:: one clever lady ::

 do you know charlotte?

you know, that clever lady (she knows about science she does)...

the hilariously funny lady...

oh and let's not miss out the uber talented lady. 

a while ago charlotte wrote this fab tutorial for a teabag wallet, the perfect little gift for well, the tea lover obvs.

i had parked this idea in my brain for when the perfect gift was a teabag wallet.

that moment has arisen and clever charlotte's tutorial came in very handy.

it's a fantastic little tutorial...

really really speedy that uses almost scraps on your pile (in fact you could use scraps and make a patchwork version) but produces a gift that is just perfect...if the recipient like tea that is.

fortunately this recipient does like tea...and pink...so i am excited to be able to hand deliver the perfect gift.

clever me for thinking up such a perfect gift...not to mention clever, funny, talented charlotte for designing it in the first place. 

paid to play...

 you have heard me say it before and you will doubtlessly hear me say it again...

I LOVE MY JOB!!

what's not to love? people pay me proper money to play with fabrics - money i can spend in shops, money i can barter for goods we need, money i can pay bills with...PROPER money!

the latest playing i have been paid to do is this disappearing 9 patch baby quilt.

i am a little bit in love with the disappearing 9 patch and having made my pillow for the pillow talk swap in it recently i wanted to give a quilt a try. i thought it was a perfect block for busier fabrics. 

 i know i am a little bit late to the D9P party - only by about 3 or 4 years - but it is such a great block it definitely needs a revival.

i love the randomness of D9P. i love how you can pick any 9 blocks, sew them together, cut them up, repeat repeat again and shuffle all the mini blocks around and have something that works.

back to the job bit...

the customer wanted a mix of jewel, liberty type fabrics and was happy for a big mix up so this layout was perfect.

there is repetition with the majority of the fabrics, which in the midst of all the craziness gives a cohesive feel, but i included a few snippets of my favourite fabrics that i had enough for just one square in the whole quilt. i put in my absolute favourite piece that had been sitting on my desk. it is a little sample square that Ayumi had sent me with a recent order. sadly she didn't have any more, so that's it now, gone.

i so enjoyed making this quilt and piecing a D9P. i am most definitely going to put it on the list of throws to make for us. it won't pay me in money but it certainly will in joy, which is almost as good...almost.

i am going to leave you with a question which i would love you to link to...

did you do D9P back in the day? if so would you share a link to your makes? i would love to see. if you didn't is there another quilting pattern you have recently discovered where you feel you are a bit late to the party?

if i knew how to do one of those clever linky things at the bottom of the post here i would, but i can't, so please leave your links in the comments and can't wait to see!

All gushy...and a winner...

Can I first get a little bit gushy and thank you all firstly for taking your time to go into such detail into your favourite pouches. I now have a spreadsheet on the go to see if there is any pattern to all your suggestions. I'll let you know when I have worked out what it all means!

Secondly I was really overwhelmed by your kind and complimentary comments about my work. Honestly, your words make me feel all tearful. It is very easy working on your own most of the time to have a lack of confidence - it is for me anyway - and especially when I am self taught and trying to play amongst the big boys. So thank you, seriously thank you x.

Aside from the gushing we have a winner for the M is for Make generous Field Study giveaway and the winner is...

Mrs L said...

"mmm..difficult to choose but co-ordinates in plum is grabbing me."

So, Mrs L, congratulations, and off you go to choose your favourite 6!

Thank you all for entering and if you still haven't given me your opinion - and a little gushing - on my pouches, please do so here...

Have a great weekend x

giveaway...and a weekend offer!

Unless you have been sleeping all summer, you will be as excited as I am to see the arrival of Anna Maria Horner's new collection Field Study in our stores.

 As ever, Anna Maria has given us yet another to-die-for collection and Field Study is no exception.

A sense of adventure and the idea of investigating the natural world up close and from afar was at the core of every print that Anna Maria Horner created for Field Study.

 Whilst there is something for everyone in this collection, it will come as no surprise that my favourites are Sundials and Corodinates, but I am rather drawn to Raindrops and Specimen. 

The question is, what are your favourites? And this is a decision you do need to make as my lovely sponsor M is for Make is offering a bundle of any 6 FQs of your choice to 1 lucky winner.

3 chances to win this fab prize...

1. leave a comment letting me know which design grabs you most...

2. sign up to Kate's newsletter (scroll down to the bottom here) and come back and let me know...

3. Follow Kate's blog and come back and let me know here.

Giveaway open (to UK residents only this time I'm afraid) until end of next week, Friday 5 Oct...oh and please make sure you have an email I can get you on, otherwise I will have to redraw. Bossy, I know, but needs must.

Other great news, Kate is offering 15% off everything over the weekend but is kindly opening that early to you lovely blog readers and is available now (now, I said, go, go, GO!). Simply enter Blueberry at the checkout any time from now until 8pm GMT Mon 1 Oct.

Good luck and happy shopping!

Summer of the Simpatico...

September already? Wow where did the summer go?

Amazingly for once I actually got a summer project finished. Well, if you exclude the fact that it isn't actually made into anything, but a completed thing none-the-less.

Summer 2012 will definitely be remembered as Summer of the Simpatico. I did a tutorial of my fold-over pouches for The Daily Stitch - Annie of The Village Haberdashery's blog in Simpatico and I had such a summery, fresh making time with them that I decided that I was going to use the collection for my summer of hexie fun. We spent a lot of time in the car this summer - London for the Olympics, Bristol for family birthdays, mid France via London (again) and Paris. I was in need of a good hand stitching project that could be done on the move as well as picked up in a shady place.

