cut out and keep quilting

here it is, finished at last! the cut out & keep quilt that i made for kristina. i struggled a bit with this one. first, because it was for kristina and i wanted to get it "right," but also because i love the cut out & keep fabrics that heather moore did for cloud 9 so much that it felt like i had to do justice to them.  so suffice it to say that this one took me much longer than it should have, tho' if i'd thought about it, what i needed to do was there in the name all along - i just needed to cut it out and keep quilting! but, sometimes the muse is wily.

i was inspired to do some slightly random lines of quilting by the quilting done by filminthefridge on this quilt. the batting i used was natural cotton and rather thick, so this ended up quite heavy - it will be comfy-cozy for winter for sure. and i can tell you that after two days spent quilting it, my arms and shoulders were very tired.  quilting is more work than you would think.

next, i've moved on to a quilt in autumn-inspired solids. and i've got some bags along the lines of the one i made for sabin on the go. and a new stack of stitched-up photos. apparently once the muse was tamed, she got down to work in earnest.

to make room for the new stitched-up photos, the remaining ones in my shop are on sale - 25% off! - just typed in STITCHED at checkout.

real clothes for real kids

sweet isabella makes her modeling debut.

she just turned three.

apparently she loved the blue dress so much, she insisted on sleeping in it.

family dog harley had to get in on the photoshoot.

i've been hard at work the past couple of weeks, scaling patterns, cutting out and sewing up a storm and now i'm ready to present my reversible organic cotton dresses in three sizes - 3 (100cm), 5 (110 cm), and 7 (125cm). if you're in denmark or scandinavia and would like to buy in danish kroner, they're in my beecharmer shop (more listings to come, as i had some hiccups on the back end). if you're anywhere else, you'll find them on big cartel in US$ - the price is the same both places (according to the exchange rates yesterday on XE).  they will also be available locally in a lovely little toy shop that also has children's clothing.  there are seven different color combinations and two designs (one two-tone and one with pockets). i have some of each size, but will also make them up as they are ordered once my stock runs out, so please allow up to a week.

click to enlarge

the fabrics i've used are the gorgeous nature walk and cut out & keep (by heather moore) lines by cloud9. if you would like another combination other than the ones i've put together, just email me - i'm happy to make up these dresses just as you want them. they're comfortable, soft and fully reversible, so they're two dresses in one. and with a long-sleeved shirt and some tights, they're perfect for any weather.

i hope you like them!  happy weekend, one and all!

getting out of my own way

i've been mulling these little dresses over for awhile now. they're very simple and they're reversible. and they're made of the beautiful organic cloud 9 cotton (this is from heather moore's gorgeous cut out & keep line) . this is my prototype, but i've cut out more fabric and i'll be sewing all weekend - making some modifications, adding vintage buttons, pockets and maybe something that's only a vague notion in my head at this moment.

i have a friend who has a toy store and she also sells children's clothes, so they'll be available there, as well as on beecharmer. and i'm even pondering turning a little room at the front of our house (currently where we house our couchsurfers) into a miniature shop (saying it here because writing is the new praying).

if anyone is interested, i'm happy to make whatever size you'd like. sabin wants one too, tho' this prototype is for a 2-year-old. (note to self: find a two-year-old to model it.)

the wind was blowing, can you tell?

this is one of the many things i've been procrastinating, waiting for precisely the right picture to appear in my head. today, i just got out of my own way and got stuck in. i'm pretty happy with the result. and working with these organic cottons is like a dream.

i should do that more often.

(thank you, michelle, for our chat last night, it helped.)

*  *  *

by the way, this is awesome.

one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish

one fish, two fish

eyelashes.

flat fish

flat fish

a whole school of fish

the fish go to school

market update: gone fishin'

everything's as ready as it's going to be, down to the tags. you might have gathered that i'm pretty excited about this market thing. i hope i won't have to report to you on sunday that it rained and no one came and that they hated all of our stuff, but i suppose there's a chance of that. regardless, it's been a great exercise for me. and i'll be listing in my various shops whatever doesn't sell early next week. and for those who want scarves, even if they all sell, i'll make more - i'm hooked and feel like it's the first thing i've made since the helleristning stones that really feels like something special. so watch this space next week, i'll definitely let you know when and where they're available.

the scarves are tagged and folded and ready to go.

since the whole market was started by the local fish monger, here at the last minute, i decided to make a little batch of fish. i bought the pattern in a local fabric store and am making them up of the beautiful cloud 9 organic cottons. i didn't have time to finish my nature walk plus quilt, but at least i'll have a few fish to show what can be made of these gorgeous fabrics (i'm going to have some fat quarter stacks available at the market).

i'm stuffing them with carded wool in keeping with the organic theme. and it makes such a difference to how it feels to work with organic and natural fibers and textiles. there really is a difference, especially when you're working with little fish that you're stuffing and handling quite a lot in the process. organic fabrics just seem warmer in your hands. and i like that very much.

more photos tomorrow of finished products. i've been so busy all day, i hardly stopped to take these photos. plus, the wind has been pretty fierce, so i couldn't go out to my quilt staging area in the garden. maybe tomorrow.  in any case, there will be many photos from the market on sunday.

thanks to everyone for the market well-wishes here, on flickr and on facebook!

what will you make today?

cloud 9 - nature walk (available here if you're in scandinavia)

i'm thinking a plus quilt

beautiful materials at hand. sketches sketched. refreshed from a day of physical labor yesterday. i'm ready to create.

bee charmer has arrived!

i am most pleased to announce the arrival of my new little venture - bee charmer!

it's an online shop that i - after shedding only a modicum of blood, sweat and tears -  built using the wonderful someammo platform (still in beta) that i learned about through the equally wonderful heather moore. what's great (for me and for local customers) is that the shop is in danish kroner!

my fabulous friend mik (who you may remember from this post) created this sweet little matryoshka bee logo for me. (thank you heaps!!!)

nature walk

bee charmer is currently carrying organic fabrics by cloud9. i have the nature walk line in stock, available as yardage. and heather moore's gorgeous cut out & keep line is coming in april.  i am also working like crazy at getting some handmade items featuring these fabrics into the shop. and i will, of course, make custom quilts and other handmade items using these 100% certified organic fabrics!

this shop is aimed at my geographical area - denmark for sure, but also sweden, norway, finland and germany.

cut out & keep

with quilts and other handmade goodness made from these fabrics, i am, of course, willing to ship elsewhere, just email me and we can sort out what you want and i can list it on big cartel or etsy, which i'm using for handmade items for an international audience.

i hope you'll check out my little shop! i will, of course, let you all know here when i have some completed items available, using these gorgeous and environmentally-friendly fabrics!

this has been brewing for awhile now and i'm so excited to be able to share it at last!!

it definitely feels like a new season is beginning.