Sunday Fabric Finds

I am always in the market for fabric and here are some I have my eye on

Ruby Star Rising fabric

Glasses in pink

Foxy - 'Anika' collection by Monoluna

sausage dogs say hello to you 

Jumping rabbits

Are these not the cutest pictures ever. Definitely something to make you smile.

Click here to read the full story.

What I got up to this evening

I should have been making bags but instead I was doing this. It was procrastination but at least it was sewing.

I was blog hopping this morning and ended up on doe-c-doe's blog, where I found a site brimming with lovely free embroidery patterns. I have been looking to use my embroidery hoop for ages so I ended up picking mushrooms. Now I have always been up front about the fact that my hand sewing leaves a lot to be desired but I have been making an effort to improve it.

I did sit and ponder how I was going to transfer the images to the fabric. I searched the interweb and read about several different methods. I decided to go back to basics.

My first attempt was rubbish, it took me a while to get my eye in and decide on stitches.

My second attempt was altogether more successful. I decided to to use different colours and my French knots improved considerably.

I feel a few more projects looming, oh yes that's right I'm supposed to be working....

A day trip to dublin

A rare day of for my OH was celebrated by a trip to Dublin, not entirely surprisingly I came home with new fabric. He is a tolerant man. A few pictures of some of my purchases.

The pink wool hasn't photographed well but I am looking forward to working with it. Now I really must get my nose to the grind stone and start my Christmas prep, I'm a week behind already. I love Christmas in July :o(

Card Holder

A handy little card holder which can be made from 2 halves of a layer cake square (5' by 10'). This project is very straight forward. I was a little enthusiastic about the seams but next time I will make them much closer to the edge, to leave a little more space inside

Full instructions can be found on the Moda Bake Shop

Messenger Bag

Sometimes you need to create just for the sake of it. i'm in that space at the minute, I'm looking for challenges and fun things to sew. I look at every project as an opportunity to learn new skills or at the very least to improve some existing ones.

During the week I stumbled across a tutorial for a messenger bag by Diary of a Quilter, I liked the fact that is wasn't going to take ages so I set to work. I picked some bright fabrics from my Ikea stash and I was pretty pleased with the result.

I think I would make the strap a little narrower and shorter if I was making another one. 

I popped a little pocket inside and I think I would make it wider the next time.

The tutorial made me think I could change my methods for making totes, by sewing in the linings in a similar manner. Everyday is a school day.

The folding shopping bag

At the minute I am trying to develop some new lines specifically aimed at craft fairs. Given the current economic climate people are being more careful with their money and are less likely to "treat" them selves to a clutch mid year. With this in mind I have been looking at some ideas to have practical items that are sellable at a competitive price point. I already have a range of totes for shopping but I thought maybe it I could change the bag so that it would fold into a pouch, it may make it more desirable.

I reworked my normal production method for shoppers and after much studying other bags of this nature, decided how I could get it to fold.I, also, decided to not line the bag as this would add extra bulk to the folding and drive the price for the buyer up.

The irony of the design rework is that I actually thing I made it trickier to sew by making the bag simpler, but there is room for changes there.

The results are still open for debate: I thing it looks..... not in keeping with the type of products I produce. Other opinions vary from it's ok to there is nothing wrong with it, and I think there in lies the problem (probably a common one among crafters who sell). Being ok is not good enough, well certainly not for me. I am fussy about what I sell because as a consumer I am fussy about what I buy. I often stand at craft fairs and watch people buy things that haven't always been made with the highest level of care, but at a price they are happy with. Whilst I, like the next person, likes a bargain, I don't like it at the cost of quality.

So this brings me back to the discussion I have with my OH at many of these craft fairs - I am here just to make money or am I here to showcase what I do and hopefully make some money at it. I feel currently I stand at the latter, but realistically I need to be more it the middle. I know I need to make products that have more all year appeal, at a competitive price, but this bag has a way to go before it gets a look I am happy with.

5 things I have learnt about making a quilt

The whole point of this exercise has been to have a look at what may cause problems and have a practice before I start working with loads of expensive fabric.

1. Make sure your squares are cut accurately. Mine were not, I didn't square them off (lazy) and a few were a little out, this actually had an impact on my quilting, making it look out.

