If my life was a quilt...

Many women at my stage of life have ridiculously busy lives.  I'm one of them.  Luckily I can see the future, and by July (if I'm lucky) or August (if I'm realistic), my life will be completely changed; it will be fresh, exciting, streamlined and new.

So if my life was a quilt what would it look like?

For the past few months it has been like an antique folk art crazy quilt: huge and extremely busy but with no overall pattern to make sense of it all, full of stories and drama, every piece unique and worthwhile, crumbling around the edges and unravelling but still amazing and rich.

Whenever life gets like this I feel the need to unpick and discard a few patches or rows, but sadly I'm not world champion at saying "NO" or discarding things. Maybe a better plan is to throw the whole lot away and start again.

In my dreams, my new life in my new city will be serene, under control and gorgeous like of Clare Plug's artworks currently on display at Te Manawa in Palmerston North.

But between now and then I have a heck of a lot to do.  My life as a quilt for the next few months just has to be like Katherine May's contemporary crazy quilts made from discarded Action Man and Barbie doll clothing! A mix of the two would be perfect for a girly woman-of-action like me!

Photos above via The Curious Eye (I love your curious eyes misters).

Destashing Garage sale - Saturday 27th Feb, 8am, my place

With Ken Oath! away for the past few weeks I've been madly destashing our worldly goods in preparation for moving to another country.  I've single-handedly restocked the SuperShed, made valiant efforts on Freecycle, had a flurry of activity on Trademe and made pyjama runs to every red-lidded bin on the street at crack of dawn every Rubbishday morning. Despite all this my garage is still so full I can barely wade to my fabric stash to start sorting it out for Stash reHash.Drastic action is required. 

I am having a garage sale!
No fabric, but plenty of costume jewellery, retro homewares, clothes, shoes, handbags, more kitsch than you can poke a stick at and a few weird and wonderful "how the heck did that get into my house..." items. 

Plus TheShortFolk are having a toy stall.  They are already plotting what they are going to spend their millions on.  I feel a life-lesson looming...

Saturday 27th February
Aylesford St, which we say is in the suburb StAlbansShirleyMairehau, or if you are a real estate agent you'll know it as East Merivale East,
8am signs go out and doors open. I'm not saying the street number as some cheery soul always decides it is a great idea to arrive at 6am.  They tend to meet TheOtherDeidre. The one TheShortFolk refer to as BigChiefGrumpyPants.

Then when you are done at my place, head through the pathway near my house to a giant garage sale, craft stall, sausage sizzle, cake stall event over at the
Christchurch Football and Squash Club
9am-12 noon
250 Westminster St

Sadly TheNewMinimalistDeidre is going to have to resist going to that one.

Donations for Arthritis NZ's Stash reHash stall, please

Arthritis NZ welcome your donations of good quality fabric, buttons, threads, haberdashery, textiles and craft supplies to sell on their Stash reHash stall.  The response last time was incredible and meant they had a very successful day.

Pictured above are some of the donations received so far for the upcoming market, including some gorgeous fabrics donated by the the woman who interviewed me for Zest(Food,Fame & Fashion section of The Press) before the last Stash reHash market (thank you and all the best in your new life).

Donations can be accepted up to Friday 9th April. For information about where and when to drop-off donations, please phone Arthritis NZ on 366 8383.

Swap-O-Rama-Rama, Lyttelton 20 Feb, 11am-4pm

The instant I heard about Swap-O-Rama-Rama, I excitedly contacted the organiser to say "Yes, I'm in!  I'll help! Sounds fabulous!" 

It was only afterwards that I felt like a very bad mother when I realised that my youngest child has a zero birthday that day.  I've tried to convince my son that there couldn't possibly be a more fun way to spend a day than a clothes swap followed by a workshop session involving printing, refitting and remodelling those clothes and sharing skills with other like-minded people. I just know I'd go home with a sore face from all the laughing and talking.  Sadly though my son is not convinced, so I can't make it to Swap-O-Rama-Rama this time.

