Holiday Boss

So whilst the holiday boss might not have been thrilled with last weeks performance, quite a lot happened. I finished up a stack of shop samples including Circus Skittles and Tuffets.

I visited Kellie's new shop in Fairfield called Cutting Cloth. The shop is stunning and full of Kellie's wonderful quilts. You can follow her on facebook to see some of her wonderful range.

Still in Fairfield , it was off to visit G.J's. Having recently moved, the G.J's store is enormous with a huge amount of quilting fabric as well as everything strecthy and sparkly and sequinny that any dancer could want. (I find myself so drawn to all that sparkle.)  

While I was there I saw my fabric in the wild for the very fist time. It was a bit weird, I didn't want to stand near it in case someone said something awful about it.

I made a new friend (almost but not quite),

and I celebrated the birthday of our slightly older friend, Annie flowergarden.

I look forward to all the adventures you have planned Annie, it is going to be some ride !

But wait there's more (and a giveaway)

 If you have been hanging out on social media for a while there is a chance you already know Bec of  beccasaurus blog (her blog is a sleeping at the moment but she is becsibbi on IG.) I have known Bec and her sidekick for years, since the very early blog days. I can happily say Bec is one of my friends. We don't get to see each other that often but we generally manage a catch up at crafty events - or over lunch at Millrose. Bec with her daughter's artistic direction, created this backpack for me. Not only did it look super on the booth it was a very clever hiding spot for my camera and badges and presents and all the other bits and pieces. Hanging jauntily from the chair is the cutest bucket hat ever that bec also made for me - she is a whizz at the little kid stuff being the best aunty on the Internet whipping up things all over the place.

I commissioned this bag from Marilyn Cardinal of Missy Mao Mao. Don't you love the little zipper pouch? You can find Marilyn all over the place on social media and she has a fantastic Etsy shop.  I can't stress enough how beautifully made Marilyn's bags are. This photo was before I left but in the next photo you can see me wearing it. I wore it everyday, it was the perfect size and has all the little nooks and crannies needed. Marilyn is local to Ballarat and is lovely. (plus she has two of the cutest dogs ever !) 

Here I am  wearing my bag and hanging out with Kimberly Jolly of fat quarter shop. I am excited to say they will be stocking my fabrics ! (like really excited ). Behind us, you can see a quilt I made - YEP !!!! 

There is almost no need to introduce Rita of Red Pepper quilts - she is a superstar in the land of quilts and I was beyond excited when she was able to squeeze a commission in for me - it was a tight timeline. What can I say? This quilt is simply stunning. It is better than I ever imagined. Everyone admired it at quilt market and soooo many people said "that looks like redpepper quilts ". Her style is so well known. Rita's work is impeccable and her skill with putting fabric together blows me away. I can't believe this quilt actually belongs to me ! I will take some better shots soon.

As a reward for reading all that - if you pop over to Rita's blog, she is giving away a complete fat quarter bundle of my fabric including the two doll panels. There are no hoops to jump through - just pop over and leave a comment and let her know I sent you.

At last - the booth (part 1)

I have been home and back to almost normal for a week. There seems to be so much I haven't blogged that I don't know where to start. The truth is, I cannot move on until I have thanked all the amazing friends that helped me pull my booth together in such a short time.

Sexiest cushion in the world award goes to the uber-talented Janelle Wind. Long before my fabric was ready I saw a cushion in Janelle's instagram feed that I loved. So I emailed Janelle and worked out a deal. Janelle worked with the teeniest slivers from my strike offs and delivered this fantastic cushion. I am still wildly in love with this. It just feels all circusy to me.

Do you know Cherie Bobbins? I first found Cherie on Pinterest.  I kept pinning her pins. A chance conversation with Emma Jansen about her friend Cherie had me excitedly telling her about this chick on Pinterest - one in the same !!!

Part of the fabric deal involved me writing a quilt pattern (I know...) , and being one not to shirk one's duties, I did it. This pattern is called Circus Stars and is available as a free download on the Ella Blue website. Of course just because I wrote the pattern didn't mean I wanted to sew it. (I did do a test block I promise) Cherie to the rescue ! Cherie makes gorgeous quilts and has the funniest blog ever. I wish that we were friends when I had little kids, I think we would have raised a fabulous ruckus together. Cherie put up with my nervous crazy dumb emails and made me the most beautiful quilt. it is exactly pointy and perfect and wonderful in every way.

I do have real life friends !! Carole and I work together at my real job and we share our love of craft. Carole is an astounding seamstress and can turn her hand to anything. I was so thrilled when she agreed to make me a little frock. I was a bit vague about the details , just that I wanted a sweet little frock. Isn't it gorgeous? I just love it, those little puffy sleeves and the Peter Pan collar. Everyone who visited the booth commented on how cute it was, in fact everyone made that 'awwww' kind of noise when they saw it and then told me about dresses their kids had worn.

