Market Survivor...

Well, a combo of aspirin (because the strong painkillers just made me loopy) and antibiotics, a strong dose of adrenalin and excitement and the best wishes and sympathy I received from my gorgeous readers got me through on Saturday - thank you.

The day started a little awry - my bff hadn't seen my face until then so it was a bit of a shock to her - and then we got slightly geographically challenged on the way to the market - I'm blaming that on the 5.30m start!

We set up pretty quickly then it was  matter of waiting for customers and getting to know our stall holder neighbours - both of them were old hands at markets so had a few tips for young players!

The swelling went down as the day progressed so I was looking halfway normal by pack up time.  A strong contingent of friends and family came to wish me luck - and buy something (which was the SWEETEST thing ever! - thank you from the bottom of my heart) - and even wonderful people I didn't know bought as well :)

I think I'm calling it a modest success - I certainly got some lovely feedback and have a better idea of the things I could make and how things could be better displayed (there was a surprising number of questions about what the soft baskets could be used for).  So I'm doing it all again on the 30th March for the Mornington Easter Market.....back to the sewing machine!

On the tooth front, it was removed yesterday and while not completely pain free, it's certainly on the mend.

Thanks again for all your kind wishes - onwards and upwards.......

Timing is everything......

Went to bed last night with a bit of a headache - woke up this morning with half my face inflated like a barrage balloon.

I have an abscess in my gum - the result of ignoring a broken tooth (cos I'm a scaredy cat when it comes to dentists) and now I have the look of someone furtively stuffing her face and not so furtively storing said stuffing in the side of my mouth.  The dentist won't see me and remove the tooth until the swelling has gone down - so that'll likely be Monday - and the doctor has given me an antibiotic jab today and some sooper dooper antibiotics and pain killers to have over the weekend.  The pain killers could have 1 of 2 side-effects - they can make me hyper or they can make me sleepy.  I rarely take painkillers - certainly not sooper dooper ones - so I don't know what to expect.

I have my first market tomorrow morning.

I'm going to look like a rabid squirrel storing her nuts for winter (at best) or comatose under my display table and hoping my bestie can cope with what we hope is an onslaught of buyers.

So if you're coming to Red Hill Market tomorrow, I'm just saying that it's the painkillers - whichever way it goes.....or I go.........

Just a couple more things to do..

the lettering is deliberately wonky and the raw edge applique deliberately frayed!

There's brown paper bags to buy, a 'float' to organise and that's about it - then it's 'D' Day on Saturday.

Last week I contemplated going in the garden to eat worms - definitely a crisis of confidence - but all good now and philosophical - it's my first market; I expect there to be adjustments and insights to be gained - which is just as well as I've committed myself to another market at the end of March - I so want to succeed so I'm surprised by my silly thoughts of:  "Hmm, if I sell everything, I'll have to remake and restock - maybe it would be better not to sell everything so I don't have so much pressure....(my eldest son gets married the first week of April and there's frock making and fabric dyeing and banner making to be done in the meantime - oh, and a couple of client commissions which have waited around long enough so have to be done now....)

but no, sod that:   I hope it all sells :)

I'll let you know how I go, good, bad or indifferent.

Getting closer...

So I made the 100 items - bit later than I anticipated, but life does intrude hmmm??

Now just have to make the banner, buy the bags, have a mock run, sort out the display............

matching soft baskets - beautiful printed linen with  a solid lining

wee pouch, fully lined, using Prints Charming offcuts

I was supposed to have this baby quilt/play mat ready too, but I put a narrow red border on it and it needs another - I just don't know what - so it's hanging off my long-arm until inspiration strikes....

a mix of fabrics, featuring prints from Oz designer, Saffron Craig

So it's Friday and I'm off to school - and we're doing screen printing today - bit excited about that...

Sewing, sewing, sewing...

In between keeping up with my Textile Art Diploma course requirements (creating a repeat design using hand carved stamps),

preparing sessions for my Community Classes (my themes this semester are Colour Theory and Techniques),

and other sundry domestic chores,

including removal of some water hyacinth from the fish pond - but that had to stop when I was bitten by a very large, and very aggressive bullant....

I have been organising business cards and advertising postcards, and sewing up a storm for my upcoming stall at Red Hill Market on 2nd March...

large cushion cover with zipped opening

boxy, zipped pouches

journal covers

cushion cover with buttoned opening

There's still a few other admin type issues to sort out (source and buy paper bags, signage, still need to finalise the display etc etc) and I want to have 100 items for sale - so I have another 20 to make........

Best get back to it......

doing Good

A couple of years ago I answered a call out from Rachel, of Stitched in colour, to establish a do.Good Stitches Circle here in Australia and the result was the Cherish Circle.  This wonderful group of women have made lots of stunning quilts, all destined to be gifted to people who would benefit from a quilty hug...here are a few of them.....

these can all be viewed in Flickr do.good Stitches group
Flickr

Late last year however, I made the decision to  bow out for a while - my school work is getting more full-on and with various other commitments, time is at a premium.  We found a new member to replace me and Anne very kindly took over the leadership.  All I had to do was finish the last quilt - which was supposed to be finished by November 2012.......

