Tuesday 14 May 2013

Needles and Pins on Little Bird Wings



I have made a little bird pincushion! She is for  Le Challenge, a monthly crafty challenge which is organised by Lucy and Nat, and this month's theme is "Wings".
I knew as soon as I read the challenge theme that I wanted to make a bird pincushion, partly I suppose, because I have a bit of a thing for little stuffed fabric birds, and also because I needed a new pincushion that would sit comfortably on the arm of the sofa
My little bird is so proud of her wings that she lets me store my needles there.

She has a nice flat bottom (if only I could say the same!) so that she sits still amongst  all the crafty paraphernalia on my desk and she is firmly stuffed with Polyester filling so that pins push easily into her back.


 I have added an additional felt layer to the underside of each wing so that I can store needles there to keep them separate from the pins.


The wings are attached with spotty heart shaped buttons and the eyes are really tiny flower shape buttons - the type that you buy for scrapbooking and card making.



I embellished the tail with short lengths of ric rac, folded in half and sewn into the tail seam.


My little bird is going to get a lot of use, but when she's not needed for pins, I know she'll be very happy sitting amongst the ornamental branches in my lounge.


 I might even let her sit outside on sunny days - just as long as my cats realise she is only a stuffed bird of course!

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I am hoping to get a tutorial written up so that can you have a go at making one for yourself. The technology is beating me at the moment. If anyone knows an EASY way to convert a scanned drawing into a professional looking line drawing using  Photoshop Elements or Touchdraw, please let me know. I found some tutorials but the learning curve was way too steep for me to tackle to get it done for this post. One day I'll manage it, hopefully!

Wednesday 1 May 2013

A Quilt Finish

 
 
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Yay! Ive finished another quilt. A very pink and girly quilt!
 
 This is made with just one jelly roll - Coquette by Chez Moi for Moda and some Kona Snow.
It came together really quickly. I didn't even spend ages arranging and re-arranging the blocks as I usually do - they just sort of fell into place first time round.
 
The backing is even more pink.... and I used the remaining strips of jelly roll to make a scrappy binding.


It is quilted with a simple straight line quilting 1/4" away from the seam lines.
When I bought the jelly roll, I didn't realise quite how pink it was. Too pink for this house and I don't yet have any "girly" relatives to give it too, so I think this would be a good quilt to donate to Siblings Together
 
As it's Wednesday, I also have a couple of Wishful Wednesday projects to share with you (the things I would like to make if I had a magical unlimited amount of time!)
First up is a knitted shawlette
Although I wasn't keen on them at first, shawlettes have grown on me over time.They are a quick way to dress up the jeans and T shirt that I'm wearing, when I'm off out and running late - a bad habit of mine!!
This is a free pattern and the equivalent yarn for UK knitters would be any aran weight yarn
 
And secondly, I have this crochet butterfly to show you.
 
I really must try and make time to have a go at these - I know they wouldn't take long. Again a free pattern (UK terminology) and you can find it here
The Le Challenge theme this month is wings - I've already planned my entry, but a few of these might just find their way into the photograph too! If I can tear myself away from the garden sunshine we have at the moment, that is...
I hope you like my pattern choices this week, and that the spring sunshine is filling you with energy and enthusiasm too.
Till next time..............Julie
 
Linking up with Fresh Sewing Day
 

Lily's Quilts

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