White Threads

Student success

Yesterday I received a photo from Ruth, who was one of the students in my classes on the needlework cruise that I taught on in February this year. Ruth took my Mountmellick class and my Portuguese Whitework Panel class.

From the photo (which Ruth has given permission for me to share), you can see that she did an excellent job! Congratulations, Ruth! Your work is lovely, and you should be extremely proud of your results.

If you ever take one of my embroidery classes, I love seeing the finished project! Please email photos to me! It makes me so very happy to know that you finished the project.

I always offer to my students that if they get stuck on anything to do with the project after the class has finished, that they should call me or email me for help. I’d much rather that I was able to help than that they stuck it in the bottom drawer and felt defeated by it!

So, having just finished the Berrima Patchwork “Quilting in the Highlands Retreat”, in time, I’m looking forward to seeing some completed projects from there, too.

Quilting in the cold

I’m currently down in the Southern Highlands at the Berrima Patchwork “Quilting in the Highlands Retreat”. I’ve finished the first of my classes, which was the Mountmellick class, and I had a wonderful time. I also believe that the students greatly enjoyed themselves.

Last night we had a trivia night, which was great fun. All the teachers were seated together and I think we were all a little disruptive, but we had fun!

We had a Christmas in July dinner the other night. All the tutors were introduced, and we each had time to say a little about what we do. It was so inspiring to hear the other teachers.

The other teachers are from Australia and the US. Here we all are together.

Today my embroidery applique class starts, which will be great fun. It’s not a class I’ve taught before and I’m really looking forward to it.

Quilting in the Highlands

This weekend (and Monday and Tuesday) I will be teaching at Berrima Patchwork’s Quilting in the Highlands Retreat at Mittagong. Mittagong is in the Southern Highlands, south of Sydney. At this time of year, it is COLD down there. (Well, cold for us, not for people who regularly have snowy winters!)

I’m planning to stay warm by staying inside and stitching away. I’ll be teaching two projects – a Mountmellick cusion, and a hand embroidered applique design based on suzanis. The idea of this class is that I will be showing them a range of stitches that they can use on raw-edge applique OTHER than plain old blanket stitch – which will be nowhere to be seen on our embroideries! I have really enjoyed making this project, and have been very pleased with the results. I hope my students enjoy it too!

I’ve spent most of this week writing my class notes and putting together the kits. In the evenings I’ve been working on a new project – a tablecloth. I am pleased to say that unlike the lovely tablecloth that I did for Portuguese Whitework: Bullion Embroidery from Guimarães (shown on its front cover), this one will not be referred to as The Tablecloth That Nearly Killed Me. Unlike that one, this one is working up reasonably quickly, which is incredibly pleasing!

Wherever you are this weekend, whether it is hot or cold, I hope that you get to enjoy some stitching!

Your questions about travelling light

Yesterday’s blog post prompted some questions from readers. I get the feeling some of you were a bit incredulous. That’s ok, we’ve experienced that incredulity before. We got the question, “Where are your bags?” a few times during our trip!

“May I ask whether you used a specific bag pattern, what fabric you used for the bags, and what on earth are ‘packing cells’?”

I made my own pattern for the bags, a refined version of a bag that I designed several years ago and have been using ever since. It is basically a big, rectangular, fabric box, with a zipper around three sides so that it opens up fully. There are two pockets in the lid – one on the outside and a mesh one on the inside. On the back there are backpack straps so that I can carry it on my back. There is also a grab handle at the top for when you just want to pick it up quickly in your hands.

Our empty bags weighed only 530 grams (my husband’s, which was 5cm longer than the others), 480 grams (mine), and 360 grams for the girls’ bags. Ours were heavier fabrics than the girls’ fabrics.

What fabrics? In the original post that I linked to, I talked quite a bit about the fabrics that I was going to use. You might like to take a little recap. I used dyneema for the girls bags, as it is strong but lightweight, and ballistic nylon for our bags, as it is strong enough to be checked in if we had needed to.

I was a little worried about using the ballistic nylon. I wasn’t sure if it would be too heavy for my domestic sewing machine. However, it was fine. I did try using thicker sewing thread for it, but that just mucked up the tension on my machine, so I reverted to using normal thread, but sewed critical seams twice, and used bar tacking for points of extra stress. Bar tacking is basically a line of wide, closely-spaced zig-zag stitch. You can see a video of a bag manufacturer doing it on a special machine here.

