busy old week

 lots of activity at bp headquarters this week...

:: a rush on baby boy cards, altho sadly none for george alexander louis...

:: redesigning triangle mania image in an attempt to have it repeatable...that means larger fabric panels...that means excitement!

:: back to putting the advent calendar kits on a screen...apparently some people think it's time to start thinking about christmas...ugghhh...

:: however i am rather pleased with the 2013 update...a resting rudolph on xmas day!

:: a project half done...printed and all ready to sew...what will it be?

:: and even time spent on the glimma quilt...fmq'ed to an inch of its life and being bound as we speak...

:: i love weeks like this...constructive and fun and still 2 days left to get more ticked off...

smug? moi? no, just happy x

a little spot of dress making...

 i have been pretending that i'm a dress-maker this weekend.

seriously, i am such a novice dress maker that i have only ever tackled pjs and more recently the staple dress before.

but having searched the high street for summer dresses for ruby and finding nothing and then seeing the gorgeous charlotte sporting a beautiful make from the equally gorgeous Leila's pattern, with my limited dress making skills i thought "i can do that".

and apparently i can!...as long as you don't look too closely at the wibbly wobbly shirring.

next up, full of false confidence after the relative success of a let's face it a rectangular dress, i opened up my newly delivered washi dress pattern thinking i was up to the job.

well whatdya know i was!

the only thing disappointing about the outcome of this top is that i didn't opt to make the full length dress...next time.

having made and successfully being able to wear this item (it actually fits...bust seams n all!) i am now a newly converted dress maker. i'm hooked! 

i'm thinking i may even be up to tackling some of the pieces in the japanese books i have been collecting. 

how difficult can they be? 

over confident? moi?...

pretty practical...

 yesterday began with a quick much needed project.

the loo door is half glass and when we first moved in i put up a temporary scratty piece of fabric to tide us over...that was 9 years ago now...ahem...

every time i sat on the loo i was reminded that i really needed to rectify this.

9 years is obviously plenty of time to decide just what i wanted up there.

having played around with doily prints recently and having developed a recent penchant for this colour ways having been inspired by this print i put 2 and 2 together and whipped up this piece of fabric.

it was a case of layering up the colours using the lovely warm sunshine to speed up the drying process...

it started with pale pink...followed swiftly by some ochre...

and finally a splash of gunmetal grey.

4 stitched edges and an insert of ribbon and i'm wondering why it took my 9 years.

i'll have time now to think of other things while frequenting the littlest room in the house.

necessary scratching of itches...

 i have been so busy screen printing recently and engulfed with the current major project that I haven't had time to do any piecing whatsoever...

none...

not one stitch.

but don't worry i have made up for that this last day or two. 

i got to the end of a big deadline yesterday that left vital space in my head to think about some of the projects that needed attention.

the triangular hexie project at the top was the first itch to be scratched. you know when you don't even realise things are in your head until they come pouring out?

next up are my blocks for the lovely nicky.

nicky is queen bee in august for our bee a brit stingy and was kind enough to give us an early heads up what with the holidays n all.

i can not tell you how delighted i am that she did this and it has meant, having now done them, i have no bee commitments until september. thanks nicky! it leaves me bee guilt free for the rest of the summer.

having sorted out these next blocks above for another project my head is even more free to concentrate on other things. my little head can only hold so much in it at once you know and ticking off each thing leaves just enough space to cope with other matters.

as they say...every little bit helps. (do they say that? or did i make that up? they should say that...) 

last up was further experimentation with the triangular hexies that i started at the top. it's beginning to look a little like it did in my head, which is a good thing as far what i was aiming to do. i am now awaiting delivery of the fabrics that this is supposed to be made with. another exciting project that has space to develop.

so itches have been scratched, satisfaction has been achieved, space in the brain has been created and so it is back to focussing on the major project in hand until the next little creative time out.

new QAL...

i am very excited and very flattered to have been asked to be part of a new QAL The {Big} City QAL organised by Amy and Aylin.

i am one of 13 gals from all around the world where we will each produce a block from our chosen city.

i am london.

Aylin has written all about it here.

go and check it out and i would absolutely love it if you joined in.

there will be a new city every sunday for 13 weeks and every 3rd week there will be a linky party with some amazing prizes.

as i say i am very excited and extremely flattered and would be delighted to have you all with me every block of the way!

right...i'd better start to plan my block...

seaside all round...

 this post is quite apt today or then again maybe my children have more of an influence on me than i give them credit for.

mum and her sister have taken all the grand kids to the seaside today to give me and my cousin a good long work day. thanks mum and auntie p!

maybe with them and their lovely day in mind it sub-consciously influenced my colour palette while printing last night.

it certainly looks very beachy and summery don't you think?!

i am really pleased with my new scallop design and as ever it's in my etsy shop now!

life the sunshiny way...

 i'm beginning to feel what it must be like living in aus...you know when you know it's going to be nice the next day and don't need to worry about what you should wear, whether to take a coat or brolly just in case.

we are all loving the outdoors living that's going on round these parts. everything is taking place on the deck. quite why the house is still a mess i have no idea...we aren't even in it!

even the cutting mat has been brought outside to do a certain project for a certain young lady...

along with the paints for the afore-mentioned young lady to have fun with the off cuts.

gorgeous weather brings shopping for gorgeous clothes for the teenager. i just love this shirt fabric and can't wait for him to grow out of it so i can cut it up...unless of course the younger teenager decides he wants his turn with it too.

saturday's tea party was an outdoor affair too. 

it was a bitter sweet day as we all got together for what would have been dad's birthday. we tried to keep ourselves jolly with reminiscing and talk of how much dad used to enjoy his birthday teas despite being a diabetic and spending the whole afternoon with him trying to avoid being told off by mum for sneaking bites of things he shouldn't be eating.

despite the outdoors living i've still been managing to get plenty of printing time in the cellar and sewing in the attic but boy is it hot up there.

isn't life better when the sun shines?