ig/blog update...oh and a new pinnie

 thank you all for leaving your comments on the previous post. it was really interesting what came out of it and what i pretty much thought...

in an ideal world we would all love to sit down and read each others blogs on a daily basis and leave comments and interact.

and we do try and do this, particularly when there is an interesting process and project we would like to read more about.

in reality this doesn't always happen and IG (sorry, instagram...i apologise Su for being lazy and using the abbreviation) is certainly a way of keeping up even if in a somewhat transient kind of way.

what was also interesting was most comments were left by those of you that don't do instagram (am trying not to be lazy Su) and does that mean that instagrammers have on the whole ditched blogs?

some interesting things to come out of it but on the whole the feeling is we love blogs and hope they are here to stay.

and in the spirit of supporting blogs and giving more details behind the pics i'll leave you with a little extra blurb today...

as i have been hinting - and still can't really say too much about but not long now i promise - i am involved in a big exciting project. this project involves a photo shoot which is taking place on tuesday. in the name of presentation i needed a clean apron for this photo shoot so rather than idly lying in bed this jolly sunday morning i was up with the larks, hangover n all, making a new apron for the aforementioned event.

it's a great roomy cover all hardy kind of apron, with a nice big roomy pocket.

it should do the job rather nicely...well it is clean at least.

shopping take 1...and 2...

in further preparation for saltaire makers fair at the weekend i went to our local fabric mecca in search of some much needed supplies.

i wasn't sure i would get what i needed as it's a bit of an aladdin's cave and can be hit and miss. i knew what i wanted to make but quite what i would come home with to make it was all part of the thrill.

i came home with this pile of beauties...amongst other things...ahem. 

the denim is the most wonderfully soft indigo denim by designer paul smith no less. i wanted it to make some of these and originally bought it thinking i would be screen printing on it but actually when i had made a couple up i thought it didn't need anything adding.

i did however get some screen printing action going with item number 2 from the denim...

bistro aprons.

i did a little IG survey...knee length or thigh? 

the overwhelming consensus was thigh.

this surprised me somewhat as i originally made them thigh but thought it a bit short so made one knee (or slightly above)

personally i thought this was better...

more coverage...

but apparently not.

we'll see what the punters at the weekend say.

by the end of play yesterday and doing my usual IG posting as i made, i had already sold all those i had made...whoops, none for the fair.

so today it was back to fabworks for...

and boy was i glad i did!

check out this gorgeous emerald green braid and liberty-esque fabric...i was in love!

more denim was acquired, the emerald bag was constructed and boy oh boy i was in love!

i'm not entirely sure this one will make it to the fair either...i think i'll be claiming it as mine...but the good news is that shopping take 2 consisted of enough to make a fair few more of this one...phew ;-)

Giveaway...!

 This week's kind sponsor giveaway is from the lovely Alice of Backstitch. 

The fabric on offer is a bundle of 6 Mimosa Linen/Cotton blends in an array of beautiful colours.
Mimosa is a great value linen too. At just £10.50/m for a wider width of 136cm.

It is a lovely soft fabric with a fairly open weave and works really well for all manner of projects, from quilting to general craft to dress-making with it's lovely soft drape.

 The image above is a beautiful quilt Alice made. The jewelled colours are stunning and I bet the quilt is so cosy.

 Alice sent me a bundle of these colours above to have a play with and whilst I am itching to make a quilt myself out of the Mimosa, it just ain't happening this week!

Instead I made this little pinnie for the fair this week.

(The pattern is an adaptation from Aunty Cookie's pattern available here.) I teamed it with some of my Scruffy Daisy in Coral which matched perfectly.

I found the fabric to be perfect for this project. Being so soft, it's going to be dead comfy to wear.

If you would like the chance to get your hands on a bundle for free, Alice is offering one lucky UK/European reader the chance to win a bundle of 6 fabrics.

Head here to see which you would choose and come back and tell us which one!
And for a further 2 comments come back and tell me you follow Alice's blog and also follow her on Twitter. So 3 chances to win this!

The giveaway will be open until this time next week - Tuesday 4 December - which will give you all something to do while I'm here from tomorrow, which is set up day,  until Sunday. If you are in the vicinity I really hope you will manage to come and please do pop by Stand C60 to see all my creations and say hi. It would be so nice to see you!

ps please PLEASE make sure you leave an email address for me to contact you if you are a No Reply blogger.

I blame Florence for distracting me today.

There I was happily taking things a little slower when I read her blogpost and suddenly realised I had to make Ruby an apron for one of her Chanukah presents.

So bang went my "I'm in control" day and enter "crap, I have to make this now" day.

I know Ruby will be delighted because she's been nagging me for a new apron for ages.

