Do you take part in any Flickr Group or other swaps? 

When i have the time I love to play along with swaps. I have been known to take part when really I shouldn't because I really love to take part.

 I really enjoy the 'hanging out' with people that all have that thing in common. I enjoy getting to know new people as well as doing something with virtual friends that I've known for some time.

And I really love playing around with ideas that I wouldn't or shouldn't really have the time to play around with. Swaps are just the perfect excuse to try something I have wanted to for ages.

At the moment one of the groups I'm hanging out with is this great group of people in the Brit Quilt Swap and I've been working on a little travel piece for a certain someone (obviously I can't say who as like most swap this is a secret one) and have really been enjoying it. It's just big enough to get my teeth into without being too overwhelming to take over from stuff I should be doing. The perfect little distraction.

I'm just about there with it...a little label, a few extras and it's ready to go.

So what gets your juices flowing in swaps? (if anything that is) I'd love to know ;-)

Pssst: Last day to enter my latest fantastic giveaway...I'll be drawing the lucky winner some time tomorrow (about 6pm GMT) so you've still a little time to enter.

Go on...it could be you...

Bonjour!

Matthew and I were lucky enough to get a couple of days in beautiful Paris this weekend.

 It was wonderful on so many levels...

...the fact that we had one day decided to go and more-or-less only a few days later were there strolling along the Parisian cobbled streets, stopping for lunches of wine and bread and cheese, watching the world go by...

 ...the fact that we were having much needed 'us' time for the first time in far too long a time, walking for miles without little voices of "i'm tired"..."i'm bored"...

 ...the fact that we were celebrating (a few months belatedly) 20 years marriage revisiting a place that had been our first trip away together nearly 25 years previously...

What was not quite so wonderful was my severe attack of vertigo climbing to the first level of The Eiffel Tower and having to drag Matthew back down, spoiling his exciting moment. Well, you can't have everything, but I think despite that, even he'd agree it was a very special weekend and here's hoping we can do it again before another 25 years...

An introduction and a giveaway...

I would like to introduce you to another of my fab new sponsors.

Backstitch is another great British online fabric store born out of an enthusiasm for fabric and sewing. Backstitch is run by Alice who brings us a wonderful selection of the best from around the world.

One of the latest collections to hit Alice's virtual shelves is Cloud 9's wonderful Simpatico. I am chomping at the bit to get hold of this. But a little more about this later...

As well as Alice stocking a sought after range of modern designers, she also stocks a fantastic collection of solids in the form of Klona (yes, that's right, Klona not Kona) cottons and also a Linen/Cotton blend range at a very reasonable £10.50/m

Alice has a huge amount of fabulous sewing patterns on offer, ranging from Beginner to Advanced. I've been eyeing up The Schoolhouse Tunic for some time but still not sure if my rudimentary dress-making skills can be classified as "Advanced Beginner"...I'm thinking not. 

And if they could be classified as "Intermediate" and if I had someone to sew them for, I would so be buying and making this.

Keep an eye out at Backstitch, as Alice is always adding to her collection on offer. Very soon we'll be seeing the arrival of Riley Blake Chevrons, Lotta Jansdotter Bella, along with a selection of 24 of Liberty Lifestyle fabrics.

 To the giveaway...

You have probably already realised that the fantastically generous giveaway involves Simpatico. Alice is offering the chance to win a full fat quarter bundle of all 12 designs. I'm palpitating at the thought of that...and deeply saddened that I can't actually enter. Well, it wouldn't be right, would it?

So how can you win?...

I would ask you to guess which design in which colour-way I am most hankering after, but that wouldn't be too challenging would it? So let's stick to making it straight-forward...

1 entry for telling me your favourite design and colour-way and what you would do with the bundle if you won...

another entry for following my blog before or now...

another entry for following Alice's blog before or now...

another entry for signing up to Backstitch's Newsletter before or now...

a final entry for tweeting (you need to come back here and tell me!)

You have until next Weds July 26 2012...good luck!

(I am really sorry that this giveaway is limited to UK and Europe only...but don't worry there'll be something very soon for all you further overseas stalwarts)

Thank you all for entering the fab giveaway to win one of Jo's wonderful embroidery patterns, as well as a bunch of threads to one lucky follower.

And with no further ado here are the winners...

(if I have counted right...I really must find out how to number the comments...)

And the first winner...

Connie!...Connie you win a pattern of your choice AND the fantastic set of threads...well done!!

The next 4 lucky winners each win a pattern of their choice...

First up,number 58, Martina!...

next up, number 71, Karen!...

next up, number 45, Giddy!...

and finally number 108, Wendy!

Again big thanks to Jo for her very generous giveaway and to all of you that entered and as I mentioned yesterday, keep your eyes peeled for my next exciting giveaway...you won't want to miss it!

