Bits and Bobs

Finds from the car boot sale today; it was very wet and rather quiet but these were nice goodies to take home.  A tin recipe box just the right size for all my machine needles and sewing feet and not as easy to know on the floor as the soap box that was storing them.

And a cute little souvenir hanky to add to my collection.   I ended up waiting 30 mins to buy this- its a long story- but it was worth it.

A bit of information sharing.  I am getting a little tutorial ready for an easy blanket style binding that I have just done on a table runner- you can find all my tutorials/patterns in the menu bar under the header, there were too many to keep adding them at the side

Penny and I are now selling the Sew-Ichigo patterns as singles so if you just wanted one pattern, you can now buy any that you choose!  These are on sale on Craftsy and will be an instant download straight to your email.

And the Eternal Maker Treasure Hunt giveaway is here- loving your selections by the way!  Don't forget I will need to be able to contact the winner- your email needs to be in your profile or in your comment!  

Eternal Maker Treasure Hunt Giveaway!

I have been a fan of Eternal Maker for some time so having Anna's shop as my first sponsor is a happy day!  I don't take the issue of sponsorship lightly-  I am only happy to recommned what I would happily use and buy myself.  This is not hard for Eternal Maker as they stock the variety that I need.  I want more than quilt fabric, I want dressmaking and embroidery, I want variety and more variety.  I want fabrics that I haven't seen in any other UK shops.  I am very greedy, but I find all these things and more each time I look at this shop!

Anna runs Eternal Maker, her mum owns the sister shop, The Button Company.  Sewing is in their blood and together they offer a huge variety of sewing stock.  Anna has expanded Eternal Maker from its original premises and prides herself on the range of imported fabrics and supplies that she offers- it is this that makes Eternal Maker a very special place to shop, no overseas postage or fear of Import duties, plus she will ship anywhere in the world!
You can find Japanese designers like Suzuko Koseki

And fabric by the elusive Yoshiko Jinzenji.  Both these fabrics are produced by Yuwa.

And then there is Aurifil!  Anna stocks 50 wt in so many colours it satisfies my fussiest requirements for exactly the right shade of grey- I like 2615.  And she stocks the 'Collection' boxes which I have not seen anywhere elese in the UK. This neutrals selection from Mark Lipinski is on my Christmas 'want' list.

Just in are these adorable cross stitch patterns by Gera- again Japanese design hard to find anywhere out of Japan.  I think the only other place I have seen them is the USA online shop Superbuzzy.  My daughter has her eyes on these- any of them.

And to go with this, one of my new favourites and finding that Eternal Maker stocked these was the best news ever- Lecien Cosmo.  Super silky stranded embroidery threads that just make me melt with the colours and texture.  Anna has only just started stocking these.  Colour cards are coming- I have one from Lecien and they are essential if you are going to get into stitching with these as it makes ordering and matching a whole lot easier.  Only a month ago I could not find any stockist of Lecien Cosmo in Europe so having these only 2 days away with a little help of the postie is a happy thought for me indeed!

My only criticism of Eternal Maker is they need to shout a little louder about their stock- so I am going to do it for them.  To tempt you in for a look at the treasure, Anna has generously prepared a little giveaway package.  Inspired by Lu Summer's stitchy adventures with her own wonderful Summersville fabric line- see Lu's photo and handiwork below...

a stack of Summersville with a co-ordinating rainbow array of Lecien Cosmo threads awaits one lucky winner...to  enter,  take a look at anything at the shop and tell me what treasure you found.  This is my favourite- take a look.  You don't need to put a link, just say what you found.

Comments are now closed! 

Thankyou for all entries.

International Entries Welcome.  One entry for everyone- additional entry chances below- so a total possible 4 entries to be had!

1. Your favourite treasure find from Eternal Maker- say what it is.

2. One Extra Entry if you follow Anna's blog

3. One Extra Entry if you 'Like' Eternal Maker's Facebook Page

4. One Extra Entry if you follow Eternal Maker on Twitter

  

Random number generator will select the winner.  Entries close Midnight GMT Friday 15th June.

As these are competition entries I won't be responding to comments but you can email me as usual.

Go find treasure!

Purse Palooza!

Announcing Purse Palooza 2012!!

