4 quilts...

 by the end of the month...not too much to ask is it? 

time will tell and we will just gloss over the fact that 2 of the 4 weeks remaining are school holidays and my time isn't quite my own.

{1} a blueberry park creation...

{2} grey abbey by cloud 9 commission...

{3] oakshott colourshott 

{4} summertime concoction

i have started all 4 in the hope that each one will be that bit closer to finishing as the month progresses.

right, i had better crack on then...

see you on the other side...or part way through for progress reports.

so what have you planned for April?

:: finishes ::

i know it is only march but i am giving myself a huge pat on the back on how driven i am by keeping to my new year's resolutions of tidying the studio and getting projects finished before starting new ones. at this point ruby will be coughing **modest**...

but seriously, as you are well aware, i am always distracted by something new and shiny, so to even finish 1, start 2 (oh ok maybe still 3 or 4...) is a huge achievement.

i am not wholly sure if finishing a gift counts but still...a finish is a finish.




it was my sister's 50th last week and the quilt was gifted last friday night. as you can see, she absolutely loves it...or maybe she is a good actress. either way it was a success and i was ready to move on to the next...

i can't believe i allowed my studio to get into such a terrible state. the advantage to having it tidy is i can actually see what WIPs i have. previously they were hidden under piles of, well quite frankly, piles of who knows what. it was a disgrace.

with 2 of my WIPs now staring me in the face i'm onto getting them finished.

finish number 1 is my kiss quilt...
this has now been quilted and waiting for the final job of binding. i'm hoping that will be today.

finish number 2 is my beautiful Bee a Brit Stingy hourglass quilt top that is sitting under the machine as we speak.

3 quilt finishes in a week? what is the world coming to? 

to be honest, if the year finishes here, it will have been a successful one.

Blogger's Quilt Festival 2013...

 it's that time of year again.

the time when Amy inspires us all by running the blogger's quilt festival and when i get to catch up on all the amazing quilting that has been going on around blogland.

i love taking part in the festival, not because i have any delusions of winning, but to be a part of it.

to be honest i wasn't really sure which quilt to enter and then i realised i was actually impeded by the fact that this year i have started many quilts and finished very few so it was  more a case of what i actually could enter.

i have decided to enter my elephants love water in the baby quilt category.

as soon as i saw this fabric at the beginning of the year i knew i had to quilt something out of it (i am having the same feeling about the talented duo's new collection).

it is one of those collections that speaks volumes by itself s doesn't really need too much complicated piecing to make it look good.

i decided to make a wonky windmill kinda block pairing the umbrella prints with coordinating kona solids. i backed it in a simple solid red, again less was more.

i didn't have the right fabric in my stash for the binding. nothing was singing to me when i held fabrics up against the quilt top so it was down to the cellar to print a stripe.

perfect!

it is a simple quilt. it is a small quilt but i absolutely loved working with the umbrella prints fabric and was delighted when a reader loved it so much that they wanted to buy it. i wasn't so pleased to part with it, so i guess i will just have to purchase some floating world and make a substitution.

thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out what else is going on at the festival. x

my creative space...in the middle of the day...

 yesterday i snuck in some playtime...

you know, the kind of crafting that has nothing to do with work.

 i indulgently got on with jan's march blocks for the bee a brit stingy group...

right in broad daylight...

well it was my birthday!

meanwhile today it's back to hitting the list proper.

what have you been up to in your creative space? either legitimately or in an oh so sneaky fashion?

check out what other peeps have been up to this week here.

x

umbrella quilt...

 i ticked off a WIP from the list today...

after waiting for my stripes to dry (i had to print up my own binding fabric as i didn't have just the right thing in my stash) i set to sew yesterday and finished it off today.

i am so in love with this umbrella prints range and can't take my eyes off it.

a while ago i got sent some pieces from the elephants love water collection and instantly fell in love. it's no secret that umbrella prints are one of my favourite pair of clever designers and this range is a real winner. 

the red/blue combo is always a success and coupled with amy and carly's eye catching designs on beautiful organic cotton, elephants love water really is a must have range.

i wanted to do something relatively simple and let the bold designs do the talking. i paired the fabrics with some coordinating solids and backed it in a red solid for simplicity.

 more simplicity with some straight line quilting through the wonky windmills and we were done.

