a new obsession

a new obsession, originally uploaded by lusummers.

Another small piece around 12 inches square. I'm enjoying making these so much, prepared to get very bored seeing more!

weekend

what a LOVELY one it's been!

i taught an improv workshop for the first time at raystitch on saturday - i was very nervous beforehand but it went really well, and i'm hoping each of the 6 ladies went away having learnt something new - or at least a new way at looking at patchwork! i'm looking forward to going back in a few weeks for the next one - and hopefully take some better pictures :)

raystitch open sign made from heather moore's cut out and keep collection for cloud 9

improv string block (i can't remember who's this was!)

yesterday was spent in ely - we're 20 minutes away from this cute little city (a particularly small city, admittedly) and we had lunch on a very warm rooftop terrace overlooking the cathedral. doesn't get better than that really! i even had time to rootle in the charity shop where i came up trumps with the little wooden house. i mean, come on, it's wooden, & it's in the shape of a HOUSE! the little jug was a find this morning in our charity warehouse...oh my, that's some place! i spent the huge sum of £2 for it along with a vintage plate for my soon-to-be-arranged plate wall...

it's a house people!

mini

work in progress finished mini for festival of quilts. hand quilting in a naive way (the only way i can do it!) i'm loving this process despite it killing my fingers. haven't found a thimble i'm happy with yet and i'm too impatient to get this finished to bother trying anything new. i love the texture the threads are creating, it's more like embroidery or modern kantha quilting.

teeny weeny

i found a tutorial on pinterest by the very clever elizabeth hartman on how to create a postage stamp quilt without loosing your mind. it's one of those clever little tricks that make you think 'ha! why didn't i think of that?!' but of course i had to make my life harder by not reading the instructions properly and cutting my beginning squares too small, opps. the above little block is just under 5 inches square, and each little square just half an inch. so many possibilities...check out elizabeth's tutorial right here.

mindless sewing

i was in a funny mood on saturday, i couldn't really settle to anything and i felt truly down in the dumps. i had a few hours that were my own, so i just sat and stitched in my funny mood...just grabbing whatever fabric i had to hand, which happen to be a little pile of neutrals ready washed for a print workshop. i stole little pieces of them & cut and stitched, cut again, stitched again and so on. not sure if it's going anywhere, but it was nice to prove to myself nice things can come out of foul moods.

like a little beaver...

as in, busy!
busy packing orders (i was SWAMPED! over the weekend, so thank you if you ordered...you may carry on ordering as the bill for the fabric came yesterday, YIKES)
busy making samples for workshops...that's a lovely busy though. that one i don't mind at all.

 and ekk! the postman just this very second (ok, not this second but certainly within the last 10 minutes) knocked on the door to give me a little parcel containing my l.o.n.g.a.w.a.i.t.e.d. 'sunny street' mug sample! remember this post? it seems like forever ago (february *was* forever ago!) and as i didn't make it to the trade show where the 10 finalist mugs were being shown, i haven't ever seen one in real life. so this is a proper screen printed one to make sure i'm happy with the colours, which i completely am.  it's happy. and you know, sunny. and hopefully on sale in the shop soon. you'll be the first to know x

holy moses...

...i know i've been expecting this. i know that. but opening these boxes and seeing my name on the cardboard bolts. well, oh my, that was something else. it suddenly hit me. my fabric. MY FABRIC!


now i've just got to actually, you know, sell it. because that's also my job. so if you want metres of this, please email me. i've also got 4 layer cakes, 4 jelly rolls and 12 charm packs...(& i know the pre-cuts have flown in stores) so if you can't wait for me to put all these in the shop which i will do as soon as possible (but you know these children, apparently they want to be fed and all sorts) email me with your paypal email address and i'll get an invoice to you today. later. when the kids have been fed and watered. my email address is luciesummers{at}yahoo{dot}co{dot}uk it's all been listed right HERE!

i can't compete with the amazing prices in the states, i wish i could. but import duty, VAT etc etc all that boring stuff takes it's toll. so these are the prices:

SUMMERSVILLE:

FQs: £2.75
half metres: £5.50
full metres: £11.00
charm packs: £9.00
jelly rolls: £29.00
layer cakes: £29.00

MATCHING SOLIDS:
FQs: £1.75
half metres: £3.50
full metres: £7.00

all plus postage...

little bag

i made this little bag from the scandi oilcloth and lined it in fall in london bus red for a little pressie for my niece, sofia. it's very loosely based on this brilliant tute from cicada daydream but i didn't make it as wide. i also put a magnetic closure inside instead of a button (which in honesty i placed a bit low, but i don't think an almost-two-year-old will care much) it's totally fat quarter friendly too - in actual fact if you make it smaller like i did, there would be plenty of fabric for pockets.

a little project...

...and a jolly satisfying one at that - it involves a bit of colouring in, a tired mousemat, a small piece of coated oilcloth type fabric, some strong spray glue (or PVA would work too) & you've got a brilliant new computing accessory.

i used a variety of permanent pens by sharpie in lots of different colours. i also left the coated fabric to dry for a few hours so i didn't smudge it, but to be honest i'm not sure it needed it, but it's hard to get the smudges off the cloth if you do have an accident. once i had glued the fabric to the mouse mat, i also put it under something heavy until it was completely dry so it was nice and flat. i'll be honest, i'm not sure whether the colour will fade over time, but for now, it's nice and bright and cheery!

i've got some coated summersville in 4 designs and 2 colours (weave and scandi in seafoam & weave and alphabetty in coal, just shout if you'd like some, i'm hoping to get some in the shop asap. done!

nice design, just grubby and tired (& tea stained!)

nice and new!