If you can and this sounds like your idea of a good time, then here is some more information:

NZ’s first SWAP-O-RAMA-RAMA
Saturday FEB 20th, 11am-4pm
Lyttelton Recreation Centre, Winchester St

Entry cost $10 plus a bag of clothing for the clothes swap
A clothing swap where you can create new delights from old treasures. Workshops, design stations plus a cat walk if you are keen. This event is sponsored by Singer (sewing machines) and Yudu (screen printers).
Part of the Lyttelton Summer Festival.

Have fun and think of me while I have a small boy's idea of a great day out!

Handmade Nation - in Christchurch!

I've just had a very exciting phonecall from Prue from Christchurch to let me know that Handmade Nation is finally going to be screened in Christchurch.  Yay, go Miss Millie and Felt for arranging this!

The Christchurch premiere of Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY, Art, Craft, and Design, a documentary by Faythe Levine, will be on Thursday 4th March at the Hollywood Cinema in Sumner – doors open at 7pm and the movie will start at 7.30pm.

Tickets are $20 each and include a glass of wine and nibbles on arrival.

I've got my ticket, go get yours at Miss Millie's Felt shop here. One screening only so no time for muckingaround!

Show your stash!

All over Interwebland people have posted photos of their fabric stashes and workspaces. Some are styley and amazing, some are embarrassing bombsites, some are just huge and some have such amazing fabrics they make me green with envy.

I never manage to keep my stash tidy and organised for long. Usually my fabrics are piled so high on my worktable that they resemble the lounge-mountain Richard Dreyfus made in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, only cleaner. If a visiting small child poked them we'd have to call in search and rescue to dig them out from the resulting avalanche.

But today I had a jolly big sort out as the first thing I'm selling on Trademe in preparation for moving is my "current projects" cabinet. If my fabrics are out of sight then I tend to forget about them so this cabinet has been great for reminding me of what I have on the go and inspiring what I intend to make next. Looks so cute I feel like keeping it! Just out of shot is my lounge-mountain with the other 99% of my fabric stash.

I'd love to see what your fabric stash and workspace look like. Fancy showing me?

Dreamjob - Hemptech

Look what I just found! Dreamjob! Shame that for me it is in the wrong city, but maybe for you or for another fabric-lover this would be heaven.

Those are Hemptech fabrics pictured above. Hemptech have collaborated with various New Zealand designers to produce beautiful printed fabrics often with a New Zealand flora theme. If you aren't aware of what a wonder-fibre hemp is then there is plenty of info on Hemptech's website. It has come a long way from the days when it was mostly used for those nasty saggy-bottom hippy trousers. Oh, I reckon I could sell textiles that beautiful, useful and eco-friendly even while locked up in an isolated farmhouse (yup, Ken Oath! is away and I'm back on the Coro habit)!

Now, I must try to remember what I was actually looking for in the first place....

Here we go again...Stash reHash is back!

This time around it has been like herding drunken monkeys to get everything arranged, but I'm happy to say the next Stash reHash fabric market will be held on Sunday 18th April, 11am - 2pm at the Scottish Society Hall in Edgeware (same venue as last time.)

If you are a shopper then put it in your diary, tell ten friends, your craft group and your Mum. Please.

If you would like to have a stall then please email me at stashrehash@clear.net.nz with stall-holder in the subject line. I'll send you all the details. Old or new fabric, remnants to rolls, yarn, buttons, notions, haberdashery are all good and welcome!

Two stalls are already booked. Arthritis New Zealand will be back with a huge assortment of donated goods. And I've booked myself a stall as soon afterwards I'm leaving on a jetplane, don't know when I'll be back again. It finally is time to get seriously ruthless with my stash.

Well... unless any Lucienne Day fabric (as pictured above) turns up. I can think of quite a few household items I'd happily Freecycle to make room for a length of that in my shipping container!