Monday 17 November 2014

SHIP TO SHORE


This quilt started its life over a year ago . . . I know it might seam that I am super slack but it has been made and changed and made again in that time!

It was originally a commission by a client who had a new grandson on the way so it was designed especially for her - (because she's special, of course!). It then got made by the special clients special friend (she, of course, is special too!)

It then became a race to see who finished theirs first . . . I quite clearly I wasn't in the running!

I cant quite remember who did finish theirs first, i'm sure it was a tie but they were both very gorgeous & incredibly special, of course!


I made my version, then I changed it & this finally is the result . . . which I am very happy with! It is a good cot size but would also make a fabulous wall hanging in any little boys bedroom. I do have a few other bits planned to go with it but, surprise surprise, they are taking their time!


I am totally in love with the quilting done by Julia Punlar of Beachside Quilting. She custom quilted it for me & considering I was being super fussy & wanting random wave patterns in the ocean & bubbles in the deep sea I think she did an amazing job.

The pattern is all nicely laid out for the Brother Scan N Cut machine but if you don't have one of those it is all equally laid out nicely for the traditional applique method.

The pattern is being launched at the trade fair this weekend by Creative Abundance (wholesale sales) so hopefully it will be in all fabulous quilt shops very soon. If you don't want a shiny paper copy then the download version can be found in my Etsy shop.

Happy stitching!

Sunday 9 November 2014

A 'Rocking Community' & the Perils of Pintrest


Every Thursday morning this year myself & a team of about 10 women, plus or take a few,  have been getting crafted up ready for our school fete. Now it has to be said that this is my third school fete which happens every four years (& I am still going to be at the school for one more, I know - madness!) This fete is a big deal - the fete is bigger then Ben Hurr and raises a colossal amount of money for the school. 



There has been three of us leading it with the intention that we only had to come up with ideas every three weeks - the reality was a little different but in a good way. Last time we did this we only had craft magazines & Martha Stewart for inspiration this time there was Pintrest . . . . 

Oh my word!!

Many many a late night was spent trawling through the land of wonder that is Pinterest & our list of things to make grew and grew and grew! We almost could not be contained and the choices of clever ideas & inspiration was at times overwhelming. But eventually we couldn't squeeze anymore hours into a day & we simply ran out of time . . . never ever of ideas.

We had ladies sewing at home for us, drowning in miles of tuile, grandmas knitting, cousins, aunts, family glueing, stitching, spraying - dads fighting with eyelets, we bashed the hell out of kitchen bench tops wrestling with press studs and in the final weeks our very patient families put up with the house drowning in boxes & eating take away from the lounge room floor every night. I think the best quote of the final weeks was "I don't cook, I craft!"




. . . we made good use of street directories turning them into coasters & pictures



 


. . . there are a lots of families with dogs at our school - the dogs even have their own 'parking' area so there were fancy dog collars & bags for poo bags to clip onto dog leads!




. . . grandma craft even got a look in - don't diss them as my mother-in-law made them & they were awesome and yes, we did sell virtually all of them!


. . . christmas decs & cards, always a winner





. . . I loved these, they're 'hot bunnies' that you pop in the microwave to keep cold hands & toes warm



. . . our fab school principal knitted these!


. . . lots of stuff for babies







. . . superhero capes & masks, fairy skirts, Princess Anna & Princess Elsa capes











. . . my scrap bucket got invaded & turned into earings & hairclips





. . . Jo spent most of the year leading the team in making owl & dog cushions





. . . I even learnt how to make dream catchers!


In amongst all this chaos as you know, I launched my pattern sales across the universe & they all need tweaking, re-doing & new designs finishing. There was one very amazing lady who held it all together in the last few months & quietly sat at her sewing machine endlessly creating the most amazing things. She was a true champ & an inspiration & I love her for it.

Without getting too soppy, the thing to treasure the most from this year has been the friendship from everyone at our weekly meetings. There is nothing quite like a good old natter & a laugh while bonding over mountains of felt & sequins. I will miss my Thursday morning get togethers, my brain wont miss having to come up with what to make every week, but I will definately miss the fabulous crafty mums & Jane doing the coffee run

Big massive thanks to all those amazing ladies who came every week & the team in the organising commitee - you know who you are & you totally 100% ROCK!

x x Claire


Just so you know - it wasn't just the craft stall that was totally awesome - the jam ladies produced over 1100 jars of jam, the cake stall as well as receiving miles of home baked goodies also made their own beautifully wrapped christmas cakes, date cakes & jars of layered cookie mixture. The book stall had over 10000 donated books - 10,000 books people!!! Ladies who were running the second hand clothing stall, toy stall & bric-a-brac literally gave up ALL the space in their homes to house it all before the fete. The cup cake team baked & decorated over 600 cupcakes the day before. The food stalls were all awesome. There were bouncy castles & baby animals (which is my exhausted state described as bouncy animals & baby castles . . . slightly confused my kids!!) & even the teachers took the time to put on tea & coffee as well as being good sports & sitting up in the dunk tank - which was really funny to watch!