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.

Comments

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....

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 ...

HOW TO MAKE: a petal gift bag

These petal gift bags are ridiculously quick to make and really pretty. I can't claim the idea's orginally mine - see Instragram for the source - but here's how I made them. The first bag was the one at the top of this photo, so choosing fabric was trial and error. I went for two prints, though the second bag - with the peppermint green material - shows you're better off choosing a plain and a patterned. Anyway, here goes with my first attempt, I picked green floral for my background and pink flowers for the petals. These cotton squares are 7 inches. Put the squares right sides together, sew all around 'em but leaving a gap of an inch or so unstitched. (I used a sewing machine, but hand-sew if you'd rather.) Trim a notch off each corner, turn rights sides out, poke out the corners and sew the gap closed. You might want to give it a press with the iron too. With the fabric you've picked for the petals fa...

rubykittyruby

Search This Blog