i really encourage you to try elephants love water if you haven't already. you won't be disappointed. check out a stockist near you here.

i've listed this baby quilt in my etsy store here. 

umbrellas and other quilt tops...

 is there any better sight than a pile of quilt tops?

 the only thing i can think of that is better is possibly a pile of completed quilts.

 january has seen me not only make 2 quilt tops from scratch but also finish off one from the WIP pile...big YAY!

 i jumped on the scrappy trip along bandwagon and made my first quilt top of the year.

 this was swiftly followed by making my Glimma quilt top...

and whilst the pressure of relative ease was still present business wise, i finished off my umbrella prints top.

i really love this top. 

the girls at umbrella prints are design geniuses and rank right up there with lotta jansdotter in my eyes (as does someone else who i'll tell you more about tomorrow).

i am hoping to tweak a little more time into my days to get these 3 quilted and bound before real work gets back to its crazy mayhem.

i'm not sure if i'll succeed but i think you will agree it's a damn good start to the year!

giveaway winner...and so long...

First up today the winner of the Glimma giveaway...altho I was tempted to accidentally on purpose forget to draw a winner and keep the extra Charm set for myself...but that would have been wrong...

So drawn by my beautiful assistant...

numero 35!

 hueisei said...

I will make a tote or pouch :D
Thanks for the chance to win

(please email me your address Hueisei and I'll send off your charm pack after xmas!)

 This will probably be my last pop by before Christmas, and if my family have anything to do with it before 2013 too.

 I would like to say I'm on top of all those WIPs that have been waiting in queue for half of 2012, but that would be a big fat lie.

I am determined to complete my Umbrella Prints quilt, my low volume quilt and also my Glimma piece.

Yeah, like any of that is going to happen.

 However what I have managed to finish are my 2 new screen printed baby quilts. I really really enjoyed printing these and what is going to be wonderful is that due to the printing process every one will be different. And they will be customisable too...want different colours? different background? different size?...all accomodateable (that's not really a word, but you know what I mean).

These 2 are up in my Etsy shop if you need that special new baby gift or if you would like to talk through customising one I would love to speak to you.

All that is left to say is to wish you all a very Merry Christmas with your loved ones and here's to a wonderful 2013 and all it may bring. Thank you for following me through 2012 and leaving your much appreciated comments and look forward to catching up in the New Year xx

let normal service resume...temporarily...

So it's the first full week back into the routine and so far so good....if you don't count a few newby High School Girl tantrums...and that's just from me!

Actually, Ruby is doing brilliantly and coping amazingly with her dramatic change in life and with no old friends to hold hands with in an unfamiliar place.

I am having a very productive week (which is a good job as no sooner are we back to normal than the next 2 weeks are disrupted again for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) and even had time for a little creativity with the stunning Elephants Love Water fabrics from the fantastic Umbrella Prints gals.

I started the week off at full speed, inspired after the great Makers' Fair last weekend and promised myself if I got everything done on this week's To Do List I could start thinking of what I was going to do with the fabrics. To be honest I cheated a little...let's face it I have more work than my little head can cope with with all that is to come...made it realistic in terms of what really had to be done this week...and consequently decided today was Play Day!

Oh boy is this fun to play with! With my new found favourite block, it was Wonky Windmills all the way when I paired Elephants Love Water with some coordinating Kona solids and navy Quilter's Linen. 6 blocks later and I'm in love! Ideally I would love this to be bed sized, but I think it may have to be satisfied with being lap sized...unless it wants to stay on the never-ending "there's no way I have time to finish this" pile.

Some time during the holiday I started this and didn't manage to show you the end results. Justine has saved me the trouble as she is explaining all about it over here. Go check it out...it may be worth your while!

Talking of giveaways (inadvertently), in amongst the holiday mayhem I never closed and drew a winner for this giveaway. Consequently your luck is in if you still want to enter as I am going to draw the winner on Sunday.

I'll be back on Sunday with a winner and then bear with me over the next few weeks. What with the Jewish New Year holidays and getting stock ready I have a feeling I may not be around very much, but hopefully enough to say hi at least...

Have a great weekend and good luck in the various giveaways!

What's new...from my UK sponsors...

As well as each of my sponsors providing you with the fantastic new ranges of Bella by Lotta Jansdotter and Bloomsbury Gardens by Liberty Lifestyle amongst others, they all have their own individual taste and picks of what is new out there.Lucky us to have so many wonderful fabric lines hand picked for us.

