Are you playing along with Umbrella Prints Trimmings Competition?

 I am a big fan of Amy's designs so didn't need asking twice when I saw details of the competition.

My fabric pack arrived quite a few weeks ago now and has been sitting on my desk begging to be played with.

 The fabrics sat there teasing me for far too long and this week when stress levels were beyond high, it seemed a perfect time to take a little break and do some therapeutic sewing.

 To be honest when I starting cutting them I had no idea what I was going to make. 

Before I knew it HSTs had been cut (actually this was a couple of weeks ago) and sewn and still I had no idea what they were going to turn into.

 Today it became a little more obvious and now we have the set of Umbrella Coasters, matched with linen and vintage braid detail and, irrespective of the fact that in my book you can never have enough mustard and grey and linen hanging around the house, I'm rather chuffed with the results.

 I think it's fair to say a little amount of beautiful prints goes a long way. The itty bitty scrap bits were even turned into details on the backs (I knew there was a reason I didn't throw them away).

I don't care too much if I don't win as making these today was just what the doctor ordered.

Actually I do care if I don't win...have you seen the prizes???!!

One of the amazing things that I love about our online community is the generosity of cyber friends. Friends that we have never met in real life, but have such a mutual interest with that we appreciate what each other is doing and how much something means to us, that we go out of our way to do a kind deed. Kind deeds that real life friends do without thinking, that I guess makes our cyber friends real friends too.

This week I received metres of this gorgeous striped linen from one such generous cyber friend. Louise posted on Twitter that she was off to buy some of this linen and did I want any. My order was placed and within days it was here in my home.

The fact that this linen is gorgeous and works beautifully with my creations is irrelevant. The fact that Louise, who only knows me from my blog, Twitter and other such web based meeting places, knew at once that I would love it, is the reason behind why I love this community.

I really love what I do and I really love that it gives me the opportunity to meet all of you.

Here's the Metro Cafe fabric from Robert Kaufman I was telling you about that I bought from Fabricrehab the other day.

I love the retro design of it and I also really like the colour combos. I particularly like the red/grey coffee pots.

I bought this with kitchen accessories in mind and set to work on some coaster sets I've been wanting to make.

First up was this set which I paired with my favourite grey Kei dots. I love Kei dots and I love the grey one best of all.

I've created a little coordinating pouch to keep the coasters in and lined it with the same grey Kei dots.

Next up the blue coffee pots. I really like this design, with the coffee beans adding extra detail. It has a Scandi chic vibe. I've teamed this with another fave of the moment - Joel Dewberry's Herringbone in Aqua.

These sets are in my Etsy shop now, with more designs in the queue. In the meantime I'm enjoying a set here. Who'd have thought coffee break could get any better?