TropicalSoup

*That* Christmas quilt

 

I'm not sure exactly when the official end of the Christmas season is observed, but I think it's safe tosay that this quilt didn't make the cutoff for this Christmas, ha! (I've started humming the LampChop tune *this is the song that never ends* around it now, oops!)

It did get basted in there somewhere, and since this picture was taken, I have started the quilting. 5 times, in fact. And been reminded of my need for a new unpicker 4 times. (the 5th lot of unpicking can wait until morning, Ugh) But, this little beastie is not going to escape - it  will be quilted, it will be bound,  it will stop giving me grief, and we will become friends again, whether it likes it or not! Because I'm reasonable like that...

 

Why doves cry

The kids and I decorated the tree earlier this week. (Well, 2/3 of the tree...the bottom sections are relegated to storage until we have a house with considerably higher ceilings!) When I discovered this little collection, I suggested to Coley that it was great handiwork, but we could perhaps spread things out a little - no need for all the decorations to be on top of each other. I was soon corrected - apparently this little diorama was deliberately created to *amaze and fascinate* (his words!) people who would not be able to believe that Christmas doves parped (farted) fireworks. Ahem.

My Creative Space...auditions

 

I finally unpacked my sewing machine this week (yay!) and of course the only appropriate celebration for such an occasion is to start a new quilt! I thought a bright and happy, light and fresh Christmas quilt might be in order - heavy dark fabrics aren't quite right for a Summer festive season...especially one that promises to be as hot as this coming one. It would also serve to lighten up the big black *hole* that our leather modular creates in the centre of our living room during the season (it's the comfiest sofa we've ever owned, and we all adore it, but man, can it be stark and overwhelming when unadorned!)

I really like this combo above, but with some solids added in the apple and lighter greens. I'm thinking maybe a string quilt, a broken bento, or something completely improv...(Even since I started writing this blog post I've been back down to the studio to add in another half a dozen fabrics...I do love a scrappy quilt - even a tightly coloured scrappy!) Yum!

Now, anyone care to hazard a guess as to which Christmas I'm aiming for a finish by?

 

I'm joining Our Creative Space this week...there are some lovely things over there!

 

Procrastination, Bleating, Lightning Strike and Christmas

(Does anyone else feel like I've sworn in the title to the post? Eek, time's a ticking!)

Well, hello again my lovelies. I have been procrastinating (again!) about posting here, for several reasons. For one I've been a bit down - nothing serious, just that usual post-move slump where you're settling in and enjoying the new place, but the initial high has worn off a little and you still don't know anyone and are a bit lonely. (I have been through this so many times you'd think I'd have it sorted by now!) And the kids are missing their NZ friends and haven't really made any new ones yet, and we're all a bit frustrated - the kids are so desperate for school (did I do the right thing not pushing to get them slotted in this year when we arrived? I'm still fairly sure that for both of them, starting at the beginning of next year is the best choice, even though I know that they would have been fine academically for this year. But, had they started this year they'd be super young for their class as well as having the disadvantage of starting midway through the year when everyone else had started in January, but man, they are so ready for school, and so am I, frankly. I think they're a bit sick of having me around all the time, too. Maybe I need to think of some new things to keep us entertained. Here endeth the world's longest parentheses.) And let's just say our budget has perilously little wiggle room right now after the financial hammering we've taken this last year or so, and then with the move on top of that. (Moving = haemorrhaging money) So retail therapy is definitely out! The budget's a temporary thing, and we're making great progress, but still.

 

And to add to all that I'm feeling very adrift on where to go creatively - do I continue with Bahacoca and earnestly relaunch it, do I do something different with Gawjus (and if so, what? So many ideas!!!), do I bag it altogether? Since working outside the home isn't an option until next year, I'd really like to do something that would generate a few pennies and that I can do from home. and since I breathe textiles and craft it seems like a natural fit, but narrowing it down is doing me in.

 

(All that's to say I'm feeling a bit introspective and bleaty all round, but just ignore me and it should pass! I just don't like to come to my happy place and have a pity party...so I went and partied elsewhere! ha)

Then to add a little more fun to the equation, last week we had a lightning strike that fried our modem and our tv satellite dish, oy vey. We were really lucky that all our appliances were absolutely fine - still not quite sure how *that* happened. I was so very happy to see the modem box arrive this week!

And finally, I have opened my Etsy store again, since whilst my studio is still a mass of boxes until we get the shelves sorted (see budget notes!), at least I can access my knit hats and the like. I've also listed the Christmas hats you see here (I usually mean to list thesae hats and then realise it's the 22nd of December!) - these are all my own design, and are very definitely limited edition. If there's one you see that you'd like in another size, please let me know - I probably won't be making any more, except for custom ones.

The Christmas Countdown

 

Only 9 months to go, people! Just kidding, clearly. I hope! (Okay, seriously, those of you who read the above and got excited need to be ushered into a dark and mouldy room and beaten with a wet fish!) So whilst it is nowhere near Christmas, I thought I should try and finally get around to showing you what became of that french knot wreath I started making way back when.

 

 

I love the way it turned out from such a simple idea...I confess I used to find excuses to wander past it a few times a day, and it didn't get taken down until February!

 

 

I couldn't hazard a guess at the number of french knots in this sucker, but there are about 500 beads (I think) in various greens and deep reds, and the odd cluster of broken chain stitches around the perimeter to give the wreath a feeling of texture and perspective. And about 12 different shades of green thread, in different weights, thicknesses and composition - a little something I like to call vising my treasure chest of embroidery thread!

