Rapt up in Bilbies

So... from time to time my good friend Kate from Rapt! Upholstery has commented here on my work, and I've often admired hers.. she and I were at Upholstery School together, and she does fabulous work, which you can see on her blog:

Anyway, Kate has a showroom in Jamberoo, where you can select fabrics, have a look at finished works and generally bask in the loveliness that is upholstery, and she's offered to take house some Bilbies until their new owners wander in off the streets and take them home!

These happy guys have gone off today via Australia Post.  Kate and I were thinking of naming them the Travelling Bilbies, but nobody could agree on who was Tom Petty (I'm personally going with Mr Blue Spot Yellow Belly as Tom):

Do they look nervous to you, Gentle Readers?  I'm sure they'll be fine in their new home! But!  In case you want one, and you can't wait until the Mona Vale Christmas Market on 7th December, hint hint, you can order one from my Etsy shop.

More are being made as we speak - and because I worked from home today (gotta love that!), I was able to cut out another pink & grey masterpiece before 0800... and now?  Gotta sew!  Ciao!

A little creativity goes a long, long way

Busy busy, this weekend... Despite feeling like I've been hit by a truck, I still managed to cut out & sew the top of a Schoolhouse Tunic - this is such a great pattern, and pretty easy:

And of course I chose the most expensive fabric in the shop - really, who goes shopping for dress fabric in a quilt shop?  Me, of course.  Well, it's a Liberty Voile, in case you were wondering, and it's so soft... just beautiful.  I'm hoping to finish it on Saturday, to wear to Miss E's Baptism on Sunday.  Proud Father advises it's "smart casual", so I guess I won't be wearing my hat & gloves...

In other news, I took the Second Chance quilt in to be quilted - only to discover that they won't accept anything that's creased, and so I spent an hour ironing the 2m (6'5") X 2.5m (8'2") backing fabric:

It's a good thing this is for MGF Kaz, because I doubt I'd do it for anybody else.  Even Mr Golightly's shirts are the sort that don't require ironing.

Anyway, I have great faith in the quilter, who I'm sure will do a fabulous job, and I promise pictures will be posted before it goes off to the Hunter.

In other news, I have made more Bilbies - I keep selling them to friends and family, and so the numbers need topping up:

 I need to do some more work on the pattern for the bigger guys, because I'm still not happy with the shape.  This guy is made from some linen I bought at the Handmade Market two years ago (I think it's by Saffron Craig, so if you know, please drop me a note to confirm!), it's beautiful quality, and while I was rummaging through the boxes of red fabric to find a co-ordinating colour for the gusset, I found this beautiful lustrous Japanese cotton, with multi-coloured balls - and that's why this guy has purple eyes, to go with the interior of his ears.

This big guy nearly ended up in the bin - he's made from a really soft linen which is going to fray the minute you look at it, and I had to completely unpick the rear seam twice to get it right, and I'm still not happy enough with it to sell him.  He's going on the 'keep at home' pile. 

Which is where I am now, keeping at home.  Back to the office next week, and a return to normal.  Whatever that is.  Ciao!

Can somebody stop me?

Well, Gentle Readers, I think it's Intervention Number 4.  It may be number 44 for all I can remember.  And what is it you're stopping me from doing?  Making these guys:

So far I've made 12 and there's no sign that I'm bored yet.  I've applied to have a stall at the Mona Vale Christmas Market, and I intend to sell these little guys, along with some fabulous fridge magnets made by Miss D yesterday and Monday - they look fabulous - she has such good taste, which is why she's my friend :-D

Yesterday I made the grandfather of all bilbies - I had the pattern sized up to 400% of original at a well-known office supply company, bought beautiful blue velvet and some grey polar fleece from the lovely Mr Fenner, and, three 1kg bags of stuffing later, here we are:

Yes, he's leaning slightly.  It's the leaning tower of Bilby.  You can see how big he is - the others pictured above are the medium size, which is 15cm/6" - the bigger guy, Mr Blue & Red is 19cm/7.5", and little Monkey-Face, who is about 10cm/4".  As I said to my good friend Miss JodieRicRac on Instagram (oh, wait, did I mention that I'm besties now with a celebrity?  Oh... well.  Hold onto your hats, Gentle Readers, there's so much excitement to come!!), it's like having a dog that doesn't need feeding or walking.