And what are packing cells? Packing cells or packing cubes (which are misnamed because they are rarely cubes!) are basically little fabric “boxes” that have zips along three sides (usually). That’s it. They’re like little bags within bags. As you’ll understand by the fact that I only bought ours just before our trip, we’re only recent converts. Yes, they add weight to the whole thing, but the payoff that you get is nicely organised bags instead of a massive jumble of stuff that all falls down to the bottom of the bag! And when you have such unstructured bags with such lightweight fabrics as dyneema, everything can easily fall to the bottom!

We used packing cells from Kathmandu, but there are many other brands. I just happened to get ours during a sale which meant that they were MUCH MUCH cheaper than the price advertised on their website. I added up how much they all would have been at full price, and well, over $250 is just a TAD too steep for a bit of organisation. I could easily have made my own, but I basically ran out of time.

“I think you are amazing that you can travel with so little although I must ask the question – do you shop whilst you’re away?”

Of course we shop! 🙂 But what sort of shopping do you mean? We shopped for food, and for souvenirs, but that’s about it. We didn’t purchase any other clothes to wear, there. Three quick dry mix and match outfits are quite enough. All souvenirs are usually lightweight, and easily packable. My husband and I did purchase a few books, but mine were offset by the gifts I took to give away to those who helped me with my research.

The girls’ bags fully packed weighed only about 3kg, so we had heaps more weight allowance (up to 7kg) in their bags if we had needed it for heavier souvenirs.

We took the bare minimum, knowing that there are shops in Italy where we could purchase anything we did need urgently (amazing, they have shops there, you know! 😉 ). An example of this was needing to purchase antihistamines. One of us came out in a weird and itchy rash, and as this hadn’t been anticipated, we just went to the local farmacia and purchased ‘antistaminici’. The Italian phrasebook really did help here!

Our very light luggage

Back in January I told you how I was planning to make luggage for all of us for our next international trip. That was the trip we’ve just been on. I did indeed make luggage for us, and it went really well.

Our bags ready to go home with us in Venice airport.

In the first few days particularly I was really paranoid about the shoulder straps’ stitching ripping where they attach to the top of the bags, but I didn’t need to worry. My bar tacking added extra strength and they were fine.

So, the original plan was that we would take under 5kg of carry on luggage each. Did this work? Was it possible? In the end we aimed for under 7kg each, as during the flight booking process, we didn’t end up using one of the airlines we had originally planned to, and therefore the limit wasn’t 5kg anymore.

We never actually weighed our fully packed luggage anywhere, so I don’t know! Wherever we checked in for flights, we were never asked to weigh our hand luggage. The closest we came was in Venice when the girl doing the paperwork asked if we had any bags to check in, and we said no. After she’d done all her computery things, and was about the send us on our way, she said, “Can I just look at your bags, please?” Sure! We all turned around and showed her the bags on our backs. “Oh! That’s fine!” I think she’d realised that if the girls could carry their bags so lightly, without complaining and without looking like they were going to die under the weight, that there must be no problem with them being overweight.

I had made the bags specifically for the international carry-on sizes for the airlines we were using, so they came in below or on the maximum size for all the airlines we used.

In the day or two before we left, I made use of a sale at one of the local travel stores and purchased three packing cells for each of us. One large one each for our clothes bundle, and two smaller ones for other stuff. These were excellent! It was like having drawers in your cupboard. Rather than everything floating free, it divided things up so that the bags were kept neat and well organised.

People’s reactions to us travelling with only carry-on luggage have been quite amusing. Some people wonder how, others wonder why. Others just wondered where all our luggage was!

“How” is not so hard – take lightweight everything, and make sure all your clothes are quick dry and can be worn in any combination. Layering clothing is important, and travelling in summer is a definite advantage – the clothes are lighter and less bulky.

“Why” is also easy – because it is liberating to travel with so little! Your luggage doesn’t get lost by airlines when checked in, because you never check it in. There’s no dragging bags over cobblestones, because they are always on your back. There’s no need to hire big cars or taxis to take all the luggage because the luggage takes up hardly any room. In terms of kids – if there’s less stuff, there’s less to get lost, and less to collect up when they’ve emptied everything out. (Kids can be messy, as can parents!)

It is something I highly recommend for travelling. It takes a lot of planning, but for us it is just another enjoyable aspect of planning a holiday. If it is something that you’re interested in, then I highly recommend www.onebag.com.

I’m home and back at work!

As you would know (because I have been extremely quiet on here lately!) the Vetty Creations office was closed for about 3 weeks. I needed time with my family, and I unashamedly shut the business during that time.

