Change of mind

As you may have read in an earlier post, I started a lap blanket for an elderly man last week.  The plan was to go along Little Woollie's mixed stitch stripey theme.

However after doing a few stripes I thought this is too complicated and time consuming to be done in a hurry.  I really do want to do that type of blanket, but at an easy pace when I can get it right.

So this is the result so far.  I am using the famous Attic24 Granny Stripe pattern, that gives you a nice thick even blanket with not much effort.  I am quite liking the colour combination and it looks a lot brighter when you are looking at the actual thing.

Yesterday I sat outside in the sun (yes we do get sun in Ireland) and did several colours.  It was quite therapeutic, as I didn't have to concentrate much and I could see to do it without glasses, as the light was so bright.

Wednesday Wishes - Hoop Art

I am going to start a weekly post about things I want to try or things that I would like to buy one day. It may be ideas that I have seen to give me inspiration or things that others have made that I find beautiful.

This weeks topic is "hoop art".  This is a relatively new idea of framing a piece of work in a wooden hoop, which was traditionally used to hold the fabric taut when sewing embroidery.  I think it is a good idea as these hoops are quite cheap and they are easy to hang up and you can easily paint them if you want a particular colour.

The great example above is from The Happy Hoot on Etsy.

In the next one the artist has appliquéd a cute Christmas type scene with an English Robin.  I like the fact that you can make the picture 3D with layers of felt or beads etc.

This example is from Ralooland on Etsy.

This is another 3D example from In Little Houses on Etsy and shows how effective the hoop art can be as a work of art.

This is another interesting example from Short Girl Designs using embroidered letters on pattern fabric together with a quilled paper heart. 

You can make an almost instant display by getting 3 different sized hoops and placing circles of different fabrics in them and hanging them.  As you would know there is some amazing art work on fabric nowadays, especially on quilting fabric. It is probably best to put two layers of fabric per hoop to make it more opaque.

I hope these examples will give you some inspiration to do some relatively quick art work to hang up or give as gifts.

Owl Mandala Ta-dah

In my last post I asked you to guess what bird the mandala would turn into - it is my favourite bird - the Owl.

This project was fun to do and I thank Zootyowlcards for putting the pattern on her blog (see here).

I followed the pattern pretty much how it is, but I altered the beak, as you can see from the photo.
I am going to stiffen the owl with PVC glue (pasted on the back) so I can hang her with the other mandalas in my craft room.

I really do love owls.  In Australia I went mad at one stage making various versions.