Introducing Carina!!

It is my great pleasure today to be featuring the multi-talented Carina here on my blog. I first came across Carina's blog when I participated in the Flowerpress Brooch swap way back in May.  Carina is originally from Denmark but is now based in the UK where she creates the most beautiful embroidery designs, vibrant and fun fabric designs on Spoonflower, and produces colourful crochet. She has also designed for DMC USA and blogs about her crafting life on Carina's Craft blog. There you will find lots of colourful inspiration, tutorials for embroidery stitches, crochet and more, plus some free patterns to get you started on embroidery. On top of all this creativity she also runs online creative blogger classes one of which I completed back in July. Carina has been blogging for about 8 years so has a wealth of experience to pass on to bloggers who are just starting out or feel like they need some extra help in making their blog more appealing to their readers. Read more about this class here! I thoroughly enjoyed it and can't recommended it enough!

Carina also creates and sells embroidery E-books and embroidery patterns in her shop Polka and Bloom!!

1. Spring Birds - new pattern, 2. Summer Garden pattern, 3. Sketchy stitches, 4. Sweet Posy - embroidery pattern, 5. Some stitcheries, 6. Christmas Stitches class - shisha ornament, 7. Satin bubbles brooch, 8. Orange stitchy brooch, 9. Stitchy brooch experiment
You can see more of Carina's latest embroidery designs here on the Polka and Bloom blog.

Some of Carina's vibrant Spoonflower designs...

1. My fabrics on Spoonflower, 2. Happy Flowers fabric, 3. Happy Triangles fabric, 4. Dots and Daisies collection
You can see more of her fabric designs on Spoonflower here.

Carina's designs for DMC in the USA

1. Pearl Cotton Display tea towels, 2. Winter Sunrise, 3. Blue Leaf Appliqué, 4. Doodle Heart

Some of Carina's colourful crochet projects....

1. Stack of happy crochet, 2. Another..., 3. Granny A Day blanket, 4. Crochet stack, 5. Crochet flowers, 6. Jars with crochet cosies, 7. Crochet bunting, 8. Granny A Day 1-20, 9. Folded

To get to know Carina a little better I asked her a few questions........
 
When did you start blogging and why? 
- I started blogging in 2003, completely on a whim. A few pals were doing it and I thought I'd give it a go too. Of course, blogging was very different back then - there was a lot of work involved just to make your blog look prettier etc. My first blog was mainly a personal journal and not really focused on anything. I started Carina's Craftblog in the spring of 2006 after I got into crafting.

How long have you been embroidering and who taught you or how were you taught?
- My farmor (paternal grandmother) taught me to do cross stitch when I was little, but there was a big gap between that and taking up embroidery in late 2005. So I am mostly self-taught, using books and the internet.

I can see your Danish influence in your embroidery designs, what keeps you inspired?
- I'm really, really inspired by colour. And texture and pattern. A tiny snippet of pattern can spark a new design. When I go actively looking for inspiration I tend to gravitate towards things like Ancient Roman frescos or Mexican and other folk art. Strangely, I don't often go searching for Danish inspiration as such.. maybe because it doesn't feel exotic enough..! ;-)

I love the name of your shop "Polka and Bloom". Can you tell us how you came up with this name?
- Thank you! :-) Well, way before Polka & Bloom actually existed, I made a couple of postcard designs, one was called 'Polka' because the background had polkadots, and the other one had flowers on it and I called it 'Bloom'. I just liked the two words together so I decided that if I were to set up shop at some point, I'd call it 'Polka & Bloom'. :-)

Do you have a designated workspace for your designing/crafting. 
- Unfortunately no. I'd love to have a space where I could make a mess and just close the door at the end of the day. For now, most of my crafting takes place sitting on the sofa, usually with a good film or documentary to keep me company.

Are there any other crafts that you like to dabble in?
- Uh yes! I'll have a go at pretty much anything that doesn't involve heavy machinery (and that's mainly because of the lack of space..!) ;-) When time permits, I'll do some crochet and sewing. Plus I draw and paint as well. Stamp carving, porcelain painting, fabric design, at one point I owned a Print Gocco but had to let it go because I just didn't use it enough.. etc etc...

Do you have any favourite embroidery tips you'd like to share with us?
- Patience is probably my best tip. When you start embroidering your stitches will be uneven, the French knot you did to perfection yesterday refuses to be replicated today. Don't worry about it, just keep on doing it. Oh and get some nice materials to work with; it really does make a difference to use threads from a good brand and not a six quid multi-pack.

