The last few weeks have seen me working on a foundation pieced border for this seasonal wall hanging:
Just in time for Halloween the pattern is now available in my Craftsy Pattern Store. Well, to be honest, not quite released in time to make it for this Halloween, but I have heard a little rumour that there will be another Halloween next year :)
The outer 2 borders on this wall hanging are created with Foundation Piecing, also called Paper Pieceing. For a while, I wasn't a fan of this technique. I loved the amazing, perfectly pieced quilts that I saw others make with Foundation Piecing, but when I tried it, I found it fiddly and my fabric pieces would not cover the areas that they were supposed to cover!
A kind friend gave me some tips and around the same time, I attended a new product talk at my (then) local sewing shop. A few new tools came home with me and suddenly my Foundation Pieced projects started to play nice.
So these are some of my favourite tools for when I am Foundation Piecing.
Olfa Rotating Cutting Mat:
I use the smaller 12 inch size, but both are great to use. The motion of the mat is smooth and I can place my foundation and trim it as needed without wishing for extra motion in my wrists.
Clover Hera:
This little tool is actually designed for marking fabric and I do use it for that as well. When I am Foundation Piecing, I use my Clover Hera to score my Foundation Patterns so that they fold exactly on the stitching line.
This step is important for accuracy when I use the next tool.
Add-A-Quarter Ruler:
This is the tool that changed my relationship with the Foundation Piecing technique. I use the Add-A-Quarter Ruler to trim the seam allowance to 1/4 inch, just before I add the next piece of fabric.
Then the next piece of fabric is placed right sides together with the raw edges even. It is easy to pin the fabrics to the Foundation Pattern, flip the new fabric and check that it will cover the next section. So much easier than the way that I originally worked.
28mm Rotary Cutter:
I like to use this smaller than normal rotary cutter for working with the small pieces in Foundation Piecing. I feel that I have more control over the cutting and less chance of cutting myself in the process. I also like that the safety cover for the blade is always present. It just moves aside with the pressure used when cutting.
Now that I am feeling inspired by my most recent Foundation Pieced border, I am working on a couple of Foundation Pieced ornaments, just for Christmas! More details soon.
So, in addition to my adiction to crafty pursuits, I am a very passionate follower of the V8 Supercars car racing category. This coming weekend is the most important race of the season, the Bathurst 1000 at Mt Panorama. I. Love. This. Race.
How much, you may wonder.
I have watched every race since 1978.
I have watched them all live, getting up at 4am Perth time to watch the start of the Sunday telecast.
My friends know that I will not go to any other event over this weekend.
I have taken leave from work so that I can watch this race.
When I visited Sydney in 2004, I drove out to Bathurst just so that I could see and drive around the track.
This year is a special one, celebrating 10 years of the Peter Brock Trophy and celebrating the life of the man who has won more Bathurst races than any other driver. So as everyone connected with the race is sharing their special memories of Bathurst 2006, I thought that I would share mine.
So for me, 2006 was a difficult year. My Dad was sick and in May of 2006 we lost him. Even though I knew it was coming, I was devastated. We watched car racing together and we worked on cars together. My Dad taught me to love and care for my cars and that was great. My cars have always been very close friends. They were not special vehicles in anyone elses eyes, but to me they were very special. I have loved them all. Thank you Dad.
In July, I lost my job. I was told that it was not me, they were very happy with my work, but the area that I was working in was not economically viable and that was that.
And then in September of 2006, I lost my hero, the driver I had followed since I had first heard of this race just before the 1978 Bathurst. Peter Brock was special to our family. He was the man we had seen drive all day and win the race by miles. He always had something to say to the fans. His final accident was in my home state in Australia, not far from where I lived, so like many Perth-based fans, I went there and saw the tributes to the man we all loved.
October 2006, I wasn't sure if I could even bear to watch the race. I was hurting so much from everything that had happened. It would be the first time that I had watched the race on my own. I would not have my usual after-race analysis with my Dad. In the end I just could not bear to be away from the cars. I watched the build up and was cheered up somewhat when Mark Skaife was fasted in the shoot-out and put his car on pole. I loved the tributes to Peter Brock on the day and the respect that was shown. Then the race started and Mark Skaife's car was involved in an accident on Mountain Straight which put him out of the race. He was the active driver I was following in the series at the time. At this point, I just couldn't keep on coping and sat there in front of the tv in tears for the next hour.
At the end of the day, I was conflicted. I was happy that Craig Lowndes had won the race. I had a fair idea of what it meant to him. But as a very one-eyed Holden girl, I was just upset that he had done it in a Falcon. Brock was a Holden man, we were a Holden family.
Since then I have followed every race in each season in honor of my Dad and the love he taught me for cars. I cheer on the close racing and the clean passes and wince every time a car is hurt. I hold my breath every time there is a crash, hoping the driver is OK and feeling upset over the damage to the cars, because to me, these beauties are alive too and hitting the concrete like that has to hurt.
So this year in honor of 2006, my Dad and Peter Brock, I will once again be in front of the tv, on the edge of my seat, shouting advice to drivers who can't hear me. I wish for a good race, a clean race, a great race. And this year, between the support races, I will finally cast on for my Holden shawl. Yes I know that the designer did not make this in honor of my favourite cars. I am sure that she doesn't even know that Holden cars exist. But I do and I have some red yarn. And some day soon I will have a photo of my Holden shawl on my Holden car, when I get to see her next. So please to everyone who is entered in The Great Race, good luck, race well and I hope a Holden wins!
