[Sarvi]

What are smoko’s? Is it a between-meals snack time?

[meleliza]

Six weeks! Six weeks! With so many of you? I would have just bought a new one if that’s how long you have to wait for repairs. Around here appliances can be delivered and installed the next day.

Playgroup this morning, huge school fundraiser tomorrow morning, so maybe no real sewing until the weekend. Of course, we have soccer and big basement work planned. This time of year it’s so hard to be home sewing.

[Tamara]

Yes Sarvi, smoko is a slang word for morning or afternoon tea. It depends on the state you are in but I think it is mostly used over east. We are either a bit boring or a bit proper in the west and just call it morning or afternoon tea! But there is a dispute over the name of the evening meal, tea or dinner – hubby says tea, I say dinner and the kids are just plain confused!

I have about 40 hours of quilting just the blocks on this quilt! Getting a bit tired and craving to do something else but I HAVE to get it completed!

Oh and sticky tape is magic stuff!

[Nicole]

Kelly, I am so nervous. How silly is that?

I had the money to Melanie, but the beggar kept telling me ‘Next week’!

I am glad I didn’t as my lap top died and I used my dish washer money to replace that.

The bonus is, NO ONE grumbles about packing/unpacking the dish washer anymore.

Sorry Sarvi, I though people may enjoy terms from our local vernacular. I love it when Lotta talks about her fika.

[meleliza]

I’ll bet they don’t! My oldest unloads the dishwasher every morning. (If He insists on waking up at Godforsaken hour, why not?) but he’s sick of it and were training #2 to take over when he starts kindergarten this fall.

School fundraising walkathon today. I am much more tired than I expected. I’m not even getting my chores done let alone any sewing. I hate starting the weekend with a messy house. I did take some pictures of a new roller skate dress yesterday, so maybe I’ll get them up later.

How on earth do you get smoko from tea? I actually don’t understand half of what you lot say, but I think it would be tiresome to ask constantly. I suspect it’s also a lifestyle issue. I don’t know the first thing about farm life or I might be able to work more of the language out.

[lattemama]

Ah yes fika. Definitely having some of that tomorrow when I get some alone time while out clothes shopping for our Greece trip.

As for sewing – I have just bought the Sketchbook pattern in small sizes and I plan a short sleeved shirt in some of my shop fabric to sell or use as a sample. I have three O+S licenses lying around that I want to use.

Good thing about sewing samples – no need for alterations. Yay!!

[Tamara]

Meleliza, my hubby is sitting right next to me and I asked (because I didn’t know either but had an inkling) Ok! It spans from when the guys would go shearing (which is what you would term as teams) and they would “knock off” – take a break to have a cuppa and a cigarette because you weren’t allowed to smoke while shearing. Alot of our terms come from the farmer and his workers – I love “ducks on the pond” meaning there are women in the shed. It was usually called out when the ladies would bring in the food for the shearers. I believe it is still used – the uncle on the farm next door uses it. But they dare to use it with me when we have females working in the shed anyway!

I didn’t get to start quilting again until after dinner last night. I managed to complete a half completed block and a half block and by the time I was done with that I was so ready for bed. I was aiming to start again from 7am this morning which gives me 20 minutes to do everything else on the list! I dont think so somehow but seeing as we have started seeding, it means no interruption during the day at least for big meal prep – I have my trusty slow cooker working to get the evening meals out of the way! This will grant me that extra bit of time to stitch and work to get this quilt done. All in all I want to do a fair bit today and tomorrow!

[meleliza]

So they take a break and go have a smoke? And then add the letter “o” to the end. Interesting. I never would have figured that out on my own. Are most of your farms sheep related or are there crops too?

[Lightning McStitch]

If you’re an Aussie you can put the letter “o” on the end of almost anything. For example a man named John may have his name “shortened” to Johnno.

I can barely understand those “rural folk” either though ( very tongue in cheek dig at my farm friends here) so don’t be troubled.

On the sewing front,…. I bought an overlocker. Yay!!! A Bernina 700d specifically. I was up for a snazzier model (typical!) but the shop salesman talked me down (how refreshingly honest) and was certain that this was all/everything I needed. Until of course I realised that “flatlocking” is a whole other machine. (I have one store bought raglan sleeve dress with contrasting flatlocked seams and I really wanted to make a knockoff). Anyway, I’ll find some way to get that effect using the sewing machine I think.

Over the weekend I made some more pyjamas with the Sleepover pants and the Flashback Skinny T pattern. The tops I made completely on the overlocker (except the hem) and now I know that machine very well. (it was a rocky getting to know each other period, but now I think we’ll be great friends) I had to rethread it numerous times as I kept wanting to pull the threads through at the end of each seam. I also worked very hard on my bad habit of sewing over pins, as obviously that just can’t be tolerated when there’s a metal blade in place!

