Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before!

Which is the title of a song by the Smiths but also very true about my own ramblings. I wasn't going to make any new patterns anymore for the next few weeks, maybe even months. And now I have. Oops! I'm very content with it. Hope you all like it too! The waterplants and spawn around the picture are my favourite parts of this pattern. And this will absolutely be the last for a long time to come. Really!

Sunday stash # 5 Saffron Craig fabrics (and others too)

O.k. I'm rewriting this whole post (I'm a bit of perfectionist) because I got it wrong the first time. I was under the impression that all the fabrics I showed here were by Saffron Craig but Georgia, who sent me the fabrics, corrected me (thanks!) : "The top one there with the tree silhouettes is actually from Aunty Cookie (Shannon Lamden), http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=36645 . The hearts underneath are from Saffron Craig. the red one under the hearts is Lara Cameron (I think?), and the next red one is saffron Craig again."

Since I received the fabrics in a swap with Georgia I've only looked at them and have not been able to cut them... yet. Especially the one on top which is like a panel and I must think of a project to use it as a whole without having to cut it. I love birds with cages and trees and keys! You must check out Saffron's online shop. The fabrics and quiltkits are so adorable! The topfabric is from Aunty Cooky and she has many lovely designs available too.

P.S. update update You have no excuse not to go to Saffron's site now because she has a gorgeous giveaway if you enter a comment on her blog. Of course I would rather have you did not go there so I have a bigger chance of winning the lovely goodies! :D

Animal Alphabet

A few months ago I began my Animal Alphabet starting, of course, with the letter A. Only after I had begun my Animal Alphabet, I saw Animal Alphabets pop up everywhere. Apparently it was not such an original idea after all. What makes my Alphabet a bit different is that I try not to choose the most obvious animals to star in the Alphabet. A is an Anteater (not an Alligator), B is a Blackbird (not a Bear) etc etc. Actually I've got most of 26 'posts' already filled in with a suitable candidate. I'm still not sure whether to include fictional animals like the Unicorn. On the other hand I had no trouble adding an extinct animal like the Dodo. It's been a while now since a worked on this project but I'm pretty certain that I will finish it. I want to do it properly and I can't make up my mind about which font and which media to use. Anyway here you can find a very nice example of a finished Animal Alphabet. Previous versions and sketches are also included which makes it extra interesting.

Sunday stash # 4 Vintage Vogart Patterns

Can you call 10 patterns a 'stash'? Anyway these are most of my vintage embroidery patterns. I think the Hans and Gretel on top is my favourite! Most of them are in o.k. condition and more or less complete. I've used a vintage pattern, not pictured here it's a 'bee' pattern, a little while ago. It was already cut and it still transferred very well. I shall finish it soon, it's nearly done, and show it to you!

Zzzzzzzz and fruit on a stick

Yay! The new hibernating pattern is finished and in the shop now. It's very sweet and the quills are so fast to embroider! I've added little stitches in a lighter colour (not in the pattern it would have made transferring the image a bit complicated!). This will really be the last new pattern before I move. Around the 20 th of june I will close my shop for a week or two so get your hedgie/bear/bunny/anteater/princess etc now!

Thanks to everyone who joined in on the Flickr discussion in The Follow the White Bunny Embroidery group and helping me decide which theme to choose for the Bunny Stitch Along! A lot of people like the idea of a fall teaparty with animals so I'm going to try and make something nice of it. A few people also suggested hedgehogs. I did not get my Hibernating Hedgehog idea from that by the way. I was reading some stuff about the perception of animals in Medieval times (because of the medieval patterns I'm planning to do later this year) and there was an amusing story about Hedgehogs. Popular belief was that Hedgehogs rolled on the ground in grapes or apples and carried the fruits away on their quills! I didn't know this and the funny thing is that for Luna's birthday last year I made a hedgehog (half a cabbage) with 'fruit on a stick' as it's quills!

Stuck

I suffered from a severe case of Little Red Riding Hood Embroidery Pattern makers block, so I had to put poor LRRH and Mr. Wolf aside to give other ideas a chance. Because I have plenty of ideas and I even made something of a plan for the rest of the year. I would love to do some patterns inspired by medieval pictures/ideas (called 'Get medieval on your embroidery') and at least one more fairy tale inspired pattern. I'd also like to do more paintings and maybe even make a serie of (printed) postcards. Oh and then there is still my Animal Alphabet. So much to do! Everything has to wait until after my move back to the Netherlands though. The only thing I think I can manage to squeeze in is a new hibernation pattern! I'm extremely busy but I will try to finish it within the next couple of days!

Sssssssh!

Hibernating bears posted in the Follow the White Bunny Flickr group so far. Of course the weird green one is mine :D The one next to it is by Bookwormbethie and is embroidered on a hankie! The Pink Bear is embroidered by Cathy who also has made her own lovely pattern of a Birdie on a Chandelier. Georgia is still working on her bear, but I'm sure it will turn out perfect as always!

