This printing malarkey on white is such a breeze. I'm not sure why I didn't think of it earlier.

The only thing slowing me down at the moment is space for the fabric to dry.

I am on the lookout for something like this but they are so pricy that I just can't afford it right now.

 I definitely need a better system however as finding a solution in one area - printing in white - is now being hindered by another.

Maybe I should have a "drying rack pot"...

every time I sell fabric the earnings go into a pot to purchase my drying rack...shouldn't take too long!

...particularly when i am offering bundles of gorgeous colours like these at the bargain price of £20 a bundle! There's my Utility bundle at the top, followed by Frozen Berries and then Frozen Utility at the bottom - what happens when a little Berry mixes with Utility.

p.s. this wasn't supposed to turn into a sales pitch...I never know where my posts are going to end up when I start out...but if you are smitten please do head here to buy a bundle... ;-)

Summer of the Simpatico...

September already? Wow where did the summer go?

Amazingly for once I actually got a summer project finished. Well, if you exclude the fact that it isn't actually made into anything, but a completed thing none-the-less.

Summer 2012 will definitely be remembered as Summer of the Simpatico. I did a tutorial of my fold-over pouches for The Daily Stitch - Annie of The Village Haberdashery's blog in Simpatico and I had such a summery, fresh making time with them that I decided that I was going to use the collection for my summer of hexie fun. We spent a lot of time in the car this summer - London for the Olympics, Bristol for family birthdays, mid France via London (again) and Paris. I was in need of a good hand stitching project that could be done on the move as well as picked up in a shady place.

Perfect!

 I am not 100% sure what it will become - possibly a wall hanging, possibly a cushion, but definitely not a quilt! I really really loved sewing these little hexies (just over 1" across!) and loved sewing them together too, but the reality of now the summer is over that it will stay in a corner with all the other "i've-started-but-goodness-knows-when-i'll-ever-finish-it" projects is making me realise that I need to stop here.

Also, to be honest, I'm a tad disappointed with how I've pieced it. The flowers (top pic)  were so lovely when sewn individually but when I began piecing together they all got lost together and looks rather random instead. If I wasn't away and impatient about not wanting to wait to come home and finish (besides, we had a 600 mile journey - I needed some hexie-ness) I would probably have pieced the flowers with solids between so they would show up better. I may trying embroidering in coordinating floss around each flower. They may stand out a little clearer.

Either way Summer of the Simpatico was a very enjoyable one.

Now we are back I have started on the next project. This one may take a while. I have been wanting to make a quilt for our bed for a couple of years. I even started some blocks last year but I was never that enamoured and now I've gone right off them - too much yellow. Yes, you did here correctly. The wallpaper in our room is rather bold and I think what is needed is something a little more easy on the eye. I've been drawn to all the Low Volume creating going on at the moment and thought this was the way to go here. I am also tying my hands behind my back and not including any yellow but a little splash of red. You may remember the gorgeous pillow my lovely friend Kylie sent me at the beginning of this year. The splash of coral red works so beautifully in the room. I am not entirely sure where this quilt is going or where it will end up, but here is the start of Block 1.

I hope you have had a good creative summer (month for you Southern hemisphere peeps) and do link up to Lynne's Fresh sewing Day if you want to see what other people have been up to.

Familiar colours...

It was back to the more familiar colours of yellow and grey today, with a little random orange and brown thrown in.

 Printing my triangle design in white on various coloured Konas had been on the To Do list for some time and was needed to be pushed up the pecking order with autumn/winter thoughts in mind.

 I love how the coloured fabrics have taken the white ink, altho when you compare the 2 ways below (white ink on coloured fabric or coloured ink on white fabric) I am not totally sure you can tell the difference with this design, can you?

What I think it does give me is the flexibility of colour. Paint colours are much more limiting than the huge array of choice of Kona solids, so printing in white ink does allow me to get the perfect colour. I mean who wants Tomato when you can get Tangerine? Seriously, who?

Being the impatient soul that I am I had to see if things would be any different when I made it up into products and again, I'm not totally convinced they are.

