Rise & Shine Android Tablet Cover

Rise & Shine Android Tablet Cover, a photo by Sarah @ pingsandneedles on Flickr.

So, a quick little Easter Bank Holiday project - a portable case for my 8" Android tablet using Ruby Star Rising on the back & Ruby Star Shining on the front and inside - hence the title!

Since I put the Kindle app on my Android I've really needed some kind of case that lets me just pull it out of my bag - flip it open and start reading (for train journeys and such like).

My dream case also needed to be comfortable to hold, for drowsy reading in bed, so the front cover is padded with fusible fleece ... which is good for the screen too.

I created a half handle with webbing, sewing the other half proud to the spine. I just need to be able to grab it. but I didn't need a carrying handle as such ...

The inside has a smaller typewriter scrap, along with some newspring linen that I bought a couple of years ago and have never found a use for! Yay! I particularly like the newsprint on the tablet holding section ...

Not the most technically perfect thing I've ever made, but I know it will be dearly loved and much used ... By ME!

Ruby Star Rising, Ruby Star Shining, linen newsprint

Pay It Forward Loveliness!

Nikki from Sewquine sent me a wonderful little parcel - a PIF (Pay It Forward) enterprise! I had totally forgotten that I was one of her wonderful recipients! 

Feast your eyes on these total lovelies!!




Beautiful Ruby Star Rising has been transmuted into a wonderful pin cushion and a zippy pouch -  which I'm going to take to Bletchley next weekend with a little hand sewing project for quiet moments …

Thank you Nikki … Such welcome post on a rainy Saturday!  I love the pouch.  It's such a great size … I can see it doubling as a quickie handbag too!!  Is it wrong that I can't stop stroking the corduroy??




Ooh, there was some Scottish tablet too …. but that lasted all of 5 minutes!  Perfect sugar rush timing for some tedious HST trimming duty!

 

The pincushion has already been getting a pounding while I've been playing along in the  Swoon-Along!

So, now I must get on with my PIF endeavour too!!   I think this might be my opportunity to suck it up and embrace the zip … whaddya think?

What I love about PIF is that it has a nice 365 day lead time - my kind of deadline! (I promise that it will be at least 10 months shorter than that though!)

The first 3 people to comment here will get a little something (as long as you promise to PIF to another 3)!

Ooh! I won!! – and - Ooooh! One of You Won Too!

How great is this?? – I won a fat quarter bundle of Erin McMorris’ new line ‘Summersault’ from Fat Quarterly.  They ran a fab interview with her here …


I really like some of the prints in this line … I’m planning a little something for my god-daughter, so this could be perfect …

But you don’t wanna know about that …



You want to know which one of you is a winner.  And of What …

Well, here’s the story - the wonderful Wandafish, (aka Angela) who won my little ruby star rising giveaway from The Eternal Maker – emailed me immediately to say

"In the spirit of pay it forward (I remember you giving away RSR precious scraps before it was released) and as I don't have a blog myself, I wondered about offering half of my prize for a giveaway?"

Click on this fabtastic hexagon block to go see more at her flickr photostream







Thank you so much for being so generous … Angela ... we love Paying it Forward :)

So, out comes the old random number generator again … and the surprise winner of 2 FQs or 4 Fat Eighths or whatever you like, of Ruby Star Rising

is ….

 

Yay! Congratulations to …….

Vicky @ Patchwork Palace
 

Such a great comment too! …

Vicky’s just made this stunner for the BritQuiltSwap on flickr …




I’ve flickr mailed you Vicky … Congratulations !!

YOU interview Melody Miller - Yay!

Ok People - the time has come to reveal the wonderful Qs set by you, my loyal stalkers, and the even more wonderful As from the lovely Melody.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer so brilliantly, Melody :)

Pictures from Melody’s web album

Do you find being a fabric designer to be more or less restrictive than being a painter?
Question from WordyGirl

Hmmm. I can say I enjoy being a fabric designer more than I enjoyed being a painter. I love the act of painting, but I never found a sense of community as a painter, or a place where I belonged. It was a pretty isolating endeavor.

Here's a funny story: one day, a good friend took me and a car full of my paintings to a well-known gallery here in Atlanta. He was acquaintances with the curator and hoped that she would give us a little of her time. Well, she was quite busy, so she sent her assistant out to speak with us.

This young woman (who was probably in her mid-20's, as was I) was SO snooty and condescending that it was almost funny to speak to her. She asked where I lived, and before I could finish telling her, she dismissed my location as irrelevant. She lived in town, she informed us. 

