Portland Preparations

 

The sheer panic of last week and this weekend seem to have resulted in some started things, some finished things, and a spot of online Portland-based Ikea and Target shopping.

 

All going well with international shipping and flights, I think I may just have a display in my booth at Quilt Market in May, after all... who'da thunk it? 

 

I'm taking a bit of Melbourne with me, in the form of this Large Tote made with Pippijoe fabric ...and a bit of Japan (Echino fabric) on this Day Bag satchel.

 

 ...And a bit more Japanese fabric on another version of the Day Bag...

I'll be using the Day Bag in classes for both the Schoolhouse at Quilt Market and the American Sewing Guild, so I've been whipping up a few fresh ones.

 

At the Schoolhouse, it'll all be about bag bases, and at the ASG, it'll be all the bells and whistles we can possibly squeeze in.

 

Oh looky!  More Japanese fabric.  There appears to be a bit of a theme accidentally coming together here....

 

The other theme that's coming together is the Riley Blake theme (a spot of cross-promotion for the show)....

 ....and the Finally Getting Around To Photographing Things theme.

If this looks like I've had a mega-productive week, don't be deceived by my selective representation of reality.  (The internet is full of that sort of thing and you should be wise to it by now!). 

There has been angst, tears, much flapping about and too many cups of tea made and let go cold. There has been a sharp increase in the quantity and the purity of the chocolate I'm consuming (we're heading towards 85% ...and considering the possibilility of permanent IV delivery). 

Work gets done in little flurries in between.

 

And I didn't sew these hats. 

 

I just photographed them (badly) and gave up on the idea of Photoshopping out the backgrounds when I was half-way through.

 

Priorities are big news around here, and the clock ticks closer to our departure date.

Thanks to my super-sewing-gals Narelle and Carmel, for making the Hobo (above the hats) and these Hats and Kids Hats .

But this weekend, I saw a glimpse of how it all might work.  Things come together, even in this ad-hoc way that I've been working.

I keep thinking of the 30th May.  It'll be here sooner than I think, and by then I'll have submitted a book manuscript and will be home after my first international trade show.  Who'da thunk it...?

But do you know what the VERY best thing about this weekend was?  This was.

Loose ends

  I may have mentioned before, that I'm a bit of a multi-tasker. 

Actually, I'm a LOT of a multi-tasker. 

At any given time, I'm running about ten express-trains of thought in a complex network of business, family and creativity-for-the-sake-of-it.  In between, there is always a backlog of mundane, keeping-up-with-things tasks to be done.... (and this is the bit where I'm not particularly gifted).

The making of samples for display and for classes is something that happens in little bursts, and every now and then I notice that every available surface is covered with my 'visual to-do lists' (read "piles of stuff").  Sometimes I have more beginnings than endings.

Cue: a rainy public holiday.  Add a football game I couldn't care less about, a friend who also didn't care about the football game, a couple of glasses of Pinot Gris, some sewing machines and my studio. 

Lets call it a mini sewing retreat, and let me tell you, it was lovely.

When everything is started, halfway or nearly-there, the finishings come thick and fast.... very satisfying sewing.

Great to see these two very different versions of the Panel Bag finished, at last.  Different colour schemes, different interfacings and different strap arrangements.... same pocket arrangement. (Interior shot is just for you, Ms P Penguin).

 All the bits that were used in the last couple of Zippers for Bags classes were put together into the one bag....

 ...which would have seemed like a good idea if I'd taken the time to find matching external zips. Ho hum.

 This bag of many pockets would be perfect for losing lipsticks, keys and mobile phones in. 

 And there were hats...

 A spot of Saffron Craig colour... inside and out.

 And this cutesy-wootsy insecty print....

 ...a few stylish spots....

And... oh look....

I went to GJ's today and came back with this Parson Gray sateen deco-weight fabric.  I'm thinking winter-weight A-Line Skirts.....

Kid Stuff

Oh, the cuteness of this Aunt Lindy's Paper Dolls fabric.... I'm in lurve.It inspires all manner of cutesy-wutsey bags and hats for littlies. I made my Small Tote and Kids Hats patterns up in a patchworky mix-and-match style. Tonight, I was trying to beat the fading daylight to finish and photograph these (no time for a final press)....but the light beat me.

Yes, things look better with a bit of a press and proper lighting.... see? (I'll have to press and re-shoot this one).Earlier in the week, I'd made the winter kiddie set, using the Kids Beret and the shorter version of the Small Tote (a variation included in the Small Tote pattern) in pinwale corduroy. And I discovered a new page-load craft.... Kanzashi flowers! (Previously, they'd only been TV craft).