News-ie bits...

This Saturday is the Titirangi Mums' Market - a regular event I was completely ignorant of. Thanks to Anissa for the heads up. She is having a stall so get along and say hello - and buy something of course.

Here's their facebook page...
http://www.facebook.com/Titirangimumsmarket?v=info

Thanks to everyone who came along to Wednesday's craft session. There was a good turn out to farewell Hannah. I staggered got home at ten to twelve.

Good luck for the Oratia Primary Trivia Night. Hope the pink bunny tails, the sleazy dressing gowns and fake grapes are put to good use! Just what sort of trivia night are we talking about here?

Tasha has knitting sussed now - so much so that she's started a hat which looked complicated to my eyes...

Sue altered some roman blinds to fit the windows in her salubrious new digs...

After receiving some scary quotes from upholsterers Sarah is going to give some re-upholstering a lash. She's hit the text books...

Hannah repaired some of Ava's shoes - the only ones she will deign to wear. Silver sequinned no less. She will look très chic in Paris.

Clare and I were the laptop nerds and did some work. Yes very lame.

Two other news-ie bits...
Tonight I helped Ann put up a display at the Piha Library as a backdrop to their new selection of craft books. Go along and have a look - some goodies there. I'll add some photos when I have the time.

The other news is that we have decided to change the day and frequency of our winter sessions. We will now meet on the last Thursday of every month. Mark it in your diary and come along. I know it's hard to leave a warm house in winter but the hall 'lounge' area is pretty warm and even of you don't feel like making anything you can always just join us for a chat.

Stay warm! And bon voyage Hannah, hope you have a wonderful trip.

Recent Pix

Hi all, here are some crafty bits from the previous week.
Tracey made some gorgeous bags using vintage linen. I guess they were tablemats or doilies which she bought at the Oratia Primary School market. What a wonderful idea...

Ann has been working on her hexagon patchwork quilt. She has also whipped up a few little mice - filled with lavender...

In the background you can see my attempt at making a patchwork cushion. Looks better now it's made up. I'll add a photo of the finished item soon...

Our next session is this Wednesday (6th July). It would be great if you could come along - we're wishing Hannah bon voyage for her Europe trip - could be some bubbles on offer...

Auckland Craft Fair

The Auckland Craft Fair is coming up - 11th June - at the Aotea Centre. I'm pleased it's at the larger venue as last years one was a real squeeze - even walking around was a chore, making it hard to check out the crafty bits.

I'm super keen to go this year. Let me know if you'd like to join me, perhaps we could get a car full and have a drink/meal afterwards?

Recent pix

I haven't been posting many photos lately of the various Craft Exchange projects - so here's a bit of a catch-up showing you some of the things being made...

Ann finished the quilt she was making for her brother. She also brought along an amazing unfinished patchwork quilt that got us all excited (I have a serious case of quilt-envy). She bought it for ONE DOLLAR!! at a recent quilting fair - what a find! I wonder where all the fabric pieces came from? I love hexagon patchwork quilts, they are such a classic. It would have taken many hours to piece this together as they can only be made by hand. Ann is going to finish it off and make a border for it...

 

 

Tracey is working on a patchwork piece too. A cushion cover I think (bottom image). She has also been practicing the ancient craft of story-telling - entertaining us with funny stories of her travels around the world. Talita experimented with needlework stitched over printed fabric (below right). Natalie brought along her gorgeous old teddy, on a mission to replicate him. Thanks too for the delicious Pecan pie and chocolate brownies pieces - your hubby is not a bad cook!...

 

Hannah finished a sweet little boat-neck jersey for Charis (you'll note that she doesn't need to look when knitting)...

Jeanette, like Hannah, is a great knitter. Over the last 2 years she has made and sold 300 beanies - whoa! She finished another one while at the Craft Exchange. If anyone needs a beanie for winter let me know and I'll get Jeanette to make you one...

 

Helen converted a dress into a very cute skirt and hemmed some shorts...

Clare has nearly finished making a monkey...

Lately I've been playing around with felting and made some booties out of a wool jersey for my new niece Tui (yay!). I added some needle-felted circles... 

So come along to our next session - on the 18th of May - we'd love to see you there.

Catch up

Jeez I have a lot of catching up to do with this blog posting business. I've been slack. How these 'Mommy-bloggers' churn out blog post after blog post recording the multitude of things they've created with their four+ children, the meals they've cooked, the rooms they've done up and "oh by the way here is my latest book, you can buy it at Amazon". I suspect they have the odd parent or nanny around to ease the load. Yes I have turned an unattractive shade of green...

Anyhoo - firstly I want to post the photos we took at the school holiday appliqué class. I thought it was a great success - 2 main reasons: Thanks to the awesome kids who came along (11 of you), you guys were so into it and designed some amazing pieces. I also need to say a big thanks to Melissa and Tracey for helping Hannah and I, particularly at the start when things were kinda crazy. I learnt a lot about how to run (and not run) a craft lesson. We'd love to do another next holidays.

Apologies to those of you who didn't get a photo taken of their work. Taking photos was the last thing on my mind until the last minute - typical. So sorry to Asha, Amy, Daisy Rose and Tui. Although Tui I did take a photo of the beautiful drawing you did when designing your motif. How cute is this...

I was amazed by Luca's elaborate ninja...

Ruby is off to Paris soon so she designed an Eiffel Tower motif which, using the sewing machine, she attached to a t-shirt. Très chic..

Summer designed the cutest little dog and sewed it on with some incredible stitching...

Yasmin worked with an Easter theme and selected some beautiful vintage fabrics. She then made her piece into a cushion cover. So clever...

