Flowers, a tortoise and a hare!

Okay, before I explain the above image, I'll witter on for a while about what I've been up to. Yesterday was a beautiful spring day, so I headed to the allotment. The wallflowers and spring bulbs are blooming, and the plum tree has plenty of blossom on it. Last year a late frost meant sudden death for the blossom and consequently not a single plum to be harvested. Fingers crossed this year will be better.

I took a couple of photos of the quilt I mentioned yesterday, the grid pattern improv quilt that's still awaiting its binding.

On to today, I had a walk into town to buy groceries, and decided I'd nip into a couple of charity shops too. Now, this is where the image of the Brian Wildsmith book comes in. I absolutely love the illustrations. They're so vibrant, and cry out to be interpreted in fabric, wool or embroidery. Ages ago I'd had a try at capturing the hare in a small piece of needlepoint.

I stitched it, thinking vaguely it might end up being a pin cushion, but it eventually got incorporated as part of a large needlepoint floor cushion. Anyway, I decided to try making something in patchwork that was based on another page of the book. This one with a mainly bright red background. I'd already got some reds and pinks, but could do with some more. Hence the intention to rummage around in charity shops.

Hmmm ... I came back with a cream coloured fleecey blanket, two paperbacks and two bags of mainly blue fabric scraps. Oh well ...

This is the image I want to - not exactly recreate - but do my version of, however abstract that eventually becomes.

I started playing about with the material I already have, including a vivid red Monsoon skirt I'd never worn so it ended up being cut up for my fabric stash. It featured a lovely embroidery of flowers and leaves. I've made good progress today, so will carry on tomorrow, and see where this latest quilting adventure takes me.

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How to make these decorative birds

I suggested yesterday that I'd run through how to make a fabric bird wall or window hanging (can't think of a snappier title for it than that!) so here goes. I'll start with the first decorative hanging I made. It's something you could make in any colour combination you want, and would look good hanging at a window with translucent beads that'd catch the light I used five birds for this, but you could make it longer if you prefer. (Incidentally, if you're wondering about what's hanging off the bottom on this, it's a metal Christmas decoration, shaped like a lantern. For some reason I thought it looked appropriate to leave it there, looped over the end.) WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO GATHER TOGETHER: Assorted scraps of fabric for the front of the birds - aim for a mix of colours and textures. Silk looks good, as does anything with embroidery or intricate patterns. You might aim for a hippy-ish boho look, or maybe you're more the minimal Scandi

Paper flowers, leaves, feathers ...

I had a few requests after posting this photo on Facebook, people asking if I could explain how I made these paper flowers. Your wish is my command, and here's the info. It's all very simple and you don't need any advanced drawing skills. So grab a stack of gell prints, a pair of scissors and off we go! The type of print that seems to work best is one where there's a fair amount of detail, rather than a block of solid plain colour. Prints where you've maybe channelled your inner Elizabeth St. Hilaire and 'layered layered layered' as she's always urging us to do. POPPIES If we start with simple poppy seed heads and stalks, they're cut freehand from paper that's mainly shades of orange and brown. I glued those on to a sheet of white copier paper, then cut them out, leaving a narrow border around each. Backing the gell print with the white paper adds that contrasting border, but also strengthens the piece, especially the thin stalks. I

Sari scraps, PVA, a couple of books and a necklace

I'm typing this as snow's falling, and has been steadily all day. It's not settling to any great extent, though I bet by tomorrow morning the paths will be slippery with ice. Which always makes me paranoid about falling over and at the very least looking undignified, but at worst breaking a bone or twisting an ankle. Oh well, it's ideal weather to stay inside and craft, isn't it? I finally got around to listing packs of sari scraps on Etsy this morning. I only made up six bundles as I've no clue whether they'll sell or if I've set a reasonable enough price point. Time will tell. This is a link to the listing, if you're interested. This vaguely pink fabric isn't from one of my Etsy packs. It's from a bit of experimenting I was doing yesterday. I'd seen a post on Instagram showing how a DIY version of batik could be done without using hot wax. The Instagrammer used PVA instead, and I wanted to try this out. The glue's su

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