With Orla constantly around me and being my biggest source of inspiration these days, is it any wonder that my latest little girl's bag has turned out quite the way it has? I like to think of it as my Orla for Kids Bag.

It has a strap large enough for a little one (or a bigger little one) to wear over one shoulder as an across the body bag. If a certain model had been in the mood for showing how this looks, then I would have been able to illustrate the point. But let's put it this way - never rely on kids for anything.

The bag is fully lined in my favourite of the moment crisp fresh green stripy shirting fabric.

I've also inserted a zip to keep everything in it safe and secure.

This is the first of a new style of bag for me and whilst it took me a while to work out the best way to design this zipped bag with a flapped front (I'm sure there's better terminology for that), now that I have, you'll be seeing a few different versions of this. Particularly if that afore-mentioned model gets her requested designs approved and produced.

Not that she deserves it, mind.

I've been trying out a new idea this week. Actually, to be pedantic, I've been trying out an idea that has been mulling around in the far corners of my brain for, ooh, about 4 years, ever since I first started designing these.

I can't blame not being able to find the time. It's been more a case of stalemate and knowing where I was starting from and sort of knowing where I was going to end up, but not sure of the journey I was going to take to get there.

A lightbulb moment occurred last night, some time between finishing tutoring, dropping Noah off at Scouts and coming back to get Ruby to bed. You know how it works. And it was plainly obvious that I wasn't going to be going to bed until I'd at least got somewhere along to trying it out.

I have got somewhere along and I'm quite pleased with where it's at and hopefully they'll be ready for a bit more show and tell early next week...

Not only are December and Christmas creeping upon us oh too quickly, we are just one sleep away from Chanukah. Chanukah fluctuates every year, as the Hebrew calendar is lunar. December 1st is the earliest it ever is and it throws me every time it is this early. We are all geared up commercially for Christmas and when Chanukah comes 24 days earlier, it's more than I can manage. We don't celebrate Christmas so you would think it wouldn't matter. But, it's there everywhere and also, obviously, my business is centred around Christmas.

So now I'm panicking. I did a big Amazon shop last night (thank goodness for Amazon) and

fortunately I got an early start with some of my handmade gifts, but I still have the Poppy Doll to do for Ruby.

All the family are coming over to us for candles, presents and dinner on Friday and whilst we normally only buy the children gifts at Chanukah, I wanted to give each of the ladies a gift - a gift FOR the ladies, but for the men to USE, obviously...

I've made each of them a pretty tea towel to match each of their kitchens. The pink one above is my Mum's. She has the prettiest palest pink kitchen.

This yellow one isn't actually for anyone, but how I could sew something and not do a yellow and grey version? It will however be in my Etsy shop, along with several others very shortly.

Can you guess who this one below is for?

I'm feeling a little more relaxed and prepared now that I have these made.

But no relaxing just yet...it's our wedding anniversary tomorrow too...and I haven't done a darn thing about that...

I've had a very productive couple of days. London Gift Fair is just 2 weeks away and up until now I had done nothing for it. Absolutely nothing. I was beginning to panic big time, what with it being the school holidays and not able to get down to any preparations. Then this weekend I had the house to myself, whilst Matthew went on a road trip with the children to visit his Nan.

This was quite a momentous occasion in itself. Since having had the children, I had never been home alone. I've been away on the odd girlie trip, or down to London for trade fairs, but never been left at home by myself.

I just need to stop and hear that again...home...all...by...myself...

This wasn't one of those Coming and Going as I Liked kinda weekends. This was an Operation Work weekend. No going out for a run in the sunshine. No meeting friends for coffee...or dinner for that matter. Nope, full on work.

That in itself felt fantastic. Not having to cut what I was doing short, because someone needed feeding or taking somewhere or being picked up from places. Consequently I had such a productive couple of days making all the samples for the fair. Yesterday I got all the cushions and needle sets done. Today was spent doing a few more needle sets and then getting these 2 Personalised Log Cabin canvases ready.

There's still quite alot to do. Like working out how it's all going to be in the space. Printing out all the literature I need. But it was a good start. A very good start.

One thing I find difficult is to be cut off in mid sew, so to have had all this uninterrupted time was sheer joy and luxury.

