Distracted

Who would have thought?

I confess to being a little bit of a pooh-pooher about these new fangled smart phone thingies.

Not anymore!

This week saw my 8 year old mobile phone finally die. Poor thing, it'd been struggling for a while.

So, off to the phone shop I went, and home I came with this beauty.

So many things I can do with it!

Facebook, email, the internet, instagram, a scrabble-like game to play with my city friend....and there's probably more I haven't discovered just yet.

Does anyone actually use them as phones?

It's a wonder I'm getting anything else done at all!

(with less than 3 weeks to Finders Keepers, I really must get to work!)

Quick turnaround

I've barely caught my breath from a fabulous Melbourne market weekend, and I'll be packing the car again tomorrow for another trip to town.

I'll be set up in the function room at the Mt Erica Hotel in Prahran with a small group of fabulous designers.

2 days with some great people in a pub. That's going to be fun!

Plus, this is an opportunity to grab some great stuff on sale.

I'll have my new season things, but also the last of the popular Liberty cord skirts and some organic cotton and hemp frocks at a great price. I think I'll even knock a bit off the long sleeve Liberty shirts to make room for Summer....

Don't miss out!

Out and about

It's been more than a month since I've had a market outing, although it feels like forever.

I'm making up for it this month with 3 fabulous outings to Melbourne starting this weekend!

And, I'm excited to be showing you a few new things. There's been lots of little shirt making, so I have oodles of colours and pattern combinations to choose from. Perfect for this warmer weather.

Also, a new tee, and some perfectly quirky hemp and organic cotton skirts embellished with a vintage tea towel motif pocket, all one of a kind, and gorgeously colourful.

Hooray for Spring!

Love this market - and it's only on 3 times a year, so don't miss out!

Then, in the beautiful gardens at the Abbotsford Convent on Sunday, September 16 (yes, that's this Sunday!)

Shirt & Skirt Market

Abbotsford Convent

1 St Heliers Street, Abbotsford

10am - 4pm

A few days at home, and then you'll find me at this lovely gathering.

See you soon!

Doing it justice

It's always such a delight to be receiving a parcel of hand printed beautiful fabric from the girls at Ink & Spindle.

I'd been contemplating this one for a while.

And when it arrived, all my preconceived plans for it went out the window.

It's perhaps the touch and feel. This is a blend of hemp and yak fibre. Yes, yak.

And the feel of it is amazing. It's soft, yet robust. Like a beautiful woven wool, but softer.

A lovely mid-weight.

So, I've tried to do justice to this lovely fabric.

I've done a little subtle hand stitching with some red silk, and made a scarf.

There might be a few more....

Patchwork, quilting, and tees

Inspiration popped into my head this week.

It's always an interesting thing, demanding to be acted on, and sometimes I'm not sure where it's arrived from.

Not this time!

My brain has been full of quilting and patchworking for a while now.

I've been studying pictures of beautiful combinations of fabrics and colours.

My favourite place to do this is over at Maggie & Sparrow. If you haven't been over for a look, go and visit! Make yourself a cuppa, you could be a while.

If only I could run my hands over the pictures and feel the fabrics I couldn't be happier.

Then, of course, I've been mucking about with my own little bits of fabric making a start on a quilt for us.

Somewhere in all of that, and the arrival of some beautiful new blue organic cotton and bamboo tees, here's a new tee for the coming season.

I might just call it the Quilter's tee.

This and that and a few new tricks

I'm feeling like an old dog with new tricks this week!

A friend generously came over this morning with her photo tips and tricks, oh, and a few lights as well.

We looked properly at my little camera, and discovered a few settings I didn't realise I had.

Did I tell you I was a bit lazy when it comes to all things techie?

Hmmm. Lesson learnt? Do take a bit of time to look at your instruction manual....

And, I'm feeling a bit empowered this afternoon!

My other project on the go goes all the way back to here.

I've always admired a good quilt, and I had dinner with another good friend and fantastic quilter on the weekend. 

She inspired me to get going on making a start on my own quilt.

It'll be made from lots and lots of scraps of lovely Liberty of London tana lawn that have been collecting in a special tub in my stash cupboard.

I just needed to start.

And, I figured that the way to start was to decide that each 'block' would be 20cm x 20cm. Any combination goes, and I'll work out how they go together when I get all 144 of them done!

Something other than scarves

Every year at this time I get a little breather from scarf knitting. 

August is that funny limbo month between Winter and Spring. Oh, it's still cold in our part of the world at any rate, but aren't we are all dreaming of warmer weather and ditching the layers and layers and layers?

I'd been wondering what to do with a bit of left over yarn in my stash. A beautiful Jo Sharp yarn in a gorgeous red, but an odd not-quite-enough-for-anything 6 balls, and then a while ago I found this pattern.

I bought myself the needles, and discovered I could use that yarn I had.

Hooray!

Now, I'm a skinny needle knitter. I like an 8 ply and number 4 needles. I can clack away with that quite happily. So, I'll be honest, working with 2 strands of 8 ply yarn on great big number 9 needles wasn't my favourite knitting experience!

The upside? A brand new cardigan in less than a week!

And I love it.

(especially with my Delilah Devine brooch)

Knit your own with a free pattern download over here!

Colour and pattern

I'm loving my Liberty cottons.

I finish one little shirt, and I'm onto another.

So far, they've all been one of a kind.

(Although, depending on how much of each fabric I have, I can do a repeat or two.)

Guaranteed to keep me interested, and itching to find that next combination of fabric colour and pattern!

In between

In between Winter and Spring.

In between markets until September.

In between breakfast and lunch.

And in between making and organising!

It's been just over a fortnight since my friend Sal and I embarked on this crazy idea of bringing some beautiful wares to a charming old hall in Apollo Bay on Melbourne Cup weekend in November.

Today we are half way to a full market.

I am filled with admiration for all the wonderful makers and their work who'll be taking the plunge with us on our adventure! I'm already making a shopping list and saving my spending money.

In between now and then, make sure you keep an eye on our facebook page and our blog to find out more about the fabulous things that will be coming our way!

Market, market

I am so happy to be taking part in this fantastic little market tomorrow.

Run by the charming and funny Fiona from Squirt Baby, who manages to juggle about 12 of life's balls (so to speak!) without ever losing her cool.

So, I just know this is going to be one fabulous outing.

Plus, there will be some seriously good stallholders there too. 

But wait, there's more! Music, food, an art auction, book readings....

I'll see you there!