'Tis The Weekend.......Again

'Tis the weekend.......again. This past week was a busy one lost in a flurry of creativity. Each day seemed to pass in a blink of an eye. Busy though it was, I had a lovely week filled with stitching and a little painting.

What did I stitch?? Pretty much the same ol' same ol'. That's right, nothing new.......just some bags and some cute Scottie dogs. There are a couple of ladies who asked if I might like to sell some of my creations in their shops, so I thought why not. Perhaps some others might take a shine to a few of my pretties; perhaps they won't. Anyhow, not to worry, I could always do with a new bag or two. =)

Over the last couple of months I have happened upon some really lovely vintage blankets. Blankets of the prettiest colours which I have not come across before. Vintage, pure wool blankets of these glorious hues are hard to come by these days. Though it was hard to cut into some of these woolly lovelies, cut into them I did; to fashion some cute Scotties.

Are not these blankets the prettiest of colours??

Oops....there is a rogue puppy dog in a brightly coloured, knit fabric.

Now for the bags. One of my favourite things, as you already know, is to fashion bags using some of the pretties that I have collected over the years. I always relish diving head first into the bottom of my many holdalls, in search of the perfect piece of lace, the perfect vintage trinket, the perfect braid or fringing for each bag.

Let the hunting and gathering begin. My treasure trove of pretties never fails to come up trumps.

The blue bag.

The purple bag.

The pink and orange bag. I am not really a fan of orange per se, but the combination of bright pink and orange in this bag does make me smile.

Three bags, all different, all colourful, all brimming with my collection of pretties....all a joy to stitch.

I did a little painting this week, as well. One of my sewing girls has started a little enterprise where she makes pretties and takes her creations to markets and sells them. One of the things Holly makes is headbands, so I designed and painted some 'girls' as props, on which Holly could display her creations. After all,  presentation is everything.....right?? My husband cut out my designs in MDF and I painted them. They took an age to paint as each part e.g. the eyes, the mouth, the hair.......required many coats of paint.

It has been a very long time since I have put paint to wood or paper for that fact, so my painting skills are a bit rusty (oh alright....very rusty), but all in all I am rather pleased with Holly's girls.

Scottie dogs, shoulder/cross body bags......... really are the most enjoyable pretties to create. I had the best fun fashioning pretties from these lovely vintage, woollen blankets. I wonder what colour blanket I will unearth next??

Just before I say goodbye, let me leave you with a bunch of Wisteria, Azaleas and Dutch Irises to bring a smile to your day. And......you thought I had managed to write a post without even a mention of a flower or two......wrong!! =) These are the flowers that have popped up in the garden this week. Spring is truly getting into the swing of things down here.

Until the next time............

Hot diggity dog

I have been stitching some hot diggity dogs these last couple of days. Yes indeedy, hot diggity dogs of the Scottie kind; fashioned from blankets that I have been collecting for a li'l while.

When I was a wee girl, everyone seemed to snuggle under these 100% woollen, seductive and soft bed coverings at night. With doonas being the popular bed covers of choice these days, blankets have been relegated to the linen closet smothered under moth balls, or perhaps donated to the op shops.

Once upon a time one could acquire a blanket for a song but not so now. Is it just my imagination or is it true that op shops these days are  a li'l more expensive than they once were? Some of the prices are not that much cheaper than some of the chain stores. I have discovered an op shop which is run by a high school where a shopping bag can be filled with oodles of goodies for the princely sum of $5!! As I teach kiddos in all matters of fun stitching this op shop is a regular on my "to visit" list.

One has to be quicker than quick in acquiring these woolly bed coverings in an op shop, because as soon as they are put out on the shelves they are quickly swooped upon by the savvy public. I suppose everyone has cottoned on to the versatility of these blankets in all things stitching.

I have collected blankets for a good while now. At The Kim Sharman School of Stitching Excellence, when the kiddos make a quilt more often than not they use blankets as the backing. As I teach quite a few kiddos I am always in need of a blanket, or two, or three on hand, and of course as blankets are lovely and soft they make excellent softies for kids to snuggle up to. My kiddos have fashioned quite a few softies from blankets.

I also love to collect vintage chenille bedspreads, though they are as rare as hen's teeth in Australia. Those of you who live in the USofA are soooo lucky as it seems to me these gloriously coloured and patterned, tufted pretties abound in your flea markets. I always salivate at the lovely chenille designs that appear rather abundantly on Ebay in the USofA.

So......back to the Scottie dogs I have fashioned. They are super quick to stitch and depending on how one embellishes the neck they can be finished in an hour or two.

This Scottie was fashioned from a pretty pink and taupe chenille bedspread that I found at my favourite market. I decided to embellish this doggity dawg with a taupe wide ribbon around the neck, finished with a ruched ribbon flower and a pretty pink button.

Another Scottie made from a chenille bedspread. This time I embellished the collar with snippets from some crochet doilies. Oooh....'tis a bit sweet!

One of the mums of one of my stitching girls asked me if I could use this lovely, old, brightly coloured blanket. Mmmmm....now let me see.....will I or won't I......why of course I swiftly said "yes indeedy", before she could change her generous, benevolent mind. This li'l doggy was super quick to fashion as the only embellishment is a ribbon and a vintage buckle for it's collar.

Another Scottie embellished with ribbon, snippets of lace and crochet doilies.

Four hot diggity dogs all waiting either to be gifted to someone or to go off to market and wag their tails at the madding crowds.

