Birds and Zippers...

It was a lovely Saturday afternoon. The heat of the last couple of weeks had subsided and we were enjoying a cool spring breeze through the open windows and doors...perfect weather to play in the sewing room. Perfect day to begin making my birds for next weekend's Birdcage Sew-In.

I had a few leftover scraps from the Aviary fabric range (how perfect is that?!) and decided to use them for my birds, so I cut out the shapes and arranged colours...

All pretty florals...all lovely shabby chic colours. 

Next step was to sew around the birds and stuff them. But wait! I have no toy stuffing! Aaaaahhhh....what to do? Put them aside and buy the stuffing on Monday. 

I'm really disappointed by this stage because I had my heart set on some simple bird-making, but then an idea evolves (*love* evolving ideas, don't you?!)...why not cut another single bird shape and use it as an applique?

 Now, why not combine this applique with something that requires a zipper? At least that way I am finally making something for my own Zipper-Me-Up September Challenge! (have you made something yet??)

My first thought was another zippered pouch, but really that would not challenge me. I made a lot in July for Christmas gifts, and the purpose of this challenge is for me to keep working through zipper-phobia.

A new idea forms.

I'll make a cushion, and insert a blind zipper in the back of the cushion. Now, I've never done that before, so here goes...

Not bad! \o/

Now to finish the applique and the front of the cushion...

...maybe add a sweet glass bead for the birdie's eye...

 ...before I sew it all together!

It's going to look gorgeous in a white wicker chair...

Perhaps I'll add a pretty tassel to hang from the zip?

Then maybe it will end up on my bed. :-)

Either way, I love it!

This project helped me in a couple of ways. I got to try a blind zipper insertion, and whilst it may not be perfect to some, it is fabulous to me. The other bonus was finally using up the little scraps of Aviary that have been stored away for 'something'. In fact, I realised how much I really like this fabric range so I went online and bought a few fat quarters to make a matching cushion in the weeks ahead. 

~~~~~

Now, back to the Birdcage Weekend Sew-In next Saturday and Sunday. 

Click on the button at the top right hand side of my blog to find the information, and also to access all the wonderful free bird making links. If you have last month's Homespun magazine you can use Sarah Saliba's pattern for the birds and cage if you like. 

My lovely friend Ruth is an avid crocheter, so she went hunting online to find me some bird patterns for those of you who like to dabble in wool and crochet hooking! Here are some of them that you will love...

From Attic24 (I LOVE this blog!!)...

Little Green has this cute robin, plus owls at the same link...

 Crochet Me even has a Dodo!

Plus you'll find many different crochet bird patterns HERE at Crochet Central.

~~~~~

Have a lovely Sunday. We've enjoyed smoothies and malted raisin toast, and now I'm going to roast some vegetables for a pizza topping while we make the most of this slightly cooler weather. 

What are you up to?

Hugs

Jenny

xx

Things are looking up!

Thank you for your kind and thoughtful comments about my need to rest my hands.

I've done a lot of research and have been following some new strategies to alleviate the swelling in my hands as well as the tirggering of fingers. 

It's amazing to me that this seems to be working! I have completely quit all caffeine, stopped taking the Remifemin tablets (black cohosh to alleviate the menopausal hot flushes) which have been making me retain lots of fluid and affected my liver, and stopped all dairy and wheat.

To help rid my body of the excess fluid I now drink Dandelion Tea as my coffee replacement, make and drink glasses of parsley/celery/beetroot/ginger/apple juice every day, make cups of Red Clover Tea for the hot flushes, and drink soy milk in blueberry/banana smoothies each morning and afternoon.

The excess fluid is leaving, only one finger is still triggering on my left hand, but I can bend all the fingers on my left hand into a fist once more! \o/\o/

I cannot change the bad result of my surgery on the right hand middle finger last month - apparently the scar tissue has grown in such a way that it has 'bound' that finger giving it limited movement. That's ok - I can live with that. I just spent $2000 on the operation (money we did not have to spare) and I won't be having another. I will accept my hand the way it is now and work around it. 

~~~~~

Now for some more lovely news! 

My darling husband had a birthday yesterday, and instead of a birthday cake he wanted my cheesecake.

Filled with in-season fresh strawberries, he was a very happy chappy last night!

This morning he took me out for breakfast, just us, alone. It was very special as normally the kids come with us everywhere...but now they are in their late teens it seems more and more we have opportunity to do things just as a couple. After 30 years of constant parenting, this is a new path - a lovely path.

This is the card Blossom made for her dad. It's from a photo she took of he and I walking Bob-the dog when we lived at the school earlier this year...

Yep, me and my man. :-)

~~~~~

I also wanted to show you some sneak peeks of one of my new designs, a French inspired 4 piece set I have been slowly stitching....

