Annies Crazy World

This morning I realized that it was Monday and that I hadn’t yet done any Butterfly Chain, this weeks TAST Stitch.

Some times I can imagine how a new stitch will work on a seam other times I need to experiment which I do on a sample block…

I wanted to emphasize the butterfly in the stitch and I worked groupings of 3 short and 3 long foundation stitches hoping that when they were drawn together with the twisted chain it would look like front and back wings of a butterfly….It sort of worked but I left to big a gap between the foundation groupings leaving me with long floaty, catchy threads on the front which I need needed to couch down, I used a green thread wrapped around the flouty thread and detached chain stitches half way along to anchor the stitch, this made the connecting threads look vine like and made the butterflys stand out and look better.

I also got Block 25 peiced…The little Darling on the block is myself, age 5.

Ballina is a man made Island, A creek and a river connected by a canal, surrounded by water with wharfs and bridges, boats and beaches to fish from, fishing was a common occupation and fresh fish a big part of our diet…I didn’t do much of the fishing but did help to cook them and they were always crumbed and fried.

I reduced the visual journal thoughts to the basic ingredients…

To cook fresh fish dust fillets with flour, dip in beaten egg and milk, coat with crumbs, fry in oil untill golden brown, season with salt pepper and lemon or Malt Vinegar…

I hope that I will be able to find a Lemon shaped button or charm which I will put at the bottom of the vinegar bottle…I made the packets and bottles by photographing the items, printing them on T shirt transfer and then cutting oround the edges of the items before ironing to the fabric so that when I appliqued them I only had fabric to turn to the back…The applique was a bit fiddley but not to bad because the T shirt transfer meant that I didn’t have to worry about the fabric fraying…I padded the eggs for extra effect.

And Below is the finished Block 24.

Today is my 3rd Blogging Anniverary…I started blogging on 19th May 2004 with a www.20six.co.uk blog and in sep 2005 I moved to my own domain, loopylace.com/….I still have some travel posts to transfer into this blog but I now have all the Crazy Quilt posts transfered.

I understand that it has become traditional for bloggers to link to there first post on their anniversaries…So Here is the Link to My First Blog Post.

Hard to beleive that it is 3 years since I wrote that first post, I did have a few false starts but my new years resolution this year was to blog consistantly all year and thus far I have been true to that resolution, all 138 days of it…I have put a lot into blogging but I MUST say that I Have got A LOT out of it too…Firstly reading the comments always puts a smile into my day, Thank you Commenters and all readers, it is exciting to know that there are people around the world visiting my blog…I have also found Blogging to be motivational, there have been some days when I have really had difficulty settling to stitch but because of my stubborn determination to blog everyday I have forced myself to stitch something that I could blog and of cause I always feel better when I have done it and because I am stitching at least a little most days the equipment and everything is out all the time which means that it is much easier to act upon inspirtions when I do have them…And on a more personal level, circumstances of my life have meant that I have had to receive a lot of help from a lot of wonderful people who I can never thank enough but Blogging enables me to give back into the world in thanks for all that help I have received…Thank you everyone I am looking forward to the next 3 years of blogging……..

The Big news today is that I am an Aunty again, I had the phone call from my brother earlier today and was delighted when he told me it’s a girl.

I found tonights stitch Chained Feather Stitchon Page 22 of The Anchor 100 Embroidery Stitches Book,
Sharon has a similar sititch in her Stitch Dictionary.

When I started this Block I said that it was for a friends birthday, that was a little white lie to keep the secret in case M happened to read my blog.

The truth is that it was for a friends farewell quilt…a gorgous American girl who has been liveing in Canberra for the last few years and now has to move and we have made a crazy quilt for her so she can take something from all of us with her.

At our meeting tonight M had little presents for each of us and We presented her with her special crazy quilt…and yes she loved her new quilt and was down on the floor examining it while we all told her about the blocks we had made.

We all took a plate of Aussie food, including a Pavlova, Lamingtons, Anzac Biscuits, Tim Tams and Vegemite Sandwichs…and had a lovely night.

And Below is the secret project that I have been working on…Tuesday 4 of us got together and got most of the tying done onto the false back (and false back continued)…Wednesday 2 of us got together finished the tying, added the real back and Buttons…and I put the bindings on last night and this afternoon…The centre block is for us all to sign which we did with a green pen.

The middle block in the 4th row is Sharon’s Block which you can see here

The Secret project is nearly but not quite finished but it will have to wait until morning because after 2 early mornings I am tired and it will be better stitched if I get some sleep first, I will be able to reveal the secret project tomorrow night.

Below is another photo that I took in the garden yesturday…it is a purple plant, very drought tolerant, requires very little care and produces these gorgous little pink flowers.

I have spent most of today working on a secret project that I can show you in a couple of days…We are having a lovely mild Autumn and it has been lovely to be outside and I thought that it might be a good opportunity to show you a flower from my garden…I have been trying to get a good photo of this flower for a long time finally today I got the combination of the right light when there was no wind…The no wind is vital because these delicate little flowers are on the top of very long (up to 3 feet) stalks that wave around even in the slightest breeze…I know it as a butterfly bush and that is because the little flowers look like butterflies fluttering about the garden.

In a comment re detail 260 I was asked
‘how do you hold down the rickrack while you sew the herringbone stitches?’

I start by attaching one end of the ric rac (These also work for braids and laces)…There are several ways to attach the end of the ric rac to the seam: I mostly slit a few stitches in a seam, slip the end of the ric rac under it and then restitch the seam, If I don’t have access to the seam I turn the end under, with ric rac you can twist it back on itself so that the end finishes tucked in or the end can be covered with a lace motif or a button cluster or on of Sharon’s ric rac roses would cover the end nicely.

The actual answer to the question is that I don’t hold the braid down while doing the stitches…I lay it along the seam, if it moves I adjust it before taking the next stitch…If you are still learning the stitch or just knot comfortable without the ric rac being held in place then you can run a tacking thread down the middle of the ri rac braid, work the stitch and then remove the tacking.

Work the Herringbone Stitch into the spaces on the ric rac.

To hold the ric rac (this also works well with ribbons) on with Colonial Knots come up close to the edge of the ric rac braid or ribbon, make the knot and go down just beside the braid.

or use any other stitch that you can fit into the spaces or a combination of several stitches.

When Sharon loaned me the size 14 knitting needles she also showed me some old needles that were bicycle spokes that had been sharpened to a point, I wondered if the emery board would be sharpe enough to file metal…I found some wire that doesn’t bend easy and the emery board did the job, they are not as nice to knit with as the commercial needles but they did work…

…So what can I knit with them…Ummm I will want cloths to hang on the cloths line…It took me a few attempts to get the sizes and patterns but I am delighted with just how well they worked, particularly the 3rd singlet which I did with crochet cotton and…

…the third dress which I did with a fine embroidery wool. I started with twice the number of stitches as I wanted for the finished bodies and knitted knitted 2 stitches together for the row between skirt and bodice…I knitted the back and front at the same time so that I didn’t have to count rows, did the skirt in garter stitch because it is easier to do and has added a nice contrast and crocheted, using a tiny hook that I inherited from my Nanna, the sleeves after joining the back to the front at the shoulders (the image shows it with 1 sleeve done), I also ran a thread around the neck line to tighten it up…I have found knitting these quite addictive and do hope that I have it out of my system now.

Today is mothers day and I would like to wish all Mothers a Happy Mothers Day.

Jessie and I went around to my sisters where my neice had cooked up a lovely roast meal.