Bespoke Visitors Books

Over the last year the demand for bespoke visitors books has increased and I've been able to embroider some gorgeous properties.  I really enjoy the challenge of trying to capture the character of a building in fabric and give the customer a visitors book that will enhance their holiday home, bed and breakfast or hotel.

I thought I'd share a bit about the process behind the visitors books with you.

I start with as many photographs of the property as possible, preferably from different angles.  From these I produce a rough sketch adding in or taking away details that the customer has requested.  In the example below, the car was removed to show the log store behind it.

The finished sketch is then sent to the customer for approval before I begin sewing.  This is useful as it ensures both that the customer is happy with the design and also that they confirm the wording is correct.

The cover is then made up with linen as the background fabric with the design added in a range of cottons.  The design is defined and enhanced with free motion embroidery before being made up into the cover and finished off with a bit of top stitching.

So if you or someone you know has a cottage, b&b or small hotel, why not order a bespoke cover that will enhance your guests' stay.

Embroidery Picture - Crail Village, East Neuk of Fife

A couple of weeks ago I finished another landscape.  This time the subject was one of the loveliest villages in Scotland - Crail in the East Neuk of Fife.

This historic fishing village is on the Fife Coastal path and hosts a wonderful food festival every summer.  

If you had to name the most picturesque place in Britain, where would it be?  Maybe your favourite will become my next project.

Summer has arrived (hopefully)

Where has the first half of the year gone? I can't believe it's July already.  At least summer seems to have finally arrived though.  I just hope that we get good weather for the school holidays.

We live on the north east coast of England and our town's main beach, Sandhaven, was recently awarded with a Blue Flag award.  As we live here, I don't think we always appreciate how scenic our area is.    

Although, at times, the sky looked a bit ominous, the sea was almost totally calm.  

There are a number of artists and photographers who have produced some great pieces based on this beach and its surrounding area.  

One of my first landscapes was based on a scene from Sandhaven's neighbouring beach, Littlehaven and shows a view across the River Tyne with the Groyne Lighthouse in the foreground.  This little lighthouse was built in 1882 and is situated at the end of a small pier that was built to prevent sand from Littlehaven Beach being swept into the river by the incoming tide.

This design is available on greetings cards in my Etsy shop. 

Keep everything crossed that the good weather continues throughout the school holidays.  x

Embroidered Tea Cosy - St Ives House, Cornwall

A couple of weeks ago I received a commission from Julia, the owner of one of the most beautiful holiday cottages I've seen in a very long time.

St Ives House has a spectacular harbour front position in the heart of, you've guessed it, St Ives in Cornwall. It is a boutique art house with an impressive contemporary art collection which showcases the town's local heritage.

I was extremely happy to accept Julia's request for a tea cosy to complement the decor in this stunning property. 

With her colour palette of orange, grey and teal, we came up with a design that incorporated not only the magnificent views from the house but also the signature porthole which can be seen on the front door and is the official logo for the property.

You may be able to see that the tea cosy has a 'turn up' at the bottom.  This is to allow it to fit not only a large tea pot, but also a cafetiere when it is turned down.

I would heartily recommend that you have a look at this gorgeous house if you are considering a trip to Cornwall.  From the customer's point of view, there is a lovely article on Little Green Shed Blog about the blogger's family holiday at St Ives House in May 2015.

If you are interested in having a bespoke item designed especially for you, contact me at sue@rubypatch.co.uk   

Book Review: Applique Art by Abigail Mill

Here's another of my favourite sewing books: Applique Art by Abigail Mill.  I have admired Abigail's work for a while so, when I found out she was writing a book, I pre-ordered it.  When it arrived, I was not disappointed  

It is a really beautiful book with gorgeous photographs and gives an insight into how Abigail uses colour, texture, pattern and stitching to create her unique style.  

It also features step by step instructions on how to create 5 of Abigail's lovely artworks:

• Shop Fronts
• Teatime Treats
• Country Gardens
• Animals
• Seaside

I really enjoyed reading the section on how Abigail over-dyes fabrics, something I have never tried - yet. 

I would definitely recommend this book for both beginners and also more experienced Applique-ists.  Even if it has nothing to teach you, it is still a charming book to read.
 

Coffee Pot Wraps vs Cosies

It's time to deal with that old argument of Coffee pot wraps versus cosies :) . Should your weekend morning coffee be wrapped snugly in the embrace of a well fitted body warmer........

.......... or blanketed from top to bottom in an all encompassing cosy?

