A little me-time trip!

As you know, Thursday I got to pack my bag, set off all by myself in the car and head to Dublin. What bliss, a whole journey without having to look over my shoulder into the back seat constantly! And I even got to listen to the radio in peace and quiet :-)

I landed at the Knitting and Stitching show reasonably early, it was already jammed with people. But I valiantly founght through the crowd in search of fabric goodies and I did not fail in my mission to overspend my budget ;-)

The very first stand I arrived at was, by chance, Oakshott Fabrics. I have seen their shot cottons on a few blogs, mainly Judith's lovely Needles and Lemons, but I'll be honest, I found it hard to really see the difference to regular cottons online. Oh, how wrong was I!! I was completely blown away by these fabrics. Take my word, they are absolutely and utterly fabulous. Really gorgeous quality, the array of colours and fabrics looked like they were shimmering in real life. So vibrant and beautiful. Here's one of the pink shot cottons I bought, to give you some idea of the colour balance:

 

It is really true that browsing fabric online is nothing like seeing it in reality and this was especially true here. I spent a long time drooling and stroking fat quarters in an amazing array of colours before finally deciding on an Elements fat eighth bundle in Spirit. They are a little bit pricier than your regular cottons, but, oh my, SO worth it! I have tried to pick up the quality of the fabric in my photo here, but in the watery November sunlight today, it was really very hard. All I can say is if you like solids and you want to treat yourself, you should definitely check them out.

Next I wandered around the corner and found the Pippablue stand. Now, lots of you will know that Eva there was one of my secret partners in Cindy's Goodie Swap back in August and even though they are up in Galway, I've never been to their shop or met Eva in real life. So meeting up with her was one of the things I was really looking forward to and chatting with her and Ger was a real highlight of the day for me. Not to mention their gorgeous fabric - I hadn't realised what a lovely range they stock. Look at this FQ bundle I picked up:

They also have a fab range of Japanese imports and myself and my friend Helen picked up these 3 lovelies to go with the Russian doll fabric (top) that I am basing a quilt for Helen's niece on.

Pippablue have also started to stock some Klona solids, so all in all I think I'll be doing a bit more online shopping with them in the future!

I also found The Crafty Fox, who are a new shop in Drogheda and picked up these super cute Tilda fabrics there. I'll definitely be popping in to visit them next time I'm up in my mum's!

And I picked up these half metres from a huge fabric seller called Doughtys at a great price.

In addition to all my fabrics, I got some great basics - batting at fantastic prices, new cutting rulers, etc. And I also discovered another thread brand - Wonderfil - who had a stand. I grabbed a trial pack of variagated threads in 50wt cotton to try:

And also found some perle cotton tucked away in the corner of another seller's stand which I promptly bagged. I'm slightly scared of that orange, its for a particular project but its so bright!!

All in all a great day was had. I also managed to have a chat with Anne Marie of Kilbora Quilt Shoppe where some of us Sew Irish girls are heading for a quilting retreat in Feb (places still available if you're interested! Just drop me an email) and to Sherry of Irish Quilting magazine. Plus I had a lovely wander around the quilts exhibition which was really interesting.

It was then on to an evening meetup with my some of my real life buddies who, for the first time in over a year, were all in Dublin on the same night for a meetup and we had lots of fun over some good food and wine. I scarily realised that we have been friends for almost 20 years - since our early college days -somehow, it really doesn't feel that long!

The next morning, I finally got to meet my great blogging buddy, Cindy of Fluffy Sheep Quilting. We met for a coffee and yapped happily for over and hour and a half and I think if I had not had to leave for home, and she for the show, we possibly would be still there talking! We had so much fun chatting and I can't wait to meet up again. I am always a little nervous meeting people in real life who you have an online relationship with - in case it doesn't turn out the way you expect, but happily this trip showed me that there's nothing to fear - they are all even nicer in real life that they are online. And now I have faces to put with the names. Happy days!

So, yesterday evening it was back to real life and I realised that I am really a big softie - 24 hours away from my kids and hubbie and I just couldn't wait to see them all, it was like I was away for a week. So now I need to put away all that new fabric and decide what I am going to use it for. But in the meantime I'm fancying some handquilting on the sofa this evening catching up with the new series of Grey's Anatomy on the Sky Plus :-)

WIP Wednesday

Time for a little catch up!