All these people (and some more tomorrow) are responsible for making me look good over there in the US. I am so lucky to have these people as friends, real life or internet. I still feel like I am a big fraud most of the time and that one day someone will notice and tell me to bugger off, but I felt very proud to have these beautiful items on my booth. Together, we totally nailed it !

Backyard Circus - really truly

My favourite is the white background. I want to make little baby blankets with it. (obviously not for babies that belong to my babies just yet though) Although I do really love the yellow.

The green is a killer ! Its kind of a 'squashed Kermit' shade and I want to eat it!

I love this  spotty one to the point of ridiculousness ! It was actually my interpretation of a party hat pom pom , but you  know, lets call a spot a spot.

There is still a quilt to bind and a few toys that need dressing   bajillion others things to do.

For now, school has finished for the week and it is my plan to have every stitch sewn by the end of Saturday. I will pack my bag on Sunday, toddle off to work on Monday and then barely fall asleep before it is time to get up and fly at ungodly O'clock on Tuesday.

If you can get your head around flying for eleventy-seven hours and arriving only six hours after you depart, then more power to you.

Me ? I'm going to be sleeping.

(This blog post is brought to you by my friend Rita of Red Pepper quilts who took all these awesome photos and let me use them, knowing full-well I have not had time to scratch myself, let alone take pretty photos)

ten sleeps

There are ten sleeps until I head off to Minneapolis for Spring Market. Did I tell you that Mr Ric Rac is coming along ? I can't help a little sneaky smirk as I type this. He has NO IDEA !!! I keep trying to warn him of the magnitude of the whole event, and the squealiness of the blog friends and the feeling of  exhaustion/exciting and the hit-the-ground-running nature of things.

When I told him today that I was excited to be getting into Minneapolis at 3pm because that meant I would be able to go to Joann's to get some stuffing and stuff some cushions on the first night - he honestly thought I was joking. 

I also told him about the strange toilets, the upside down light switches and Maple Bacon flavoured milkshakes. He assured me he would take it all in his stride.

I'll keep you posted.

Getting closer... sampling is on the way.

I have go stuff a monkey.

New lists, the fabric gig and how she stopped her head exploding

Make a cuppa and come back, I'll wait for you.
I thought it might be time for a catch-up. How am I ? well, thanks for asking - I am lost in a list-driven world right now. There are lists by the computer, lists on the fridge, lists in the sewing room  and a master bi-fold list on the kitchen bench, hitherto known as Studio 2 as it has not been clear of craft clutter since January and is not likely to be clear until I board that plane on the 12th of May.

There are two main types of lists. One list, lets call it the Toy List is a list of all the samples I have chosen to send to market with Creative Abundance. This list, while extensive is mostly finished and will be ticked, crossed and highlighted into oblivion by early next week when I seal the box and send them all on their way. It was really hard to choose which toys to take, it turns out that some of my favourites are not really other people's favourite. 

Two elephants, three kinder girls and some chubby birds stand between me and the end of that list. Doable !

The sub-lists are tricky little suckers, they include things like; buy 3 weeks worth of cat food, get a haircut, buy some undies and sort out the technology. There are lists sorted into things that will take all day and small things that I can do after work. One list is actually a giant plastic tub. As I make, and move and generally fart about I put things into it that I want to take with me; things for the Creative Abundance Booth, things for the Ella Blue Booth, gifts, props and eventually the undies.

(This is the Ella Blue basics range)

Then there is the Fabric List, a great long list of pristine things still to be done. Nothing is ticked , nothing is crossed off. It is completely highlighter free. I have strike-offs of my fabric, kind of like those hanging fabric sample books you look at when choosing a new couch or curtains. The sampling (actual lengths of fabric) are not likely to get here to  my house and my sewing scissors until the extreme end of this month, leaving two weeks to turn it into objects before I leave. So I cannot begin to cross things off that list yet - it just sits there, growing and changing and re-prioritising itself in my head eleventy five gazillion times a week.
This has caused a seismic shift I the universe (and some bizarre anxiety dreams) and Jodie the control-freak to end all control-freaks has asked for help. I KNOW !!! What is more I have asked for sewing help? Yep, I am working with other people to help me fill my booth at market.I am buying-in the expertise that I don't have and I am sticking to what I do best, cute but useless (well, except for that one quilt  I have scheduled myself to make). 

(I made one quilt block and then promptly hand balled this project)

So, I just wanted you to know that it is not you, I am not avoiding you. I know we should catch up more often, go out for coffee like normal friends- even a dinner once in awhile. I should call  and email. I should also get out of tracksuit pants sometime between Thursdays and Mondays and go out into the world and mix with real people and I will.
I have penciled it in for June.