Silly Season

OMG- has it been hot this weekend-today was the hottest November day in 17 years! We are supposed to be getting a storm later on this evening, so far, absolutely nothing-just heat.

MOTH has a 'thing' about using the air conditioner-he turns it off as fast as I turn it on-he maintains its cold-I personally feel its just right & so we continue with the on/off regime!

This morning, while it was still relatively cool I managed to clean out some cupboards & drawers-3 large bags full of things to take to the charity bin & one smaller one full of shoes & handbags-I sometimes wonder how I amass so much!

In true MOTH form he rummaged through the bags & kept on saying "why are you throwing this out... and THIS?"- I told him in no uncertain terms to get out of the bags & just take them up to the bin! Honestly he is the only man I know that will run after the garbage truck in case I have thrown out something he may want/need! sheesh- it wasn't as if I went through HIS things- it was all my stuff!

While cleaning/tidying up the linen cupboard I was able to take stock of my towel stash, which has grown considerably in the past few weeks- there were some 25 towels all tucked away for gifts when I embroider on them- along with face cloths, hand towels,bathmats & miscellaneous sundries in the bags as well!

My sewing room got a good going over as well-now its so tidy I won't feel like sewing & messing it up again. Hopefully now its all sorted out I will be able to sit & write the magazine article this week-its due in the following week! Yikes!!!

The Christmas cards are all written-another tick off my to do list. This year I've handed MOTH all his friends to write the cards for, I think its only fair that he write some of them. I have suggested that he write them all, that met with a death stare & you have to be joking!

Finished a baby jacket this week & started another one. Decided to knit this one from the neck down as well. The pattern is a very old Patons one- the book is falling apart, but I'm sure it will hold up until I sort out what I'm doing with the pattern. The pattern is called "Puss"- I am always intrigued how they came up with some of the names they gave these patterns.

Guess the next thing will be to do some Christmas shopping-I'm not that enthused about that, but its something I can't really escape!

Until next time,
Happy Crafting,
Oz-Tralien

On being Productive.

My weekend was most productive- just the way I like it!
There was an order for 13 bath towels to have names embroidered on them- all done- one LARGE tick on my TO DO list for that one.....I caught up on my ironing....how does it mount up so fast? I'm sure I didn't wear ALL those clothes! Another tick!

Did the usual household chores, it seems MOTH is incapable of doing any of these off his own bat through the week, which leaves me to run around & get them all done when I'm home. Are all MOTHs like this- or just mine?

Played around with some red work designs-these are to fit in the Aida insert on tea towels- there are absolutely no designs suitable out there (if there is please email me & let me know where!)- there is a market out there for some clever digitizer to produce designs in this size.

The wedding in Kuala Lumpar was lovely- the bride looked gorgeous- the groom was sporting a fractured clavicle- the dog (a rottie) knocked him over the night before-he had a matching arm sling to his tuxedo at least!

I spent my week getting over the 2 flights in quick succession & the jet lag from doing a red eye flight.....I'm disliking the flights more & more these days, but love visiting when I get there.

There is no service in economy anymore. Throw your meals at you & disappear, if you can call them meals- breakfast for me was 2 dry rice cakes- I handed them back. I dislike eating polystyrene even when it has something on it- but naked- no thank you! Even the orange juice- the only choice- was that powdered stuff you add water to. Talk about cost cutting. I've said to MOTH its time we moved up into premium economy on these longer flights, if only to have a little more leg room.I doubt the service would be any better.

I did buy myself a 'little something' while we were away, I'd been hankering after a Sony Vaio for a couple of years now & MOTH always buys me Acers. I have nothing against the Acers-I love my Acer.....but....I really wanted a Vaio....its just a mid size one for travelling. My friend, Carol ,suggested I call it Goldilocks-not only is it gold, but its 'just the right' size as well.
Ah.... then there was the new flash ring for the camera-hopefully to give me better illumination of my macro shots.

Not done much on the knitting scene- the baby jacket is progressing ever so slowly-guess at some point I will finish the body of it. Oh, & I did buy some lovely yarns in KL as well. Italian pure wool. This will be one well dressed baby, if I manage to get anything finished for it.

Back to work tomorrow- there are days I'd love to be retired, but then I doubt if I'd get much more done than I do now- when you only have 2 days off. you know you have to get things done! That's what my retired friends all say!
Until next time, Happy Crafting,
Oz-Tralien.

