Cato's first Doll Quilt

I just got back from an appointment with my pain specialist. It seems that if my current drug regime and daily activity management system (ie. spend my days watching TV) don't improve matters the next step is Ketamine injections and a 9 day hospital stay.

Surely I must have miss heard? He is a low talker after all.

But NINE days? C sections don't even keep you in for that long.

I must have got it wrong.






















So perhaps the bright side of this encounter is that maybe I am actually only going deaf. Add it to forgetful, vague and the fact that putting my socks and shoes on is a task I need to ready myself for (thongs are the #1 thing I am going to miss about summer).

Old before my time, unless I just caught a bad case of the geriatrics from the hydro pool. Because let's face it, I am the youngest client there by about 30 years.

Not that there is anything wrong with being old. Really, I love old people (except of course if, god forbid, I am stuck behind you at a shopping centre).

I do intend to be one one day- and heartily embrace my codgerism with a gnarled shake of my fist at the young kids walking on my lawn. But I did hope to at least experience middle age before I got there.

I want my crisis and sports car too!






















(edit: someone didn't forget to take the bitch pills this morning I'm afraid)

In the meantime, the highlight of my weekend was a four year old's birthday party - which left me completely spent for the rest of the weekend. I almost fell asleep during the dystopian bloodfest that was the Watchmen movie. Then again it was a matinee session. Traditional nap time at chez Trickle.

Slumber aside, I did enjoy the movie - even if it did stray from the original comic book (Hazzah! Nit picking - the unmistakable vestige of the comic book geek).

A bit of ultra violence was a interesting counterpoint to an overload of PINK. And ballerinas.

















I had to turn my fabric collection inside out and trawl the scrap pile to find enough appropriately coloured patterns.

Fortunately the finished product only had to be 25 x 35 cms - so I really didn't have to find that much. But even then I only just made it.

(There is a reason why I don't fill these posts with pictures of my fabric collection. Shades of navy blue and black anyone?)

Putting myself in the mind's eye of a 4 year old girl who is Angelina Ballerina obsessed, I thought that mice with miniature tutus would make me lose my shit.

















Of course, I didn't quite factor in just how long a little bit of embroidery would take with my sewing arm ailments. But it was worth it.

Even if after the careful pacing of the project each day, it still left me up late the night before and dipping into my painkiller cache.

Please don't tell Jms (I promised him it wouldn't come to that).

Um, hang on - he reads these posts too.

Even after a severe chastising from a very disappointed husband: Still worth it.

Because it is soooo cute. Because it made the birthday girl's eyes sparkle. Because it got immediately taken to the bedroom and I was told it was 'very special'. Too special even for the pram for which it was intended. No - its going to be hung on the wall with her other favourite things.

And here was I truly expecting it to end up trampled on the floor, covered in cake crumbs like most toys at a small child's birthday party do.

















Dodgy machine quilting aside (alas no walking foot) this was a lot of fun and very satisfying to make. I now completely understand the myriad doll/mini/art quilt collectors and flicker groups out there.

This could be a new obsession - perfectly suited to one who has a very short window of opportunity for work and the attention span to match. And as for pink - I think could be hooked.

Completely (t)riveting

I had the fortune of going to Bendigo today. Along with half of Melbourne it would seem.

It's hard to imagine having a burning desire for a trivet. Which, as it happens. I do. It must be the hallmark of affluenza.

Then again, those folks in their adobe huts are probably completely sorted on this front - and are tsk-tsking as we speak.

Given the theme of this weeks crafting exercises (and the other bird projects I had on hand too naff to share) I thought I'd make myself a trivet.

















Indeed isn't this what every good host finds themselves doing at 10 pm the night before they have special guests coming for dinner?

But there WILL be hot dishes - brimming with hot food.

So I need something to put them on.

















I started drawing bird patterns that might be suitable - but everything was becoming samey. So I tried something a little more modernist rather than cutsey.

I'm not sure it works.

But then again it will be hidden by smouldering (messy) food. It may not even survive it's debut aesthetically intact.