What path led you to do the work you do today?
- Ugh, that's a good question but I'm not sure I have an answer that will make it seem obvious and easy that this is the path I would be on... But I've always been interested in creative things, like painting and drawing, but never really did much crafting. Until I moved to the UK. I  stumbled upon craft blogs plus I had some time to spare because initially I didn't have a job here. So I got into embroidery and the rest is history as they say.

Can you share with us any future ambitions/goals/projects you are working towards?
- I want to keep working on things that make me happy, and hopefully others too. In less lofty terms I want to make more embroidery books, 'proper' ones and ebooks. Plus more patterns and  teaching classes. I'd also love to devote some time to designing a proper fabric line.

When you're not crafting/designing/blogging what do you like to do?
- I might be reading a book or magazine, taking pictures or watching a film. Although.. even when I'm not doing any crafting/designing/blogging it's always kinda there anyway. Maybe I get inspiration for a design or a blog post; and the pictures I take often end up on my blog. If I'm watching telly I'm usually working on an embroidery or a crochet project. You can also crochet granny squares during the commercials before a film at the cinema - just sayin'! ;-)
If I'm really not doing anything, I'm probably wasting time on the internet!  

 I hope you enjoyed meeting Carina and take the time to look around her blog and shop. 

I would love to make these features a regular series here on The Sewing Attic so if you'd like to be featured or know of a blogger that you'd like featured let me know either in the comments or send me an email.

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!!   
                                                                     
                                        

A very satisfying finish this week!

Yes I finished my crochet blanket last night!! I've been working on it at every spare moment and I got a lot done this last Sunday afternoon when it decided to rain heavily and not stop just as we were thinking of going out for walk on the beach for some fresh air. So the girls happily played on their Wii while I was happily ensconced on the couch keeping warm under my growing blanket and listening to some favourite music through headphones.

I don't know why but I'm surprised at how heavy it is. I guess it is a pure wool blanket and also I'm used to using our mohair blankets to snuggle under which are really light. I still have to weave all the ends through on the underside which is quite a job with all those colours. To think that just over a year ago I was a complete novice at crochet! I can thoroughly recommend  this project as a good beginner, maybe long term crochet project. It's a great project to take anywhere as you are just doing  it square by square although it was a little like a jigsaw puzzle to put altogether ;) 

Now I think I might like to tackle some crochet cushions to scatter around the house starting with this one and then maybe this one and I'd also quite like a scarf like this  pretty one.

And look who's given it the royal seal of approval!! She's been on it since mid-afternoon and is still there!

The final stage.....

Yes the crochet squares are all finished (all 199 of them!) and I have finally started sewing them all together.  Caitlin and I laid them out yesterday afternoon according to the pattern diagram. You are actually looking at what my lounge room floor looks like right now. My original idea was to lay them all out fiddle around with the right mix of colours, take a photo or two then gather them back up so I could vacuum the floor today. However when I started sewing them together I realised it wasn't going to take as long as I thought and it's so much easier to have them laid out than having to refer to a photo for the correct layout. Plus they are really brightening up the room! Hopefully a full reveal soon!

The light at the end of the tunnel

I have about 50 more of these little babies to go so I'm on a bit of a crochet marathon these last and next few days. So close to finishing now that I just want it done! It's been a year since I started and it was always meant to be a slow project to pick up when I had little pockets of time. Now I'm eager to see it finished so we can use it as its just a little nippy around here at the moment plus I'm keen to get going on my yo-yo project.

Downsizing....

Yes finally I'm on the smallest sized square, which means I'm on the home stretch to finishing my first crochet blanket which just happens to be my first ever crochet project. I guess I like to challenge myself when it come to trying new skills. It's been a year since I started this crochet project and although I've had a few mini breaks I have enjoyed every minute of making these squares and can't recommend it enough as a great take anywhere portable project.

And this pretty wreath is something else I've been working on these last few days. I managed to add the last few finishing touches to it today.You might remember I showed a sneek peek of it on Friday. When I started designing my Bliss quilt I wanted to also design some coordinating bedroom decor items with a similar theme as well as the same fabrics and this is one of the ideas I came up with. I'm really loving how it turned out.

For the hanging ribbon I just hand stitched some white ric-rac to some narrow red ribbon with some perle cotton. As I've mentioned before I just love adding ric-rac to items.

The pinwheels are 3 inches across and are topped with some pretty buttons. Buttons are another favourite addition that I like to use.

