dear fii

well hello there.....

noreply@blogger.com (fi) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 07:10:00 +0000

Some exciting news to share, in what seems a whole nuther life ago i was asked to make a quilt for the beautifully lovely clever and crafty Kathreen Ricketson from WhipUp.

It went something like this.....

Kathreen: "Hello there would you like to make a quilt for my new book?"

Me: "Me? (yes i know it looks like i said that twice sorry) well yes i would thanks for asking".

What followed was about 6 weeks of solid stitching, tiny hand sewn needle turn applique... it darn nearly killed me!

Pop Wreath was born with a fair amount of swearing and tears, which when i discovered that it had been sent to some Amish ladies for quilting made me giggle.Im sure it was cleansed of its manic 'colorful' making.

I am so thrilled that i could be a small part of this fantastic new book, its lovely with loads of great quilts and how toos, you can order your copy here.

I would and not just cause im in it (but i would say that wouldn't i;)

Right back to sanity restoring stitches, no swearing this time i promise ;)

love fi xx

hello sunshine.....

noreply@blogger.com (fi) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 06:30:00 +0000

.....and welcome Winter:)

In true Melbourne form the first day of Winter has been a glorious sunny affair. I'm not sure if it was the lovely weather, the fact i have just sent my final essay for the semester but it felt like the right time to grab the camera and snap the world around me.

A world that has completely changed in some many ways in the past 4 months and is other ways not at all.

I'm not sure where i fit anymore anywhere really, somethings like this space seem so far removed from my reality, my everyday crazy. maybe its time to tip the scales back and remember there was a life before essays and lectures and word counts.

A crafty, creative sunny place...yep hello sunshine I've missed you :)

love fi xx

coming up for air....

noreply@blogger.com (fi) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 01:51:00 +0000

Well if it true that it takes a village to raise a child then it is also true that it takes that same village to raise a mature age Uni student. My small army of helpers are amazing:)

Oh my goodness i went in with my eyes wide open but golly what a ride!
A ride i am enjoying and kicking butt in incidentally, it seems my brain is still there after all;)
It seems though that there arnt enough hours in the day!

Speaking to some of my favorite women in the world today, trying to see where we fit or don't, why we sew or don't, expectations of where we should be or not be and why we arnt.

How we see ourselves and how we think others see us.
Shifting roles, new challenges all make you reasses what you thought you knew.

I wish that those riddles were as easy to understand as neuroendocrine physiology, that i get that's easy!

love fi xo

breaking the rules....

noreply@blogger.com (fi) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 03:31:00 +0000

...i don't like rules and try to bend circumvent and limbo calypso style under them any chance i get.

Take the Single Girl Quilt Along, a fantastic quilt and the along dreamt up by some fab chics
{Katy you have inspired me to get inked up, thinking a jelly roll with a scalpel through it? what do you think? ;)

So i thought i would put my hand up, why not Ive got nothing else on.
When it came to the task of cutting out a gazillion templates a tip from a very clever lady came in handy.

Enter single sided adhesive laminate sheets.
No template plastic to wrestle with perfect crisp lines every time your scissors and your fingers will thank you:)

And fabric, background tossing up between red and white tiny spot, kelly green or black.

the arcs? scraps of the random grab and sew don't over think it variety.

The breaking the rules bit? cutting off the template seam allowance, i know I'm a rebel!

Tonight we trace...
love fi xoo

Memories...

noreply@blogger.com (fi) — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 03:44:00 +0000

Going back and digging up these photos i started to smile.
I had forgotten the feeling from an idea to the sketching the trial and error , the pain full deadlines and the tears.
I forgot how much i loved it.

There has been a bit of that lately the universe reminding me of what i love, giving me a shove.

When i was asked to create Pepper i was so excited and overwhelmed,

To be asked back a second time was just as amazing. They knew what they were getting into and they still wanted me!

This time though i had another idea, something that had been on my mind for a while.

So the 'Sprouting Up'Growth Chart Quilt was born, somewhere to record your memories an evolving changing quilt that grows with you and your family.

It seems like an age since i packaged it off to Homespun.

