Caityquilter.com » Journals Sketches & Plans

Just SHUT UP, Caity, SHUT UP!

Caitlin — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:04:27 +0000

[click if you want to read it]

The journal prompt was “Who in your life talks too much?”

My answer – me. ARRRGH!

Do you think my journal pages are improving?

My tonsils are spotty and I am having a bad fibro flare up – I think I’ll be having another bed day today.

More Visual Journal Stuff

Caitlin — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 12:46:59 +0000

[bigger image if you click]

I had just cut the word “clone” out of an old (2003 – can I hoard or WHAT?!) magazine, and as a result of my (ahem!) Studio Practice, A Serendipitous Event Occurred. (Or in non art-wank terms – I work messy, and stuff falls on other stuff.) When it landed on the stamped image it just had to stay – I mean, a stamp is a CLONE, yes? Even when it’s a very cool stamp.

And then while I was thinking about stamps, I noticed that a damaged old stamp would fit really well on this page. (A stamp for a stamp, geddit? Oh, the subtlety!!)

Did I mention that I wandered into a local scrapbooking shop yesterday? Well, not quite wandered, since I had to stop the car and park, but it was a spontaneous decision. The first 10 minutes or so were overwhelming – so many shiny pretty things! But then once I’d got over my initial shock, it made me very sad.

Because there was all this “pre-made” stuff. This “copy this exactly and you’ll have ART” stuff. Now, before any keen scrappers jump down my throat, I’m sure there are LOTS of people who buy “scrapbooking” marketed stuff and make original art with it. I’ve bought scrapbooking papers to use too (mostly plain ones, I have to admit – the colour ranges are so HUGE!) BUT – that’s not what I’m talking ranting about here.

It’s like the quilters who want to make a quilt out of a magazine or pattern using EXACTLY THE SAME FABRICS in exactly the same positions as the picture.

I JUST DON’T GET IT! I mean, yes, I know all about lack of confidence in one’s own artistic judgement. I know all about feeling like I shouldn’t be using The Good Stuff when it’s “just” something I’m making. I have art heroes, people I am HUGELY inspired by, whose style I might even try to imitate…

BUT…

why use someone else’s art? I just don’t get that.

It may be weird but at least it’s mine….

Frustration: WAXED PAPER

Caitlin — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 22:33:01 +0000

Do you have ANY IDEA how frustrating it is to constantly read the word “Slip waxed paper in between the pages”… or variants thereof WHEN THERE IS NO WAXED PAPER TO BE HAD ANYWHERE?!!?

Seriously, every bookbinding/journaling technique I am reading now recommends this, and assumes it’s easy to get.

BUT IT’S NOT.

Not a single supermarket in town even STOCKS waxed paper anymore. You used to be able to buy rolls of it, or packets of precut sheets, but NOOOOOO, not now! Mr Beloved and I think it’s because those little zip-lock sandwich bags have become ubiquitous.

And no, silicone coated baking paper/”parchment” does NOT work as well. *sigh*

Can anyone help me in locating and buying some? PLEASE?

Frustration….

Lemon Butter

Caitlin — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 01:12:57 +0000

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Yes, I know too much is BAD FOR YOU (heck, isn’t that what “too MUCH” means?!?!) but there is NOTHING to compare to home made lemon butter on toast. Mmmmmmmm. I used Nigella’s Lemon Curd recipe from How to Eat. (I don’t know why the names – butter or curd – are interchangeable, but apparently they are.)

This was a recipe that would be utterly UTTERLY perfect if I already had two of my dream things for the house: chooks (for the 4 whole eggs plus 4 yolks) and a lemon tree (for the 4 lemons). Slowly, slowly, we’ll work towards getting things set up the way we would like.

I have very fond memories of my Mum making lemon butter – I think we must have had a lot of lemons available! I also remember that Lemon Butter was a good thing to buy at church fetes and street stalls… possibly because it came from people who had chooks +lemon trees.

