Thursday 4 April 2013

Plans

It is a rare day when I say I am bored and I have nothing to do.  I like to be busy, very busy, even when I feel I am getting nothing done I like to plan future projects.  Sometimes they happen fast, others are slow burners but most come to something, I rarely abandon them all together.  And having so many friends designing great patterns too keep me well booked up with ideas.  Sara at Sew Sweetness has been developing her brand and range of bags.  Her recent Aeroplane bag had me hooked.  A spacious weekend away type bag- I am making one for retreat to go with my new wheely Cath Kidston Suitcase, bargain price on ebay if you need one.  Having decent luggage must be a sign of being a grown up- I have lived a life of rucksacks and oversized Head bags so a decent case and a handmade overnight bag makes me finally a grown up!  Once my supplies arrive, this is going to be sewn and I will share my progress with you along with a giveaway- bide your time, its coming soon!  Sara is developing clothing patterns too- ahh!  Cannot wait for these!
Christina at The Sometimes Crafter has been busy and found the time amongst all her activity to draft a great new paper piecing pattern
All the instructions are there to make a table runner but the squares within squares feature could be used for pincushions, pouches, anything really and the pattern includes all the different sizing used so no need to reduce/expand the pattern pieces.  Ideal for those who are maybe a little wary of paper piecing too as all the piecing is done in a single section for each square.  I think I maybe trying a pincushion or a zipper pouch with these, maybe with something like Liberty- I have some more thank you goodies to make.
Talking of Liberty, I was lucky enough to win an e-copy of this wonderful book from Stash Books at Kate's blog.
There is a huge number of projects in this book- pretty much all you can see on the cover- the picnic quilt, baby dress, woman sitting on rug dress ( quite fancy making this one), neck tie and lots more inside- bags, pincushions- a great variety. There are full size pattern pieces and with the ebook they are ready to download and print at home too!  It also includes the Marcelle quilt, you can see Kate's progress so far here and Lynne's here.
And more Alexia Abegg, I just ordered her Diamond Ring Quilt pattern from Annie at Village Haberdashery.  I have a little plan for this- will share more soon but I was so taken with it from Quilt Market photos that it stuck with me as a must do- I do love a circle on a quilt! 
Plans for the next few weeks: arrived in under 24hrs! from @VHaberdashery
 I have also got into sewing knits recently with a bit of success- will show you soon but the Briar is a great shape and Megan includes so much info on variations on her blog.  The pattern comes in thick paper which makes handling and tracing a lot easier.  Her pattern presentation is my favourite amongst all the indie designers. 
Tracing Penguin & Fish Lion kit from @eternalmaker
 We are doing a bit of visiting of various peeps over Easter so whilst I catch up with hand sewing and another bunny, L is going to be working on a little 'Penguin and Fish' Lion embroidery kit from Eternal Maker.  This kit comes with everything you need- hoop, thread, needle, designs, instructions.  I traced onto the fabric using a Sewline pencil and it is ready to stitch. She wanted something simple and easy to do and this is perfect!
And finally, Ayumi's book arrived here in preparation for the Patchwork Please sew a long!  You can see more details here. 
So excited!!! Ayumi's book just arrived!!!
I don't know what I will be making yet but I would be happy making anything from this book- it is a joy from start to end!  I am going to make this quilt anyway for L's birthday because we both love it.
Planning this now for daughters birthday- couldn't help myself! @ayumills
That should keep me occupied just for a little while.  What about you... plans?
sib blog

19 comments:

  1. Wow, way too many ideas here Kerry! My head is bursting!! That book look amazing (more natural linen - yes!) and I LOVE that lion embroidery - I want one!!

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  2. There are so many things in this post that I have been itching to get/jump in! The diamond ring quilt looks so beautiful! I have Sara's aeroplane bag pattern saved on my desktop :)

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  3. My word how do you keep all that in your head? I've planning the aeroplane too, picking up my interfacing etc on Sat from Spring Quilt Fest, think I may have even chosen fabric for the first one!

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  4. I have been thinking of making the Aeroplane bag as well! Yikes, you've got a lot on your plate there Kerry!

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  5. I have favourited this, brilliant for ideas Kerry :D

    Thanks!!