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I just want to thank you all so much for your genuine and encouraging comments re the cushion. I'm so glad that you thought so highly of it as to leave a comment. I took you all at your word and posted it off to Jo...she loved it! I keep looking back at it and whilst I'm not wholly convinced (Kylie I agree about 3 being a magic number and the cut off flower!) I like the overall feel. Anyway, with your encouragement there will no doubt be more! x

A little fabric shopping took place last week and boy am I pleased with all of it. Saints and Pinners continue to have the best collection of on-line fabrics based in the UK and I was able to get my full wish-list in the same place.

First up is this little array of pinky reds, perfect for quilting...from the left...

the stunning Coral Reed by Cloud 9

a restock of Tanya Whelan's fab Dolce Fans

Amy Butler's spots from the gorgeous new LOVE line

This next little grouping are just sublime. A while ago I bought my first stash from Anna Marie Horner's beautiful range and I was addicted on the spot. Not only do the fabrics have the most exquisite feel to them and are a dream to sew, but the colours and designs are quite simply divine.

The blue and red Diamond Mine are stunning, but I think the Little Honey in Meadow wins my heart.

Another group that have been on my wish-list for some time are these from Cloud 9 Fabrics and it was high time I treated myself to a selection. As mentioned previously they are not only delectable in every way, but their organic eco properties make them a double whammy.

Whilst I was shopping I picked up this little stash of everyday essentials...a couple of Free Spirit fabrics and another Amy Butler Sunspots sandwiched between.

Oh and let me share with you a little extra I treated myself to this week...a gorgeous hand screen-printed piece by Melbomba. Mel has printed her fab design on a beautiful linen/cotton mix. Go check out her store. She has some fab pieces. I've got my eye on this one next.

I can sleep easy knowing my stash is looking this good, but the good news is I'm making room by having a bit of a clear out of some great fabrics but no longer work for me....some scrap bags and bigger yardarge...so watch out for the alerts...

I was pleased with the outcome of the Wedding Cushion and thank you to those that liked it too, but I think this one was borne out of the antidote to the more sophisticated feel of that. Without realising it at the time, I obviously found it quite sombre. And even before I had finished completing it into a cushion, I had already pulled out all these bright, fun dots, lining them up ready to be "log-cabined".

It could have been as a result of that, or equally a result of my sombre mood of last week. Either way I feel lifted to have been sewing this bright array of spotty dotties this morning.

It will be all cushioned up and in the shop asap. And long may the summery weather and mood continue until the distant future...

After the adivce from some of you, coupled with the fact that I find it hard to go back on an idea I have, I went ahead with the red/gold these for the cushion. Whilst I get carried away with an idea and find it difficult to do a U-turn once, I've started, I'm the first to admit I may have made a mistake and will happily start again from scratch.

However, as the log cabin took shape, I was liking the combination more and more. The inclusion of the limited edition Liberty really pulled together the whole piece. And bringing in a touch of green with it made the contrast with the 2 colours less stark.

I'm not entirely sure that there would be a place in my house for such a combination, but I am more than happy about the end result and think the couple (hopefully) will be more than happy with it.

In the meantime, I've already cut out a fun combo of fabrics that I am rather excited to see how they piece together. Watch this space...

I've been asked to make a cushion for a Sikh couple who have just got married. I have absolutely no idea what their taste is, how their house is decorated, what colours they like.

All I do know is that the wedding day colours are reds and golds, so I have used this as my starting point. However, this isn't a colour scheme that I would readily put together so I'm not overly sure on this one.

Should I carrying on with this line of thinking? Or go back to the drawing board? What do you reckon?

As you can tell, I've had a very productive week in the studio...and you are only getting to see half of it! Life is back to how it used to be. Time to work...there's something novel! No doubt something else will crop up to get in the way soon (yeah, like the long school summer holidays), but in the meantime I'm really enjoying getting creative.

I've been making a few of these pot holders as gifts lately and yesterday decided they'd be great for my Etsy shop. Obviously I still had my lovely Junecraft fabric on the work table from yesterday and whilst I was cutting for the "A Stroll in the Garden" picture, I already had in mind that I was going to use the pear and flower panel for some of these. Actually, I have a zillion projects in my head that these panels will be perfect for. I just love the repeating pattern of seeing a whole linear row of them. It pleases my mathematical brain ;-)

I backed the holders with a couple of fabrics that tied in the orange but gave more of a contrast too. I love the Ikea one on the right, with the sprinkling of orange spots.

