Tuesday 27 November 2012

Finishing school

I've been combing the internet for the finer points of quilting lately.  I've always found that piecing the main pattern on the front of a quilt has been relatively easy.  For me the hardest part of quilting is putting these panels together somehow and then making the quilt up.  This tutorial from Craftsy is a gem.  Have a look:

http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2012/11/how-to-accent-and-embellish-quilt-edges/

Craftsy is such a brilliant place to go to learn a new crafting skill or brush up on areas that you're unfamiliar with.  Instead of quilts that look like I've thrown things together, I'm hoping this tip from Jan Krentz, one of Craftsy's instructors, will give a bit more polish to my finished products.

Wednesday 21 November 2012

Things are changing round here

I turned 40 this year and it dawned on me that I really should be doing more of the things I really care about.  The things that are really me.  Start doing more things my way instead of worrying what everyone else thinks.  Crafting for Etsy has been a real experience and one where I feel I'm learning a lot about myself.  I think I'm beginning to see who I really am.

It occurred to me that I've actually been looking for a change with my Etsy shop.  And sometimes a change forward is, in a way, a change backward.  One of the things I miss doing is sewing for other people. So first of all I am going to bring back some sewn bags.  Just the Sling tote for now as that's been so popular.  And whilst I sell lots of the pattern for the Sling, I also get a lot of requests from people who can't sew and want the bag made up for them.  I had a little shop around at one of my fave lil spots this morning and found a bunch of cute stuff.  What do you think?  Can you see my fetish for retro fabric showing through?! Hopefully some of you non-sewists out there will like the choices: