The Sewers Alphabet

The Sewers Alphabet

Again ..........................I sewed it backwards AGAIN!
Baste...........................You have got to be kidding!
Credit Card..................great sewing tool
Does ...........................it have to be ironed?
Ease............................Size 14 lady into a size 12 pant
Fabric..........................a non fat weakness
Gee.............................Why did I by this fabric?
Hem............................Straight is good.
Ideas...........................come by the meter
Jazzy ..........................can be just a button
Knot.............................small please
Love.............................to wear what you sew
Manikin........................Does it have to be in my size?
Never Enough.............either C, E, F, Q, R, T or Y
Often ..........................When you would like to sew
Pattern........................Bless the good ones
Quiet (and Peace) .....See N
Room to Sew .............also see N
Size.............................Can vary from top to bottom
Time to Sew ...............See N again
Ugly.............................try to avoid this
Very Ugly.....................always avoid this
Wearable.....................the ultimate goal
Xact.............................Well we try
Yards...........................See N
Zig ...............................Companion stich to Zag

One of our gorgeous customers brought this in for us and we thought it was titillating. Oh there are so many other things you could add to this one. Like for instance L Love ............ooooo I love that fabric I have to have some. E Embellish ......embellish embellish I love to embellish.  Tell us some more and maybe between us all we can write our own Patchworkers alphabet.
Some other little snippets on the page were

Iam working on my PhD

(Projects Half Done)

Asking a quilter to mend is like asking Picasso to paint your garage

Quilts are like cats warm,

comforting and full of Love.

Your Sewing machine............Think of it as a power tool with thread.

Amanda

The broken wrist, or how to get people to cut their own fabric

I fell into the church yard. No, I was 't going to church. I was walking to work and I caught my toe on the uneaven footpath. Down I went. Face down into lawn, hitting my arm and elbow on a brick fence in the process. I rolled back and just sat for a few minutes to collect my thoughts, then noticed 3 people walking my way. Suddenly I became invisible, and remained invisible beccause they kept on walking. On closer inspection, my wrist started to swell. I'm thinking ,I've never broken anything, only a fingernail. Anyway, thats enough about that.
Luckily, ladies shopping in a fabric shop usually know how to cut fabric. So now I have enlisted their help, and I have taught others to use the till. Something I should have done a long time ago.
This week I've designed a table ctoth and I'm cutting it out one handed. Keep an eye open for the new pattern and sample on the web and facebook.

An ongoing colour story

On my way to work last Saturday morning I came across a butterfly on the pavement, and he appeared to be windblown and a little distraught. I don't know how I knew he was distraught,just general intuition I guess. I put my finger down, not expecting anything to happen, and he crawled onto my finger, much to my surprise. So I held my hand into my chest to give him some protection from the wind, because it was a very windy.
I considered my options and decided to find a flower for him to hop onto, but I only came across white flowers, and he showed no interest in them. Now the best part of my story is I have never seen a butterfly this colour before. Orange and yellow splodges. No intricate veins, no even patterning, No, splodges of colour. I think Pacasso painted him, and God let him and I have a few minutes together.

 I sew and play with fabric because I love colour. I always have. My mother was a photographic artist, so her homes were always filled with beautiful colours, large floral arrangements, objects de arte and fabric.I particularly like the Impression painters and their desire to use colour in different ways to create new colours.
In my shop I get to to play with lots of fabrics and colours, and to see what happens when different colours come together. I think thats why I love the Kaffe Fassett ranges, the bold use of colour and large floral prints.To me Kaffe has broken all the rules of colour combinations. I love that he puts large print on large print and it works, because it makes another colour. It expands our eye to other posibilites. Not all matchy matchy.
But back to my butterfly story: we stayed together for 4 city blocks, arrived at my shop, and I was just about to share my Picasso friend  with students arriving when he let go of his grip, flew out into the traffic, I cringed, and a gust of wind took him up above the awning, out of the way of the ongoing traffic, and on to safety.

What a wonderful experience, an unarranged meeting with nature that brings a warm carming and centred feeling and a story that can be told to others.

Love,  Delma

Interview with Michelle Marvig

Hi Friends,
Its Sunday morning, the weather is fine and we are half way through making Calico Compass with Michelle Marvig. Some of you will know Michelle through her work with Quilters Companion,doing product reviews, and and also leading Quilting tours overseas to museams that specialise in the preservation of textiles of historical signifinance in Europe,the  USA and later this year to Japan.

Michelle and her family live in Blaxland in the beautiful Blue Mountains outside of Sydney, and her shop is called the Patchwork Heart, located at Shop 2/51 York Road, Penrith.
Michelle, whats your favourite colour?...Michelle thinks about this questions....I can tell you my non favourite colour.I already know this because we talked about it yesterday, its blue. Michelle likes strong colours, and likes to work with black, red and browns. So the conclusion is browns and her home is decorated in the colour.
Michelle, whats your favourite style of fabric? ...again Michelle hesitates and says... I'm mainly working with reproduction fabrics, and I have a lot of this stlye of fabric at my shop.

Tell us what the inspiration was for your latest fabric range....Australian bush and plants and the colours of Australia.... My husband left home in a blue and silver ute to travel through the centre of Australia with his mates. The ute came home this amazing red colour from this dust, so thats one of the colours in the new range.
Michelle,whats your favourite place to go on your tours to Europe? .... animatedly Michelle reels of a list of places in France.....Colmar (Val d'argent), the beautiful drive through the valley,the medieval buildings, the amazing clothing and the food is to die for, and the drive on to Saint-Maria-aux-mines was devine.

When asked about her favourite place in America she is more circumspect...there is so much to like about America...Chicago, its a very interesting city to visit, the architecture,the shopping and museums.

I know you have a tour planned to Japan in November for the Yokohama Quilts Festival... the work is so intricate, and so so beautiful....other cities we visit include Kyoto, Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Osaka. Also Takayama, which is an amazing 130 year old village with cobble stone paths and thatched roofs. Theres a wonderful Sashiko store up there.

Whats the one tip you would give to new sewers....Buy good quality fabric, and take time and care with your preparation, no matter what you are making.

Michelle, I know you where married in India, ... Indias' just a riot of colour,and and my sister had had a big wedding just months before, so we decided if you are committed it doesn't matter where it happens.... Michelle talks on jokingly about a second wedding in Las Vagas and being married by an Elvis.

Its midafternoon now and everyone is working intently to master all the tecniques in the various borders, so in closing Ill leave the last word to Michelle.....That I always learn something when I teach a class...
Happy sewing,
love
Delma Watts

PS Michelles next visit is 23/24 July, Ill keep you posted. D.





             

Elizabeth Jefferson's Coverlet

Over the last 6 months we have been very lucky to have Anne Sommerlad come from the mountains and teach at Bella very month. The class participants were very taken with her miniature quilts featuring 2.5 inch blocks and even down to 1.5 inches finished blocks of sewing machines, baskets, houses and much more.
Anne came across a picture of Elizabeth Jefferson's Coverlet in an old book from the 1950s.The picture was in black and white and Anne photocopied and enlarged the photo to a size where she could redraft the pattern, and with the help of EQuilter softwhere she has turned a small photo into an amazing quilt, which was originally made by a 10 year old in 1811.
The coverlet is well over 2 metres and has 8 borders, and Anne has chosen reproduction colours and fabrics in her sample.
This project will start at Bella on the 8th of April and will continue on the 2nd Friday of every month throughout the year. Anne's other quilts are also available to do at the same time and I have patterns for most of these.
With love,
Delma

If you would like a look at her quilt follow this link to her homepage http://www.annesommerladdesigns.com.au/