Gone To Earth

Another flower and something that made me smile...

... I made another flower brooch today. It's a little smaller than yesterdays version with a different number of petals. This time I used one fabric (Amy Butler's Martini in yellow)

... and there was no indecision about the button. I think the colours are nice, fresh and quite spring like.... I think it'd look lovely on a jacket or bag.

If you're really dextrous, you could probably make these flowrs small enough to attach to headbands, pony tail bands and hair clips. That may be just a bit too fiddly for me. (Why do I feel I've just issued myself a challenge?)

Spring is definately on its way, the birds are singing really loudly now in the mornings, the hares are running around like mad things and the foxes .... well ... I'll be polite .... they've very 'busy'. It all goes on outside my sewing room window, you know! And tucked beside the patio ... look at these

Following my rant the day about people just not appreciating handmade a friend sent me this link.... it made me smile.

..... they must have fun making up the catalogue.... how do you choose a granny to knit your hat?

Auditioning buttons ...

Today I've been making a flower brooch for a tutorial I'm writing for the shop newsletter.

There are a few 'I can't decides' attached to this flower because I can't decide if it's too big.... and I can't decide which button; which style or which colour to use. Time to walk away for a while and come back to it fresh I think.....

But buttons have some kind of magnetic attraction thing going on,..... so, I'm auditioning buttons..... may the best button win!

Interlinings and new fabric in the shop

I hope that you all enjoyed your half-term.

Once the ice and the snow finally disappeared we made the most of being able to get and about again. The trouble with snow is of course, that it melts.... and this happens...

...Danger! Mud eating wellies!!

In the meantime though some new fabics have arrived in the shop. They arrived quite early too 7.30 ish ... in the morning.... on a non-school day. They're beautiful quilt weight cottons.

Fabrics from the Daisy Chain Collection

Some more fabrics from the Midwest Modern 2 range.

You can see what I mean about the green and blue bias.... well apart from the Ripple Stripe in rust which even has a hint of pink hidden in there. My excuse is that there are a lot of greens and blues in these collections and some of the browns haven't arrived yet, which should redress the balance a little.

It's always difficult to know how to show fabrics off at their absolute best when they're going to be viewed on a computer monitor and that touchy, feely aspect of choosing fabric isn't possible. This 'distance' from the actual fabric also makes it difficult to work out which fabrics work well together in terms of pattern, colour and scale. So, I quite like browsing the Amy Butler Fans flickr site as well as Amy's own site for ideas and inspiration.

I quite often put these ideas together into 'Fabric Bundles' in the shop and they seem quite popular, and I don't know whether it's because other people like the colour combinations too or whether it's just because the 'bundles' are useful if you're building up a fabric stash. Perhaps, it's both.

Amy has also started to publish the pattern repeats for each fabric so I'm also adding those to the shop fabric descriptions because it can only help. What helps you choose fabric online? Do you have any other ideas ?

Here's Amy Butler's Swing Bag as it appears on the pattern sleeve.

and in Daisy Chain fabrics ....

Pretty isn't it.

On the subject of Amy Butler patterns, one query I get quite a lot through the shop is about interlinings, and suitable substitutes and equivalents to the Pellon range of interlinings (available in the US) that Amy recommends on her pattern sleeves. So, it's good news because she has created an 'International/interfacings/Stabilizer Chart'.

This chart compares interlinings and stabilisers from the US, shows their European and Australian equivalents or suitable substitutes. It's probably a link worth keeping safe somewher for future reference, whether it's specifically Amy's sewing patterns you use or patterns by other US or Australian designers. Hope this link helps you, it certainly gives me more information that I can add to the shop...

.... I never knew that the 'Vliesofix' was Bondaweb.

Things in my cupboard and a bee in my bonnet....

I know that this subject crops up again and again on blogs and in forums and if you handcraft anything sooner or later the thought crosses your mind that maybe so and so would like a; knitted scarf or beret or a handmade pouch made in their favourite colour in a design you just know that they've admired before. However, when you give this gift which you've thought carefully about, planned, sourced all the materials for and given your own very precious time and effort to. You sense diappointment in the recipient. Is this scenario one you recognise?

Handmade lace worked around a handmade linen tablecloth, made by my aunt. My fathers eldest sister.