This is a fun event, great for familiarising yourself with all sorts of purse making (that would be 'bag' making for UK peeps) and  I will be guest posting late June over at Sew Sweetness to get you sewing a Suzuko Koseki bag/purse for the summer!   Here's how it works: 1. Every weekday in June, there will be 2 amazing guest bloggers scheduled to share with you a purse sewing pattern review. The review will contain detailed information about what they thought about the sewing pattern, modifications they made, what kind of interfacing they used, and more! Get inspired! 2. Even more exciting...THERE WILL BE A GIVEAWAY EVERY WEEKDAY IN JUNE! That's right, 20 GIVEAWAYS! Your Giveaway Fairy Godmother is Kim from My Go-Go Life - she has some unbelievable giveaways planned! 3. At the end of the event, you will get a chance to show off your purse in order to win some amazing prizes!

My free tutorial: Caliti Convertible Clutch

Pattern Review Schedule June 4 - Sara @ Sewsweetness (tutorial: bag interfacing)  Kim @ My Go-Go Life (Urban Jungle Bag) 

June 5 - Meg @ Fashioned by Meg (Anna Maria Horner Art Student Tote)  Lindsay @ Lindsay Sews (Posie Rosie Little Things Jane Market Bag) 

June 6 - Kaelin @ The Plaid Scottie (Oliver + S Day in the Park Backpack)  Colleen @ The Busy Bean (something from Amy Butler's Style Stitches book) 

June 7 - Bree @ My Crafty Crap (Jenna Lou Designs Mabel Bag)  Ayumi @ Pink Penguin (Signature Bag from Kumiko Fujita) 

June 8 - Tamiko @ Patchwork Notes (Hexagon Patchwork Bag from Playful Patchwork)               Jessica @ A Little Gray (Pat Bravo Verona Bag

June 11 - Jessica @ Sew Crafty Jess (Amy Butler Spice Market Tote)  Amy @ amylouwho? (V. and Co. Favorite Bag) 

June 12 - Sara @ The Pretty Pickle (Charlie's Aunt Casablanca Clutch)   Lindsey @ LRStitched (Noodlehead Envelope Clutch) 

June 13 - Erin @ 2 More Seconds (Keyka Lou Bucket Bag)  Caroline @ Sew Can She (V. and Co. Carry All Tote) 

June 14 - Ali @ a squared w (bag from I Like Orange Too)  Rachael @ Imagine Gnats (Jen Giddens Pocket Tote) 

June 15 - Holly @ Bijou Lovely (Noodlehead Go Anywhere Bag)    Katie @ There and Back (Sweet Pea Pocket Purse) 

June 18 - Monique @ Sew Fun by Monique (Millie's Market Tote from Happy Home by Jennifer Paganelli)     Katie @ Swim, Bike, Quilt! (Green Bee Scoop Tote) 

June 19 - Jennie @ Clover and Violet (Lunch Bag from Pink Penguin)   Joanna @ Shape Moth (Emmaline Bag) 

June 20 - Jen @ Bettycrockerass (While Baby Naps Metal Clutch)   Krista @ The Spotted Stone (The Sometimes Crafter Amanda's Knitting Bag) 

June 21 - Katy @ The Littlest Thistle (Noodlehead 2-4-1 Tote)   Terri @ Sew-Fantastic (In Color Order Lined Drawstring Bag) 

June 22 - Elizabeth @ Don't Call Me Betsy (Amy Butler Weekender Bag)   Sarah @ Fairy Face Designs (bag from the Bag Making Bible) 

June 25 - Amy @ Sukie Don't You Know Who I Am? (Amy Butler Sophia Bag)  Heather @ {House} of a la Mode (Retro Mama Granny Bag) 

June 26 - Julianna @ Jednoiglec (Charlie's Aunt Kitchen Garden Bag)  Jeni @ In Color Order (Bari J. State Street Tote) 

June 27 - Kerry @ Very Kerry Berry (bag from Suzuko Koseki)    Michelle @ I Like Orange Too (Left Bank Granny Bag) 

June 28 - Kay Whitt @ Sew Serendipity Studio (tutorial: adjustable strap with metal slider)                Amy Barickman @ Indygo Junction (tutorial: installing grommets/magnetic snaps) 

June 29 - Melissa @ Bittersweet Designs (Bella Nonna Boutique Shoulder Bag)

My free tutorial: The Underwater Stripes Bag

Contest Rules 1. Check out all the purse pattern reviews throughout the month and get inspired to sew up a purse of your own! 2. Join the Purse Palooza 2012 Flickr Group. 3. Link up your completed purse to the Flickr Group BETWEEN JUNE 4th and JULY 11th. Your purse must be created and photographed between those dates; purses made prior to June 4, 2012 will be disqualified. The purse may be of your own design, or made from a sewing pattern. 4. You may link up to 2 views of the same purse. More than 2 photos of the same purse will be removed from the group. 5. There is no limit to how many purses you may enter, as long as they were made between June 4th and July 11th, 2012.

