Monday 31 March 2014

march...the rest of

surprise!

it's still march (just) and here i am again with a quick round up of the rest of march.

i have started doing a monthly round up on Instagram and i am really enjoying seeing the month as a whole...even though only 9 pics means there are a lot of omissions...still, it's a nice flavour.

march saw the 2 main quilt tops i had been working on finished and quilted. that alone makes it a successful month in my book.

the one on the right is courtesy of my lovely Bee a Brit Stingy Flickr group gals and all the wonderful blocks they made for me. i just love this quilt so much.
the one on the left is the first of a series of "kisses" quilts. i wanted to try pluses on point...i like it...there will be more. in my casting not hoarding resolution of 2014 this one is for sale...or at least it will be when i get it listed in my Etsy shop...email me if you would like to know more.

speaking of Flickr...well i was before i got sidetracked...this month saw me finishing blocks for queen bee Sheila...but you will have to go here to see them as i appear to have lost that pic. Sheila is making 20 mini quilts for her grand daughter for a princess and the pea story...lucky Ava i say. they are going to be so darling.

march was also sending off time for the sewing room swap. i hit the jackpot super big time with these unbelievable makes and generosity from Carmen. i think i put Carmen through the mill with my solids/orange/lack-of-too-much-else requests. i honestly wouldn't have minded if she had deviated but i was floored when my goodies arrived.
i, in the meantime, had been sewing a social tote for my partner. to say i was nervous about sewing for my partner is an understatement. i was sewing for Amy of Badskirt, someone whose work i admire greatly and am a huge fan of. seriously it was scary stuff. i really didn't think i was up to the job. Anyhoooo, the tote and pinnie and a bundle of other goodies that i sent her finally arrived in the land of Aus and Amy said all the right things and wooed more than enough, so hopefully i got away with it this time. nerve-wracking stuff tho sewing for one of your heroes.

march saw edition 2 of Blueberry Park Fabric Club. i can't tell you how much i love the Club. i love picking the fabrics and deciding which prints to use and designing projects for the members to try. i love folding the little pieces of fabric and putting them into neat piles! but most of all i love the feedback from the members themselves (thank you members x) and seeing the delightful posts of things people make with my fabrics. i seriously never tire of that.
for those that don't know about the club, i produce a collection ever other month, which gives me just enough time to order fabric, print it up, design projects and send it out. 
the next month is early May (2 pics above give a taste of what's to come) which means i am now finalising numbers and doing the above. if you would like to know more about it and sign up for the next edition go right here. there are a choice of size bundles...start small with a charm size to try it out...and have fun creating with my hand printed fabrics. 

sign ups for this month finish on april 2, unless of course i print up too many, in which case you have plenty of time!

so that was march. april is already looking chocker with projects and commissions on the To Do List and several exciting things I'm working on too. 
I'll be back sooner rather than later to tell you all about that. 

x




Thursday 27 March 2014

:: march :: in a nutshell...part i

hey there! where has March gone?! 

it started with a birthday just a week after my sister's. here i am with one of my oldest friends...her birthday is 2 days before mine we have a lot of life to live this year as it's our last before the big one. what big one i hear you say? well let's put it this way, it was my sister's 50th the week before and she is a year and a week older than me...you do the maths.


amongst other things this month...which i promise to come back before march actually ends to tell you about...there was the great british studio clean up. this place was a mess. actually a mess is what a teenager's room looks like. this was a war zone.


it took me many many hours of sorting, decluttering, chucking, more sorting, more decluttering, more chucking...you get the picture, but finally i have a studio that i am proud of and delighted to be in. it has made my other resolutions of not hoarding and of finishing started projects much easier to carry out because i can see them. there is no hiding in this space any more.
these are just a couple of peaks of pretty corners in my studio, but i won't show you any more as all will be revealed in a mag coming to you in the near future and i would hate to ruin your mag flicking fun.


the tidy up uncovered all sorts of things including this gorgeous kei geodots that i had bought from the lovely aussie lasses, Danielle and Jeanetter at polka dot tea fabrics
if you haven't come across kei fabrics before, they have that similar buttery feel to liberty lawns and voiles. divine and a joy to sew with.


when i bought the fabric i wasn't quite sure what i was going to make with it. i bought it in the winter and being definite spring/summer fabric i put it to one side (hence getting lost in the mayhem) until warmer climes and inspiration hit.

it is very unlike me to wait patiently to decide what to do but i was determined to with this fabric, as it needed to be right. it was a treat purchase so i didn't want to mess up.
when i found the fabric and had tidied my sewing books to be on view i knew i wanted to make something out of the japanese stylish sewing book which i had never actually used, despite wanting to several times.


thanks to a translation from Kerry i set to work with a bit more confidence. it was a relatively easy make...once i was reading the instructions in english rather than japanese...and was wearing my new top a day later.
i'm really really pleased with it. the fabric was a pleasure to sew with and feels lovely to wear and i would definitely sew this pattern again...with a couple of alterations the next time, but all in all it has the tick of success. i will also definitely be heading back to Polka Dot Tea Fabrics for more of their delightful Keis and other fabrics.


so that's a little bit of what i have been up to this month and i promise to be back before the end of the month to give you a run down of what else i have been up to in march...there i've said it...i had better keep my word.

x


Wednesday 5 March 2014

:: finishes ::

i know it is only march but i am giving myself a huge pat on the back on how driven i am by keeping to my new year's resolutions of tidying the studio and getting projects finished before starting new ones. at this point ruby will be coughing **modest**...

but seriously, as you are well aware, i am always distracted by something new and shiny, so to even finish 1, start 2 (oh ok maybe still 3 or 4...) is a huge achievement.

i am not wholly sure if finishing a gift counts but still...a finish is a finish.




it was my sister's 50th last week and the quilt was gifted last friday night. as you can see, she absolutely loves it...or maybe she is a good actress. either way it was a success and i was ready to move on to the next...



i can't believe i allowed my studio to get into such a terrible state. the advantage to having it tidy is i can actually see what WIPs i have. previously they were hidden under piles of, well quite frankly, piles of who knows what. it was a disgrace.

with 2 of my WIPs now staring me in the face i'm onto getting them finished.


finish number 1 is my kiss quilt...
this has now been quilted and waiting for the final job of binding. i'm hoping that will be today.


finish number 2 is my beautiful Bee a Brit Stingy hourglass quilt top that is sitting under the machine as we speak.


3 quilt finishes in a week? what is the world coming to? 

to be honest, if the year finishes here, it will have been a successful one.