Birdy takes flight!

FQ Name tag ready to fly to a new home !


Well everyone wanted to give the bird legs and who am I to resist overwhelming popular opinion!??


I had though of creating some beaded legs on wire but thought they might catch on clothing so then I thought of legs that could be detached - at that point I thought Nicky you are going too far!  The bird will just have to stay legless.


After all your excitement about legs I thought about them again!  And with some helpful suggestions from the lovely Helen I realised they didn't need to be made of wire!  


So here is the birdy with cotton legs as suggested by Helen and a bit of wing stitching as requested by Katy!


Now I said I was going to bling things up with a beaded lanyard.


Well my partner has two options


Daytime with matching fabric lanyard

And Evening with beaded number

Now just to keep it all tidy I thought a pouch was in order and here it is... 


Quirky birdy side up....

The whole package...

Twitter birdy side

Close up of twitter birds... and what could be hiding under those gorgeous buttons?  I wonder!  Or should I say who?

Well until she gets it I couldn't possibly comment....!  But you can guess if you like....

Pure Happiness in a pouch!

Did I get a pleasant surprise in the post this morning!?  Nodding and grinning!


I got a brown paper package tied up with string parcel tape which contained one of my new favourite things.....have a look for yourself!




Helen (aka Archie) thinks my sense of humour is the reason for the sock monkey and I am wondering whether the lovely Tanya @ Secondchance really knows me too well!?   After all she has been stalking me in a good way and made this gorgeous, spacious pouch for me...

Love the cute bit of stitching and the fussy cutting!

You can just see Saffy trying to get in on the photo!

I love the tree and the flowers and grass surrounding it so where better to take a photo of my lovely pouch than in a tree!?  You can just see the zip pull adorned with some lovely beads - another passion of mine!




Thank you so much Tanya and I am sorry if I stressed you out on your first swap but please know that you have indeed given me pure happiness pure love - well like the advert it says so on the tin pouch!






Tanya likes to recycle fabric - something I am in favour of too especially as my youngest has grown out of some pretty cotton Boden clothes!   They have done  well to last through one, sometimes two daughters and may need a new life!  So Tanya's children's clothes are in this pouch - how special is that - certainly something to be treasured and I will!






Now don't let the mamas know but Tanya also sent a bit of contraband along with some lovely scraps (including a lovely piece of Liberty) but like the dork I am I forgot to take a photo outside so this one was taken with the lights on...my contraband is the cute pincushion ring!

Shhh! Now don't tell Cindy, Hadley and Susan!  But do let Tanya know what a great job she has done!  

The alternative!

I have been focused and have been working on my alternative for the Modern Christmas tablerunner.  I have sewn the trees together, put the borders on and even started quilting.


It now looks like this....

I have just machine stitched around the trees and inner border so far...still lots to do before I can relax and wait by my postbox....!








What arrived in my postbox today?  A package I was quite excited about!  But it was neither a Brit Quilt Pillow Fight Cushion nor a Tablerunner.  




I have been buying this magazine when I see it in the shops....

It is quite fun and I have quite enjoyed looking at it!  In this issue I noticed a subscription offer that tempted me just a bit more than usual and so I succumbed and became a subscriber and today I received this... 

Fabric from The Makery in Bath!  Quite an assortment of colour, pattern and weight.  Just the sort of temptation I couldn't resist!

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

I am in two swaps at the moment and have come to a stop on the main event items so on the lovely Sarah's advice way up in darkest Shetland I have started on the extra items.


Here is an extra for the Brit Quilt pillow fight - a pine tree pincushion!  


One side is string pieced similarly to the pillow/cushion using the same fabrics - this is a really subtle colour scheme for me!  Who knew I could do that??

The other side has a bit of embroidery on it - inspired by this picture on Flickr
by Jesse Truong!     Just check out her lovely makes on Flickr!

The background is Kona Ash with green perle stars all over it !  That was fun.


And I have added a brown felt tree trunk just to help identify what it is...






My other swap extra is a prototype as it is not quite right but I hope to make a better one for Susan's tablerunner swap.  Inspiration came from Lottakind !  She also makes some lovely things and seems to be a big fan of Maileg!  Who isn't!

This one is a bit skew-wiff (if that really is a word) and his hat is not quite tall enough.  


I gave him legs and a few more facial features than the original and I think thinner braid would look better but he likes his smart DS jacket though his trousers do look like pj bottoms - don't you think!? 


 Have to say I find his lack of arms a bit disturbing....


Hope you like these makes and enjoy visiting some Flickr photostreams if you have the time!  Must say I like to fiddle about with little bits of this and that and now I am swapping I have the excuse..




BTW has anyone seen this book IRL?  What did you think?  Is this taking swapping too far?

Available on amazon here!




Hope you get some fabulous sewing done today and if you do - tell me about it!

Coming home to wonderful post!

We went, we saw and I was conquered - oh how my feet hurt - all that walking around Rome!

But I came back to this.... 

Me thinks these delightful cranes are a bit of a trademark of the lovely and extremely generous Elisa!  The crane alone is lovely - complete with hanging ring and little beads ....


but here's some delicious chocolate - mostly gone already ....oops! And some postcards of Elisa's favourite paintings - love that you shared your favourites with me - that feels very special....pity we don't own them but postcards are not bad substitutes!

 Then there are these gorgeous fabrics - so many,  so much more than a fat quarter....drool....

Love the birds, the Japanese, the orange, the dots, the flowers - that is to say all of it really!



And this dotty packaged item...

Which contained this beautiful covered journal...had my eye on this from the start...

Thanks just doesn't seem enough Elisa!


So how about thank you very, very much - I love every little bit and how clever of you to notice I love birds, and green and orange and art and chocolate and cranes! 


I am one footsore but extremely happy person!


And thanks to Kat for her concept and her organisation!  We happy swappers certainly owe her a big round of applause!  Yeah!

Are they bananas?

Well I now have two swaps to concentrate on - the fabulous Christmas tablerunner swap and the Brit Quilt Pillow Fight (AKA Cushion Combat)!


My ideas are forming and it looks like it will be Christmas for all!

My table runner partner hasn't asked for FMQ but I was wondering if I should do something a bit like this....

But in red or aqua thread on white, or white thread on aqua....with bigger houses and trees....or am I getting too ambitious with newly found FMQ skills???


Or it could be something like this?

Which is based on the designs in this book....

I have asked my partner in the Flickr group so I'll have to wait and see if she answers - or has she....?


For the cushion I am tempted by a ruby red or white or linen background with appliqued Mistletoe in green and white buttons for berries - more of a looker than a comfort cushion I must admit, though it could always be turned over to the back - must make sure the back looks pretty too!

This is something like a design that is made by a company that she likes but I am not sure whether it is the type of design she would actually go for.  Nor am I convinced that it is good enough!  Certainly not after the banana comments I got in the Flickr group.  Thanks Laura you made me chuckle!


May have to think again!