Perfect!

 I am not 100% sure what it will become - possibly a wall hanging, possibly a cushion, but definitely not a quilt! I really really loved sewing these little hexies (just over 1" across!) and loved sewing them together too, but the reality of now the summer is over that it will stay in a corner with all the other "i've-started-but-goodness-knows-when-i'll-ever-finish-it" projects is making me realise that I need to stop here.

Also, to be honest, I'm a tad disappointed with how I've pieced it. The flowers (top pic)  were so lovely when sewn individually but when I began piecing together they all got lost together and looks rather random instead. If I wasn't away and impatient about not wanting to wait to come home and finish (besides, we had a 600 mile journey - I needed some hexie-ness) I would probably have pieced the flowers with solids between so they would show up better. I may trying embroidering in coordinating floss around each flower. They may stand out a little clearer.

Either way Summer of the Simpatico was a very enjoyable one.

Now we are back I have started on the next project. This one may take a while. I have been wanting to make a quilt for our bed for a couple of years. I even started some blocks last year but I was never that enamoured and now I've gone right off them - too much yellow. Yes, you did here correctly. The wallpaper in our room is rather bold and I think what is needed is something a little more easy on the eye. I've been drawn to all the Low Volume creating going on at the moment and thought this was the way to go here. I am also tying my hands behind my back and not including any yellow but a little splash of red. You may remember the gorgeous pillow my lovely friend Kylie sent me at the beginning of this year. The splash of coral red works so beautifully in the room. I am not entirely sure where this quilt is going or where it will end up, but here is the start of Block 1.

I hope you have had a good creative summer (month for you Southern hemisphere peeps) and do link up to Lynne's Fresh sewing Day if you want to see what other people have been up to.

Today it is all about Pink!

I'm not normally a pinky person but I had a request for my fabrics in pink and so last week the pink paint came out and I have to say...

I love it!

The pink I used is a fab hot pink, not girly sickly, sugary and the colour works so well on the crisp white linen. I'm particularly pleased with how the colour has taken on the triangle design - really crisp and clear.

Last night I got a making...as it's one thing seeing the fabrics in panels and quite another how it looks made up into things.

A few pleat and pencil pouches later and it was pretty clear that perhaps I like pink rather more than I thought.

I stopped myself sewing so that I could list a few pink panels for you to purchase and use in your own creations.

Go right here for them...as well as the pink made up pieces.

I'm taking part in a Flickr Swap at the moment. I have mixed feelings about them as I have been 'stung' before by a swap partner not holding their side of the arrangement and actually making something in return. Time is too precious to spend it making something only to have your partner not do the same.

This swap enticed me however. First of all, how could I resist an invitation from Heather? Secondly, it's a Cushion Swap (or Pillow, as it is called in US). How could I resist? I simply love cushions. And not only am I excited about receiving one from my secret partner, but to make one too is sheer joy. In this busy work time of working like an automaton, wrapping up orders, it is a lovely distraction to have a bit of creative time.

This swap is a secret swap. We are given someone to make for and someone different will be making for me. I am given some info about my partner's likes and dislikes, colours he/she (can't give the game away!) likes. The rest is up to me.

Having had a good nose around their Flickr site and blog, I've come up with these fabrics and am now working on the design. I'm not quite there yet with the design, but I'm pleased with how it's all coming together. But above all, i hope my partner will be.

If you want to see some of the amazing talent in this group, go check it out here.

I know it seems like I'm always buying fabric, but I actually don't think I have for quite a few weeks now...and in my book that's quite some time. I think I've been so busy at looking at wallpaper, paint colours and prints for the walls, that my fabric stash has got a bit neglected. Sad, but true.

Fortunately I've put all that to rights this week with just a small little shop at Saints and Pinners, one of my favourite on-line British fabric stores. I was driven by the need for a fabric to back Ruby's quilt. I've been coveting this Dolce Deco Fans for a while and think it will work beautifully with the fabrics we have picked for the top. Fortunately Ruby agrees.

This stunning Barefoot Roses is such a gorgeous duck egg/grey colour that I couldn't resist throwing it in the basket. You can never have enough dots in your stash. I'm not sure yet if I'm going to incorporate it in Ruby's quilt, but I'm not too worried about it being saved for other projects if I don't. It's going to be a useful little number. The little black dress of the fabric stash.

Final purchase was this beautiful Voile from the new Anna Maria Horner Collection. Another recent covet that I succombed too. I just bought a fat quarter as it's quite expensive, but I think I'll be going straight back for more. The stunning vibrant colours are what you expect from Anna Maria's fabrics and the weight is akin to Liberty Tana Lawn. Feeling it is tactile heaven. This has leapt into one of my all time favourite fabrics.

Ruby took one look at it and gasped in delight at the thought of it going into her quilt. No, my darling, this one is not for you...

For the ladies

A couple of my friends are having birthdays this week, so I've enjoyed a brief interlude from compiling kits and have rustled up a couple of purses.

I normally hate cutting into my stashes of favoured fabrics, but when it's for a gift I think it's worth it.

My little pieces of Of Paper & Thread designs , by the uber talented Danielle, are rapidly diminishing. But I love using them as they are so utterly divine that just a touch gives an item a huge lift (as you noticed in my sister's cushions).

The Kei dots are another fave - I know, you must be getting sick of them! Again, a little goes a long way.Another must have is Anna Maria Horner's Social Climber in Ice. At least I can get that easily from my lovely British supplier.

I've had fun making these purses. There has been little creativity going on around here of late, so it was great to have an excuse to play with my fabric. I just hope that the girls concerned will be pleased with their gifts.