Once she had thoroughly asserted her superiority, she condescended to walk outside with us and look at my paintings. As we were stepping onto the sidewalk, the pointy heel of her designer shoe got stuck in a crack in the pavement. She tried to pull it out and continue walking, but it wouldn't budge. She ended up having to remove her foot from the shoe and pry it out of the sidewalk with both hands.
It was a moment I enjoyed very much:)

Are there any colors you really DON'T like/want to use? Question from Laurel

I don't think so! I try to keep an open mind about color, because a specific color that I don't prefer might be the perfect compliment to a color I love. Also, color is so emotional and evocative of a time and place, that I like to play with it in groups rather than individually. If a color contributes well to the group, I will love it like my own child. If it is a favorite but doesn't play well with others, I will give it the boot.


 

You put such unusual but lovely colours together. Do you use tools like colour wheels and such to get your matches or do you work from intuition?
Question from Janet

 
I mostly play with color in Photoshop, so I just adjust my colors as I work to make them relate together as groups. Once I have a group I like, I'll try to apply it to a variety of designs.

If I have 4 colors that work beautifully in one design, I'll often find that I can do nothing with them in another design. So, I will find a few new colors that work well and add them to my palette. This goes on and on and on... I tend to feel my way around until I have colors I'm happy with. 

Often, I'll come back a few days later, feel shocked and alarmed at my ghastly choices, and start the whole business over again:)

What medium do you use to start your idea for a design? Pencil, paint, computer, etc...? Question from Flo

My best talent is drawing, which I have always done in the traditional way on paper.

However, with a Wacom tablet, I can draw in Photoshop the same way that I can draw on paper, but make quicker edits. So that's how I've been working the past several years… 

I draw directly into Photoshop (or occasionally Illustrator) and save my drawings on my computer.

My question would be: what do you do with ideas that don't get produced into fabric lines? Do you forget them, shelve them for another time, rework them for future projects? Question from Xerxia

I am like your thrifty Great Aunt Myrtle in that I don't waste anything I draw or design.

When I'm doing new work, I look back through my files of older drawings and designs, and will often find a way to repurpose an old drawing. With digital files, it's so easy to change the color or scale of something to make it work beautifully in a new design.

If I draw a heart once, I save it, and for the rest of my life if I need a heart in my design, that's the one I'll use. If I do new work that I'm not crazy about, I'll save it and salvage parts of it later.







I loved the little baby dress Melody mentioned on her blog, made out of her fabric... does she ever plan to do any of her prints on different fabrics bases, like voile, or light cotton/linen, etc...? Question from jennifer R


Kokka really picks the fabrics, not me. I would love to do as many substrates as possible, and that's one great benefit to working with Kokka… their fabrics are amazing. I'm always excited to see what they'll choose next.
By the way, the Spring collection that will be in stores soon is on a lovely lightweight linen/cotton blend. It's a soft, breezy fabric that is perfect for spring and summer.

I would like to know where she goes, or what she does to find her peace?
Question from Erica

Weirdly, I work to find my peace.
I LOVE designing and sewing and making things. When I was making my elephants and was a one-woman sweat shop, that wasn't so fun, but experimenting and problem-solving and figuring out how to make things is a very peaceful, engaging process for me. I do get a little stressed and overwhelmed at times, but I just keep switching activities which seems to do the trick.
I'm an introvert... what can I say?

What is one crafty thing you would like to learn? For example, I sew and quilt. I would love to learn to crochet. Is there any skill you wished you had? Question from Jennifer

I wish I was better at creating 3-dimensional things. 

I've never been a big fan of doing sculpture or pottery and I have a hard time understanding how to make fabric drape around a human body, or how to create a 3-dimensional stuffed object. 

I'm really good at things that are flat:)
 

If you could choose one person to have lunch with, who would it be?
Question from Eve

I. have. no. idea.

The idea of having lunch with someone really cool makes me all sweaty and anxious. 
 
I can just see all the lunch faux-pas waiting to happen: 

The sushi bite that is too big for your mouth.
The piece of lettuce the size of your head.
The drippy sandwich,
The oh-my-god-this-has-so-much-garlic pasta,
The sizzling plate whose scent you will wear the rest of the day

.... now I'm all stressed.

 


Do you listen to music when you design and if so what are you listening to at the moment?
Question from Gwenllian Myfanwy

I got the ‘This American Life’ app on my iphone, and listen to podcasts while I sew. If I get really absorbed in a story from a podcast, I can work without feeling anxious to finish or overwhelmed by a long process. However, If I'm trying to do anything that requires words or linear thinking,
I just have to have silence.