I picked up my new magnets today and I am so pleased with them. 

The previous lot sold really well but after reprinting Scruffy Daisies onto coloured fabric I knew that it would work even better. And it does! The design and the magnets themselves show up so much better and have such a popsicle of colour on my fridge.

Other things I have been playing with today are Buddha Orange Scrap Packs. More fab colour pops!

I finally got around to going to the screen printing workshop today and printed up a screen for a new something I've been working on for, shhhh, C..... Still too early to mention it but not too early to get going on it.

Here's a little sneak peak for those of you that don't follow me on Twitter, Flickr, Instagram, or any other networking medium that I bore you on and there will be more to come very very shortly.

One final thing to mention today is that tomorrow the giveaway will close, so if you meant to enter and haven't you have about 24 hours to do so...and if you are not lucky this time, come back at the end of the week when I will be hosting another wonderful giveaway from another fab sponsor.

My lips are sealed...you'll have to come back later to see...but I am pretty certain you'll be queuing up (behind me) to enter...

 I have been having a little fun playing around with a few things this week all in the name of "product design and development". That makes it sound much more important than "having a play and see what happens".

A few weeks ago I started experimenting with 2 colour prints, the results of which were the orange and grey below.

I loved the effect but knew that the 2 colours I had picked were too bold together. I hadn't really planned to use these 2 colours together...it was a result of the newsprint testing pieces for the colours I happened to be using at the time and I was merely overlaying on a whim.

It did make me discover however that there was potential for a 2 colour print with my designs, particular with the stripe and scruffy daisy.

Again inspiration triggered by my old newsprint tester sheets, I set to print in pale blue and turquoise and here are the results below...

...and I'm really rather pleased with it!

Is it wrong to be excited by ones own work? It has such a fresh summery (ha!...there's that strange word again) feel to it and think it would work on so many things. I'm planning on making some pretty summery wash-bags to start with and also incorporate into a quilt I'm doing. I printed up a few to start with, so if you want to grab a piece go here.

I'm planning to try it in a light pink/dark pink combo so watch out for that.

My other "product design and development" this week involved printing onto some Quilter's Linen swatches I had received with the view to creating my winter (that's more familiar...) range. It's hard to get a feel for how a fabric is going to look when it is printed on so doing it this way is great.

Quilter's linen is really lovely. It is 100% cotton but has a look of linen due to it's texture markings. I find linen to sometimes be a little stretchy so this is a perfect alternative as it looks great and sews up beautifully.

I now have rather big decisions to be made as actually I like how so many of them have turned out. So a little help please...which colours would you like to see in the collection??

 Giveaway Time!!...

...from one of my lovely sponsors Avery Homestore.

I have actually met Jo, the owner of Avery, in real life and so was delighted when she wanted to be one of my sponsors.

Jo's store is a little different from my others - as well as being online it is also a real life bricks and mortar shop, where she stocks a great range of fabrics amongst other delights.

 Jo is a very talented quilter herself and also has a particular flair for embroidery, of which she has designed these amazing patterns. I am totally in awe of her skills and ability to design these intricate patterns. They are all now available as PDFs for you to produce your own version and you can also get Perle Cottons in all the necessary colours in store too. Personally I'm quite drawn to Boris, but if you can't decide Jo offers a complete set of all 4 of her characters for just £6.50.

Another big attraction at Avery Homestore is the selection of wools on offer. I know I mainly stick to sewing these days but I do have a bit of a soft spot for piles of yarn, particularly when they are as delicious looking as these. Rooster Almerino is a luxurious, soft blend of Baby Alpaca and Merino wool. The only problem with them is... how on earth do you decide which colours you can leave out!!

Avery Homestore is based in Edinburgh and I suggest you take a visit if you are lucky enough to live nearby as I have just touched on what Jo has to offer. One thing I will quickly add before I tell you about the giveaway - are you still with me? - is the extensive range of Craft Classes Jo runs, from weekly evening classes, to Half and Full Day classes, teaching everything from her cute little owls, to making an heirloom-in-waiting like the one below.

Ok so the giveaway. Quite frankly if you have stayed with me this long you deserve to win!

Jo is generously offering a PDF pattern of your choice to 5 - yes 5! - winners and, this is where it gets more exciting...the first name out of the proverbial hat also gets a full set of 10 Perle Cottons as shown in the pick at the top, a prize worth about £30...pretty damn generous I'd say!

Here's how you can win..

1 entry for telling me which pattern you would choose...

another entry for following my blog before or now...

another entry for follow Jo's blog before or now...

another entry for signing up to Avery Homestore's Newsletter...

a final entry for tweeting about it.

So 5 chances to win...what are you waiting for??!

Giveaway open until this time next week - end of play Weds 18 July 2012.