In my 'night before crafting' after a long day I also discovered a few things about industrial grade wool felt:

It is REALLY hard to cut. Hence the plethora of laser cut stuff out there.

You can't dry felt stuff to it. Broke several needles, literally hammering this one home.

You can't hand sew through it. Unless you have needles made of diamond tipped titanium and an index finger of STEEL. But you can bob around the surface and perform some semblance of embroidery.

For a moment it looked like it was going to be awesome - but now I'm just tired and wondering what the hell I am doing still at the computer.

Perhaps it will look better in the morning.

Niwatori hai!

Let me keep this short. I am too tired and grumpy for words.






















I don't actually own any Japanese craft books. But if I did, this is how I imagine they would interpret a log cabin hen.

Lots of yummy linen in subtle, neutral shades. Wooden buttons. Contrasting thread. Recycled kimono silk.

















In this case, scaled up from a pin cushion size, to something large enough to hold the door open.

1.5 kg of wheat in this baby - that's one hungry chicken.

















Enough pretty, cutesy craft here.

New rule. In our house you have to be useful.

As self appointed law maker - new rule does not apply to me. Something to do with absolute sovereignty, as I recall.

A blue bird of happiness

Woot!

This has been a crafty saga of epic proportions.

Not so much in the actual drama, but in the long winded, takes for ever to get to the point, type of epic sagas (James Joyce, I'm looking in your direction).

I'm ashamed to admit this, but this little guy (technically a bower bird) has been kicking around unfinished since (ahem) May 2005.

I'm not proud of it, and I will surrender my craftster's license immediately, if not sooner (wait, no membership - no union or regulatory industry association - we are a bunch of brazen, anarchic mercenaries aren't we?)






















I digress.

Up until 24 hours ago, it was a discarded prototype from a children's mobile I was commissioned to make for Gorman. I sewed over 8 of these not so little buggers and I guess after all that hand sewing, I kinda shoved this one to the back of the cupboard to forget about.

But when I went through my stash of linen for another project, I remembered this guy was kicking around somewhere. The linen side has a beautiful silver foil sheen - too nice to throw away (as I had obviously decided at the time) but there was not enough of it to fashion into something else.

















So when he was resurrected from the scrap box about a week ago - he really was looking quite forlorn. Not only a rejected colour way (brown), he had barely any stuffing, no binding and a had been left half unpicked because he was the wrong shape for the final design.

Well the baby-poo brown pinwale cord had to go (now replaced with a deep midnight blue cord). And at the 11th hour I found a really lovely liberty print in a matching blue. Digging further in the scrap box I found just enough silk bias binding to finish it - and voila!

Elegant and cute at at the same time. Just like me.

Make a little (felt) birdhouse in your soul

They Might Be Giants lyrics aside, I'd firstly like to celebrate the small matter of Jimmy Trickle being the last blogger user on earth to dispense with the template header.

Hence, I humbly present to you my Powerful Owl totem, who will hopefully keep a stern eye on all things at chez Trickle and keep me in check. At least at night anyways. I wouldn't want to interrupt his beauty sleep. He should help with the rodent population too.






















Secondly, I would like to celebrate a return to all things crafty - with a week - yes, a WHOLE week - of daily completed craft projects.

She's serious folks - this is a publicly stated attempt to extractus digitus and finish some of those little craft projects that have been lying about the place 95% complete. And the theme is all things avian (being as I am obsessed with particular motifs).

Mind you, before you go and get yourself in a fervent lather - I should highlight the fine print:

a) I am only counting weekdays (cheats); and

b) it is important to note that I have not specified that they will be MY completed craft projects (spoken like a true ex-lawyer).

Yes - should I find I have bitten off more than I can chew (highly likely) or that daytime naps prove too attractive (extremely likely) I will dispense with my contractual obligations by presenting you with the doubtlessly superior, bird themed works of others.

Oh she's crafty (to quote the Beastie Boys).






















But without feather ado (aaaiiieeee!) as it is Monday, and the start of the working week for those not fortunate to have a public holiday, I present you with my little felt birdhouses.