The problem is that one apron wasn't too much trouble (apart form a bit of unpicking because you are making it up as you go along - my usual style - rather than following a pattern), the problem started when I realised my nieces needed one too.

Well, they obviously don't need one and I do actually have other gifts ready for them, but they are all coming up over the holidays and since it usually includes a bake off session, then clearly, they do actually need one.

So what started off as my first slightly slower paced day in a long time, has ended just as crazy as the rest.

And I blame you, Florence!

All in the packaging?

Normally I package my Craft Kits like this...

That's where they got their name 'Take Away...' from. I couldn't, or wouldn't want to, call them that if I was packaging them a different way. However something always comes along to change how you view things.

My friend Jo (a separate post about her to come) and her family came to visit over half-term last week. As usual, bless her, the first thing she wanted to do was go shopping. By that I mean, take our coffees up to my studio and rummage through all my things! She is Blueberry Park's number one fan and always gives me a big boost of confidence by oohing excessively over everything. And the fact that she goes back home with a shed load of gifts confirms her feelings.

This time it was a Christmas shop she was doing. She wanted to order 3 Apron Kits for her 3 children. Jo being Jo - and only my bestest buddy can get away with this - she painstakingly worked her way through my fabric stash and selected the ones she wanted in the kit. Oh, and the ones she wanted the needle/pin sets made out of too! As I say, only Jo can get away with this...Just in case you were wondering...

The point of all this rambling is that these weren't quite ready for her to take back home with her and in an attempt tocut down the packaging through the mail, we decided that they would work all folded up in a cello and wrapped in tissue. Whilst I wouldn't recommend this design for my stockists, as I think the piles of the Take Away Boxes has an eye-catching appeal, I think this really works for a personal order. Particularly when there a few presented together.

What do you reckon?

Ribbon Circus

I've been over to Hebden Bridge to do a photoshoot for a new venture that is due to start in a few weeks. It's being launched in conjunction with one of my lovely stockists, Ribbon Circus. I haven't seen Amy's delightful shop for a while, so you can imagine my delight when I rocked up today and was faced with this...

Isn't it amazing? No wonder the kits are selling so well there! They are dressed to kill with all those stunning ribbons.

I love the way she has hung some samples from the plant and how genius is it to use that cake stand to display the kits?

Oh how I wish I had my own bricks and mortar shop to do such a display...

Flickr Swap #1

I was invited to join Fat Quarters Fabric Swap with a Twist Flickr Group last month, my first Swap Group and it's been such fun. July's theme was entitled 'When Life Hands You Lemons', which as you can imagine was full of lemony themed items. For those of you that are novices to the whole Flickr Swap Group thing going on (I was until very recently) you receive a list of items that are in the swap and if you fancy signing up that month you reply to the discussion. A little later you receive your swap partner and send off your goodies. This was the list of our items this month...

Min. of 3 F/Q's of lemony colored fabrics

Lemony recipe

Small lemony colored gift (Not mandatory but a nice little handmade item is always fun)

Min. 1 sewing notion (ie. thread, trim, buttons, etc)

My swap partner is the lovely Cheryl all the way over in Missouri, USA and my gorgeous pile of goodies arrived this morning.

As I said, this is my first swap and the effort and the quality of items I received from Cheryl has filled me with enthusiasm to do more. She was so generous and thoughtful. Not only are the fabrics oh so scrummy, but the other items she included are just fab. I love my notebook cover and the apron is already a fave. I was thrilled to receive a fat quarter of Free Spirit Katie Jump Rope, as I had recently used up my little stash. And I'm in love with the pretty ditsy white floral 'Holly Hill' by Laurie Bird.

And how on earth did Cheryl know that I love chocolate - dark chocolate - more than any other confectionary in the world. And I simply can not wait to try out her Mom's Lemon bar Recipe.

So if all this has persuaded you that it's worth giving a swaps a try (did you notice the buttons? Did you? My goodies were never ending), go get 'em and enjoy! And if you do, cross your fingers that you get Cheryl as a partner, because she is such a thoughtful and incredibly generous swapper. (I just hope you aren't disappointed with the swap I sent you...I'll post that when I know Cheryl has received it)

Autonomous Artisans

A big thank you today goes to Rose of Felt Giraffe, who had the chutzpah of asking me yesterday if she could feature my Design-an-Apron Kit in a feature she was doing on Aprons for the blog Autonomous Artisans that she writes for. I know. The cheek of it. Free advertising? What was she thinking? And what on earth was I thinking by agreeing?
Thanks, Rose. Your article is fab and I am desparate to get my hands of one of the beautiful aprons by La Marquis des Anges