Who said anything about cleaning.

I have dealt with the room.

I did not vacuum.

I did not dust.

I did not pick up, refold or put away.

I did however, seek to reassure any future visitors.

I am slightly in love with is - Is it OK to say that ? I mean it is not perfect by any means but I smile every time I walk into the sewing room. Yes its fabric , in a frame and there were probably a thousand easier ways to do it but I love it anyway.

How to:
I used Copperplate Gothic font and the letters range from 300 down to 50 in size. I just printed them out and cut them from fabric that I had adhered vliesofix (wunder under) to. You will need to use the sharpest scissors you have for nice clean letters.
I already had the frame , so using disappearing pen I marked the frame size on the white fabric and then fiddled the letters into place . Then I just peeled off the vliesofix from the back of the letters and ironed it to the fabric.
To get it looking nice and white I put a layer of thin wadding (batting) under the white fabric before I put it into the frame.
I left the fabric little too big for the frame so that after I had the back on, the fabric stuck out and I could pull at it to stretch it a bit.

The Boo Boo- My letters were nice and crisp and just before I attempted to put it in the frame , I rolled a lint roller over it to clean up bits of fluff and stuff and of course it picked up the edges of the letters and fuzzed them a bit.

So if you ever pop in to my sewing room , remember:

DO NOT PANIC ITS OFTEN WORSE

Desperate times.

Some days everything just goes to hell in a hand basket doesn't it.

A friend recently asked me if I ever blogged my Boo-Boo's. I replied (and it was a joke) but I don't ever have any Boo-Boo's.

Ha ha ha Joke is totally on me. I do not know how many of these little buckets I have made over time - ( there is even a tutorial in the sidebar) so really whipping these up could be done blindfolded - OR NOT !!!!

These were sewn and unpicked and jiggled and wriggled to within an inch of their life. The only thing that saved them from being tossed in the bin was the little pictures that I really love, so I struggled on through. The problem , apart from me being too cocky was probably the linen. It is beautiful but such a loose weave just gave it a bit too much give.


I was initially unsure of these little stitchies on the front. I wasn't sure they would look offset. I thought they might just look like I couldn't sew straight so thanks to Muralimanohar whose comment made me think I was on the right track. This little offset thing could turn into a new obsession.

If you want to see the Rolls Royce of fabric containers get on over to Moogsmum- hers are great and I bet she didn't swear at them either.

I had a recent visitor to whom I quite excitedly explained these little buckets and my plan to reorganise the sewing room. Now, I did warn her before entering that the room may be a little untidy.............................. her reaction was more akin to, lets say, witnessing a nuclear explosion. Even after we left the room she couldn't stop talking about it - I didn't think it was that bad.

Note: This photo shows the tidiest part of the room: The actual workspace

So I have decided to deal with it !!! that's right , now you all know. I will not start a new project, in fact I will not blog again until I have done something about this room.

It's back !!

After a recent email asking for instructions for the green quilt and some persistent, lets call it encouragement, from others, I dragged it out yesterday.

This quilt goes back a bit of way, and has been one the blog once or twice before.

A quilter I am not.

But yesterday with the crafty gods smiling and numerous cups of tea and trips to the ironing board, cutting mat, sewing machine , floor and back again, I have finally pieced the last third.

So now I guess I should be banging on about a sense of achievement and renewed excitement to tackle the quilting part. I should be excitedly pinning it together and draping it artistically over the bed.

Well it is true, I am very excited............................... and I have renewed crafty energy.

After all, finishing that quilt top means I get to add all these "extra" greens to my stash !

I get by with a little help from my friends

My dearest friends John and Betty came over today. They're not married, in fact I am not even sure they knew each other before today, they are just the sweetest most selfless people, not to mention versatile and good for you.

As a result , the impending visitors will be greeted with muffins

Mr Ric-rac has marinated calamari for dinner

and I got to spend an inordinate amount of time fiddling with this

and experimenting with the worst kept secret in blogland.