These were actually a Christmas decoration I started back in October. Given that my Christmas tree is only one foot tall, it was a slightly ill conceived idea. But they are, nevertheless deserving of existence, in spite of this fact.

The genius of the creation (if I may say so myself) is that the perch is made of a cinnamon stick. So they make up for being 'twee' to grumpy husbands by spicing the air with an amiable scent.

I've also put a a handful of cloves in there to give it some olfactory kick (potpourri would justifiably, warrant the serving of divorce papers).

See you tomorrow with, to quote the comedic mastermind Daniel Hall:

"shouldn't unless mean more?"

The littlest bird

The family tree has been updated.

















No schmancy Louis Ghost chair this time. Just my hard rubbish kitchen chair.























The only chair in the house not flocked with cat hair.

Now excuse me while I go to the supermarket. Like Mikes, I don't think there is anything "Grand" about a football match.

I try to avoid supermarkets on the weekends - I am hoping it is a ghost town.

Just me and the hum of fridges and the flicker of dodgy neon. I might even sing along with the muzak.

Gon Out, BiSy BacKson

Gone to Sydney to visit Bebe and Imi. Yippee!

Marketeering Racket

These girls all went to market on Sunday. During the now obligatory last minute trip to Spotlight, I fell under the evil spell of their printed cotton fabric sale. So instead of 4 sets I potentially over committed and slated 7 in total.

















And yes I was sewing up till 10pm Saturday night (Jms was a champion "stuffer") but I finished them, every single one. As I cursed slightly wonky faces and unmatched side seams, Jms reminded me graciously that that is the whole point of being handmade.















And I think I finally get it (yes I'm a bit slow at times). Ordinarily I finish a project and think "meh". But this time I was really proud of the results.

Unfortunately due to the usual erratic Melbourne weather factor, there was a lower than expected turn out at the market. But I did sell a couple and they garnered lots of positive comments. As soon as they return from Jean-bean's house I will post photos of the remaining for anyone who is interested in giving them a home.

Belles for Mirabel

Sheesh. Two weeks went by just like that (snaps fingers).

I was planning to deliver these folk to Mikes last week, but alas, my arm has deigned otherwise. And damn it, every time the sun came out, I found myself wandering off to the park with the dog.

I regret nothing.




















































I also did some chain stitch embroidery on the backs (poxy photo warning) to emulate the real thing. I think I want to play around with patterned fabrics next and I might even try making some with actual little headscarves ...

I can see these getting more and more elaborate if I get half the chance!

The Winterwood felt is divine to work with - definitely worth the trip across town. Next time I might just buy every colour they have in stock. Though that might be just a tad greedy.

(Group hug)

Warm Fuzzy

A little project that I've had on the back burner for a while (no pun intended). Finished and appreciated...

















I'm not sure why I've decided to make the ugliest part of our lounge room a feature - but perhaps it's a vain attempt at deflection?

I made my own corded binding (properly this time). I now understand why there are special sewing machine feet to do this. Trying to hide the stitch line on the bind is really tricky. I even used a single sided zipper foot to get as close as possible but the seam is still not close enough when turned right side out.

Oh well, it is going to get covered in cat hair and pup-crust soon enough so I should just bite my tongue (but before I do, if the dog does destroy it, I think the gingham would look better cut on the bias)

















Though I hardly expect you to form an opinion as to the cushion's aesthetic value - as these are quite possibly the worst photos I've ever taken. That's the catch with seeking constant improvement - it demands constant diligence. I hereby hang up my perfectionist mantle and give you "barely adequate". I can live without the ulcers for now.


Inspired by this wee guy. Apologies but I have no idea where this photo is from. I assume by the kawaii perfection of the shot it's from a Japanese craft tome.

What time is is?

That last post was a biaatch to edit - too many photos/blogger preview not actually "wysiwyg". I should have split it in to two - but alas my Flu addled breen could not compute anything that logical. I should have just snoozed on the couch and watched Scrubs DVDs like a good unproductive sick person.

Note also my timely case of the flu - 1 week before the work sponsored flu vaccination day. I am SO clever.