Another photo to share because the weather gods were smiling today and I got some great shots making it hard to choose the best ones.

Listed in my shop today here :)

Our Easter weekend was spent...

...clearing our garden and deck of leaves from recent autumn winds ready for the next storm due to arrive tonight, weeding the veggie gardens and picking the last of the tomatoes...

...working on this little pile of crochet squares...

...sewing these blocks - 40 completed and ready to sew into a quilt top!

...playing with block layouts- I think I like the look of this one...

We also...

• ate a Good Friday lunch with my parents in Waihi
• had a visit from my parents for afternoon tea on Easter Sunday

enjoyed a visit from friends who delivered a dressing table for Amelia's new room, took a double bed back with them and surprised us with there good news of their first baby being due in September :) I'm now  looking forward to sewing lots of baby items for them, that they never knew they needed ;)

Crochet Statistics...

Now that I have finished hand quilting my wonky houses quilt I've been able to do a little more crochet at night and make my pile slowly grow some more.

These photos were taken outside this evening and I love the way the sun has caught the corner of this colourful pile of crochet goodness.

I have 5 more of this size square to do. I have started to run out of the yellow when I began making this size which is why there is only one square with a tiny yellow centre. Every time I went to buy more wool I would forget which colour I needed and consequently have lots of white, orange and blue skeins. Tomorrow I must remember it is yellow I need. 

So 5 more squares to go doesn't sound too bad does it, but in total I have '157' to go! Yes that number is a little daunting although to make it sound better they do get smaller in size as I go along so I should be able to whip up a few of the smaller squares in one evening. I'm still really enjoying working on this project, the portability of it and putting together different colour combinations. I know I will be definitely doing more crochet projects in the future.

A new crochet bag...

I whipped up this bag to hold my crochet in on Friday. I got the pattern from the Spring issue of 'Stitch' magazine but made a few modifications to suit my needs. I increased the length and width by 2 inches and also lined it and added 2 layers of fusible interfacing to make it more durable and 1 layer of fusible batting to make sure it stood on its own.

I also added a pocket inside to hold my crochet needle case, scissors and tape measure. I used some batik fabrics from my stash in my favourite colour combo of blue and green which also matches the colour scheme in our lounge where it will live most of the time. The navy blue bias binding trim was a purchased one I had in my stash which I think gives a nice finished look to it. Really happy with how this bag turned out  and it looks much better than the plastic supermarket bag and knitting bag that I was using!

I took it to a friends place in the hope of getting a little crochet done this weekend but we were too busy catching up that I didn't pick it up once. I did however do some paper crafting with Caitlin of which I will reveal tomorrow. She just has a few little finishing touches to make before we take some photos. 

Hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend out there!

A little colour brightens my day...

On Sunday Mum and I went to the Quilt and Craft fair in Hamilton as we do every year. It was full of inspiring new ideas, notions and gadgets and its always good to see things in the flesh isn't it. I did a lot of admiring of the pretty fabrics, came very close to buying some Echino fabrics that I'd only seen online until then but I was extremely restrained and bought zilch. The reason being that my DH will be bringing some back from the US with him soon so couldn't really justify buying more now could I? I did enjoy looking at the lovely quilts on display and there was quite a few of them this time. Unlike last year I took not one single photo. There were no signs up saying no photography but I only saw one person taking photos. Last year when I was snapping away an older lady came up to me and asked if I was allowed to take photos and I replied that yes I was. Now I'm not so sure what the etiquette is about taking photos at a show when there are no signs saying not to. I'm interested to know what everyone else thinks about this issue??

While in Hamilton though we did have time to visit Spotlight and I found some more wool in different colours for my crochet project. The best bit was they were half the price I normally pay at my local craft shop!! Gotta love a bargain!

And look my pile of squares is getting bigger!

By the way if you live in or near Christchurch I highly recommend going to The Quilt and Craft show this weekend even if it is to just look and get inspired!



My weekend.........

My excuse for acquiring this little bundle of happy fabric could be attributed to the fact that our weekend here was really wet and miserable and I needed to brighten it up somehow? No not buying that one? Well maybe it was because I found myself in a new quilt shop and this little bundle whispered "buy me Catherine".

The new quilt shop is in Waihi, a town 30 minutes drive south of Whangamata and also where my parents live so I think this quilt shop is going to be my local, finally I have a local quilt shop.

The shop is stocked with lots of beautiful fabrics and I was only going in for a look but I just couldn't resist this bundle of 'Hunky Dory' by Chez Moi. I'm justifying my purchase by making up some pretty pillows with it to sell in my etsy shop.

