Just Found A Source In Melbourne

For Pure wool felt. At l'uccello's in the Nicholas Building.

l'uccello's is a gorgeous shop on the second floor, which sells the most exquisite vintage haberdashery and fancywork supplies. Kim is luvverly too, and offers iced water to the parched shopper. If you want little bits of stuff for the most unusual gifts for Crafters, or maybe to give yourself a treat , then go get lost in the building. I did, and bought some amazing and old silk velvet ribbon, one thinks to make an equally exquisite French style cushion... and a 1960's silk rose for my shelf... and some pearl-like little bloopy things you put as stamens in flowers (which I have in an old ink pot as a vase and it's very pretty)... and a set of pink buttons that have no purpose but to please me (just like that other little pink button)... I would have spent more, but I really already have everything. My inheritance is such and I have so much beautiful trim and buttons and fabric and vintage stuff, it's very exciting!

The Nicholas Building, 205/37 Swanston Street, Melbourne. l'uccello is in room 5 on the second floor, enter via Cathedral Arcade where the Subway take away is.

Maybe I'll end up teaching there after all?

Progress On The Home Front

This photo is way behind the truth of the matter. The grey tops of the step-end thingy's will be changed by render to a bit brighter rockish goldish colour. And the red has toned itself down too. It's very Pompei. Oh, and he's finished the front rock wall now. I really should just take another photo, but it's raining. You should see the plans. They'll need framing in the end. They are more whiteout than paper now, as ideas come and go and are modified. It's good.

Christmas Tea Cosies

The Cheshire Cat above, and

Bluebird for my mother-in(out of) law, below.

These are all for my new Tea Cosies. The faces are for the back of the smiles. They'll be clothed and have hats. I'll upload the drawing too, when I'm done.

Made from old blankets.

For The Cup Cake Practitioner

For Christmas.

Jaden's Hanky Box

It's very difficult to get photo's because of the plastic. I used the same (vintage) cartoon magazine as in Rob's box. The inside is from an old National Geographic. I've cut out a few of the talking bubbles to add here and there, which I'm sure Jadey will appreciate... funny. And added teeth or re-arranged the images. Luckily, in my stash (the stash to end all stashes), I had a space age vintage button. Of course I did! It will have been my Grandma's.

Have a look at the rest HERE. There's a tutorial in there somewhere too. The biggest difficulty is finding an appropriate hole punch.

Myself (aged 28, ages ago), Jaden's Uncle Rob and Aunty Claire and his mother Ruby.

I've got news for you Pal! I don't explode so easily!

This is for Christmas.

Sparkley

Mercedes thought it the right name (I had nothing to say on the subject). This is from Mimi Kirchner's pattern. I used old chennile bedding so it's lovely and soft for my Sadie to cuddle. Actually we made it together, as in, I made it and Sadie stuffed a leg for about five or ten minutes then thought I could finish it. She did choose all colours though. I want her to have the experience of making stuff though, so it was still good.

I bought the felt through Felt Craft Studio at Etsy. Pure wool felt. Yum.

SOLD! The Money Is In The Bank This Time!

Crazy Quilt With Grandmother's Fans

Made from 1992 - 1996

2 metres square, minus a smidge. Only handstitching by myself.
Cenrtal horse panel worked on 10 stitches to the inch linen.

WELL, after much patience, much stubbornness and many years, the Crazy Quilt With Grandmother's Fans that I completed in 1996 is SOLD. $70,000 is in the bank! No kidding at all! There are more photo's over here (as well as people's work from my classes).

(I want someone to contract me to write a book of patterns and blether about the quilt or my style of doing things... somehow. Got any suggestions?)

P.S. The money's gone straight into the mortgage.

MUCH LATER..............

I thought, perhaps, that I ought to say more. So, in reply to a forum discussion, I wrote this:

"It's true!I'd post a photo of the cheque but that would just be silly (I admit that I took a photo of it)!

The quilt took me 3,000 hours, at a conservative guess. I worked on it furiously over four years and tried and developed many techniques over the time. It's been displayed around Melbourne over the years and I taught the various stitches and design skills I had accumulated, using it as my prop, from when it was a babe in pieces.

I first displayed it at a show in 1996, just after it was finished, and the manager insisted that I name a price. Of course, fresh off the needle, I had no intention of ever selling it, but I arrived at a price that, with very modest wages for the day, reflected the time involved. In fact I originally had a tag of $80,000.

I wanted people who saw it to look again and maybe understand what they were looking at in terms of committment and effort etc. The show was primarily a woodworking show, with an arts and crafts section. I ended up planning and organising that section and so could push my own agenda, which was to bring needlework to the general public (blokey wookworking types and tourists who may never go to a craft show).

The buyer has been interested since about 2001 or therabouts and I have taught her in her home over many years, on and off. She has the money and I would rather keep it than give away my heart and soul. It would have been soul destroying to give it away cheaply and I couldn't do it. Her father was one of Australia's major art collectors and Melbourne's Modern Art Gallery at Federation Squaure now houses his donated collection as a permanent gift to the state (The Ian Potter Gallery). The Joseph Brown Collection.

I really did put a lot of effort into it and have always been an advocate for asking a realistic price for our work. WE know how much we put in and how many generations of women (usually women) have made their homes beautiful and warm and developed amazing art and skill, without recognition from the wider community. We deserve it.

I did a visual art course in 1998 and taught in the evenings (once or twice a week). NO-ONE in the art world knew anything about how BIG and HUGE the craft industry was and saw it all as doileys and knitted coat-hangers, and I say I LOVE knitted coat hangers and add that generations have grown up being influenced, by osmosis, in homes surrounded with these domestic, creative, joyous touches.

I'd better stop. I sound like a fanatic!

It's amazing to find a buyer, it's true. But she has phoned me almost daily to express her delight and belief that it was worth the money. In turn it has alleviated my stress about my mortgage and now I can see a futute where I get to retire! Or work part-time at SOME stage in the not too distant future!Thanks for all of you good wishes too. I feel like it's a flag for all of us.

x

Oh, and no-one at art school really looked down their noses at all, but neither did they realise how big and excellent our stitchy world is."

Cherub is worked on some old linen interfacing from my Grandmother's overcoat.