comfortstitching

sun, strings and x

Here it is, much promised and much bumped off the post menu by hr and dqs7 (sorry)!  In all it's golden glory welcome to the quilt country of never ending sunshine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  To surely brighten up any shady corner of my sister's home!! 

This one has it all........sun, sea and waves (check out the wavy quilting!!!!), very oh-so-useful when you live in a dully grey, rain sodden blighty!  A never ending holiday of a quilt!!!..................

it has the x factor!!!!!! 

 

I loved making this, the design is fabulously easy and very lending to scrappiness.  I do hope my sister likes it.

Of course my time is taken up by much else........pretty soon I will be practising law, for all the disputes I have had to settle for my two little darlings.  I am judge, jury, prosecution and defence in this house of law.  Most of the time I am not an eye witness, so have to rely on my psychic powers to fathom who is telling the truth in each accusation.  It is getting extremly difficult and I am doing alot of sentencing to the naughty stairs for several minutes at a time.  Does not seem to be a deterrent though..........any tips??

 

I have pieced together the hexagons for the doll quilt, now I am waiting upon delivery of one more fabric so I can complete the last little panel of this mini quilt jigsaw........I can't wait to see it all stitched up together!!

little baby hexies

I have discovered the tranquility that is......... handstitching paper pieced hexy's!  Why did it take me so long!!???????  There is something so perfect about folding your little fabric hexagons over your little paper one and stitching through both fabric and paper..........it's what cosy winter nights in the depth of a trecherous winter were made for except it's actually summer at the moment.  But isn't summer so crazily indecisive these days.....it can't decide if it want's to copy spring and rain all the time or winter and be so cold you start thinking about christmas in july which is no bad thing.  Any how hexagons....little baby hexagons and pink so they must be little girl baby hexagons ( do you think I'm clucking broodily, I do hope not!!)  I think I could paint a sign on my forehead and open myself up as a mini hexagon factory right now and just churn these little six sided lovies out for eternity.............

These little six sided beauties are more ingrediants for the top secret doll quilt swap. 

I am so sincerley oh so sorry if you fell asleep back there..... I think it's the tea!  I always have cammomile of an evening yet my husband insists on getting confused and making the builders sort so now I will probably be awake half the night and wondering if I should get up and stitch more hexagons........

 

 

  

I have managed to get the hexagons out of my head for some time today and stitch up these blocks for a super amazing quilty lady called tacha but otherwise known as hanies for the ten make two quilting bee.  Tacha wanted improvised blocky blocks and I strived really ever so totally hard to make them slightly wonky but it's difficult.......don't they just look sloppy!!!????????  I do hope they are okay and not too neon(!)

 

 

Hope you like all the fabric picks too tacha!!

If you have never ever ever tried paper pieced hexagons please please do!!!  I really do promise you will never ever regret it!!!! 

Have a very happy tuesday evening, tuesday afternoon or wednesday morning depending wherever in the world you are!!!!

busyness as usual

Sorry you know how it is, you have a plan and life gets in the way a little and a lot.  Thursday's post plans went into the abyss while my darling daughters dragged me round the shops choosing all their new school uniform must haves for the new educational season.  I have also bought myself a virtual trenchcoat and spyglass to partake in a little bloggy snooping and stalking of my doll quilt swap 7 partner.  In case you are thinking ???????? for this swap our partners are secret, so after I found out who mine was I set to a little online clue searching through my partners dqs7 mosaic and their flickr favs and of course I popped round their blog while they were out and meticulously went through a great number of their posts, trusty notebk in hand leaving no stone unturned, the furniture undisturbed and no trace of myself. 

 

I am happy with me progress so far, there has been embroidering - a little out of my comfort zone as I haven't done any for ooooh some time, also lots of patching and several colour stories all going on at the same time.  I really hope it will work out well and not look too busy but I will probably just through lots of white fabric at it and it will all turn out ok in the creative wash.

 

There is of course my other secret partner, the one who's making a quilt for me and whose identity I will only find out when the quilt gets mailed to me sometime in september (hopefully!).  This is the really fun part as I try to guess which of the 200 quilt candidates has the possibility of being mine!!!

 

 

I have been branching out and sewing something other than quilts!!!!!!

btw  ciara picked the colour for todays text, she was very adamant it had to be red red...not brown red, not orange but red!!!!!!  Look how it well it matches the pics especially those aqua and red ones!

Other stitchy goings on, I have managed to purchase much fabric last week on account of my husband not being around.   Unfortuanately he is around a lot more this week on account of being off work and I am going to have to pass off the arrival of many of the parcels as 'oh this must be another swap one' (((!!!!!!)))  ssshhhhh don't tell!!!!

