Moving right along.....

There's a sniff of Spring in the air, which means Red Hill Market is almost upon us - the first market this season is 7th September and I've been busy creating some new stock - I reviewed what I made last year and decided I'd been making things to sell, as opposed to making things I would want to buy - make sense????

So, I decided things needed a bit of a change up.......

I've been hand dyeing fabric, choosing my most favourite commercial fabrics, embroidering a little and obviously missed photo lessons (really MUST do something about that...).  I've got screen printed fabric drying ready to make up into some ipad covers, pouches and journal covers.

It's going to be difficult to let these makes go.....

ps - check out the awesome changes on Picmonkey - there's new features and I have to say, it's a lot more user friendly than Photoshop (which I also think is awesome, but it takes a bit of getting used to)

pps - England has retained the Ashes, so I'm pretty happy about that - good old Manchester rain!!

The wedding post.....and other stuff

Well, the wedding is done - the bride looked radiant and the groom (my eldest son) looked so incredibly happy that it made me all teary - one of  the most important things I want for both of my boys is health and happiness - and my Adam sure has both.  They're really enjoying living in Wodonga (about 4 hours from where I live) and are set to make as much of their lives as possible - excellent!

Here's the happy couple after being declared 'husband and wife' and after the obligatory kiss!

Lloyd and I with our great niece.  Miss Stella is just waiting for the signing of the register so she can give Dana a wedding favour.

The reception was an absolute hoot - there was much dancing and drinking - and my youngest son Ben had a 'dance off' with Dana's nanna - it was captured on a mobile phone so hopefully it'll be available on Youtube soon :)

So we're kinda back to normal - the unpacking has been done and the laundry completed and Lloyd went back to work today....so did I....I have another market coming up so there's sewing to be done......and I sold a quilt at the last market (I was sooooo excited) so decided to finish a top I'd had hanging around too long - it's now ready for quilting and binding and it'll be available to buy from Red Hill Market on 4th May...

Thanks Heather for suggesting a border of the 'scraps' from the main piecing -I really like it.

I also had a crack at some free motion quilting on the long-arm..........need more practice but definitely getting better.....

the pink is from my chalk marking

So onwards and upwards - have to get stuck into more market sewing (cos I'm also doing the Mornington market the following week, 11th May.....)

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.......

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...