Making Things for Friends

Since I started crafting every hour I'm awake ... I find that I make a lot of gifts for people. I can't explain how much I love making things (though I constantly debate my talent level - but I love it so much I've gotten over that!) and making things for people I love and care about makes it an extra special process for me.

One of the things I have realized since I came to the US is how hard it is to make new friends - especially as you get older (am I going too deep here?) I have a small core of very valued friends who are now scattered across the globe - and as I get used to living in the US for the rest of my years I realize that we all are growing up, moving through towns, cities and countries - leading our own lives in very different ways. I guess the thing that will sustain these friendships will be those experiences we shared and the great moments we spent together.

So I was thrilled to make this quilt for my friend Kristen. She is due to have a baby boy in about 4 weeks. Kristen and I used to work together in a place I will not mention - but the experience was such that I know no one else will be able to fully understand the now humorous (but at the time emotional) scars it left us with!

This project is a 2:1 - a wall hanging and a baby play mat.
The tabs are removable - so Kristen can choose to hang the patchwork quilt for decoration or her new baby can sit on it ... and maybe it will serve both purposes!
My step mum - Jennie - is a bit of a stitching goddess ... and she taught me many moons ago (I wonder if she will remember) to make a cushion with a padded duck in the middle of it. I used the same technique to make the padded heart and padded bunny on the quilt - after sewing the heart and the bunny onto the quilt - I cut a small hole in the back of the cotton - stuffed the shapes and then stitched up the cut. The shapes are very plushy and maybe the new baby will enjoy squishing them?
This bunny is showing how the baby might look lounging on the grass.
I wanted to make some of the squares crinkle ... I debated about stuffing them with a plastic bags - but I didn't know if this is the right 'technical' material to use - do you know what the crinkly material in baby toys is?

A Bunny Picnic

The sun came out this weekend and we invited some friends to a special garden picnic. Here come the bunnies hopping down the hill ...
... bunnies love garden picnics ...
... the boys talked about growing lettuces in the vegetable patch ...
... and the girls talked about carrot cake recipes ...
... soon all the food was eaten - but who will get the last cupcake?
We played hide and seek too ... 1 bunny tail, 2 bunny tails ...... 40 bunny tails - ready or not here I come!
It was a wonderful picnic in the sun, on the lawn under the big tree. I suspect that there was a little chemistry between these two ... who knows what the future might hold ... perhaps a bunny wedding?

Getting Ready

All the bunnies in the Rachael Rabbit workshop are getting ready for the bunny picnic (although the weather is a bit of a shame - grey and drizzling)

This little bunny is having a shower ...
... but she doesn't know which summer dress she should wear. They are all quite pretty.

Bunny and the Lost Trousers

Bunny is hiding in the cupboard because he is embarrassed.

Me: "Why are you hiding Bunny?"
Bunny: "I'm embarrassed because I'm not wearing any clothes. I have lost my trousers."
Me: "Well don't worry Bunny - we can just make you some more."

Bunny (sadly): "I don't think these fit me - they are rather short."
Me: "OK I'll make another pair."

Bunny (horrified): "These are far far too tight."
Me: "I'm sorry Bunny I don't know why I'm struggling to make trousers today. I'll try one more time. Third time lucky!"

Bunny: "Oh thank you - these fit just right. I'm very pleased with them - I'm going to wear them to the bunny picnic this weekend."

Are you going to the bunny picnic this weekend?

Family Tree Quilt

There are just some projects that you have such great hopes for - that end result is just a tad disappointing. I really wanted this to be something super special and while I know that the finished project will be much appreciated .... it just didn't make the 'A' grade for me. I'm trying to apologize less - so that is all I will say and I will talk about how this project came to be.

I was reading an old craft book that I borrowed from my mother last Christmas ... and in it I found a pattern for an embroidered family tree.
Not being that talented at embroidery and thinking that using Bernie would be far quicker and easier - I set about changing the design into a quilt pattern. Here is my sketch ...
... I stuck together lots of pieces of paper together to make the pattern for the applique design ...
... and what followed were some rather long days of feeling not very thrilled about the project.

I had chosen to recycle silk ties for the applique - silk ties (because of the pretty woven designs) fray like anything once you cut them into small fiddly pieces. I have vowed not to use a lot of silk ties for a large applique project again. I am also a total beginner at applique and machine quilting and making sure that all the layers were flat without any proper large flat area or table was near impossible. Regardless of my excuses about a large flat area - I need to practice machine quilting ... Bernie did his job ... but his handler was struggling with where to start and how to constantly move the huge amount of fabric through and around him.

So once all the applique was finished and I felt like I had wrecked the quilt further by my bad machine quilting ... I decided that the cream fabric I had selected was a tad dull ... and the family tree trunk was too wide ... and that this kind of project really needs a dry run first and then on your second attempt you can correct all the things you found out didn't work on the first. But isn't every new project like that? And what would I do with the first version of the quilt once the second perfected version was finished? I couldn't throw it away - way too much time, love and sweat went into this.
So lets say what I like about the quilt - because parts of it are quite pretty. Although the silk was hard to work with - the patterns in the fabric are really lovely and when I hung it in the garden to take photos the gold and silver threads really glistened in the sun ...
... I like that we will be able to add names to the tree as folk get married and or have kiddies ...
... there are cute little insects crawling around ...
... and it fits a queen bed perfectly.
So to Elke - who is bestowed this gift - I am sorry it isn't quite what I wanted it to be but it is filled with all the love, effort and thought I could muster. Wishing you a very Happy Birthday xx

Marriage Guidance

Having a bad day with the hubbie? This book has lots of wise advice on how to have a happy marriage. Advice for a Happy Marriage: From Miss Dietz's Third-Grade Class is probably one of my favorite books.
I like to give it to all my friends who are about to get married. Flick through the book and you will find advice such as "you need to kiss once in a while" and of course the most valuable lesson taught in this book ...
... yes you read right - to have a happy marriage you have to get bunnies.

I'm a lucky lady ....

... I have been feeling really fortunate recently ... a warm glow of happiness ... why? Well I just feel really lucky ... lucky for lots of things.

Lucky for being able to craft all day long in the cutest rambling house ever, lucky for having a husband who seems to be going for "husband of the year 2008", lucky for a wonderful puppy who is ever so cute and lucky for having a loving family - both back home in the UK and here in the states. But I got REALLY REALLY lucky when Auntie Chris gave me SO much yarn that I feel overwhelmed with happy knitting thoughts. The yarn is made from her own sheep too - so it makes it an extra special homemade gift! I wasn't sure how to show you all just how much yarn there is ... so I laid it out on our dining room table ...
I want to get knitting right away ... but Castro wants to know what I'm going to make?
His question was a good one - so I took this perfect opportunity to find some inspiration ... (love love love craft books) ... and found the following two books ... my purchasing excuse is that I only have one skein of certain colors in my great haul of fabulous yarn and I don't want to waste any. One Skein: 30 Quick Projects to Knit or Crochet by Leigh Radford and One-Skein Wonders by Judith Durant - these are both filled with great little projects - and I'm still justifying buying yet more craft books - but it is great to be able to use up that odd skein of yarn left over from other knitting projects too.