Spring has Sprung!

The first blossoms peeking out on this (apple?) tree in my garden, bringing with them feelings of hope, inspiration and anticipation. Spring is very welcome! I love the feeling of a new season beginning.

Doing the dishes is not at all unpleasant when this is on my windowsill!

Isla likes the Blossom Tree as well! This was the first time she ever climbed a tree (I cannot remember when last I was so terrified) They grow up quickly, don't they?

Stripey Quilt

I love this. It's a quilt with a matching bag. My Mum made it in 2005 while I was pregnant with my first child. As it turned out, she was a girl! So I put this away for my next baby. My son, Kyan James, was born 12 weeks ago, and I think it looks great in his room. The matching bag is such a nice touch.

The quilt is simple, just strips or oblongs of fabric, of varying lengths. The effect is lovely. Mum lined it using fabric from the linen that I had on my cot as a baby, so it is very special.

Incidentally, the cot was also mine! It has served my family well.

Wise Owls

My daughter went through a phase of pointing owls out in books whenever she saw them and loudly saying "Tuwoooo! Tuwoooo!" It inspired me to make some out of vintage fabric, with felt and button eyes. This one is my favourite, so much so that I couldn't sell him, and he now belongs to my son.

Later, I was commissioned to make this family of owls in pinks and greens. I adore birds.

An Inspiring Parcel

Oh joyous rapture! My fabrics have arrived! I needed a little shot of inspiration, so I treated myself to some wonderful pieces of Kaffe Fasset fabric, which arrived in today's post.
When I was a little girl, my Mother used to knit the most beautiful cardigans and jumpers, and make the most wonderful needlepoint cushions and quilted bedspreads using Kaffe Fasset patterns. She had a couple of his books and I used to pore over the pictures, drinking in the colours and details. His work continues to inspire me to this day.
I'm not sure yet what I will do with the fabrics. To be honest, they look lovely just sitting on top of my sewing box, and make me smile every time I walk past it!

Love Birds

My latest design is these Love Birds-named for their heart shaped wings. I enjoy making them because they give me the opportunity to use up scraps of fabric, and are a short term project-ideal at the moment as I am so busy with my new baby!

Initially I made them as single birds, and played around with giving them really long legs made of felt, different shaped beaks, and beaded wings. I love to change a design and develop it until I am satisfied (rare occurrence, but a pleasant journey!). I have decided to thread them on a string, with a bell at the end. They make such a sweet little gift, I will add some to my Felt Shop in the next few days.

A Special Heirloom

I wanted to share this beautiful embroidery, given to me recently by my Mother-in-Law. It is a tray cover and set of four doilies, stitched by my Grandmother-in-Law. To me, things like this are precious because they come from the hand of a family member, and have the rare quality of being irreplaceable. I have put two of the doilies on my dressing table and two on my Islas'. I hope that in time she will treasure them the same way that I do.

I am so inspired by this type of handcrafted item, and have read from cover to cover Thrift to Fantasy by Rosemary Mcleod. Ms Mcleod is a woman after my own heart, paying homage to the handcrafts of the 1930s-50s and acknowledging them as the art form they are.

So many times I have been in an op shop or at a garage sale and seen pieces of exquisite embroidery cheaply priced and crumpled in a dusty corner at the back. I pick these things up and often marvel at the work and skill that has gone into them. I try to rescue them all! However, one does not have much need for a tray cloth these days, and these items are often damaged/stained with age. this is why the work of tiny happy also inspires me so much. by taking these items and upcycling them into practical things that put their beauty on display instead of at the back of a dark cupboard... another woman after my own heart!

Castles

These castles were commissioned by a friend who wanted one for each of her three beautiful daughters. They are basically a cylinder, formed from cotton fabric, with a felt circle for the base. I added a felt door and windows, fabric flowers growing up the side, and a coordinating fabric roof. I love to "build" things from fabric and fibres. I see it as a form of sculpture...The castles are filled with pearl barley, which smells great and gives them a lovely weight, helping them to stand up. Unfortunately, I spilled the pearl barley ALL over the floor, and, three days later, I keep finding bits of it. To make matters worse, that day my daughter helped me to make dinner and she spilt couscous all over the floor! My poor husband returned home and laughed at us when he realised what the crunchy substances under his shoes were!