This quilt doesn't just have blood, sweat and tears in it it has my heart.... five of them:)

One day i will record the weights and dates of my grandchildren on this quilt :)

love fi xo

nesting...

noreply@blogger.com (fi) — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 23:01:00 +0000

::making... a quilt for a new tiny human:)

::loving... my new skirt made from vintage fabric from my grans stash

::wearing...said skirt (thanks to miss b for the sewing) with pristine op shopped sketchers

::inspired by... the amazing color nature creates (red dragon fruit)

::trying... to remain calm in the face of uncertain new adventures

::gathering....fabrics for my Single Girl Quilt, cant wait:)

happy friday, love fi xo

cheers big ears.....

noreply@blogger.com (fi) — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 00:10:00 +0000

....thanks for all the kind comments and emails, it nice to now that someone has stuck around while the blog has been on the back burner!

No lofty promises but i have been reminded why i started to do all this in the first place :)

The 'constant quilt' has kept me entertained while i indulge in what time i have left before everything changes again.

As i fixed with small considered stitches the circles into their new home i got itchy fingers.

Out came the rotary cutter and simple perfection was turned on its head metaphorically speaking.

hmmm i think there is a theme emerging here:)

love fi xo

noreply@blogger.com (fi) — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 00:40:00 +0000

.....i like the idea of a constant.

Something that is always there a theme, a solid, a given.
In our home there are various constants and just as many flibbergy up in the air winging it hold onto your hats moments as well.

SO i have started a quilt the constant being a 20x20cm square with a needle turn appliqued circle. The variable? the fabric no planning just grabbing and cutting using up the stash and going with it.

Things thou lately have been up in the air, out of sorts out of my hands.

It was around the time i made a decision about 6 months ago,to face some demons, challenge the past and shake things up.

I decided i wanted to go back to school.

Now a little back story from the age of um 14 i was diagnosed with M E.
Back then it was hard to get a diagnoses that didn't label you a drop out a crank or a bludger. Things were pretty shite there for a long while.
If not for a mum that never gave up was a bulldog when needed and an advocate for myself and my brothers{i think that's where i get it from!} I'm not sure what would have happened.

Missing so much school being despondently unwell and being a teen made for some unhappy educational experiences.I left school part way into year 12, took some time, entered the workforce and well then started my family.

I figured that was it i would never go to uni that was my lot and it suited me.
But i regretted leaving, giving up.

Jackson asked me earlier this year "if he could be xyz" when he grew up.
I told him that he lives in a time and a country that if he works hard he can be whatever he likes, anything. In that moment it all became clear.

I can be whatever i like.

So began a journey that has been emotional, full on, challenging and blinking hard work with no guarantee that it would pay off.

To all those around me thanks for putting up with me, we did it!

I'm going to be a nurse when i grow up:)

love fi xo

well hello.....

noreply@blogger.com (fi) — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 23:11:00 +0000

still alive, just......

love fi xo

the view

noreply@blogger.com (fi) — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 05:04:00 +0000

We are a man down here I'm afraid and for a change its yours truly.

a jaunt in the garden pre rain storm yesterday coupled with a late night tussle with a cantankerous old sash window had rendered me useless.

Hobbled i am in delicious amounts of nerve shattering back pain.

On strict orders to restrict any movement, {hehe had a laugh at that one and if i wasn't in a drug induced haze that particular medical professional would have got a lovely cuddle of the headlock kind.}

This so wasnt in my plans for this week. Maybe its the universes way of telling me to slow down? well universe its not bloody funny!

love ,
fi xoxoxo {ouch}

tomorrow......

noreply@blogger.com (fi) — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 05:29:00 +0000

....i plan to sew.

Taking the phone off the hook, turning the computer{s} off, no twitter, face book or work.

There is a stack of lovely fabrics pleading to be made into spring skirts, a baby quilt to be sewn for possibly the sweetest girl at school and some new patterns to finally put to rights.

So please if you see me pop up in any of my normal places, feel free to give me a slap.
Virtually speaking.

Yours in anticipation,
fi xoox

delivered..

noreply@blogger.com (fi) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 01:15:00 +0000

You know when you have an idea in your mind of who you want something to go.

You plan and plan and put wheels in action.

There comes a time when you just need to press play. Get things started and just go with what happens.

Melbourne blessed us with a fantaboulus day, 1000's of lovely market goers came out to support freshly grown and handmade.