So.  Celebrity.  I went to Urban Stitches, the Parramatta one, not the Melbourne one, (more's the pity).  I had a great time, even though I was a singleton, because there were other lovely sewists there who also had no friends.  Who sew.  Yes, that's it.  Friends who sew.  We made things:

And I cut out and blanket stitched two legs of a fox.  I don't know how Miss Jodie does it, Gentle Readers, those tiny little legs and feet nearly sent me nuts, but anyway... The other two instructor/presenter/facilitators were Miss Mel, of Melly and Me, who gave me some excellent advice about publishing the pattern for the Bilby, and Rosalie Quinlan, who is a generally amazing woman.  Somewhere in the Ethernet is a selfie of Miss Jodie and me, and one day, when I'm very brave, I'll DM her on IG to ask her for a copy.  See?  Us besties can talk in code.  Can so too.

What else?  Fabric was purchased (of course), and eating and alcohol-free drinking went on.  Well, it was during the day... and I won a prize, a kit to make a felt teapot. Absolutely beautiful, and immediately added to the "maybe one day when I've got a broken leg" pile.  

Only complaints? - I'd only signed up for one day (there were two on offer), and the chairs got a bit uncomfortable after a while, which is absolutely nothing to do with the lovely organisers, and more to do with the Parramatta Novotel not understand the needs of sewists for a straight backed chair with support.

And I know, Gentle Readers, that you're wondering why I'm at home when I should be *insert music here* working for the man... working for the man... I had an operation on my nose, and I'm at home recovering.  No jokes about Joan Rivers, thank you.  And now?  Back to the Bilby Farm.  Ciao!

  

Look, look, here's another one!!

I've been doing the FatMumSlim Picture a Day challenge over on the 'Gram (thank you, Millennium Housewife, for pointing out yet another aspect of a scene that completely passed me by (illicit pharmaceuticals...) because I was (and still am) so boring and straight when it comes to all that stuff...), and it's been ... interesting (the 'FMSPhotoaday Challenge, not being boring and straight!!), and I've had loads of "likes" from people from all over the world, which is lovely. 

My photo of the theme for yesterday, "Pet Peeve", wasn't very good (it was a very blurry shot of some filthy smoker's filthy droppings - yes, Gentle Readers, a cigarette butt.. and interestingly, my good friend Mr UBeaut58's sister (got that bit?) (with whom I went to school, but with whom I was not particularly friendly) even 'liked' my photo, which is a first for me!  

Today's theme was "mix", and I just took a photo of some of the boxes of fabric in the Room of Requirement, showing their labels.  I thought it was pretty nifty, but.. so far... only four likes.  Oh well.  Just goes to show you... not everybody has my excellent taste :-D

In Fabric Addiction news, I bought some nice Joel Dewberry fabric from lovely Ruth at SewLoveFabrics (she always has such as great selection):

So much for my no-buy July.  I'm thinking about "Ought-not-to-August", but it doesn't have quite the same ring.

In other news of fabulousness, I bought some beautiful midnight blue velvet and some grey polar fleece today.  What do these two fabrics have in common?  Well, Gentle Readers, I'm going to do the Christmas Market at Mona Vale (NSW), on 7th December [contingent on actually getting a stall!] and I've decided to make a huge Bilby to lure in the kiddies so their unsuspecting parents can buy lots of goodies from my stall... 

I went to Officeworks today & spent about $20 having the pattern sized up into ridiculousness, and tomorrow I'm hoping to cut out this monster... keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't fall off the worktable & crush me when I finally finish stuffing it.  I'm estimating three 1kg bags of wadding to fill it, but it could be more...I'm thinking of raffling it off, with proceeds going to Save the Bilby Fund... Thoughts?

Here's a picture of the bigger guys having some fun outside - don't you just love Mr Purple's pants?  What a groover...

And in getting out and about news, I've splashed out and I'm going to Urban Stitches in Sydney!  I'm pretty excited about this, because it should be such a fun day, and I'm hoping to come home with some lovely handmade stuff... I'm only doing the Saturday (it was $180 for one day), so if you're going, and you see a dumpy dark haired lunatic there by herself, that'll be me.  I'm thinking of wearing my "I'd rather be sewing' shirt from Erin at Dog Under My Desk, but would that be too ... obvious?  Possibly.

And that, Gentle Readers, is that.  I've finally finished removing my old presence from the old laptop, in preparation of its donation to Master E, and now I'm going to sit in front of the fire & gentle rub Mr Golightly's head.  It's as good for him as it is for me.  And with that disturbing thought firmly in your minds, I'm gone!

Ciao!