my creative space

While they did ...

... whatever it was they were doing, I sat on the toilet (no not in that way!), and did this

to send out with these

for the The Beehive quilting bee. You gotta take your creative opportunity when you can :)

(oh and for those involved in all the indecision re: choice of fabrics for said bee I decided to go with this lot here. Thank you thank you for all the help!).

For a world of crafty goodness hop on over here. 

stitches and craft *or* heaven on a stick

Well, as if I didn't already know that there was some seriously cool craftsters south of the border, I had my face delightfully rubbed in it when I entered level four of the Stitches and Craft Show on Saturday. 

Amitie, Ink and Spindle (seriously lovely ladies in some pretty funky strides!), Dear Fii, Pippijoe, Audrey & Maude, Mixtape ... and I could go on and on. 

Instead I'll just show you the loot ...

Keeping it local with a bit of Saffron Craig, Ink and Spindle, Pippijoe, and yes ok, some really local Prints Charming and Kirsten Doran (there are some goodies left in NSW!). 

Not so local Liberty via Amitie. My first lot and no I can't stop stroking it. Will I ever cut it? No, probably not.

And finally I got my you-know-what into gear and signed up for a Mixtape subscription and devoured these on Saturday night. 

Now, I keep getting told (by my local quilting shop mind you), that buying fabric is cheaper than therapy, but in my case the reverse is beginning to be true. And so I am putting myself on a "buy no fabric" month for September (you notice I am not starting it straight away right?). 

Anyone care/need to join me?

my creative space

Spring is in the air so I made like a cat and basked in the sun while I can still stand it (read: not a summer person). 

The crafty bits that didn't require immediate sewing - in the coldest room of the house - came with ...

For more creative spaces check in here :)

inspiration ... please!

I have never really been one to make a decision and then trust in it 100%. I'm the one in the restaurant who gets all disappointed when my food arrives and decides my companions meal looks so much better. I might decide to buy a red handbag and then see someone with a white one and beat myself up for days wondering why I didn't choose a white one. I really REALLY envy people who have a certain 'style' and believe in it and stick to it and KNOW it. Know what I mean?

And so it is friends that I find myself at a creative crossroads. The lovely Kate at One Flew Over pointed me in the direction of a quilting bee ('The Beehive'), organised by the (obviously organised), Sheridan (a.k.a Chaletgirl). I am soooooo super excited about being involved in this that I could just waffle on about for days. I mean how cool is it to think that 12 other women around Australia and abroad will contribute to a quilt that I get to keep not to mention I get the privilege of contributing to these women's quilts? It's cool I tell you. 

BUT the catch is I now have to come up with a rough idea about the sort of thing I want and this is where I come unstuck and this is where you, dear reader, come in! 

Now, I love colour I really do but at the same time I do tend towards more muted colours when it comes to my bedroom ... and myself I guess ;) I'm a real white, beige, grey, black kinda gal. I wish I wasn't but there it is, I am (I think). 

So here is the room in question 

(sorry I have no idea why this photo has arrived in such a small version)

Amy (of the Badskirt variety and one of The Beehive members), very cleverly suggested viewers of this photo might see something that I don't see which could lead to some ideas. Just as a side note though we will probably be moving in about six months or so, so the room will change but the furniture will not. 

There are some really incredible flickr groups for inspiration but in some ways these have made me even more confused! At the moment I am tending towards something in the style of Denyse Schmidt's 'Drunk Love in a Log Cabin' (has there ever been a cooler name for a quilt I ask you?), and last night as I was drifting off to sleep the colour navy blue and the words "Japanese" floated through my brain ... ?

Any and all suggestions welcome! 

p.s I do love my red handbag!

my creative space - in progress ...

ok so last week I took photos of my creative space exactly as it sat - a space, yes - inspiring and organised? Well, no! I know we all share that need to just get in and get started on whatever crafty project is on the go and so an organised space is pretty essential, whether that space is a corner of the dining room table or a part of a room. 

So, step one in my mini-reno is a new home for my beloved and steadily growing fabric stash. I have gone from this

to this! 

Thanks to all the helpful comments last week a quick (?) trip to Ikea on Saturday afternoon was required. What's that you say? A close up  of the fabric bit? Oh ok!

I can't tell you what fun I had on Saturday night rediscovering some of these little beauties, carefully folding them and stacking them into semi-colour co-ordinated stacks. Had someone suggested to me ten years ago that this would constitute a fun Saturday night for me I would have died laughing and then ordered another cocktail! 

Anyway the fabric is currently only occupying the top two shelves but I am realistic about the need to soon move to the other cubicles if needed! At the moment the two baskets at the bottom are holding small scrappy bits of fabric, interfacing and all that jazz. Oh and three massive coffee sacks but more on that another time. The basket that once contained the fabric now contains clothes that will hopefully be repurposed at some point. 

So, slightly more organised in this little corner with more to come! Stay tuned :)

And check out more creative spaces here!

teach

so I've had this gig for awhile now teaching at a local community college in the evenings. The subject: guiding children's behaviour. I guess the organisisers think I am semi-qualified to talk about this considering my previous life as an early childhood teacher. Luckily they are not often in my home around 4:30 - 6:30pm or I may not have the gig at all ;)

Anyhoo one cannot go off to teach one's course without the necessities:

My 'bibles'

And my cute new tote bag made by me! 

Cheapo denim from Spotlight and cheaper still contrasting fabric from Ikea purchased awhile back (but I was there again on Saturday and ended up with another bundle of goodness. Their fabric rocks! More on Ikea-ness tomorrow ...). 

Oh and the pattern is from the gorgeous Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing. I could wax on all day about my love for this book. The styling and the projects are just so delightful. I drool over it like a good cook book! 

Anyway it stood up to the test of carrying all my notes and three substantially heavy books so I was happy. Once again I did secretly hope one of the participants would be so taken with it that they may ask where I bought it from allowing me to once again declare it was, "MADE BY ME!". But alas, once again this hope was dashed ;) Seems I may have some serious delusions about how good my handmade stuff actually looks!

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p.s Thanks for all the helpful comments on how to rectify my little sewing space. Even the inclusion of some inspiring photos in with the comments! Too cool. I shall have more on this front tomorrow ...

my creative space ... needs a makeover

A while ago I had a brainwave in the middle of the night that involved moving my son out of his room and in with his sister so that we could all have a creative space that didn't involve spreading stuff all over our (tiny) dining room table. Well, at first this space was kept relatively tidy (see here), aside from whatever project of Sienna's was going on at the time. That was until I got myself in to sewing again :)

I managed to snap up a dining room table (bigger than the one in our dining room I might add), from the deceased estate next door which became my sewing table. Then I picked up a chest of drawers off the side of the road some time back and recently gave them a coat of white paint (they were previously covered in that wood grain contact - noice). They have become a bit of a catch all for all the arty crafty stuff that goes on in this room and are stuffed to the brim. So now my problem is this ...

Everything just looks a bit ... yuck. My fabric stash is about to break the banks of it's basket home and well, it just isn't functioning very well.

I realise I am very lucky to have a whole room to sew in (even though it's shared), and so I feel I ought to give this place a bit of a spruce up so that it reflects my utter passion.

So stay tuned for the "after" shots!

And find more (attractive) creative spaces here!