Blah Blah Basting

The problem with basting is that, much like being sick, it's boring and uninteresting and no-one cares.

Still, it's the first crafting I've done in ages, with the exception of the statistical anomaly that was the holiday quilt, and I figure it's a good place to start. Spotlight had 30% off today so I got myself some batting, and a 108cm wide quilt can handily be backed by a single width of quilt fabric. Of course, I have no idea how I'm going to quilt it, since it's a very odd design that really needs an all-over free motioning, but, um, I still can't do that. I even gave it another quick try today, and I've got the shapes down pat, and my stitches don't vary too much in length, but the tension on the back is still utterly utterly horrible, and I'm still too cheap or lazy or both to get it serviced. I might end up doing wavy lines in both directions à la the pavement quilts, since that looks like an all-over while actually being a side to side, but, baby steps.

And on the voice thing, it's baby steps on that too. I have some vowel sounds. This is progress. I'd probably make more progress if I didn't keep going in to work, but they keep guilt-tripping me. Tonight I did reversion - basically taking down all the old specials tickets so new ones can go up tomorrow. I answered any customer queries with obscure hand gestures and interpretative dance. I hope one of them was a mystery shopper, because I'd love to read their review of my silent service.

Nah Uh.

The great thing about quilting (the sewing through three layers thing) is that it's something you can just do. If you're designing and piecing, you need to get out the iron, and clear off your cutting mat, and find a rotary cutter and all that stuff. If you've got some quilting to be done, you baste and you get going.

Unfortunately, what you do need is batting. And I appear to be all out. It's been a while since I've done any actual quilting (as evidenced by all the un-quilted tops hanging from my curtains) and I had forgotten that I was pretty much out. And Spotlight is persisting in not having it on super amazing special.

So clearly, it's totally not my fault I just watched 7 DVD commentaries instead.

Favourite Things Friday

Ah, Friday. Well, technically it's Saturday now, but whatever. I love Fridays. I love how I never have to work on Fridays. I love how I could sleep all day on Fridays, though to be honest after this week I'm kinda bored with the sleeping.

Things I'm not bored with - Spotlight bargains. Apologies to any international visitors and I really ought to point out that I don't work for them (any more) so this isn't advertising but cheap stuff is cheap stuff. And this week batting in particular is very, very cheap, so even though I bought 5 metres last week (when it was still cheap, but not as cheap as it is now) today I lay-by'd another 7 metres for $60 - about $8.55 a metre. And layby is great when you're stockpiling, cause they handle the storage for a couple of months. So, cheap 254cm wide cozy cotton = good.

After not touching my sewing machine for a whole week (I was busy with the sleeping) I decided tonight to clean it out. It was both fascinating and disgusting. I highly recommend it, especially if you have an old (47 years) machine like I do. The fact that people with only pencils could design it all and make it work as well as it does without even the use of a small pocket calculator is pretty amazing. And the fact that I pulled about a half a kilo of fuzz out of it was kinda ick. Also, there appears to be a small lake of oil in the bottom. But the only screwdriver I could find couldn't get me down to that bit, so I left it. Nonetheless, interesting engineering + satisfaction of a machine that's no longer making nasty groany noises = good.

And tonight I had a finish - after it was all clean I got to quilting the bike quilt I made a couple of weeks ago.

I did it with wavy lines that I did by moving the quilt back and forth instead of just letting the needle do it and I trimmed the batting beforehand so I could do it with a self binding. Even though the back is just calico, it looks bloody good with the quilt lines. I'm gunna do this style of quilting more often.

Unfortunately, the foot pedal on my machine decided to break with about 5 lines to go, but I have spares. The one I got was a) at the bottom of a sister's cupboard and b) an actual Elna one, which isn't as nice to use as my Frankenstein'd Singer one. But it's tough to get your dad to fix stuff for you at 1am. I'm still gunna blame the couple of slightly too-wide lines that I did last on the foot pedal. Also, it makes the entire machine sound different. I think. I may be tripping. But 1am resourcefulness to get a quilt finished = good.

And finally, my favourite thing this week. Two strips of peeled cow that I cut out and sewed together last Friday before I went to the pub, to make a cute little wrist cuff.

You can kinda see where I burnt my hand on the iron tonight too.

It's just a wide bit with a long skinny bit sewed in half at one end, and two little holes at the other end.

It's a bit wrinkly now cause I've worn it every day this week

Wrap it round, thread the two ends of skinny bit through the holes, then loop them round a few times and tie together.

I used to wear scarves and bits of fabric tied around my wrist all the time. I like the leather though - the edges don't need finishing. And cute accessories that can be made in 2 minutes with about 4cm of stitching back and forth to join the two bits together = good

Aussie music.

