Cooking, crocheting, and crafting.

I have been a busy lady these past few days. It began on Sunday morning. Michelle had slept over and we were sitting chatting over a cup of tea while rain poured down outside. We were joking around and I was quite dramatically explaining to her that my style had officially changed after last weeks vintage shopping experiences. I informed her that I would now be decorating my house eclectically, with a combination of English vintage, Cottage, and French styles. Ha!

Well, Michelle lamented how she didn't have a style either (are you getting a picture of how board we were being locked up indoors?) and we proceeded to google away until we found an interior decorating style that was her.

It's now official, Michelle's style is "Modern French" and she didn't even realise. Dark timber furniture, cream/white carpets, walls and furnishings.... yes very French.

I am sure by now you are wondering where on earth I am going with all of this. Well, to hold true to my newly discovered eclectic style I decided my loungeroom cushions needed a make over!

Michelle and I headed to Spotlight Sunday afternoon to see what we could find there. Now, Spotlight is a store in Australia that is a massive homecrafts store. It is pretty mass produced and often it is hard to find fabrics that are not nasty to the eye. I was very excited when I came across two fabrics I loved! One was a beautiful ticking with dark cream and browny-green stripes, the other a very thickly woven burgundy and gold design.

I took them home and this is what I made... (one ticking cushion is missing from this picture).

Luckily I have plenty of the burgundy fabric left, so I am trying to think of something else to do with it...

I visited a thrift store on Monday, and I came across two gems.

The first was a tiny square cushion in wedgewood blue and white. It had some stains on it, so they were selling it for $3, but I took the risk. After a soak in stain remover and a wash, it is as good as new.

It has the most beautiful hand quilting detail on it.

The second gem was this gorgeous crochet blanket. Now I have tried and tried to crochet, but all my squares, well, it would not be polite to describe to you what they really turn out like :-)

This blanket was only $6 and in perfect condition.

I thought you might like a closer look.

Now for the Cooking part of this blog. Two weeks ago I ordered Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volumes 1 and 2 by Julia Child from eBay for super cheap. I was so excited when my little parcel arrived today to find the Volume 2 book had arrived (still waiting on V1 to arrive). The book is great, perfect condition, beautiful cover, except for one small detail.... the seller forgot to mention that the book is only 8 inches tall! Magnifying glass anyone???

It does have super cute diagrams though :-)

Sam xox

Two cushions made.

You know those two cushion kits I purchased on Sunday? Well, they are BOTH now cushions on my couch! I made the Amitie one last night, and I have just finished putting the finishing stitches into the ‘Cloth’ one. I am so happy with how they both have turned out. And the best thing...? I have the patterns for both so now I can make many more!

The first cushion I will show you is the “Bound Patchwork Cushion” by Amitie. This cushion was too easy to make! What makes it so different from any other patchwork cushion I have made before is that it is bound – what this means is the edge is bound as you would bind a quilt, which has a great finishing effect.

Then I have the “Patched Cushion” by Cloth. As most of you know I am a very rigid quilter who loves to sew to a pattern. I love structure and predictability. So THIS cushion was a very interesting challenge for me! I played around with my design and this is what I came up with...

Notice even the stitching has no order!

Sam xox

Stitches and craft show.

I had a wonderful day out on Sunday at the annual Sydney Stitches and Craft Show. It was the first time I had visited the show and it was very enjoyable. Michelle came with me and we saw countless different kinds of crafts on display. There was so much to inspire us it was overwhelming!

I looked at all the stalls and saw some new shops, and some old favourites. I was pretty well behaved, and only purchased two cushion kits.

One kit came from a stall that is based in Victoria, a state south of NSW. It is called Amitie and always has modern ideas coupled with the latest fabrics on display! I fell in love with a cushion they had on show, and purchased a kit.

I discovered a new store called Cloth which is a modern screen printing business that is located in the heart of Sydney. I know for a fact that I will definitely be visiting them at their studio!

The creator of the company Julie demonstrated how to make their signature patched cushion. The different style of materials, design and construction really appealed to me. I purchased a cushion fabric kit and plan to make two cushions from it for our loungeroom. Her fabrics really are unique. All fabrics are screen printed and dyed by hand. She also uses very thick fabrics, like hemp, hessian, and canvas. Not anything like the traditional 100% cottons I am used to in my sewing! This will be a fun cushion to make!

Sam xox