Speaking of timely - I present my latest craft offering.






















Necessity is the mother of invention.

My work was taken over by a much larger company and although all our patternmaking will eventually go computerised our team still does it manually. This is not usually a problem, but we have also moved offices and instead of having large patternmaking tables each and a separate cutting table, I have been reduced to sharing a table with the senior patternmaker (and both our computers) and still expected to make patterns and cut samples manually. Very ho-hum and not very "worksafe".






















Sooking aside, to make my work systems run more smoothly with less space I though it high time I made my pin cushion ergonomic, and reduce the need for bending and twisting every time I needed a pin. Not exactly rocket science. Wristband pincushions have probably existed longer than I've been alive (I refer you to my cleverness as stated above).






















A girl I went to RMIT had a watch shaped one that her Nana crocheted for her that was too cute. I was impressed beyond measure and thought from then on that this should be the only form they take.

Given that now I work in an office filled with real live Anna-Wintour-wannabe fashionistas, even entertaining the thought of trying to keep up is preposterous. (Initially I proclaimed I would wear make up and high heels everyday - the heels didn't make it out of the house on day one, the lipstick lasted 3 days). My penchant for wearing jersey dresses and flat boots belies my deep love of high fashion and avante-garde design. And who knows, one day I just might slouch around in Junta Watanabe jersey dresses and Sergio Rossi boots. Till the day I obviously have more money than sense, I figure the best course of action is to run in the opposite direction and wear my hand-quilted, vintage fabric heart on my sleeve, or wrist as the case may be. So geeky, overstuffed and silly Gucci pincushion it is.

And quite frankly I'm glad I was too lazy to change the white thread on my machine. The seam "grin" looks like perfect minute marks.

And Cartier would have been my brand of choice (with a blue button winder) but again laziness overcame the desire to hand stitch in cursive. Call it my first project in the up-and coming companion book called "Cutting-corners Sewing" for the can't be arsed crafter. Probably not in a bookstore anytime soon.

Kris Kringle

What do you give a woman who has everything?

I don't actually know, so in the absence of a great idea I made her a pillow.

I suspect history is about to repeat. Crafty things as presents echoes of my maternal grandmothers penchant for "china painting". Actually very sweet and well intended. For the first 10 years. Then it started to be a bit wearisome. All things considered though, I have never suffered the indignantly of being short of a bud vase or lacking a small decorative plate. And with my surfeit of doilies and crocheted hankies, I have never known a decorating crisis nor an unladylike attack of the sniffles.


I was actually quite chuffed with my magpies - until I realised my understudies were of the northern hemisphere variety and it was too late to change (Yay last minute crafting).

Now that I've realised, I can't seem to notice anything other than that at the very least their beaks should be white. Aargh. Perhaps I'll sneak into her house one day and make some ninja style modifications.

This was also my first attempt at binding. I forgot to get cord (one trip to Spotlight on Christmas eve was more than enough for me). So I used some wool yarn instead. Here's hoping it doesn't get put through the machine on hot. It turned out pretty well I think - I only had to unpick once when I forgot to put the binding on before the invisible zip. Yes I AM a professional.

Its hard to see in the photo, but the birds are actually a deep navy - which really pops against the natural linen colour (without being as severe as black would have been). The "glint" is of course my favourite acid yellow. The binding, which I really wish I'd taken a shot of, is a nice indigo and cream fabric reminiscent of the Eames dot pattern. And yes, it was the perfect excuse to lash out on some yummy Japanese linen. Even though I block fused the applique, it still distorted. There really is a lot of give in the weave of this fabric. But that is the nature of linen, which if it weren't for the pin stripe, none would be any the wiser.

Geek is the new punk

Saw Daft Punk live on Thursday night. It was incredible.

The seamless mix of old and new tracks accompanied by a killer light and graphic show is still sending chills down my spine. I've taken to playing "Alive 2007" really loud and flicking the lounge room lights on and off. If only I had a Christmas tree...


