:: wildwood ::

 i am setting myself up for a bit of a fall here now with 2 posts in 2 days...

don't worry i am sure it will be as many weeks before you hear from me again.

this week i have been working on a few pieces for dashwood studios with their most recent collection wildwood.

this collection is a case in point where things look so much better in real life. 

if you looked at this collection you would think it definitely wasn't me. it is more twee and busier than i would ordinarily go for.

having said that the thing that stops it being overly twee is the colour scheme. the rustic colours (that orange is much more rusty red in real life...i'm not sure what my camera was playing at) are just spot on and make it quite a sophisticated whimsical collection.

i am totally in love with mr fox. placing the taupe toadstools with it is genius making it a really versatile fabric.

i really enjoyed making a small quilt with the collection. i based the design on one of the first quilts i ever made way back in 2007. simple piecing was called for and i think this does allow all the detail in these wonderful fabrics to be shown off.

making the economy block cushion with solid outer sections had the same effect too...pops of colour but no clashing distraction.

i think my final piece for dashwood is going to involve some wonky star blocks with mr foxy positioned in the starring role of each one.

he is rather handsome don't you think?

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?

 So less than 24 hours from conception, so to speak, and already we have the Jewellery Pouch Mark II...

I wasn't overly happy with the ribbons and where they were placed and I wanted to be able to fold the pouch in 3 if necessary.

So now the ties, made from coordinating fabric is sewn onto the back of the pouch - you'll have to take my word for that since I haven't taken a photo of that integral detail - and the ends are free to tie big...

...or smaller.

Hopefully there won't be a Mark III, Mark IV or any other Marks and I'll be able to get on with making these guys like this.

 And in other news today, I had a very exciting delivery that I've started working on this afternoon and no doubt will get abandoned until after the weekend now, unless I can find an excuse to sneak off upstairs for a few hours over the weekend.

Hope you have a great weekend and manage some sneaking around of your own ;-)

I've been picking out some fabrics this week for a quilt I want to make for our bed.

I'd set my heart on doing an HST but I'm not entirely sure it's going to turn out quite like I had in mind, but I'll carry on regardless at the mo and it will always do for an extra downstairs as 3 children fighting over 2 doesn't quite work.

We have a very bold grey and mustard paper on the back wall in our room so I couldn't exactly start introducing another colour.

Thank goodness I'm not short of yellow and grey fabrics hey?!

I've pulled a load of fabrics out and started a few trial HSTs.

The addition of a plain is needed I think, hence the Gooseberry Essex Linen and as for Lotta's Florian in dark grey, I'm thinking this is looking a tad bold but may be a contestant for the binding.

As I said, I'm not entirely sure about it but will go with it for now.

Perhaps the quilt needs smaller triangles, tiny in fact, but I'm not sure I'd quite manage a project piecing teeny triangles together right now.

At least this one will sew up rather speedily and hopefully I'll feel differently once it's all pieced.

Oh and by the way, these photos have been edited on PicMonkey a great alternative to our much loved soon to be gone Picnik. If you are still looking for an alternative to Picnik, this is perfect. Actually I'm pretty sure it's the exact same template. The only downside to PicMonkey is I haven't found a way to upload a group of photos rather than editing one at a time. But maybe that will come.