When I search through cupboards in the house, cupboards with shelves that I rarely visit I find things that have been made for me that have really emotionally touched me. I have kept some of them long beyond their useful life, because they were made for me. Sometimes, this makes me feel out of step with the world. I value these things because someone thought it worth their time and precious effort to make this beautiful item for me. They invested themselves in it. It comes with friendship and affection woven into it.

<[>Filet crochet around the edge of a tablecloth my grandmother made. The cloth itself is quite worn now. I suppose I should be brave and replace the cloth.

I know from experience that neither my mother nor her sisters would ever appreciate something handmade. Somehow it lacks value of any kind, which is surprising considering it was their mother, my grandmother that taught me to crochet, embroider and sew. She would spend hours with me patiently unravelling my experiments.

..... the warmth of a handknitted arran

What is it that underlies this lack of 'value' that seems to be attached to handmade or handcrafted? Why is something mass-produced in factories apparently valued more highly? But, what has really unsettled me this weekend was a small article in the Times Magazine, which describes a new series about to start on Channel 4 with Kirstie Allsop. It's basically going to be about transforming run down properties into your dream home and goes on to say it's 'totally on trend' because apparenty Liberty is holding craft classes....... Oh no! whatever next.....'patchwork, rag dolls, crochet' .... is this a threat to Western civilisation?

Apparently, it goes on to say.... 'it (Liberty's fabric department) is filled with middle class women who can well afford to buy pillowcases from Deschamps (Phew! Thank goodness for that - you really had me worried there), but find it frightfully chic to make their own and bask in the glow of moral recitude........

(excuse me, I think I want to be sick......) This pompous paragraph finishes with ...... "Just a word ladies; don't believe all you read these do not make good gifts."

Is it me ........ what values are these? Why wouldn't they make 'great' gifts? Is this the way of the world - that the only items of economic value and hence worth giving are those which have a designer label attached to them and/or someone can produce a till receipt that verfies they paid a lot of money for it. Who is it that measures the worth of their friendships and relationship purely by the obvious 'cost' in money of a gift? And you know as well as I do that handmade/handcrafted doesn't necessarily mean that it was less expensive than a shop bought equivalent. It's left me feeling quite uneasy and even more out of step with the world.

I'm not going to let this drift into a full-on rant..... believe me it could so easily go that way. Particularly if we get onto life values .... and .... but I won't. It would not be a good way to start the week especially when it's also half term.

What are your experiences of receiving or giving hadmade items? Do you give your skillfully handcrafted items them as gifts at all or do you only give them as gifts to those you absolutely know will value them and appreciate the skill and the care that has been invested in it ?

Well, I'm going out to hack up more compacted ice from the drive - I'll feel much better then I'm sure.

It ' s awards time ...

I've been slow on posting this one but that doesn't mean to say it isn't valued, so thank you, Christine. Christine and I have a shared passion for Amy Butler fabric! You just have to look at Christine's shop to see that.

'Kreativ', I like the implications of that word. It's something I aspire to each day. I don't always succeed ... but then if it was easy I'd probably lose interest. That's me ... always believing that if someone else can do it/make it then surely there has to be a way ... please understand that I'm not talking about 'swimming the Atlantic' type feats here - just simple mundane, everyday stuff.

The rules of this award are;

1. Copy the award to your site 2. Link to the person from whom you received the award 3. Nominate 7 other bloggers 4. Link to those on your blog 5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominated.

So, I would like to pass this on to some very creative folk whose blogs never fail to inspire me.

• MarmaladeKiss
• Sew love to Sew
• Jennyflower
• Kitty's bloggy bits
• Raspberry
• LucyKate Crafts
• Two Hippos

Thank you again Christine and I'm off to to let you all know that I'm passing this award onto you with my very best wishes.

TwitterSheep

It's cold, it's snowy, it's icy and the children are in and out and in and out of the house - wellies shedding snow everywhere, wet gloves, frozen cold fingers, soaking trousers, wet socks, drippping wet hats - all the side effects of the winter playground the weather has created out there. They are busy creating house work :( but it's o.k because dear husband, who hasn't been able to get into work either, is feeding me Maltesers. Love Maltesers.....

So what better thing to do than herd sheep.... twitter sheep.

A little word cloud generated from the Bio's of your twitter followers.... I picked this up from a 'tweet' from a fellow blogger/tweeter.

So, if you twitter... make your own word cloud from your twitter followers Bio's - just go here

Cool sheep with his shades on - don't see many those around!

