New Blog

My new blog about my new fabrics and clothes, the aim of the blog is to promote these things using pictures and minimal write ups. The fabric in this picture is my 'London Calling' design and am using it to make a very cool skirt. Again I had the fabric made with Spoonflower - my new best friend.

kimono Silk Patchwork

I love kimono silks and my love of paper piecing works great with them because they are so thin and floppy to work with. The paper templates are a great way of stabilizing the material.

As you can see I am using them for a fan block, the completed one is a Dresden plate block which I made years ago. These are good blocks for kimono silk pieces which I buy and are not always all that big.

Kimonos - true love forever

I have a problem when I get such beautiful fabrics, I can't bare to cut them up! I may not use this for a project but seam it and wear it as a scarf -yum!

Treasury Tuesday: My Orange Valentine

'My Orange Valentine' by L1zW

Orange is a warm colour and a sexy smell. Awaken your senses with colours, tastes and fragrances that will ignite passion. Yum!

As you can my re-ignited love affair with Etsy has resulted in a romantic, steamy treasury list for Valentine's Day. Husband take note.

Storeyshop $6.00	VintageRethrea... $16.00	EmilyBalivet $15.00	dancinggrassho... $6.00
roufe $35.00	SimplyTempted $6.00	FusionSweets $8.99	BiscottiQueen $6.00
sandynejedly $12.00	Souperspices $4.50	lollidreams $27.00	themuddymoose $4.50
thedirtyhousew... $4.50	TheMoongladeGa... $1.49	FusionSweets $6.50	ADKaromatherap... $4.00

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

kangaroo

kangaroo
Originally uploaded by liz_watkin

I made this kangaroo by special request for a dear friend who collects them. I am really pleased with how it turned out. It's been some time since I made any cross stitch, and this has reminded me of how much fun it is!

My First Cross Stitch Commission

From little acorns! The friend I mentioned with the new Etsy shop Crashboxdesign has commissioned me to make her a cross stitch picture of a kangaroo. We chose this design which is from the Australian road sign. She wants it done in reverse like the fawn and squirrel I did before. So I printed out the sign directly onto graph paper to save the job of tracing it and because it has been enlarged it pixellated itself quite conveniently. As you can see, the design is very fluid so I will need to incorporate half-cross stitches to keep the curves.

A great little project for Zambia. One of many I hope. Pictures are a bit fuzzy because I used the web cam - I have packed my camera!

Zakka Inspired MP3 Player Sleeve

My sister was the one who suggested making ipod sleeves. I don't have an ipod, but I have an MP3 player that is beginning to get a bit banged around after so much commuting. I've recently become obsessed with the Zakka style and wanted to do a little project.

I made the sleeve over 2 evenings, in total, it really only took a couple of hours.

I cut the felt pieces and made sure they would fit over the sides, with extra for sewing the seam. I then added the cute little shapes with simple running stitch. I blanket stitched the two pieces together in contrasting embroidery thread - 2 strands. After sewing two of the sides, I cut a hole so I can see the display and use the select dial. I then stitched this to add to the style and also to prevent the felt from stretching. I sewed the other edges and left a little gap on one side so I could reach the button that locks it.

I really like the felt, the colours are so bright and zingy! Plus it looks good with the thread. Next time I will back it with cotton to further prevent it becoming mishapen, and to tidy up the stitching.

Inspiraton Board

A couple of years ago, I was living in Zambia as a VSO volunteer. There I met my now-fiancee and at the end of our placements we decided to do some traveling together. We went to Zanzibar and Namibia. Here is an inspiration board put together of those times around the colour orange. Orange has become one of my favourite colours to quilt with because of its vibrancy and edginess.
While in Zambia I bought a lot of chitenges - these are pieces of cloth the women wrap around their waists as a kind of sarong. They come in a myriad of colours and I am currently mulling over how to make them into a quilt...

Crazy for Silk

Below is a picture of the first example from my crazy patchwork quilt. I am using vintage kimono silks. I love these silks, the patterns are stunning. I decided on crazy patchwork because silk is fiddly and I didn't feel ready to try and make them into accurate blocks, though I might try that next with fusible interfacing.

Next step is to embroider the patch.