The Cross-Stitching & Patchworking Librarian

Hi Everyone,

You may have noticed I've changed the name of my blog as I now have a new obsession that I want to record... patchwork! I will always love cross-stitch, so it will make an appearance here again, but at the moment I am totally obsessed with patchwork and quilting, and it's all I can think about. I hope to share a few of my projects and hope you'll join me.

Below are just a few of the starting projects I have attempted in recent months and I hope my projects from now on will get a little more advanced as my skill level improves.

Christmas Placemat

 Single bed doona cover (made in 6 colour variations)

 Disappearing nine-patch practice blocks

 Cushion covers for my theological library

Happy Stitching & Sewing,
Kerrie

Doona Covers - done

I finally had all 6 finished doona covers in the same spot so I took a picture of them all hanging on the clothes line. I am so pleased with them and can't wait to do more patchwork projects.
I didn't get any stitching done over the weekend - very lazy! I hope to get back into it this week before it heats up again...

Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

Stack of Critters Stocking #2 & Doona Covers - Done!

Got some cross-stitching time over the weekend to just about finish one of the critters on the stocking. So cute!

The rest of the weekend was taken up finishing the last of my book print doona covers. Woo hoo! This is is definitely my favourite - it is a mix'n'match of the 5 book fabrics and I just love it. Now I'm over doona covers and don't think I'll do any more for some time! This is the only one out of the 6 that is exactly as it should be without any [major] mistakes (or 'customisations' as I like to call them!)

Now I'm just waiting for the supplies for my next project... I've got 3 projects lined up to do that have staggered end dates (they are for gifts). One must be done by June next year, one by May and one by Christmas next year so obviously it will be the May one I start first! You'll just have to wait and see what they are...😀 I've definitely got the patchwork bug!

Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

 

Stitch'n'Sew Day & Stack of Critters Stocking #1

Well, Saturday's "Stitch'n'Sew" day was great. There were about 50 ladies, lots of great conversations and wonderful food. I started on another Christmas stocking and was pretty happy with my progress:

 

 This next design is another Dimensions stocking and it is called Stack of Critters.

Pretty happy with my progress over 1 day... I hope the organisers will hold more of these 'Stitch'n'Sew" days as it was great fun.

Then on Sunday, I started sewing on my final book print doona cover. I think I've said this each time, but this one is my new favourite! The 'plain' fabric is from the Shadowplay range so it is not fully plain, there is a slight wave of colour going through it and I think it really picks up the beige pages of the books in the print. I managed to sew half the doona top on Sunday, so, again, I'm pretty pleased with my progress!

I only had to pull out 1 row of stitching when I mistakenly put two blocks the same next to each other. Otherwise, I love it, unfortunately the photo doesn't do the colours justice. In real life they just pop.
I hope your weekends were as productive as mine...

Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

 

Provence Market #23

 

 Making slow but steady progress on the Provence Market.

But what I'm really excited about is that I took my finished doona covers to the holiday house (where I have made them for) and put them on the bunk beds - they look fantastic and I am over the moon - so pleased! Just got one more to do (which will be the mix'n'match using all the book fabrics with a neutral plain) and then the holiday house will have book beds for those who stay. I also have a reasonable amount of book fabric left so I might make some pillows or cushions as well... So pleased with my first patchwork project although I seriously underestimated the amount of work involved and have a new appreciation for patchworkers everywhere!

Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

Sledding Snowman Stocking - finished & Doona covers - finished!

Every weekend should be 3 days long! Thanks to the long weekend for the footy Grand Final, I got so much done - I am very pleased with myself!

Firstly, I finished off the Sledding Snowman Stocking - name and backing. I selected a striped backing as the design is a fun one and this just suited it perfectly rather than a plain colour.

 

I am super pleased with the end result and I just know the parents will love it as well!

Then I got re-started on my doona cover projects - the ones I was hoping (very naively) to have done by Christmas last year (in just 3 months, having never done a patchwork project ever before! - what was I thinking?)

All 5 fabrics have been done - woo hoo! I am super pleased with the results. They are all slightly different as I couldn't work out the instructions for finishing them with the gap at the bottom to insert the doona cover until I got to the last one. The final one is the only one that is completed correctly, but the others will all work just as well and no-one will know if I don't tell them (shh, you can keep a secret can't you?). Now I have one more to do as there are 6 single beds at the holiday house. The final one will be a mix'n'match of all the prints but I'm just deciding how to do that, what plain fabric to use and so on...
I think my first foray into patchwork has been a great success and I can't wait to start the next project... 

I also made gluten free mars bar slice (but with snickers since they are gf) and a sweet potato, feta and quinoa muffin for my lunches during the week.

Why can't every weekend be 3 days long - think how much you could get done!
Happy Stitching,

Kerrie

Holy Night Stocking - Finished!

