a little sweetheart...

 this week has been all about trying to catch up as well as throwing myself into all that is comforting.

 cracking on with this quilt and pattern ticked both those boxes.

you may remember these cushions i did back in january...

as i was doing them they sparked an idea for  my next quilt pattern. it was the perfect week to throw myself into some gratuitous sewing as well as feeling virtuous as i was actually ticking something off the list, rather than the usual adding to it.

so please let me introduce the sweetheart quilt!

the pattern is now available in my etsy shop along with the popular giant hexie quilt pattern and for a limited time i am offering both patterns for £7 instead of the usual £4.50 each.

you gotta love a bargain ;-)

that done i have a day to catch up properly with all that has been hanging over me and i haven't had the oomph to deal with.

today is different...today the oomph is back (see what i'm doing here with the positive thinking?...i'll let you know if it really is or whether i am just all talk as usual!) 

a crafty pretty collaboration

 i absolutely love my job and i absolutely love it when something unexpected happens with it...

a little while ago the very lovely claire from crafty pretty got in touch about us doing a collaboration. 

when you essentially work on your own it is really lovely to occasionally work with someone.

claire designs wonderful ceramic wall art by adding transfers to air drying clay. she saw my fabric samples pic and her brain went into overtime (a girl after my own heart) and asked if i would be interested in us doing something together.

i am absolutely thrilled with how they have worked out. she's a genius that girl!

at the moment they are available (here) in these 4 versions but you can commission your own colours/arrangements (i'm saying you can, claire is probably cursing me right now) in almost any colour on the kona card.

it's been an absolute pleasure working with claire (partly because i haven't really done anything) and so exciting to see my designs presented in this way. 

i haven't quite decided which one i am after...possibly the 9'er...possibly a completely different set of colours.

which one would you choose?

the (less than) 24 hr quilt

 ok so it's not the largest quilt in the world but it was done from start to finish in less than 24 hours.

i'm impressed and quite frankly you should be too.

 a charm pack of the new heather ross briar rose landed on my doorstep yesterday. i'd seen a few glimpses of this and to be honest wasn't bowled over by it, thinking it was a bit bright and busy for my taste.

 i take it all back.

yes it is bright and busy but it is heather ross and i should have known better.

it is just gorgeous and the collection all works so beautifully together.

 because i didn't want to dilute the designs i decided to go for a simple patchwork using all the charms together and just a touch of kona solids - more because i needed a few extra charms and just to break it up a teeny bit.

i backed it with a fab Paul Smith pink
crosshatch that works really well pulling it all together. for the binding i chose a green candy stripe - just enough of something interesting without clashing with all the delicious fabrics.

i fmq'ed it with a random swirly pattern and if you don't look too closely at the varying stitch lengths i'm actually quite impressed in how that's come out.

i am sure there will be plenty of intricately designed quilts with briar rose in the coming months (swoons and wonky stars would work really well) but i'm generally a big fan of simple designs letting the fabrics do the talking and this range is definitely one of those times.

i also anticipate lots of beautiful summer clothing for little girls and am feeling a little sad i have no little girls to sew for. would it be wrong to start a collection for the potential grandchildren? my eldest is almost 16 after all...

on that note i'd better get this out of the house quickly...it's available right here.

pillow talk swap 10

i have so much to tell you and so much to write about (am being a bad blogger at the mo) but for now i have just about time to tell you about the naughty thing i have just done.

i have just signed up for the pillow talk swap 10. i really haven't time for this but all those pretty mosaics were pulling me in and then leila went and posted a beautiful one (and included one of mine - thank you leila x) and if that wasn't bad enough kelly posted an irresistible one too. 

naughty naughty flickr people.

so now i'm in it too...which means even less time to blog. how about you? have you been able to resist? sign ups close tonight if you are still a teensy weeny bit tempted...

p.s. you can see all the links to the wonderful work that i have included in my mosaic right here.

a bctf time of year...

it's my favourite trade show of the year this weekend...

british craft trade fair in harrogate is full of designer makers. 

there isn't a mass produced imported item anywhere in the building...

just talented makers displaying their wares...oh and me!

it's a wonderful show to exhibit at and a really lovely show to visit. i'll be there with all my new screen printed pieces on stand 102 so please, if you are planning a visit do pop by and come and say hello. it is always lovely to see friendly faces.

and i'll be back next week to report back...after i've picked myself up from the enjoyable but exhausting few days!

umbrella prints trimmings competition

it's that time of year for the lovely peeps at umbrella prints to run their competition making something with a pack of their trimmings.

i wasn't going to enter this year as i have so much going on and i was just going to admire from afar everyone's fabulous makes from the delicious fabrics.

my resolve lasted for approximately a week when i was chatting with a friend about the competition and whether we were entering. i was adamant i wasn't. she was sure i would be and would be that one of my patchwork lampshades would be perfect.

it seems i am beginning to get a reputation for these, hey helen?

once nicky had planted the seed that this is what i should do it seemed rude to not head straight over to umbrella prints' etsy shop, order a pack, wait for it to arrive and set to make within 20 minutes of the pack landing on the doormat.

it actually felt good to be time efficient with this and still make something i am pleased with. i will take better pictures of the finished article for the competition real but in the meantime here tells the story of my umbrella prints trimmings competition 2013 entry.

are you entering? if not why not? i am sure nicky will be able to make a perfect suggestion of what you should make.

the staple dress...potentially

i am determined that 2013 is going to be the year that my dress making extends beyond pj bottoms.

i have just bought april rhodes' fantastic and apparently relatively straight forward "the staple dress pattern"

apparently you just need to be able to stitch in a straight line to make this dress.

sounds easy enough.

i've already picked 4 fabrics that i would like to make what i think may be just what it says on the label...the staple dress of the summer.

clockwise from top left on my short list are...

scallop in punch from the new piper collection by stella

sunny day flutter nutter from the pb&j collection

raspberry jam jelly also from the pb&j collection

stitch circle mint from michael miller's stitch floral.

quite honestly it may just be a good excuse to buy even more pretty fabric.