:: normal ::

another week, another set of projects...

it's amazing how much time you feel you have when things get back to normal. when i say normal i obviously don't mean normal, but rather back to routine. it's never normal round these parts.

having had our routine disrupted for 2 weeks worth of half term, i am always amazed by how much time i feel i have when the kids first go back to school.

without constant interruptions i have had a successful week getting through the long list of projects I am working on, all of which will be revealed in the up-coming weeks. I actually haven't finished any of them, but it has been fun having time to work on all of them.

a good productive happy week round these parts. no doubt next week will be back to the only normal i know about...normal mayhem.

hope whatever your normal is, it has been a good one. 

x

ps watch out for the middle of next week when one of these projects will be finished and be featured on a blog tour!

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

a week in pics...plus the odd word or 2...

 what a week...and it's still only thursday!

it all started with Ruby's Bat Mitzvah weekend which went brilliantly.

i had been very anxious about it for weeks partly due to how much work i have on at the mo and how on earth i was going to have time to prepare for the batty as well and partly due to not having dad with us. i have been very emotional about that for the weeks leading up to the batty and was worried i wouldn't be able to keep it together...

i did keep it together...

for most of the time...

well, some of the time.

we had a truly wonderful weekend and one thing it did teach me was, whilst it is beyond sad that dad is no longer here to share these occasions with us, it is so important to build new happy memories.

the work side of life has had to fit in alongside. it couldn't stop altogether due to the up coming xmas fairs and other deadlines.

the newly discovered silver brussels linen was made up into cushions and napkins. i can't tell you how much i love this fabric. it's so soft and smooth and of the most exquisite colour and i blame that for my little sideways distraction of piecing it together with some of my printed pieces. i haven't quite decided whether this is destined to become a quilt or wall art...time will tell.

then things got a bit more colourful...

selvedge needle books for the xmas fairs...

ruby's horse printed onto vintage fabric that is destined to become famous...

printed fabrics for a new exciting commission...

a play around with lotje's gorgeous pattern for this week's big city girl QAL...i couldn't resist...it's so cute!...and besides my new love kona fern had arrived and i just had to find something to sew with it...

and then finally, not made all this week, my screen printing table drop cloth... 

it could just be the colours but i'm thinking it would look great framed as a piece of art...or maybe not!

another mad week in my mad and hectic world and looking at the calendar it isn't due to get any less mad this side of 2014 so you may just see photo mosaics cropping up regularly just to keep you up to speed with what's going on around these parts!

:: wings ::

i've been dreading and excited about this weekend coming in equal measure for quite a few months.

most importantly it is Ruby's Bat Mitzvah weekend so excitement is abounding, certainly from her corner.

it is quite a feat putting on a celebratory weekend and since this is the 3rd time in just over 2 years you would think that wouldn't faze me.

that on its own isn't fazing me...it's everything else going on in my life at the same time that is spiralling me out of control. 

i hate being out of control.

i get a bit moody...

if only i had known about Ray Bradbury's inspiring quote months ago, i would have had wings to cling onto for months...but now i have been enlightened to it by the lovely Kylie i'm grabbing onto those wings and hoping we all fly this weekend and beyond.

:: sometimes you just have to jump out the window and grow wings on the way down ::

Hoop-La!

i am more than a little bit delighted to have been asked to be on Kirsty's blog tour for her new book Hoop-La!

have you come across Kirsty's new book yet? It was published in august so chances are some of you already have. if you haven't you must check it out. 100 things to do with an embroidery hoop...who knew!

i am going to be wrapping up the tour on november 13 which will include a giveaway of one of Kirsty's fab projects from the book, so do come back then.

in the meantime you can follow the tour at these lovely blogs where each will have their own giveaway...

OCTOBER:

Thurs 24th – Bugs & Fishes

Fri 25^th – Flossie Teacakes

Mon 28^th – Syko

Weds 30th – Emma Lamb

Thurs 31^st – Wild Olive

NOVEMBER:

Fri 1st – Feeling Stitchy

Mon 4^th – Carina’s Craftblog

Weds 6^th –  tbc

Fri 8^th – Notes on Paper

Mon 11^th – The Green Gables

Weds 13^th – Blueberry Park

also check out news on Hoop-La! and other fab new publications right here.

see you on tour!

with a little help from my friends...

it all started back in September when i was queen bee for bee a brit stingy flickr group...a fab bee filled with lovely british quilters.

i have never been in a bee before so i wasn't very sure what to expect or how it was all going to play out.

my first dilemma was what block to choose. the bee started in january and some peeps had already picked some blocks that i may have chosen so that was those out. some demanded a more cohesive palette, some were too large and some were just too fiddly.

i eventually decided on this hourglass block and requested low volume, 1930s, liberty, vintage type fabrics.

to be honest i wasn't entirely sure how it

was all going to pan out. when i create my quilts i spend forever picking fabrics moving them around until they don't jar in my eye anymore and remove any fabrics that just don't sit well. in the bee group we are all very different, have different styles, different fabrics to pull from and i was a little nervous with how this would work for me.

but apparently what i love most about this is that it is full of little jewels of fabrics that normally i don't get to see in my own work, from overtly pretty florals to more muted geometrics. every single block that arrived filled me with EEEEEEKS!

honestly they are a magical bunch this crew.

i'm not even sure you can tell how wonderfully everything gels here, but in the flesh it is all so alive. the bee group made about half the blocks and they all look stunning with the ones i made.

it's all been a great big success in my eyes and hopefully we'll do it all again next year. (i hope so because i have already picked my block...)

and if you want to see how everyone else's quilts turned out go and check out the group here. there are some stunners.

the only question that remains is...

how on earth shall i quilt this thing??

and the winner is...

a huge thank you for all the comments you left with regards my forth coming fabric club.

they really were very useful. some of the things you have said you will see i have taken on board and am able to offer within the club. some of the things confirmed what i had in mind, so thank you for that!

and without further ado the winner, who receives a thank you pack of some of my fabrics, is number...

which only goes to show that sometimes it pays to be late...as Colette was number 49 out of 49 entries ;-)

well done Colette and if you could let me know your mailing address some goodies will be on their way to you.

and for those that loved the idea of my fabric club, watch this space for launch details and info on how you can join...and receive as a pressie this xmas!