Anyway - yesterday I decided it was next on the list - so I loaded it on the Gammill (I have these new Red Snapper things that make loading and unloading quilts onto the frame an absolute breeze) and freehand feathery quilted it all over.  The backing I pieced out of a few lengths of fabric that suited and the binding - all done by machine (and I have those Clover binder clips - wow - they make such a difference too) - was a blue stripe I've had for some time too - so now it's ready for a label and then handover to the recipient.

crap photo - another thing on my list of things to improve...

I've really enjoyed making with the Cherish group - I'll keep calling into the Flickr groups to look at what stunners they have come up with and there's always lots of inspiration in the main do.good Stitches group too.

All the best ladies - you made my tenure as Circle mama so very easy and I wish you all the very best.

It's been a long time, now I'm...

coming back home....I've been away now, oh how.......

Hands up who was singing it in their head?? (Gotta love the Beatles).

I haven't been away too far, just very busy with Christmas, some commission work and getting stuff ready for my market stall...and I finished a couple of items too.

We here in Oz just celebrated Australia Day - it commemorates the first settlement of Europeans in Australia - it has been mired in a little controversy given the status of the traditional landholders, but it is still a public holiday and it is very traditional for folks to get away for 'the long weekend' (Oz Day is the 26th January and it happened to fall on the weekend, so Monday was declared a public holiday, giving us a 3 day weekend).

My bff, her partner and my husband decided to get away camping, to Noojee, a spot the boys recced the weekend before.  Gorgeous spot, next to a river and not too far to travel.  There's new long drops, lots of shade and given the weather forecast, it seemed like an ideal spot.

Oh dear, how wrong we were...

When we pulled in late on Friday afternoon, it didn't take us long to set up and get the kettle on and contemplate what we'd have for dinner.

Nicked the photo from my bff's facebook page

A Ranger came around to let us know there was still a Total Fire Ban in place, so cooking over the fire was out of the question.  No drama's - perfect opportunity to have dinner at a place called The Outpost in town (the schnitzels were amazing, real chicken breast and came with a multitude of different toppings.  The boys had a Billy Burger and declared them very, very tasty - we'd definitely go back again).

A couple of camping groups in the same area decided that the Total Fire Ban could not possibly apply to them, so they lit a campfire - given they had young kids in their party, this behaviour was completely irresponsible.  It was compounded later by the arrival of several dirt bikes - obviously they'd been out riding when we arrived and the noise they made on their return certainly shattered the serenity of the place - being in a valley added reverberating echoes all around the camping ground - hmm, not enjoying Noojee as much now.....but wait, there's more....

Several groups decided that they should play their music, loudly, so everyone could hear - so we had Jon Bon Jovi up against doof doof (I can't call it music - Gawd, how old do I sound!!) - not the same doof doof artist at each site mind you, but lots of different ones, just in case we didn't like one of them....

This continued for some time - but it did finish reasonably early on Friday night so off to bed and hopefully a better day on Saturday.

Have to say, Saturday not a great deal better - more bikes - a nice surprise though was that a Total Fire Ban was not declared so campfires legal and we looked forward to a good night around the fire.  Wasn't to be - the 'music' was louder - it appeared that each group decided their particular music should have centre stage - so they just kept turning the sound up - we even had the Bon Jovi group 'singing' along to their cd (don't give up your day job girls!).  The group behind us played a card game that apparently required a lot of shouting - things like f**k, a******e and raucous laughter - don't get me wrong - I love a drink and I swear - but omg, there were kids about and OTHER PEOPLE CLOSE BY.  The noise continued until 1.30am Sunday morning and I'd had enough - not enough sleep - terrible music - noisy bikes.....

I'd love to say I marched up to the ferals/bogans and demanded they thought about others besides themselves - but I didn't - they'd been drinking since lunchtime and I wasn't game enough - so, after breakfast Sunday morning, we came home - a day earlier than planned.  The good thing about that was I was able to watch the Oz Open men's final  - sorry Murray didn't win but it was a great match.

I love camping, especially bush camping, and the irresponsible idiots that tear up the bush, frighten the wildlife and think of no-one but themselves make me despair.  I know this type of anti-social behaviour happens in towns and cities all over the place, but I usually avoid situations where I have to deal with it..there was a time when I wouldn't have thought twice about confronting the perpetrators...I wonder when I got so afraid?

In the grand scheme of things, I've nothing really to complain about - we have people battling floods and bush fires in this great land - and I grieve with them...and send my best wishes to all them, including the emergency services members and volunteers assisting them.

Happy Australia Day..