Honesty

Last April my sewing space looked like this:

And now, unpimped and untidied it looks like this!

I thought I would show the 360 degree experience so this is the other side of the room, I will say some of those blue drawers are full of musical instruments, shakers, bells etc for the day job- it is not all fabric.

Do you like the sophisticated additional cutting area?  Art board and the floor, nice.  I have just put a table in the lean to next door as cutting on the floor is not a great idea.  You can see  I am organised but not tidy.

And the computer is where I spend a fair amount of time.

 Sad to say I love my Imac.

There is also a chaise longue with Lottie sitting on it and a piano.   And how big is this palatial space? Eleven and a half foot by eleven and a half foot!  Cosy is how an estate agent would describe our little house.

So that is my work space, no airbrushing.  

Want some deeper honesty?  Have a read of Amy's post, there is controversy and the comments will be multiplying.

Oh and a quick request.  I just joined twitter, I have no real idea how it works, I joined to get a big discount off a tea order (very topical once you read Amy's post) so I have no idea I am going to tweet or read tweets but if you are on it and use it regularly at least it will be a start for me, I am @verykb

And did you notice this but a lot smaller in the left corner of the address bar?  I guess you can't see it in reader, you'll have to click the post to go to the page.  I just found out that these are called Favicons.  The blogger favicon gadget failed to work but you can add one on blogger  using the help here- have a pic ready and it needs to be square!  Good luck with that x

verys and berrys

Welcome to a joint blog post here and at Very Berry Handmade .  Ali and I  recently came across each other's blogs and found similar names and two crafty bloggers.   I have also noticed that she has exceptionally good taste in the plates that she photographs her cakes on- Midwinter and other great retro pots, nice!  So we cooked up a swap between ourselves and had a few questions to find out a bit more about each other so here goes!

How did you decide on your blog name?

Kerry: "I have a rather unexciting answer to this, my blog name is the same as my user name on Flickr, Folksy and Etsy.  My husband calls me Kerryberry and that had already be taken on Flickr so I added the 'very' and that became the blog name too! "

Ali:"Is there anything more difficult than thinking up a blog/business name? Well, probably plenty of things, but it took me about 2 months to make a decision! I wanted a name with a colour in it, and also something that might make (eventually!) a funky logo. The colour thing got me thinking about rainbows, which reminded me of a pair of multicoloured wellies that my little boy Danny used to have. They were made by a company called Tayberry, and he always called them his 'Very Berry Tayberry Rainbow Boots'... Something clicked and that was it! Very Berry I became - I like it because it always reminds me of my lads and their lovely ways"

What is your crafting story?

Ali:"I've always done a little bit of knitting and sewing over the years, but lacked confidence in my ability to really enjoy it. The real urge to start making things really came when I was pregnant with my twin boys - I wanted to create for them - I made blankets, scarves, hats, little shoes... and then slowly things started to take off, I found I couldn't stop!  I learnt to crochet and I was pleased to find something I'm pretty good at (I never did get to properly to grips with knitting!), and I started to design patterns like these bunnies

And with practice, my sewing started to improve. I did a course in patchwork and quilting, and people seemed to think that I'd got a fair eye for colour - so I took confidence (although easily-shaken confidence!) from that. Now I am trying to make a little money from my work, which is a huge challenge - both my sons are on the autistic spectrum and we have chosen to educate them at home, so the little bit of extra income that my work brings in helps with the household budget. But just as importantly, my sewing and crochet give me a much needed outlet for my creativity, a way to indulge my love of colour and design, and access to the lovely online world of other crafters."

Kerry: "I have always been very creative and loved drawing, painting and sewing as a child.  I was lucky enough to go to a primary school that put creativity at the centre of the curriculum and I learnt calligraphy and embroidery alongside art and pottery from an early age.  

I made the needle case when I was 7 andI still use it everyday! I have sewn all my life with a break for a few years for repetitive strain injury.  Now, sewing is having a resurgence, my arms are recovered and blogging and social networking fits perfectly in tandem with sewing.  I started blogging February 2010 and it has been the best and most surprising adventure!  I have made so many great friendships with people from all around the world"

What did you make for Ali?  What influenced your design?

