:: selvedge ::

it's that time of year again...xmas fair season...where i can normally be seen galavanting off all over the place at various fairs around the country.

it's an unusual year this year however, due to other work and personal commitments, as i am actually only going to be out and about at one fair. 

i am going to be exhibiting at the selvedge winter fair at chelsea old town hall on fri and sat 29 and 30 november.

coincidentally this is one of my favourite fairs to exhibit at and also to shop at. it is full of beautiful handmade products that make exceptional gifts. i'm hoping to conquer my complete xmas/chanukah list whilst i am there!

if you are in the neighbourhood and fancy a great day out do come along and as a little incentive to come over to my stand i am offering all my lovely blog friends 10% off at the fair. just make yourself known to me quoting {fair13}.

right, i'm off to make some more goodies for my stand and hope to see lots of you then!

ps if there's anything in particular you are wanting to buy do let me know and i can make sure i have it or put on one side for you. x

a nice start to the year...

 How is 2013 working out for you so far?

Very early days to make any judgments yet I realise, but January at least is turning out to be a very enjoyable month already.

 The crazy treadmill of Christmas orders is behind me and I'm able to get on with stockist orders (lavender bags, above, getting ready to head out) at relative leisure, whilst managing a heap of other stuff at the same time.

My big thing this month is getting ready for the first of my screen printing workshops (one place left for Friday due to a cancellation if you fancy?) I am very excited about it and have been busily getting things sorted for it.

 The relative calmness of January has meant I am also getting some extra quilt making done. I have been working this week on my Glimma quilt. That has been most enjoyable, but not without it's hiccups (more about that in a mo).

 January also included a trip yesterday to Lynne's for Kitchen Quilt Guild meet up. I rarely get to go. Lynne lives a little bit too far away to get there very often. She really should move further North. Anyways...yesterday was lovely. It was great to see everyone and we had a guest appearance from Australia which was fab. Danielle is just so nice and it's always great to meet our virtual friends. The excitement of yesterday was that our Scrappy Trip Along Quilts had a meet up too!

 So the Glimma quilt...

I think I have already mentioned how much I am liking Lotta's new collection and I really really do, but I am not overly happy with how my quilt is turning out.

I order just about all the designs and colours in the collection, my favourites possibly in this little area below.

 I am also enjoying seeing the squares patterns that the blocks show when all pieced together but as a whole I am not sure it is working.

I think it is just too busy.

A few of us were talking yesterday about quilting with an entire collection and how a couple of the fabrics should be left out. I actually did leave out the jade greens, which I do love but didn't think worked well when i included the yellows and oranges.

Maybe it will all come together when it is quilted. That is often the case. I hope so because I want to love this quilt as much as I love the collection.

So 2013 is working for me on the whole. I am enjoying it. That said I am ignoring the major bane of my January calendar...taxes...if I ignore them they may go away and not be a little black cloud on my otherwise happy January...

wind down?

There has definitely been no wind down this week following the completion of Country Living but it has somehow been very relaxing in the process.

What there has been is that much needed time for attention on other things like commissioned orders, FLickr group swap makes, not to mention Chanukah and Christmas present makes.

Here is a look at just some of the things I have managed to tick off this week, clockwise from left to right:

1. Lavender bag sets for a shop order;

2. An Ayumi basket for my niece...to be filled with lots of sewing necessities;

3. a special zipper pouch for a special friend in need;

4. a commissioned wool and screen printed bag and

5. more commissioned work...soon to be pouches

It feel good, really good to get on top of things and have time for more than just CL makes.

Next week will be even better.

I'm just about there...

I'm just about done on all my makings for Top Drawer...

All that is left now is the huge task of building my stand and seeing if what I have planned actually works...fingers crossed I won't have to rethink the whole thing.

Also left to do is write up and print out all my bumph...you know, all the stuff that tells you all about me and what I do, oh and the all important list of prices.

I actually dislike this bit the most. Don't ask me why, I have no idea.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I'd rather be playing with pretty fabrics than be writing about them.

Either way it's 3 days to Departure and Setting Up Day and quite frankly I'll be mightily relieved to pull up outside Earls' Court, unload and get started.

I'm getting a little bit excited now and really looking forward to seeing a bunch of folk that are going to be there, some who I already know, some who I only know through the likes of Twitter and these pages.

And hopefully with all these lovely people I am going to meet, quite few will want to order my things for their shops...fingers crossed for that too.

Since being back from London Gift Fair, I've been working on that conveyer belt of kit building, which doesn't leave much time for anything else.

I do love it. I love seeing the pile of boxes grow as they get made. And I am really loving how the new sleeves are looking when they are all together. Not only am I pleased with how much more appealing they look, but they provide the added bonus of saving alot of time to do. All that hole punching of the swing tags and tying with ribbon, was an arduous process. This is one wrap and you're done!

So whilst it is very satisfying making up trade orders, I do miss the time it leaves to actually sew and create. It also means that updating my different stores gets neglected too.

I got to where I needed to be today with order deadlines and took a little time out to finish the lavender bags I had started with before the fair. They have been sitting teasingly on my desk waiting to be finished. I wanted to put some of them on Etsy, as I haven't updated my Etsy shop for quite a while.

It's fair to say I didn't get all that far.

Just this one set.

But at least it's a start and I should be able to get the others finished and up there over the weekend at the latest. This set is right here.

I love creating new things and am determined to time-table in making time. Even when life is at it's busiest.

As is normally the way when I am struggling with time and under pressure, I get side tracked with sewing something completely irrelevent and not what needs to actually be done.

Maybe it's something to do with needing the stress release of sitting playing with fabric and having a little sewing time. Maybe it's a good thing that I do that.

I have been (and still am) unbelievably stressed this week with getting the prep done for the London Gift Fair. I've been getting myself in a real flap trying to make my stand as I want it and finding the time to do so. So why I then go off on a tangent and sew up some new lavender bags is beyond me.

I was kidding myself that I needed them for the show. As if I have time to start designing and making new items at this late stage. And now all that is left is a pile of half made sewn together pieces that are hanging around waiting for something to be done. It's not like I need any more of that about...believe me I have plenty of half finished projects lying around.

Still, looking at the one completed one gives me, for some strange reason, a little bit of peace and calm in this crazy crazy week. I might just take it with me as a lucky charm.