Splendid swapping!

The Great Brit Quilt Pillow Fight is over!  This is the package I sent to Lynn (Rainingcatsanddogs), my lovely partner.

(which she says she liked - yeay!)

And in return I received this amazing package from Jo (Sewjo2009).  Such a beautifully made cushion in lovely rainbow colours, plus a Moda pre-cut pack and a cool hoop for storing all those sewing knick-knacks.

Jo, I love it, thank you so much!

And if that wasn't enough, Miss Laura (Needles, Pins and Baking tins) and I had an impromptu little swap when, in exchange for some relatively boring but useful furnishing fabrics, she sent me this veritable mountain of rainbow scraps, and her first ever zippy pouch (you wouldn't know it was her first!)

Many thanks LJ, I'm so chuffed with my goodies :)

Oh, and Laura is having a super giveaway for some "It's a Hoot" fabrics, pop over and have a little look!

x

Craft fair fun and frolics

First of all, many thanks to you all of you for the best wishes for Felix.  She is fortunately now fully recovered and the only lasting symptom seems to be a complete aversion to eating anything other than fruit, yoghurt or  baby Wotsits.  Not the best diet in the world... hmmm... any tips for getting a 17 month old to eat casserole? or carrots?!

In other news, the products of my stitching have had two outings in the last week.  The weekend before last, everything I'd sewn went to a large Christmas fair near Lewes with my friend Clare who is a talented buyer (and, as it turns out, seller!), and then this Saturday, five of us shared a stall at a local hotel.

I didn't make it to Clare's fair, as that was the weekend that Felix was ill, but got feedback on the Saturday that she'd only sold badges. However, the clientele was completely different on the Sunday and the more pleasing grand total was:

• 17 badge sets
• 2 Makeup bags
• 1 purse
• 1 washbag
• 1 tote bag
• 1 cushion
• and......believe it or not....The Hungry Caterpillar!  (Apparently, he could have sold twice as someone came back and asked for him later!)

I quickly sewed up a few more make-up bags and here was our stall this Saturday!

And my little section:

(I can't claim credit for the handstitched (!) bunting which belongs to felt queen, Perdita)

The sales tally:

• Lots more badges
• A tote bag
• A wash bag
• 3 make-up bags
• 2 little purses
• And some fabric covered handbag mirrors (that we were making on the day!)
• ooo plus a friend has since asked to save her a doorstop and a cushion..

It was a lot of fun, having some grown-up time, talking to people and having a nosey round the other stalls so between us we've signed up for another three in December...well I've got the stock  (...except for make-up bags!)

The learnings?

• Some of my stuff is a little too bright for the more traditional customers that seem to attend smaller fairs round here.  People admired the cushions but couldn't see where they'd fit in their homes
• Pocket money purchases are essential to keep your morale up
• Order your business cards well in advance, so they are not still in the post when you want to be handing them out (doh!)
• REALLY REALLY don't be disheartened if things aren't selling. It's easier said than done, but from Claire's experience...the same products at the same fair sold much better on the second day.

The sum of all this efforts?  £170!  Doesn't sound loads but I'm really pleased with it...a couple more fairs and my Tesco's vouchers are going to fund Christmas (well almost!)

x

I think this sums it up!

Happy Birthday gorgeous James
xxx

PS Craft fair update later, when I've got the pics sorted!

My little lady has been poorly...

It's been a scary few days here.  Felix has had a bad cough all week, which was diagnosed as a virus on Wednesday.  On Friday afternoon her breathing got much worse so we took her back to the doctors.  He sent us straight to the hospital where we spent a long and worrying evening with chest X-rays and nebulisers and antibiotics.

It turns out it was a nasty virus with possible signs of a chest infection, but fortunately she responded well to all the treatments and Saturday morning was spent running around the ward eating the nurses' Quality Street (like mother like daughter!)

We got to come home on Saturday, and have had a quiet time, so hopefully (everything crossed here) she's well on the mend now.  

As you may imagine, my sewing mojo has completely left the building, but I do need to ask for some advice as I have a swap item to finish this week..

Remember my powerpoint designs?

Well, I turned the two on the left into reality...

and for my partner think I'm going to stick with the first option, the random squares in orange, green and turquoise on linen. 

The only thing is, I have no ideas on how to quilt it.  I don't own any hand-quilting thread, and have never hand quilted before, so I think that's out...so machine quilting-wise..what would you do?

Without my mojo, I'm stumped so your thoughts would be very much appreciated

x

Panic stations

No time to attempt to draft a witty/interesting/ or even just an average long post! Nor any time to talk about my progress on the Brit Quilt swap... Like a few fellow bloggers I'm in full scale production mode for a craft fair in 10 days time...but I did just want to pop in and say hello (and please don't leave me!), and show you the stitching progress to date:

Zippy purses and make-up bags

Cushion tops galore (doing the backs is less fun!)

A few solitary chrimble decorations - more needed...!

Some fabric badges - stocking fillers?

 

And here is a washbag I've made for the fair.  It's made with what is likely to be my most expensive fabric purchase EVER.    This is Lyric by Villanova and it's a lovely soft furnishing weight fabric that was dressing a local design shop window....I've been ogling it for a while, so I bought the 3 metre length from the window.  Even with 25% off it cost me nearly eighty quid and I'm supposed to be on a spending diet!

It was so worth it though, because that washbag makes me happy.

So, the question is, what was your most expensive fabric purchase...and was it worth it?!  I'd love to know...and it might make me feel less guilty about this purchase :)

x