birdie

So this is rather exciting for me and perhaps a bit dull for you guys but I'm going to go ahead and talk about it anyway (sorry). Yesterday my first ever craft commission was published online :D It's in the members zone on The Art of Quilting site and consists of a tutorial to make this little lavender sachet.

I hope that someone will have a go at making it and that my instructions are clear! 

For me, the explanation is always the hardest part. I love making stuff but I do struggle with writing out the steps, hence why I've not attempted many tutorials on here! I really do admire crafters who can make and explain how they've created something - it's a skill I hope to improve on as whilst sewing the bird I came to realise that it would be a pretty awesome way to earn a living (craft commissions in general, not just lavender birds)!

Tuesday's Tees - Patchwork Apparel

Much love for these tees - so much so that once they've sorted out their website I'm going to order one!

You should too - Patchwork Apparel

note: their website can be, at times, quite rubbish, for some reason it's always under 'maintenance'...but do persevere!

dress dilemma

My v.good friend is getting married in just over two weeks and I am without a dress - cue much internet searching and procrastination - ie ignoring that little refined search button known as 'price range'. It's a dangerous thing to do because what happens is that you find a dress you really like and oh, it's £120. And then you tell yourself, it's a great dress and you will definitely wear it again so it's totally worth blowing over half the amount of money you have to survive the upcoming month. Behold, the best dress I have EVER seen. The Cosmonaut Dress by ModCloth.

At $171.99 it is way out of price range (that's just under 114 english pounds) but could this dress be any more perfect? Pockets, buttons, a belt, that amazing collar and of course the spaceship and planet fabric. I probably don't need to point out that it's not really suitable for a wedding...but who cares?!

I want need this dress.

Also on my search I came across some other awesome dresses worthy of note:

left: Daisy in Love

right: Forties Floral skater dress

It's totally acceptable to wear black to a wedding right? What about stars, everyone likes stars right? Oh. *Starting to loose motivation*

left: Galactic Collar skater dress

right: Brunch with Buds

As you can see, by this point I'd almost given up on my search for smart dresses - I am v.casual at heart.

left: Fred Perry Checked dress

right: Foulard shirt dress

I managed to tear myself away from the casual numbers and found these two. I really like both of them...but which one?

left: Too Much Fun

right: Blueberry Buckle

atomic quilts and liberty prints

Last Thursday I ventured northwards, my destination: Birmingham's NEC. Why? The Festival of Quilts of course!

That's right, it's that time of year again. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of women (and some disgruntled looking husbands) came to bask in the glorious light of Europe's largest quilt fest - and I, thanks to work, was one of them. Having attended the pervious year I felt a little smug, thinking I knew what to expect and how to attack the day in order to get the most out of it. I was so wrong. The vastness of the event had clearly escaped my memory. There was just so much too see and not enough time!

There were numerous mini exhibitions by quilt collectives, individuals (professional quilt artists as well as textile graduates) and museums. The highlights for me were:

Kate Findlay's Atomic Quilts. Her collection of work was inspired by the Large Hadron Collider (how amazing is that? Sewing and science coming together)!

Pictures courtesy of Kate Findlay - her quilts really were spectacular, you can see the whole series on her website. 

From (super) contemporary to stunningly old skool - this antique 1930s American 'Ocean Waves' block quilt caught my eye, or rather the fabrics did - I'd quite fancy a dress made out of one or two of them! 

And lastly this impressive piece of patchwork by a Russian quilter whose name I can't track down in the FoQ guide. Her work is full of texture and three dimensional elements which was v.different and quite astonishing! One of the pieces in her collection was a quilt depicting her grandmother working in the fields, all made from labourers clothing - I'm just sorry I didn't photograph it!

I also managed to have a quick look around at some of the competition quilts these were my favourites:

Simply Blue - Pauline Mulford

Kaleidoscope - Iris Hills

Seasons - Margaret McDonald and Susan Campbell

From the miniature quilts section:

Geese in the Garden - Jane Sully

Another great thing about going to this years festival was that I got to meet, in person, a few of the ladies I'd interviewed (either by email or over the phone) for the magazine. Janet Bolton was my favourite - she was such a nice lady and her work is quite beautiful - the words homey and cosy spring to mind when I look at her textile pictures I can't really explain why but I do love them!

And lastly, Liberty's new lifestyle fabrics range was on sale at the festival. As a little treat to myself (and practically using the last of this month's money) I got some of this - isn't it lush?! I'm hoping to make a dress so watch this space!

Here's some of the other prints and colours in the range, the whole collection isn't on the Liberty website for some reason but I'm guessing they have it in store...you can definitely buy it from these lovely people - Fabrics Galore. Here's some of the other ones that I particularly like (yes, blues are my favourites).