Yay - it is done, completely! Yesterday was the ANZAC Day public holiday in Australia. On Monday, I contacted the craft store and asked if they would be open on Tuesday, expecting the owner to say No. She told me if I turned up, I could call and she would let me in to get my backing fabric! Yay. My husband and I went for a drive and came home with some amazing fabric that was perfect for the back of the stocking, meaning I could finish it completely and have it ready to pass on to the new owner earlier than expected. I said to the store owner, "I'm looking for something dark blue with gold flecks in it" and she went straight to the perfect fabric. I was in and out within about 5 mins! We spent longer afterwards talking and patting their beautiful Golden Retriever dogs out the back. Gosh, made me realise how much I miss our beautiful Clarence...😔

After finishing up the Holy Night Stocking, I also finished the second of my patchwork doona covers. I had been holding back on this as my sewing machine had started to play up - I think it was something with the tension and thread. When I changed the thread, it was fine and since I only had about 40cm to sew to finish it, I did it before it decided to stop working again. I will have to get it serviced once I finish my doona covers - it has been working overtime! Burgundy and beige doona covers now ready to use.

Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

Holy Night Stocking #38

The cat is making more of an appearance now. Won't be long before the toe is filled in. 
I also completely finished the first doona cover by putting little plastic snaps in place to hold the doona inside. So excited to start using it this weekend when we go to Aireys fo Easter. I'm almost done with the second one as well, but my machine stuffed itself up - I was happily sewing zig-zag along the ages, when mid-stitch, it decided it didn't want to do that anymore. It took me ages to pull it apart and clean the machine (there was quite a bit of fluff in the bobbin case) but it still isn't working quite right. It appears the tension is not correct, but I've tried both increasing and decreasing the tension and it still looks the same. Next I'm going to try a new cotton and see if maybe, just maybe, that is why it's not happy. It is so frustrating when things don't work how they're supposed to... oh well.

I hope you had productive weekends too!
Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

Holy Night Stocking #20

The top half (except for the name banner) is almost done. I'll be starting the back-stitching shortly before flipping over the to bottom half.
Besides cleaning out the fridge at Aireys (the vegies were in surprisingly good shape considering they were 4 weeks old - I suppose that's the difference between farmer's market produce and supermarket stuff that's already been in a freezer somewhere for who knows how long). 
I also 'quilted' a second doona cover ready to finish it off, and sewed the backing sheet, but then I got stuck on what to do next so I need to consult with my personal tutor (friend Judith) again... Maybe by the 5th doona, I'll be able to do the whole thing myself...

Happy Stitching,

Kerrie

Holy Night Stocking #9 & Movie Review

I went to the movies on Friday night a saw 'Hidden Figures' which was a great story. I highly recommend you see it if you get the chance.

Saturday was a craft day with my friend Judith. First, we went to the fabric shop to get some backing material for a Christmas stocking which I hope to finish off very soon. Then she helped me sew my edging onto the Christmas tablecloth I have made. I just need to hand-stitch the rest of it on and then that is done - woo hoo! And finally she assisted me with finishing off the doona covers I have been working on. I ironed on a thin backing to the patchwork to stop the threads being pulled and to give it a little body, then cut and sewed the backing sheet and attached it to the top. After some confusion on my side, I even got the opening to insert the doona working just right. I finished it off after I got home and I now have one completed (99% - just have to stick on the press-studs to stop the doona slipping out) doona cover. I am SO PLEASED with how it has turned out and can't wait to get started on finishing the rest of them. Here is the finished product on the spare bed... (sorry about my finger over the corner of the shot)

It looks great and will be fantastic to use next time we head down to Aireys Inlet. That is where I am making them all for -  there are 6 single beds down there.

On Sunday we met another friend at Costco to have a look around as we'd never been there before. It was interesting and we bought up big (which is not hard to do given almost everything is in bulk). I think we got some good bargains and won't have to buy a few things for some time. It was a lot of fun and very interesting.

I also managed to get some of the Holy Night Stocking done over the weekend, and it now looks like this:

I've made it all the way across the width of the stocking which is pleasing.
Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

Patchwork Update #6

I sewed a few rows together last night until it got too hot in my sewing room and I went back to reading another of the Lee Child 'Jack Reacher' books. I've got 5.5 books to go...

This is the final of the 5 book fabrics and I think the beige plain fabric works well with the brown tones. Only a few more rows to stitch and then I can learn to do the back of the doona covers. 

Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

Provence Market #17 and Patchwork Update #5

Yesterday, I had a medical test at hospital which meant I got the rest of the day off work - yay... I sewed and sewed and got all the strips sewed and cut ready for final putting together tonight and tomorrow! Yay. That's the fifth doona top almost done. Once I sew a few rows together, I'll take some pictures. All I've got on the table at the moment is 126 squares ready to be sewn together.

I've got to get to the fabric store and make some more purchases as I want to make a grocery bag holder and I found a very simple pattern for one here. Every time I look somewhere, I see something else I want to make... it's getting ridiculous.

I also got a bit more of the Provence Market kit done which is coming along nicely...

Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

Provence Market #16

I finished off the fourth patchwork doona cover top (the red one) over the weekend, so I thought I better do some more work on Provence Market before my other projects take over. I had already done the brown building in the centre (but I don't think I had shared a photo of it with you yet) so I only got the yellow bit up the centre done yesterday. It was nice to pick it up again.
Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

Patchwork Update #3

I had a very productive day with the sewing machine today...

