Meet the new Hoots!

At last, I've made some new Hoots!

These little ones are ready for the Shirt and Skirt Market at Abbotsford Convent this Sunday 20 January. I am having a bit of a fire sale, so come on down!

A surprise Hoot!

Well, look at this! What do we have here?

This is an early edition Flickettysplits "Hoot" owl .... that I discovered, quite by chance, on display at GJ's Discount Fabric Store in Lygon Street!

It was such a nice surprise to see this little guy set up on a shelf. I remember selling this one at a Made N Thornbury market a looooong time ago - maybe three years? - so it was a really pleasant shock to see him again.

GJ's have lots of toys on display to show what you can do with fabrics when you put different colours and patterns together. I feel very proud to have one in the mix.

Stalked on Etsy!

My bathroom bag has been featured on EtsyStalker!

Whoo hoo! Check out the link here if you'd like to see the original post. It's all about moving out of home for uni, and some of the things you can use to ease the transition... it's called "From the nest to the dorm".

I have never heard of EtsyStalker before, (has anyone out there ever heard of it?) but that has absolutely no bearing on the fact that I'm completely rapt to find this out.

I get such a blast when someone likes one of my things. It's part of the whole reason I started doing markets - because yes, on the face of it, markets take up heaps of time (especially on the precious weekends) and you often get rained on, and sometimes blown over, and every now and again you have a really rubbish day where you hardly sell anything .... but I tell you, the rush I get when I sell *anything* is completely worth it.

I love the look on a little person's face when they pick up a Hoot or a Catticus. I love it when people rush over to look at some of the amazing fabrics I use. I love it when a little girl tugs her mother over by the hand to see one of my Perfect Pencilrolls.

I love it because I made it, and in some way it's like that little bit of particular happiness would never have existed without me. And that makes me feel worthwhile (and on special days, super powerful and almighty. But only for a moment.).

Recently Thornberry did a post on the whole market vibe thing and asked people why they chose to sell at craft markets. I really enjoyed reading the range of responses - I highly recommend you check out the post - which varied from my little bit of happiness thing, through to it being a way to connect with the community, and also the very common "I sell craft so I can buy more craft supplies" - which is certainly true for me too.

I for one am really glad to see the resurgence in craft markets and the desire to buy local and support your artistic, crafty community. I'm glad for the chance to meet up with others like me. I'm glad I get to send a little bit of happiness out into the world, happiness that is unique and special and might never have existed if I hadn't slaved over a hot sewing machine to create it.

Nothing beats that buzz - crafters, together we are raising the happiness quotient in the world!!

Long may it last.

(and if blogger could please just sort out this weird spacing thing I'm experiencing, my day would be complete.)

Introducing Appleblossom Hoot

Here is my new Hoot, I think I'll call him Appleblossom.

That, or Pinkeye. Which do you prefer?

I'm churning through these now, and I love the opportunity it's giving me to be really creative with my fabrics.

For this one, I used some printed canvas drill on the front that I picked up at Spotlight in Penrith a few weeks ago.

I matched it with a crisp red and white floral vintage cotton that came to me via a friend whose mother was clearing our her stash. Classic red polka dot ears seemed the best match I could make with that.

And I tied in the orange from the flower print, with orange corduroy feet as well.

On the reverse side, I chose an ice-blue and chocolate Jennifer Paganelli print.

All my Hoots are designed so that you can play peekaboo with the wings, and the blue of this fabric really matches the blue in the flower print on the front.

And to finish, a tiny sprigged floral canvas drill that I've had in the cupboard for ages. Isn't it nice when you can finally use some fabric that's been in the stash for a long time, just waiting for the right thing?

Hoot hoot!!

Two Hoots and a new quilt

Here's my latest project, I just made it today.

It's a cot quilt (or swaddle, or receiving blanket, or lap quilt, or whatever else you might like to call it) for a colleague at work who's shortly expecting a little girl.

I've made it out of a combination of fabrics - some vintage, some new - and the aim was for it to not be too "girly". So I filled it up with bright colours, but not a lot of pink.

I'm with the mother on this one - if there's one thing in the world I can't abide (and okay, there are many things in fact) it's the Disney pink that little girls seem to be awash in from birth until about the age of nine.

What is it with that fricking colour? Honestly, there are so many other, better colours out there!

So here is my new quilt, in the colours of the rainbow and tied up with a lovely cerulean blue satin ribbon. I put fleece inside as the filler, rather than quilt wadding, and I finished it off with a red pinwale corduroy on the reverse side. I hope she likes it!

And I've made these two little guys in recent days as well.

The pink one with orange eyes is my Hepatitis Hoot. I think he looks a bit under the weather - which is appropriate, given that I made him while I've been sick for the last week.

The yellow one is Chirpy Hoot, because he's yellow like a hen.

The birth of the Bowling Pin Bunny

Ah, the fruits of today's labours. They look like they're enjoying hanging out together, too.

On the right is a new variation on the Hoot theme. This one's made from sublimely soft paisley flannelette, in this bright pink and yellow pattern. I think I got this fabric off eBay last year, and I made myself a pair of pajama pants out of it for winter. These are just the leftover scraps, and don't they work well as a Hoot?

The wings, ears and feet are made out of an old flannelette pillowcase I found on that great anniversary weekend to Mildura - my, that was a productive weekend!

On the left is a new creature, made freehand today out of a few scraps I've had for a while. The warm furry bottom half is really textural and lovely, like a soft chenille robe. It's a colour my mother has always called Elephant's Breath.

The top half is a gorgeous pale pink Warwick upholstery fabric - again, it's got a lovely texture. The ears are backed in the same fabric but lined at the front with a Liberty print in chocolate and pink.

I stuffed him with cotton wadding, so he's really firm and good to hold. He'd be a good toy for a really little kid, because there's nothing on him that could be a choking hazard - his eyes and mouth are embroidered - and he's just the right size to grab with one hand.

I freely admit he looks a bit like a bowling pin with ears, but I think he's pretty cute regardless! I'm going to call him the Bowling Pin Bunny.

My TIDY creative space

Okay, so Kootoyoo's My Creative Space meme has finally caused me to tidy up the horrible mess of a dining table which masquerades as my creative space. Thank you, Kootoyoo, I owe you one.

And look at this! Here is a lovely neat photo to show you as a result.

This is what's currently on my creative space. Amy Butler's (relatively) new In Stitches book, which is filled with lots of lovely projects. AND it includes pattern sheets in a little envelope at the front.

I bought this on the weekend ... I've been thinking it over for a while, and then of course I was possessed by an impulse and just bought it.

Of course, I'm never going to make some of the things in it ... like an incredibly complicated quilt, or a bed valance (I mean, really)... but there are others, like the cushions and the napkins and the placemats, that look really fun.

The book is lying on top of my new Cocoa Sugar Snap fabric by Melissa Averinos. Did I tell you she wrote me a comment on Monday night? I'm still quivering with shock and awe, but at least I've stopped hyperventilating.

I think I might use some of this lovely fabric to make one of my Perfect Picnic Rolls. It's just the loveliest, brightest fabric - the way the fuschia and tangerine colours pop is just beautiful. I think it would be the ideal picnic accessory.

And then over on the left of the photo is a small saucer of buttons. I got a button kit from Etsy recently and it's been great fun to use up my fabric scraps on lovely little buttons! Now I can coordinate the eyes of my various creatures with the fabric they're made out of.

Back to sewing tonight then! I have the Shirt and Skirt market coming up in late April, but before that I've got a cushion to finish, two Hoots to make, an Ellyfump, and a dinosaur as well....