2. Don't take your pins out until you have run some quilting stitches over every block, or you will end up with a pucker.

3. Cutting binding stripes is more difficult than it looks, getting them a uniform width is tricky, and really noticeable when you connect the stripes together. It's also a problem when you sew them on as they don't sit well at the back of the quilt.

4. Leave a bigger tail of binding to connect together. It's tricky when there is just enough space to sew and nothing more.

5. I will not be able to produce a big quilt at my usual sewing station. I will need room, lots of room.

My mother was very bemused by this project. She kept asking what was I going to use this tiny quilt for and didn't get that it was just a little test to see where some of the pitfalls lay. I am still a way off piecing my quilt together but I am ready to start something new and see if I can iron some of the problems I encountered out and to see what new ones I can discover.

Test quilt - day 2

So today was binding day. I followed the fantastic binding tutorial on crazy mom quilts. It was well written and the instructions were very clear.

I decided to pick another inexpensive Ikea fabric for the binding. There were a few strips cut before I got some uniform widths.

Understanding how to stitch the bind on was relatively straight forward, actually stitching the binding on for the first time was quite challenging. The corners were really a mental challenge, which took time to get to grips with. I found even more respect for all those ladies who do this all by hand.

The finished product was highly satisfying to look at. This was my first attempt at making a quilt and I really enjoyed the challenge of working on something new.

This project  has been a steep learning curve with regard to making patchwork and turning it into a quilt. It has left me feeling more inspired to create.

A new project - test quilt- day 1

I have been toying with the idea of tackling a little patchwork for a while. So when my search for a new throw for our bed was unsatisfactory I decided, and even said it out loud to my OH, that I was going to make a quilted throw.


Now not for nothing have I admired these fabulous creations from afar, they look hard and I reckon I need a whole new skill set to follow one through to completion. After much procrastination I found myself in front of my sewing machine last night with a little time on my hands. I decided a test run was in order.

I have been accumulating a nice collection of pre-cuts but I didn't want to do my first test run with them, so I hunted around for a some pretty Japanese scraps I had bought ages ago. They were all cut to 5' squares so I pieced them together. I discovered a little too late that they weren't all exactly the same size, but they were quite close. I selected a piece of Ikea material for the backing, that I had picked up free from a resource outlet. It had at one stage been a sofa cover but I hacked it into chunks of material for practice projects and dug around until I found a piece of wadding I had picked up at some time (probably from the reduced bin in Dunelm Mill). So I was ready to go.

I sewed  9 pieces together and pinned the backing & wadding and then ran up some quilting lines.

My finished 9 squares

A close up on my quilting

The backing

To this point I have spent an hour and am pretty pleased with the outcome so far. I am looking at this as a learning experience. Tomorrow the binding.....

Hello......

Hello is there anyone still out there? Probably not, but none the less I will continue. Over on melly and me there was a post about "slack blogger of the year", I'd definitely be in the running. It's been a case of been sick, been busy, been sick again, but I'm off for the summer hols and starting to feel at, least normal for me if not actually, like a normal human.

Part of me blames my ipad, not really designed with blogging in mind, but rarely out of my hand.

I have been reading blogs and generally having a long think about all things creative. I have definite plans for the summer, which I will share with you as they progress. In the mean time I will leave you with this fab set of patchwork cushions from Red Pepper Quilts in Knitknats shop over on etsy, for some eye candy.

 Delightful.

ps I did start this post on the ipad and then discovered I couldn't add links or insert pictures, so I had to go back to keys, how old-fashioned and traditional :o)

Pink Elephants

I love pink elephants. Although more and more there seems to be one in the room these days, when I'm talking to certain people..

Laura the Elephant Keychain

Pink Elephant Asleep

Pink Elephant Hair Clip

Pink Elephant Fabric from This and That from Japan

Some new bags

Some of the bags with the new gold frames.

The Olivia Clutch

Super Cute Scottie Dogs

Gold Embroidered Flower

I have got a new photo set up and it still needs some work but long term it should make my life easier. I never get much joy from photo editing, so I'm trying to minimise that amount I do by working on the actual photo's. Still a long way to go.

New frames

One a lighter note from yesterday, I did use my new gold frames for the failed fair.