They come as a pair and are available here. And if next week continues in the same vein, there'll be lots more by then in there too.

With everything that is going on around here at the moment, I feel like I'm neglecting my blog somewhat. It's very easy to quickly get out of the rhythm of blogging.

But I miss it. I miss posting. I miss the contact with you out there. I miss your feedback, opinions, news.

I am determined to get back to more than a once a week pop-in to say hi. And as beautiful as my latest fabric purchases from Saints and Pinner are, I promise to give you more reasons to stop by very shortly...

...including a fab giveaway for my 2 year Blogiversary...

Watch this space ;-)

We were in Bristol over Easter staying with one of Matthew's brothers and famille. The other brother and famille were there too, so it was a mad old but great time. I love both his brothers and wives and one of my sister-in-laws in particular. I would have chosen her as a friend and I think that's always a good sign.

We are all on the same wavelength alot of the time. Just to illustrate the point, we'd brought down 2 bottles of bubbly, the others had too and the host family had bought a couple in too! So 2 nights and 6 bottles of bubbly later... ;-)

As well as seeing my lovely in-laws, the other thing I love about going to Bristol is the obligatory trip to John Lewis' Haberdashery. We don't have a John Lewis in Leeds, although rumour has it that is soon to be rectified. We took the kids to see Nanny McPhee (fab film) and I managed to drag everyone into JL while I fabric shopped. JL fabric department is one of my favourite places to buy fabric. I love that you can buy as little as 10cm. I know you are thinking 10cm won't get you very far, but believe me I can make a heck of a lot of these and certainly a load of these with 10cm.

Time was short so in supermarket sweep style I picked up a few stash favourites - stocked up with some Cath Kidston dots and flowers, a couple of Tanya Whelan's, an Amy Butler spot that I love and then this gorgeous green Liberty esque almost Tana Lawn, which I think is going to be a new fave. The small scale is perfect for my pics and cards.

If you haven't yet discovered the wonders of John Lewis fabric Department, it's well worth the trip of finding your nearest one.

Hope you all had a Happy Easter x

As some of you know, on my lists of things to have a go at this year is quilting. And as per usual my actions are somewhat driven by an external drive.

Some very good friends have just had twin boys. This wonderful occasion was the driving force behind the start of my quilting journey.

I decided to go for a simple design to start with. Partly because I am a complete novice and partly because we are going to visit them for the first time tomorrow and I wanted to be able to take the quilts with us.

Whilst I'm very pleased with the way the fabrics have come together, I am less pleased with the feel of them. I probably should have asked you experts out there before this what you use as batting. Both Manda and Kristy suggested a wool batting.

I however didn't use a wool batting and not only that used a too heavy weight one. The result is that the quilts are a bit stiff. They haven't got the snuggle factor that I was hoping they would. I think I might have to suggest they are used as changing mats or playmats.

So what type of batting do you use ? If you use something that makes a soft and snugglable quilt I'd love to know. Particularly if you are in the UK, but would love to hear your suggestions anyway.

I'm delighted to have started my quilting journey and I'm certainly not put off. I have loads of plans, including the rather large one I have in mind for Ruby's bed and for our new lounge. but I definitely need to purchase some superior wadding before I do.

As if I have the time

Honestly. Will someone just shoot me now? I have so much to do for Saturday, but I just can't help myself can I? My 'to do' list is ever expanding, yet, somehow, it's beyond me quite how, I get busy making things. Not things that are for sale you realise. Oh no, that would be far too straight forward. Nope, things to make my stand look pretty. Things that are distracting me from what I really should be doing.

You know I'm a little obsessed with pin cushions at the mo? It seems this has now transferred to needlecases too. I know I know. I did tell someone to shoot me now!

It's irrelevent that I'm pleased with the outcome. It's irrelevent that they are quite pretty. It's irrelevent that I had lots of fun making them.

The point is that I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!

(Off now, sewing machine, fabric and any other distracting items put on a top shelf out of reach so I can try and get on with exactly what must be done...)