I also manged to get a little more crochet done.

Not quite a blanket yet though but looking nice and colourful.

So my Saturday ended up to be quite a pleasant day despite the rain but come Sunday this old cat on the quilt above died.... I'd like to say peacefully in his sleep but it seems he had one of his 'fits' outside on our deck and didn't survive this time. Unfortunately he wasn't a pretty sight when I found him.

He'd had a pretty good life at 18 years and was a pretty tough cat with jagged ears to prove it. He was my father-in-law's cat for 12 years and then when he died he came to us to live his final years at the beach. He was the grumpiest, impatient cat I've ever known but I'll miss giving him his 'vacum' every week. Yes he was a cat that liked to be vacuumed.

Luckily we have two other much younger cats that will take his place on his sheepskin rug in front of the heater. Rest in peace Flicker.

Crochet progress...........

My crochet blanket squares are slowly growing and I'm really enjoying putting the colours together. These squares are 30cm square and I only need 4 of them. Just doing a little each night.

I love this photo of all the colours stacked on top of each other. These squares are certainly not perfect but I'm getting better with each square I do. For those of you out there who love crochet or just some colourful eye candy I found this blog the other night.

Spoilt!

I felt very spoilt yesterday when I received this beautiful crochet case  in the mail from a blogging friend Michelle. She said she wanted to send me a thank you card but I got a bit more than a thank you card! A crochet case is exactly what I needed! As you can see she has put a lot of work into creating this work of art with embroidered felt pieces and meandering lines of wool. So bright and colourful and so me! I was lead to Michelle's blog 'MadebyMichelle' by her sister Ariane who's blog 'Ariane's Crafts' I have been following since I started blogging. They are both very creative in their own different ways so please go on over and check their blogs out,I'm sure you won't be disappointed.  

This is the inside of the case complete with 4 coloured crochet hooks and an envelope containing "Button plastic". Now I know most people will be now thinking "What the heck is 'button plastic'!?" If you go on over to Michelle's blog she has a great tutorial on making your own covered buttons without using one of those kits you have to buy! To be able to make my own covered buttons without buying a kit is going to come in very handy for me living in a small town 2 hours away from a decent craft shop. With this tutorial you can make any size button you want and save a little money. These buttons just require a little recycled plastic and we all like to be able to recycle don't we Michelle :) 

Works in progress...

These squares are my first attempts at crochet. Last Saturday night I decided to teach myself and with a couple of phone calls to Mum and a couple of hours later I was finally able to decipher the crochet pattern which seemed like a foreign language to me at first. By Sunday night I was so addicted to it I wasn't even looking up to watch TV. Because I had to work full time hours this last week it was a great small project that I could take to work and do in my breaks. I find it really easy to just pick up and do a few stitches when I have just a few minutes. My youngest daughter wants it to be her blanket already so I might have to teach her to crochet as well. I'm using pure wool so its going to be a lovely warm soft blanket.

This is a little peak of some sewing I managed to get done after work last week. I have two more to complete and then I will show you the complete project.

Wishing everyone a great week!

Flutterbys....

I have been wanting to make a picture like this for a while now, actually ever since I saw this tutorial. I finally managed to get the right butterfly punch last week when it came on sale at Spotlight. It's a Martha Stewart one so it isn't cheap! Last night while watching a documentary on swarms I punched out enough butterflies for 3 pictures. The documentary was on swarms of insects, animals and rodents so it seemed kind of appropriate to be making lots of butterflies. ( The swarms of mice shown last week was nightmare material)

The frame is one that I've had for years that I got at a quilting show and has been waiting for the perfect project. I painted the white background using blue and green stamp pads  and just used scraps of scrapbooking paper. I'm really pleased with the end result and now have ideas for more using different shapes.

Thanks for all the crochet encouragement! I now have wool and hooks so hopefully I can find a little pocket of time to make some thing bright and colourful!

Crochet love........

When I saw these crochet projects in a recent Better Homes and Gardens magazine it made me wish that I could crochet but even if I could I don't have the time for yet another hobby. I absolutely love the blanket on the left, so bright and colourful. Perhaps I could talk my Mum into making this for me?? Or if I learnt myself I guess it would be a great portable project to grow over time. I have also been inspired by Jo with her lovely crocheted African flowers.

Or perhaps I should start small with one of these beautiful vibrant pillows. So tempting! This magazine sits in my sewing attic open to these inspiring pages. One day........