Personally, I drink instant Alta Rica in a morning but if I was brewing a big pot of 'Joe' that I wanted to last a good while, I'd go for the cosy.

Catch Up

Once again, it's been a while since I last posted to this blog.  The last few months have been lovely and busy for me and I have had some great orders.  

My recipe notebooks are really popular at the minute but I have to admit, I am itching to develop some new designs.  Although I love making my standard designs, it does tend to get a bit tedious when I have to make a lot of the same thing in a short space of time.  I do try to put a little variation in each so that each customer gets a truly individual piece but I need to start doing something different.

Today I have a day off from my day job so, after my orders are complete, I think I'll start thinking about new designs and will hopefully have something to show you soon. 

Applique Flower Cushion in Blues

Today I decided to make something for myself.  It's been a while since I had the time (or energy) to just make something for fun.  So I thought I'd make a cushion.  Here's the cushion pad, not really what you need to see but better for the big reveal photo at the end of the finished cushion !!

I thought I'd share with you the thought process that goes into designing and making a Ruby Patch cushion.  The first step for this particular project was my new fabric from Ikea.

Their fabric sells at such good prices it is a shame not to buy some when you visit.  They tend to specialise in bold, colourful prints which are great for adding interest to the back of my cushions.  Today I chose the left fabric which is a botanical print in a very dark navy blue.

So now I had the back of the cushion sorted, I wanted to choose a design for the front that complemented it.  As a fully qualified list maker, I always find that my ideas work better if I write them down.  This was the result.

Birds and butterflies were my initial idea but they were swiftly replaced by flowers.  I don't usually do flowers so it was a nice change.  Before finalising the design I got the fabrics out to decide which ones to use.

Although the yellows really appealed, I decided to go with blues and stay monochrome.  The flowers were cut out of different blue cottons (including some denim from an old pair of jeans) and attached using bondaweb.  The design was then outlined and highlighted using free motion embroidery and here is the result.

Job done. x

Embroidered Portrait - Edinburgh Castle

Last month I completed a small portrait of Edinburgh Castle.  I am determined that I will start to produce portraits of my favourite buildings and landmarks whether they have been commissioned or not.  I think that there is a market for greetings cards and prints for this kind of portrait and will be investigating ways to get my artwork to develop away from just originals which are both time consuming and expensive.  

If I can supplement each piece with additional sales of other products I will be a happy bunny.

Here's the Edinburgh Castle pic.

If you are interested in commissioning a picture, you can contact me at sue@rubypatch.co.uk .

Alternatively, I'd love some suggestions of what you think would be good future portraits.  Please comment on this blog with any suggestions.

x

Personalised Wedding Notebooks - Commissions for Jayne

I was recently commissioned to make two wedding notebooks for two couples who are getting married abroad this year.  One wedding was to be in Cyprus and one in Crete.

The lady who commissioned them, Jayne, is attending both and wanted to give the couples a reminder, not just of their weddings, but also of the enormous amount of planning and organisation that goes into that happy day.

My wedding notebook standard design features bride and groom outfits on the front with personalised details of the wedding eg names and dates.

 The back is a design personal to the couple.  Jayne asked for maps of the islands on which the weddings will take place..

If you are looking for an engagement present with a difference, contact me at sue@rubypatch.co.uk to commission your personalised wedding notebook.

VW Beetle Ipad Mini Cosy with Personalised Design

Recently I had a message on my Etsy shop from a lady in Columbus, Ohio who is beetle mad.  Not the creepy crawly kind of beetles but the VW car type.  She asked if I could customise my normal VW Beetle Ipad mini cosy design to make it look like her car, Sunshine.

This is my standard design case.  

Sunshine the VW Beetle is bright yellow with a smiley face on the front and daisies scattered all over the body work.

As my design is a front view, there was nowhere for me to feature the daisies that are all over the sides of the car.  To make sure the case featured these, I covered the plain brown linen background fabric with little daisies and lined the case with a daisy design fabric too.

It was lovely to be able to customise my design.  If you are interested in ordering a bespoke Ipad mini or Kindle cosy, contact me at sue@rubypatch.co.uk  

Embroidered Portrait - Dalkeith House, Newcastleton

Last week I posted a blog on the commission I completed for the owner of The Yethouse in Newcastleton.  

I also completed a smaller picture of Barbara's other holiday property, Dalkeith House.  This is a much bigger house, licensed for wedding ceremonies and is situated right in the middle of the village. 