Here is a review of some of my favourites available from each of them.

First up Kate from M is for Make brings us Patty Young's terrific Running Stitch fabrics. They are so zesty and zingy and will liven up any project. I'm planning on using some as the coordinating fabrics in my pencil rolls, but in the meantime have cut a little scrap for some cards. I think I will be using these in cards a lot in the future.

I don't know how long this fabric will be available in Kate's store, so you had best head over here now to stock up.

It is no secret that I am a big fan of Umbrella Prints fabrics. I fell in love with their hand screen printed designs and now just as head over heels with their organic quilting collections. 

The latest collection Elephants Love Water (such a clever title!) by the talented Amy and Carly is now available at The Village Haberdashery. Annie should be praised to the heavens for being so discerning as to step out of the box and choose something a little different. It isn't the cheapest choose, being £7/fat quarter, but being cut from a 150cm width bolt it ends up not being as pricey as you think.

Live a little...and some of these to your stash and you'll be thanking me big time. Go right here to grab a little...or a lot...

Next up Petites Odile the new chic and sophisticated collection from French General chosen by Alice at Backstitch. The pretty design is beautifully made in muted colours which would be a class act in any project as well as being perfect for dressmaking. I particularly love Claudine in Oyster. 

Head here if you fancy stocking up on something a little classy to your stash.

Last but by no means least something a little quirky. I'm not a huge fan of novelty prints but these Ric Rac Rabbits are so fun! Courtney from Seamstar always finds something fun and this is no exception. I used Bunny Friends in Burnt Orange on Teal (more turquoise) in my pencil rolls and so pleased with the result. It teams perfectly with Summersville Brushstrokes in Orange too.

If quirky fun is your thing go here to grab some. There are several great designs in various colours. You'll be spoilt for choice!

If like me you are lucky enough to be in sunnier climes enjoying a bit of R & R, what better than to be enjoying a little happier hour ordering some of these lovelies in the happy knowledge that a few pretty parcels will be waiting for your return.

Oh for the love of our modern world!

 Do you find your tastes in colour combos goes round and around?

Quite a while ago now I had a big attraction for reds and blues but then it seemed to disappear again for yellows and greys to take it's place.

But it appears to be back.

Without consciously meaning to I have recently been combining reds and blues again in various projects.

When I picked fabrics for my Siblings Together quilt, donated by my lovely sponsor M is for Make I was very much drawn to reds and blues and am in the process of completing this quilt (bottom left) and am very much enjoying surrounding myself in this combination. 

Maybe it started again with this. Then I was making some new pencil rolls and ordered this fabric from another sponsor (bottom right), and found it worked beautifully with some Summersville I had sitting on my desk (as you do).

And if that wasn't enough submersion into one of my first colour combo loves, I received a package of Water for Elephant fabrics from the talented Umbrella Prints designers (middle above) and before I knew it I was obsessing with reds and blues again and picked out the top fabrics for a range I want to produce for upcoming fairs and the like.

Who knows if my rekindled obsession will last into preparing for these fairs or not, but in the meantime I am rather enjoying glimpses of red and blue.

Do you have combos you keep coming back to again and again?

 Are you playing along with Umbrella Prints Trimmings Competition?

 I am a big fan of Amy's designs so didn't need asking twice when I saw details of the competition.

My fabric pack arrived quite a few weeks ago now and has been sitting on my desk begging to be played with.

 The fabrics sat there teasing me for far too long and this week when stress levels were beyond high, it seemed a perfect time to take a little break and do some therapeutic sewing.

 To be honest when I starting cutting them I had no idea what I was going to make. 

Before I knew it HSTs had been cut (actually this was a couple of weeks ago) and sewn and still I had no idea what they were going to turn into.

 Today it became a little more obvious and now we have the set of Umbrella Coasters, matched with linen and vintage braid detail and, irrespective of the fact that in my book you can never have enough mustard and grey and linen hanging around the house, I'm rather chuffed with the results.

 I think it's fair to say a little amount of beautiful prints goes a long way. The itty bitty scrap bits were even turned into details on the backs (I knew there was a reason I didn't throw them away).

I don't care too much if I don't win as making these today was just what the doctor ordered.

Actually I do care if I don't win...have you seen the prizes???!!