Well, I was actually not even here. 🙂 We were away on a family holiday, and I was doing research for my next whitework embroidery book!

We had an absolutely fabulous time in Italy, where I was researching. We travelled around a bit, visiting some touristy areas and some non-touristy areas. We enjoyed summer, while others at home were not enjoying the horrible, wet, winter weather. We met some LOVELY people, who were so welcoming of us, and so generous and kind.

I’m now back home and at work. If you’re waiting on an order from me, apart from those where we are still out of stock of the item you have ordered, your order has now been posted and is on its way to you. (We’re still waiting on the hoops and stands stock, but hopefully they will arrive today.)

I’m so excited to get into writing the new book. In the next few weeks I will also be off to the Quilting in the Highlands Retreat, run by Berrima Patchwork, which should be excellent fun, though likely to be very cold!

So I’m back! I’m here to answer your questions and take your orders. 😉

Wollongong class today

Today I’m of to Wollongong to teach Portuguese Whitework to the guild group there. I’m sure we will have a lovely day sharing stitching and each other’s company.

We’ll be making the hanging ornaments from my book “Portuguese Whitework”. Not all five though – just one each!

I have some stitching with me to do on the train trip down there and back again. That will bookend the day nicely!

school holiday office closure

From 22nd June until 12th July, the Vetty Creations office will be closed for the school holidays. As a mum, I need to spend time with my family, and school holidays are the best time to do that.

In order to devote the time to my family, I am unashamedly closing the Vetty Creations office for a few weeks. During this time I will not be able to respond to any inquiries, whether by phone, post, email, carrier pigeon or owl. I will respond to any inquiries upon the re-opening of the office.

If you place an order during this time, it will be held until the office reopens. There will probably be a little bit of a backlog when I get back, so please be patient.

I understand this will inconvenience some people, and I am truly sorry for that. However, my family need me during this period.

craft show done for another year

Yesterday was the final day of the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair for 2013. It was a great show for me, well exceeding my expectations.

I met so many lovely stitchers, and had so many interesting conversations! I met many past students which is always lovely. I also met many future students – particularly from Wollongong, where I will be teaching next weekend, and those who are going to be at the Berrima Patchwork “Quilting in the Highlands Retreat” at the end of July.

Of the Berrima Patchwork people, there were many who said that they had wanted to do my Mountmellick class but were unable to because it was already fully booked, and then there were the lucky ones who HAVE made it into the class! It looks like it is going to be a great retreat!

My most popular pattern was definitely the Hardanger Needlecase pattern. I kept restocking, and it just kept selling and selling!

Many people told me throughout the show how much they love my books, particularly my stitch dictionaries. So many people said that they refer to them all the time. And it was lovely to meet people who said, “I have all your books.” To them all, thank you! I am very grateful for your support!

People enjoyed seeing the examples of stitching from my next book. They really loved the cushion I had on display. I have been telling everyone that I hope the new book will be available this time next year.

One of the things I found surprising was the amount of interest in Hardanger embroidery. I would say this is definitely up on interest levels from previous years. Of course, there was still the same amount of interest in Mountmellick – it is a perennial favourite! And there were still many exclamations about the beauty of the Portuguese Whitework and Merezhka.

I have rebooked for next year’s show, so you’ll see me again there next year. Next year the show will actually be in a new venue. The State Government, in it’s wisdom has decided to demolish the exhibition centres and rebuild them. So for the next three years, the craft show will have a temporary home at Glebe Island. There are going to be free bus services from the CBD, and free ferry services from Darling Harbour and Circular Quay. I think the idea of arriving by ferry is lovely and I’m looking forward to that!

Thank you to everyone who came and said hello at the show, and to those who added my products to their stitching stash. I hope that they give you many hours of embroidery enjoyment. See you next year at Glebe Island!

Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair

Today will be my third day at the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair. I’ve been having a lovely time! This year I am again by myself on my own stand.

I’ve been having some lovely conversations with people about embroidery. One I particularly enjoyed yesterday was with a lady of Chinese descent who told me of going to Singapore to learn to do the embroidery beading that her mother and grandmother had done on special wedding slippers. Between 5000 and 7000 beads per slipper! She was fascinated with my embroidery and I was fascinated with hers!

I’ve had many people telling me how much they love my books, particularly my stitch dictionaries. That is always so pleasing to hear.

People have been intrigued by the three examples of embroidery that I have on display, which are gong into my next book. I think they like the style!

Three more days to go. Please come and introduce yourself if you come to the show. I’m on stand L42.