Looking back

As promised, a blog a day..
Today wasn't a great one in the 'scheme of things'..
This sign sums up my life really..





For those who don't know, I have a mission in life to make people aware of PTSD (Post Trauma Stress Disorder).
The main reason is because 21 years ago it was still under the covers, in the cupboard, or ignored, maybe never even heard of..
And sadly, like most things, it only becomes truly important when it affects a loved one, friend or yourself.

Weirdly enough if it wasn't for PTSD, I would never have started making buttons.. Sadly it's an illness that rocks me and my world on a daily basis.

Today, I copped a few unexpected 'rocks' being flung my way.. ('Triggers' are the medical term for any one who is interested.)

But on the up side, I try my hardest to use humour to pull myself through these sorts of days..





The buttons only came about after I suffered an industrial accident involving my hair. My pony tail on the top of my head, was caught on a machine. The end result being that I was nearly scalped.
( I honestly am getting a bit tired of telling the story as the accident happened 21 years ago..but I think it's important for others to know. It's important for people who suffer PTSD to know you can still have a life)

Only last week, a very caring and lovely friend, suggested that perhaps being in therapy was not a good thing. That I needed to start looking forward instead of constantly looking back.
Oh how I wish that could be done!
What an amazing weight off my shoulders and most of all from my family.
Sadly PTSD just doesn't let you do that.. No matter how hard you try..





While I would sooner have lived my life without PTSD and all its crazy symptoms, at the same time, I just wonder where my life would have been had I not suffered the trauma.

It's a good thing and a healing thing if over time, positives can be found from any difficult time.

I took up quilting as a rehab program, which introduced me to crazy patch, where I saw some ceramic buttons at a craft show.
(I'm a potter by 'trade' as I studied for three years doing a 'Diploma in Art'- majoring in Ceramics.)
I thought if I could make a few buttons then perhaps I could swap them for fabric..
My gran knew how sick I was so leant me some money to get started.
I battled my illness and found purpose in making buttons.
I started out trading for fabric, then sold enough to buy Miranda a pair of shoes. ($10 was a big deal back then)
And for the last 15 years I've been a major source of income for the family.. For ten of those years, the buttons and patterns were the only income our family had..

I've made some great friends, I've learnt a lot, I've taught a lot.. But for me the most important part.. I survived and I'm grateful for a lot!





I know these photos were taken about three years ago.. But here are my four most important people in my life.. And why I do what I do.
Watching them being born (Michael was born after I started the buttons), seeing them grow into fabulous people, all who make me so proud to say they are my family. And for the love of my beautiful husband who has stuck with me through some very rough and some very fantastic times.

I've added this photo of Matt (pink glasses) and Mike, for me, this photo says a thousand words!





It will remain my absolute favourite until a better one comes along..

To you who read this blog, please listen closely..' THANKYOU!' My life would never have been able to follow this path, if you hadn't been a part of it. Friend or foe, customer or competitor. I am very grateful for all of those who are a part of my world and I mean that sincerely!
Nikki

Location:Brandy Gully Patchwork

20 years of Buttons

It only occurred to me this week that we passed our 20 year anniversary of making ceramic buttons this year.


I certainly would never have dreamed that was an even possibility when I first started.
After buying a kiln second hand through the news paper, a bag of clay, some ceramic paints and some glaze, who would have thought 20 years later I would still be making buttons.


With only a range of about 10 different buttons, I am now up to over 500 different ones and some of those come in up to 15 different colours. Tiny little ones that are smaller than your little finger nail to others that are about 3" across.. Some come in plain colours and some are heavily hand painted. But every one, I love to make.. That's the funny weird bit.


Every one I always wonder where they will end up and what they will end up decorating. I have been told I'm strange if I let people know I think about those sorts of things, but everyone is like a little art work, for me.


Sometimes it's nice just to make the plain hearts and stars and they are certainly loved very much when I need to get a kiln on in a hurry.
Either way they take a lot of work just to get them ready for painting.


People just don't seem to 'get it' that each one is made by hand and now I'm the only one making them. At one stage through the past 20 years, I did have up to 5 ladies helping me, but even then it would have been rare if I didn't touch each button at least once during that time.


My favourite part of the process is the painting. Watching each little button coming to life is still something that even today, when I'm making buttons, is my favourite part. No matter how hard I try to make them identical, there is always a difference.
The animals are the funniest. I can remember one day about ten years ago, I was unpacking a kiln. There was a whole lot of cats in the kiln. I was taking the buttons out, and for some reason my eye caught this particular button. It's face was so hilarious. I kept that one. I still have it. I still laugh when I see it. It is a special button for me.. So when people 'hunt' through the buttons to get 'just the one', I certainly understand.


