:: 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.

:: giant vintage star quilt ::

i have been having a rather lovely vintage kind of week...

the very very lovely and talented Cathi sent me a big pile of her vintage fabric scraps...one girl's trash n all that...and i have been having copious amounts of fun with them.

i had a design brief for a magazine project (you know the one) that i thought my precious vintage fabrics would be just perfect for...you will see more of that in a couple of months and i am so pleased with how these pretty fabrics joined together to make heart-warming comforting items.

the big play though, in more ways than one, was the vintage giant star quilt i made...

my goodness i absolutely love this quilt.

i think it may even be my most favouritest quilt i have ever made.

it is based upon jeni b's gorgeous quilt and can obviously be made in a multitude of fab fabrics but seeing jeni's beautiful vintage one i knew it was perfect for my pile of vintage fabrics.

and even though it is a super large quilt (almost 80" square) being just 28 pieces sewn together it is obviously extremely quick to make the quilt top.

quilt top made, backing bought (a fresh orange gingham) i ventured on quilting this giant.

it took a while to baste but that gave me time to decide how i was going to quilt it.

now i am by no means an experienced quilter. i am quite a dab hand at simple straight line quilting, which i absolutely love, but this quilt needed a softer quilting to compliment the bold star. i was quite nervous about venturing with some curly loopy fmq...i could quite easily ruin the whole thing.

thankfully i didn't and thankfully it turned out even more magical than i could imagine.

to finish off i bound it with a scrappy binding made up of some of the leftover vintage fabric pieces which turned out subtle enough but with a little bit of quirky character.

my only sadness about this whole thing is hubs, whilst he wowed at it, said it was no way going near our bed...way too flowery.

i may just have to sneak it on one night while he is away...and just leave it there.

big thanks go to my lovely tall friend helen for modelling the quilt for me...she came round this morning for a run...little did she know. 

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?

a week in pics...plus the odd word or 2...

 what a week...and it's still only thursday!

it all started with Ruby's Bat Mitzvah weekend which went brilliantly.

i had been very anxious about it for weeks partly due to how much work i have on at the mo and how on earth i was going to have time to prepare for the batty as well and partly due to not having dad with us. i have been very emotional about that for the weeks leading up to the batty and was worried i wouldn't be able to keep it together...

i did keep it together...

for most of the time...

well, some of the time.

we had a truly wonderful weekend and one thing it did teach me was, whilst it is beyond sad that dad is no longer here to share these occasions with us, it is so important to build new happy memories.

the work side of life has had to fit in alongside. it couldn't stop altogether due to the up coming xmas fairs and other deadlines.

the newly discovered silver brussels linen was made up into cushions and napkins. i can't tell you how much i love this fabric. it's so soft and smooth and of the most exquisite colour and i blame that for my little sideways distraction of piecing it together with some of my printed pieces. i haven't quite decided whether this is destined to become a quilt or wall art...time will tell.

then things got a bit more colourful...

selvedge needle books for the xmas fairs...

ruby's horse printed onto vintage fabric that is destined to become famous...

printed fabrics for a new exciting commission...

a play around with lotje's gorgeous pattern for this week's big city girl QAL...i couldn't resist...it's so cute!...and besides my new love kona fern had arrived and i just had to find something to sew with it...

and then finally, not made all this week, my screen printing table drop cloth... 

it could just be the colours but i'm thinking it would look great framed as a piece of art...or maybe not!

another mad week in my mad and hectic world and looking at the calendar it isn't due to get any less mad this side of 2014 so you may just see photo mosaics cropping up regularly just to keep you up to speed with what's going on around these parts!

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.

I was very pleased to tick a Bar Mitzvah job off the list today.

Part of the celebrations include a party at home and no party is complete without bunting.

 Despite having several buntings that I have made over the years I had in my head that I wanted rows of them high up criss crossing across the driveway, rather than simply strewn across the fence or hedge or the like, which is what I usually do.

 

 I wanted impact... 

I wanted bunting with attitude...

and I also wanted rectangular bunting flags, not triangles.

 So there was obviously only one thing to do...

make some!

I decided to be frugal and look through my larger scrap pieces and screen printed pieces that were slight seconds and began cutting into random sized rectangle. 

I'm definitely not a neat and tidy and orderly person so random sizes suits me perfectly.

 So having now got piles of random coloured and shaped rectangles the question was what was I going to do with them?

I wasn't sure whether to do completely ad hoc or have some kind of order.

If order was involved was it going to be one red row, one orange row, one green row etc?

Having laid them all out over my studio floor, I eventually decided on each one being a rainbow so the depth of colours could be seen in rows.

I hooked them up on the deck to see if it gave the impact I was looking for and I'm so pleased with them and can't wait to get them in their proper spot on the day.

The only thing left is do I have enough?

I'm thinking maybe a couple more rows...

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.

...on a cushion roll...

...this one is now in the shop...

...it's the end of the week...i'm very tired...have a great weekend one and all. x

I'm feeling a little bit overwhelmed and under pressure at the moment.

Not only is this my first proper Christmas with stockists wanting handmade pieces in time for the Christmas rush, hence I have a LOT of sewing to do, but also we seem to have a crazier than ever schedule at the mo. I keep waiting for life to calm down. It somehow never does. One of these days I will fall off this treadmill...

In the meantime it was all go in the sewing room yesterday, finishing off my new Vintage cushions (see, no sympathy with myself - 'new' products? at this time of year? crazy girl).

First up was hand making the binding for the envelope back. I love making the binding for cushions...a little pop of colour showing it's face.

And then, hey presto, cushions finished. I'm not actually delivering these for another couple of weeks, but I did need to finish them off having started the fronts last week.

And besides...if I didn't, how could I justify cutting into these latest arrivals???

So crazily busy at Blueberry park Headquarters and yes, life is a tad more stressful than I would like, but I am aware at the moment that my stress is all good stress - getting orders out on time, getting my children to all their clubs, activities etc, doing a job that I love - and long may that be the case.

I had a little bit of playing time today.

Well, that's not wholly accurate. I was asked for some more cushions this week from one of my lovely stockists and since I hadn't made up any yet with my screen printed fabrics, I wanted to have a little creative experimenting time.

It can be quite stressful 'having' to produce something, but actually there was no stress involved today.

I knew I wanted to keep the cushions quite simple, but yet when they are sitting on a shop floor things have to have a 'look at me' factor. I picked out my pile of vintage fabrics, a pile that's dwindling rather too rapidly and set to work.

I like to put things in situ for a while after I've made them - on a bed, on a shelf, somewhere I can pass by and see if they catch my attention. And I have to say, these do. I'm really pleased with them and just as soon as I replenish my vintage fabric stash , there will be more of these heading into my shop.

And the best bit of all? My work really is playing!

It's my favourite time of year, but at the same time not.

I love summer and I love long lazy days when we don't have to rush from activity to activity, endless hours of deadlines.

But juggling this with working is no fun.

I think a lot of us are the same.

Working from home means many interrupted weeks of trying to keep on top of work whilst not really having the proper time to do so.

My kids are getting older, which does mean they can be abandoned to keep themselves occupied. But guilt, coupled with knowing that means hanging out in front of the electrics for hours, soon gets me attending to them rather than getting on with the piling up work.

Tomorrow we are going out for the day.

No work, no neglecting children, just summer fun.

The day after we'll be back to neglect...