I wonder if I can convince them to visit everyday?

I faffed.

Yep, that's right after a post about not having enough time - what did I do all day?

I faffed ! I spent some quality time looking out the sewing room window watching the across-the-road-cat having a sleep in the weeds. (We grow them specially for the cat to sleep in)

I fiddled with fabric, plugged in the iron, cooked some soup. Spent a lot of time blog reading and Etsying and bought some stuff and looked for more stuff - you know faffing, noodling, fardarckling....... whatever it is called at your place I managed to do it most of the day.

This is as productive as it got today and they are about 2 inches tall. Little friends for

Milly

and Pickle.

The best thing about doing very little is that at least it is easy to improve on - stay tuned!

This is ....My demon

My biggest demon (apart from my own strange self) is time.


I never feel like I have enough time to do everything I want. I'm not sure three lifetimes would be enough to get through everything on my "to do" list.

Mind Control.

Do you remember that I met Miss Marzie at stitches and Craft? That, apparently lovely friendly crafter.....well, It would appear she is an agent of mind control. I know it is hard to believe isn't it?
She is sneaky alright, you hardly even know its happening. But slowly and insidiously she plants thoughts in your mind and then reinforces them until you have no control over your own mind and you bow to her great will. I know you may find this difficult to comprehend , that sweet mild-mannered crafter, but trust me it's true.
I have proof.
Exhibit A : Check out this seemingly innocent comment on this post about the need to make cowboy and Indian dolls. (She comments as Cathy). Seems innocent enough and I discounted the idea as too difficult.
Exhibit B: Whilst chatting at Stitches and appearing to praise my dollies, she again reiterated the need not desire guys but NEED for me to make cowboy and Indian dolls. She poo-pooed my concerns about the level of difficulty and told me they would be so cute.
So the original seed of thought was planted and now it began to grow.
Exhibit C: Not content with leaving me to ignore her advice, she followed up with a comment on this post ,again with the cowboys and Indians.

That was it !!! I would like to say I was strong enough to withstand her brain invading thoughts but I wasn't I succumbed to the pressure and began....................................................................................

From here on in it is all her fault.

• One small forest worth of kitchen towels destroyed in pattern-making - Blame Miss Marzie

• One bottle of red wine drunk - Blame Miss Marzie (and your lucky I stopped at one)



• Two nights of popping out of bed(very late) to quickly scribble things on a bit of paper that just might work - Blame Miss Marzie



• One exasperated visit to Lincraft to wander around aimlessly because I didn't really know what I want - Blame Miss Marzie



• Endless hours of Internet time wasting looking up cowboys and cowboy hats (actually there was some serious eye candy involved in that search which was an unexpected bonus) - Blame Miss Marzie.



• Flying dash to the supermarket to replace the Easter chocolate I may have needed to eat to keep my strength up during hobby horse pole insertion.- Blame Miss Marzie.

So, this is Isak, one of the cheekiest little cowboys you are ever likely to meet. He has a lovely horse called Marzie and he loves to tie things up.

He is not allowed to play with guns so he is just a "chasing-cows" cowboy not a "shooting-things" cowboy.

O.k , apart from his general naughtiness, he is pretty cute, difficult but cute.

If he lassos me , or his horse poops on my carpet I am blaming you Miss Marzie!!!!

Who says love can't be bought?

I hope you don't mind the slow reveal as you read. Today I got the cutest parcel ever ...........and I actually unwrapped it sooo slowly and took some photos so you could share the antici............pation

Firstly I have to say Hi and welcome to anyone who is popping over from Today's Creative Blog.
I was a featured blog a few days ago - well my blog was.
How cool is that? Not only am I honoured but floored ! Today's Creative blog is great and it is a super way to find new blogs. I have added it and at least ten other blogs to bloglines since finding it.
A big thank you to Kim for thinking of me. (and I'll figure out the blinky ASAP).