Started this week:
 
This week is all about table runners in my house. I started on two this week - one for the Modern Christmas table runner swap, and one for a gift for my friend. The Christmas one was a bit of an experimental process but I'm really pleased with how its looking and just waiting till the weekend to quilt it. I know now that my partner is going to like this, but need to make a decision on how to quilt it. I could go in the white space with zig zags, which would seem a natural choice, but the trees are cut on slightly different angles so it might be a bit tricky to get it looking right. I'm liking the idea of straight line quilting too. Still pondering this one!

I also pieced and started to quilt a runner for a friend. She is not into crafty stuff really at all so this is a little bit of a reach. I want it to be very modern and understated looking. She loves bright colours, particularly orange and purple, but I don't want it too look traditionally crafty so I went for pops of colour against Ash grey Kona. The squares radiate out from the largest one in the centre towards both ends, getting smaller for each square.

I started to quilt it tonight and really love how the quilting is shaping up.I went for straight lines, with the print squares unquilted. The back is large strips of aubergine, orange, berry and ochre Kona (couldn't get a decent picture) and I'm using some of the lovely lavender coloured Egyptian cotton thread I got from Fi for the quilting on the back.

However, there is a problem. Have you noticed? I used 2 different lots of Kona Ash grey to piece this and there is a minor, minor difference in colour between them. I didn't notice it when I was piecing, it was only when I had it laid out to quilt that I realised it and I hoped the quilting would draw the eye away. I don't know what to do now - whether to continue or to stop, undo it and repiece the strips in. I'm not sure my friend will notice when its all finished, quilted and bound and laid out on the table. I am a bit of a perfectionist about stuff like this and its bothering me a bit to be honest so I would love to hear your honest opinions on it. it. My hubbie thinks I am quite mad to be so exercised about it! I will say that the camera and light exacerbate the difference more than it looks to the naked eye, but I did still spot it. But then, I am always looking much more at the detail than most people would and I know when you're in the process you tend to focus on the detail and the imperfections rather than the big picture. Urrgh. Opinions please!!

In Progress:

The red, pink and aqua quilt is progressing steadily (but no pics!) and I am almost finished cutting the block pieces, another cutting session should see me finished. Once I have finished the cutting, I am confident of moving this along quite quickly.

My Skittles quilt top is on my mind a lot this week, I think I need to start quilting it soon too. I have pretty much decided to largely hand quilt this one, mostly because then I can do it in front of the fire in the evenings :-) So, hoping to start on this soon!

Other Stuff:

I'm off to the Knitting and Stitching show on Thursday and, to my huge excitement, am meeting up with some friends there, not least my blogging buddy Cindy of Fluffy Sheep Quilting who I chat to a lot but have never actually met. Imagine how excited I am to be meeting her in real life!! So, I just can't wait for Thursday morning to roll around to set out to Dublin and hoping that I manage to pick up some lovely fabric too :-)

Ok, so I'm linking up the fab WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced - hop over there and check out the fab talent on show!

K&S tickets winner

Thanks so much to everyone who entered our giveaway for the pair of tickets for the Knitting & Stitching show.

I went and consulted the Random Number generator and got a surprise! Mr. Random picked this number:

Have you ever seen Mr. Random pick no 1 before? No, me neither. I love it!  Then I went to check who no 1 was and I loved it even more - its my bloggy friend Cindy from Fluffy Sheep Quilting! I'm so pleased for you Cindy and can't wait to finally meet you in person :-) I've emailed you.

Don't forget we'll be giving away a third pair of tickets over on the Sew Irish Facebook page very soon so if you want another chance to win, make sure to pop over and like it and watch out for the giveaway announcement!

Ticket Giveaway: Knitting & Stitching Show Dublin

As promised, I am really happy to be giving away some tickets to the upcoming Knitting & Stitching Show in Dublin! A huge thank you to twistedthread for sponsoring thi
s giveaway which is being run through our Sew Irish group. This group now has about 40 super-crafty members and a very active photo pool on Flickr.

 Have you been to the Knitting & Stitching show? Last year was my first time going (being relatively new to crafting!) and I had a ball! All that amazing fabric, gorgeous yarn - and it didn't end there. There were craft supplies for LOTS of different crafts - embroidery, jewellry making, felt making, card making and more! But besides the shopping, there was an exhibition of beautiful quilts and some great workshops - it was just a fab day of fun and I just can't wait to go back again this year.