I think you'll love it! Another week and it should be all finished with the pattern ready! I can't wait!!

~~~~~

I was blessed to be the recipient of Vickie's RAK this month, and her parcel of lovely things arrived to make my day...

The fabric is very *me*, and I love the runner pattern with the birds! Thank you so much dear Vickie!!

~~~~~

Now, next weekend is the -

Have you started making your birds yet? Will you be making a cage or using a birdcage you already have??

Next weekend is the time to finish putting it all together, and then Wendy and I want you to email us your photos. We'll have a wonderful time sharing all the photos on our blogs!

Wendy is coming here to visit with me on the 26th, so I'll be sure to take photos for you of our birds too.

Have a lovely weekend!

Hugs

Jenny

xxx

PS: Australian ladies, I have 10% off most fabrics, pre-cuts and quilt kits in my Ebay Shop HERE until midnight on the 20th!

Need to rest my hands...

Dear friends, I just wanted to let you know that I'll be away from the computer for the next few days to rest my fingers and hands.

My post-op finger is no better, in fact it is worse than before, and now every finger on my left hand is triggering too...there is a lot of fluid build up in my hand and fingers so I am sure these are related. 

I'll not be sewing or cooking or typing...just resting these very needed fingers and working on ridding my body of the excess fluid build-up.

For this reason I may extend the Zippper-me-up challenge into next month, and I will avoid having a Friday Show and Tell this week. Sorry about that, but my hands take priority at the moment.

Take care of yourselves, and be sure to look after your own health this week. Maybe you've got some resting to do too?

I'll leave you with a photo of what Lily Rose did to one of our banana trees on Sunday. She jumped up until she could grab the bunch of bananas and broke the tree to get them. Mr E had to remove the bananas from the tree, and now we'll see if they ripen ok...

Today she's eating mangoes that have fallen from the trees. She loves fruit apparently....

Hugs

Jenny

xxx

Lazy weekends....

I love lazy weekends. Not rushing to do anything, just enjoying each precious hour of down-time with my husband. 

After our regular routine of a casual walk down the street to the newsagent, picking up some fresh fruit and veg from the farmer who sells out of the back of his ute at the park, and a liesurely coffee on the back verandah, we do some chores - he mows the front lawn (we actually have grass after the rain), and I hang washing. That done, we settle down to things we enjoy. 

Hubby headed downstairs to his motorbike, the need to polish it was too strong for him to resist. And I finished up yesterday's re-organisation of my sewing room and the front verandah. 

 

I also put a pot of gorgeous red gerberas on the back table where we have coffee outside...

...and hung bags on the hooks in the hallway.

After lunch I finished the embroidery on a sweet new design...

...and made a Pumpkin & Kumara salad, plus Chick Pea balls & Harissa, to take to our friend's house for a pot luck dinner. 

Now Saturday is almost over. I wonder what Sunday will bring?

~~~~~

Before I sign off I wanted you to see Stephanie's birds.

Aren't they gorgeous!? 

This is very inspirational for me as the Birdcage Weekend Sew-In is only two weeks away. 

If you plan to do this with Wendy and myself, perhaps you can start making your birds now? I will start making mine soon, and spend that weekend making the cage. You can email photos to Wendy and I after the weekend for a special 'Sew and Show'. 

I have a lot of wonderful links to bird making HERE, and you'll find more that Wendy discovered HERE. 

Perhaps that's what I'll do on Sunday. Make birds. 

For now, I'm off to enjoy some Red Clover tea and honey before bed.

Have a lovely weekend, in your neck of the woods too.

Hugs

Jenny

xx

10th Friday Show & Tell...

Some wonderful things have arrived in my inbox this week, so sit back and enjoy the views...

Sheila has made the prettiest blue version of my free September Gum Tree design...

Katrien is up to date with her Daisy-do blocks. Her block 3 is lovely in the bronzed yellow!

Munaiba was inspired by last month's Re-Invention Challenge to use two old, but loved, linen dresses to recover this beautiful meditation stool...

Virginia in Chile is also working on Daisy-do blocks, and I love the colours she chose!

Carla Louise made a final item in the Re-Invention Challenge this week (you can see it on her blog), as well as following my ruffled pincushion tutorial and free redwork stitchery to make her own version!

(You can find my free redwork design HERE, and my pincushion tutorial HERE.)

Fiona has been staying on track with her Daisy-do blocks. This is block 3, and don't you LOVE those buttons!?

Thanks for showing me your projects, ladies! 