Along with the vast choice of colours with Kona, the other advantage of printing with white ink is I can print in lots of colours at once without having to wait for a screen to dry first. This has to be a big plus. 

So unless you have a huge problem with this set up, I think I will be printing with white ink for the foreseeable future.

 I have been wanting to improve the labelling on my packaging for a while now but it has been a case, as ever, of whenever will I get the time?

As usual, changes around here tend to happen as a result of something needing to be done, rather than me actively setting time aside to get on with it. 

Are you like that? (please tell me you are!)

 The pull factor (or is it the push?) this time was a request from a new stockist (from Seoul, South Korea, very exciting!) wanting a label to show her customers that the fabric was not only hand printed but made by me in England. 

 I kind of knew what I had in mind, which made me wonder why it took me so long to get around to doing it, especially as I already had the Scruffy Daisies screen printed onto the card. It really wasn't rocket science and it really didn't take all that long to finish off. A win-win.

 I wanted to produce something that could easily be used on all my products and I think this sleeve is just the thing. At first I thought I would screen print the whole label, which actually was what was slowing me down. I didn't want to have to do a different screen for every product and I couldn't quite get my head around that. This works perfectly...

 It incorporates the screen printed element I wanted, along with the adaptability for using with different products, as this detail is just printed over the top and on the back. I know that isn't very genius, but quite honestly it feels it.

This little lot is all ready to travel on it's journey to South Korea, where hopefully they

 will be well received.

I think they look rather smart.

As promised I'm drawing the giveaway winner for the Simpatico bundle later, so pop back in a bit. I know it's after 6 and I promised to do it at 6, but hey, what can I say, the kids are demanding tea...again...

Same, but different...

same patterns...

...different products...

My new notebooks with Triangle Mania and Scruffy Daisy are available in the shop now!

And to reward you with your patience for keeping looking at these same patterns, next week, in conjunction with Seamstar, we have a giveaway.

Have a great weekend and see you then!

I've talked before about my hoarding of scraps and my inability of throwing anything out. After all, you never know quite when you may need them and what they can be used for.

And this is the reason why...

The leftover pieces from my pencil pouches weren't exactly huge but they were too big to be discarded in the bin. It's almost a criminal offence to throw away these bits of beauty.

At 11.30pm last night, my normal lightbulb time, when I should have been finishing off and heading to bed, I started playing with these pieces and voila, the new Lippy/Coin Keyring Pouch was born.

They will be in the shop very soon.

I can't guarantee what designs there will be.

After all, as I've said, they are just a bunch of scraps.

UPDATE: Now available right here...

My pillow for the Pillow Talk Swap is finished...

...i sewed the strips of fabric together and then appliqued the hexies in place...

....a finishing touch of embroidery was added...

...and an envelope opening back using my favourite new striped linen and it was complete.

All that's left is to send it off to my secret partner and hope and pray that she feels the same way about it as I do.

I love delivery day at Blueberry Park.

The excitement of having found new products that I think my customers will love gets intensified when I have in my hands these wonderful items that artists around the UK have so cleverly made.

This latest bunch of finds are no exception. Ros and Ed, the talents behind Stabo are a couple who make fab and funky accessories from the softest by-product leather. They are very keen on producing all their products as ethically and environmentally friendly as possible. Just what I love...beauty, practicality and eco-friendly-ness .

The leather they use is a by-product from the meat industry and much better for the environment than many synthetic products.

I love the fact that Ros and Ed's studio in Cambridgeshire has the thickest insulation and is heated by a wood-burning stove.

I personally feel that sometimes a compromise is made with style in the efforts to make things as ethically as possible, but this is not the case with these at all. Stabo create the funkiest accessories for men and women that I have seen in a long time.

I'm hesitant to say which is my favourite accessory (although I am partial to the iphone case) or which is my favourite design (scooter maybe?). I do think Ros and Ed have created a fantastic range that I think (hope) will be very popular with Blueberry Park shoppers.