Not long after I started making the buttons, it became quite obvious that we needed to make the buttons face both ways.. Sometimes it's important that the animal is walking into the picture, not walking out of it..
So on the web site we give you the choice of which way your button is walking.
We did however have to remember that some things just can't face both ways.. We found this out, when we made the shape of 'Australia' both ways.. And can you believe they even went through the spraying, painting, glazing and kiln phases and we only picked up our error as I unpacked the kiln. It was a funny moment to suddenly realise why Australia looked 'odd'.
(Obviously I didn't do geography at school)


This last photo was only taken a week ago at the Wholesale Quilt Market in Melbourne.. I've added it here on the end of the post because it just reminds me that 'Yes, I'm still making them'
If you would like to see more of the buttons then please go to the web site and have a look around.

www.handcraftedbuttons.com

If you have one of the 'million' that I have made, then I hope it has given you as much joy, owning it as what it gave me, making it.

Happy buttons
Nikki

The great Blog challenge.

I came across a 'challenge' on Facebook that was to 'blog every day for 30 days'. So I figured why not??
Then yesterday, which was meant to be my first day, I wrote this great blog all about the buttons, went to post the blog and there was no way it would load..
So I guess for my first day of 'blogging' it was 'fixing my blog'..

So I hope you will come with me on a journey of craft, buttons, sewing, gardening, quilting and general mayhem over the next month..

This is a photo of one of my dearest Friends, Jen, (who is always there through thick and thin) and myself. Jen had just helped John and I pack down our stand at the wholesale quilt show in Melbourne..
Don't we just look the best in our glow vests?


Onwards and upwards and I hope you enjoy the next month with me..
Please feel free to leave comments or ask any questions..
Happy Sunny Day
Nikki

Location:Brandy Gully Patchwork

June Mystery Quilt Weekend

JUNE MYSTERY QUILT WEEKEND

A report from Brandy Gully's Newest Quilter.

Quilters beware there is a man amongst us..

This last weekend saw our shop host its third 'mystery quilt' weekend. To my greatest shock and amazement, my middle child, Matthew at the age of 22 decided he wanted to join in and try his hand at quilting. He figured if he was going to work for me then he ought to have a first hand knowledge of what happens and what's involved in the making of a quilt.

Don't tell him, if you see him that just making the top is only half of the experience as I think he needs a bit more time to wrap his masculine head around the process.

I simply can't tell you the fun I had watching him learn to sew (which he had never done before) let alone wield a beer in one hand and a rotary cutter in the other....

So without further words from me, here is Matt's story in his own words, about the first quilt top he began to make and I am proud to say he now owns his first UFO.

Go Matt!!

What a weekend! I have always appreciated the detail, effort, love and skill that goes into quilting, but WOAH! I had no idea!

Unfortunately, I had some other commitments during the weekend and was not able to attend for the full amount of time.  I must say, however,  I am feeling pretty proud of my efforts!

The weekend began with a night of fabric selection, cutting, and a sneaky beer (to steady my hand for the rotary cutter). Although the whole night was very light-hearted, I don't think I have every been so nervous measuring such small amounts! Every time I felt that I was getting the hang of it enough to start showing off, I looked down and remembered that cutting fabric strips an inch too short was a big 'no no'....

With a wide range of skill and experience levels in the class (mine being the lowest) I felt very well looked after. Not only was mum watching to make sure that I left the cutting table with my finger tips intact, but there were decades of helpful hints and tips being shared all night from every member of the class. It is amazing the difference that "hold your hand like this" or "I find it easier in this order" can make! These helpful words of advice, along with the support from the lovely community on our Facebook page, I now see why so many ladies love the experience of drinking tea and turning beautiful fabric into something truly amazing.

The Saturday began late for me. I had to squeeze in a few hours of weightlifting training to make sure that my testosterone levels were high enough for a day behind the sewing machine. As I am not quite the fabric cutting ninja that mum is, I still had some fabrics to cut. Mum offered to do some cutting for me and speed me up, but the idea of sleeping under a quilt that I did all of the cutting for just sounded too rewarding! After finally finishing my battle with the rotary cutter and ruler I learned that that was the easy part!

