ONE HAPPY CARP!

Yet another card! This time, however, for my partners birthday. Some of you (most of you) will be wondering why on earth I sewed a carp onto a birthday card. Well, when we went to the Oriental Museum in Durham, they had a "Happy Carp" exhibition on. This involved Japanese prints, as the word for "carp" and "love" in Japanese are (apparently) very similar and hence the carp had become a symbol of love. I thought this was fantastic and hence created a happy carp card that is both a happy-birthday-carp and also subtly soppy. It went down well! And I have used a shiny, sparkly paper for the background which I think sets off the sewing rather well and I might (depending on the theme) use it again in future.

OTTERLY ADORABLE!

Just a little cross-stitch I whipped up to send to a certain someone! I love otters (they are so cute the way the sleep on their backs and hold hands and their eyes and......) and I love otter-related puns, especially the bad ones! So here is a few pictures of the card. I didn't have quite the right shades of thread for the fur, but never mind! I think it still turned out all-right in the end!

CATHEDRAL WINDOW NEEDLE-CASE

I have been beavering away at the squares for mine and mums cushion, however a few were a teensy bit wonky (as I am still a learner). I did not (of course) want to waste them having spent all that time making them! So I turned the two wonky ones into a cute little needle case. I am rather pleased with the result, although it did take a few days to decorate! Here is the result!

 

CATHEDRAL WINDOW

Not as you might expect an actual cathedral window, but rather cathedral window quilting! Mum and I went on a workshop yesterday in order to learn how to quilt as neither of us had ever learnt and thought it was a skill we would enjoy and wanted to learn! Plus it was part of my birthday present. The workshop was at Victorian Arts and Crafts in Poulton (which apparently has been there for a year, but mum and I only discovered it recently!). Cathedral window is a form of patch work that involved hand sewing and a lot of folding of fabric, but once you have completed your square you don't need to wad or back it (which I rather liked, I find it a faff to those on the very rare occassions that I have tried). However, as it is hand sewing it does take quite a while. I only completed three squares on the day (as did mum) and we intend to create a few more in order to make a cushion! It can be used to make Christmas decorations, book marks, larger quilts, need-cases, napkin rings by varying the size of your starting square. I certainly want to practice and get the hang of it! I think it looks great and I thoroughly enjoyed our day yesterday. So without further ado, here are some pictures showing our progress!

ALWAYS TIME FOR A GIN AND TONIC!

Once again, a while since my last post! I am utterly hopeless at the moment. However, I have not been wasting my time completely (as you shall see in the following few posts over the next few days!). In June it was my one-year (gulp) anniversary with my other half! So as a present (and being a penniless student I could not afford any gifts) I made him these cushions as he is a gin and tonic fan! And it is always nice to give homemade gifts rather than shop bought, they are so much more personal. Here therefore is the result then of a few days toil on the sewing machine!