Here's my interpretation from a slightly different angle (and without the car in front)

And here's the final framed picture

If you would like to commission a portrait of a building, landmark or favourite scene, contact me at sue@rubypatch.co.uk .  They are perfect as a housewarming or birthday gift and are also popular for weddings or christenings, creating a family heirloom of the future.  

Commissioned pictures can be personalised to show the name of the building or special names and dates.

  

Embroidered Portrait - The Yethouse, Newcastleton

Last summer we went on holiday to the Scottish Borders and stayed in a gorgeous farmhouse called The Yethouse.  Owned by a lovely lady called Barbara who lives next door it had the best standard of accommodation and furnishings we have experienced in a long, long time.  

Remotely set but within walking distance of the village, the house is right next to the Seven Stanes mountain bike trails and also a Rock UK centre offering a wide range of outdoor activities for all members of the family.


On returning from our lovely holiday, I completed a commissioned picture of the photo above and this was the result:

Barbara's was delighted with the picture and it is now hanging in the Yethouse for visitors to see.

If you are interested in commissioning a portrait of your home, favourite building or landmark, please contact me at sue@rubypatch.co.uk .

Embroidered Notebooks - Lots of stuff posted very late!

Once again I have been guilty of neglecting my blog.  

No excuses, straight onto news!

In the last few months I have been changing my products, introducing new ones and removing some old ones.  Over the last year it has become obvious that my most popular ranges are the notebooks and framed pictures.

I have therefore been concentrating on these and phasing out some of the less popular (and smaller) items.  

Here's a little collage of my most recent notebooks.  I'll post more about them and in more detail later.

Many of my notebook designs are bespoke.  They allow me to product new original designs and this keeps me interested and also gives me the patience to produce my standard lines (gardening, recipes, sewing and travel) without getting too bored!

You can find my notebooks and artwork for sale via my Etsy shop , my website or on Make the Most of. 

Alternatively, if you would like to discuss a bespoke design or would just like to order direct, please email me at sue@rubypatch.co.uk  

New Textile Art Pictures - Tobermory and Saltburn Pier

Since my last post, I have been concentrating on producing embroidered landscapes.  After a holiday in the Lakes and Scotland, I was inspired by the fantastic scenery and my first picture, on my return, was the harbour at Tobermory on the Isle of Mull.  For those with kids, you will recognise it as Balamory!

This one was fun to do but the windows took ages.  I thought the reflections worked well and will use this again.

After Tobermory I received a commission to do a view of Saltburn pier, Huntscliff and the funicular railway.

This was to remind the customer of happy days in childhood so the responsibility was huge.  

I have so many ideas for other scenes and I'm really looking forward to creating more.

Additional Notebook Designs

I thought it was about time I posted an update on what I've been getting up to lately.  After developing the range of notebooks I have posted about previously, I have been asked for a number of custom designs too.

At a craft fair recently, a lady asked me if I would design an A6 notebook cover so that she could record her grandson Tiaan's speech development.  As she provides child care for him, his parents were keen for her to keep a record of the new words and phrases he learned in their absence.  I thought this was a lovely idea and would make a great keepsake.  Here's the finished item.

I have also designed some customised A5 notebook covers for teacher's gifts.  My niece is leaving middle school this summer and wanted special gifts for her two teachers.  I was pleased with the results but they were completely unique to the individual and therefore some of the motifs will not make sense to people that don't know them.

Who knows what notebooks designs will be next.....  Well it is possible that one might be entitled 'Soapy Notes'.  My friend Deborah, who owns Peculiar People soap and beauty products wants a notebook to reflect the soap making process.  That will definitely be a challenge!

Journals

My new range of journals and notebooks is now half complete.  I have designed and made four of them so far and I am really pleased with them.  There will be another four to complete the range but they are still 'in development'.

Although I have made notebook covers before,  they had covers that were based on a very simple applique design.  This time I approached it differently.  The cover designs the purpose of the notebook/journal.

The first is a recipe notebook.  It features a kitchen scene with a cupboard and an aga.






The second design is my favourite as it is a sewing  notebook based on my own workstation.  My sewing machine isn't actually flowery but other than that, the design is quite faithful to the original!




The third design is a travel journal.  It is quite a feminine design with a sun hat on a deckchair next to a cool drink on a little table.  One of the designs I will be working on soon will be a more masculine travel journal.




And the final design so far is a gardening notebook.  I wasn't sure of this design at first but it has really grown on me and is now possibly my favourite so far.




The notebook covers are all A5 size and I supply them with a hardback lined notebook.  They are for sale on the Make the Most of website and in my Etsy shop www.etsy.com/uk/shop/rubypatch