Kerry: We both wanted to make each other something useful.  Ali fancied a potholder, she does a lot of cooking as you can see by the wonderful recipe selection on her blog!  She gave me some ideas about colour combinations and I pounced on red/aqua/grey as I knew I had a lot of prints that would work with that.  I especially like to use red in kitchen items too.

The strips are joined in a half log cabin with borders straight onto a double layer of insulbright and cotton batting.  This technique allows you to quilt as you sew and get multi directional lines.  I went for a lot of foodie/kitchen fabrics and a few berries too for obvious reasons!

I put a pocket in as I wanted this to be as practical as possible.  You can see the pocket method at Oh Fransson!  And I added a little applique cooking words patchwork at the back.

For extra goodies, I picked out some Hope Valley as Ali mentioned she liked this line.  I also put in a little Cosmo plaid for nod to Mid century style fabrics and added a few other cute patterns that I thought she would like.  I tend to put a mini bar of Montezumas Butterscotch milk chocolate in most of my swap parcels because it is so yummy."

What did you make for Kerry?  What influenced your design?

It's been brilliant getting to know Kerry through this swap - I've done plenty of exploring around her lovely blog and Flickr pages to find things she likes (although I had to stop looking after a while because her work is so lovely that my confidence was ebbing away!). She asked for a coin purse, and I decided early on that I didn't want to do pieced patchwork, because I know that Kerry is so good at that herself - I thought she might like something a bit different. So, I decided on applique, taking my inspiration from the lovely daisy pattern in Suzuko Koseki's lovely Playful Patchwork, with quite a subtle choice of colours because I know Kerry likes natural linen, and I spotted somewhere, that like me, she likes Denyse Schmidt's Hope Valley fabrics.

I thought the applique might look a little dull on a plain background so decided to piece and quilt the linen fabric. Once I'd done that I hand-pieced the separate petals of the flower, appliqued them on, and hand-quilted round the edge. It took me a while to decide on a fabric for the centre of the flower - originally I had a more orangey-yellow (with a pattern), but although the colours looked good together, I decided it rather over-powered the petals so I swapped for this paler yellow. I wanted to add texture, so covered the center of the flower with French knots. I love hand-embroidery when I get the chance to do it, so I also added the little lazy daisy flowers on the front and on the little tag label. 

And finally I couldn't resist adding a bit of crochet to the project, so the little zip-tag is hand-crocheted using perle quilting thread. No berries though - clever Kerry to think of that!  

I promise I sent some goodies to Kerry - I even managed some fabrics she doesn't already have... but I have no memory of what I sent, and no pictures either, because I was in the throes of horrid toothache when I packed it all up... I tried to send her colours she would enjoy, and some big vintage buttons too. But that's all I remember! (No worries Ali- I took a picture and it was a great little stack of goodies!)

So there you have it, two blogs with similar names and a whole load of craftiness going on and now a new friendship!  Are there any other bloggers out there who have found a similar situation?  Do Share!

The Farmer's Wife-

I have started my Farmer's Wife blocks and what betther than to start a new project than a bit of admin.  I designed a simple spreadsheet to keep a progress on my blocks and templates and any of you are welcome to Click here for Google Docs so you can use it too!

I haven't had much experience of using templates before and after a bit of hit and miss cutting I found the easiest way has been to copy all the squares templates into one file and then print out, and then do the same for triangles and rectangles.  I am measuring each square/rectangle so I have a reference of the cutting size.  Many of the triangles will go onto template plastic as they get used a lot.  I will print the more unusual shapes onto freezer paper as these are not in many of the blocks- so a bit of a mix.  Now the blocks.   I am going where my fancy takes me so I started with Number 1 Attic Window 

I have no specific colour scheme in mind but I am trying to include as many of my favourites as I possibly can.  I do my usual fabric pull and then see how they look next to each other and keep getting out/putting bakc until I am happy.  Sometimes a quick process and sometimes not but this is where I like to spend a bit of time getting it right.  Above includes some Sukuko Koseki- calligraphy, Kumiko Fujita-text, Urban Chiks 1974 aqua,  Sharon Kessler- black/cream

This block is Number 39 Friendship

I already knew that I wanted these fabrics and this is a perfect block for fabrics that I only have the tiniest scraps of- Flea Market fancy vines for example.  The red is from Sherbert Pips (Moda), daisies are by Suzuko Koseki, rulers are Kumiko Fujita, text is Michael Miller's Dick and Jane Sentence Structure print.  The blocks are quite small, around 6.5" which I like.  I don't know how many I will do, I am doing this as a long term relaxing type project without deadline and I am hoping the end quilt will be a homage to all my favourite prints.

