Thursday, 31 October 2013

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!


Thursday, 24 October 2013

:: 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 ::



Thursday, 17 October 2013

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??


Wednesday, 16 October 2013

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!



Wednesday, 9 October 2013

i blame mrs e...

i blame nicky for this one.
she planted the seed in my head about green and how could i possibly not like green?

let's just get one thing straight however...


i'm not sure i ever actually said i didn't like green...just that i wasn't particularly drawn to it.

all that has changed however...
as long as it is the right shade of green and boy is fern the right shade of green.
i even managed to mix my own version of it today...i love it that much.
nicky has got me dreaming of this colour way now...damn you girl.

and the rest of you have her to thank as more green creeps into my work.

thank you all for your fantastic feedback on my soon to be fabric club...it really is invaluable. and if you haven't entered my giveaway yet where you have an opportunity to win some of my (green?) fabric please do. just go right here. x


Sunday, 6 October 2013

some news...and a giveaway...

first the news...

in the new year i am going to be launching a fabric club. a bimonthly fabric club that you can dip in and out of as you please, order as much or as little as you like...
 but i have a few questions first...
there are a few things i need your help with...

if you fancy helping me out by answering these 3 questions I will enter you in a giveaway for a chance to win a bundle of my fabrics.

fair enough?
so the questions if you please...

:: number 1 :: 

have you signed up to any other fabric clubs and if so have you continued to stay a member?

:: number 2 ::

what would tempt you to join a fabric club? is it the chance to try a range of fabrics that you may not ordinarily be drawn to? is it the opportunity to build up your stash? is it something else?

:: number 3 ::

size matters...what is your ideal size with fabric clubs...charm packs, half panels or full panels?

big thanks for answering these questions for me and i will draw a winner this time next week.

x

(ps exciting?...i hope so...but this isn't even the news that i have soon!)

Wednesday, 2 October 2013

BM time...take 3...

 So it's that time again...the time where when i had wished for more than 3 children i am damn glad there aren't more.

it's bar mitzvah time...again! well actually it's bat mitzvah this time as it's ruby's turn, but full on entertaining our nearest and dearest for an entire weekend.

having done it twice before i haven't quite got the oomph to get going on the organising for a third time.


thankfully ruby being a girl means that this time she has loads of ideas and input of her own. 
that in itself can be double edged...having someone else to consult and negotiate with is just yet another hurdle to jump. still, she's very keen to be on board and it is definitely another pair of hands.

unfortunately my heart isn't quite in this one tho, partly for bad reasons (not having dad with us is playing on my mind) but partly for good (humungous work deadline 2 days after...and one that hopefully by then i will be able to spill the beans about...finally!)


putting all the colour schemes, party prop ideas, food consultations, invitations made, written and hand delivered to one side there is the big issue of dress shopping...
5 people, 3 outfits a piece, 4 for ruby "because it is my bat mitzvah"...as if we didn't know.


(ignore gonky pic...where's a decent photographer when you need on?)

in order to cut down on the wear and tear on my shoes searching for my attire i decided to make one of my dresses and after seeing made by rae's ruby dress it seemed both perfect and rather apt.

when i set out i wasn't sure what fabric it would work for me in but i grabbed what fabric i had in my stash that was big enough to give it a try. i wasn't going to waste precious special fabric if it wasn't going to be right.

after a few changes to the original pattern - the original one has gathers which i felt were a bit baby doll for me so i adapted these to box pleats - i decided that this was indeed a great dress for what i needed it for. next time i do need to use more fabric across the front so the pleat doesn't pull across my ample bazoomerage (yeh right - magnifying glass springs to mind).

the question then was which fabric was i going to make it in. originally i had in mind this nani iro but having received a sample, whilst i love it and will possibly use another time, it wasn't quite right for this event.
looking again i have decided on this beautiful voile below. 

i am actually really excited about having this and bullied kate into sending it pronto (if i could have persuaded her to drive up to leeds from brighton to bring it today believe me i would have). 
because i wasn't sure which one would work best with the voile i have ordered 3 of the brussels washers. i am hoping one will jump out at me when i see them in the flesh. does one of them jump out at you?

so end of october sees bat mitzvah weekend along with **** deadline so if you don't hear from me before i resurface again in november, you now know why!