Oh, and after the first spoonful of the luscious home made version, the remainder of the FOUL store bought version (all citric acid and cornflour, possibly with artifical lemon essence… ewww!) was binned. We kept the jar (of course!) to use for the next batch…

At least I’ll have an adequate vitamin C intake this week, eh? The flu symptoms are FINALLY abating (fingers crossed!) – as in, I only wake up coughing a couple of times a night now, and the aches are approaching normal range (underlying fibromyalgia has NOT helped with recovery!). I was somewhat heartened when watching the V8 supercars racing yesterday to hear a comment that one of the drivers – and bear in mind that these guys are endurance athletes, wrestling their cars around for hours at a time in temperatures often over 40 degrees – anyhow, one of these super-fit guys was still recovering from the flu that had laid him low at the last race meeting a month ago. And I am NOT an athlete! Another week off from the gym, though, then I get to start back gently gently…

Oh – and it amused me that the stove was so far out of scale with the lemon person. Tee hee! I am being Very Good and actually USING my “good” art supplies – there are still a lot of colours in my tin of 30 Caran D’ache Neocolor II watercolour crayons that are untouched, but at least I have used SOME now!

No related posts.

What day is it again?

Caitlin — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 05:54:16 +0000

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I’ve been dragging our old art supplies and starting to play with them again. I’m fighting against my inner critic to actually post anything here – be gentle and remember that it’s nicer to ask “Tell me about your art” than to say “Ummm – what is it?”

(Sometimes I have to “wreck” a page before I can get going. The background of this was one of those trainwrecks – luckily, a thin coat of gesso can make messes look better, or at least ot quite so hideously unworkable. This page was completely without a plan or goal, obviously.)

I have no idea why there is a clunky spaceman/repair-tech here or what he’s here to fix. Although if he could get rid of the bright yellow polka dots on my tonsils, I would be very grateful. Yep, Day 11 of the flu and I had the worst night yet last night – at one point I was coughing so hard that I thought I would break my back.

I have cabin fever. I haven’t left the house since last Tuesday when I went to the doctors. Mr Beloved is almost as sick as I am, but has managed to at least struggle out for milk and bread. And cuppa soups – normally I don’t like them but there’s only so much hot lemon/ginger/honey/hot water mix I can keep down…

Tomorrow (provided the weather stays fine) we’re getting the solar hot water system installed. Yay! It’s going to cost more to install than the actual gizmo (that would be the “evacuated tube collector“, Caity dear) and tank cost. Weird, huh?

I am sooooo looking forward to being able to have a hothothot bath all the way full – and with more hot water to top up! Of course it’s a super-rare luxury, and I will have to bucket all the water out to the garden once I’m done, but ooooh – sheer bloooody looxury!

Right – back to back issues of Cloth Paper Scissors and my hot water bottle…

No related posts.

Hope this is not a mistake…

Caitlin — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 06:13:23 +0000

Sue and I just had a lovely day of girly shopping – looking at makeup, dresses, tops, and shoes. Of course we ended up at Gardams, where I bought a dress pattern for the Frock Up. Just got home and read reviews that said it was ridiculously large around the hem… almost 2 metres! (78inches). Well, we shall see. At least no one will see my swelly belly in this one! (I will be making it a couple of inches longer than its shown here. Sleeveless.)

: McCalls 5583

And the fabric I bought is LOUD – pink and orange and brown and green and – well, I’ll show you as soon as it’s out of the washer!

This pattern included a slip which was perfect for the dress Sue’s making – so we borrowed scissors and cut the slip pieces from the tissue pattern before we left the store, LOL! (Wait til you see her fabric – swooooon!)

Off to cut the tissue and iron it…

The New Vogues are here! The new VOGUES ARE HERE!!

Caitlin — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 10:16:10 +0000

Ok, well not HERE… but they’re online. (They won’t be in Australia for about 3 months – see why I buy online?) Now, which do I want the very next time they go on sale? Hmmmmm…. Here’s my faves from my first glance – doubtless more to follow!