Thank you to all our fantastic stallholders, lovely shoppers and again to Melbourne Town for the sun.
Cant wait to do it all again in a months time:)
More goodness to come after i have a cuppa, a lye down and i discover my sewing machine again:)
love fi xo

spring sale

noreply@blogger.com (fi) — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 08:49:00 +0000

Well apparently Spring has sprung, somebody forgot to tell Melbourne town, but we live in hope:)

I'm having a bit of a Spring clean the shop, making way for some cool new things if i remember how to sew, yep its been that long it seams.

All patterns are a tenner and my new offering Precut English Paper pieces in a yummy array of sizes and shapes {which have free postage, cool huh!}

Included are a mini double wedding ring,and those tiny 1/4'' babies yes indeedy and perfect way to use up those tiny scraps you cant part with and go mental at the same time {don't say you wernt warned}

They are my favorites, the only papers i have be using for a few years tried and true and tested and are in the shop right now:)

love fi xoxo

prepared well sorta.....

noreply@blogger.com (fi) — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 06:12:00 +0000

Tomorrow the smallest member of the clan will go under the knife.
Bilateral myringotomy inner ear ventilation to be exact, i asked the surgeon if i could scrub in after all its the 5th time we have been down this canal {get it!}

I was only half joking, he wasn't when he said no.

We have this little thing, i ask him if he had a good night sleep, when was his last drink etc..yatta yatta and we banter on lightheartedly.

{The hexagon supplies, packed ready to distract}

All a thinly veiled facade which reads dude your cutting into my child's ear canals please be careful!

ahh loss of control hello my old friend.....

love fi xo

Edited to add: She is home and resting and can hear!
No more ignoring me and getting away with it!
Thanks for your lovely comments xoxo

of giving......

noreply@blogger.com (fi) — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 01:58:00 +0000

The skinny:
Down Under Quilt Swap.
Grey linen, liberty and assorted cottons in blues and greys.
Machine quilted in variegated thread Signature cotton no.44 and bound in red and white spot.
Now living with Mel:)

working girl....

noreply@blogger.com (fi) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 07:09:00 +0000

There is something going on behind the senses that's adding to the quieter than normal chitter chatter around here.

A new project::

Melbourne's newest craft market, for new and emerging crafters. Showcasing all things handmade

In conjunction with Mixtape , Little Shop of Handmade , BiznessBabes and Dearfii{me!} the plan is to mentor new and emerging crafters from the kitchen table to the market scene and support those already on their way.
Workshops in marketing, blogging/web storefront development are all in the pipeline as well as craft classes and craft nights. Lots of exciting crafty times ahead.

Our first market will launch on Sunday October 24th {8am to 1pm}
In the grounds of The Body Shop HQ in Mulgrave, in conjuction with the thriving Mulgrave Farmers Market and will run on the last Sunday of the month.

Profits generated from the market will go back into the Wise Foundation for their many local and global community projects.

'Profit for Purpose', that was the clincher for getting me on board.
That and the chance to team up with some amazing crafters and business women as well.

We already have a line up of 30 fantastic crafters in lots of different shapes , sizes and styles and would love lots more:)

So if you live in Melbourne make stuff oh and are nice, gotta be nice why don't you apply?

I can promise the management are ace ;)

love fi xo

covered.....

noreply@blogger.com (fi) — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 04:30:00 +0000

13 mt's of fabric, 6 eps of Mad Men S2, 8 cups of tea and 1 ,OK 1 1/2 blocks of chocolate later we have curtains.

8 drops simply sewn with a rod pocket and hemmed.

Working on the age old KISS* theory, works for me.

Never on to be accused of being beige or uncluttered in my hap hazard approach to decorating this print is right at home.

The peanut gallery approve....
love fi xo

*KISS {keep it simple stupid) or IIHTLTBTWGM {if i have to line these buggers they wont get made}

edited to add, sorry no secrets intended fabric is from ikea the dog is Tilly and shes not for sale:)

getting dirty....

noreply@blogger.com (fi) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 01:59:00 +0000

...... in the garden.

Getting organised trying and i hope succeeding in taming the seed packets.
I like the idea that i have an identical recipe card organiser thingy in the kitchen.
I'm hoping this summer they will work very closely together.

The veggie plot project coming along, i really hope that the beds will see us being self sufficient in as many areas as we can.

The biggest challenge i face? not possum, snail or slug but a vary large yellow puppy. Who loves to help.
Protection is the name of the game.