Speaking of lights - a not so small part of me that is now well and truly over 30 seems to be pining for my raver roots (just the dressing up - not the "chemical enhancements"). Some may call it regression, others a sad grasp at fading youth. I prefer to think of it as a legitimate opportunity to express myself with electronics. Viva la MAKE revolution!

Now I have a nice rack all things considered - but fitting DAFT PUNK in 5mm leds across my chest was a bit much - so I figured "PUNK" was sufficiently succinct and still in the spirit of the event. I suggested to Jms that we make him a matching Tee with "DAFT" but for some reason he was not so keen.

















Anyways - because I am ever so spoilt, the boy got in some super cool multi-coloured LEDs from our favourite sweatshop in Hong Kong. Some serious soldering and tinkering and voila!

These little babies are great because they automatically cycle through red, green and blue without needing a separate chip.

There was an ever so slight hiccup when we'd not quite got the right resistance sorted and I burnt my fingers while showing off my modded shirt to my co-workers (I work for a fashion company that specialises in t-shirts). But being last minute and all, we couldn't rewire it, so I made my own switch to stop it from from overloading (ie. half unclipped the 9V battery and squeezed it with my hand to complete the circuit). This was ultimately serendipitous because I could emote by making it flash in time to the music (or cycle through the colours because I was dancing too hard to remember to unplug). And there was much dancing. At my yoga class this morning I was all ... wow my neck is pretty sore for some reason ... oh wait (sheepish grin).

Big, big ups to Dr. Jimothy for his leet ticket purchasing skillz. Thanks bro.

Craft vs Art

And this is what every gal should tell herself daily...

This has actually been finished for a couple of weeks - but between work and a computer with a dodgy power supply, I really haven't been able to do much updating.

I've another reason for not posting this earlier... but it is a confession of sorts.

This cushion was supposed to be a birthday present for someone very nice way back in July. Definitely a high caliber fox at that. Unfortunately after lots of quality time spent together sewing and what not - the thought of actually parting with my little friend is, well kind of difficult.

I'll freely admit greedy thoughts of "well her birthday was quite a while ago..." and "she wouldn't even know..." are often mused in moments of weakness. Not very charitable of me is it?

How do other crafters do it?

Which brings me to my next issue. I sort of promised Jms that I would set up an Etsy shop by his birthday. Yes well that was a week ago and still nada - but that's beside the point. The point is that I have all these little designs that I have been (v.v.v. slowly) working on with the intention of selling them. But I am finding it really problematic - because I can't seem to bear to part with any of them!

I love them, have dreamt about them, deliberated and slowly nurtured them into life - what if, god forbid, no-one loves them as much as me?

My only clue to the answer to this conundrum is that this passion I feel for these little projects suggests something actually quite profound. I have turned my hand to many things in my life. Always searching for that "thing" that puts a fire in my belly. Crafting is something I have always dabbled with - but in my heart of hearts did not ever credit it as great art. Aesthetic consumption perhaps. And in my darkest moments when my critical eye is appalled at the footprint I am leaving on this earth, I think how could I possibly justify the creation of more stuff that no-one actually needs?

But that passion - that care and indefinable imprint of yourself that is imparted - does that not make it art? And Art I can justify. Art breathes life into a stale mind. Art can change minds. And if you can change enough minds - you can change the world.

So if my craft invokes a deep emotional response in me (even if it is just soft furnishings) I'm inclined to believe that it has intrinsic value, that others too may appreciate.

Granpa's couch lives on

Lucky me scored the Monday before Cup day off as well - so Ive been able to spend my 4 day weekend getting some big jobs done - such as recovering the couch (excuse the blurry shot but our house is delightfully Art Deco but very dark on the sunniest of days). The new foam was a bit of an expense - but soo comfurtables. I've used linen because its got such a nice hand feel and sheen that seems to be fairly resistant to cat hair - but I fear it may not be sturdy enough to cope with snuffling dogs.

Fortunately it was very cheap (from one of my favourite fabric haunts) so if it doesn't cope it won't be the death of me. I saw some lush Japanese linen that was divine from my local fabric shop, but at $55 p/m it was a little too lux for my budget.