Vogue 1057 : Donna Karan Dress and jacket. LOVE the look of this dress, like wearing a top and skirt but without the hassle… and the length of this jacket is just right. The bodice is knit, so I’m not sure why you’d need the “invisible zipper closure” – hmmm. (And is it just me or is the model cross-eyed??)

Best of all – goes up to a 22! Not that *ahem* I plan on being that size, after all, I’m aiming at 70 kg (which is about a 14…)

I even like the jacket collar – I’m not a fan of fussy princess collars, but this one looks just pointy and spread enough.

Vogue 1056: Tom and Linda Platt knit dress. Loving the twist at the neckline- HATING the granny sleeves! I didn’t show a photo of my version of Simplicity 3678 that had these sleeves – because it was so awful it would have frightened the horses.

And small children.

And anyone with taste.

It was STUMPIFYING! *shudder* Moving on.

Vogue 1064. What a PERFECT little jacket! Lovelovelove the shaping. Princess seams AND multiple darts: even with weight loss still “in progress”, this is going to be a breeze to FIT!

The pants are good too, contoured waistband and otherwise very unfussy. I don’t do fussy, especially not around the waist. These pants have just the one little fob pocket – aaaaaah, lovely!

Although now I go back, these trousers by alice + olivia look very wearable too…

One I’m less sure of: Vogue 8515

In Theory, asymmetrical clothes are interesting and flattering. In Real Life, I always worry that it looks like I don’t know how to dress myself properly.

Also, the sleeves seem awful wide at the cuff… (easily remedied, but… hmmm.) Maybe as a pattern to make up the “Buy x number get y free”, but otherwise? Probably not.

A swing… and a miss? I can’t quite decide yet about this new Sandra Betzina design, Vogue 1061. The pants are slim and look quite versatile… the top appears to have ruched sleeves similar to the Christine Johnson pattern I just received. (Although CJ’s is a gathered overlay rather than SB’s “elasticised gathers”… and CJ’s pattern is AWESOME for the amount of extra info you get. More on that in another post.)

But that back detailing, and the optional hood – do I love it?

It’s growing on me by the second. I could actually see this as a fabulous jacket sort of top to throw on after the gym…

… Because YES, Gentle Reader, today I actually phoned up and organised a trial pass at the local girly gym. I think I’m ready – my weight loss has slowed, so I need to kick it up a notch; and my back and knee pain have been stable for a while (touch wood!). I just need to negotiate how to fund it (eek!) and get over this cough a bit more.

Had all good plans of walking today – but woke up to a temperature of 2 degrees (Which with wind-chill was MINUS TWO, arrgh!) and a 10 minute long coughing spasm that eventually calmed after a large dose of The Nasty Medicine™. My lungs have been a bit squeezed all day, even after two puffs of ventolin – that next doctors appointment can’t come soon enough.

So – that’s it from the cold cold keyboard of Caity. Have you got faves in the new Vogue patterns?

I have plans to get out to either Spodshite™ or Lincrap ™ tomorrow to take advantage of their pattern sales – there’s one skirt pattern I have my eye on (Butterick 4859 – reviewed in the latest Threads but sadly with no photo of a finished garment) and for just one pattern, it’s not worth paying the postage to order from overseas.

Brr! I’m headed back to hunch over the heater.

Bugger! And Some stash.

Caitlin — Sun, 18 May 2008 08:01:35 +0000

Well, Sue is was being very good today and sewing up a skirt. She had to stop to go get lining, so we popped over to Lincraft – only to find them shut. BUGGER!! One of the few stores in Toowoomba actually open on a Sunday , but we missed it! Never mind, we went and had a coffee, then I loaded her up with even MORE books and magazines once we got back to my place. (Yes, Canberra folks, Caity’s Library is still going strong!)

I have been looking through the stash, finding a lot of bigger dressmaking pieces of fabric from way back when there was a big fabric shop in Canberra down around where the Casino is now – the name has gone from my head. (“Fabric something-or-other” – anyone remember?) ETA: Annie reminded me: Home Yardage! Thanks, Annie!

