Scrappy patchwork on a cold but beautifully sunny day

It's been a glorious autumn day. Chilly to wake up to, then the sun came out & shone brightly, so it was off to the allotment where the earth's softened up after recent rainfall. I was able to weed and tidy, trying to make the plot look respectable before the cold weather sets in and we slide inevitably into winter. At home I fitted in some sewing. The patchwork bug's bitten me again, after having a break and spending time lately with gell printing. I've been gathering up lots of tiny scraps and joining them together, going for a haphazard look. Nothing matchy-matchy or colour coordinated. There's something very satisfying about finding a use for the smallest strips or triangles of cotton, little pieces that might otherwise be destined to end up as cushion filling.

Speaking of gell printing, I've been using prints to turn into seed packets for flower seeds gathered from my garden. Hollyhocks, scabious, catananche. No calendula as hardly any of those flowered this year despite having masses of them last summer.

I'm thinking of taking a stack of these filled seed packets to my local library and asking if it's okay to leave them on a side table with a note saying 'help yourself'. Anything to encourage people to grow flowers and provide more desperately needed food sources for our under-threat pollinators.

I've been sewing more tags to go into the fabric book I'm making at my Saturday class, the second of which is being held tomorrow afternoon. This pair are decorated with motifs from a piece of shiny braid, and I thought they fitted in with my 'Winter Jewels' theme. I've also dug out a few of the boho style beads I made a while back, and can maybe add those to my fabric book, perhaps as part of the closure.

As you can see, I'm not exactly going for an understated minimalist look! Hope your week's going well, and thanks for stopping by my blog.

P.S. Just finished Richard Osman's latest Thursday Murder Club novel, 'The last one to die'. Brilliant storytelling. Highly recommended if you're a fan of the 'cosy crime' genre, and so refreshing to have older characters featured positively in novels.

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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

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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

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

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