Embroidered Sheet Set

Finally I can show off the matching sheet set that I made back in March-have been eagerly awaiting the publishing date.
The pic is courtesy of Australian Machine Embroidery Mag published in edition 16/3.
I'm not sure who will be the recipient of these- I just love them & think I'll keep them to use for my lady guests, men just don't appreciate embroidered bed linen.
This week is a muddily week- have had 3 days off work on sick leave- day one was the prep day- I started it 2 hours earlier & was still running to the loo an hour before I was going to the endoscopy unit! Day 2 was the day, and day 3 to recover- my head has been giddy for most of the day, so no driving.
I was wanting to go to the Sheridan Factory Outlet sale-this is where I buy most of my sheets & towels-when they are on sale,hopefully I'll get time to nick in there tomorrow after I finish rounds-I'll just make time!
This weekend I'm working, then I fly off to Kuala Lumpar next Thursday to attend a friend's wedding-just a quick stay, be back on Tuesday,ready to go to work on Wednesday.
I'm eyeing off a new laptop to bring home on this trip-I've been coveting a Sony Viao for some time & I think its now time to get it. MOTH bought me a new laptop last time he was there but its useless to travel with- it weighs a ton & is hardly portable.
Now with a 2 bag limit on cabin luggage, including laptops everything has got to fit in my carry on bag & this big laptop certainly wont!
I can see the time in the not too distant future where we'll be charged excessively to take any luggage with us on a plane besides a carry-on weighing 3 kg! regardless of how far we are flying.
Lucky I can pack light.
Have been busy making bright luggage labels for the suitcases- hopefully they will be more noticeable on the carousel- thing is you tie it on one end & that's always the end that's hidden under all the other bags!
Happy crafting,
Oz-Tralien

This & That & a Little of Nothing Much

Today it has rained. After the rain is a wonderful opportunity to go & take pictures in the garden-especially when MOTH has left his macro lens with the converter right where I can see it & I can play around while he is out- otherwise he grabs the best lenses & then follows me around, always saying he has taken the better pictures-he probably has, but he needed remind me of the fact!

I seem to have done a lot of fart-arsing about this weekend. When I look at what I did get done- it doesn't seem all that much, although I have been far from idle.

Firstly I finished the little kimono jacket I downloaded from Ravelry-I knitted this in a cotton/bamboo blend- it knitted up really quickly & I'm sure it'll wash like a rag & be very easy care.

The Christmas pudding was next- that was early Saturday morning's job-I can't believe it's already that time of the year again where I have to think about making it & as we have a few hectic weeks ahead this was the only weekend before December that I knew I was free to get it done. It is hanging under the stairs, aging until Christmas Day, complete with 25 old sixpences & one three penny bit!

Multi- tasking, I made fabric postcards while I refilled the pot every hour as it boiled away for 6 hours. These are for a swap, & one extra for my GS who loves to get his own mail (what kid doesn't!?),now just waiting to be posted.

In between this I managed to buy a few embroidery design sets online. (Its great that our $ is so strong, but I'm managing to spend way too much as a consequence!)- that's where the pfaffing about occurred- looking at & playing with the designs- it wastes so much time!

Made 2 tags-one for my bag & one for a friend (she was part of the reason I was pfaffing about as I was going to make her something for her birthday & couldn't decide what, in the end I have made her the recipient of the pale green edged & embroidered towels I have pictured in a previous post). I know she'll love them.

This morning MOTH decides it would be nice to go for breakfast-so up to our favourite eating place-there goes another few hours & the rest of the day saw me do nothing much at all- embroidered 4 names on 4 towels that were an order & made my friend an embroidered birthday card, using a pic I had put through Kaleidoscope.

The sum of my day-not really that productive at all, in the scheme of things-although not completely wasted either.

This afternoon I made some pikelets for afternoon tea- had them with strawberry jam & cream- oh, what memories of my dear departed mother making these on a Sunday afternoon, or, having them at the school fete when they served afternoon tea. Shame I had no one to share them with, MOTH too engrossed in a movie to want to come join me!

The weekend is coming to a close- I can't believe it has gone so fast-let's hope I can get some sewing done on Tuesday, as I'm home to start the prep for my colonoscopy on Wednesday-I don't know anyone that enjoys the prep for this procedure, there is something really off when you get to the stage of 'peeing' out your bum!

Then that leads to Thursday which I have off as well, because, no driving post anaesthetic-so I'm hoping to get a little something done then. That's the plus side of all of this-the extra day off!

Until next time

happy crafting,

Oz-Tralien

Throwing in the Towel-or All Wiped Up.

There are many 'rules' for sewing monograms on towels- 3 inches up, 4 whiskers to the side & his before hers & don't forget to hold your tongue in the right position while you sew it!

For me- rules are meant to be broken-push the envelope I say & experiment- who says they have to be in a certain place anyway?

Gone are the days when to buy a mongramed towel the name was sewn diagonally across the corner-please- no more of that!, there are many more creative ways of embroidering on a towel.
Towels are the perfect gift for all ages. One size will work for anybody- it doesn't have to 'fit'-white or cream & it will go in any bathroom & lets face it-unless you live on the street - everyone uses them- from a newborn to a 100 year old. It's the perfect gift when you don't know the recipient all that well & perfect if you do.