Tiger's design also featured a bird. I love her clouds. Tiger used the sewing machine too, to make a cushion cover...

Noah expertly drew a profile of Lion Rock and sewed it on using gold thread. The thread was quite tricky to use but it didn't seem to trouble him - his stitches were so neat...

Lauren's design had a beautiful nature theme, which featured a blooming rose and the sun. Great choice of fabrics too...

So thank you again for coming along. The afternoon was super fun. I hope you guys enjoyed it too.

Just a word about the next Craft Exchange session. It's this coming Wednesday. I'll make sure the heaters are on at Barnett! Think I need to knit a scarf.

School holiday Appliqué class...

Well here it is, the poster for our Appliqué class. Hopefully you'll be given a flyer as well to stick on your fridge. I think we have all the information there (please click on it for a larger version)...

So your child will need to bring along an item of clothing, like a plain t-shirt, which will be given the bling treatment. We'll supply the decorative fabric, needles, thread, embroidery hoops and the iron-on 'fusing'. There will also be the option of embellishing a basic bag or cushion cover - the older children will have the opportunity of using a sewing machine for this one.

We hope it's a success as we have a load of ideas for future classes and would love to see local children crafting.
 
You are most welcome to call or email us for more info.

Taking the cake...

There are laterally endless types of crafty books available - this one would have to take the cake for sheer extraneousness...

 Then again, I could put this guy's hair to good use...

Number 3 for 2011

Finally I'm getting around to writing up our last craft night which feels like many moons ago. I hope you enjoyed it - I certainly did. As usual the conversation was far ranging and insightful: from the quality of Playboy articles to the effectiveness of cleaning products. We had a variety of craft projects going on too: Sewing, knitting, millinery, patchwork and origami.

I finally finished the dress for a friend's baby...

Hannah worked some more on her knitting and we discussed our plans for a school holiday session. We are thinking about a applique project for primary school children. Perhaps a t-shirt, or bag, or a cushion. Thanks for bringing along the gorgeous books...

You can see Tracey's beautiful fabric in the background. She is working on a patchwork project. Looks like she is hand sewing the whole thing...

Ann is making a fabulous hat for a friend who belongs to the Red Hat Society - shame on me for not knowing about this organisation - only the largest women's social group in the world...

Mel converted some laundry bags into bath toy bags by sewing on some suction cups. What a brilliant idea...

Sue was my slave and did some unpicking for me. Thanks Sue.

As for the origami being done, well not really. A few of us helped Tasha with folding and addressing the Piha News. Tracey and Tasha (and others) do a huge amount of work to get this publication out to us. It's the least we can do to help. I see the proposed Bowling/Tennis Club project is on the cover - I wonder how contentious this will be for Piha?

I hope you can make it to the next crafting session? It is on the 6th of April. We'd love to see you there. I'd love to teach someone how to crochet, let me know if you are keen and I'll bring along some hooks and yarn. You'll have made a granny square by the end of the session for sure.

As for the school holiday session for kids; more on that in the weekend. We're in the process of sorting out dates and hall hire etc. Stay tuned.

Least likely to...

I often pull out my stash of old crochet books and look at the patterns - fantasying about finding some spare time in which to actually make something. Well here are four I won't be in a hurry to make...

Blimey check out those... well everything really! 

These gems are from The Family Crochet  Book, published in 1971. You are welcome to borrow it if you have a hankering for crocheting some flared pants. Please bring along any fabulous patterns you have to the next craft session - 6th April. I hope I can join you - need to find a babysitter first.

I'll post the photos from last week's craft night soon. A big thanks to those who came along.

Sewing for Christchurch

Anissa forwarded this to me. I don't think I can make it (next Tuesday). Perhaps you can...

Beautiful Blankets

Check out this beautiful knitted blanket. What a wonderful sense of colour this woman has. So inspiring...

Here is her flickr page - really worth a gander. LOVE her crochet blankets too.

Crochet madness...

Now, I love crochet. I love crochet blankets, crochet cushions, crochet lampshades, crochet rugs. Just not all at once...

Anna

Session 2, 2011

Once again I thoroughly enjoyed our last craft session. A big thank you to those who joined us, especially the newbies - Mel and Ann.

Ann wowed us with the quilt she is making for her brother - a contemporary piece which makes great use of contrasting colour. Looks like she has some serious skills which I'd like to take advantage of when it comes to my patchwork effort!

Hannah made a wheat bag, then busted out her knitting... 

She also brought along some cute Cath Kidston magazines - great inspiration particularly for the school holidays crafting session we are planning as a fundraiser for the Piha Craft Exchange. More on that another day - stay tuned.

Clare and I made some wrap-around skirts using Tasha's sarongs. Would be fair to say that we winged it somewhat with the pattern. Clare has a bonus seam in a random place. Nevertheless! they have turned out very fetching...

Sue made a denim book bag for Keio. He was very chuffed to use it a few days later, "my Mummy made this"...

It looks like Tracey is starting a patchwork quilt project - I didn't get the chance to talk to her about her plans...

Mel brought along her Grandmother's button collection, which got us all excited. How sad - swooning over some old buttons! But not just any old buttons: beautiful Bakelite and Lucite ones from the 20's and 30's; cut glass buttons; ivory armed forces and brass airforce ones; delicate mother of pearl buttons and buttons her Grandmother had covered with deco fabrics. Amazing - thanks Mel. 

She also brought along her mother's stash of fabrics. This design had me reminiscing about my bad 80's fashion days, I think I had some harem pants made out of this, classy!...

Mel made a cute kitty, obviously just needs a nose/mouth/whiskers. Perhaps Ruby got it for her birthday?

See you on the 16th of March for our next instalment. 

Anna