A few people who have seen the finished item have asked if I would make one for them, and I was thinking about offering a tutorial-ish guide here so you could make your own if you were so inclined - anyone interested?

 

The problem with Christmas downunder

I know I know, I said Christmas. Out loud. In September. In the post title. Sorry, that's just mean. But I have been starting to think* about the holiday gift giving season, and about what to make people for it - I want to try and do another (almost completely) handmade holiday. I have this crazy spreadsheet list that I do each year, with all my big ideas on it. And sometimes some of them even get done! woot.

So here's where I get stuck - there are so many gift ideas that I would love to make that seem (are?) more Wintery in nature - funky fingerless gloves for the preteens and groovy womenfolk, cute hotwater bottles and their own knitted cosies for grandparents and others who feel the cold, scarves, beanies...they just all seem to lend themselves to nice, relatively quick, and endlessly personalised gifts. But does giving this sort of thing at the start of our warmest Season just make me look a bit loopy? What do you think? (For those of you Northern folk, would you look askance if someone gifted you a new beach towel or BBQ equipment whilst the snowstorms raged outside?) I know it's not like there aren't plenty of non-Wintery gifts to be made, but I guess I'm just wondering how many years in a row I can make quilted pot holders as gifts, however funky and bright they may be! Or do I go wild and branch out into quilted coasters?

*Disclaimer: I am thinking about it already. That means that in all likelihood there will be no shift to actually doing anything until, oh, the day before postal/holiday deadlines. I mean, that's the real reason Christmas Eve exists, right???

Buttercups a deux

I know we're rapidly approaching the meat of the year, and here I am, still pulling out Christmas gifts! I think I may be one of the last remaining blog-literate sewists to attempt the buttercup bag, and man, I wish I'd made one sooner - if I had, pretty much every young lady in the vicinity would have received one for a gift. Such a sweet, easy project. The hardest part was picking which fabric to cut into. (Closely followed by the second hardest part - overcoming the urge to keep the bags and just buy my sisters a beauty treatment instead!) I changed the pattern slightly (because I'm me and I just can't help myself) and I definitely see more of these in my future!

I always feel awkward about giving Ali and Mikki the same gifts - or variations on a theme. (For those that don't know, my lovely sisters are also twins, now in their mid-20s) And yet I continually do it. I think my over-extended sense of fairness coupled with an extra-earnest determination to ensure twins are treated as individuals rather than components of a whole sometimes collaborate to make my head asplode. Really. To the point where I spend hours worrying about it. It's ridiculous. And you know what I eventually figured out? Ali and Mikki's gifts are usually so similar because these two gorgeous young things really like so many of the same things, are at very similar places in their lives (funny that!)...and are incredibly close with very similar tastes (and very distinct personalities!) So maybe the over-thinking is nothing more than a gigantic waste of time...or an excuse to procrastinate. (who? me? never! okay, well maybe tomorrow...)

And the purpose of me blathering on about all this here? Not sure really. I guess I wanted to share the cute buttercup bags. And maybe I wanted (albeit in a very vague and circuitous, roundabout, procrastinating way) put it out there that I need to stop over-thinking things...I spend so much time analysing and thinking things to bits that I end up with no time to actually do anything. Case in point - these bags weren't finished until New Year's, even though I'd made all the fabric choices at least a week in advance of Christmas. 10 big sister demerit points for you, Jo.

(wondering how long I can drag out this what-I-made-people-for-Christmas malarky? Yeah, me too! I might call it a day now though, eh? And save the rest of the pics for the proverbial rainy day down the road. But if only I'd remembered to take a photo of the ipod cover I made for C's birthday last month...that was fun. Maybe it's time to bribe a wee niece to send me a photo or two!)

The Dancing Skirt (aka: it's not a tutu mama, because I am three!)

I made Santa gave Imogen a dancing skirt for Christmas, sensing as he must have, a need for more pink tulle and fluff for our littlest. It was very well received and gets worn daily. Often with her balleter (known to those outside these hallowed dancing halls as a leotard!)

I am now a Season ticket holder to all performances chez Campbell, which consist mostly of one dancer and one accompanying musician (is there any finer or more suitable musical accompaniment for twirling and pointing and leaping than a ukelele? I think not.) What marks this troupe out is their ability to swap roles at any moment...quite suspenseful! And yesterday Immy discovered a second dancing skirt in her dress up drawer that a beloved cousin had given her, so now she and Cole are practising duets. Too cute by far. 

The Family Portrait 2009

Our little *families* gift this last Christmas (for grandparents and aunties and so on) was inspired by the fabulous idea on the lovely blog Hazelnuts of drawing on linen teatowels. It fit the bill perfectly for me - something sweet and personalised, that was a good indication of where we were as a little family in 2009, and was useful to the recipient (and hopefully still pretty!) without just adding to the clutter and tchotchka dilemma.

I took 4 *people drawings* that Cole and Imogen had obligingly created for me, consolidated them into one picture, and then traced the images onto cotton/linen blend tea towels with fabric markers. And heat set them. And that's it. Oh yeah, and I couldn't for the life of me find plain white linen teatowels, so I made them. Because you know, the week before Christmas is the perfect time to do this sort of thing. I'm thrilled with how they came out, and the oohing and aahing and giggles by the recipients makes me think they were well received as well. Of course, we're all extremely curious as to who is who in the family lineup on linen...the artistes themselves refuse to divulge. I adore this stage of experimentation and discovery through art - working out things like fingers and toes and hair and what makes somebody who they are. And I really really  want to know who the one with no arms is!!!

Merry Everything, Happy Always

Hope you've had/ are having/ are about to have, a day full of glee. And hula.

Love from the Campbell clan XXX