The Very Berry Handmade Textile ATC swap has come to an end and, a little over a week ago, I posted my wee card off to my swap partner with a little note.
The recipient is an American lady, so my little offering has flown all the way across the pond to New York! I do hope she likes it.
In the meantime, I have received this delicate blossom tree from Kathie who blogs over at Dipity-do-dah. Those sweet little blossoms are really, really tiny and are not embroidered on, but cut from fabric!! Wow! Thank you Kathie – I love it!
You can see a lot more amazing designs over on the flickr group – such a diverse mix of ideas and interpretations! It was a lot of fun and I am looking forward to the next Very Berry Handmade ATC swap later on in the year.
Alas, no sewing for me today I’m afraid. Instead, I’m off out shopping for a wedding outfit – the wedding is next Saturday, so I’m cutting it fine, yikes! (Note to self: don’t kid yourself that you will find wedding attire in John Lewis haberdashery department … resist going in there. … resist … 😉 ).
We will be having some house guests stay with us from my husband’s side of the family, so I can feel a bit of spring cleaning coming on and some cake baking too! It won’t all be cushion plumping and kettle polishing though – I will be making sure that I set aside a little sewing time before the wedding to do some hand quilting on my Mile-a-Minute scrappy quilt (which hasn’t been ‘mile-a-minute’ at all, by the way – but that’s a whole other story for another day :))
And finally, I am super excited (and a wee bit nervous?) to tell you that I will soon be launching a pattern shop from my facebook page. It isn’t up and running yet and I am working hard behind the scenes to get my first pattern on there for sale as a PDF download. I have lots of ideas for stitcheries, wall hangings, dolls and more! Here is a sneaky peek at the first pattern that I hope will be available soon ….
This will be one of a series of fun stitcheries featuring Harriet, a little girl who never ventures far without her Teddy. Each stitchery will depict a day in Harriet’s life, or reveal a little bit about her character. I’ll reveal the message behind this little scene, once I’ve finished stitching it 🙂
Now, it’s time I hit the shops – that wedding outfit ain’t gonna buy itself! Happy stitching folks!
sewing room secrets 
Wonderful quilting. I’m wondering where you got the patterns for the celtic knots?
Hi Janet
I’m ashamed to admit that this particular quilt has been on the go for sooo long (I’m talking years!) that I can’t actually remember where the patterns for the celtic knots came from! I suspect it may have been a workshop or a magazine, but my memory fails me on this one…. sorry to disappoint 😦 Natalie x
I’m in awe of your Mile a minute scrappy quilt, the stitching is so precise, I was quite chuffed with the little purse thingy I made today until I saw your sewing LOL Had a look on Flickr and I love the fox and chicken on the bike, so imaginative. really looking forward to your patterns, can’t wait.
Hope you got your wedding outfit 🙂
Hi Kathleen, glad you made it over to Flickr to see the other ATC’s! Very Berry will be hosting another swap in September/October time – why don’t you think about joining in? It really is a lot of fun :). And, thanks, I am kitted out for the wedding now, just a little clutch purse to get and I’m good to go! x
What beautiful hand quilting on your not so mile a minute quilt!
Looking forward to seeing your new design, Harriet sounds as if she’ll be a fun character 🙂
You are so very kind Chris, thank you x
LOVE the Celtic knot quilting and I’m looking forward to learning more about Harriet! She is a real little cutie pie! I wish you great success with your new shop!
Thanks Karen, you are always so encouraging! x