"How hard can a quarter inch seam be... right? Stick two bits of fabric together, step on the pedal and BINGO! You've got yourself a quilt!" That's how I saw it going anyway... It was more like "line up fabrics... wait... that's not even... there we go... put it in the machine... step on the pedal... Why aren't you working?... Oh yeah! Lower the foot... WHAT?! I bumped the fabric... lift the foot and redo it... ok start sewing...... whoops... seam is too wide... now it's too narrow!!... NOW IT'S TOO WIDE AGAIN!!! OK I think I did a good job of that one now... I'll just check it.................. MUUUUUUMMMMMM!!!! Can you unpick my stitching! I don't think I did it right!"
Anyway... after a long battle with my strips, I was almost there! I had a big bunch of strips, "I am flying through this! It must be pretty close to putting it all together and finishing it". NOPE! Turns out, once quilters spend ages cutting up a perfectly good bolt of fabric, they not only like to cut it into small pieces and sew them together, but then they like to cut them into SMALLER pieces and then sew them back together! When I read the next instruction that said I had to cut my beautiful strips, not just into 4 or 5 pieces, but 40, I started to take a long hard look at the quilts around me. The ones that I had admired on the walls of the shop or slept under for years. These weren't just beautiful, these were AMAZING! The amount of cuts and stitches that must have gone into them was truly beginning to sink in!

With this new found sense of appreciation, I was back into it! If mum had made me so many quilts with so many little fiddly bits, I was going to make her one that she could be proud of! (I wasn't going to give it to her... It was going to take me too long to finish this thing. I don't want to give it away!! But I will let her show people I guess...).


By the time Sunday had come around, I felt like I was in a storm of coffee, fabric, and the most delicious cake I have ever eaten! The quilt was starting to come together! ...and then back apart when I realised I had yet again gotten my seams wrong! But all around me, the ladies with a bit more experience than me were really flying along. What had started as sets of four bolts of fabrics, was now beginning to turn into absolutely stunning quilts, right in front of everyone! By the time the machines were being packed up at the end of the day, there were quilts in a wide range of stages. Each, however was gorgeous! Mine, (the slowest of the group) was still only a bunch of squares, but I was stoked! I had learned a new skill, spent a whole weekend in the company of lovely people and had enjoyed every minute of it!

So I would like to end this by saying, on behalf of all of the non-quilting recipients of all of your lovely quilts! Thank you! We love your quilts and think they are beautiful, but until we sit behind a machine and try it for ourselves, we simply don't understand!

So whether you would like to educate someone on just how difficult and rewarding, making a quilt can be, or would just like to be a part of a friendly and fun atmosphere, I would thoroughly recommend our next mystery quilt weekend! I loved every minute of it!


Matt Tervo

A few Funnies that tickle my days..

Some people hate Facebook and I guess I can understand their view. I however have a personal page and also one for the business.. So I seem to nonstop be on a computer somewhere.. Oh how my life has changed!
Mainly I use it to keep up with friends I grew up with, stalk my kids and their friends LOL and use it to find wonderful and inspiring craft ideas.. The talent the world has is certainly very humbling!
If you wish to join me on Facebook then you can find my personal page, Nikki Tervo or Brandy Gully Patchwork.

But then there are lots of laughs too and when you work on your own like I do, and appreciate a good laugh, then I will take them from wherever I can find them..

So for the 'non Facebook fans' here are a few of my favourites.. For no other reason than I hope you too can laugh a little..


Found this one at 2am this morning.. Would you have thought of this?? I wouldn't!


Some days..


Gotta get in on some 'scissor action'


Don't I wish...


I think I love Downtown Abbey even more now..


Definitely my middle child..


Good advice..


Yep, I could be a best friend some days..


Gotta laugh..


Every day seems to be a day like this..

Anyway I hope some of those bought a smile to your face..
Remember,
'If you're happy and you know it.. tell your face'..
Hope you are having a happy day
Nikki

Loving all the color..

One of my very favourite things about being a designer, is watching what other people do with my design.. Their interpretation of something I made.
I think that's the greatest part about handmade things is that no two can ever be the same!
Last weekend I was at the 'Henzel Street Quilters' quilt show in Redcliffe.. We took the shop up and had a great time with all the girls


And whilst I was sitting, chatting, eating and stitching (as you do while at a quilt show :-), I was asked if I had seen Fay's quilt? Answer was no, but I soon found it..


Fay had done her rendition of my 'Quilting Mouse' pattern. Using more vibrant colors than I had in her fabrics, Fay had also meticulously coloured in each little part of the stitchery.
WOW..
So I just have to show you as it was just gorgeous!