Maybe you could tell me a secret of yours and we can call it quits ?!  Oh and that doll quilt swap partner of mine....it's........???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????!!  

doll quilt swap 7 info

This is not a proper post just some likes and dislikes to help my dqs7 partner on their merry path to quiltswapdom!

some likes

I like clean (ie. not dull) colours.  Pink, blush, yellow, orange with maybe a little blue and green. 
lots of white or grey essex linen to sash/piece together to really make the colours pop.
Fussy cutting/piecing to highlight feature prints.
nice designer fabric eg. heather ross lightening bugs, far far away.  Denyse schmidt flea market fancy/katie jump rope.  japanese fabrics, liberty.
whimsical prints not novelty.
scrappy trips around the world, snippets, nine patches with fussy cutting. Scrappy, improv style piecing.

some dislikes
 
I don't like dark, gaudy murky colours. eg, brown, burgundy, navy, black, red.
unconsidered colour palettes with colours that just don't go together like blue, orange, purple and red all used together.
batiks
ethnic style prints
cheap, non descript fabrics, non designer fabrics, sorry if I sound fussy but I really think they spoil an otherwise great quilt.
civil wars style repro prints.
novelty, cartoony childish prints.  (note I love heather ross style whimsical)
pinwheels

There is also some info under my dqs7 mosaic in my flickr photostream!!!  and please look through my flickr photos and blog for more inspirational clues!!!

 I hope I am not a nightmare partner for you!!  please above all else enjoy yourself....that is an order!!!!

sausage dogs and banana seat bikes

 

I have kick started my way into a stitching summer by signing myself up for a couple of swaps on flickr, doll quilt swap 7, where I will secretly stitch up a little quilt for my partner whilst all the while trying to guess who is stitching up mine!!  and the heather ross mini quilt swap on the designer swap stash poo group.  The above is the beginnings for the latter...

Though I have to say this quilt more or less stitched up itself during the weekend due to me having a work free weekend and my girls immersing themselves in the world of tents both inside and out and lovingly nesting them with an array of homemade cushions and quilts.......obviously having an extremely stitch friendly mummy helps !!

 

I am so sincerley sorry if you are bored with all this heatherrossness.

 

dancing frogs and racecars and sausage dogs and mini pink flouro fish.

 

a gnome resting on a mushroom.

 

There she is again the moody maudlin princess....

 

zipping racy cars!!!!!!!!

 

Phew that was quick!!!!   like I said stitched itself really....

 

Hope my partner Kim likes it!  Now all I have to do is make a little gift to go with it...though I do have until the end of September to get it all done.

 

I got some more far far away from this etsy seller, cute japanese prints too!

 

And more scrapalisciousness from Regina and Laura.  If anyone has more scraps like those above to swap let me know, I'm ALWAYS up for swapping!!!!

So how was your weekend???  Any news to report?   Go on tell me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

international pass the parcel!!!

You may know that I have what is commonly referred to as a slight addiction to all things fabric-a-liscious.  I love all fabric, apart from the gaudy, batik-y, fossil fern-y, novelty and other material tragedies.  So me, recession and fabric swapping were made to meet and get along precisely well at this particular dot in time.

Much swappy negotiation and pondering has taken place over the last few weeks and finally those much anticipated fabric parcels have started to drop merrily through my letter box.  There is something so naturally good about bartering.  It makes so much sense and is infinately superior a transaction than purchasing with boring old money.

I have sent off my liberty, kaffe, mermaids and racecars in search of an exciting life overseas, hopefully to end up as part of someone else's quilt in some far flung and exotic location!  And I have welcomed into my stash-y nest some dancing rabbits, banana seated bikes, vine-y stripes and pretty daisies amongst other wonderful dreamy fabric sorts.  Thank you so much Kirsten, Katie, Alexis, Kristy, Kathleen and Anna!!

 

A few other things HAVE been done!  Sunny string x is looking very good indeed!  More next week!!

 

End of the year teacher's gifts all wrapped and ready for tommorow!

 

Summer will be full of the above!!  The creative catalyst was Sumea's super-lisciously sunny blog!

I just wanted to say here that this is the second time I have written out this entire post.  I was just adding in the pictures when I completely lost the entire previous version of this!!!  How maddening!

So what about you???  What did you recieve in the mail today??  Come on I'm being nosy!!  Any parcels, purchases, bills, love letters, surprises??????????  I so enjoyed reading all your delightful comments on how you read my blog!!  I loved how so many of you had husbands taking care of the kids while you enjoyed a blog break!!  I loved reading how Jules did a four and a half hour round trip for some fabric retail and that Kit had a yummy sounding italian style chicken in the oven for dinner!!!  And Pokey, I would oh so love to see your half hexagons!!!!  Maybe you could e-mail me a pic???!   So don't be shy, let me know something!  anything!!  I'll be sitting here waiting........

loop addict

Fabric.  Check.  Stitching.  Check.  Quilting.  Check.  Heather Ross.  Check.  All the sure-fire, hard nosed, always there culprits are in definite attendance, with an added overdose of meandering machine-y pfaffing.

 

This mini quilt number is what I plunged myself into last week whilst I slowly contemplated the blogging thing and is my stitchy version of a painters sketch, where I work out possibilities and form out realities of all the dream quilt maybe's floating conveyor belt like past my over-fabricated brain.........  Well okay, another day was successfully mooched away in besotted with fabric style.

