The benefit of a light, bright early morning

Spring days start early.  The sun rises and the dawn chorus breaks into song, and I unearth myself from underneath the duvet.  My Sunday's been productive so far, and I'm typing this at about a quarter to eight in the morning.  Laundry's already washed and pegged out on the line, and I'm already washed and full of porridge.  I thought I'd begin with a round-up of what crafty things I've been up to.  First of all, this piece of slow stitching.  I'd a grand idea about making a frame for it, covering sturdy cardboard with papier mache and white paint, then gluing on sea shells.  Only I've had a change of heart.  I've got so many works-in-progress that I need to get things finished before they get totally out of hand.  So I added a backing fabric to this stitched piece, and used embroidery thread to blanket stitch around the edges. 

All it needs now is a couple of loops sewn on to hang it by.  Plus, maybe a few weighty beads added to the base so it doesn't flap around if there's a breeze wafting through the room where it's displayed.  I also started and finished yesterday evening a bird from Corinne Lapierre's 'Folk Embroidered Felt Birds' book.  It's the first I've made from the book, and is an easy one to begin with.  You need only small amounts of felt in four colours.  I didn't have exactly the shades described in the book, but I improvised.  

The templates for the birds are printed in the book, and you can either photocopy or trace them.  The instructions are simple to follow, and clearly explained.  I varied my owl a little, using dark brown felt circles for eyes instead of large french knots, and my embroidery on the wings isn't as detailed as Corinne's.  But I'm happy with how he's turned out.  

I've used a loop of narrow yellow ribbon to hang him from, and he's lightly padded with fabric scraps.  

I believe the collective noun for these beautiful birds are a parliament of owls, so I may need to make a few more members of parliament.  

The next photo covers two topics in one.  

I made a mini rice bag.  Here's its bottom!  I love this method of constructing bags, and it's lying on my smaller cutting mat.  It's the mat that's distorted, and which I mentioned the other day as I was intending to try and get it back into shape.  Well, I had a go and it's definitely better than it was.  Not entirely flat, but getting there.  I poured boiling water over the mat, then dried it and laid it on the kitchen counter top, adding a trio of heavy books on top.  The heat and weight helped, but I need to have a second go, maybe leaving the mat in hot water for longer, to make it even more pliable before I weigh it down.  Back to the mini rice bag.  

The outer sides and base were all well stitched into, which I liked but I didn't take that into account enough when I made the lining.  Because the extensive stitching meant the sides shrank a little, but I'd cut the lining the same size as the sides originally were.  So my lining was a tad too big, but it's fine, I'm not a perfectionist.  'Better done than perfect' as the motto goes.  

I might change the decorative string that acts as a fastening, but otherwise it's complete.

That's all from me for now.  Hope you enjoy the rest of your day, I'm off to make another felt bird.  Well, why not!  Bye.