May 27, 2018

The Clean-Out that didn't happen ... equals lots of bargains!

I made the Midnight in the Garden quilt some time ago and decided it was time to put the pattern in my Craftsy Store. The beautiful Dresden Plate blocks in this quilt have a flower-like beauty, enhanced by the black background.


This quilt is made using the Quilt-As-You-Go method which I find so easy to construct.


Midnight in the Garden is not a large quilt - just 123cm (48½in) square. In fact, I use it as a tablecloth. I love the solid feel of a quilt with batting on the table. It always sits perfectly in place, rather than having a flimsy tablecloth doing all the wrong things, especially in a breeze.

The pattern for Midnight in the Garden can be purchased here.

Now, whatever does that have to do with my blog title?
Well, when I went to my Craftsy Store, I had the thought that there are patterns that have been there for quite a while and it is probably time to take them down and have a big clean-out.


HOWEVER .....


when I started deciding what to remove, I fell in love all over again with the designs.


I realised that just because something was designed a couple of years ago doesn't mean its life is finished. 


What I decided to do instead of a clean-out was to reduce the price of many of my designs.


I have reduced some patterns by 50% and many by 25%. There are now lots of patterns for just US$5.00


So now is the time to grab a bargain!



In some ways, I guess I had a clean-out before I put designs in my store. I counted up 30 or 40 projects that I have had published but they didn't make the cut when it came to filling my store with designs of which I am proud. So my 200 plus projects remain there and I hope you enjoy browsing and maybe finding a bargain!

Happy stitching!
Val


May 14, 2018

Memories from an Autograph Book

When I was nine or ten years old, my parents gave me an Autograph book for Christmas. The idea was that your friends and family would write little sayings on a page in your book. Of course, if you met someone famous, the Autograph book was the place to have them sign.


One such clever adage in my book was:
YYURYYUBICURYY4ME
which translated says Too Wise You Are, Too Wise You Be, I See You Are Too Wise for Me.

I only ever found one famous person to give me his autograph and that was Wally Grout who was the Australian Cricket team wicket-keeper back in the 1950/60s. 


One of the verses written in my Autograph book was from a poem by Dorothy Gurney. It must have made an indelible impression in my mind as I remember it so well many decades later.

The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth.


It wasn't a surprise then, when I received the new Tilda fabric range, called "Sunkiss", that the verse in the Autograph book popped into my mind.


Sunkiss is a gorgeous fabric range which has just been released in stores, and I have enjoyed playing with the beautiful colours. Of course I just had to make a "Kiss of the Sun" wall quilt!


The quilt measures 81cm (32 inches) square, has easy piecing, needle-turn applique and a few sweet embellishments. The pattern is now available in my Craftsy Store
  here.
 

I think the poem has a lot of truth in it, don't you?  A beautiful garden certainly shows God's amazing creative handiwork, and if we can't physically be in one of our own, patchwork and quilting sure gives us plenty of opportunity to create a garden with fabric.

Happy stitching.
Val