whats on your wall?

an anniversary gift from the Mr a few years back,

of course I had to have a tree!

I thought id try to have one last 'Whats on Your Wall?' for 2010.

Sorry for not doing any for the month of december. With all the computer problems at first and then the market happenings it just got put in the too hard basket.

So... do you want to play?

You have a whole week to add your link and as usual id love to see

what you have hanging around at your place.

painting, quilting and dresses

The top of the custom order quilt is finished and here are my favourite bits.

Some of you may recognise some of the fabrics as ive used a fair few currently available ones.

Its roughly half vintage

 

half modern.

Heres the top in its entirety. Only one mishap, I dont know how I placed those darn two yellow squares together? Did you see them before I pointed them out? I was a bit sick yesterday so thats my only excuse. And the Mr is home from work in bed with it now.

It hasnt slowed me down today though. Ive finally painted those darn coathangers with the right paint.

I probably didnt tell you about them yet but they bugged me. We had painted them with the wrong paint then I bought more and painted the new ones with the wrong paint too! They will be ready for saturdays market. So... yay I guess.

And now for the final batch of wrap dresses for 2010. I have thirteen cut out.

I wonder how close ill get to finishing these little beauties today? I really like the brown pinstripe shirting that im going to place coffee coloured lace doileys on, plus the red one on top is a final piece of vintage fabric ive been holding onto. It reminds me of a dress I had when I was four or five.

Perhaps I should use the teeny leftover scraps in my next quilt?

Back to my machines..... and the Mr has finally arisen....im going to ask him if he can spot my mishap

keeping it random

Im working on this quilt for a customer from the recent market.

Only its not quite large enough yet so I have to add more pieces and I thought id pop in here to show you how I add pieces after ive already got the placement and rows worked out for most of the quilt.

It needs two more rows at one end and two more on one side.

Of course I want to merge in these new pieces as they are all fabrics not yet in the mix.

I have used roughly three pieces (sometimes more if its a favourite) of each fabric which is the rule as I understand it for one of these postage stamp quilts.

Apparently the eye does not pick up the repeats if you do this.

So what I do is a trick ive seen on a gardening show when planting bulbs to get a random self sewn effect.

I throw three objects in the air (I prefer to use leaves of course) and wherever they land is the square I remove and place towards the outside of the quilt to make up the extra rows I need to make it the correct size.

Oh ! Its a single bed size this time. Not queen.

Ive started sewing the rows together and its looking really gorgeous.

Shame I wont be keeping this one.

Ive got to learn to let them go if im going to offer these for others.

a before

This is how Mali's room looked before we moved her into a big bed recently.

The pink walls and fairies were already there.

If Zja and hubby werent renting there would be a forest scene covering every inch of the walls.

I bought her this print as a teenager and its now found its way here, to her daughters room.

Uncle Navarh and Aunty Adelin's handmade rabbit sits next to MonetPaisley's lovingly handworked doll.

A set of vintage childrens dictionaries which I still cant believe I found is part of her fast growing library.

Something else that was her mums. I went through a stage (thats still going) of using art from old record covers for my teenagers rooms.

Ive been sewing all day at a friends so I dont have much else to show today.

The 'after' will be posted as soon as we finish the big move around to make room for the new baby.

Id like to say a huge thank you to everyone for your kind comments and support through this year.

It has been a surprising and challenging place for me to escape to

or visit and place my daily thoughts here.

I hope to be here next year adding some more to the mix and to enjoy crafting along with you all.

For anyone who is going to check in on me maybe one more time before the year is out, I may just have one more post!

today I think ill

As usual for me on mondays I have hopes for what the week will hold.

I would love to begin sewing together this postage stamp quilt which im a bit excited about. A lovely customer at the recent market has put in an order for her daughters bed. Plus I have some more orders for the eskimo jackets coming in which is groovy, but theyll need to wait for this evening as I havent even done the patterns in those sizes yet.

First things first.

We went away for the weekend to the country and I feel like changing things around at home. I am invigorated and refreshed after spending three days outdoors and swimming in the freezing mountain rivers.

(Oh, I was offered a nice steaming hot portable shower but I prefer the elements)

Its time to move some stuff to create that fresh country feel around our place. No mean feat for a city dwelling. (plus a good tidy up wouldnt go astray) I may have chosen to go outside but

its raining so doing some gardening is out for now.

On the way home we stopped and picked some wild flowers so I have these

lovely blooms as a starting off point.  It has taken me years to instill in the Mr just how important stopping by the roadside is for someone like me. I need to get a foliage 'fix'.

I think they are a type of gaura? They were everywhere for about a good hour of our drive home.

So there it is. This is what ill be up to today.

Wish me well on moving the furniture around by myself while the teenager sleeps on.

I wonder what youre doing?

scenes from a market

There's a tale to tell you all of the mishaps and mayhem that surrounded last nights

 market. Ill try to keep it simple.

I forgot things and had to go back, got lost on the way

so was late although id left super early, dressed for a cool evening but it was hot so got sweaty,

hadnt eaten all day cos I forgot to, and didnt like my spot so swapped at the last minute, was alone for the first time and close to tears of frustration (with myself only), and had more props than I ever had plus furniture as well.

Note to self: dont book a market around that time of month.

But I had rescuers! Caring Gen of FrankieGusti and her hubby were there and all set up with time to spare. They gave me huge support and Gen even went all the way back to the van a couple of times to gather all my clothes to give me time to breathe and get my thoughts together. Thanks so much guys. I think I would have headed to the nearest pub if it werent for your help. I still havent done a much needed practice run at home. Stupid me.

Gusts of wind blew the art over as I set up and it was almost the last straw when

(yes ive been reading The Three Little Pigs to a certain someone a bit too often

.....straw......blowing) ....anyway.........

 the adorable Danielle from Curiouser and Curiouser came along with a gift just for me.

It was a new homely rug for my stall in the nicest colours. Thanks Danielle, your gift and your timing were perfect. So did you try to match the eskimo jackets or was it a fluke? 

And then MrTL turned up and fed me.

I didnt know he was coming until he surprised me.

It ended up being a nice evening, the wind died down and it got cooler.

A favourite customer came right at the lastminute. Shes a woman after my own heart

 cos thats just how I shop. While running.

A not so simple story after all. 

the other four jackets

This is the twin sister of the one I posted yesterday

except the lining is a stripe and floral this time.

This one was the one I said was my favourite

because im such a lover of peachy pinks

I thought the outsides were good until I started turning them inside out

and they are just as nice and they have that quilted look.

Yes, its still the one I love the most.

This colour is more green in real light but it conitnues to look bluer in shots.

The embroidery on this one is on a heavy natural linen that is stunning.

I wasnt sure about the inside of this one being too quirky until I saw it and now its made me want to explore some summer weight jackets for midseasonal wear.

Again with the blue shade that doesnt do this coat justice.

well my little break is over and my coffee cup is now empty so its back to the machine until market time.

I havent even begun to tell you my news fromt he last market and how many dresses im working on today. Ive lost count of how many I cut out yesterday. That will have to wait im afraid.

I hope to see you there if you can make it tonight!

oops, I nearly forgot to add MrTL's offerings for my market table.

Okay, im really going now, bye.

shop update: eskimo jackets

size 3

this one is in the shop

but the rest are waiting for their buttons and top stitching.

This is an amost identical one apart from the lining, hood and buttons.

I love this blossom one the most

but this one is a close second.

Ive managed to make a completely boyish one with no hint of florals this time. Ive found this hard to do up til now as I always sneak in a lining that ends up being a bit girly.