my creative space - duvet cover

More a plan than a project this, but I wanted to join in today with Kirsty's Creative Space which has moved to a new home here. Thanks again Kirsty for keeping this wonderful space going for us every week for so long. Its always a highlight for me being able to join in with so many lovely, encouraging and clever people doing amazing and inspiring stuff.

I have been promising Master J a bespoke duvet/doona cover made with my Flower Press fabrics for ages, and in particular this lego Bricks design. A Spoonflower parcel lost in transit and general busy-ness means I've only got this far though, whoops.

The other day though I finally got round to buying a sheet set to match the print. My idea is to back the quilt with the flat sheet to make the case and then keep the fitted sheet and pillowcase to coordinate. Its hard to find fabric wide enough so sheeting is is the perfect solution.

The only problem being of course is that at Spotlight the other day I fell in love with this discounted king size sheet set, which is the perfect vibrant blue colour to match my Bright Blue Bricks, and also has a lovely feel to it, high thread count and soft. And they didn't have the single size. Which means there will be some measuring and cutting involved. Which is why it keeps going down the to do list!! I find it so hard to cut and measure large pieces of material. Any hints on ways to make that easier are very welcome or if anyone has any wonderful ideas about quilt cover designs/tutorials, closures, sizes I'd love to hear from you too!

sewing with flower press

I've banged on about how wonderful it is to see projects made with my fabrics before, because it really is the most rewarding part of designing, getting those fabrics back and then transforming them into something beautiful and useful. Sewing with your own fabrics is a wonderful feeling, but seeing where people take your prints is equally fun and always a really nice surprise. Especially in the hands of talented peeps like the those who made today's examples.

I've only recently seen these beautiful softies from Megan Nicolson whose shop on Madeit is called pint. Megan posted this pic of Boyd the Bear the other day on my Facebook page. Isn't he beautiful, he's made from all Flower Press designs, from head to toe. These hello bears are for newborns, and would make such a dear present for a new baby. Boyd and the rest of the recently listed batch was snapped up in a day so its probably worth keeping an eye on Megan's blog to see when more are coming.

I'm not sure the wonderful CurlyPops needs an introduction, but for those few of you who don't know her, Cam is a sewer extraordinaire and a fabric designer herself. We did a swap last year and she sewed up the requested brick prints into these great toy bags for her nephews.

Another wonderful local crafter who does amazing work is Katia from Plushka. Her series of felt softies is so delightful and I was tickled to see this new blue bunny with my marble fabric ears and tummy. He's for sale in Katia's Madeit shop along with all her other amazing work, I love her detailed little embroideries and her new Fox softie is so sweet.

This dress below by Kimberley of BaaBaaBoutique was made especially for a Lego themed birthday party. Isn't it fabulous, I love the clever panelling and the lego head detail Kimberley has stitched onto the front. Her BaaBaa Boutique Etsy shop is here.

Last but not least is this beautiful pillow case design with applique lego brick from Audrey, sewn for her nephew. I love the little details that she has included and the way the small panel of feature fabric and applique personalises the pillowcase. Don't forget my pillowcase tutorial if you are keen to make your own. And I've restocked the Flower Press shop with Brick prints and Clouds in case you want to sew your own.

collected

My new print 'Collection' was born and raised on the blog, starting out as a photo and then a painting and now a print which I've just listed in the Flower Press shop, printed on A4  heavy archival matte paper perfect for framing. In fact I did just that with the first of the run, and sent it off yesterday to my Mum for her birthday. I meant to get a photo, it looked so nice in its white Ikea frame!

This image started with my collection of blue and white china, found in different places over the years, some dug from the garden, some picked up on the beach, some even from a beach in Vietnam.

I was inspired to make a photograph (above) of my collection a couple of years ago, you can read about that in this post. A year later I finally sat down and made a painting inspired by that photo and recorded it here in My Creative Space here.

I hope you like it!