Funnily enough, with all the blankets that I have happened upon over the years, I have never come across the same design or combination of colours. It seems to me there was a plethora of patterns and colours loomed at the Woollen Mills in days of old.

Anyway, with my hot diggity dogs safely ensconced in their kennels it's toodles from me. Hope you all have a lovely weekend filled with a li'l happy stitching.

Linking up with Janine's Wool on Sundays over at Rainbow Hare.

So.......tell me......were there.........

.........really 604,800 seconds......10,080 minutes........168 hours that passed into oblivion this past week?? Surely not. It just seems that my week was short-changed....just a tad!

I mean, it only seems like yesterday that I celebrated Mother's Day with my husband and daughter; blissfully unaware of the ticking clock, strolling around Evandale Markets on a lovely, sun-filled Autumnal day, acquiring a few 'must have' treasures and coffeeing my way through the day.

 

 And what treasures they are.......well at least they are to me. I added to my 'dowry of cloth' (I am always in need of an embroidered pretty or two or three.......). I found an old sewing basket which is a little worse for wear, but not to worry, with a little fixer-uppering by li'l olde me it will be as good as new. I also added to my coloured knitting needle collection......I have been making fabric flowers of late and they make beautiful flower stems, besides they look ever so colourful bunched en masse in a glass receptacle. And....of course....I couldn't let the day pass by without buying a book. The book in question is called 'Home' and if I ever get a free moment, I might just sit in front of the fire, and take an armchair voyeuristic journey into the homes of the 50 famous people's interiors.

 

Then........I happened upon three beautiful mirrors. I have a penchant for collecting mirrors. Indeed, there are mirrors everywhere in our li'l ole abode. I think at last count there are 25 or so. No, I am not some Greek mythological, narcissistic being, always tempted to look at my reflection....quite the contrary.....the less I look at my reflection in these reflective looking glasses the better! I love how mirrors reflect wonderful light, giving an optical illusion of making a room visually appear so much more spacious and lighter. 

 

 

I particularly love the quirky wooden mirror that I unearthed. I lurve the detail at the top of the mirror and the lovely flowing curvaceous side. Of course this needs a bit of repair but with a little fixing, a good sanding and a coat of Antique White USA paint.........shhhhh.......sorry...... I have to whisper the fact that I am painting wood, because around these parts the very mention of applying a coat of paint to any wood surface is akin to heresy and one's safety could be in danger!! Indeed one must be vigilant as there are eyes and ears everywhere! Tasmanians LOVE their wood!! Their homes have  stained wood floors, wood-lined walls, wood ceilings and everything in between pays homage to the 'wood god'! Don't get me wrong, I love wood, indeed for a time I was surrounded by various hues of stained wood but these days I prefer a lighter and brighter ambience for our home.

 

 

So that was Sunday.....which was a wonderfully relaxed day......the calm before the storm!

 

The rest of the week was filled with a creative whirlwind which included preparations for kids' craft in readiness for the school bus, which each school afternoon braked to a screeching halt, ejected the excited little earthlings at my front gate, who then got lost in a plethora of fabric, zippers, buttons, embroidery thread and all manner of stitching.

 

I happened upon this fabulous fabric in IKEA a couple of months ago whilst visiting my daughter in Adelaide.. Now Tassie is a bit light on in the modish and funky fabric department, so when I spotted this fun fabric, I am afraid that I went into a hypo-ventilated state and I snapped it up. I could visualise the kids making a cushion with a word or two in a speech bubble.....in the Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein 'Pop Art' vein.

 

 

These are just a few of the cushions that were stitched by my child prodigies this week. I think they are so cool and funky!

 

 

And then there were some who made some Scotty dogs from an old woollen blanket.

 

 

Other kids' projects included house cushions, Babushka Doll cushions, a life-like stuffed guitar (yes really) and one or two magoozalums (don't ask)!!

 

Also, this coming week is Chaplaincy Week' here in Tassie, so 'My Pete' (my  husband) who is a chaplain at our local district high school wanted to say thank you to all the staff for their support. Now what better way to say thank you than with a beautiful bunch of flowers. Right? Well............there is just one problem with this well intentioned sentiment.......our beautiful garden has been obliterated by early morning frosts. All the flowers have dived deep down into the earth to flee Jack Frost's icy, wintry grasp and have refused to show their pretty faces until next Spring! What to do? What to do?

 

So, of course, li'l ole me suggested that perhaps I could fashion a flower or two from some pretty fabric (what was I thinking)!!!

 

So li'l ole me cut out, folded, stitched, hot glued (both fabric and fingers) 180 or so circles and after many, many seconds, minutes, hours.......

 

 

fashioned oodles of  bright and breezy and cheerful fabric flowers........

 

 

and artfully arranged them (this took an age) in pretty 'vases' (yep all from op shops)........

 

 

and......VOILA......here they all are.......sitting ever so perky in joyful abundance in front of one or two or three of my mirrors, with individual cards each expressing a thankyou sentiment.......ready to be delivered to each teacher and staff member; hopefully putting a smile on their faces and a spring in their step as they walk through the hallowed halls of learning!!

 

So this is just a little peek into my 'week that was'!!

 

NOW............this week...... I must, must, MUST begin my friend's birthday hexagon quilt!! Let's just hope that no-one knocks on my pink front door (yes really....we have a bright pink front door.....doesn't everyone??) with some urgent stitching that needs to be attended to and ask "are you the lady who sews?"

 

 

 Perhaps Father Time will be kind to me this week and grant me a few extra seconds, minutes, hours.....perhaps.....perhaps??