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

:: 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.

with a little help from my friends...

it all started back in September when i was queen bee for bee a brit stingy flickr group...a fab bee filled with lovely british quilters.

i have never been in a bee before so i wasn't very sure what to expect or how it was all going to play out.

my first dilemma was what block to choose. the bee started in january and some peeps had already picked some blocks that i may have chosen so that was those out. some demanded a more cohesive palette, some were too large and some were just too fiddly.

i eventually decided on this hourglass block and requested low volume, 1930s, liberty, vintage type fabrics.

to be honest i wasn't entirely sure how it

was all going to pan out. when i create my quilts i spend forever picking fabrics moving them around until they don't jar in my eye anymore and remove any fabrics that just don't sit well. in the bee group we are all very different, have different styles, different fabrics to pull from and i was a little nervous with how this would work for me.

but apparently what i love most about this is that it is full of little jewels of fabrics that normally i don't get to see in my own work, from overtly pretty florals to more muted geometrics. every single block that arrived filled me with EEEEEEKS!

honestly they are a magical bunch this crew.

i'm not even sure you can tell how wonderfully everything gels here, but in the flesh it is all so alive. the bee group made about half the blocks and they all look stunning with the ones i made.

it's all been a great big success in my eyes and hopefully we'll do it all again next year. (i hope so because i have already picked my block...)

and if you want to see how everyone else's quilts turned out go and check out the group here. there are some stunners.

the only question that remains is...

how on earth shall i quilt this thing??

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 love a week that...

...involves spending time working on a new product...

and finding out it works.

i love a week that includes some sewing time for others (hope you like your bee a brit stingy block Collette)

i love a week that includes lots of printing time...

loving the colours that this week's customers have ordered...

just right for our current sunshine ;-)

and most of all i love a week that includes time to try something that's been in my head for a while...

and i particularly love a week where that experiment worked!

and what's more...it's still only thursday...a lot can still happen.

hope you are having a love filled week x

my creative space...in the middle of the day...

 yesterday i snuck in some playtime...

you know, the kind of crafting that has nothing to do with work.

 i indulgently got on with jan's march blocks for the bee a brit stingy group...

right in broad daylight...

well it was my birthday!

meanwhile today it's back to hitting the list proper.

what have you been up to in your creative space? either legitimately or in an oh so sneaky fashion?

check out what other peeps have been up to this week here.

x