Lego Sewing Machine Fun

I showed my kids a Lego sewing machine that Helen over at My Inner Thread had made (after she came across one from suchitysuch.blogspot.com).  They got right on the job and this is what they came up with:

I haven't had the heart to tell them that sewing machines go round the other way!

The coloured buttons (from blue through to red) are fast and slow.  There is a thread guide leading down to the presser foot.

My daughter came up with the little lever on the side to tighten the thread - I must have told her about thread tension at some stage, amazing what they pick up and remember.

And my absolute favourite bit - the 'whirligigs' on the inside!  Whirligigs is their word, but doesn't it describe the mechanics of a sewing machine perfectly?  And the red button on the back is the on/off switch.

I think Helen's is probably cuter, but I love that my kids were so enthused about making me one.  And they were super excited when I said I was going to put it on my blog and show the world (they have an inflated idea of my 'fame').  So if anyone wants to make some kids feel special, then leave a comment and I'll read each one out to them and get them to dictate a reply.

Have a great weekend!

Creating a Quilted Banner

First up, I need to apologise.  My answering of comments got a little behind, and then a little more behind and then I got completely lost.  So if you've commented on the blog recently and I haven't answered you by email (if you are a reply-enabled commenter), sorry!  And I'm sorting it out.  I'm going to set up a separate email account just for comments so they don't get jumbled into my every day emails and then lost in the clutter.

It's a busy time for us at the moment with trying to renovate Cerego to liveable standards and I'm trying to downsize a little everyday so there isn't a mad scramble when we move.  Plus this month I'm working as a locum midwife, so a lot more hours than I usually work and I'm still doing my normal work shifts too.

Then I sat down and wrote a list of quilts and projects that I'm working on at the moment and checked all the deadlines (for the ones that have deadlines).....and took a huge gulp.  I have two projects with scary deadlines - one in just over a week and one in just over two weeks.  Both of them I want to do and the first one I also feel obligated to do because it's for my local club.

So I've set to with a vengeance.  The first project is a banner advertising my quilt club.  We are having a regional day in July and it's our turn to host.  The three other regional clubs are invited.  We will have speakers, show and tell and vendors.  We provide a lunch and we participate in a challenge - and this banner is the challenge.  It must fit within a metre square, have three layers and be quilted and have the words 'Kerikeri' on it somewhere.

I took white fabric and stamped some background designs on it with my own made stamps and fabric paints.  Then I traced some foliage designs on it that I've used in a previous quilt.  I basted it and quilted these designs in black thread.  Can you see the dirty cat paw prints on it?  Don't leave anything lying around...

I also quilted some curves in the background to provide a bit more stability and some structure for where I'm going to appliqué the words.  This morning I spent the whole swimming lesson then playground session with my coloured pencils, filling in the quilted foliage.

Then tonight I've started painting over the pencil with fabric medium.  It sets it, stops it rubbing off on the rest of the quilt and makes it more intense and a bit more like watercolour.

I'm not investing a lot of design time on this, I'm aiming for finished rather than perfect.  It is a challenge and there will be a winner picked but I'm entering more to support my club rather than because it's something that really speaks to me.  Hopefully I'll get a whole lot more progress done on this soon!

Comments

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