the sunday night feeling

last week was one of those weeks, the type where you just want to switch your clock off and hide and that is exactly what i did. the whole week had the 'sunday night feeling' and was all just 'blah!' i took the week off school college, because to be honest i just couldn't face it! sooo i sewed, i couldn't settle on one thing so i just sewed 'ideas' and listened to this

i went through my scrap bag and just started pulling out random fabrics, cut them into 2.5inch squares, sewed them up to become mini patchwork, which then became...

sweet dreams sleeping teddy, i don't know if i love him but i think he looks cute all snuggled up in his little patchwork quilt! after making him i thought he needed a 'matching' cushion so introducing...

mr. teddy in blue and white striped pyjamas along with his teddy bear! can you tell that 'sleep' was on my mind? i think they are really cute as a pair and they are available in my etsy shop

after the cushions i wanted something a bit different, something that involved maths and really hard thinking, enter the fabric box

now i know there are lots and lots and lotttss of tutorials and patterns out there for fabric boxes but i wanted to come up with my own pattern/way of doing it, i will say it involved many prototypes and even more tears, but i am so so happy with the result and so happy that i did it by myself :)

also last week a lovely customer asked if i could make her some cushions and one of my quilts, i love cushions! so of course i couldn't say no, want to see?

it is absolutely delightful to work with voile, it is just soo soft, i finished the cushions of with some perle cotton hand quilting, i think we might need a pair for our house!

oh i also indulged in a little bit of fabric purchasing in the #greatukfabricdestash on instagram (boy! was that fun!) and i got a cotton blossom jelly roll by bonnie and camille, i am beyond excited!!

heres to a good week!

rachael x

pinch, punch emm second of the month

it' recap time! 2013 is over! and can i just say thank god it is! it was not a good year, but i think that's because it was an ODD number year! it was a mix of good and bad, quitting my job = bad, starting blogging and the floral suitcase = good and i just wanna say the blogg-y/quilt-y world is so wonderful :) so last year was swings and round-a-bouts.

recap time means collages! i can hear you all whooping! i know everybody says this but it really has been fun to look at my quilt-y makes from the past year, i sew-ed a lot more than i thought i had, like 11 quilts - that made me smile :)

2013 was the year i started craft fairs, boy was that fun! (that's not sarcasm, honest) as i've said before i really have learnt a lot, i'm thinking of doing a series of post for anybody thinking of doing a craft fair and want to know some more about it :)

... and i think we can all agree that it was the year of the cushion! (these aren't even all of them) cushions are a great way to get all the creative ideas bouncing around your head out in a quick, fun way and aren't as time consuming as a big quilt.

so it's a new year which means resolutions, here are a few of mine:

- blog my progress and finished quilt-y items more 

- to carry a sketchbook and doodle all my little ideas

- be more adventurous in my quilts and fabric choices

- take better photos

- learn to use photoshop and illustrator

i think that's enough to be getting on with this year, what are your resolutions? are you making any?

HAPPY NEW YEAR

and here's hoping for a great EVEN number year!

rachael x

a wall jumped out behind my car

yay! its monday and i have no college!! and it's (kinda) sunny! double yay!!

i may have got a bit carried away with the a beautiful mess app

you may have noticed at the top of my blog that a new little button has appeared, yes i have opened an etsy shop! see i would like 'the floral suitcase' to be my business, it's like soo scary putting that out there, but i'm slowly learning not to be scared anymore. i also have a facebook business page, i don't use normal facebook but it is soo fun for business purposes.

i regularly attend craft fairs to sell all my handmade items and i have to say i love doing craft fairs you meet soo many great people and they also get your 'business' out there. when most people see my stall they either think i didn't make all the items or i'm just doing this as a hobby, which makes me feel kind of stupid. by telling you all this i'm hoping it will give me the courage to tell people that no it is not just a hobby but that it is my business!

my most popular items are my animal cushions and these aren't even all of them, i have loved making each one and making them all a little bit unique. I have been running my business for a few months now and i love everyday of it, some days are harder than others but it's worth it to be working at something that i am passionate about and want to do, i'm still in the early, learning stages but each day i ;earn something new and have so many great people helping, and supporting me through it all :)

probably my most favourite cushion ever!!

rachael x

p.s this post took me 3 hours to write

dot dot dot

ben howard - only love

*this is not a crafty, sewey type post*

do you believe that everything happens for a reason? in the space of three months everything i was certain of changed, nothing is how it was. why? the never ending question, of course i know the reason why, but that doesn't mean that it's not hard. right now i feel like i'm peddling in mud, no matter how hard i try, i don't get anywhere, i'm stuck and can't manage to get past this point and i really am trying because i don't want to feel this way. when does it get easier? i know that it's never 'easy' but i didn't think it would be this difficult, surely there has to be easy times where everything just works and for that time everything is just 'right' it all falls into place, because right now its hard, its too hard and i want it to stop, i can't handle it.

i want to look back in six months/ a year from now and see if i let it defeat me or if in fact it has got easier, right now its defeating me.

rachael x