Sweet Fabric:
flip

It was so nice to have a bit of time to myself yesterday.

I've had a few emails asking for pointers on stem stitch & again I think that this is the kind of thing best learned by watching & listening rather than still shots or sketches.

I stitched a bit of lettering & thought that I'd share the video. I've kind of adapted my traditionally taught stem stitch over the years. Vick...if you're reading this - click away now. This is my "go to" stitch. I use it for lettering, for outlining & for anything with a curve. I love the flexible nature of this stitch. You can very easily rocket ahead on straight sections & then slow right down & do teeny tiny stitches around sharp turns. It's a forgiver...I like that.

Hoping that this helps you out & you become a (sort of) stem stitcher too.

Now that I watch this video...is it any wonder my stitches are so tight. Just look at how I "correct" each stitch.

I do love French Knots & I trot them out at every opportunity. Time consuming if you cluster them - yes. This lot represents about 4 hours of knotting!

But I remember they were mystifying for such a long time. Maybe it was the quick movement of Vicky's hands...they always seemed beyond my reach. I always ended up in a French mess!

I've had a few people ask about French Knots so I've prepared a little video of how I French Knot. For me the key/secret is the "correction" which you'll here about & see if you watch the video. I hope you find it useful. It's a great stitch to have in your "kit".

I'm working on my video skills. Obviously I was holding the piece too close to the camera...ah well...practice, practice, practice.

Video made using The Flip.
Thanks to Flip Video, I love this piece of equipment.

This is my nearly finished house!

I've made a video to show you all how it's looking at the moment.

My house tour...

Square by Jess

Did you know that Flip is coming to Australia? It's going to be available in time for Christmas.

I'm one of the lucky folk who gets to trial the new Mino HD Flips. The camera arrived yesterday & so I decided to make a little Quilt Project video for you.

I have a gadget geek brother who owns an earlier model of the Flip which I've used a bit...you can see those efforts here.

Obviously the quality is far superior using the new flip & the addition of a tripod jack is fabulous as is the mobile phone size. It's smaller than an iPhone & just as easy to use.

The most appealing thing for me is the fact that our videos can easily be stored (if I can do it anyone can) in the same place as our images rather than hanging around on teeny tiny digital tapes which neither myself or The Date know how to manage on the computer.

I guess the main questions are...
Would you buy it? Yes...built in USB (for quick & easy camera to pc transfer), built in battery, super easy to use. Tick, tick, tick.
How much is it? Look here.

So you'll probably see a bit more video around this space in the next little while if I can get over the fingernails-on-blackboard-cringe when I have to listen to my own voice.

The most exciting video news in ages is that Handmade Nation will be released on DVD November 3. This movie made me proud to be a maker of things. If you haven't seen it (or even if you have) signup to receive an email alert to let you know it's available.

You might remember I purchased this quilt from the antique shop a couple of weeks ago.

I had a really good look at the construction & now I'm making my own squares. I won't say for sure they going to turn into a quilt because the big granny project is driving me nuts!

Anyway, I thought you might like to make your own. It's really easy, quick & fun.

I've made a really naff video as a how to. I warn you it's pretty bad - I won't get a gig on TV but I thought some of you might enjoy the "accent". You probably only need to watch the first 5 seconds & you'll get the idea.

The square I'm making in the video uses the scraps from the Rummage Obi & Skirt I made. The project & 25 others in Meet Me at Mikes book by Pip.

Happy weekend.

Yesterday while I was waiting for all the muffins to cook I spent some more time in the pool room trying to sort everything out.

I love to fold. The pillowcase collection looks magnificent but the other set of shelves is looking a bit sad.

I've seen a bit of sorting & folding going on around the place & this morning I popped in here. It made me want to rush out & buy lots & lots of lovely new fabric. (contradiction?) Then I remembered...I don't do that.

So, I got to work with the vintage sheeting. This little exercise required the use of my maths brain as well as my very rusty dramatic skills...OK so I totally got stage fright & the video is pretty awful but I had fun with the logistics. I set myself up a ghetto rig for the flip & away I went.

How to fold a fat quarter...the video.

This may or may not be an original way to fold squares of fabric. I was trying to hunt down a folding technique last year as I seemed to remember this sort of thing from Patchwork House when I learnt to quilt (about a million years ago). But Mr Google turned up nothing. I combined my memory of nappy folding (which I also loved) with my idea of how I remembered the fat quarters at Patchwork House.

Formula: width of shelf (w) x 4 is the size to cut your squares.

So...if you're a collector of fabric & your shelves are six inches wide you need to be buying 24 inches of fabric to make them fit snuggly on your shelf.

Amy likes to fold too...check her tute out here.