Yesterday Jemma flew off to France - via Kuala Lumpur. It was a loooong day. Check in took so long (like 3hrs) that the poor girl was starving , so there was very little emotion as she headed for the big silver doors while trying to stuff in as many French fries as possible. Other families hugged and cried but Jem was more interested in her food "do you think I could just stuff in all those nuggets at once and go through?" We are all class at chez ric rac.

Now don't think he is peeping out shyly here guys...he is merely cocking an eyebrow and checking the place out.

See isn't he cute? I saw one of these fellows over at I'm a ginger Monkey and begged Katy to make one for me. He is the start of a new collection. I love him and he is coming to work with me tomorrow for show and tell. Massive massive thanks to Katy for the super speedy construction and post and for the knock-your-socks-off all round excellence.

Don't let that innocent look fool you - he is a very debonair chap. He is a smooth talker and he knows the way to a womans heart is with

selvedges !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, he brought me a present. I think I am in love!

Do you mind if I bang on a bit?

On Friday Flower Garden and I headed off bright and early to Melbourne for the Stitches and Craft show.

We were very excited at the thought of catching up with all the celebrity bloggers on the Living Creatively stand but mostly excited about meeting Chookyblue in the flesh as it were.

On arrival - we were early ! We headed upstairs out of the crowd and began shopping. A little while later we got the phone call from Donna. Flowergarden was thinking , "who is Donna?" Of course it was Chookyblue so we raced downstairs to meet.

We said Hello and then there were hugs and laughter and Tracey of Ozcountryquiltingmum joined us for more hugs and then four women began talking all at once and I don't think any of us drew breath for the whole day. I'm sure Fairy Girl (Chookyblue's daughter) thought we were all mad.

We stood clogging up the Janome stand for so long that eventually we decided we needed coffee to continue our chats. So then we had show and tell and Tracey gave us some great tips on cards- She is the queen of the card. We couldn't get our cameras out fast enough when she headed off to the mens toilet!!!


Actually the only decent photo I got all day was my lunch ! It must be a dead giveaway that you are a blogger when you take out your camera to photograph your lunch!

Off we headed to the Living Creatively stand. They had the cutest set-up !! I met Cathy (Miss Marzie) and Louise (Lululollylegs) of Audrey and Maud soon-to-be-fame (Got their autograph as well, sorry it says Agnes. that was Cathy having a go at the fact that I had written it wrong on my blog ).

They introduced us to Jenny from Amitie (I have a bit of a crush on her, she was sooo nice). We met Fi of Dear Fi, I recognised her gorgeous fabric bowls on the stand and then I looked up and there she was !!! I approached Three Buttons to tell her how much I am enjoying the "This is " meme and I saw a person I was almost sure was Bluebird makes her Nest (as in, she kinda looked like someone whom I am guessing is her on her blog), but i wasn't certain so I smiled but didn't go and accost the poor woman.

I really did have such a great time that I have had to digest it all a bit before I could post about it.





So here is the banging on bit - (feel free to skip to the end).

Collectively the women on the living creatively stand were awesome, They laughed and shared and were so generous with their time and generous with their praise and respect for other crafters.

It was beyond great to spend the day with Tracey and Donna and Annie, it is the best fun, hanging out with people who "get it" or "get us' and craft and blogging and the whole thing.

The girls giggled when I told them how happy I was to be out of the crafting closet but it is so true. I love to craft and always have done , but now sharing it with all you people in blogland and actually meeting some of you makes me so excited. I got such a buzz from the day, seriously we crafty people are quite amazing when you stop and think about it. Just check out anyone's blog for confirmation of freebies and gifts and giveaways and thoughtful kind messages and shared hints and tips and knowledge.


I don't know what any of this means really I just wanted to say that I feel like I am a small part of something so fabulous and exciting and I just wanted to say - thanks for having me!

