A long, long long time ago ......

A long, long long time ago last year I was keen to learn to crochet.  I took on a project from a Better Homes and Gardens Mag and thought - sure I can do this!  Well - totally overestimating my abilities I ended up with close to 300 squares of varying sizes (as per the pattern instructions) and well they just wouldn't come together.  Since taking a few classes I have learned about so many of the mistakes that were plaguing my blanket but not wanting to just set aside the squares as a bad mistake - I have persevered and came up with an alternative version. 

My blanket is now 48 squares  - all the same size.  I made some of the smaller squares larger and vice versa to end up with a blanket that I am actually quite happy with.

All this Brown Sheep Cotton fleece came from Tangled Yarns and was lovely to work with.  I love the range of colours available and the matt look to the cotton rather than a fluffy texture you get from wool.

Aside from dabbling in some crochet I have been quilting too - this quilt is a cot size quilt that I have named Rainbow Fizz and is one of the projects for Term 2 Sewing classes together with Claire Turpin Design.  After using a Kona Solids Charm pack from Pink Chalk as the inspiration I set to turn the squares into triangles.

I added in some white homespun and then hand quilted all the white squares in a co-ordinating Cosmo thread.

Also finished recently was this Music Box - Oliver and S dress.  My little one just loves it and it can't be washed and ironed quickly enough. 

And with Easter coming up I have been busy hand sewing lots of cute little Bouncing Bunnies which make great gifts at Easter time - especially as alternatives to chocolates and as great presents for all the teachers.  You can get your hands on some in my Etsy Store.

But if you are feeling crafty or want to get the kids involved you can buy kits to make them for yourselves

Behind the Scenes

Lots of work has been going on recently "Behind the scenes".  I have been designing some new items and of course the easy party is almost in designing them.  Then comes a list of things to do to get the items ready for Market.  I have been working with some fabulous women lately to help me achieve this and I truly believe that if you surround yourself with supportive and creative people the results speak ten fold.

This is the lovely Sheena from Sheena Cooke Photography.  She has been helping with the new cover shots for my new Felt Kits.  You will see in the picture what the new kit will be - Smiling Santas and these will be ready shortly.  Once they are ready to go I will reveal the cover shot which I am so pleased with.  

The gorgeous model in this next shot is Lisa Walsh.  She is the face behind many wonderful ventures - Cookie Dough, Cream Butter & Sugar and The Market Mill.  How one lady can be so talented in so many different areas seems just a little unfair (LOL!).

Cant wait to share all these finished projects with you soon.

I have had a new little obsession lately and it all started with this blog In Colour Order.  Putting colour together has always been a struggle of mine.  I draw quite a distinction between artistic and creative.  I don't think that the two are at all the same thing.  I find it hard to draw, paint or sculpt.   My mind does not work in an artistic way way at all - rather the ideas and concepts I have in my head take a long time to nurture and develop.  I have struggled with the concept of the Colour wheel and it has taken many years for me to be comfortable with how I put colours together - definitely not in an artistic way - just more in a Jemima way.

Well when I discovered Jeni's blog I was amazed at how beautifully she puts together colours and in reading it, I  always find inspiration in the colours she puts together.  Not only does she do this well but her Etsy Shop has also been a downfall of mine lately.

These Vintage sheets are destined to become an Applique quilt that I have spied in the book The Practical Guide to Patchwork.  Can't wait to start cutting them up and working with these.  Every time I look at the sheets it reminds me of my childhood. 

I've become a Dot Com

There has been alot going on at Tied with a Ribbon HQ over the past few weeks.  I have been doing alot of behind the scenes work.  Firstly in case you have not noticed my blog address has changed now to a .com.  You can now find me at

www.tiedwitharibbon.com

I will still be posting here at my blog I have just changed its name so I have less addresses as such.  It is re-directing all the traffic to come here no matter which address you use but you can update it in your favourites and readers.

I have also been working on new pattern cover photos for all of my Felt Kits.  I recently had a photo shoot with Sheena Cooke Photography.  It was a great day - I was so amazed at how creative she was and could just capture the right photo. I had a couple of models to put together some great Editorial style shots and I can't wait to share the end results with you.  Although I have been working on my own photography skills sometimes it is best to get an expert.  I will be revealing the photos over the next few weeks so stay tuned.  Here is one of the photos I took of my Delicious Doughnuts.

On the topic of Cameras - my Ephiphanie Camera Bag arrived and to say it was worth the wait is an understatement - I absolutely just love it.  It is a bit larger than I expected but I can put my purse and phone and use it as my Handbag when I want to take it out.

Here's a sneak peak at a Christmas Stitcherie I have been working on.  While I might be alone on this I am a firm believer that it is never too early for Christmas so I have started on this new design which will be available soon. 

 

I have been using Cosmo Threads to stitch the design and if you have not heard of them before they are well worth tracking down.  I was introduced to them a while ago and love the Egyptian Cotton they are made from - they are beautiful to work with and have such a gorgeous lustre about them that make the little extra you pay for these well worth it.

Although none of the stores I rang locally stock them there are several places online you can buy these from.  I got mine from Cookies and Cream Craft.  Sandy has been so helpful with getting the Cosmo threads to me I was after.  Her shop has lots of beautiful things to have a look at.



Spotted over at Make it Perfect

I was very lucky to have the wonderful Toni of Make it Perfect review Tied with a Ribbon as part of her Cool Shops. 

Source - Make it Perfect

You can read the post here.  I was thrilled to be a part of Cool Shops and was blown away at the kind and warm words Toni had to say about my little part of the sewing world.