Discovered I have SCARLET wool/poly crepe – 8 yards of 60″ – perfect for one day making this suit. Not now while I’m still shrinking, though. Damn – just realised I have this pattern in sizes 18-20-22 – now I’ll have to go looking for it in the smaller range… arrgh! Of course it’s OOP…(Out Of Print)

Isn’t it DIVINE? Of course, I need the mink wrap too, dontcher know – and the hat, and gloves, of course. Just the thing for popping up to Woollies for the bread, yes?

(I know one thing about glove making – the fourchette is a BUGGER! “What’s a fourchette, Caity?” A fourchette is the gusset in between the fingers. Not found on el cheapo gloves. And I am NOT talking about the female genital piercing of the same name, owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! Although I bet that makes your eyes water, too.)

Do I even remotely DRESS like this? No. But I’d like to. And pattern buying is nothing if not aspirational! I mean, I can’t be the only one who lies in bed and reads pattern instructions, can I? (Ok, I also read dictionaries, I may be just weird.)

Also excavated enough fabric to really have a good fang at some shirts for me AND for Mr Beloved: two shades of blue tshirt material, one of bottle green (it looks browner in the pic) – and quite a lot of a scarlet stretch velvety thing (think I’ll keep that one for mine, not sure it’s Mr B’s colour!)

Now that my overlocker (serger) and I have declared a truce (and may even become friends) I can consider sewing this sort of thing.

Don’t worry, the sewing obsession will lessen and I WILL get back to quilting eventually. The prospect of actually fitting (with alterations) into even the largest size of patterns is just so thrilling!

And as the lovely Rooruu commented on my coat patterns post:

I notice, however, that many of them are what you could call afashional, not specific to a year or season, based on interesting shapes, so they don’t date.

Yep, that’s me – although I adore reading the fashmags, (“Aby-bloody-synnian Vogue!” chimes in Mr Beloved, channelling the AbFab fashmagslags themselves) drooling over the impossibly expensive designer gear at Net-A-Porter, and checking into Style.com every day, I’m not a slave to fashion. For one thing, I’m not rich. (ha! We actually live so far below the poverty line that we ASPIRE to being poor!) For another, I am not 6ft 2 tall and I weigh a LOT more than 40 kgs.

But I know what I like, even if I don’t wear it a lot of the time.

I have no memory of buying this either, but isn’t it yummy?

Another pattern from the stash; another new pattern; Trinny and Susannah

WHEW! Exhausting but fun day (lots of sewing patterns)

Caitlin — Fri, 02 May 2008 08:58:21 +0000

Well we did go down the hill to the Stitches and Craft Show, and I must say Sue and I were both quite restrained in our spending! It was wonderful to go with another sewing type, really changed the focus. We watched most of the fashion parades and found them really worthwhile – proving again that the illustrations on some patterns do NOT do them justice.

For example this jacket – a bit *meh* on the pattern, but STUNNING made up – a really versatile little jacket. Stephanie (Perpetual Patterns & Can Do Books) had sold out at the show, so I might have to mail order it.

There was one model in the show that was a size 14, D cup – and admittedly she was nearly 6 foot tall, but she was NOT a lightweight skinny minny – so wonderful to see a REAL size model looking great in the clothes on parade.

There were no photos allowed in the show (pity, since some of the clothes made up from commercial patterns really were scrummy) and the art garments by Ruth Osborne, Kirry Toose and Trudy Billingsley were full of interesting ideas for lesser mortals to borrow. Sue Neall (of Stitches, the Australian Sewing Guild and now Sew Inspirational) did a great job hosting and explaining the parades, and also managed a quick change for each parade – the woman never stops!

Another pattern that was definitely a “flick past” in the pattern book but absolutely stunning made up – this little crossover top , Vogue 8120. We saw this made up in knits and in several colours – it looked smashing.

As did the tunic and flat front (but elastic waisted – very nice, not your granny’s elastic waist!)pants in Vogue 8335. Again – not a stunning illustration, but wow, terrific sewn up.