My free tutorial: The Urban Jungle Bag

The Prizes First off, there will be a team of lovely judges that will choose 1st through 6th place. ALSO, 3 randomly chosen winners will be picked out of EVERYONE who completes a bag! Some great chances to win!! 

  1st Prize

* $50 gift certificate from Fat Quarter Shop         

* 3-pack of books from Martingale Publishing * $50 gift certificate to Zipit * $70 Pellon gift pack * fat quarter bundle and sewing pattern from Art Gallery Fabrics

2nd Prize

* fat quarter bundle and sewing pattern from Art Gallery Fabrics * 3-pack of books from Martingale Publishing * fabric bundle from Sew Fresh Fabrics * $30 gift certificate to Spoonflower 

  3rd Prize

* fat quarter bundle from Art Gallery Fabrics * 2-pack of books from Lark Crafts Publishing * $20 gift certificate to The Quilted Castle 

  4th Prize

* fat quarter bundle from Art Gallery Fabrics 

  3 Randomly Chosen Winners

$20 gift certificate to Pink Chalk Fabrics

The Sponsors Thank you to all of the lovely and extremely generous sponsors! Art Gallery Fabrics // Artsy Crafty Babe // Noodlehead // Izzy and Ivy // Serendipity Studio // Martingale & Co. Publishing // Betz White // Sis Boom // Atkinson Designs // Mommy's Thimble // Lila Tueller // Sew Fresh Fabrics // Bari J. // C&T Publishing // Keyka Lou // Clover and Violet // Indygo Junction // Marie-Madeline Studio // Pellon // Pink Chalk Fabrics // Lark Crafts Publishing // The Quilted Castle // Fat Quarter Shop // Craft Apple // iThinkSew // Emmaline Bags // Bag Purse Frames // Zipit // Oliver + S // Ellen Medlock Studio // Charlie's Aunt Patterns // Spoonflower Grab a button, get ready to find out all you had every wanted to know on interfacing, straps, closures- you get the picture!

<center><a href="http://www.sewsweetness.com/2012/05/purse-palooza-2012.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Sew Sweetness" src="http://i869.photobucket.com/albums/ab257/bluemerleboutique/resizedpursebutton.jpg"/></a></center>

Pride

I love teaching.  It is in my blood.  My dad, my mum and my aunt were all teachers.  I usually teach children, these days 4-6 year olds and younger.  I have trained teachers- they are the hardest group to work with!  But I haven't taught sewing to adults before so teaching classes at Fat Quarterly Retreat was a new experience.  What you get from teaching is pride, the right kind of pride, the sort that makes you teary and smiley when you see how someone who has never done something before can now do it and you were a little part in that process.  This is a snippet of what was made in classes.

You can click on any of these and it will take you to Flickr and details on their makers.  I didn't get pictures of them all but I saw them in class- people who had never used freezer paper before making little hour glass and spool blocks like experts.   I was so proud of you all!

And a few thankyous- to the Fat Quarterly team for inviting me to teach and for it being such a wonderful place for everyone to create.  Thankyou to Trudi and Nicky for being lovely breakfast companions- Trudi has told me the secrets of free motion quilting and I will be putting it to the test.  Thankyou to Rachel  and Hadley for their little gifts which were pinned on my cardi and now live just above my sewing machine.

It was such a blast! 

Fat Quarterly Retreat 2012

If you came to the Fat Quarterly Retreat, you know what an amaazing weekend it was, and if you didn't maybe I shouldn't tell you as you have missed such a great experience- don't panic too much, I have a feeling it may well be back next year, keep everything crossed x.  I think it exceeded everyone's expectations.  Check in at 9- much hysteria, flapping, screaming, chatting, but within an hour classes were underway.  On the way in, everyone received a goody bag from the generous sponsors- some of mine didn't make this pic as I had stuff in every bag, there was even more than this!

I need to give them a shout out as there really did give us all such a treat!  Oakshott, Kaufman Fabrics, Abakhan Fabrics, Korbond, Moda, Aurifil, Liberty, Pfaff, Sizzix and maybe more- I lost count!

This was my first freezer paper group sorting out their pattern pieces.  It was busy- 28 people in my class and the same on the other side of the hall in Tacha's English paper piecing but it was fine, everyone all had enough space and access to machines- thanks to Pfaff for the 20 top notch machines they supplied, so many people including me were incredibly grateful for them!