(image from twistedthread.com)

One of the best things about last year was the opportunity to discover Irish suppliers of fabric and yarn that I didn't know about. Not to mention that I was able to research, try out and eventually purchase a fab new sewing machine which was delivered promptly the following week. That visit was also what prompted my obsession with quilting. Looking at all those beautiful quilts and buying my very first charm pack (Bliss by Bonnie & Camille - what a great start!), plus chatting with some experienced quilters made me determined to try it out!

This year, now that I am a committed fabric addict, I can't wait to get back in there and browse around. One of the things I'm most looking forward to is meeting up with some of the other Irish crafters - in particular some of my great blogging buddies. I'm really hoping that the members of our Sew Irish group might manage a cuppa and a chat at various points over the weekend!

So - want to come join us? Myself and Fi (one of my first bloggy friends, who runs the Sew Irish group with me) have 3 pairs of tickets to give away for the Dublin show which runs from 10th to 13th November in the RDS, Dublin. I am giving away one pair of tickets on this blog post, and Fi is giving away another pair over on her blog today. The last pair will be given away on the Sew Irish Facebook page next week, so make sure to pop over there and "like" so you have an extra chance to win. We've set up the Facebook page as an add-on to the Flickr group - I think chat and recommendations etc might be a little easier there. Plus, you can see what's being added to the Flickr group pool. Please do join up if you're an Irish based crafter and feel free to start discussions, add photos etc - its really great to have an online community!

Ok - so here's what you need to do to enter. You have 2 chances to win here - and don't forget there are more chances to win over with Fi!

• Please only enter this giveaway if you're available to attend the Knitting and Stitching show on the Dublin dates! (You will have to organise your own transport, obviously!) 
• You do not need to have a blog to leave a comment - if you don't, click on the drop down box called "Comment As" underneath the Comment box once you have written your comment, and choose the "anonymous" option. Remember to include your email address!
• Please leave your email address in your comment. You can leave it in this format if you are concerned about spam issues -e.g. - fairyfacedesigns at gmail dot com

1. Tell me in a comment why you would like to go to the Knitting & Stitching show, or what you would be looking forward to seeing there.

2.  For an extra chance, "Like" the Sew Irish Facebook page and let me know you do in a second comment


Giveaway will close on Monday evening 17th October at 9pm and winners will be chosen randomly. Good luck everyone!

Crafty adventures!

This year, for the first time ever, I am very excited to report that I will be going to the Knitting and Stitching Show (link here) on 28th October. Myself and my partner in all things crafty, the lovely H, will be hitting the RDS just as early as journey time from Cork and rush hour traffic in Dublin will allow. We are VERY excited. I mean VERY VERY excited. The fact of the matter is that we cannot wait. This may well be a somewhat sad state of affairs, but the thought of all that yarn and fabric and other crafty supplies in the one room together is almost too much to think about. Also the fact that we will (hopefully) get to see a lot of products first hand that normally we can only gaze at in longing over the internet. And, as all fabric and yarn addicts know, the joy of browsing beautiful fabrics and yarns is all in the touch. Looking at gorgeous colours and prints on my monitor just doesn't cut it; knitting and sewing are such tactile crafts. Its all in the feel of the fabric, the drape of the yarn, the springiness of the wool as it slides along the warm wooden needles and hooks, the velvety softness of the baby blankets. Colours too are important; nothing is ever quite how it looks on the screen despite the fact that many sellers get very very close, assisted by detailed and particular descriptions.



In Ireland, sewing, knitting and crochet seem to be really experiencing a massive revival and that's starting to be reflected in the improved supply of materials. Shops are stocking better ranges and more shops are opening all the time. But its very very hard to find the sort of range of fabrics I like at a price I like and I do an awful lot of shopping online for my supplies. So I am really looking forward to finding some beautiful additions to my yarn and fabric stashes. And, I am hoping, maybe a new sewing machine. I've been browsing around the various suppliers of late and I am now clear on one thing: a little knowledge leads to even more confusion! There are so many out there and I like to do quite a variety of things on my machine - from curtains to quilting to dressmaking. So finding something in my price range to cover all the bases is something of a challenge. But I'll keep looking *sigh*.

Convincing? No, I thought not!