Fly, Robin, Fly!

Yeah, my internet, phone and tv have finally been sorted and I’m hoping that this means I can get back to blogging on a more regular basis. Somehow, it’s not much fun to write blog posts without being able to publish them.

Juliet, who blogs at Tartan Kiwi, is a very talented pattern designer who concentrates on foundation paper pieced blocks. I haven’t seen one yet that hasn’t impressed me so, please, go and have a quick look at her Craftsy store. It’s alright, I’ll wait for you here.

Ok, what did you think? Isn’t she wonderful? Well, she was looking for pattern testers a while ago and I put my name forward. However, with the move to Switzerland being more time consuming and stressful than I had anticipated I haven’t really had the time to test any of those gorgeous patterns…until now, that is. Check out this little cutie:

Paper Pieced RobinThe pattern comes together really easily despite some teeny tiny pieces. In fact I had the most problems with those long thin pieces around the legs and for the twig. Slippery little so-and-sos.

Close up RobinIf you like to FPP (foundation paper piece) and you love Christmas this little Robin is almost a must. The block finishes at 10″ so I’m now going to go and have a little rummage through my Christmas fabric to add a couple of borders before I turn him into a cushion cover.

By the way, go check out Amy of Amy’sCrafty Shenanigans‘ version out as well. It’s in the bottom row of her October mosaic. I wish I had some of that snowflake fabric so that I could make another one.

I used some Kona solids, a couple of prints from Carolyn Friedlander’s line Architextures and a little bit of Denyse Schmidt for my Robin. The fabric I used for the eye was a small scrap I had lying around. Pieced, as always, with my beloved Aurifil 50 wt.

I love him and I will be sad when he flies away to his new home as I’ve decided he would be a perfect gift for…whoops, I almost told you there, didn’t I? I’ll tell you some other time, don’t want to spoil the surprise, do we now?

 

 

Teacher Gifts

I have had an absolutely fabulous time at the Fat Quarterly Retreat and I will get round to writing a post about it very soon but first I would like to show you some mug rugs I made as teacher gifts for Little Miss Bossy-Boots’ teachers and teaching assistants.

A little while ago I bought ‘25 Patchwork Quilt Blocks‘ by Katy Jones of Monkey Do fame. For Christmas I gave all the teachers a fabric bucket filled with chocolate, this year I decided to make them mug rugs. I was a bit too quick wrapping them all up so I only have these Instagram pictures to show you.

Mug Rugs I

Mug Rug IIThe mug rugs are all made with scraps and some Kona Snow or Sketch in Mist. As always I pieced and quilted them with my trusty Aurifil 50 wt. Because I didn’t have that much time I kept the quilting to a minimum, simply echoing some of the shapes.

I added some tea and biscuits in the bag but didn’t actually have the time to get them a mug (that’s what you get when you organise presents at the last minute because you go gallivanting in London). Hopefully they get some mugs from one of the other children.