I think the loopy embroidery is fast becoming an addiction stitch.  You can safely presume all things considered that the little froggy number is a hAPpy QuILt.  It could be considered a snapshot of my state of mind some time towards the end of last week as I slowly worked my head out.

All your comments on the previous two posts definitely helped shape this quilt as I really wanted it to turn out well so you could see the impact all those super kind hearted words had on me!!!!  I hope you won't stop there, there is truly something lovely about checking up on my comments to see a little flood of camaraderie and encouragement, getting to know the names of my regulars and what you all like about the blog.  I know it doesn't look it but this post has taken me nearly ONE HOUR AND FOURTY!!!! minutes to put together, so I hope you won't mind me cheekily asking for another thirty seconds of yours!!!  I'd love to know where you are as you sit and read my blog today......at work (I won't tell the boss!), supposedly doing the dishes (very me!), accompanied by a cuppa.....or is it a glass of wine?????  let me know below!!!!

 

a cutting frenzy has ensued.

 

 

 

Shhhhh! gifts for the teachers....................told you........addicted to looping!!

So where are you right now???????

postcard...

As I am enjoying a mini-break away from my blog, I thought I would send you a postcard to thank you for all your heartfelt comments and concern.  Your words were like the best medicine there is and I cannot convey how much they helped.  I am feeling better about things after a few days away,  I haven't completely sorted my head out about things but many of you suggested posting less and I am going to give it a try, I hope you won't be too disappointed!!  There were a few things that caused Mondays post, one of them is definately that I love blogging and find it really hard not to blog!!!!  This has a hugely underestimated (by me) impact on my life and time to devote to other more pressing concerns.  I was so pleased to see comments made by regular readers who never normally comment, believe me this has a HUGE impact on me!!  I find blogging a bit like talking to myself in the mirror!!  and it is such a nice feeling to get that feedback, it puts a real spring in my step!!!!  So please comment more!!!!!  Say something, anything!!!!!  it really WILL help me feel  like sticking around!

 

I have been busy making Ten make two blocks for Lululollylegs/Louise.  She wanted bento blocks in pink and orange.

 

Block no.2.

 

Swaps all ready to send!

 

Sneaky peek at something new!!!!!!

( ?..um.. )

 

 

 

 

 

I've been thinking alot about the whole blogging thing over the last few days.  I have to think alot more but I'm fearing it may soon be curtains for comfortstitching.

 

thursday fairytale

Once upon a time on an unusually sunny, oddly shaped island far,far away, there lived a lady kept imaginatively young at heart by dreaming away her days stitching fabric from the farthest, darkest and lonliest corners of the world which she found with the aid of a magic box attached to a mouse in her home .  One charming but frightful day the lady almost turned blue when she realised that some of the magical fabric she had coming to her was not indeed on it's way.  The poor thing had spent hours in her back yard waiting for some unicorns to bring her promised fabric to her......

Then one suitably fine but windy day, there was a knock at her door and when she opened it all that stood there was the tiniest frog, the frog croaked and.......what do you know....the fabric came right out of it's mouth right there on the doorstep!!!!!!  The lady was considerably and very expectedly delighted and from that moment on lived very happily ever after indeed!

I sincerley hope that in reading this story you have not fallen asleep, I tried to keep it short, you can roughly translate this as I RECIVIED MY FFA FABRIC AT JOYOUSLY LAST!!!  Thank you, thank you to all of you who wished my fabric to me!!!!!  See how magic you all are and what super powers you have!!!

See, stories always have a happy ending but usually much of life is mundane and we have to make as much entertaintment out of it while we can.  I have been amusing myself this week and last by realising how much I am beginning to dress like any current quilt I happen to be stitching!!!  So last week I spent alot of time on my string x quilt and what do you know, there I was unassumingly dressing up in loose olive-y t-shirts and the brightest yellow shoes.  Then a couple of days later having spent too many endless hours on line searching for the best katie jump rope deals to be had in the whole world right now, there I was sat at the computer wearing bright red shirts and blue blue jeans and brown high boots, all accessorized a little later with a primary green handbag....Now I can't be the only one, take a look around you, note the colours of the fabric you may be using/just bought......look at what you are wearing.........see anything worthy to report back to me and my theory!!!!!  Please don't keep it to yourself!

 

A little floral intervention now,I think these cactus flowers are known as hen and chickens.

 

Fairy like fuschias

 

Fine and dainty english bluebells, which just grow in cracks and crevices around the garden.   These have found their perfect land at the side of my higgeldy steps.

 

I'm putting a little of my Kaffe, Cath kidston and Liberty fabrics up for swaps on flickr, this is one you need to scroll down my photo-stream to see the rest, don't be shy!!  I'm willing to swap for fabrics from any of the designers I have listed under each photo.  So if you fancy shopping with fabric as your currency, go take a looky.

Now don't forget to let me know of those stash and dressy resemblences, it can't be just me!!?

Happy Independance day for Saturday to all of you in the US!!!!