More about my classes in another post- I want to show the amazing work people did in a post of its own!   There were special guests during the day, including a Liberty table with a free bag for everyone and once it had been sorted- lovely Karen helped a lot here- a little bundle of various Liberty fabrics was given to all on Sunday.  You can see me trying not to drool on some silk, actually called 'Kerry's Flock'- I was pretty much prepared to strip off and roll around naked in this and some of the other silks!  I just about restrained myself!

There are frequent break opportunities and the beauty of the venue, Baden Powell House is that the rooms flow and it easy to move around from class to class and to the food/drink area.  Everyone is on high octane, energy is flowing and frequent drinks and snacks are essential.  Everything they provided was excellent, really high quality and much appreciated.  It could not be a better venue- 5 mins from 2 major hotels- The Grange and The Radisson, less than 10 mins from a Waitrose and Gloucester Road tube.  All this is so important when people arrive to retreat having flown in, with their luggage and their sewing equipment.

In the afternoon it was lovely to attend a class and sit back and relax whilst listening to Lynne as our teacher!  Here she is with Carla in full teacher mode:

Such a fun class!  You pick up tips from the teachers and the class members and you get to see such a great range of machines, fabrics, tools...Neither Di nor I had out own machines so we used a Pfaff 1.5 Ambition and took turns, you can just see the back of her head below as she is working out her Union Jack.

This was Tacha's Sunday class: A hand  sewing class is a great opportunity to chat.  I was on the other side Freezer Paper teaching again.

And in the afternoon I did Lu's Porthole technique class- loved it!  I think I had packed my ipad away as I have no pictures!  But retreat is not just about the classes, it is about the people and they were all so friendly and lovely.  When the retreat started on Saturday morning, John gave us a little pep talk at the beginning and stressed the importance of community, of including everyone and that is what happened.  You could join a group of people or a conversation anywhere and be welcomed.  Or you could take yourself off somewhere quieter and be alone, no pressure, nothing to conform to- all encompassing.  And I met so many people xoxoxox to you all!  To give you an idea of how that felt, I'll leave today's post with a pic of me and Leila, it was like meeting an old friend.  We were both a little tired but dressed in our finest homemade finery, it was about 7pm, Leila had to go and meet her Mr, I had to go back to my hotel because I was so tired but you can tell how happy we were to meet- just tearing up thinking about it now!

Back with more soon x

Gone Sewing

I am packed and apart from a few essentials, ready. Deep breath, here goes. I will be taking pics at Instagram where I am @verykerryberry. I will be tweeting, I am @verykb and if this post is working to plan, I will be blogging using Blogsy. My husband has joined Twitter so he can see what I get up to.

Gone sewing, see you on the other side x

 

Liberty Tea Cup

I recently had the chance to test a pattern for Laurraine at Patchwork Pottery.  She pattern tested for me with the Sew-Ichigo patterns, her proof reading and attention to detail was amazing, so I was happy to return the favour.   Regular readers here know my love affair with tea and tea imagery so I feel a kinship with Laurraine who is similarly inspired by tea and all that relates to it.  I followed her Quilted Teacup pattern  and made a Liberty lawn and linen tea cup.  

Liberty lawn is the perfect match for a teacup pattern, so English, delicate and small prints- just like floral china.  Ali at veryberryhandmade has started selling Liberty charm packs in a range of sizes at The Fabric Market Place.  I bought a pack of 15 x 4" squares and dug into my little Liberty stash making this a scrappy project, just as Laurraine intended.

The linen is Kaufman Essex linen in bleached white.  I had a selection of this sent to me when I did the Zakka Style Sew a long.  I first came across Essex in a quilting bee when it was part of a fabric selection.  It is linen/cotton blend, but it cuts like a heavy cotton- it doesn't slip and slide or even fray in the nightmarish way that 100% linen does.  The yarn dyed variations are incredible- I will show you more soon, but I always like to have a few colours of the standard Essex in stock and I have always bought from Simply Solids.

 To make this a truly scrappy project, I even pieced my binding.   Liberty lawn is thin enough and strong enough to make a great binding without significant seam bulk.  Laurraine's pattern prints as a booklet so there are illustrations and words for each stage so I was clear on what I was doing at all times.  I especially like pictures when I am following instructions and Laurraine has tweaked all the illustrations to make sure they accurately represent each stage of the process.

It is quite a fiddly pattern as all 3D sewing tends to be but it is not hard.   The skills covered are bias binding- making and attaching and then just standard sewing.     There is a balance of hand sewing and machine stitching and she includes a glossary and diagrams of all hand stitches involved.

The pattern comes out at around the size of a medium china tea cup- so delightful!  Now all I need is for Liberty to do a mix and match china tea set using their classic pattern archives!

You can find Laurraine's pattern here along with other equally detailed and cute projects.