I think I’ll insist on the kids wearing their clothes inside out a few times just to show off my seam finishes!

[Tamara]

Notorious for shortening things and adding “o”, “ie” , “y”or “a”. My hubby is a Murray but his nickname is “Muzza” – sounds weird even to me and I prefer his proper name. On choosing my son’s name, he was Harrison all the way through until birth but at the last minute we duped them all and now they can’t shorten and make a silly nickname for him! Imogen is called “Immy” by her school mates and Iggy by my sister (after the character in Fried Green Tomatoes – and fiesty must be a characteristic of the name as all the little ones I have know by this name have been just that). Language is charming isn’t it? I saw an interview with Prince Charles expressing his love for Pigeon English – such a fun language to hear!

In terms of sewing though, yesterday I was using a few “uncouth” words when I broke a needle in the middle of just starting off on a half block for the morning. I am very proud of my efforts (the sewing not the language). I did about 8 blocks on Saturday and completed the first corner but yesterday I slowed down. Today I haven’t started but will in just a moment. Monday is just so full of organising others and with an unwell son time has raced by and I have to run to catch up! I may pull a late night tonight to try and complete the second corner. Then tomorrow, keep going on starting the third. We are on track for finishing the whole quilting process by the end of the week which means I get to make something else and I have some hand stitching to do in the evenings and after school activities.

Congrats Lightning on your new “sewing sister” they make ideal companions in the sewing room/ area / dining table – you know what I mean.

[needlewoman]

LOL, dear Litening, abt the kids wearing their pjs inside out to show off your budding friendship with the overlocker; good luck! When I got my new sewing machine about 5 years ago, it took me quite a while, and a lot of deep breathing to be comfortable with it – it felt like holding a very new baby! So I admire your courage. As for pins, this machine, and other Janomes I’ve used are extremely intolerant of sewing over them; the needle breaks at least 7 times out of 10, or gets a noticeable burr on it (yu know, that puncturing sound you can hear when it penetrates the fabric) so my pin magnet is always nearby as i remove pins. Wish I was as ‘good’ about not “burying” things in my sewing room. Stuff silts up, and I waste a lot of time searching (it’s a very small room).

[Tamara]

We need photographic evidence of curled up mangled pins needlewoman! How many time have I had to wrangle and mangled pin out of the feed dogs? No wonder the needle plate was damaged! I have figured that I can do it if I go slowly and keep am eye on the needle position in relation to the hidden part of the pin, but generally after the really curled up effort, I just take them out to save the trouble fiddling. Janome machines are quite fussy but they do a really great job and they are the most loyal if you take care of them – my thought anyway.

Did another corner on the quilt yesterday and watched more lessons on FMQ. I am trying to find some time saving lovely designs for Noah’s quilt which is what I will be quilting next. But first I have to complete the quilting on this one.

My extra Cuzco fabric turned up yesterday. It is for a hash tag quilt from a craftsy class I am doing and also extra for the big king sized quilt I will tackle later. Itching to do some piecing or something that doesn’t require FMQ. It can try the nerves and patience a bit especially if thread breaks or bobbins run out!

I will pursue the third corner today with much vigour! Keep going or bust!

[Nicole]

McStitch, pins+overlocker = wine+internet, a big fat no!

I know you will love it!

Finished a shed load of leggings for birthday gifts and (dun da da) Zara’s Satsuki tunic!

(A tute is in the works).

Today I would like to cut and sew a new black tee for me and then a black linen Portfolio dress.

[needlewoman]

Black linen dress – sounds drool worthy!! What a trooper you are, jsweit to keep on quilting. It’s the one and only luxury I allow myself in my sewing – is to send out my quilt tops to be quilted professionally. When I add up all the work it takes to pin, baste and quilt even a moderate size quilt, (which I have done, and still do for extremely small items) the standard price for a square foot of professional long arm quilting is extremely reasonable. And yes, I agree, Janome sewing machines are very loyal, and sturdy provided you clean them regularly. I’ve just discovered Rasant thread (having previously used Guterman cotton thread exclusively), and the Janome loves it!! Everything runs a lot more smoothly, and the spools are more economical metre for metre. I have had a pin try to wrap itself around the bobbin race, and the noise was so awful, and my heart thudded so much, I never ever sew over pins – if I can help it. Can’t speak about overlockers as no experience, but I really like, and can relate to your recipe for chaos, N.

[Lightning McStitch]

I’m a shocker for sewing over pins. Very rarely have I broken a needle but I have had to extricate some very mangled pins from under the feed dogs.

The cautionary point with the overlocker is the tungsten metal blade that would send half a pin flying across the room. Obviously I’d rather not have pins surgically removed from onlooking kids!

I can think of so many permutations of that equation, and so long as the pins were removed, most of them = happiness.