I mentioned that I was reading Pattern Review before heading down – I only ended up buying one pattern – the Sewing Workshop Mimosa Top and Pant .

(I know, a bit summery – but I’m planning on wearing long sleeves under it. And the pant looks very flattering.)

Kerryn (of the astonishing makeovers in Stitches magazine) was at the Australian Sewing Guild stand at the show, and I showed her the pattern for the top – she suggested that on my figure, extending the bottom edge to a diagonal would be more flattering that having a strong horizontal line just above my hips. I’m definitely making a muslin first one this one.

And this is the fabric I bought (from here – they don’t have fabrics on their website, but will very soon) to make the top. Now that I look at it draped on me I’m wondering if the print is a bit blocky… what do you think? It’s more rust/brown/tan than the orange-y flash photo shows, really – but I think it’s ok with my colouring?

Wait ’til you see the fabulously wearable fabric Sue bought – oh my, just swoooony!

I would have loved to go to some of the workshops that the Australian Sewing Guild was running – but there just wasn’t time. Maybe next year…

Thanks all! And pattern find: Vogue 1407

Caitlin — Thu, 01 May 2008 10:40:04 +0000

Thanks to everyone who cheered me on in my weight loss. IT REALLY HELPS! And we are soooo enjoying life without the neighbour Weasel. Oooh, he was a horrid little man. We have 10 neighbours (we own a long narrow block that runs along a lot of backyards) and only ever have real problems with 2 of the houses. Here’s hoping the next lot of renters are quiet people.

Ever been in the situation where you KNOW you’ve got a book, but just can’t find it? I’m not even sure if I’ve seen it since the move to Toowoomba, but I’m sure I wouldn’t have (deliberately!) got rid of it – arrgggh! I’ve been looking for this book for DAYS now. I don’t think I’ve lent it to anyone… if I did, please let me know, eh? It’s one of those really handy reference books, and I’m missing it!

I’m definitely headed down the hill tomorrow for the Stitches and Craft Show. I’m really looking forward to going with Sue – at last, another sewing chick! Tonight I’m digging through patterns and reading reviews (PatternReview.com – awesome value!) to see what I should spend my limited $$ on.

In all the digging around, I did re-find (is that even a word? UNEARTHED, perhaps – I swear, the Time Team would have their work cut out for them amongst all my stuff!)

[click to see bigger images]

This is Vogue 1407, and has someones name and 4/4/66 written on the front. New in Factory Folds! Of course, nowhere near my size – but it’s very close to the size I will be at my goal weight, I hope. “Narrow, sleeveless dress with a two-piece look at front has a deep V Surplice neckline. Wrapped coat swings wide, three quarter length set in sleeves.” It’s so NOW I’m almost tempted to grade it up and make it… almost! The front wrap over is actually an overlay on an otherwise plain sheath dress, but doesn’t it look good? (and why are the instructions on a 1966 pattern SO MUCH BETTER than instructions on current patterns, hmm?) Although this is one of those vintage patterns where the only markings you get are perforated dots. And this is the little blurb about the designer:”JO MATTLI (Mattly) – Swiss charm and Parisian taste combine in the designs of this member of London’s couture group. Mr Mattli has designed the clothes for many English films.”

I think I paid 20cents for this pattern at an op shop. Whereas tomorrow I’ll probably be paying $30 for this pattern – if I can get it! Or this one….or maybe this one?

And now I’d better go turn up the hem on my other pair of jeans – don’t think it would be cool to wander around a Stitches and Craft Show and watch the fashion parades with my jeans rolled – ugh!

[later ETA: But first, I have to go sort through all the art materials that were previously stashed under the kitchen table, as Mr Beloved just had to pull them all out to retrieve a mrrrrrrrooooooouuuuuuusssse! that Miss Kitty Bing brought in as part of her "catch and release" program - she's still looking for it, but it's dead and gone into the bin - ewwwwwwwww!]