Flutterby Patch

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!

A love of beads

I've had quite a productive week and am pleased to say have managed to finish a handful of projects I began last autumn. Some should have been completed for Christmas but there are always one or two that fall by the wayside each year aren't there. On Wednesday I reached a stage where I needed some tiny black beads so I went to the little drawer where I keep my black beads and of course they weren't there. I looked in the other drawers but had no luck.

I don't think think I've mentioned my beads before. I keep them in a small chest of drawers with different shades of bead in each drawer. This is supposed to make them quick and easy to find but this system relies on the user returning the beads to the correct drawer and when the user is me...well enough said! Above you can see a few beads from my 'pink drawer' and perhaps spot one or two strays that have found their way in. This week I decided it was time I organised my beads and hopefully find the tiny black ones whilst doing it.

I thought I'd show you some of my favourites. I love these glass elephant beads. Each one is a tiny work of art made from molten glass.

These cute little pigs always remind me of 'Babe'.

Look at these hens. I love their colours and the expressions on their faces. I made the tiny egg beads to go with them and can just imagine the bossy mother hen clucking "which one of you silly hens laid your eggs here?" The little one (back left) looks to be the guilty party wouldn't you say .

I think these glass pandas are just perfect.

It always amazes me how many different bead shapes can be made from molten glass. Its not something I would like to work with.

A couple of years ago I made a few pieces of jewellery for family and friends.

I enjoyed using these rainbow shades and prefer working in this free style rather than with beads that have to be graded for size and colour before you begin.

This was the watch/charm bracelet that was made to accompany the necklace.

And another made in shades of aqua and green

Something different and bit of an experiment...an acorn. The acorn cup is made from seed beads and the acorn is a quartz crystal. I hung it on a silver chain to make a short pendant.

Finally, I named this a 'beachcomber's charm bracelet'. All the the little charms represent a tiny item that might be picked up on the shoreline. A real shell and a couple made from glass and silver. A mother-of-pearl bird, a glass fish, turtle, starfish and coral. An old coin, a sailor's button and some real amber from the shores of the Baltic.

My drawers of beads are now tidy and I'm happy to say I eventually found the tiny black beads that I was searching for...they turned up in the drawer where I keep my seam binding and tape!!!!

Before Christmas I was tagged by my blogging pal Sabine and was asked to write 7 random things about myself. I decided to wait until after the 'festive chaos'. Now where to start?

1). I'm a multi-tasker and thinker and always have a number of projects on the go and a number of ideas spinning round in my head at any one time with the result I can sometimes feel I am tying myself in knots.
2). I wish I liked housework. I keep our home tidy and fairly clean but I'm afraid there are number of dusty spots (I blame open fires). Someone once told me the best way to do the dusting is to 'blow on it'. Sounds good to me!
3). I'm always drawn to look at soft toys (teddy bears etc) in shops. They make me smile and you could easily find me having a conversation with one or more of them! It breaks my heart to see 'once loved' soft toys in thrift shop windows. Their little faces always look so sad that I invariably make a point of looking away.
4). When I was a child my dad used to repair TVs in his spare time which involved disconnecting our family TV in order to use the aerial (days of black and white). I have watched many programmes with the telly in a state of total disrepair on it's side or upside-down. My sister and I used to complain bitterly.
5). I have to agree with Sabine in my total dislike of spiders. Ugh! I can't kill them so I keep a glass and piece of card in the bathroom and cloakroom in order to catch them. When I release them outside I'm sure they come wandering straight back in as soon as my back is turned.
6). I don't think twice about killing wasps as I've had a number of nasty stings from them in the past. They nest in our roof given half the chance and if I can slaughter a few queen wasps early in the season all the better.
7). As a baby the first word I uttered was 'dada', the second was 'mama' and apparently the third word was 'why'. I've always been an inquisitive person and 'why' is a word I still use a lot.

I pass the tag onto:

Suzanne

Natalie Jo

Martha

Jan

Cathy

Paula

Clarice

Some rules that come with the tag:

1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog - some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Woolly pencils

Don't you just love coloured pencil crayons?

I have a polished wooden box containing 72 different shades and it excites me just to look at them.

New crayons were always a gift to be treasured when I was young and I still have an old box containing the much used remnants of my crayoning childhood.

My pencil crayons and a colouring book kept me busy for hours.

These days my creative colouring is often done with knitting yarn so I decided to marry the two and experiment with knitting a pencil crayon.

First I made a blue one.

Then I made green and magenta ones. If you'd like to give it a go here is what you do...

DK yarn and 2.25 mm needles (US size 1). Stocking stitch throughout. The knitted fabric should be quite firm as you don't want a lot of stretch.

Choose your colour and cast on 9 stitches. Knit to the required length (I did 20 rows). Change to beige (wood colour). Knit 1 row then knit 2 together at the start of the next 4 rows (5 stitches remain). Change to main colour and knit one row. Remove stitches onto a sewing needle and gather tightly. Roll the knitted piece to create a pencil and ensure all the loose ends are tucked inside. Stitch to close. Make the pointed (sharpened) end as 'pointy' as you can. To knit a fatter pencil simply cast on more stitches and knit more rows, its as simple as that. Perhaps a child's old hand knitted sweater could be cheered up with the addition of a few knitted pencils in bright shades! 

Pencil Cosy
This was an after thought and I think it could catch on!


The previous pattern (nine stitches on 2.25 mm needles) will create a tiny tube that perfectly fits a standard pencil. The cast off edge is at the top. Finished with 2 rows of garter stitch. You should weave in the loose ends then wrap the knitted piece round the pencil which makes it easier to stitch the seam and close the bottom. A few beads and a woolly tassel produce the finishing touches. Little girls will love these pencil cosies and they'd make cute little gifts for their friends. (Warning... As the cosies will invariably be placed on the 'writing end' they could become very stained if fitted on fibre tipped pens and ball point pens and that would be a shame! )

Making a little woolly tassel like mine is easy but I'd like you to go over to Down the Rabbit Hole where my blogging chum Selia has created some extra ordinarily beautiful and unusual tassels.

Selia recently gave me this 'Marie Antoinette Award for Inspiration' for which my humble thanks Selia, I will pass it on to others in due course.