Baby Blocks

Some of the huge stash of material has been usefully employed to make baby blocks for Jasper. I used squares of iron-on interfacing to stiffen the fabric, and also to give a template to fold the seams over. There was a bit of experimentation on the sewing of the edges - it turned out that sewing from the outside of the cube gave a cleaner edge and a sturdier block. I filled them with enough stuffing to give them shape but not distort the sides too much. Some of the blocks include bells and beads to rattle, sewn into their own mini-cubes inside the blocks to prevent any leakage. 

Staying on the mission to use up scraps, this is a little tray for dice rolling during games. The patches are about an inch wide, and were sewn with embroidery thread in simple running stitch through all the layers to give the sides some stiffness. 

In bird news, I have a pair of young doves hanging around the patio, waiting for their mum to come and feed them. They teetered on the edge precariously during the strong winds, but seem none the worse for it. They are a lovely soft grey, and still quite fluffy. 

 

A Little Name Book

I couldn't wait to get sewing some baby things for Jasper! This is a little cloth book with the letters of his name and a picture for each one. I used some fancy fabrics, including velvet, fleece, fine corduroy and gold mesh, to be eye catching and have an interesting feel. Most of the sewing is on the machine to make sure the applique is firmly attached. To be extra careful, the gold material was sewn down with a tiny back stitch over each intersection of the mesh. I added some buttons and a pom pom for the animals' features, and used embroidery for the other details The pages were sewn in back-to-back pairs, with careful planning to make sure the letters ended up with the right picture. There's a little portrait of Jasper for the back page. Hopefully he will have lots of fun looking at it.

 

The Very Orange Quilt

Enough to brighten anyone's day! The orange quilt is finished. It is made of 30 pinwheel patchwork blocks, and the gear wheels were very carefully cut from felt.  As you can see, it is heavily quilted, so the gear wheels stand out. The final size is about 20 x 24 inches. 

Moorhen Chick

The moorhens have just one fluffy little chick and luckily they are frequently on our bank.  

At the opposite end of the size scale is this heron which was strutting its stuff on a diving platform on a boat opposite us.  Then it had a scratch and didn't look quite so composed!

Pigeon Pics

I enjoyed watching the pigeons tend their nest and the little chick hatch out and grow. After leaving the nest, it hung around the garden for a few days, and the parents came back to visit it.

Here it is quite fluffy, looking worriedly out of the nest, the first time the parents left it alone. 

Looking a bit tatty round the edges here. It grew quickly and was soon stretching its wings.

A few days after leaving the nest, it was back with one of the adults. They spent a while sitting together and hopping round the patio.

Grey Wagtail

The little grey wagtail is finished!  I am pleased with the result of using the tambour needle for the background and will certainly be using it again.   

Catching Up

I've been busy stitching my grey wagtail and realised I haven't posted any progress reports. 

So here is the little grey wagtail from a design based on my painting in the previous post.  The background is chain-stitch created with the tambour needle and now I've had some practise I can work at a reasonable pace with it.  The bird is being stitched in a mixture of stem stitch and long & short stitch for the areas which need a colour change.  

I've also been doing a bit of drawing and here is a pencil drawing of St Marks from a photo I took sometime ago.  

The photos below were taken during May.

An early morning photo of canada geese on the reservoir.

A swallow watches as another lands on the rail next to it.  

The last 3 pictures show a moorhen looking for a place to nest.  It decided against this tyre in favour of somewhere more spacious!