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

dreams do come true...

 this week was a week where some of the secrets i have been hoarding have been spilling out...

the week started with my tumbling tinsel piece being featured in the fat quarterly scraps issue.

i really enjoyed devising this little quilt, using up precious scraps from previous projects.

i just wish i had had time to make a bigger version, but i guess we shall just put it on the ever growing to do list.

on friday my pixelated quilt, that i had been working on at the end of last year, achieved star status as this month's issue of love patchwork and quilting.

i obviously knew it was coming out, but to see my quilt and my name on the front cover of this fab mag was such a thrill! i am still recovering from seeing it!

and lp&q have done such a beautiful job on it. in fact they have done a stunning job on the whole magazine...the best edition yet i think. seriously if you haven't bought or subscribed to this new magazine yet, you really should.

i am very very proud of this quilt. 

i am very proud that it is on the front cover of a mag. and i am very proud of it being the first double size quilt i have made.

here's to many more of both!

this is definitely the year of hard work paying off and dreams coming true...

...and here's to seeing the big one coming true very very soon! 

resolutions...

 well hello...

how the hell are ya?

i'm thinking that there goes my first new year's resolution that isn't doing too well...the one where i said i would blog more.

let's see how i'm getting on with the others...

there was the one about not starting any new quilts until the unfinished ones on the pile were completed...

actually i'll have you know i'm not doing too badly on that front...if you ignore the  second from bottom one...that is next on the list.

i know i started this vintage giant star quilt before the other couple were finished, but there are good reasons for that...

first off, the very very lovely Cathi from down under sent me the hugest bundle of scraps and it would have been rude to not have shown my gratitude by creating with them straight away...

secondly, i needed a project to try out some of Lotta Jansdotter's Little Blomster fabric from her new collection Mormor coming out very soon. I am completely in love with this fabric and knew it would be the perfect background for the vintage fabrics.

and thirdly, having now started this quilt top it needs finishing as it is due to be heading inside the pages of a mag very soon. so you see, i had to play work on this one.

making a quilt as a gift is always a really really good excuse to start a new project, so it wasn't a completely altruistic gesture for me to ask my sis if she would like a quilt for her impending big birthday, but we will gloss over my needs and point out why i really must crack on with this quilt. after all a promise is a promise...

i actually feel guilty that i have never made her a quilt before and so i am obviously lavishing a lot of love and attention on making this for her now, by using up my most favouritest fabric pieces, coupled with beautiful oakshott fabrics.

sis chose the colour scheme but i hope she will love the quilt...i know she'll tell me if she doesn't...she's like that.

so this next quilt...

where does it fit in the new year's resolution let's-not-start-anything-new-until-old-things-are-finished-first line up?

it doesn't, but hey, a girl is only human and one little blip is quite frankly not at all bad going for someone who has a BIG problem with not starting anything new.

besides, hubs is still waiting patiently for a quilt for our bed having seen everyone else get one...yeh right and if you believe that you'll believe anything.

my excuse really was wanting to see how these little vintage scraps from cathi would look pieced with some of my fabrics and some of my favourite low volume bits n bobs...and it just so happened that it would be a perfect quilt for our bed...

my next resolution, like so many of us, is all about the fabric mountain that i regularly and unnecessarily buy and how i am determined to keep control on that.

now this resolution isn't about not buying any more fabric, because let's face it i would be destined to fail that even more than not starting anything new.

no, this resolution is all about not being seduced by pretty fabric that will just sit on my shelf without a use. i am only buying fabric for particular projects.

one such impending project is a liberty project. i haven't made a quilt solely in liberty and i would really like to rectify that and if i am going to do that then i really need to buy more liberties...all makes perfect sense doesn't it?

i did a trade with one of my IG buddies kate during the #greatukfabrcidestash at the weekend (boy that was fun!) and came out of it with this pile of beauties above.

earlier in the week i bought a couple of delicious reds from jo including this one below on the top. boy oh boy am i going to be needing more of that. i can actually visualise it in a dress...

keeping to my not buying any unneeded fabrics resolution, let me introduce you to 2 very much needed fabrics (did i mention that sometimes need and want can be intertwined and get in a right old muddle?)

both these are from the fab girls in aus who recently set up polkdotteafabrics. i am a bit of a sucker for japanese keis. they have a feel of tana lawns, you know all soft and buttery. the floral on the bottom is such a fantastic staple in neutral piecing and i bought it to piece some of the squares in my sister's quilt. ok so i only needed maybe a 10 x 10" square piece in total, but let's face it when you are buying from aus you really wouldn't to have to keep going back, so 2 yards later...

and the top green fabric?

i really needed that...as i say need? want? fine balance.

so that's me and my resolutions...how are yours coming along?

