One Lady's Shoes

How many shoes do you wear?

Hats are one thing .. but how about shoes?

How many different paths do you chase at the same time?

I find one hat can and will fit many situations / celebrations. But shoes ... well not only should they match the outfit but they have to be suitable for the occatsion. Walking, running, hiking, climbing, dancing and you need just the right ones to easily kick off and bury your feet in the sand.

Sand! 

There was a lot of sand during our vacation. 

And not of the beach variety. 

More like it rained buckets and buckets and with two cats, 

a dog and a husband trekking in and out ... 

my house has a fine layer of sand all over it.

Speaking of  "vacation" - our's was "interesting." 

I'll explain more later because right now

I'm  Just Not Sure

... how I feel about our staycation this year
... what I should do next
... what to tell you
... how to prioritize
... what shoes (or hat) I want to wear today
... when the shop will open again
... how I feel about a lot of things

I wanted to come back from this two week break rejuvenated. Ready to reschedule, prioritize and tackle a bunch of things. Instead ... I have yet to make a list. I've jotted down a thing or two but that just results in another 100 tangents.

My mind is racing with creative ideas 

hampered by a list of jobs around the house that need doing.

I want to be "working" ... 

designing and selling ideas and fabric.

The fun little wool applique shoe you see above? It's a new design. Drawn up on a whim during a whirlwind ... Heidi and I are partnering in a quilt plan. It's been fun and crazy. We've gone through sevvvvvvveral drafts. We're not done, but almost I think. Then the fun will really begin. Kits, classes, mysteries abound in the reveal of this project. I hope we've piqued your interest!

In the meantime ...

• My laundry pile is the size of Mt. Rainier ...
• The living room alcove needs another coat of paint before Axel can mount the curtain rods ...
• then I need to sew curtains.
• The window frame in his office needs a quick rub of varnish so I can mount his blinds.
• The kitchen floor needs a really good mop ... and then a sealant applied. Read, remove all furniture first! While I'm at it ... repaint two cupboards and buffet to match. This constant rain is not helping.
• The bathroom we started renovating May 2011? Yep, didn't do a darn thing on it during our staycation ... that darn sinus surgery was a lot more than I bargained for and really knocked me for a loop. 

So I'm whining instead. I really hope you don't mind. 

But I needed a whine. 

I need some encouragement and redirection.

I need to get my ducks in a row. 

I need to be ready.

* And this folks is what happens when there are so many ideas in your head that they come out a complete and terrible mess. Tossed in a bucket, mixed up and dumped out ... sorry about the mess but I'll try to clean it up as we go along. There's so much to show and tell again that I really don't know where to start ... I guess first ... one step at a time. *

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Custom Fabric

a few pieces for my hexagon quilt, a photo by Jovita's Patchwork Atelier on Flickr.

In the course of working on my latest hexagon project I began wishing for motives and textures I couldn't find in my stash.

Axel and I want some specific things in this quilt so we made a list and I went on a hunt for images: bicycles, watches, moose, steam trains were on Axel's list. Most of what I want I had in my stash (funny that, huh) but I fell in love with this butterfly.

Our initials in bold red will look great with the poppy theme fabric. And the 18p stamp .. well we were married on the 18th of August in West Drayton, England.

Ordered an 8" x 8" swatch of this from Spoonflower today. It's supposed to take 6-7 days to ship. I can hardly wait to feel it - I've heard good things.

If you could print your own fabric, what would it be?

Ok, back to work! Me, not you .. enjoy the browse and happy stitching as always.

xox J Pin It Now!

Design Process .3.

Asking (and Letting) the Design Tell it's own  Story

You can tell summer hit here because I really dropped the ball. We've had fantastic weather and it feels like there are a million things to do. It would be so easy for me to hide in my studio all day and create ... but "real life" calls so I've had to leave the stitching for the evenings.


When I left you last on this project I felt like it was going in a very different direction than I thought.  No longer a "typical" piece of patchwork with some hand embroidery and applique, this piece was beginning to tell it's own story.

The basic elements were still there, quite a few of the motifs from my original brainstorming were working. But clearly that bird needed to be bigger so I let her take over and then I just listened while she told me a story. I grabbed a blank sheet and started scribbling away while she sang her tune.

Set her free

For your song

will always be

in her heart

She will build

her own nest

And make you proud

So now I sit here with these saltwater pearls in my hand, ready to add them ... Ready for her song to be complete. Thinking about Mary and her love for her daughters with every stitch.

Happy stitching, Jovita Pin It Now!

Design Process .2.

Choosing Fabrics & letting them influence design

So we left off this new project design with a few ideas ... I had sketched a couple of motifs I wanted to include and decided on a color scheme .. it was off to the stash to see what I could find with Mary's remit of "beachy colors: pale blues, seafoam green, biege"

I was able to narrow it down to this 9 ... or maybe 10 ...

and was planning to keep it a very simple patched background with motifs on each rectangle ... a quick math calculation indicated that finished rectangles of 2" x 2-3/4" should be about right .. and keep me inside our goal of 8" x 10".

With a few snips of various fabrics for each motif and with my sketches in hand, I headed upstairs for the evening  to see where this would lead. Boy oh boy .. never try to watch TV and design at the same time ... my poor husband has the patience of an angel. In the future I'll keep the designing to my office although I can applique quite adeptly while "watching" television.

My rectangles were throwing me a few good "problems"

• the egg was easy to applique
• the cage - hmmm, not sure I care for the proportion
• I loved the bird shape but wow, it'd be really small if to 2" x 2-3/4" finished rectangles
• and that branch ... how was I going to portray that well in a vertical space.  

It looks like this calls for a bit more re-designing to do .. but I'm feeling good about where this is going! Pin It Now!

Design Process .1.

Step One - inspiration and idea sketching

I'm working on an idea for my swap with Mary.  It's supposed to be done by July 1st .. hmmm, I think I may be a few days late .. but I think I'm on to something good!

Here's the task:

• anything with a bird theme or circles
• beachy colors: pale blues, seafoam green, biege OR reds, yellows, greens
• includes appliqué or embroidery
• 8"x10" or smaller

ok .. fabric selection .. I tended immediately towards the "beachy" feel and I'll show that later, but I also knew I'd be embroidering or appliquéing birds and nests .. they are definitely an obsession of mine right now.

embroidery / appliqué ideas

• nest
• cage
• tree / topiary
• bird - duh!
• polka dots - not sure why ..
• leaves .. think spring
• musical note - for song!
• .. and something i can't read .. hmm ... what was that
• maybe a branch with cherry blossoms

... we'll see what happens tonight. Pin It Now!