Selvage Gift Cards

Selvedge or Selvage? I have always used the first spelling but it seems either will do.

There hasn't been a lot of sewing going on here at DinkyDi central. In between other jobs, I have been doing these little gift tags to co-ordinate with fat quarters which I have bought for my sewing group friends' birthdays.
From left, Kerrie likes Civil War, Frances wanted fabrics to remind her of Mozart, Joan likes 50's prints.
They are quick and easy to make and I make them in varying ways. Sometimes I sew them directly onto the card and glue the same cardboard shape on the back. Sometimes I sew the selvedges together then glue to the card, sometimes I sew the selvedges together, cut the shape, and zigzag them on the machine to the card. I have purchased the card shapes but you could just as easy make your own shapes to 'fit' the recipient.

I try and include some text on the selvedge relevant to the persons interest or personality.

My selvedge collection is becoming huge now and I feel a selvedge log cabin or the like coming
on.

Goodbye Roses

These are the last of the roses until spring. Boo. Hoo. They are a sickly looking lot, but would have been a lot sicker if I had not have picked them before the frost this morning.
We also have lots of carnations which receive very little care. They just don't care..if you want a hardy flower, plant carnations!

Packin' up - goin' nowhere

What could be worse than packing up and moving?
In our married life we have done this so many times. Packing up and going nowhere is a lot worse. Not complaining though, oh no, in the end we will have the whole of the inside of the house painted (son-in-law is the painter), new kitchen, new vertical blinds, new floor coverings. All this started out as a small kitchen 'make-over'. Oh well, life will only be in chaos for a couple of months. (we hope).

Why do we need so many teapots? Especially when we use tea bags most of the time. All inherited, and can't part with them.

Recipe books? Dunno. Some inherited, some collected, hardly used, but will she part with them? No.

Baby in Crochet

Here is the gorgeous Lili looking very comfy in her crochet jacket.

She enjoys reading the paper.

Crochet revisited

It is the first day of winter and the weather is indeed wintry today. The sun is out, but there is a wind chill factor happening! The current temperature in our fair city is 15 Deg C.

This past week I have dragged out my wool and crochet hooks to make a jacket for our little granddaughter. The last time I made this pattern was in about 1983 before the birth of our second daughter. I made a blue one as I was convinced we were having a boy! She still looked very cute in it anyway. These crochet jackets are so cuddly and quick and easy to make.
Just the buttons to sew on now.

This is what I keep my crochet hooks and bodkins in. A toothbrush/toothpaste holder. It is ideal for storage and I always know where my hooks are.

Next crochet project will be another rag rug like this.

Living in a reno nightmare

Well, it's started. We've ripped up all the carpet and vinyl where they are going to be replaced with tiles. Can't wait. Anyone who puts carpet under a dining room table needs their head read!!

Tiles will be so much easier to keep clean and hopefully will make the area look bigger. The GREEN carpet just became too much to bear. Everything in this house is green (previous owners choosing - not ours). Green carpet, green and cream lino, green vertical blinds (oh yes - they did once exist), green wallpaper frieze ( commonly known as interior decorating graffiti). There is also green in the kitchen splash back tiles and not forgetting the green laminate on the kitchen and laundry benches. Oh God, we are sooooo over green.

We are going neutral with everything, which seems to be the best way these days. We can accent with colour then, and anyone following us has that option as well.

It seems what started off as a simple kitchen reno has built up to a whole house reno, and hubby even had the audacity to suggest we might start in on the sewing room carpet today.

Whooaa - not today buddy..... there is much preparation to do in there first, like hiding
everything in the already over-stuffed cupboards


When we pulled the carpet up, even the underlay was GREEN.

Textile Heaven

This past Friday I spent the day at the Textile Art Festival in Brisbane. It was very inspiring to look at all the art quilts and I was blown away by the artists' imagination and creativity.
There were heaps and heaps of threads and fibres for one to drool over and to buy of course. But with some of it being very very expensive the money doesn't go far. I managed to pick up a few odds and ends to use in my little arty farty projects.

The quilts from "My Place", a travelling exhibition, were the highlight for me. Quilts from Australian, South African, and New Zealand artists showing their interpretation of 'my place' They were incredible to see and I feel fortunate to have done so.

There was also a textile art competition called "Recycle, Reuse". It is quite amazing what people can recycle. One person had made Australian wildflowers such as banksias from cane toad leather. Another had made an entire woman's suit from plastic bags. This was the overall winner and the second place was a tapestry woven with old mens business shirts with the design being an iron and the words "busyness". It took a very patient person to do this one I would say.

There was a lot to see and do and I am glad I went to the inaugural Textile Art Festival and look forward to next years. In the meantime maybe I can get creative myself.