Americans may have it good with their free postage from fabric.com and... actually, I forget other things. I don't live there, so I don't know all the good stuff you guys have. But seriously, Australia is great. We have utes, and we're allowed to drink at 18, and the economy is holding up well, and we've all got a fairly relaxed attitude and there's plenty of kangaroos to eat. Oh, and Aussie music.

It seems to me that we're quite selfish about it. I mean, you even sent us Katy Perry for the Logies, and we know pretty much all of your songs, but apart from INXS doing a reality show, the last real music we sent over there was Savage Garden, and that was over a decade ago now*.

So here's three of my favourite Aussie songs. First up is Flame Trees. It's by a band called Cold Chisel, and they're like gods over here. My sister broke a guy's nose at a Barnsey (that would be their lead singer) concert a few years ago. A lot of people think Khe Sahn is a better song, but they're wrong, because this one contains the line "who needs that sentimental bullshit anyway?"



Next is Salisbury Street, by John Williamson. It's not on youtube, which is a massive shame. But maybe, just maybe, if you click here, it will download the first minute or so for you. It was written about his brother who died of cancer, and it's so, so good. John Williamson also wrote/sings True Blue, and that's really good too, and Bill the Cat, which includes the immortal lyric "we left his balls at the family vet"

Finally, Tenterfield Saddler by Peter Allen. Qantas and then Oprah pretty completely ruined I still call Australia Home for me, but that doesn't matter - I always liked this one better.



It's actually about his grandfather, his father was the "son of George Woolnough" and he's the "grandson of George." Hugh Jackman can almost be forgiven for participating in the Oprah stunt because he played a big part in getting this song back out there again with The Boy From Oz, although the fact that typing in "tenterfield saddler lyrics" brings up a version apparently by him before the one by Peter Allen makes me a bit cross.

And just for good measure, some stuff I like that isn't Aussie music.


I like sleeping half the day away.

I like having a new CD in my car.

I like finding the perfect print to bind a difficult quilt as I walk in the door of the fabric shop**

I like "searching through thrift store jungles" (thanks Sheryl Crow)

I like the fact that my batting is pretty much exactly two quilts wide.

I like the fact that doing my own quilting means I don't have to make my batting bigger than my quilt top. 8 inches extra? Seriously? How about 0 inches? Okay.

I like when the night where I'm feeling quite motivated is also the night I'm not working.

I like having the house to myself.

I like honey crackles.

I like it when Casey does the dishes.

I like it when it turns out I do have enough fabric after all.

I like telling my laptop to tell the TV to play me some music.

I like three day weekends.

I like late night sewing seshes.

I like procrastinating on my binding by cutting another couple of projects, maybe making a backing. Anything but bloody binding.

I like it when a rainbow of colours are in the correct spectral order.

I like it when I'm feeling indecisive about including a fabric and then it turns out there's not enough there, and the decision is made for me.

I like frozen apple juice.


*I just remembered Jet.


**although it was sateen, I bought it anyway because I'm a fearless bastard but then I got home and it nearly made me cry. Like binding isn't bad enough.

Batting, and other confusions.

Because I've done so many quilts, and because I buy batting in bulk when it's cheap, I've no idea what I've used for what quilt. The rainbow quilt was wool, I know that, Maddy's was pre-cut cotton, #5 and #6 were precut bamboo, but after that, I'm not sure what's what. I bought various bamboo by-the metre until spotlight had run out, and then switched to cottons. Currently I'm using cozy-cotton, which is $15.95p/m for a 254cm wide batting, which is great value, but it feels kinda thin, especially before it's been quilted and washed. It bulks up a bit once it's done, but I'm kinda wishing I knew what I used when I did the wonky mingle quilt, since I think that's washed up the favourite of any of my quilts. But then, it might be because it was quilted really densely.

I've decided that I'm gunna try concentrate on what I've started instead of new projects for the moment, which is why I'm thinking about battings. I've cut it to size for the Autumn Nutmeg quilt and the one that I made from the fabrics I got at Stitch and Knit, because they're both really nice "grown up" quilts that I want to have ready for any markets that we go to. Other than those, the Blue and Brown baby quilt is another market one, along with the red and green flower one that you really can't see the design of. Then it's just Bob's quilt rounding out my to-finish list.

I've allowed myself two new projects though, for all that I'm not sure when I'm gunna get time. I want to do the "Two Tyred" design in two completely different fabrics, in this case a solid black and a rainbow batik, which hopefully will look beyond gorgeous, and make me never ever do it in two similar fabrics again. And I need to get around to making Casey's handbag like mine. Maybe Sunday... tomorrow is out because I'm working a stupid 9 1/2 hour shift and Saturday I need to go play with babies before work, because it's been too long and I miss them.

Oh and even though they know I don't do mornings, Monday and Tuesday they have rostered me to start at 11. I know that's not early by most people's standards, but I'm usually still asleep then.

I may be dead by Wednesday. Can someone finish my WIPs for me?