Project Deadlines

I've been a bit absent lately from posting as I am furiously working towards a deadline. It is only when you have written a book that you realise how much effort actually goes into it and how many people are involved in the process.

picture via churl

Once this next stage of my writing is finished, I am looking forward to getting into my sewing room as it needs a serious clean and vac ... a bit of furniture re-organisation, some more plastic tubs and then hopefully I will be able to share with you what my creative space actually looks like.

Until then, what projects are you all working on at the moment?

Vladamir

We have a new cat in our lives ...

Vladamir is a 2 year old stray that needed a new home and our home was missing the presence of a Russian boy.

Konstant Kaos @ Incube8r

Have you taken the time to check out Incube8r? Konstant Kaos are very excited to announce that we have a cube at Incube8r on Smith Street. There are some really gorgeous products from some of Melbourne's newest designers and now there is a Konstant Kaos cube!

Starting with some lovely Japanese florals and some select alternative prints, Konstant Kaos will be rotating through some of the unique products that we make every few weeks.

We have Cube #1 .. top left hand side of the left hand cube stack. Can you see the Kaos star??

Mothers Day Classic Reflections

Rather than do what I did last year (and the year before) and sleep in on Mothers Day, a friend and I made a decision a few months back to train towards the day and enter into the 4km Mothers Day Classic Run.

Every week we have been meeting for training and although both of us have encountered various difficulties, we both turned up on the day.

We were up at 5.30 ... an ungodly time of the morning. Due to general indeciciveness, I didn't register online, but arrived early and registered on the day. We left without much breakfast, we took some food with us instead.

All along the course there were signs like this one, generic "feel good" signs. There was about 5,000 runners, some were trained well, others struggled. The pushers in particular were a bit annoying, prone to stopping without warning ... If I do this again, I will try to start closer to the front to avoid pushers and kids.

Heading towards the finish like .. exhausted! I ran about half the course and power walked the rest, running, walking, etc. I was pleased that I managed to run half of the Anderson Road hill in one go. My aim for the next run is to run more and walk less ;-)

The best thing afterwards was seeing Tori running towards me. "Mummy you were running". Hopefully when she is older, she will take up running with me.

Jen and I after the run ... we did it! Now that our metabolism is working, lets go and do brunch!

The next run will probably be the Melbourne Run on Sunday July 18th.

Breath of Avignon

I bought a jelly roll a while back American Jane, Breath of Avignon. In a moment of weakness, the rotary cutter was calling me and I found myself at the machine .. patching again!

If you have ever wondered why I sew with so much red, it is because I buy red homespun by the bolt. I found it more economical to do it this way as I use so much red in what I do.

The fabric is very very busy and I played around for a while with mixing and matching the different patterns together and ended up with this. One 3x3 block and a block done using the Oh Fransson method again, with a fussy cut center and a frame around the outside.

How do you work out your quilts?
Do you sketch them out, use a computer or just "go with the flow"?

I think that the red blocks balance the busy-ness of the blocks. I decided to cut two 2 1/2 inch strips down to four 1 1/4 inches to do the border around the outside and when I get my backing fabric in and my batting I am hoping to do some hand quilting detail around the red blocks in white perle embroidery thread.

For the backing, I have ordered a yard of this matching fabric from Hancocks. I haven't ordered fabric from these guys before, so I am hoping that it works out!

Turn of a Friendly Card ...

I've had a few metres of gorgeous playing card fabric in my stash for a while now. I've made lots of pouches and lunch bags with it, but I wanted to try my hand at a baby quilt.

I played around with some 3x3 patch blocks, but ended up using a method that I learnt from the Oh Fransson web site. You fussy cut the middle block and then framing it in a complimentary fabric.

I am rather happy at the way this one has turned out. My hubby was rather excited when he realised that it was the size of a card table as well .. baby quilt doubling as a table cloth?

Now to find the energy to batt, back, quilt and bind. I was going to do the back in the fussy card houses print/check and then probably bind with a striped bias. If only I could find black and red striped bias!

I am hoping to get to the Stitches and Craft show this afternoon. I have school reports due in and the deal I have made with myself is that I get my reports in early, then I can go for a few hours and enjoy the crafty goodness ...

Modish Makers Market this Saturday

If you are on your way to the Stitches and Craft Show in Caulfield this Saturday, swing by Malvern Town Hall and drop in on the Modish Creators Market. We are right around the corner!

Konstant Kaos will have a stall there, along with some gorgeous crafters. Modish have a fabulous blog which spotlights all their stall holders. Back in March, Konstant Kaos shared the spotlight, head on over to their blog to read all about me!

Gubblebum Kids

A while back I made a batch of baby shoes for Gubblebum Kids and now they are online and ready to be bought!

Konstant Kaos are very excited, this online store and it has an excellent range of baby wear! All I need now is another baby ...

On their NEWS page there are a number of specials!

• Buy any pair of Konstant Kaos Baby Shoes and receive a bonus badge.
• The first pair of Konstant Kaos Baby Shoes sold will receive a bonus Konstant Kaos pencil case - be quick!
  

So check them out and spread the message using your social networking tool of choice!

New Glasses

The last time I had my eyes tested was three years ago ... finally got around to getting them re-done and my left eye now has a stronger prescription.

In addition to my serious "teaching" glasses, I have opted to go for a funky pair as well.

What do you think? You might not be able to see, but the arm has a tattoo design on it.

Does it say crafty, alternative Margaret?

To wash or not to wash

Since I started to make baby quilts I have been plagued by this question. I spend hours patching quilting and binding baby quilts, but should you wash your quilt before selling it?

We all know that if you work with heavily dyed fabrics such as red fabric, a pre-wash will save you angst later on. But do you wash your quilt after you have finished quilting and binding?

I don't wash any of my other products, but I have this niggling in the back of my mind that if someone is going to buy a baby quilt then they are not going to wash it before they use it.

So what are the pro's and con's? You run the risk of shrinkage or colours running, but is it better if it happens before the product gets to the customer?

I took the plunge and washed my baby quilts in a low allergy soap wash with vinegar as fabric softener and there was only minimal shrinkage.

So these two quilts are washed, pressed and packed ready to go on Saturday for the Modish Market at Malvern Town Hall and I have three others which are awaiting finishing, but realistically with everything else happening this week, I will probably only get one more done before market day.