Knit 'n' Stitch

This years Knit & Stitch show starts next Thursday in the RDS, Dublin. It runs for four days and an awful lot of people will pass through in that time.

Kate of Create with Kate  was so popular last year that she has taken a much bigger stand this time, which means I get to go and play  help.

She has a huge selection of Sizzix dies in lots of new designs ( I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek!) and also new this year is Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements fabric....... all I can say is if you love Tim then you will want to get some of this! It comes by the metre, in fat quarters, fat eights and jelly rolls. I made a quilt from the jelly rolls but didn't take a photo of the finished thing (how silly!) so if you want to see that you'll just have to come to Dublin!

To show the fabrics I dollied up this mannequin (it will be covered in fabric for the show, this is the naked version)..... the flowers are all cut from the Tim Holtz Jumbo Tattered Floral die and the necklace is made from some old chain I had at home and lots of Idea-ology bits and pieces.

 I used spray starch to give them a little stiffness and sewed layers together - they would be great for jazzing up a winter coat or imagine a bridal bouquet made of these?!

 The leaves are cut from a Coke can using the Tattered Floral die and then coloured with Alcohol Inks & I added scraps of fabric to some Fragments with Mod podge. I love the word bars, they add a statement to the necklace (literally!)

                               If you're coming to the show come and say hello, we will be on stand H50.

Tuesday.

Good morning,

Last night I went to the Rural Business 2012 prize giving, there were 4 prizes for the South Kerry group and 24 shortlisted, there had been 89 entries so I suppose to be one of the shortlisted was quite good. I had no illusions that I might win with my quilt idea (which was entered for me by the way!) but when they were opening the envelope it was more tense then the XFactor final I can tell you!! Everyone was secretly practising their acceptance speeches......

When I heard that last years winner invented a contraption to put on the back of young horses when training them so that the rider wouldnt be thrown off and maybe paralysed, I realised the gig was up!! Sweet as my quilt is its not a life saving device.

But, the speakers were really interesting and it was nice to meet people and everyone had dressed up so it was very glam!

This morning i'm off to Kenmare to see if I can find a room for kids craft classes and then its back to the grindstone getting the kits ready for Sunday ( I know, its a hard life isn't it?!) So far i've made two different designs and I can't decide which one to go with..... but fear not, there will be a plan and it'll be pretty!

The Knit n Stitch show was great this year, Kate and Mike from Create with Kate are lovely and there were lots of people I knew wandering round. There was fabric, fabric, more fabric, ribbon, buttons, paper, beads..... so much temptation!!

here is a little snippet of the papers for Sunday.... A bit Christmasy, but not really, I love them!!