I'd love to know what inspired her to fearlessly design fabrics with attitude that may not be popular with all in the quilting world?
Question from Sheetal
 
Oh, what can I say? :)
I don't worry too much about what is popular, I just try to do work that I'm attracted to, and trust that others will feel similarly. 

I was shocked to learn that at Spring Quilt Market, many of the shops that bought my line did not buy the bee print. They were a little turned off at the idea of having a large bug on their fabric. Also, some people thought it was a fly. WHATEVER! 

I think the bee is super-cool, and will make an amazing skirt amongst other things, and have now given myself the challenge of making people COVET THE BEE. 


Repeat after me: I LOVE THE BIG BEE. [I do love the big bee - Pings]


Honestly, if I had heard the same of any of the other prints, I would have just shrugged my shoulders and thought, "it's not for everyone". 

But the bee! The bee is really cool!

 

Where does Miss Melody find her inspiration? Outside herself, or does it come more from the inside Melody? Question from Trisha Too

I am particularly fascinated with vintage things, so that's one major source of inspiration. Mostly, just seeing all the beautiful work out there will inspire me to try and create something of my own. I'm am forever in awe of people who create beautiful and unexpected things.

 

Are there any images or image combinations that you can't ever see yourself using in a design? maybe you think it's overdone, or you had a childhood fear of something? everyone has their interesting quirks, I'm curious what Melody's is!
Question from Amykins
 

I don't keep a list or anything, but if I see that lots of people are doing something (like owls, for instance), I'll probably avoid it. I've always been terrified of bees, but alas, they're in my new collection. And deer are now overused, but I still like the designs I did that have deer in them. I'm not sure there's a theme here... I like when an element adds to the interest of the design, but if that element is a little too trendy, I'll try to avoid it.



After the journey of your career so far, what advice would you give to someone starting out trying to make a business from their creative work? Question from Meagan

I don't feel qualified to offer advice as much as support. I would say just keep trying.

Feeling discouraged is as much of the process as anything else, so don't interpret that as a sign to quit. 

If one thing doesn't work, or sell, or get the attention you would hope, try something else.

Just keep trying.




So, that wraps up our little journey into Melody’s brain! How great was that?

Thank you so much to everyone who contributed questions, and of course to Melody for being such a sport! I really enjoyed this little Melody Miller fest!

I’ll be having another one just as soon as Ruby Star Spring is released … wait and see what delights I can rustle up for that one!

Winner - Eternal Maker Ruby Star Rising Giveaway!

Apologies for the tardiness in posting a winner, but I’ve been unable to log directly in to Blogger to upload my posts!  I think everything’s fine now, fingers crossed.



This means that Melody’s Interview will be coming to your screens sometime in the next couple of days too!  Melody had the answers back to me pretty much next day, so, my bad.


Wow! What a great response to this giveaway - thank you all! It was great to see how many button fans there are out there -


My oh My … what lovely choices! … I’m still working through snooping on some of your choices!




There were 192 comments PLUS I added the 20 bonus entries from the Melody Miller Questions Giveaway.









So … without further ado … the winner of 4 Ruby Star Rising FQS of your choice from The Eternal Maker
is …


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number 176



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WandaFish aka Angela !!



 Congratulations Angela! 



Looks like all those chances paid off!  You are a lucky lady! 

And I’m not jealous, oh no.  Not a bit.   Not at all.   No-No-No.   Nuh Huh. 


So commiserations to the rest of us eh? 

Keep your eyes peeled for Melody’s wonderful interview later this week … You guys asked some great questions, and she gave some fantastic answers! 

And congrats again to Angela  (I’ve emailed you!)

As one giveaway closes - another opens! - 4 ruby star FQs - closes 30th May!

Wow you guys rock!  We have some a-ma-zing questions to choose from for next week’s Melody Miller Interview … this is going to be so great … stay tuned for the winner & the interview next week!  Thank you so much!


You've still got until midnight Wednesday (25th) UK time to enter the Melody Miller giveaway here



If you wrote one of the winning Qs for Melody’s interview you will automatically get a bonus entry for this NEW giveaway too!




I first met The Eternal Maker at the Stitches & Hobblecraft show in Brighton, earlier this year.  Their stand was completely rammed with people, but I still managed to elbow my way in …







To get me some of these lovely Ruby Star Risings …





Now, one lucky YOU can get your hands on some of these too!


Anna at The Eternal Maker … described by Melody Miller as “the cutest little thing in all of the UK” … is kindly giving away 4 Fat Quarters of Ruby Star Rising to the winner of this second giveaway in my little Melody Miller Fest.