Toni also reviewed my Bouncing Bunnies Felt Kit.

Go over and read the review and there is a special offer for a 15% discount on my Etsy store till the 1st of April.  All you need is the code found at the end of the review.  Go over and check it out, Toni's blog is full of inspiration.

The view from my sewing table

This week there have been lots of UFO's completed.  This has been the view from my sewing table with me hard at work finally finishing off some projects that have been lurking around for a while.  Often my own projects take much longer to complete than they used to.

This particular quilt was supposed to be finished last year to give to a friends daughter for her Birthday last year.  Although her birthday came and went at least now I will be super organised for this years birthday as I finished sewing on the binding last night.  I love sewing the binding on quilts - I find it relaxing to sit and hand sew and just put the finishing touch on special treasures.

Tied with a Ribbon has been spotted over at {KID} Independent. 

The wonderful Indi put together a fantastic review of my treasures. 

It is really exciting to see my handmade treasures on other blogs and I have to pinch myself that it is actually me.  {KID} Independent are having a GIVEAWAY so if you would like to win one of my Sweet Strawberries or Bouncing Bunnies Felt Kit make sure to pop over and leave a comment on their post to go in the running.

Another wonderful thing that comes about through these posts is the friends that you meet along the way.  I have also had the pleasure of meeting Hannah from The Dalli Cottage Collection.  I love reading blogs and I especially liked her post on "Keep Dreamin".  We all have a picture of what we would love our creative spaces to look like and often the reality of limited space, size and budget all impact on the actuality.  Thanks Han for your spot also on your blog.

This week Custom order towels seem to be the order of the day - here is the latest that I have finished celebrating the arrival of a new baby girl. 

Introducing!

Introducing some new friends and items being added to the Tied with a Ribbon Range :

Funny Frog Felt Kits

Lovely Ladybirds Felt Kit



These kits have the pattern and instructions to make these new Forrest Friends.  You can also make them as a brooch or key ring as well as a hanging ornament with a brooch bar, a key ring and ribbon included.  These would make great starter sewing kits for children as well as adults.

Tooth Fairy Pillows

It has been "raining" teeth here at home lately and with my two girls came a request for something special to have for the arrival of the Tooth Fairy.  So after consultation with what the girls wanted on the front of the pillows I decided to make what you see above - and then of course I could not help myself and made more and have put some in the shop also.

This is the completed Custom order cushion I was completing in the last post.  I love butterflies and my sock monkey could not help but jump in to have a photo too!!

These dresses were made by some lovely ladies who came along and after a workshop completed these gorgeous dresses.  (One of whom had not sewn since high school)  They did a great job and this blue dress was also made by another lady.  She took hers home for her little girl and sent me this pic after a little photo shoot with her.  She looks so cute in her dress that her mummy made for her.

I have made more progress on the quilt I have been working on.  The top came together very quickly but now I have been hand quilting the top - I have been using some Pearle 8 threads and slowly, slowly it is coming along.



I love Holidays!

I love the Holidays.  With lots of friends and family to catch up and spend time with this big school break over summer is such a wonderful time especially to share with my girls. 

Well, while it may be holidays there has still been plenty going on in the Tied with a Ribbon sewing room.  I have put the finishing touches on some new Felt Kits which will be available in my Etsy Shop hopefully by next week.  This is a sneak peak at the making of one of them.

Because Christmas is now over it is safe to show you some of the presents that I was busy making but could not post photos about incase they were seen early by family and friends.



These are some Christmas Sacks I made for my nephews.

I made this swing top for my beautiful God Daughter.

This i-phone cover I made for a special friend to celebrate her birthday.  It was from Janelle Wind's book Pieces of Me which I had bought a few weeks ago.  It was very easy and I could not believe how quickly it came together.  

I have been able to tick lots of things off my to do list this week and lots of other new creations are in the works.  Now that Christmas is over I have been putting the finishing touches to my Easter range.  I have made lots of Easter Bunny Party Bags and Bunny and Easter Egg Decorations which have been listed in my Etsy shop. 

Freshly made Gingerbread men for sale

These cuties have now been finished and there are some now available in my  Etsy shop .  So if you are "hungry" to get your hands on these pop over and have a look.

Other wise also avaliable in my shop are the felt kits to make these Gingerbread men for yourself.

Sunday Stitching

What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday.  Every few months there is a group of girls who gather to craft.  It was my turn to host this time and there were many different projects on the go.  There was knitting

There was some fabrics that were being turned into cushions

And a couple of the girls were stitching Tied with a Ribbon Felt Kits.

These are Bouncing Bunnies

And this is the start of Gingerbread Men

And I was making a sewing machine cover for my mum.  However with all the hosting duties and excitement of the day I forgot to take a picture of it.  So I will go to my mum's today and do this so I can show you all next week. 

Even though there was lots of chatting and plenty of cups of coffee everyone finished what they came to complete - surprising !!!

One beanie

One bunny.

Lots of Packing

I received back from the Printers the other day my next two Felt Kits.  Introducing Bouncing Bunnies...

 and Gingerbread Men .....

These will be available on Sunday along with all my wares at the Perth Upmarket.  I am very excited (and nervous) as this is my first market and finally I will be on the other side of the table.  So it has been all hands on deck around here with even my littlest girl giving me a hand to put together the kits.  She very carefully counted out the ribbon and button packs for me.

I have been working on many custom orders this week.  I had an order for Felt Badges which will be going to some special Teachers.