Want to chat about the inside of the caravan, shopping for stuff, sewing, knitting, kitchen supplies etc etc? Pass on tips or ask questions here!

Cheers
Marg

A few months back I posted on another forum thread a photo of the nifty little sewing machine that I bought at Spotlight. It's an Elna Mini Opal, weighs just a couple of kilos and does just straight stitch and zig zag - fine for most on-the-road purposes!

Thought I'd post a pic of it here again for all the interested sewers. I've got it standing next to a C&M mag so you can get some idea of the size.



Cheers
Marg

Hi Marg
I always take hand sewing in the van. I love to quilt and have made quilts for the van.
It is easy to learn even if you are can't sew.
there are plenty of on line quilt freebies just type in free quilt patterns and have a go.
It is easy to become adicted to it.
Happy Trails

My hobby is scrapbooking and my craft room is so well set up that I am not sure how I could condense enough to have a travel pack.

Given that most of our travel is short term, I have not really been concerned about the real practicalities of have a less than portable hobby.

If anyone else is a "scrapper", perhaps you could let me know your secrets.

I knit whilst we are travelling...small stuff usually..teddies,toys,beanies,bedsocks and bootees,cuddle blankies for kids...I check out the op shops and buy wool from them. Yesterdays find was 4 complete balls and 6 part balls for the princely sum of $4.00.!!Handknitted jumpers in interesting wools get unpicked and re used. Everything is then donated to womens refuge centres, hospitals, playgroups basically who ever I can off load it too!! I can't sit and do nothing and it costs me only my time that I am sitting doing nothing anyway.
At present I am knitting teddies and toys for the annual Christmas Shoebox Appeal.
I am also a sewer so when we stop long enough for the annex to go up the sewing machine and overlocker come out of the car.Again I hunt out materials at op shops,interesting fabrics in the $1 clothing specials and remake them into something else.Again toys ,clothes,patchwork quilts, crafty things.
When I have a bag or two full I will call into a church manse or a police station and they are generally more than willing to pass things on to a worthy local cause.

Rosalie, I requested a Janome Quilters Companion sewing machine a few years back for my birthday around the time I enrolled in a quilting class - I'd wanted to do it for ages! But something came up and I had to put it off. Then something ELSE came up and I couldn't get to the next class either... and so on and so on.
The machine got left behind when we packed for the trip (but now I have my little Opal!) because I still love craft. Maybe one of these days I'll take on a quilt... or maybe a smaller project while we're travelling.
Cheers
Marg

Jan, I had a whole room full of scrapbooking supplies when we started 'downsizing' for our big trip! I ended up selling everything in the room to one person who was keen to do more scrapbooking. I decided to look into digital scrapbooking... but so far haven't had a lot of spare time while travelling.

A few years back when we did a shorter trip (around 5 weeks) I took a big scrapbooking bag with me full of stuff, but after getting it out just twice gave up... I needed far too much room to spread out! That's when I decided digital scrapbooking might be the answer.

You might not want to do digital scrapbooking at all, but if you are interested here are a couple of sites to check out:

http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/university/Scrapping101/basics.shtml

http://www.scrapbookpresentations.com/ideas/whyusepowerpointforscrapbooking.html

Cheers
Marg

Hi Sufil,
I like to knit too; have done for years... and guess what? I find that knitting is one thing I can actually do in a car even if the road is a bit rough! (I can't do Sudoku on a rough road...)
So far this trip I've knitted toys (an octopus for a granddaughter; a grandma/grandpa doll combo for a grandson... almost finished: just awaiting the arms to be sewn on; and a pair of 'funky boots' for another grandson (big woolly booties). You'll see the octopus in a while in a blog post.
My sister in law has asked if I can knit scarves to send over to Timor, so I'm going to do some of those as well.
So it looks like we're both sewing and knitting.
BTW, I love your wool bargains! Imagine finding those...
Cheers
Marg

Thanks Marg, I have considered digital scrapbooking but I am not really ready to relinquish the tactile experience of actual scrapbooking.

Perhaps I might do the digital when on the road and the other when not - a happy compromise!

Thanks for the sites BTW, I will look at them with interest.

My hobby is repairing old and damaged photos so I only need the laptop for it. The poor old back can't tolerate sewing anymore.