Have a great weekend :)

Time for Tea

I have had this book for a little while.  I bought it from a Japanese site, second hand but in perfect condition, it can be a bit hard to get hold of

I was really taken with these tea coasters and cozy

and inspired to make a mini mug rug for myself.  Only 6.5" x 4" , it is the perfect size to sit on the arm of the sofa for my large cup of Earl grey and a little snack- giant chocolate buttons are a fav.  I used shot cottons for the background and cup, the letters are linen.  It makes me smile :)

I could not resist joining in this quilt-a-long after seeing the blocks pop up on Flickr.  Quilt a longs are just online groups of people all working towards the same goal- in this case, slowly working my way through 111 traditional block.  I like variety and I needed a quilt block education.  

It is a beautiful book even without a quilt a long, detailed pages, original farmer's wife lettters and A CD with all the templates on.  It is a bit like art, you can only go abstract once you have covered the basics.  Lots of interesting quilters are taking part so it should be interesting.   I am more of an urban chick than a farmer's wife but that doesn't deter me.   I won't get my first blocks done till the weekend.  I am having my kitchen partly replaced- the sink area changes tomorrow, the rest will be happen over the summer.

I can't wait!  You all know how I feel about kitchen things and a slice of retro kitchen action is coming to my little house.  I don't like the upheaval and I can't get to my work space but it should be over quickly!

My Secret Obsession is...

I am kicking this off with my current obsessions and then it is down to you to linky your blog obsession post to share with the rest of us!

I have a red theme running through mine, starting with...

I am not keen on creamy dairy desserts or even ordinarily Jelly but this is soft set, no gelatine but vegetable based setting agents and intensely raspberry flavours.  Very refreshing.  And now some more berry flavours with Jelly Belly Beans.

I just found a shop in town where they sell them by the scoop and have a wide range of flavours.   I chose raspberry, cherry, cherry cola, pomegranate, cinnamon and maybe a few others here.  Nice!

And one more red obsession, loosely speaking, red haired musical/comic genius Tim Minchin.  This obsession has been running for some time.  I am a bit of a sucker for red hair,  my daughter is a softly toned ginger and I do like a red haired man.  My dad ( a difficult individual at the best of times) is a red head so lets not dwell on that Freudian connection too much.   His music reminds me of Ben Folds and  Tom Lehrer but has its own distinctive style.  He likes to challenge taboos and approaches subjects from a rational perspective, I should mention he is pleasing on the eyes too.  Best avoid if you are easily offended but it you are not, he is incredibly funny and at times appealingly sentimental.  Persevere with the clip below, the song has a long set up but it is so worth it.

Your turn... I don't want to be a billy-no-mates so please take part, you have a week  a couple of weeks to add a linky to a post on your blog about something that obsesses you and reveal something about yourself other than sewing, it will be an education for all x

Red Shoes

I know some women are crazy for shoes but I am relatively restrained.  My feet are wide and I like to walk a lot so a lot of footwear just annoys me, but when I saw these beauties yesterday I couldn't resist.

I distantly remember being told red shoes were the sign of a whore way back in my teenage days- red rag to a bull- I especially love red shoes, and specifically these red shoes.

Don't forget to join me for My Secret Obsession on Sunday 5th June- the button is in the side bar should you want to add it to your blog.  See you there!

My Secret Obsession Button

Would you like a button for the link up feature here on Sunday 5th June? 

Here's the code

<div align="center"><a href="http://verykerryberry.blogspot.com/" title="verykerryberry"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3564/5785983084_4d407a0829_o.jpg" alt="verykerryberry" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

On Blogger, to put this into your side bar, all you need to do is copy and paste the code into the Html gadget.  If you want to paste it into a blog post, copy the code, click Edit Html )top right of your blog post box), paste and click "Compose" (also top right)

I can't wait to hear about your weird and wonderful obsessions.  It can be the obsession that you mentioned in the giveaway day comments or something completely different.

Looking forward to it!