.: September doGoodStitches blocks for Leanne :.

I'm nerdishly excited about being able to share my Care Circle doGoodStitches blocks for September already - I ran so late for July and August, I feel like I'm getting back on top of my sewing list at last.   It's ok with me if you're not feeling the excitement, honestly, I totally understand. 

It's Leanne's month, and she chose chose two 12 1/2" star blocks, using white for the background and scrappy colours for the centre squares and HST's.  The centre squares are 3 1/2 ", so they were the perfect reason to cut into my Tula Pink Moonshine deers, bought from TQES.

And I figured some Tula bees, Lizzy House cats, a Robert Kaufman fox and a few Cotton+Steel tigers could join the party in the middle too. 

So that's September done and dusted, and it's only the 8th!  AND I've already sewn bee blocks for Gina, which I'll share tomorrow, and I'm hoping to make a start on (already late) Wee Bee blocks for Elizabeth tonight.  Somebody.  Stop.  Me. 

Hope your week has started well too.  xoxo cat

.: Indigo-dye class with Cath from Prints Charming! :.

Vee and I had an awesome afternoon yesterday.  We went along to an indigo-dye workshop run by none other than the fabulous Cath from Prints Charming!!  It was such a fun, inspiring and happy afternoon - and it was so wonderful to meet the gorgeous Cath, who we have both admired for so long!

We each took along a white 100% linen tablecloth to get into the indigo-dye action ... here are our finished tablecloths ... (I've nabbed Vee's pic from her instagram feed!) ...

So, back to the start.  How on earth did we create these tablecloths-of-awesome, we hear you wonder, as we have highly sensitive hearing.   Prior to the workshop, we really had no idea what to expect, and were completely fascinated by the process.  Cath showed us all lots of different and beautiful shibori examples - how I wish I had thought to take pics of them all!  

Cath then walked us through the various indigo-dye techniques - including clamping, stitching, wrapping with string, using stones, tiles, pieces of wood, old trampoline coils - the list of things you can use, and results you can come up with, are pretty endless and amazing.  We both loved how you can get really amazing effects without having to be too overly-controlled about the actual technique.

We both like the liked the look of the geometric shapes created by concertina-folding and clamping, so we took our tablecloths and wet them in the clam-shell toddler bath.  We then got busy folding, cutting timber with a hacksaw, clamping, wrapping with string, and just generally getting serious about creating two crazy red hot messes! 

I mean, really, can you believe it?  Here are our hot messes, ready to go into the indigo-dye bath, while we waited patiently with our glasses of bubbles.  Mine's at the top of the pic below, and Vee's is at the bottom.  After taking the pic, Cath suggested that we each add a few more clamps along the edges, to create some random negative spaces (which come up as little white spots/squares in the finished tablecloths) - such a great idea, and we both love the effect they created. 

And here's Cath supervising the indigo-dye-baths - this part of the process is pretty darn technical - we're talking a recipe, water temperature issues and a total love-hate relationship between indigo and oxygen.  We were very grateful for Cath's expertise!   

When our dyed-hot-messes come out of the dye-bath, they were a real yellowy-green colour - which is totally normal!!  After resting for a little while on a laundry-hanger (our hot-messes, not us), we undid the strings and clamps and hung our tablecloths on the line to watch the magic of the green turning to blue - a real hot-mess-to-fabulous transformation.  Here's mine:

And here's Vee's - the geometric shapes and patterns she managed to create were just amazing:

And here's mine this morning, hanging on the line at home, after lots of rinsing.

Pretty awesome, don't you agree?!  Far out we loved it, it was such a fun afternoon, and we are both so happy with our tablecloths!  The workshop was held at Cath's sister's Michelle's house - and it was lovely to meet Michelle, her daughter and also Cath's Mum Margaret.  We also got to meet the lovely Susan from JuMi Creations, who we've known online for quite a while.  And Vee got to meet Gill and Kelly from the Brisbane MQG.  There were some really lovely ladies at the workshop, which added so much to the afternoon.  

Thanks so much Cath, it was such a joy to meet you, we really had a wonderful afternoon, and we loved learning about indigo-dye. We've been totally inspired to have a go ourselves.  We'll see you for another workshop very soon!  xoxo cat and vee

.: the Wee Bee - house block for Elnora :.

The Wee Bee is rolling along - I'm super late with Elnora's block - and good grief, I am not a fan of being late for anything!  Lovely Elnora has been very patient and not hurrying-us-along at all.

Elnora asked for a house block - around 8 inches, I think - with bright colours and a low volume background.  I chose Kristy's Quilters' Cottage and reduced the size a little so it finished at around about the 8 1/2" mark.

I went for a whole lot of fussy cuts, and a mix of low volumes for the background.  And I couldn't resist the Terra Australis kangaroos for the grass.  It's a pretty busy-looking quilters' cottage - there's even a hexagon-quilt hanging on the line outside, though it's kind of hard to make it out amidst all the low-volume crazy!

Even though I was running very late, I really wanted to make Elnora a little house-pouch to send with her house-block.  So I grabbed the Cotton+Steel and Liberty sitting on my cutting table (thank you Pink Castle, TQES and PolkaDotTeaFabrics), and added in a little Terra Australis for the chimney, and some hoarded blue Kei Kerchief girls.  

For the back, I started with the gorgeous 'get a dog' from CeriGwen's awesome 'Good Intentions' design, then an American Jane 'E', and then a little more Liberty, Cotton+Steel, Amy's Risky Business glasses, some Yuwa, and Prints Charming paisley and rainbows from TQES that I pounced on very quickly when I was there earlier this week. 

Inside the pouch are Terra Australis kangaroos and spinning sticks in 'ocean'.

The house-a-thon goodies are now on their way to Elnora at last!

Have a lovely weekend everyone.  Vee and I are off to an indigo dye workshop tomorrow with Cath from Prints Charming! - we are so excited and will try and take a few pics.   xoxo cat