Tuesday 8 November 2011

How to Brighten a Dreary Day

I have been sat here today feeling rather blah. Blah about the weather. Blah about Christmas ornaments. I have finished another dozen this morning and have now made over 80. When you get to these numbers in production, trust me, blah is putting it kindly. But all for a good cause - a happy Christmas in our household. Still, I was feeling blah. I also knew that I had to stop making ornaments and turn my hand to my nemesis - the dreaded zipper. Blah!

Then the post made a thump as it hit the floor. I am getting quite good at discerning a thump of something not for me and a thump that indicates goodness has arrived. Quilty, fabricy things make a undeniably happy thumpy sound as they drop to the floor. I like that sound!

A quick look at the return address and I saw it was from Sarah at FairyFace Designs. Everyone knows Sarah, but if by some odd coincidence you don't then please go introduce yourself. She is brilliant, and she is the great mind behind the Summer Sewing which had me writing lists and wringing my hands - until the end of the summer when I saw how the list had focused me and how much I had accomplished and then I was just smug. Sarah recently launched her linky Winter Sewing party getting people once again to join up and list what they hoped to accomplish by March. A huge group of talented people joined up this time. It's great to be a part of it.

But I digress. (I put that in for Rhonda. It's her catch phrase.) Summer Sewing was a success and at the end of it Sarah had a draw amongst the participants for a prize - and I won! (Cue little happy dance.) Today that prize arrived and how pleased I am.


Just a whole stack of goodness. First and foremost, Sarah made me a zippy pouch. Not only is it gorgeous but it is very well timed too - because though I might be wrong, I believe she has made this pouch using Ayumi's tutorial. This is one of the tutorials I was going to use in making things with those zippers I bought. So now I have a real, live properly made one to use as reference. And it's mine all mine. Yippee!


All the details are perfect and the fabrics show up brilliantly against the Kona Ash.
(Sorry, if I guessed wrong on the solid Sarah, but that is close as I get to fabric knowledge at times!)
Perfectly finished inside too, with little pockets for my cards.
Those cards which the bank laughs about when I try to use them.
Yes, those cards! But they would look good in there any way.
You would think that something made by Sarah would be more than enough but there was a charm pack of Terrain - something that some of my bloggy friends might have noticed me wanting on occasion.

Ignore the fingers with their layer of Stiffy on them and concentrate on the
jewel like tones of the fabrics, please.
And stuffed inside the purse on arrival were some of Sarah's incredible scraps. I am a lover of other people's scraps because theirs are always nicer than mine. But in the past few months I have been the very happy recipient of some gorgeous scraps from various locations around the world.


Don't all those scraps blend together and beg to be used together?

I know what I want for Christmas now too. No! Not your scraps - that would be a bit greedy. Proper storage for my fabric. Somewhere that things would be sorted and easy to get at and I would be able to find things. I have contemplated nicking Emily's toy storage but am a bit afraid of her and what she would do if I disorganised her room to organise mine. This is what I have in mind for me and my scraps though -

Minus the toys, of course. I dream of tubs full of sorted fabric.
So a huge thank you to Sarah for taking a blah day and injecting a little sunshine. Which is better than the weather man did! I truly appreciate your gift, other than the fact that I cannot think of any more excuses to avoid facing those zippers.

Susan

19 comments:

  1. It has been undeniably dreary these past two days! Proper British weather! Bet those lovely fabrics brought a little sunshine into your day!

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  2. Glad it brightened your day, it's been so dreary the past few days! Love the pouch and the scraps and I'll be sending Archie round to snaffle the Terrain - just leave the letterbox free and he'll sneak in later!

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  3. I am so glad your blah day turned sunny! And that I am not the only one who digresses from time to time. LOL Enjoy the rest of your day and your ornaments because while it is ok to digress for a moment you must get back to the task at hand. **evil laugh**

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  4. yes it's been very miserable weather wise these last few days - parcels like that are definitely a ray of sunshine. Enjoy! other peoples scraps are almost always better than your own!

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  5. Very fun mail for you! Sarah is a genius, isn't she? Congratulations on your loot!

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  6. What a great package you got. We're also having an awful, dreary day here in Chicago. I'm also hoping to get something nice and cheery in the mail.

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  7. Isn't Sarah just lovely! Gorgeous and generous gift to lift your day. I keep my scraps in those plastic drawer towers you get from Argos & the like. They're tall so don't take up so much floor space. Time to face the Z.I.P.P.E.R!!! Jxo

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  8. What a lovely parcel!

    Don't you think the trofast would be a hammer to crack a walnut? Or is your scrap situation much larger than I imagined?!

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  9. Try the zipper. You won't regret it and it is super easy! You have received a beautiful parcel and you are one lucky lady!

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  10. Well you know full well that I love Terrain and I spy some Central Park in your pouch, which is very gorgeous. I`m a bit blah too. Missing my sewing me thinks.

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  11. Get on with your zipper. :-P

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  12. Sarah is the tops! I love my storage!

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  13. what a lovely load of goodies to arrive on your doorstep!

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  14. I laughed at your comment about being able to discern between thuds at the letterbox! I can do that too and am expecting a few happy thuds soon! What an excellent prize. Beautiful pouch and fabrics. Collette x

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  15. Squishy mail is the best, and your goodies are just beautiful.

    Are you really going to brave working with zippers? I so admire you because they still scare the crap out of me. I have zipper block.

    I'm re-organising my entire sewing room over the Summer. New furniture and storage. I'm over making do with what I have and already have grand plans !

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  16. Do not fear the zipper, they are far simpler than you think. I hope to see your successes soon! Lovely prize and nice to get it on a blah day.

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  17. so now's not the time to tell you i won 12 fq's of terrain in the bloggers quilt festival?? it's on its way to me from the u.s as we speak...

    and zips are easy - they just engender a lot of bulk, especially when making pouches, so your sewing machine thinks it's climbing everest! just go slowly, you'll be fine - and once you've made a couple the rest will come together in the flashest of flashes (a line from 'love actually', one of my favourite films)\\cheers

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  18. Reading you in reverse so I know you DID IT! What glorious loot from Sarah - she is one really nice gal!

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  19. Can you tell I am only catching up with my blog reading tonight? Sitting here in a nice hotel room in the kind of relaxation only possible with children a few hundred miles away, after a day out!! Anyways, so glad you love the goodies and thank you for the lovely words xx

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