Miss mouse goes shopping..


Then home for cake and a cuppa..


Does all the appliqué..


Then pieces by machine..


Quilts whilst in bed..


And then finishes with Show and Tell..
The quilt is made up using 2" squares and in amongst it I drew all the things that I loved about stitching with my own Grandmother, as a child..


My Gran always had jars of buttons for me to play with, an old tape measure is a must, and as a kid I used to play on an old treadle sewing machine.


Grandma carried all her sewing in a cane basket back then and only ever drank tea from a teapot and fine china cup (no tea bags were ever allowed :-)


I always stitched, sitting on the floor at night, under the big frilly lamp and loved to poke flowers into the tops of Grans cotton reels.


The scissors gran used were big red handled ones but here Fay made her own choice.. Whilst Gran and I never quilted together, I am sure she would have preferred hand quilting.


And finally, the one thing that always stuck in my mind as a kid, Gran was always so tidy but her reels of thread were always just tossed loose into a drawer..

So as you can see Fay certainly has done a wonderful job.. Sadly I couldn't get back far enough to take a photo of the whole quilt. (You can go onto my website to see my version if you like www.handcraftedbuttons.com )

I asked Fay about her technique for colouring to give us all some tips..
Fay used watercolor pencils and built the color up gradually.
She said 'the hotter the weather, the darker the pencil seems to come out. I'm not sure if the hot weather makes them softer.'
If any lines appeared in the coloring, Fay's comment was 'its just like drawing on paper. You have to be careful which way your strokes go and if you get too many lines in the drawing then, wet the tip of a paintbrush, remove the excess water on a paper towel and then carefully swirl the brush over the pencil to remove the lines.'
Then I asked the dreaded question about 'washing the quilt'. Fay assured me that she uses a color fixative over the top and it is colorfast. (Sadly I didn't ask brand etc of fixative paint) She did however say that it can make the fabric a bit stiff at first but it softens up over use of the quilt.

So there's a few tips on colouring quilts from someone who assures me she is no expert but seems to look like one to me!

If you are interested in doing this quilt it is a 6 month pattern set available either month by month or as a whole bundle on our web site.
Quilting Mouse
www.handcraftedbuttons.com

I have some photos hiding somewhere of other versions that people have made and hope to show them soon in another blog post.
This quilt is also available through different shops around Australia as a Block of the Month programme.
Hope you are having a happy stitching day
Nikki

A little nifty pin cushion

Recently I have seen some cute little pincushions so thought I would have a go at making one. Then it all seemed to go a bit further...
I was originally given one that had a 'timber turned' base but there was no point in showing that, because how could you make one?
So whilst wasting a bit of time making some little things here's how my little projects were made...


Starting with a little pack of 21/2" squares that I had, I picked out four and sewed them together...


These are only 2 1/2" squares so 4 1/2" square finished.


Then using a 4 1/2" circle, trace the circle on the back.


Then cut circle out..


Gather up the circle like a suffolk puff by using a running stitch 1/4" in from the edge of the seam.
Then stuff hard with toy fill and end off but keep your needle and thread attached..


Then place a tiny button on the top centre


and stitch it onto the little stuffed cushion. Pulling it tight. I passed the needle back and forth through the button and the whole cushion.


Then you need to make a couple of decisions..
Do you want a ring to wear on your finger or do u want it to be on your sewing machine?


To make a ring, you need a plastic bottle top from a bottle of soft drink, a small length of hat elastic and a drill with a small drill bit.
Drill two holes in the lid that are big enough to thread the hat elastic through and tie the ends together inside the lid. Then use some good strong glue and glue your cushion to the lid.
(The flat part of the lid sits on your finger so you need to put the glue on the rim of the lid to stick it to your cushion)


I used a small amount of ric rac to decorate my lid and Voila it was finished.


Your pins can be quite long as they go into the lid and don't stick your finger.

Then the second option is to make a cushion that you sit on your sewing machine. (some of us are lucky enough to have a second holder on our sewing machines to hold our thread and this is ideal for that)
Instead of gluing the little cushion to a lid, glue it to a cotton reel..


I cheated and used a cute little wooden reel but any cotton reel will do.
If you don't have a second thread holder on your machine, just sit your little cushion next to your machine.


Perfectly cute and perfect fun.
Ideal for gifts or any little sewing stall.
I hope you are having a happy day
Nikki