Now, should I be worried by the size of the words that say 'mad', and 'crazy' ?

Snow here too....

Finally, the children got their snow day off school.....

.... the view from the front door at around 7.00am ish. By this time the power had been off at least three times. I've no idea why we lose power so regularly. We've stayed on remote Scottish Islands with more reliable power supplies than us, why is it so tempermental?

We probably had about 7 to 8 inches of it, industrial quantities of the stuff - sitting nicely on top of the compacted snow and ice from earlier in the week.

This is the road that leads out of the village......

Just a bit bleak looking...

Families have been out snowballing each other and the children that live round and about have been havng fun pulling each other on sledges and building snowmen. Mine have returned only for food, drink and occasionally dry socks and the warming up of very tingly cold fingers! They've never seen snow like this before... but neither has my neighbour so she's very busy with all the children, organising snowman construction. Making up for a childhood spent in Johannesburg where it definately didn't snow.

On the way back from the Post office I saw a child being towed on a set of ski's behind a 4X4 vehicle type thing, along the very narrow back road. I'm not sure that that was entirely wise or safe.

So, enjoy your snow, but stay safe and warm....

Sewing, Challenges and Creativity ....

Something I've sewn

A little patchwork sewing pouch. .... 'It's a bit textiley, Mum'..... which I think is Rosie speak for it's granny-ish old fashioned traditional looking. I'm wondering whether to make a tutorial out of it. It's quite easy to alter it's looks by either using one fabric and binding the edges or do a little bit of strip piecing more Denyse Schmidt style. Ummmmh, I can't decide. A quick tour inside the pouch reveals .... ta da!

(Maybe that's getting a bit too excited!) It has a couple of pockets for small sewing scissors, seam ripper for those reverse engineering moments and enough room for some threads. It also has a small pin cushion for a few pins and needle maybe, just the thing to put inside your bag if you go out sewing with a group or sew with friends.

First there was one and then there were two...

This/these little pincushion(s) is something I'm working on.....he's/they are not quite right yet. I've been trying to make a pyramid shaped pincushion out of a rectangular piece of fabric and at the same time ...... get the triangular piece of patchwork at the front.... I don't know why this is a current obsession but it's been amusing me as a little sewing 'problem', inbetween everything else that goes in life.

This is something I want to do,

You're looking quizzical.... it's a pile of scarves. Some are from around the house but most of them I bought from the Age Concern shop. I want to take part in this challenge which involves using scarves to come up with a bag. There are a few different patterns and textures in the scarves I found and fingers crossed I'll be able to come up with something amazing ( :) ) to meet the challenge.

I came across The Purse project via this blog and Indigo Blue has already entered two bags in this particular challenge. ' The Purse Project' is a treasure trove of links to other bag/purse orientated blogs, tutorials and Flickr sites. So, whether you wish to join in or not there's absolutely loads of stuff to go look at and read.

What I like about this, is that it isn't a competition. There are no winners or losers, it is just what it says it is - it's a challenge and challenges are fun. They require you to do something a little different , to work with something different, to extend yourself beyond your comfort zone perhaps. That has to be good for anyone's creativity doesn't it?

On the subject of creativity, this is something I'm reading ....

It's about a woman ... Twyla Tharp, the author and her insights into 'creativity'. Creativity is something which fascinates me. She asks questions such as, do some people really just have a gift for being creative? Is it in their DNA? So, true creativity can only truly belong to a fortunate few ? Or, is creativity something that can learned and developed by a change in approach, through self-knowledge and understanding. I've not read enough to pass on any real insight yet but it strikes me is that she is an extremely 'self-knowing' individual which seems to give her an enviable amount of self-confidence in her personal 'creativity' skills. Backed up I have to say by her personal successes in her career.

I like this page;

She's a choreographer, so for her it's the terror of the white room, for others of us that equates to the 'white page', the 'blank screen' the uncut fabric.... remember writing those first words on a clean white page in a new book at school ? ... The blank computer screen when you know you need to get a report typed up. It's a fascinting read and if I find the answer to being more creative .... I'll let you know.

I'm trying out the exercises as I go.. so this weeks goal is to cut out multi-tasking... I can only do this in school hours you understand. The children just don't seem to get the idea that preparing tea, helping with homework, finding exercise books is something of a distraction in my new quest for creativity ... but then that's family life... it's real and it's very precious.

Speak again soon...