September | 2014 | FuKiTu Sewing

Japanese Cottons in Melbourne

September 28, 2014 / Megan E / 0 Comments

I have been lucky enough to visit Melbourne for work this last week and while here I’ve done a little fabric shopping! I stopped into Kimono House on Swanston Street and picked up several Japanese cottons, which I’m planning to make into a quilt top over the next month.

I also bought some fat quarters from L’ucello one floor down from Kimono House and I expect I will stop by again before I leave. No idea yet what I’m going to make from them, at this stage I think I’m really just stash building. I can’t resist a good polkadot.

Two weeks ago I stayed with my grandma and finished off the drunkards path quilt in orange and green while she was working away at a cable sweater for me. As a result I have had knitting on my mind recently. While researching places to find quilt fabrics in Melbourne I happened upon plenty of mentions of Morris and Sons and couldn’t resist starting a more portable project to teach myself to knit cables. I picked up two hand dyed skeins from Manos del Uruguay and some pretty wooden needles and googled some tutorials. Here is the result so far:

It started as a test and turned into a scarf, probably for my partner’s Mum. I don’t think knitting will ever be a major hobby of mine the way quilting is, but I enjoy having projects I can pick up and carry with me when I travel.

For the rest of my time here I think I’ll be seeing some sights when I have time and trying to see some Fringe Festival shows – I’ve been told to check out Deeply Leisured while it is playing. I took a few days at the end of my trip as a holiday so I can celebrate my 25th birthday here with friends who I don’t see often. A very fortunate and auspicious quarter century.)

I’m still waiting for confirmation but I hope I’ll have some exciting personal news to share in my next post (I’ll say up front it is definitely not a pregnancy in case anyone gets the wrong idea though…)

New Digs

September 19, 2014 / Megan E / 0 Comments

I made a thing! A virtual thing, not a fabric thing. Keep up. A website. I mean, I hit a button and WordPress did most of the work, but I’ll take the credit. I’ve been very naughty and haven’t updated in what feels like aeons. I have some things to share, but all my good cameras are at the other end of the country. I’ve been staying with my Grandma and brought what was a quilt-in-bits with me, and I’m leaving with a quilt completed. It’s for a couple of friends – it was to welcome their new baby, but bubs is now five months old, so I’m more than a little behind. Still, it’s cute as heck and nice and bright so hopefully it’s well received. Have a couple of photos of it in various stages of done-ness.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a post from me without a picture of George helping.

I’m trying to recall everything I’ve done since I last updated. I’ve changed jobs, and my boyfriend has moved in (so the quilt for his bed has become the quilt for our bed). I’ve travelled a lot (including to Western Samoa, but that’s another post and another set of photos of the beautiful fabrics I picked up there) and I’ve been talking to a friend who runs a collective studio about renting a workspace where I could have a real table to do my sewing at, and the ability to leave my projects set up. I also have to move out of my house while it gets brought up to the new building code to make it earthquake-safe and it would be nice not to have to put my sewing on hold while that happens.

And of course I’ve moved here! FuKiTu, in case you’re wondering, is a shortened version of ‘Fluffy Kitten Tummies’ kind of a running joke about my cat obsession taken a little too seriously.