached my destination before the program finished so I'm investigating whether there is a possible podcast of the program which we could listen to at our next 'sewcialise'.

Our next opportunity to sew and socialise is at 1pm on Saturday 28 June at Gordon White Library's Community Meeting Room.

Happy sewing or unpicking - both are great for the soul!??