~~~~~

Now I intend to cook a quick dinner and settle down in my NEW white wicker chairs with Blossom and do some stitching on my new designs. Don't you love the chairs!?

Hugs

Jenny

xxx

Zipper-me-up Challenge for September

Some people can pop in a zipper with no effort or fore-thought. They are not zipper-phobics.

Some other people just gloss over a pattern that has a zipper and move on to the next zipper-less project they find.

I was one of them until early July this year, when I took a deep breath and, following some online tutorials, discovered that I loved playing with zippers! You can see some of the things Blossom and I made back then HERE and HERE.

To start this Challenge, I knew what my first project would be. I need a new make-up purse so I grabbed a fat quarter of fabric that I love (but have never found a use for), another co-ordinating print for the lining, and made a very simple pouch.

Now, this isn't some fantastic zippered item, but I wanted to make something simple first, to encourage those who really do shudder at the idea of playing with zippers to have a go.

I didn't use a tutorial - I managed to make this without a plan - but I did make use of the lessons I learn previously, making those smaller cosmetic cases in July (the link to the tute is HERE)...

 ~~~~~

Now to share with you some great zippered tutorials I found on the wonderful world-wide web!

1) A cute little money purse from Noodlehead can be found HERE...

2) A wonderful wristlet from Jody HERE...

3)The sweetest zipper-daisy from Linda HERE...

4) and also from Linda a new embellishment for those ballet flats HERE!

5) These are just beautiful! Felt zippered purses HERE from Julie! (This is my favourite zipper idea so far!)

6) ...and last one for tonight, this really unusual zipper bracelet from Becky HERE.

Ok...one more!

This last one is a tutorial from Lisa showing how to insert a concealed zipper in a bag...

You can find it HERE. This is a great site with lots of bags to make! 

~~~~~

Now...are you ready to play with those zippers yet? :-)

Hugs

Jenny

xxx

A little peek, and a present for Kezzie...

Spring has become summer in just 8 days. The heat is here and the air conditioner is back on after only a few months rest. Mosquitoes are everywhere, and our legs are spotted from ankle to knee already. The lavender oil is being used constantly as an instant cure to itching.

It's not yet time for our tropical wet season, but the last week has seen many nights of constant rain, and this has caused the sudden emergence of mass mosquitoes. 

In the garden we have another bunch of bananas emerging from their flowery head...

...and the birds are building nests in every tree in our yard. It's magical to sit outside and watch as Masked Honeyeaters sit atop the railing of the verandah and look over at me to say hello as I sip my morning cuppa. Then they pull rushes from my hanging baskets and carry them off to line their nests, as though I was quite agreeable to this arrangement. 

In the sewing room I've been having fun stitching up my next Shabby Roses Quilt in the 1930's fabrics...

But I needed a break and decided to stitch something for my eldest daughter, Kezzie (Karen). I found this gorgeous frame for her a while back but wasn't sure what to fill it with until today...

Don't you love that elephant!?

(No surprise that *I* love elephants!! LOL!)

~~~~~

Blossom has decided to return to studies and has quit her job at *that* shop. It was good for her to have this experience, it helped her see that she wasn't yet ready to enter the world of full-time employment. Her heart has always been to be a mother, so she is going to enroll in a Child Services course beginning in the New Year. In the meantime she will work on her craft, further her skills in graphic design, and perhaps find a part-time job for some extra pocket money. 

She's such a wise young woman and we're very proud of her!

I have a whole lot of wonderful links to help you with this month's Zip-Me-Up Challenge, and will share them tomorrow.

Blossom and I may even make a couple to show you. :-)

  Hugs

Jenny

xxx