No Sunday stash this Sunday because I'm off to Holland for a few days!

More give away!

but not from me this time! Head over to Cathy's Blog. there are lovely girl's tank tops with Cathy's sweet chandelier design to be won and yummy scrapbags too!

Bunny Stitch Along

This morning I came up with the idea of a Stitch-along. I'll provide a pattern and later this summer (or winter for some...) we can merrily stitch this pattern at the same time. Head over to the Follow the White Bunny Flickr group for the rather vague details and suggest a theme! :)

Sunday stash # 3 orange 30's repro fabrics

I thought I would share all of my 30's repro fabrics from my stash today, but there were more than I thought so here are the orange/peachy ones only! Most of them are fat quarters. I'm collecting these repro fabrics (all colours) to make a huge bed throw. I'm not sure if I want doggies on my bed though...

Give away winner!

Yes we have a winner! Using www.random.org (I know not nearly as exciting as a draw from a stroopwafflejar) and not having counted those who sat this one out the lucky winner is Bookwormbethie. Congratulations! I'll be sending you the goodies next week!

My embroidery 'un paperbag'

About a year ago I made the bag you can see here on the left cleverly displayed on Luna's scooter. It's based on a Purl Bee tutorial and it's called the Unpaper bag. I love the Unpaper bag especially it's 'boxy bottom' . The bag on the photo is a rather cheap version made with Ikea fabric as outer fabric (I still have A LOT of that fabric by the way, it was on sale when it went out of their fabric collection) and twill tape handles. Usually store bought bag handles -plastic, bamboo and most of all leather- are rather expensive and this works fine for me. Baghandles would make the bag look more classy I suppose. My Unpaper bag is now my embroidery bag but I'm sure it is a great bag to hold other crafty stuff too. I made two other Unpaper bags after this one, both to hold several smaller gifts. My bag looks a bit floppy, that's because it is a bit floppy. Instead of interfacing I used an extra layer of cotton fabric which I thought would do the job. A thicker outer fabric would probably help too.

Many thanks to everyone who has responded to the giveaway and the freebie pattern. Just to be clear: the giveaway is really only 1 fat quarter and several smaller pieces of fabric. And the gorgeous ricrac of course. I thought maybe some of you were under the impression that there were several fat quarters...

Mothersday Freebie!

You can download this Mothersday freebie I designed here!

Bunny FQ Give away and a bit

Give away is closed winner will be drawn soon!

Are these sewing themed fabrics not mouthwatering cute? That's what I thought when I saw them and I bought rather a lot of it. Having already shared some with some crafty friends I thought I'd share a bit more with one of you. Don't worry there is still plenty left for me. :) The fabrics are by Alexander Henry and are called Sew now, Sew wow and Perfect pattern. There is one fat quarter and some smaller pieces (17 by 8 inches or something) and I threw in a golden sunny vintage ric rac as well. So the only thing you will have to do to enter this giveaway is leave a comment before noon (oslo time) saturday may 9, and tell what your current or next sewing project is! Because I don't know where each and everyone of you lives please check back this weekend or leave an email address so I can contact you.

Sunday stash # 2 Katie Jump Rope Blues

I've got the Katie Jump Rope Blues! I know it sounds depressing but they are actually very lovely! And I've got the Katie Jump Rope Greens and Oranges too, so all is well ;) Saving them for my 'Favourite things' quilt later this year! Took the opportunity to show off my Cherry Blossom Doe Pillowcase too :)

Oil cloth love

I love oil cloth! The prints are so happy, bright and pretty. Last year I bought some oilcloth on Etsy because I had an idea to make suitcase labels with it but somehow never got round to actually make them. Anyway, last week I came across this shop on Etsy. First I was tempted to buy one (or two) of the many cute lunchbags that were for sale but in the end I went for the 'do it yourself' kit with all the ingredients to make two oilcloth lunchbags. I chose a pink pineapple print for Luna, and a turquoise cherry print for Zoe. I just made Luna's bag and it was fun, quick and so easy to do! Because oilcloth is quite thick I used a denim (size 16) needle. I will certainly do more with oil cloth in the future! Lots of tips on using oilcloth on this blog.

First steps

There is that old Chinese saying that the longest journey starts with a single step. With my embroideries I love that first step and the idea of a long journey. It's just that I'm rather an ill-prepared traveler. Some people will start a journey knowing where they are going, which route they will take and what they need while traveling. Other people will just start, only vaguely knowing where they are going and are willing to trail off their path to explore unknown roads. I think I'm more that type of embroiderer. Apart from the pattern, as starting point, most of my projects lack any kind of plan. The only certainty is that they always take longer than I thought and I always seem to miss that one colour in my floss stash that the project absolutely needs. :)