I'm always putting names on towels-mostly for gifts & I think I've come up with some novel ways of doing just that, without it being all boring & definitely no names on the diagonal in the corner.

Most people opt for centering the name on the towel above the header. Consider if the towel will be hung up open, or folded- not everyone has the room to have the towels at their full width on a rail.

What about putting the names on the side-just above the header in a nice clean font (like the art deco one shown)- or below the header if the lower part of the towel is wide enough-this is perfect for the males in your life- they don't want all flourishes & flowers, well mine don't, that's for sure!

The fashion for towels at present is a wider towel end before the header- this lends itself to being embroidered quite easily & is a nice change from above the header. (the header is the fancy band on a towel, that on cheaper towels always shrinks & makes the towel go all out of shape, after the first wash!)
Can you incorporate something in the name -mice, flowers, small animals poking out of 'A's, Os's or Y's', all work well-or a small lion's head as with the Rory towel?

One request I had was just for the first initial of each family member in the corner-they didn't like the idea of anyone being able to see the children's names (or theirs) on the line-but wanted to make sure everyone used their own towels.
I've put frogs on baby's towels for a frog themed nursery, a monkey for jungle themes & everything else in between- a favourite of mine is Amazing Designs Bathtime alphabet-takes a bit of editing to do a whole name in it, but looks great when its finished.

For those pre-teens & young girls- you can't go past a curlz font- use a large single, applique letter behind & the full name in front of it- don't forget to change your settings in your software so it doesn't take out the overlap.
Boys towels can have a sport or an interest incorporated into their name-soccer balls, foot balls, sail boats, baseball bats-they will all go through a letter, at the end or beginning of a name, or sit behind the name.

For couples I use classic fonts- a large first letter & a more simple font for the rest of their names, I repeat the first initial on the hand towels & face washers.
One of my favourite towels is using a fairy & then sew out the design in variegated threads- the one shown is a licensed design so can only be given as a gift- Amazing Designs has a fairy that will work just as well & you can then use it on items that you wish to sell.
There's been names on musical scores for the musical ones, Chinese symbols for my Chinese friends, names that twist & turn-I've only shown a small sample of all the names I've done over the years & no one has not liked what I've come up with-they all get used.

Sew, have some fun, put the names in different spots- & sometimes it's fun to incorporate a little surprise, like the single bee at the other end of a towel for a friend who wanted bees, please!



HappyCrafting,
Oz-Tralien

Variations on a Theme

When I made the blue towel set which was published (see pic in previous post) I was so pleased with the results I made 2 more sets.(when you're on a roll!)

The flannel flower set are designs from Ellen Jaye Designs- I bought this set quite a few years back, when, I think she may have just been starting out & was selling on EBay- the set she sells now is a little different to the one I have, but I just love the elegance of the pale green & cream-the design is simplicity itself

After completing the flannel flower set I then had an idea that white binding with a coloured, corded bias trim inserted would look really classy- the instructions are the same as the other sets- you insert the bias cord trim when stitching the binding down- this is a Jenny Haskins
design-I like the boldness of the poppy & its simple elegance.

Three very different looks all from the same idea- I'm sure many of you can come up with lots more of them.
When I've shown friends & family the 3 different sets they can't decide which one they'd like (not that I'm making them en mass! LOL)-there is no clear favourite....but let me know which one you like the best.

Happy crafting
Oz- tralien

Embroidered towels

I can't believe it's been so many weeks since I managed to write on my blog. Time escapes when you are having fun!
My Grandson, his parents & grandmother from the UK have been visiting for the past week-it's so much fun to have a small child in the house & he is such a delight, having just turned 5-give him a few years at school & all that will change!
The week before their arrival I was busy embroidering designs for a quilt & writing up instructions for another quilt & a place mat project which will be published next year but have to be to the editor long before they are published. I often think her house must be like Christmas everyday with so many lovely projects arriving daily at her door from all over the country.
My towel project has been released & now I can share pictures, which I've been eager to do since I created them back at the beginning of the year!
The photo is courtesy of Express Publications' and directions can be found in Machine Embroidery edition 16/2. I would like to thank Yvonne, the editor, for allowing me to use their photo from the magazine (far nicer than anything I took!).
I've been sewing madly the last few weeks & it looks like it will continue until Christmas as I've already received orders for towels for monogramming from 3 people!
Have started a gorgeous set of bears- they come to life as you stitch them out!
My knitting has changed from socks to baby clothes- its been a while since I've knitted any of those-a few when DIL was expecting No1 GS. looks like I'll have plenty to keep me busy over the next few months.
Happy Crafting
Oz- tralien