The "I am so lucky" giveaway

I know I am often a little confused ...................but is it Christmas ? or has there been some strange "Be nice to Jodie" campaign that I don't know about?

Firstly I bought this beautiful little nest from Natasha - Excuse the photo, but I am wearing it and trying to photograph it without taking it off. I wore it to work today and loads of people commented.
Natasha, it is Fantastic and just perfect - I love it. And she sent little gifties as well.

Then the Craft Fairy kissed me and while I still don't think I deserved it I must admit to a little squeal when I got this great parcel. See how teeny tiny that blue Ric Rac is??? Wherever you are Craft fairy I hope many many good things are happening for you .

Rachel of Four Wise Monkeys offered me a free ticket to stitches and Craft after I left a comment on her blog. We are bloggy neighbours (well, the same town). How nice is that? and she dropped it off for me at the local patchwork shop .


I am going tomorrow with Annie and we are meeting ChookyBlue there as well. (ooohhh eeerrr I hope she likes us !) I am also excited to meet all the other crafty girls on the Living creatively stand. (and a little bit nervous) . Can't wait to see Audrey and Maud!!!

Just when the week couldn't get any better, a phone call from Emma of Ballarat Patchwork informed me I had a present there and should pop in to collect it.

Triple EEEEKKKKK .....look at all these selvedges.... I am so getting organised. I am going to sort them by the predominant colour and eventually (like in a number of years) make a quilt - truly! Thank you so Much Em, you have really helped the cause.

I have had a lot of people chatting to me about selvedges since the bag post so I have made a Flickr group called Made with Selvedge but even I can't find it again so I think perhaps I ticked or didn't tick a wrong box somewhere.

So as everyone has conspired to give me such a great week - I am going to add something to someone elses week. . Usually when there is a giveaway , things get a bit crazy and a zillion or so people comment and I have to wait for a week for comments and then print them out and cut them all up....so I have decided to have a retrospective giveaway.

If you popped by and commented on my last post - you are entered. Simple as that

......and the winner is......(thanks again to Mr RicRac and his soon-to-be-patented picking a piece of paper from a bowl technique)........

Blue Mountains Mary !

Hurrah...Applause...Thank you all for entering even though you didn't know you were.

This is......outside my front door

This is outside my front door.

Whilst the hedge and bushy things (I am such a gardener) are still alive, all the grass is totally dead. In fact this was about as close as I got to the outside world yesterday - it has been stinking hot, and I was on the edge of cranky old witch all day.

I read today that local trees are already dropping their leaves, not for the onset of Autumn but because they are under stress from the drought.

Also outside my front door you may find Jemma (protecting her identity from "crazy crafty people"). She is enjoying the oppressive heat, strange creature that she is. Only 8 sleeps till she leaves for France. She has been getting organised and wrote a list of gift ideas for her friends and family in the journal.

Her cousins are up for berets, Her nan, a french scrap booking magazine , I have buttons next to my name. Her singing teacher and orthodontist are both down for chocolate and next to her brothers name .........she wrote ................ junk!

Selvedge bag

You guys know I collect selvedge of course and I have been saving up for a big project.

But after making the notebook cover for Jem I decided to make one for myself using selvedges.

So I started piecing them together and I couldn't stop. I seriously ADORE how they look together so as my piece grew I decided to turn it into a bag.

It occurred to me that a predominantly white bag wouldn't last long so I decided to cover it with PVC.

I really really like it ! It is a super simple construction and I had to hand sew the handles on (that was a bit of a chore and I actually had to dig out the the thimble!)

I would love to make a big quilt out of selvedges - I know , this from a person who has yet to finish the one and only quilt....but hey a girl can dream.

This bag took almost 40 strips of selvedge - can you imagine how many I would need for even a little quilt- and there is almost no fabric at my place with selvedge still attached.

I don't even know why I like them so much, they just appeal to me.

Sounds like an excuse to buy more fabric if ever I heard one!