Happy Little Cupcakes

It's a little unusual for me to be blogging in the middle of the day, but as you know I'm on holidays (and still doing my happy dance).

I have been stitching away madly all morning, trying to finish off a Rose Star sample-sized quilt to show people at the markets. (It's not quite finished yet, but if I get it done today I'll insert a photo in here later.)

My good friend and I had a great weekend overall, with a very good day at our local Ramsgate Foodies (and arts and crafts) Market on Saturday (windy and rainy but we made lots of sales so we didn't mind the weather too much), and a not-so-great day on Sunday when we tried out a new market (it wasn't at all what I expected, we won't be going back there).

GF now pretty much runs the pendants/accessories stall and I have a table or two to showcase my patchwork products. I was happily surprised to find there was heaps of interest, especially in my die-cut fabric hexagons, and I enjoyed chatting with all the patchworkers and crafters who found me.

We will be back at Ramsgate this Saturday (17 Nov) and at Maitland Markets on Sunday (18 Nov) - look for stall number 71J and 71K. In between I'll be going to a birthday party and catching up with my family.

One of my sweet nieces is turning 6 so I've ordered a box of the cutest yummiest cupcakes I've ever tasted. I came across Happy Little Cupcakes a couple of weeks ago at Ramsgate. Shhhh - don't tell my partner that that's the real reason why I want to keep going back to Ramsgate every week!

I don't know if HLC does any other markets around Sydney but you can find them on Facebook here. I just gave Silvana a call and pre-ordered a dozen cupcakes like this, which I'll pick up on Saturday.


I'll have to buy a few extra for myself though (mmm maybe the red velvet ones with frosting mmm) otherwise these pretty pink ones are not going to make it to the party!

Bye for now, it's back to stitching my Rose Star, then once that is done I'll get started on making some new accessories. I have a long list of ideas to try out and I like to have something new to show at every market. I love being on holidays!

Yaaaay I'm on holidays!!!!!!!

Everyone please stand up and join me in a HAPPY DANCE!!!!

Yaay! I'm on holidays! For a month!

Sorry about the overuse of exclamation marks. Oh I can't resist ... just one more!

What am I doing with my holidays? I've never had the travel bug or chased the adrenaline rush. My idea of a good time is finding a new craft to try and having time to play to my heart's content.

So I get to spend 5 days a week at home at my craft desk, with the balcony doors wide open for the fresh air and sunshine. (There's something about working in the city in an "air-conditioned" office that makes me feel so stifled and suppressed.)

And on the weekends I'll be at the markets. My market partner has now taken over selling all my handmade pendants and accessories, so that I can now take my patchwork products as well. Can you believe he has figured out how to fit 2 gazebos, 4 tables, 4 boxes of accessories stock, 4 boxes of patchwork stock ... oh and an esky plus him and me ... all into my little 3-door hatchback.

This weekend we'll be at Ramsgate Foodies and Artisan Market on Saturday and Blacktown Market on Sunday. We haven't tried Blacktown before but we've been to Ramsgate Market a few times now and it has such a lovely atmosphere. It's a small market, held in the Ramsgate Public School grounds, lots of sunshine and lots of shade, and wonderful fresh food. (Oooooh the cupcakes, I must tell you about the cupcakes sometime.)

Next weekend it will be Ramsgate again on Saturday and the huge Maitland Markets on Sunday. And the weekend after that we'll be going to the annual Airing of the Quilts at Braidwood.

I've got to rush off now so I'll post my market schedule later. I just wanted to say a quick hi, say I'm still here, and say Yaaaay I'm on holidays!!!!!!!

Catching up

Hi Everyone,you may think I've dropped off the face of the earth but no, I'm still here! I've not been getting much patchwork done lately though.

You may recall that a few years ago I started making glass-and-paper pendants, rings, earrings etc. I made hundreds that year and was greatly encouraged when I sold lots to people in my office that Christmas.

Then 2 years ago, a friend and I made thousands of dollars selling them at the pre-Christmas markets. That was so exciting! We didn't have time to do it last year though, and my stash of pendants kept growing. (I couldn't stop!)

This year, some other friends were looking for extra income so we decided to team up and do some markets together. They live close to one of the biggest weekly markets in Sydney, the markets at Fairfield Showground, so that's where we headed.

It is clearly THE place to go for a bargain. There's something like 600 stalls, with lots of fresh fruit and veg, beautiful cut flowers, and absolutely gorgeous potted orchids at low prices. Lots of clothes, shoes, toiletries and other imports, kebabs and other yummy things, and jumping castles for the kids. 

So my focus in September was clearing out my cupboards and getting organised for that market stall.

