all five horizons

Lyn at Welcome to Bluebird Quilts has called out for help naming her beautiful quilt.  It really makes me want to start my sampler quilt that I have been meaning to make for over a year.  I really must keep putting it off!

I received a rather intriguing email the other day via my Etsy shop from a publishers who are putting together a book on mini quilts.  Now I am sure it will come to nought but it was rather nice to have been contacted all the same.

It has also made me think about making some more mini quilts and especially about making some new designs.  I really enjoy making these little squares of quilted joy.  I get such a kick out of the whole process.

I will especially look forward to drawing up some possible designs in my new Maker’s Notebook which is made by the people behind Craft and Make.  I got it for my birthday!

I was really happy to find a well put-together and friendly UK-based craft community called Cut Out + Keep (although members come from all over which is fantastic).  I was starting to think that we were completely out of the loop when it came to the new craft revolution.  I love the look of the site and you can import from other places you have posted so if I blog about my craft here (which I still want to do), I can easily transfer the pictures and text over there.  I fully intend on spending a good afternoon browsing through all the fabulous projects.

However, I do wish there was a decent British craft magazine to rival the likes of CRAFT (American) or even the low-tech but very well-written and fun Mixtape (Australian) since the adverts and resources for both are usually far, far away.

It would be nice to feel there was a similar trend developing here too.  All the magazines I find on the shelf are aimed at the older lady who wants to make chintzy frilly monstrosities rather than the more funky, modern creations you can find from the likes of Angry Chicken, Auntie Cookie, Lara Cameron et cetera.  It seems to me that there is a massive gap in our magazine industry.  Where Australia has Frankie and America has Skirt, we don’t seem to have magazines that cater for women who want more than the glossies or the tabloid-like weeklies.  I want to read about interesting women with diverse interests who care about more than who is dating who in Hollywood and what lip gloss is fashionable.  Please do fill me in if I am missing something…

I have finally made the coasters I promised and they are on their way to Stephanie right now.  The pic is a little blurry and intentionally small so it doesn’t give the game away too much.  I may post more pics when she receives them although they will still be blurry (unfortunately, I could only use my camera phone which is usually awesome but cannot handle close-up things!).

I made a little good luck card for ricardo as it is his first day in his new job today.

Sorry the picture is a little blurry.  I repurposed some card from a green folder then cut out a small rectangle with my funky cloud scissors.  I cut out a rough horseshoe shape from some of the spare card then held it in place with my finger (a messy option, it turns out) while I used a spray pen.  On removing the template, I had a littel horseshoe shape.  I added a couple of dots for the horseshoe screw holes and voilà!

In lieu of a post about craft I have done (since I haven’t), here is a post about someone else’s craft! I just love Lara Cameron’s Kirin Notebook blog. She has just posted about her new clutch bags which use her lovely fabric.

I have just snapped up this one:

I have not decided yet whether to keep it for myself or give it as a gift (if you know me, you might be getting this for yor birthday!).  I love the dusky pink with the fawn of the linen.

A while ago, I promised I would make some quilted coasters like the one’s I made for my mother-in-law for Mother’s Day for Stephanie and so far, they have not been made. It was her birthday recently so I thought, ‘Great! I will send her some for that!’ but the day came and went and still no coasters. I blame this new blog. I have been tweaking and fixing. I also blame a recent trip to Ikea where we bought a new craft table because my other one was too small. I also bought new storage boxes for all my craft gubbins. I have only just started to organize said craft area and as such, no craftin’ as been happening while there is so much mess. The light is at the end of the tunnel, though. I am almost all tidied up in my little creative corner of my world and Stephanie will (goddammit) receive her long-awaited coasters, hopefully before she turns 31.

Last Sunday was Mother’s Day and I was planning on making both mums something but both efforts went badly wrong.   I am still working on my mums gift but this is the last minute replacement I made for Rich’s mum.

They are little quilted coasters from Joelle Hoverson’s Last minute Patchwork & Quilted Gifts.  The book is great and I was dying to start making stuff from it after seeing it in Martha Stewart Living magazine.  Sorry the photo is a little blurry, I had to snap in a hurry.  The material is some of my favourite in my stash and so I hope she liked them!

I ended up giving my mum my first sewing project since I got my new machine.  If nothing else, it has sentimental value.

Remember my patchwork quilt? Well, I never got round to showing you my finished patchwork cushions which I made to match:

I used bodged a pattern in The Impatient Patchworker which my MIL bought me for my birthday. This is the first project I made from any of the lovely craft books I got for my birthday. IN JULY! How shocking is that?! Anyway, I am pretty chuffed with the results.

Say hello to my lovely sewing machine that made making these cushions a dream. I really want to get on with my sampler quilt but I have to wait until I have made at least one present for Christmas.

Emily has now received the mini quilt I made for her friend so I can show it to you without ruining the surprise!!!

A bit closer…

And of course I have to sign it:

And I have an Etsy shop so if you would like one of these made just for you, mosey on over and have a gander.