Autumn Sun

I think this little sun ornament in autumn orange would make a good image for a Thanksgiving card. Our Canadian Thanksgiving is coming up in mid-October and I have a few American friends that I need to catch up with as well. I will have to take a better outdoor shot for the card but this is the best I could manage this morning.

The pretty orange striped fabric is from Judy Merrill-Smith. Stripes, as I have found out with a couple of my other projects (which I won't link to), can be boring and static if used as a single piece. I think it works OK here because the stripes are tiny and not obviously linear.

Currently I have another project in the works in which I also plan to use a striped fabric. In this case, I will be cutting the fabric into squares and sewing them back together with the stripes moving in different directions. It would be much quicker if my sewing machine was in order (still haven't had a chance to take it in for repairs). I'll have to stitch the squares together by hand.

Sun Face Brooch

I find it difficult to toss reasonably sized cotton and felt scraps into the garbage bin without making an effort to put them to good use. Here is a brooch made from some of those scraps. I hope this isn't a precursor of hoarding tendencies. Twice in recent memory I let go of things that would have been so useful in my craft.

I back most of my ornaments with felt. A friend was decluttering and gave me piles and piles of very fine quality wool felt. At the time, I couldn't imagine that the felt would be of any use to me and I gave it all away. Weeks later, I realized my mistake and I have not gotten over it to this day. :(

Recently, I discovered a talented artist through FLICKR who uses metal zippers in her art. It's something I want to try too. Yes, I had a boxful of metal zippers given to me and yes, I got rid of them. (Click on this link for an example of the lovely art of Woolly Fabulous).

I think a lesson here is to consider carefully how to use materials, should I be fortunate enough to receive these kinds of gifts in the future.






















Below is a vintage Simplicty pattern from 1977 that I ordered from Lanetz Living. It arrived today. The two piece dress is what caught my eye. It's so pretty and feminine and I can see myself wearing it in a soft floral cotton print.

Accidental Sun

There's a reason for this being the way it is. I was trying to make a sun but my original idea didn't pan out. I wanted to use the orange-yellow print fabric for the sun's rays. Unfortunately I wasted too much of it on my first unsuccessful attempt. I just had a little piece of this fabric left and I wanted to make sure I used as much of the yellow print part as possible. And this why the new rays are a very odd shape.