    Bundana @
    http://www.bundana.blogspot.co.uk

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  6. I have the bag pattern (and plans), Alexia's book and my central medallion made and waiting impatiently for my Patchwork Please! Plus 2 other quilts to finish... just need to get rid of the lurgy so I can get on and stop googling (and buying) fabric! xxx

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  7. I actually thought you'd been doing nothing when I started reading this post but what a great lot of inspiration!! :)

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  8. Oh wow - so many lovely things. I'm starting to think about making myself a bag for retreat too....sometimes I think the planning is more exciting than the making, by the time I'm working on something I"m already onto planning the next thing!!!!

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  9. Yup, that should definitely keep you off the streets for a while ;o) Loving all those patterns, especially the wee roaring lion!

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  10. as my grandpa used to say, "that should keep you off the streets and out of the bars!" i just hauled out all of my works in progress to show a new quilty friend and now i want to work on them all at once. so i'll be out of the bars, too :)

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  11. oh my you have alot of fun stuff ahead! I'm really looking forward to Zakka 2.0 also + digging into my own copy of Liberty Love!

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  12. Too many plans. I'll get around to most of them eventually. Can't say I'm bored much. :-) Enjoy your treats!

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  13. Always so many more projects than hours in the day! I have just started a quilt that I'm doing by hand, so quite time-consuming, but I also need a bag and I'm doing a cross-stitch and a pencil case and... the list goes on.

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  14. Too much to process! What a lot of fantastic projects, especially love the lion embroidery and I also desperately want to make the aeroplane bag. I've pre-ordered Ayumi's book, but it hasn't arrived yet sadly-so I'll just have to get on with the other million things I've got on the go!

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  15. So many things to make! Love all the projects you're up to doing and there are even some that I want to do too ~ that Aeroplane bag for one. I got Ayrumi's book last week and love every project in it ~ I'll be doing the Zakka along also ~ looking forward to seeing what you make.
    At the moment I'm all excited about a pair of socks I'm knitting ~ they are lacy and I've already got one done!

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  16. wow you really do like to be busy! enjoy!!

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  17. What great plans Kerry but I'm still trying to finish my UFOs so shouldn't start anything new - though I've just started about 5 new projects - oops! Waiting for my copy of Ayumi's book to arrive - was scheduled for tomorrow now it is end of April : (

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  18. Oh would so love that diamond ring...hmmm. Think I will jump in on patchwork please for sure! Great inspiration here :)

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  19. Omigosh you're busy! I thought I was the only person torn between a million different projects buzzing around in my head that I'm dying to make, not sure where to begin! I, too, am a sucker for circles in quilts, and that diamond ring pattern looks REALLY cool.

    Here's what I'm juggling in the sewing room these days: Most urgently, I foolishly told people I could whip up a lederhosen costume for Augustus Gloop to wear in our school's Willy Wonka Jr. production, despite having no pattern and ZERO experience successfully sewing any clothing of any kind. I drafted a muslin pattern over the weekend and had the little boy try them on yesterday -- the legs flared out ridiculously like bell-bottom shorts, and the waist was so tiny that he couldn't close the top of the shorts at all. So I'll be making some major alterations, but I have to cut into the real microsuede fabric today or I'll never have the costume ready by the first dress rehearsal next week!

    I also got halfway through a Free Motion Quilting Challenge last year and want to finish the rest of those practice exercises before the end of the school year. I have 5 of them left. And I made one block for an Advent table runner in December that is now languishing because I don't know what the rest of it should look like. And I started in on a Block of the Month Christmas quilt project yesterday that I'm already 3 months behind on, because it's got half pieced blocks and half needle turn applique and I've always wanted to learn how to do that. And I also want to jump into a vintage quilt block BOM that I'm 6 months behind on already, but I haven't figured out whether I want all of those different blocks to go into the same project (and if so, what color and fabric scheme I want to commit to) or whether I should just do each block as a learning exercise, all in different colors and fabrics, and figure out what to do with them later?

    Oh yeah, and I bought all the fabrics for a Storm At Sea quilt over a year ago, and am planning to start on that this year, too. I think those are all of the projects I've mentally overcommitted myself to at the moment. I also have a HUGE binder full of projects and inspirations I've pulled out of magazines over the last 10 years since I started quilting. If I live to be 110, I will never finish even a quarter of the projects buzzing around inside my head!

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