My Creative Space - swap

A couple of weeks ago I went to a screenprinting sun exposure workshop which I blogged about here.

It was perfect timing for the Handprinted Swap which I joined in with for the third time this month. What could be more handprinted than a home exposed silkscreen with my own design, printed by me!

This new design Field will be in the shop soon. I've reshot the screen and I'm printing, but I'm away next week so listing it will have to wait. If you want to reserve a piece, in this blue on linen/cotton base though just email me :-)

I have some more designs coming through too, which I'm really excited about.

As usual I was spoilt with lovely handprinted fabrics in return. I love the way that all of our fabrics complement each other. Each have a round symbol somewhere in the design. Spots for Jane and Suz's fabrics top, circular designs and spotty blossom on Kirsty and Micala.

Make sure you go and see what the other creatives are doing over here.

pattern friday - rocket

Another Friday pattern. I'm enjoying posting here, its been fun looking through my designs and sharing some favourites.

I've had this pattern doodle as my phone screensaver for a few weeks, and I still love it, always a good test. You can see my process here, I drew it in pencil, outlined it with pen and then scanned it in to the computer.  I then had a play around colouring the sketch.

The next step is fix the linework and do a proper repeat. These flowers remind me of rocket (arugula/rucola) flowers, which are very simple, but very beautiful.

penny's quilt

Aaaah, thank you Easter, I needed that break. How lovely to have four whole days of sleeping in, planting seeds, playing with screen making, wrapping presents, baking sweets, sharing easter eggs, watching a daytime movie, playing tennis, having tea, slow cooking. Credit to Autumn too for pitching in with the weather, I'm loving these cool nights and warm days, the beautiful autumn light slanting across the garden and making inside cosy without having to shut the doors and windows in the evenings.

Today it is my darling boys' birthday (two for one!) and they are turning 12! OMG! Its slightly bittersweet, as all their birthdays are. If I could put bricks on their heads now and keep them as my babies forever, well... I would be very tempted!

They opened one present each this morning but have to wait all day for the rest. Then we have a sleepover tent party on Friday for seven boys. Phew, they will be bouncy! We are going to take them out for pizza and then come home for homemade icecream sundaes.

On the crafty front, I sneaked a little project in last month, which I want to share before I forget. Its another little baby quilt/playmat, using my baby quilt tutorial with larger squares. Its for little baby Penny who was born last month.

One of my favourite features is the checkerboard backing which I pieced together because I didn't have a large enough piece to back the whole quilt. It gives the back some interest. Like Poppy's quilt I used the self binding method and sewed it by machine, so quick and easy. Best of all not only did all fabrics and batting come from the stash, but there are a few of my flowerpress designs in there too. Makes it feel even more personal.

Miss Penny is the little sister to two big brothers, so I enjoyed making it a little girly colourwise, though not too pink. If you haven't tried a quilt before, check out the tutorial. I actually referred to it myself this time, to remind me of the steps :-)