Three cushions and a plan

Right back in January my husband issued me with a challenge for the year - only a small one but nevertheless a challenge. It was to sell something I had made to someone I didn't know.So here's the plan. I have been wanting to try an Etsy shop for ages, but I have to be careful of the fact that if I am busy for work I often can't drop everything to make something. So the plan is to make several things before I start the Etsy shop.

This is my first attempt at building up some stock. Three really simple cushions. Here they are one by one

This one is made of a bright pink plain and a tiny white flower outlined in black on two colours of pink background.

This one is a plain blue and a selection of blue and red based 30s prints.

And this one is a tiny cream star fabric and a mixture of the 30s prints. They all have the fronts quilted with a one inch grid pattern and a contrasting square binding round the outside.

My next plan is to make some more in different styles and then when I have about 8 or 10  I will start the Etsy shop. I need to check out postage and packaging too. I'm pleased with the result so far. At the moment this feels like a mountain to climb - but I'm glad I've done it and albeit a little more slowly than I thought am sticking to my plans.

Delayed ta-dah

Just a very quick post to say this quilt which you can see in more detail here and here is now finished. The jury is out on whether I like it!! Isn't that strange? I made this quilt working on the principle that since it was for me I would just go with the flow and use fabrics I loved and easy quilting patterns. I should love it. I did love it while I was putting it together - but now I am not so sure! The only way I can express it is that it feels a bit too busy, almost a bit sickly and over the top. I'm not sure if it was because I was really involved in making it when I had some bad news and this has kind of rubbed off on the quilt. It feels as though it is associated with difficult things rather than the enjoyment and achievement I usually feel on completing a quilt.

I've got a plan though. I'm not going to give it away - I'm going to put it away for a bit in a cupboard and then get it out and see if I like it any better.

I'm taking a break now and working on some very simple cushions which I am really enjoying. I went to the Sewing for Pleasure show in Birmingham last week and added a little to my stash which I really enjoyed too. More of cushions and stashes soon - but now I have got an hour to go and sew - sew I must go and get on with it!! Back soon.

Mug rugs - stepping back into my blog

This is a practice mug rug I made in preparation for the Quilting Gallery olympic mug rug swap. It was the first time I have done anything like this in many ways - first time for a swap, first time for a mug rug and first time for applique. Before I sent the mug rugs to my partner I had a little practice and this was my first attempt. I was actually quite pleased with it. I especially liked the backing fabric with the clouds which was from the lovely collection by Heather Moore for Cloud 9. My second attempts which went to my swap partner Crystal in Maine, USA are here

and here

I really enjoyed making the mug rugs - especially the hand stitched blanket stitches round the edges. It has opened my eyes to a whole new option for quilting and I have very much enjoyed learning more about this from Lynne Edwards blanket stitch quilt books. I'm planning making a cushion using this technique and one of her motifs - perhaps the cherries or even a butterfly if I feel brave!

For those of you who read this blog regularly you will notice I haven't been able to post for several weeks. Things are just beginning to get back to some semblance of normality round here and I have been determined to get back to my blogging. It took such an effort to get started that I really didn't want to give up. Not only have I not been able to blog, but I haven't felt much like sewing either - but I'm getting there. Sometimes when there is a lot of other stuff going on the urge to sew deserts me. When my children were younger and I was phenomenally busy with work and study and looking after people it would desert me for years at a time, only returning on holiday when I would pick up some cross stitch or some knitting. Now I am glad it has only  been gone for a matter of weeks. Does that happen to you? Sometimes when it has gone I wonder what would happen if it didn't return - but happily it has been there waiting for me every time so far.

I've signed up for the Easter mug rug challenge as a motivation to keep sewing in the short term even if it is something small - and I might even get back to that huge quilting task mentioned here and here soon.