Everything went smoothly (easy parking and undercover) and we had a great day out ... but we made absolutely NO money! I did not expect that at all. The markets I did a couple of years ago was quite small with not much traffic but we still made lots of sales. This was a huge market, but we made zilch!

We tried again and I made extra signage, made some different stock that I thought might sell better, and our prices were really really low, but the second time was worse. There was nothing we could have done better, it was just the wrong market for what we were selling.

So it's back to the drawing board. There are lots of other markets we can try, but I think we'll focus on the smaller ones with an arts-and-crafts focus.

Got any suggestions?

Odds and Ends

Oh my goodness, my job has been so demanding over the last month. It has taking up all my energy and there's been very little left over for anything bloggy or anything crafty (or for anything houseworky for that matter).

I haven't even said hello to all the lovely ladies who found me through QuiltJane's giveaway. Sorry everyone!

However, a few weeks ago I picked up four new custom-made dies and received a delivery of some of the latest Moda layer cakes for my store, and I was determined to make a little something.

I combined this Odds and Ends layer cake with my new Small Octagons die ...

... and came up with this cushion. B-O-R-I-N-G!

I was much happier with my second attempt (the crookedness is part of it's charm - that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it) ...

... and the finished product is a large smooshy and huggable feather-filled cushion.

Odds and Ends is available here, along with the new Chateau Rouge by French General and Ladies Stitching Club by Oliver S.

And remember, you can get any layer cake (or half layer cake) die-cut in the shape and size of your choice.

Chateau Rouge

It has happened again! My email system is playing up. I can receive emails but I can't send any! I was hoping the problem would clear up by itself like it did last time, but it hasn't yet.
 
I'm sorry, I haven't been able to reply to emails but I am definitely here and definitely processing orders.I'm going to try sending emails from an alternate email address. I hope it works!

Giveaway - EPP Templates and Papers

My favourite blogger, QuiltJane from Want It, Need It, Quilt! has got a fantastic new giveaway on here to showcase the latest additions to her own range of 'peeper' acrylic templates for English Paper Piecing.

I have used Jane's templates and I love that the centres are cut-out. Fussy-cutting fabric is so easy as you can place the template at exactly the right spot on your fabric's pattern.

Jane's giveway includes a set of Rose Star templates, a set of Ferris Wheel templates, and some elongated hexagons. Oh, and a pack of my die-cut papers too!

Jane and I have coordinated our products, so you'll find that her Rose Star templates match up with my die-cut Rose Star paper pieces. Her Ferris Wheel templates match up with my die-cut 2" square, triangle and hexagon papers, and if you need papers to match the Elongated Hexagons I can electronic-cut them for you.

The giveaway blogpost includes this picture of my first Rose Star blocks, but you may remember that I restarted my Rose Star quilt in a less dramatic colourway. You'll find some photos of my Flora blocks here.

 

And here's a photo of my still unfinished Faux Wedding Ring quilt. I didn't realise this was the Ferris Wheel block!

The great thing about English Paper Piecing is that once you learn the basics, you can make any block. The Rose Star block is easier than it looks. (I think Jane is going to write a tutorial, but if she doesn't, I can give you some info.)

The acrylic template giveaway is open till Sunday 2nd September (Aussie time). You can find the giveaway here and my coordinating die-cut paper pieces here.

P.S. It has happened again - my emails are playing up - I can receive emails but can't send any!

Giveaway winners

Thanks everyone for entering my giveaway. I was so inspired by your suggestions that I started a new quilt, California Girls in large diamonds with white sashing between the pieces. (My Rose Star quilt will have to wait a little bit.)

I used the Sweet Divinity Diamond Quilt pattern by Johanna Wilke. When I came across this pattern a little while ago, I knew that it would become a favourite. (Not too easy, not too hard, just right for my skill level.)

You can find some gorgeous photos and a step-by-step tutorial on Amanda Herring's blog, The Quilted Fish. The large diamond die-cuts that you can get from my store are a fraction larger, but that doesn't affect the pattern at all, you don't need to calculate any adjustments.

The charm quilt shown uses half a layer cake, but I'm using more to make a single bed size quilt. I'm not quite sure yet whether I'll need 1 1/2 layer cakes or 2.

Oops, I'm getting side-tracked. I bet you all are here to find out who won the giveaway.

The first name out of the hat was Maryjane, who suggested triangles in Giddy. Congratulations Maryjane, you've won a $50 voucher to use anywhere in my store. You don't have to use it all in one go, but it sounds like you've got something planned for those triangles. I'll be in touch.

The other winners are Cecelia and Huisei, who both fancy large hexagons, Cecelia in Lucy's Crab Shack and Huisei in Trade Winds. Don't they both sound great? You've each won a $25 voucher. I'll contact you shortly.

Thanks to all who entered.

Lucy's Crab Shack

Trade Winds