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

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.

giveaway time!

 as a thank you for sticking around these parts and putting up with my ramblings here, on Twitter, IG and wherever else i may ramble i wanted to offer you a giveaway.

the giveaway may include some fabric panels...

it may include some scrap packs...

it may include some 5" charms...

but it will definitely include some of my new silver in some shape or form.

you can enter up to 4 times by doing the following...

1. leaving a lovely comment here...

2. liking blueberry park facebook page and coming back here to tell me... 

3. following me on IG and coming back here to tell me...

4. following me on Twitter and coming back here to tell me. 

i will pick a winner this time next week!

good luck and once again

thank you! x

p.s. the giveaway is open to one and all no matter where you live but you must have a link to your email so i can contact you.

fabrics have landed...

i have had a fun printing and photography sesh and am delighted to show you my results here...

 and the good news is they are in the Etsy shop now!

lots of luscious serene summery sorbet colours, perfect for summer crafting.

not happy...

Some things just don't turn out the way you hope...

I have had a commission for some placemats. They have turned out just fine...or they will do when they are finished.

Along with the placemats the customer asked for a couple of centre table mats in blue/red colourways.

Let's face it I have plenty of these colours in my scraps so it should have been pretty straight forward.

It started out well...I was liking the look of the HSTs...

I also was liking the pieces I had added to frame the HSTs...

and I was pretty much in heaven with the little row of dinky sized HSTs...

But then something happened.

I was suddenly not as keen when I had added these rows in.

For some reason that I can't put my finger on it just wasn't working for me.

I am wondering if it was the "make it up as you go along" approach, or the "I really haven't got time for this but I must get it done" pressure or whether it's the buckling on the 4th final side that is annoying me.

Whatever it is, I am not happy.

Not happy that I spent an evening making it only to not feel comfortable including it in the commission.

Not happy that now I have to do the whole process all over again.

Grrr...what to do?

 Why is it so easy to get distracted?

Or is it just me?

I have got on really well in The List stakes this week and so sub-consciously I must have told myself I could have a bit of a play today.

Not that I had anywhere near ticked everything off, you understand...and had only just ticked off all the Must Do's ...

(I cheated a little...moved some off...shhhh) 

 Anywaaaaaays...I had worked really hard this week and definitely deserved a little play with fabrics. 

I was cutting up my fabric for the Addicted to Text - UK Charm Swap (organised by the lovely Charlotte...more on that another day) really enjoying the therapeutic nature of it, when I had the random thought of making my own charm packs. Never one to let an idea pass without trying it out, I set to cut...

I think they look rather pretty...what do you reckon? 

And as I am not so superficial to know that looks aren't everything, they are pretty darn useful too...

Go check them out and if you want to make me feel less guilty about playing today when I should have been working, humour me and treat yourself to a set (particularly if you have you 10% off...)...then I'll feel like really it was useful work.

bribery time...

I would really appreciate your opinion...

I'll make it worth your while...

well you read the heading...Bribery Time.

As you know I have been working on my screen printing range for this Autumn/Winter and have developed the 2 colour-ways - Utility above and Frozen Berries below and within that Triangle Mania and Scruffy Daisy.

I have 3 big fairs coming up and so need a lot of stock and obviously I want the right stock for my customers as all the fairs will be a "see it and buy it now" kinda affair, rather than the ordering kinda scenario.

So the question is, what would you choose? If you could pick any 3 items that you are drawn to, either for yourself or thinking ahead as Christmas gifts what digs it for you? Is there a particular pattern? A certain colour? A favourite pouch? I really would greatly appreciate your thoughts on this, my little in house market research buddies.

 So what's in it for you, I hear you ask? Obviously I know you aren't that kind of person and you are happy to just help out I hear you cry, but everyone is entitled to a little reward and I insist.

So, two things. 

The first is if you leave me a comment with your thoughts I'll email you a code for 10% off your next order (so be sure to link to an email address).

Secondly I'll enter you into a draw to win a little selection of your suggestions. Ah, sneaky huh? Now you have to think about what you like, not just be random, because one of you is going to be lumbered with the said pieces.

Seriously though, I really appreciate the time you take in helping me with this.

Thank you! x

Giveaway open until Sunday evening (oh and talking of which, there's still time to enter my fab giveaway from M is for Make...go check it out if you haven't already entered.)