I sewed together all the strips I cut at my craft day last week which means I'm ⅔ through the red doona cover. I also sewed more blue strips which means I'm ⅔ of the way through that one as well. And I finished off the quilting stitching on the Christmas tablecloth so that is ready to have the red binding stitched around the edges, but I have to wait until I catch up with my friend Judith again so I can get a lesson on how to do it properly. I am super excited about it and can't wait for Christmas 2017 so I can use it! I've decided I'm going to make placemats out of the other Christmas fabric sets I purchased at the same time so Christmas 2017 will look great at our place!

Here are some closeups of the blue and red doona covers so far. I would have loved to do the blue one with a plain blue fabric, but there just wasn't one in the right shade of blue when we purchased them at the wholesale show (much cheaper that way!) so we decided to use the beige of the book pages instead and it looks fine. The final book fabric (not yet pictured) will also use the beige plain fabric.

Last day of holidays for me tomorrow, so I'm planning to enjoy it with the sewing machine again. I've set my alarm for 6.30am so I can get practice at waking up on time (then I'll roll over and go back to sleep one more time!). I'm going to struggle to stay awake at work given I've been having naps morning and afternoon on the couch!

I had a long list of jobs I wanted to do over the holiday break, and I haven't done even half of them - I'm not worried though, they'll still be there next holidays. I might try to get some more of them done tomorrow so I don't feel guilty about wasting enjoying my holiday time.

I have been re-reading the Lee Child Jack Reacher series - my favourite author and character. I'm almost half way through with 7.5 read and 10.5 to go (I am missing 2 of the series). Since I haven't read them for a number of years, they are like reading them for the first time again as I have only been able to remember a few little things about each story. I like them just as much the second time around...

Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

Patchwork Update #2

Today I had a craft day with my friends, Judith and Tracy. It was fantastic as they are both experienced patchwork/quilters and they helped me decide what to do with the Christmas block patchwork I had put together with a pack of Christmas fabrics I bought before Christmas. I'm going to turn it into a tablecloth/centrepiece but there's still a bit of work to be done before it is finished. I have to say, patchworking is way more involved than I thought it was - I thought you just sewed a few seams and there it was, but there's the ironing, stretching, pinning, matching, attaching backing, sewing bits again and so on... It's a lot more work than I thought and makes me appreciate the fancier patchworks I've seen.

So, after 9 hours of crafting today (time just flew by!), I sewed 3 sections of borders (plain, red and plain again) and attached some thin padding and a backing sheet. Now I just need to sew a few seams to firm up the backing and then I can cut off the excess and sew the red edging on. I'm pretty pleased with the results of today and can't wait to see it all finished off... The red material matches exactly and really pops - the effect isn't the same in the photo unfortunately. The red blocks in the corners came about because I cut the edges too short, but I love the effect they create so I'm claiming they were intentional all along! It will look fantastic on the Christmas table next year. I've got some matching reds with gold, silver and white patterns so I might make some placements out of those to match in nicely.

I'm still working on my third book material patchwork doona cover, and since I forgot to take it with me to my crafting day, I've cut out plenty of strips for the next one as well. Now that I know more about what I'm doing, they are coming together quite quickly.

So many crafting projects to do, so little time to do them... 😉

I've only got 4 more days of holidays left so I'm going to have plenty of stuff leftover to work on after work each night.
Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

Patchwork Update

Hi Everyone,

I hope your New Years was a good one - we spent it doggy-sitting Clarence with loud gentile music playing and thankfully, he wasn't distracted or upset by the fireworks at all. And even better, the neighbours, who usually have small fireworks and let them off down the street, didn't have any after midnight, so once we put Clarence to bed, we didn't have to worry about him any more. It was one of the most relaxing NYE's we've had for a long time.
[For those who don't know, Clarence is our 15yr old Golden Retriever - he's not a fan of fireworks, like most dogs].

I haven't done much on the Provence Market for a while. I've been busy with my patch working project - 6 single bed doona covers. I've done the tops of 2 and started on my third today. Now that I know what I'm doing, they are getting quicker to do. I'm super pleased with the results and can't wait to meet up with my friend, Judith, on Friday to sew the backs on. We'll be having a craft day so I'm sure there will be lots of progress on both our various projects.

The book pattern fabric I'm using is from Spoonflower and is called: Spellbooks. There are 4 colour variations, plus another that is called Bookstorm. I've got all 5 fabrics with a matching plain fabric and since I need to make 6 doona covers, the 6th one will be a mix'n'match of all the fabrics. The patchwork pattern I'm using is a simple brick pattern.

I'll post more pics when I've done some more blocks in each colour. I chose the book pattern because I am a librarian and I thought it was a nice tie-in to what I do and what I like to do. I've got plans for my second and third patchworking projects, but I'm finishing these doona covers before I get too far with those just yet. My new sewing machine is a dream to use and now that the needle position has been sorted, all the blocks are square and everything is fitting together very easily. It has been a joy to do so far and I can see myself getting more and more into patchwork in the future.
Back to the machine and more squares...
Happy Stitching,
Kerrie