The Eternal Maker are based in Chichester, West Sussex, a mere stone’s throw from Brighton … and yet I’m still to visit their shop in real life - that’s because they have such a fantastic online service. 

They stock such a great range of fabric, including lots of Kokka, which probably explains why I use so much Echino & Ruby Star in my quilting!  I love the fact that you can choose by colour as well as brand/product …







They also have another shop - The Button Company










We all know how I feel about buttons
click the pic if you don’t






So what hoops do you have to jump through for this one?

Well, it would be really great if you could go and have a look around their fabric shop here, or their button shop here …  







… and then come back to leave a comment here telling me what would be top of your shopping list! 

• One entry for each shop you visit.
  
• Easy Peasy 
  
• International entries welcome!
• Closes Midnight (UK time) Monday 30th May 

+ 4 Bonus Chances (please leave a separate comment for each)

1. if you are a benign stalker of my blog = bonus entry !
   
2. if you follow the eternal maker’s blog  = bonus entry !
   
3. if you blog/tweet/tell someone on the bus = bonus entry !
   
4. if you belong to the Brit Quilt Group on Flickr = bonus entry !

I wish I could enter this myself, but then it’s probably just as well I can’t … as I’d just choose Me … and then you’d all stop coming by … and that would be sad.

a little something for me …

Well blog friends, after all the mad activity on swaps recently I realised that I’ve kind of lost my sewing mojo a bit.

Now, don’t get me wrong - I Love Swaps - I love pushing myself to try lots of stuff I haven’t done before, to make something for someone I don’t know, but due to my chillingly extensive stalking, probably ‘know’ better than their neighbours, LOL.

Here’s a little reminder of what I have been doing with my time (not so much for you, more like justification for me).

	Doll Quilt Swap
	Make Mine Modern Swap
	Urban Home Goods Swap

That’s when I realised that I haven’t actually made anything for me in over six months.  I started the blocks for my quilt of good intentions on New Year’s Eve, but then the swaps got in the way a bit. 


It became my first ever WIP (otherwise known as Work In not-much Progress) - I always used to finish something before I start something else, but alas, no longer!


I have big plans for this … another post …











My Charley Harper embroidery is a slow burn thang, I hope to finish it soon though. It may turn into a cushion, or become part of a bigger project, I’m not sure yet … it probably won’t stay with me though.










Even Lynne’s QAL is going to be a present for my
god-daughter, and that’s not till August, so I’ve mentally back-burner-ed that one too.  I haven’t even started all the lovely blocks she’s done too …






My sewing melancholy is, of course, majorly connected to the fact that I returned to work on Monday …  start of term is always a bit of a mindf^k.

So, what to do? 

I’ll tell you. 

Make something for ME.  That’s what.   
Something I need.
Something I’ll love using every day. 

Being a bit of a statonery nut, I have very specific nerdy needs.  I need to carry my diary and a notebook of some sort with me both at work and play.  However, I also need the notebook to be interchangeable, depending on what I’m doing, where I am, etc. 

Over the years I’ve spent countless hours modding notebooks and diaries to fit my purpose … you can see my previous Moleskine modding here or by clicking the pic …

 

The trouble is that only works for one year and then I have to start all over again.

No more.

Enter the Upside-Downside Journal cover!

One way round it’s a diary, flip it over - it’s a notebook! Genius!

I spent a ridiculously long time drawing up patterns and working out the logistics of all the pocketed dividers.  I was also determined to use something from my little shopping trip at Frau Tulpe, and a bit of my sacred Ruby Star Rising, so I really didn’t want to waste any of these glorious Echino fabrics and I was far too lazy too make a mock-up first.

I used stiff interfacing on the patterned fabric pieces, plain linen for the lining of each pocket and also used that plastic you get in the bottom of supermarket shopping bags to stiffen each pocket further.  I would have used card, but I want to be able to wash the blighter.

I didn’t put a button/elastic closure on it as I wanted it to be a bit looser than that … and it probably wouldn’t wear very well, given the amount of use it will get!  There’s also no pen holder - I always have a pencil case in my bag and I can easily slip a pen inside should the need arise.  I wanted to keep it simple and adaptable.

I also made it larger than A5 (it’s about 9” x 6”) because I have a couple of drawing notebooks that needed to fit.  It even houses a paperback book perfectly!




There are still some little revisions I want to make … after a day or two at work, I’ve already added bias binding to the central section … This little lovely is going to get some battering …



… but I’m more than happy that I managed to start and finish something, quite frankly …

So, now my mojo is waking from its slumber, maybe I can get on with some new stuff finish some old stuff. 


Just a little work to do for tomorrow first
*sigh