Hi everyone I'm back from my trip to Australia. I had a lovely time with my family and friends and am ready to get back into work. It's fairly hot here in Italy. Thank heavens my hubbie put in some air con so I can happily stay in and create away! Woohoo!
The first order of business is to update you on my progress (or non) with remaking our Homespun Block of the month. I have skipped Blocks 2,3 and 4, and jumped right into Block 5 so at least I can work along with everybody. Hopefully I can slowly catch up on the others.
At the moment I am working on the embroideries which I hope to finish in the next few days.
As I go I've been making videos on my You tube channel. So if you're interested in seeing how I approach these embroideries pop over and have a look. If you subscribe there and hit the bell button as well you'll automatically be notified when a new video is up. There are several videos, here's one or two examples:
Part 3
Part 4
If you are working on this project, leave a comment and let me know how it's coming along. Of course feel free to ask any questions!
Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a great day, best wishes Rachel
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Hi everyone I'm back after a long absence! I've taken the plunge and started my You Tube channel! It's been a huge thing for me being a shy person but I've done it and am quite enjoying it. It's a great way to share new products and journals but also a great way to help with some of my patterns. In fact I'm going to use the channel to show how I do certain things to support my patterns. So far there are 14 short videos showing journals, shopping hauls and already a little applique video.
In this video I show how I approach the applique in our Homespun Block of the month, 'My Butterfly Patch'. Next week I'll be finishing off the butterfly and moving onto Month 2. Yes I am behind! Where I can I will also post videos in Italian (even though I'm totally embarassed!)
Lately I've been journal making and shared these gorgeous journals on You Tube in 2 parts.
Today I'm super excited to be able to reveal the large project I worked on with my sister Sarah last year.
A little more than a year ago Homespun Magazine asked us if we would like to design a quilt for their 2018 Block of the month program. We were both thrilled and honoured to be asked to do such an important project as there have been some seriously talented and famous designer before us!
We got to work immediately! Fortunately I was visiting home for Christmas so we put together our design, divided the work so we were ready when the fabric arrived.
We were so lucky to work with the new Tilda Lemontree collection. It's just gorgeous, if you haven't seen it yet check it out at your nearest supplier.
The first issue is out on newstands this month with the first block. I haven't received mine yet but will definitely post some photos when it arrives.
The quilt includes a variety of tecniques, from needle turn applique, embroidery and traditional patchwork piecing.
I'm definitely considering following the monthly program and remaking the quilt. Call me crazy but I think I'll do it!!!
We hope those who decide to make this gorgeous quilt enjoy it. We would love to see your photos and know how it's going. You can tag us on Instagram @roxycreationsbyrachel and @roxycreationsbysarah . We would love to hear from you!
If you don't live in Australia, there are many stockists of Homespun in Europe and the US. Another alternative is to buy the magazine in digital form. Just pop over to Homespun's website here for all the links.
Do you want to stay in the loop? If so sign uphere to receive discounts, first dibs on new products and sales, freebies and tutorials.
Homespun Magazine , Christmas in July 2017, get yours now from
newsstands or digitally through Zinio , Google Play or the Apple
newsstand.
I have been bursting to receive this issue all year!
It's jam packed with fabulous, inspiring projects, interesting articles and helpful hints!
My super talented sister, Sarah, and I have a new project in the magazine.
It's always such an honour to be asked to create a new design for such
an amazing publication.
Certainly in the magazine there are some wonderfully talented creative
people like Natalie Bird (whom we so admire so much !) , so sometimes we
feel like little fish in an ocean of amazing creatives. Every so often
we give ourselves a pinch to make sure we're not dreaming!
Finally when we come to the realisation that it's real it's time to
start brainstorming and designing together. This is not such an easy
feat as very large oceans and thousands of kilometres separate us, I am
in Italy and Sas is in Sydney!
Thank heavens for technology and the Internet otherwise we would have
phone bills a mile long!! Whats App and Skype are our main go to-s when
designing a project together. First we chat on Skype and throw around
ideas. We don't always agree, as sisters do, but always manage to find a
compromise we're both happy with. Fortunately for us we tend to like
similar things so it's not too hard to find common ground!
The next phase is a vague sketch! Yes if I draw it it's very vague
indeed. I tend to create as I go with a very vague plan. If Sarah
sketches our ideas she always has a much clearer vision and produces a
very detailed drawing. This drawing passes to the WhatsApp phase which
is fabulously instant! We message backwards and forwards with any
observations and concerns until we are happy with the design.
When the final design has been decided we divide our jobs and off we go!!
All of this happens months before the magazine is due to be released so you can imagine our anticipation for its arrival.
The biggest thrill is seeing the professional photo shoot of our
project. I thought nothing could beat that until I saw our project on
the cover!!! Icing on the cake!
We hope you enjoy this issue of Homespun Magazine, filled to the brim with inspiration and projects to make.
Let us know if you make our table runner. We would love to see your
photographs and know your thoughts about it. One of the most exciting
things when you write a pattern is to see how people interpret it and
use colour!
Just post it on instagram using #homespunmagazinejuly2017
Thanks for joining us! Rachel
Wow I didn't realise I hadn't posted anything for such a long time. Happy New Year to all! Even thought it's a little late! My first exciting news is Homespun magazine has set up a new website called 'Cosy Project' (site here). You can buy individual patterns from past issues of the magazine without having to hunt down old issues. Just fabulous! Many of the projects we've done for Homespun in the past are available on the website too! You can buy my growth chart pattern here :
So sweet and not too hard to make, a gorgeous keepsake for your kids or grandchildren. How gorgeous is the cushion by Linda Guy, purchase here :
Rachel and I were extremely excited to receive the July 2015 issue of Homespun magazine. We knew that we had another project in the issue but had no idea that we would be on the cover..... so exciting!!!
How cute is the cover??? Homespun always do such a great job. Our challenge was to make Christmas chair covers that looked like presents. We made two each plus four gift tags. Three of the tags are on the cover.
We think the project looked good in the end. It was a bit of a challenge thinking of how to make the bows look good and still make the project, easy enough to follow. The magazine came out this week in Australia and also comes as a digital copy from Zinio.