 
They are growing on me and I will post a couple of pictures of them in action tomorrow.

I ordered my usual silver frames back in December and when they arrived they were a 1/2 inch smaller on the sides. I only discovered this fact the night before St Georges market, when I couldn't use all the bags I had sewn :( To say I was upset and annoyed was an understatement. When I went back to my suppliers, my usual silver frames have now been changed. So my problem was I had bags sewn and no frames to put them in. They did have some gold frames, which were more expensive but the right size. I decided to cut my losses, not let fabric go to waste and order them.

They definitely suit some fabrics more than others but at least my hard work has now got a frame and I finally have some more stock for my shop, new listings soon I promise. I will probably order some more so as to put off having to redesign the bags for the new silver frames for as long as possible.

Although all that framing has sparked a bit of creativeness, just need my rib to catch up.

NICHS Craft Fair - March

I don't usually do craft fairs at this time of the year,  but I booked today's back in December. Clearly my judgement was clouded as I was still on the Christmas high.

 

It was awful. There is no nice way to put this. The blame unfortunately lies fair and squarely with the organisers. They happily took our money and then crowbarred as many people into a room as was possible. They did no advertising, locally or otherwise, and then charged people money to get in. 

It was for charity and that took the edge off slightly until one of the organisers from NICHS  stood up and spoke. During her introduction she told the stall holders to save the complaints until the end and then proceeded to remind us that the money we had paid was for charity. It was scheduled to run until 6pm and at about 4pm they told us to pack up. A few hardy characters did a sit in, after all if we stayed they had to stay.

Here's my grip. The event was for charity, however we as businesses had paid the money for a service. It may have ultimately went to charity but it wasn't a donation, it was a charge. At no stage did they do anything to manage this nightmare on the day.

Bad craft fairs are part of the deal from time to time, but when the organisers don't do their job that's unforgivable.

Getting Back on the Horse

Yesterday was a big day, as I got back in the saddle. Three and a half weeks ago I fell of a horse (not my own little baby) and broke a rib. I was one of the most painful things I have ever experienced but it also meant that I couldn't ride buddy. Yesterday I decided to give it a go.

It was fine, he was a gent and looked after me well. I won't say it was pain free but it was ok.My husband has been a star throughout this whole thing, and the photographer. He's not really a horse person, but he has picked up the slack and done all the heavy lifting. I am far from better, still a few painful weeks ahead, but at least I feel better inside my head. I was just happy to be back up in the saddle, three weeks ahead of schedule. Now I just need to take it slowly and not over do it :0)

French Village Bakery

Yesterday morning we popped into Belfast for a few messages and food. We parked on Stranmillis Road, so OH could get his hair cut and imagine my utter delight to find The French Village Bakery was back. My husband looked bemused as I babbled about it having the best pastry in Belfast.

It all started many years ago when I was a student at Queen's University. Stanmillis was my stomping ground and I discovered a little bakery that did takeaway sandwiches before they were trendy and the most amazing pastry. Lunch was often a large latte and a caramel choux. A few years after I left uni, it disappeared.

So on Saturday imagine my delight it was back. Same road but a different location. I wondered if it could still be as good..... it was as good as I remembered, better even.

Two caramel pastries and real coffee was enjoyed when we got home. Yum.

How do you eat yours?

We had ours with Kettle bacon and cheese.

On Pancake Tuesday it has to be Scotch Pancakes.

There was much debate today about types and recipes, most people were getting crepes, but I find this so odd, as here in Northern Ireland, we are brought up on these thick fluffy pancakes. Don't get me wrong I love a freshly made crepe with chocolate spread, but not on Pancake Tuesday.

This year we opted to go savoury and it was delicious.  I have used the same recipe since I was 9years old, my brother made them in school and came home with a recipe. Feel free to try it out.

Ingredients
8 oz plain flour
2 oz caster sugar
2tsp cream of tartar
1 heaped tsp of baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
a pinch of salt
1 egg
1/4 pt milk

Method
Mix dry ingredients
Add the egg
Slowly add the milk and mix. It should be a thick consistency but not sticky. (You may need more milk depending on your flour)
Cook on a hot griddle rubbed with butter.
Eat warm and enjoy