The first harvest, {very new} potatoes and possibly one of my favourite images ever taken.

love fi xoxo

the day a toothpick changed my life forever....

noreply@blogger.com (fi) — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 07:09:00 +0000

...yep a toothpick.
Who knew that that humblest of humble items would make such a difference.
But more on that later....

This past weekend was spent in heaven, the happiest place on earth Amitie teamed with one of my favorite all time designers Becky Goldsmith of Piece 'o' Cake Designs.

Struggling as i do with being told what to do and having rules thrust upon me i wasn't sure how i would go.

Workshop arnt usually my thing for that very reason. Boy i was wrong.
Everything i thought i knew about color was turned sideways.

The science of fabric and color, i feel like i now have a glimpse into a new world.

If you get a chance wherever you are in the world to take one of Becky's workshops, drop everything and do it.

Tiny tiny stitches, oh my.

Thanks Juddie again for the amazing opportunity and to Becky for changing the way i sew.

The mojo has well and truly returned:)

love fi xoxo

been....

noreply@blogger.com (fi) — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 11:20:00 +0000

:: trying to keep puppy's and biscuits seperate...

:: pottering around in the garden welcoming Spring, oh I'm glad she's here.

:: sewing something to sit with, or rather something to cover what we sit on...

:: and spending time with the only member of the family who dosent ask me for anything and dosent talk back, well in any language i can understand anyway.

I'll take it....
love fi xo

in brief......

noreply@blogger.com (fi) — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 01:09:00 +0000

Some new stuff finally updated into the shop, and all patterns/kits reduced to make way for a special surprise enjoy :)

And that's about it off to medicate my poor virussy head and prepare for a small girls birthday weekend, because birthday cake waits for no man or woman as the case may be.....

love fi xoxo

noreply@blogger.com (fi) — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 00:39:00 +0000

Saturday saw The Craft Room kickoff in Melbourne. I spent a lovely Amitie afternoon playing with hexagons and drinking in the inspiration.

There are still a few spots for my next classes on the 21st of August and also the 18Th of September. If your interested you can book here:)

I got to get all up close and personal with the new BOM The Circle Game. After seeing this beauty in the drafting stages i can truly say it is every bit as breathtaking in real life.

$40 AUD per month or $45 AUD international. Which includes fabrics and postage.
Contact Jenny on(61 3) 9557 8551 or email amitie@amitie.com to sign up.

Ahhhh...there is something quite delicious about coming to a pause in what has been a crazy busy few months...breathe and get started on lots of new projects and to dos :)
love fi xox

wordless wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (fi) — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 02:24:00 +0000

love fi xo

whos a lucky girl then....

noreply@blogger.com (fi) — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 07:20:00 +0000

..me that's who:)

A wee while back i slipped my toe back into the crafty swap world that's is Flickr and promptly set about getting carried away and over committed..... again, ahem.

Today however i hit the jackpot.
A beauty made by one of my crafty hero's Miss Craftapalooza, a chicka that i have in the flesh have never met but feel i know oh so well virtually speaking.

Complete with some crochet goodies and a beautifully charming and strangely compelling piece of Liberty.

Somehow i think that's how i would like to be thought of..."shes a charming lass and strangely compelling" yes nice ring that......

You have made my week my dear and for that i thank you (.)(.)
love fi xoxo

The Craft Room is coming to Melbourne....

noreply@blogger.com (fi) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 06:36:00 +0000

....when i was asked by Notebook Magazine to teach some classes for The Craft Room i was tickled and by tickled i mean terrified.

::then i remembered how much i love paper piecing.

::and then i remembered how much i loved dreaming up new things to make.

::and then i remembered how much i love to teach.

::and then my heartbeat returned to normal.

soooo wanna come along?

Heres the skinny:

When?
Saturday the 7th of August 1-4 pm and Saturday the 21st of August

Where? The happiest place on earth aka Amitie textiles.

3 projects to choose from with varying difficulty from easy to tricky.
A juicy pincushion,a mini Chrysanthemum brooch and a Dresden plate hoop.

All class materials, notes etc..tea coffee and afternoon tea are provided.

You will also walk away with a goody bag of precut papers and a few other surprises.

I promise it will be super fun:)

Book your golden ticket here , get more info here or drop me an email.

Love fi oxo

***edited to add, another class (yay) and the ticketing link has been fixed:)