I Spy: Ben Venom and heavy metal quilts

Ben Venom. Image from http://benvenom.blogspot.co.uk/

I was reading this list of male crafters when I spied Ben Venom. He makes the most amazing quilts made out of old heavy metal t-shirts. Apparently he tours around the U.S. with them. I love his designs and the up-cycling involved. Amazing!

Don't break my heart

A friend of mine was going in for heart surgery. She asked for cheesy and bad-taste songs. I sent her as many as I could think of and then made her the above. The background and heart are felt. I made the words by painting onto calico with fabric paint. 

Exciting new Indian clothes: but bad material

I know that I've kind of fallen out of the blogging world in the last few weeks. That's because I've moved to India! I've been busy moving from hotels to a flat and settling in. I have unpacked my craft materials and am in the process of making something for a friend so stay posted - I'll be blogging that soon.

For now I thought I'd share these amazing "dresses" (they're not dresses but I don't know what they're called - help anyone?) that I bought the other day. These are my first Indian clothes and I'm hoping they will allow me to blend in a little (ha ha ha - unlikely!). I love the patterns on these. I'm particularly smitten with the one on the right because of the garish clashing of bright pink and lime green. Awesomeness. 

The only downside to these is that the quality of the cotton is really bad. I'd been told this would be the case with Indian cottons but it's still a little surprising. The cotton is very thin and kind of rough. Definitely not cosy. I'm hoping with a few more washes it'll soften up.

A map of New Zealand in felt

I made this map for my father as it was his birthday the other week. It's New Zealand. We went there once together so it has fond memories for us.

Can you spot the mistake I made?

A way to use a jellyroll

This is very simple way to use a jellyroll. I've decided jellyrolls are one of my new favourite things. In case you don't know what a jellyroll is - it's a bundle of fabric cut into strips for you. They're very useful for using as borders in quilts. However, I decided to use them to make the main body of a quilt wall-hanging.

This was super easy to make! I just machined the strips together and added the border. Then I put this on top of some plain backing material with some fleece in the middle to act as wadding. Next, I hand-stitched simple lines in running stitch to quilt it.

It's not quite finished in these photos as I haven't sewn up the edges yet. That's because I moved to India before I was quite finished.

I think this is simple but effective. It's a great way of using a roll of beautiful fabrics.

Guest Post: Working with fabric when you can't sew

As I've briefly mentioned I'm off to India this week! (eek!). As I am busy cramming everything I own into two bags mrsmcindoe offered to write me a guest post. f you haven't seen her blog yet you should pop over and have a nose. She makes really beautiful paper-cuts and the most amazing lampshades. If I ever have a house I am so commissioning one.

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I love fabric. Always have. Such fond memories of trips to Weekes department store in Tunbridge Wells to look at the haberdashery department, along with Barsleys in Paddock Wood and Beatties in Solihull. Mum made many of our clothes when we were little, along with various home furnishings - done as many mums at the time did, in order to save a few pennies. Seemed to me like all mums could make replacement seat pads and school pinafore dresses when I were a lass! Mum also made amazing wall hangings - these days they would be called mixed media installations I think! Fabric and ribbon and buttons and twigs and pine cones and shiny stuff all sewn onto a hessian backing. And of course all those other things that go with small children - kit bags, Indian headdresses, cowboy waistcoats, school play costumes, soft toys for the church fete, patches on knees, hems up, hems down!

So I think I just assumed that one day I would be able to sew. I managed the basics at primary school and even managed to sew a stuffed owl (although I did glue the eyes on). I only had one bad incident - when sewing Brownie badges ono my uniform, which I did on my lap, I managed to attach the badge to the uniform, but also to the skirt and tights I was wearing - many tears and much unpicking. When I was a bit older I had a go with Mums sewing machine. I managed to do a straight line, kind of, and a little bit of round the corner-ing. Forwards, backwards, even a zig zag! And I kind of thought that was it, I could sew. Dreams of doing all these wonderful things when I was a mum, just like mine did.

Then disaster. Mum upgraded her sewing machine and I was entrusted with the old one - its a really lovely thing - the soft glowing light, that special sewing machine smell, and the most fabulous 'singer blue' colour. And so I thought Wowzers, I can make all sorts of stuff now. The problem is, well, firstly it was that there was no instruction manual. I managed to find the original one online - some kind person out there had scanned in all the pages - how lovely of them! Didn't make any difference. Then the problem was the wrong thread. So I changed it all, re-wound all the bobbins and so on. Didn't help. Then it was the material - it was obviously too thin/thick/stretchy. Didn't help. Um... then needle - needs changing... and the machine needs oil. Didn't help. IT NEEDS A SERVICE! Yay, surely...... but no...

So I have unfinished cushion covers, a bag from John Lewis with a simple dress pattern lovely green material, zip and trim, still neatly wrapped up, a very odd looking mouse shape that looks more like a breast implant - I can't even remember what it was supposed to be! And the machine is tucked away in the spare bedroom, gathering dust. My love of fabric has to stay tucked away in the corner, and in the third draw down of the bureau (thesewing basket and the lovely fabrics, and the zips and buttons - plus the knitting needles and wool - a whole other story!)

It is all very sad. Sad that I can't sew, and sad that I don;t have the time (and not even the inclination really) to learn how.

So then it is all very odd- that I am now working with fabric! My lampshades are made out of fabric!! It does make me chuckle a little to myself every time I make a new shade - I can make things out of fabric without having to sew - how very delightfully wonderful! And I have plans.... plans that involve more fabric! But my involvement will have to be strictly limited to the design side, and I will employ someone else to do the sewing for me. So I will have fabric in my life, even if I can't sew!

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Thank you mrsmcindoe!! I have to confess that somedays when I'm feeling particularly lazy I have been known to whip out the glue to finish something off rather than sewing it down. There are lots of things you can do with fabric rather than having to sew it.

Top 3 blogs in all of today

I may have spent a bit too much time this morning browsing the interwebs. But what else are rainy Monday mornings for?

I am kind of in love with the above yellow and blue combination at the moment. And yes I realise it looks like Ikea. But I like Ikea so all is good. 

I found three excellent new blogs. They're not new in a general sense, just new to me. All have now been added to my reader and I heartily recommend going and checking them out (so fun!).

1. A Beautiful Mess. This is an amazing blog. I can't believe I haven't come across it before. It's run by two lasses Elsie and Emma. It's a lifestyle blog "focused on creating a beautiful life". It's crammed full of wonderful photos and advice that make me yearn for nest-making.
2. Scientific Culture. A blog where science and cuteness have snuggled up together. Kate, who writes it, also runs a lovely etsy store selling cute science things she's made herself. A great blog that is full of inspiration and fun things. I look forward to reading more of this.
3. Skunkboy.  A lovely crafty lady writes about her projects and posts beautiful outfit posts.

So there you are. A good way to spend a few hours.

P.s. I made the above picture using PicMonkey.