Tuesday's Tees - modcloth picks

Current favourite 6 from ModCloth - yup, they don't just do pretty dresses!

when's it due?

I do not often rant on here - mostly because rants are rather negative by nature - but you must forgive me on this occasion.

I was walking home from work this evening when a man stopped me on the way to the train station and said "if you don't mind me asking, are you nearly due?"

That's right folks a complete stranger not only thought I was pregnant, 9 months pregnant that is – ie carrying a full-term, ready-to-be-born baby, but also thought that it was a perfectly reasonable thing to ask me! Seriously WTF. I was just minding my own business, thinking about what to make for dinner when from nowhere some bloke is asking whether I'm about to pop?!?!?! What I should have said was "actually yeah, I do mind!"

On the tube home I thought two things: 1. Do I honestly look 9 months pregnant? 2. It's really none of that random man's or anyone else's business if I am or not.

Whilst on the tube I also mused about how I felt:
I felt like crap because I clearly looked big enough to be smuggling a small human being inside of me - especially as I was secretly quite pleased with my current efforts at exercising more (it's obviously not had any effect as yet).
I felt a slight shame because no, contrary to what he believed, I'm not helping to populate the earth.
I felt sad because one of my favourite dresses will now always be tainted by the dreaded 'are you pregnant' question.
And I felt angry that that stupid man had made me feel the previous three things.

Who are these jerks who think they can ask that question to women they don't even know.
Take note jerks:

it is NOT ok to ask a woman if she is pregnant - if she is and you're worthy of the news she will tell you herself.

If/when I'm ever pregnant the whole sodding world will hear about it - I am going to wear so much maternity stuff. And if/when I am pregnant I hope I shall be able to embrace the change that will happen to my body or at least hold a more positive attitude to how I look. In the mean time I'm thinking of making some badges or tote bags with the slogan: 'nope - not pregnant, but I'm SO glad you asked'.

Rant over. On a lighter note I can share this picture. The closest I've ever been to being pregnant is when I dressed up as 'Juno' for a work 'movie character' themed party. The bump was played by a pillow :)

cheat's bunting

If truth be told I'm still recovering from a v.busy weekend: On saturday Mitch and I journeyed to Essex to visit his parents, on the way home from the trip we spontaneously decided to drop by Hyde Park to watch some of the games on the big screens (which was actually really fun and I wished we'd done it earlier) and saw team GB's Campbell beat his Irish opponent to win the gold medal in boxing! On sunday we held our first ever BBQ in our little Brixton garden. I say 'we' but Mitch did all the food - jerk chicken (fast becoming his signature dish), goat curry, potato salad (with a german twist), red cabbage coleslaw and a beetroot salad. I helped out where I could - chopping vegetables, setting up the chairs and tables in the garden - but Mitch pretty much had the situation under control. So, with an hour or so before the guests began to arrive I thought the occasion could do with some bunting (every occasion deserves bunting)! I didn't have time to make the double sided kind so here's what I call cheat's bunting - perfect if you're a little strapped for time!

1. Make a template out of card to the size you'd like the flags to be. Pin the template to the fabric and cut around it using pinking shears.

2. Fold over the short edge of the flag to the wrong side of the fabric (if it has one). This is where the string will pass through so be sure to make a big enough fold (3-4cm should be fine). Stitch the fold in place around 5mm from the raw edge.

3. Repeat steps 1 & 2 to create lots of flags for the bunting.

4. Next you need to thread all the flags onto the string and make sure they're facing the right way (with the fold on the back). I secured a pin to one end of the string and fed it through the casing on each flag. Once all the flags are on make two loops at each end of the string and hey presto, you've got yourself some cheat's bunting! Simple as :)

The BBQ was a great success thanks to Mitch's expert cooking as well as a couple of our friends who also supplied some tasty eats and a bottle of fizz! To top it all off, some people stayed to watch the Olympics closing ceremony - I can't believe how quickly the last two weeks have gone - I've enjoyed every minute of it...roll on the Paralympics I say!

golden half scans

may - july

waterloo

southbank

southbank

jubilee

sisterly

osterly house

osterly

goat petting

crystal palace

crystal palace dinosaurs

old skool dinosaurs

branches

crystal palace transmitter

crown and anchor

comic con

brockwell park

morning/evening light

forest pub

beard today, gone tomorrow

Just a little insight into my latest adventures with the golden half camera. I took the last one to show Mitch the difference hair makes. It can be quite a shock to kiss a beardy him goodbye in the morning and come home from work to find him shaven and shorn!