Flutterby Patch

Blossom-top pin cushion 'give-away'

I can't believe I've gone through life without owning a little pin cushion to sit on my wrist. A couple of days ago I decided to make one and what a useful little thing it is. I'm so pleased with it that I've made a second pin cushion as a special 'flutterby give-away'.

A cute little stuffed cotton parcel is held firmly on the wrist with a scrunchie (fabric covered elastic). The cushion is decorated with a satin ribbon flower, beaded at the centre.

If I'm using pins away from my machine then its no more pins in a saucer for me, from now on I'm a wrist cushion convert.

I hope you'll enter the draw, it's open to all no matter where you live in the world. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and your name will be entered. I'll announce the winner on Friday 6th February....Good luck.

Until next time,

Eli

One things leads to another

I don't know whether its the grey skies of winter, or a sudden burst of energy after Christmas, but January is a month I often find myself having the urge to freshen up the house and do a bit of decorating and DIY. At the end of last week I emptied the contents of a crockery cupboard in the kitchen so that I could give everything a good wash.

I've always been an avid collector of blue and white china. I mix and match all shapes, sizes and patterns and no piece ever seems to clash with its neighbour. I love it.

When the sparkling crockery was back in the clean cupboard the kitchen curtains were next for the freshening-up process. I've always been fond of these curtains with their warm creamy background, scrumptious pink roses and sprays of pale blue lilac. Into the washing machine they went.

But what a nasty shock I got when the washing cycle had finished. Mysteriously most of the darker pink roses had developed gaping holes in their centres. As you can see from the picture the fabric was ruined and beyond repair. I remain mystified as to why this damage should have occurred only on the darker pink roses. These curtains have been washed several times before with no damage at all. (Does anyone out there have any ideas?)

In typical 'flutterby' fashion I had gone from crockery, to damaged curtains in one morning and was now thinking that new curtains were essential and with them the possibility of a new kitchen colour scheme. Out came the paint shade cards and the usual inspiring magazines. No more cleaning for me, I spent a happy afternoon and evening looking at pictures of beautiful kitchens and making plans.

Along the way I fell in love with this picture of pretty bed linen in shades of aqua with pink roses. I love this combination and kept returning for another look. But hey! I was supposed to be looking for kitchen inspiration not ideas for bedrooms.

Oh dear! I have a confession to make. I have succumbed to temptation. On the following day, during my search for curtain fabric, I found myself in the local Laura Ashley shop. In a corner of the shop was a room setting that had a bed with linen in the same delicate shades of aqua and pink that I had admired the day before. I immediately fell in love with the quilted bedspread. In the end of season sale it was reduced from £80 to £31, can you believe that? It was a bargain too good to miss.

The sale at Laura Ashley has some remarkable reductions at the moment. So with the 'country kitchen look' uppermost in my mind I headed for the stands of curtain fabric. I was immediately attracted to this woven gingham in just the right shade of pale blue. It was reduced from £14 per metre to £7... wonderful. So now I have some curtains to make.

The kitchen walls are going to get a fresh coat of paint before the new curtains go up and I'm going to renovate this little spice cupboard ready to hang on the wall. I shall paint it and perhaps give it an 'aged' look but can't decide which colour to choose. So its back to the shade cards and the magazines for more inspiration. What fun!

Until next time

Eli

Ribbons, pins and posies

I love receiving little packages in the post. They usually contain something exciting and provide light relief from the boring brown or white envelopes that drop through our letterbox all too frequently containing instructions to 'pay within 14 days'. Last week the colourful contents of one particular package truly brightened my day. 

It contained a wonderful selection of silk ribbons for embroidery. I've had a small selection for a while but wanted to extend the range so that I can experiment with some of the ideas I've seen in books.

I never cease to be amazed at the huge variety of recognisable flowers it is possible to create from stitching ribbon onto fabric. For the best results it has to be fine silk ribbon and its advisable to use the true flower colours.

I decided not to be too ambitious to begin with.  My first attempts were somewhat experimental and I'm not convinced you would recognise the flower but it supposed to be a wild rose!!

These could be tulips but sadly the leaves are wrong!

I was reasonably satisfied with my first attempts and decided I'd try and put them to good use so looked through some crazy quilting books for ideas. No two pieces of fabric are the same shape and the stitching line between each is masked by a variety of embroidered stitches. In other words 'do what you like, where you like and in any colour you like'. Mistakes aren't easily seen and virtually anything is permissible (just my sort of thing!)

But what to make with a piece of crazy quilting? I turned to 'Romantic Keepsakes' which contains sumptuous pictures of pretty things to stitch in a distinctly Victorian style. A pin cushion seemed a good idea.

I always squirrel away even my smallest off-cuts so spent a happy afternoon mixing and matching fabric and thread. After stitching together little pieces of rose patterned fabric I added my ribbon flowers. Finally I embroidered over each stitched line in threads of toning shades and it was done.

I'd created a circular piece of crazy quilting. I worked a running stitch around the outside edge and gathered the fabric to make a mushroom shape which I then stuffed firmly. I stitched the 'stuffed mushroom' onto a base that I'd made earlier (from a circular piece of thick card covered with fabric). Finally I covered the stitches with some gold cord and the job was complete.

The result....a Victorian style pin cushion.

It was such fun to make that I'm now planning the next one!