Knitting & Stitching Show + Soft Monster Toy

I got a chance to go to the Spring Knitting & Stitching Show at Olympia over the weekend so I thought I'd share. I normally go to the show up in Alexander Palace but I was happy to go to this one too since it's not very far from where I live in London. I liked the fact that the venue was small, thus making it more manageable for a preggers lady to do in one afternoon. There weren't many quilts on display though but there were tons of venders on hand of course. 

I only had my phone camera handy so please forgive the shoddy pictures!

 (Some cute ribbon from craftyribbons.com and gorgeous Liberty lifestyle print bags at the Fabrics Galore booth.)

I did manage to actually get my act together and sign up for a workshop this time. I took a really fun Soft Monster Toy workshop so that I could bring home something for my daughter.

(That's my purple koala/monster WIP in the corner)

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I have so much fabric already that I didn't bring home much. Only a fun variegated ball of yarn (soon to be gender neutral hat for baby), some pre-cut hexagons and a super cute charm pack.

All in all, a nice afternoon out despite the pouring rain and I'm really glad that I could attend a shoe in central London :)

It's been a while + Purl Soho Review

Hi Folks. Yes, I know it's been a very long time since my last post. I think I needed a blog vacation for longer than I thought. I suppose I felt a little burned out after the holidays.

But the real reason for my long hiatus is the very happy fact that we are expecting baby #2 this summer. I've been experiencing a lot of fatigue this second time around so instead of using my spare time to sew or blog, I am trying to rest as much as I can.

I hope to get some, ok, any sewing at all done in the next few months but I'm going to let myself off the hook and just do what I can :)

With that, I'll leave you with a quick review of my trip to Purl Soho when I was in NYC over the holiday. Enjoy!

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I finally got the chance to visit Purl Soho back in December while I was in NY. I've been drooling over  their blog for ages so I'm glad I got the chance to actually visit the store. Unfortunately, I have to say that I was a bit disappointed. I guess I was expecting to find some new and different fabrics but didn't come across any.

The store was certainly attractive, but I came away empty handed despite spending a good 30 minutes looking for some project inspiration. However, it was exciting to see many of the actual projects featured on the purl bee to touch and admire.

The verdict? Purl Soho is great for fabric/yarn eye candy but I'm still loyal to The City Quilter for fabric.

 Modern holiday display & wall of fabrics

 Pretty quilts on display

Handmade wool felt ornaments

The Village Haberdashery: Open Weekend in London

I interrupt my mini "blog vacation" to bring you some good news. The Village Haberdashery is one of my favorite online fabric stores and they are celebrating the opening of their new "bricks and morter" store this coming weekend. If you are in London, please give it a visit!

What: The Village Haberdashery's first Open Weekend!
Date and time: Saturday, 15th December 11-7 and Sunday, 16th December 11-5
Location: 47 Mill Lane, West Hampstead, London NW6 1NB (West Hampstead Tube station)

It's Home Time....

(image via CBS New York)

I'm off to New York tomorrow for a pre-Christmas trip to visit my hometown, friends and family so things will be quiet here for the next week or so. 

(There will be no sewing on this trip... although I did sneak some knitting needles into my suitcase!)

A few things on the agenda:

- Take little miss to see the Christmas tree and ice-skating rink at Rockefellar Center (just like my parents did when I was a child) 

- Stuff myself with NYC street food (just like my college days)

- Consume multiple medium sized cups of hazelnut coffee from D&D

- One word..."iHOP"

- Stock up on US craft supplies (Target, Michael's, Joanns, The City Quilter)

- Outlet shopping!!!

See you folks on the other side of the pond...

My First Craft Fair!

I finally had my very first craft fair experience this past weekend. I signed up to have a table at my daughter's Christmas fair and gave myself about 1 month to prepare. Here's a quick photo of my table set-up...

I shared a table with another school mom/friend who sold water color paintings so it was good to share the experience and cost of the table.

There was a lot of foot traffic but I didn't sell as much as I had hoped. I made enough to cover my cost of materials plus a small profit but it was all about the experience for me. I've always wanted to try my hand at selling at a craft fair so I kept an open mind. But all-in-all, I would probably do it again as it was great fun meeting and talking to new people. 

Just not for another few months!

W.I.P. Wednesday - Christmas Fair Home Stretch!

It's been all about sewing for the Christmas Fair this week.

I put together a few quilted ornaments using more of Aneela Hoey's Cherry Christmas fabric...

Some simple felt bunting for the PTA to sell at their decorations booth...

A few drawstring bags that need to be finished and a small London themed cushion to donate to the PTA raffle...

Two small cusions/pillows made up of some French inspired fabrics panels that I had...

Oh, I also put together a full Thanksgiving meal last Saturday for 10 people and even managed to put up our humble Christmas tree.

With that, I'm on the home stretch. The Christmas Fair is this Saturday, then Christmas itself and then I can finally do some sewing for ME! Hooray!

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Btw, I'm linking up with W.I.P Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Easy Christmas Bunting + mini tutorial

Here's some super simple Christmas bunting that I made for the upcoming (can you guess?) craft fair. It's made from a charm square pack of Aneela Hoey's Cherry Christmas along with some double fold bias tape.

(Sorry for the horrible lighting. This is English winter after all!)

I won't go into a full fledged tutorial but here's what I did in a nutshell:

You'll need: 

- 6 x 5" squares of fabric/charm squares

- coordinating bias tape or ribbon 

- rotary cutter with a pinking blade (ideal) or pinking shears

- quilting ruler or regular ruler

Here's what I did:

- I used my ruler and rotary cutter (w/ pinking blade) to cut my 5" squares of fabric into equilateral triangles. I think a diagram will be easier to follow...

- Once you have all your triangles cut, arrange them across your bias tape and pin with a 1" space between each triangle. I then used a zig zag stitch to sew them together. Leave approximately 8"-10" of extra bias tape on either end for tying up your bunting.

And that's it! Just hang and enjoy :)

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PS - In case you're looking for more ideas, I created a "Christmas Inspiration" board on Pinterest to keep track of my holiday inspired project ideas. Please come and visit :)