Christmas in Autumn?

In the world of SEW Useful Designs it is Christmas!

And yet, in the world of my gorgeous little munchkin…

…it is well and truly Autumn.

Share

Playing with a new desk-tidy

I not only picked up some tired old wheelbarrows from the recent hard-rubbish collection, I also came across this bathroom towel rack.  I spotted it whilst taking Kayla for a walk and whipped it up not exactly knowing what it was at first until I found the screw brackets on the back!

After a good clean and disinfection I gave it a new lease of life on my desk, playing around with different layouts. 

Those little cubicles are just the right size for my fat quarters.

I tried out another scheme…

…and another:

To be honest I don’t really have the space on my desk for it without making it completely useful, and then it’s not half as good looking without the ornaments!  But I had fun playing and I’ll attempt to find some space for it elsewhere in the studio. 

Have you got any unusual storage solutions?

Till next time! 

Vikki xo

 

Share

Wisteria love and a new project…

I’ve finished my latest stitchery project and it was packed off to the gorgeous editor of Creating Country Threads last week.  I thoroughly enjoyed putting it together and I’m not quite sure whether my love of the design spurred on my desire to have a go at growing Wisteria, or whether it was my yearning to grow Wisteria that inspired the design?  If there are parallel universes then maybe it was both?!

I felt like the nursery-tale character, Jack and the Beanstalk, when I opened my mail to reveal these three Wisteria seeds purchased from eBay.  Magic beans!!  They sure will be magic if I can pull off growing them!  Ha ha!

Following on from my last post I have now planted up one old wheelbarrow with herbs including Basil, Rosemary, Sage and Thyme.  A friend gave me some Nasturtium seeds that had fallen from her plants during the summer, so I popped a few of those around the edges of the barrow as well.  It’s not much to look at at the moment, but I’ll share a photo when it flourishes!  (I’m feeling positive, my friends!)

I’m in the process of re-doing some of my previously published patterns to release as paper and e-patterns.  But I’m going to find some time in-between to start on a project from this wonderful book by Mandy Shaw called Stitch at Home.  Have you seen it?  I’m very happy to do a book review and show you some of the projects if you’re interested, just let me know.  I really, really love it.  So I purchased some home dec fabric to make a doggie bed for my sweet Maltese cross Shitzu cross Jack Russell, Kayla.  She’s such a cutie.

I trawled the Internet to find the same fabric that Mandy has used in the original project and discovered a fantastic seller on eBay.

The fabric range is called Scottie Dog by Clarke & Clarke.  You can find it at Dolly Crean’s Fabrics, here.  Dolly’s customer service is first class and she stocks a great range of other fabulous fabrics by the same designer/manufacturer.  They’re heavenly.

So that’s my news for this week – how has yours been? 

Till next time, love and hugs! Vikki

Share

In the garden… a sneak peek!

As I sat having breakfast in the garden I started reflecting on how I’ve become more and more interested in gardening over the past six months. 

The mother of my son’s girlfriend is a real enthusiast and gave me loads of cuttings from her front yard, and I think that’s where it all started.  Realising that I CAN actually nurture these wee plants and they grow and thrive gives me such a great feeling.

source

The above picture is my inspiration!  Thanks to recent hard-rubbish collections I have obtained two more out-of-use wheelbarrows that I’m going to plant-up with my young fledglings. 

One is ear-marked for a herb garden that I hope will be as lively as this one: 

source

Don’t you just love all the moss and ground-covering plants between the paving stones?

The reason for my initial lack of confidence?  I seemed to kill everything I planted when I had a garden in England and thought I was destined never to grow flowers!  How silly!  Okay – even sillier – I propagated buttercups!  I had no idea they were weeds at the time, before they flowered the plant looked so healthy that I thought I’d spread it around!! Ha ha!  Lesson learned… now I learn what the plant is before I start sharing the love!

I have always been a nature lover and with my new-found interest in making a garden of my own it has been a pleasure to work on this garden-themed project for one of my favourite magazines.

It will be available later on this year, I’ll let you know when!

Till next time – happy creating!

Vikki xo

 

Share

A beautiful Springtime quilt

 

Once upon a time, a gaggle of creative women came together to share their passion for sewing with like-minded ladies.  During that special journey, they each designed a stitchery block for a very special quilt.

The Springtime quilt was made and donated to a charity in Queensland that runs a non-profit programme for the rehabilitation of mothers and their children who have become dependent on drug abuse.  The charity is Fresh Hope.  Such an inspiring and fitting name don’t you think?

Each of us designers – Vicki, Dawn, Jenny, Cheryl (no blog but as nutty as ever!), Joy, Fee, Judith and young guest designer, Blossom, were given a Block of the Month pattern-pack by Fresh Hope. 

Then, in 2011 came the devastating Queensland floods.  With great tragedy comes great kindness, and in an attempt to raise money for those who had lost everything, Toni Coward of Make it Perfect had an ingenious idea and organised a huge on-line auction.  Being the most valuable craft item I had at the time, I put my complete pattern-pack up on the site for prospective bidders.  And that’s when I met the sweet, generous and gracious, Debra Schefe.

Here she is!  Debra made the successful bid and set to work soon after on her stitchery blocks.  How lovely it is to see her version in all its glory!  As part of the auction I made a quilt label including a signed square of fabric by each of the designers. 

It turned out as big as a block, itself!  Debra changed the quilt pattern design in order to incorporate the label on the front, and I feel very humbled that she has done so. 

What a wonderful rendition!

Thank you so much Debra, for sharing your photos with us!  There is nothing more rewarding for a designer than to see your versions of our designs.

Debra is an avid quilter and also a fellow collector of vintage toy sewing machines!  She has a vibrant, friendly disposition and is always sharing her joys and her creations on her blog. 

If you would like your own copy of the Springtime BOM, or would like to browse the full range of patterns offered by Fresh Hope, head on over here.

There you will also find the pattern for the Bird of Hope pincushion I designed for the charity.  It has pieced wings and a pieced tummy so I guess you could describe it as very peaceful!

Until next time – whether it’s Spring or Autumn in your neck of the woods – enjoy!

Vikki xo

PS.  I’d also like to credit Vicki with the beautiful quilt design for the Springtime BOM.  It’s still one of my all-time-favourite quilt layouts

 

Share