Fugly fabrics!

Ok, been loving checking out all your fugly fabrics and couldn't wait to join in the party, so here are my offerings! UK entries only please, I just don't have the pennies for international postage :( That's *if* anyone wants any of these, I would like to claim they found their own way into my stash, but sadly, I think I actually paid for all of them!

So number 1:

This batik is somewhat reminiscent of tribal drawings in it's design, but this photo really doesn't do justice to the clash of colours in this design! The highlights are definitely the neon greens, yellows and pinks. If you get this one, you will need your sunglasses!

Number 2:

 Hideous, just hideous! The flowers on this are like peppercorn size and the colours are just...there are no words.

Number 3:

 This is a lovely soft fabric, I think it's called brushed cotton. This one's ok I guess, but I just don't know what I'm gonna use it for. It has stars, hearts, holly and reindeer on it.

Number 4:

 This is some kind of organza-ey fabric in a gunmetal grey. Again an okay fabric, but no clue what I will do with it, there's quite a bit of it too!

Number 5:

:-| Literally. That's the face I am making. I can only think I broke into an old lady's house and stole her curtains. If no one takes this I may break into an old lady's house and leave this as a 'present'... in the loosest sense of the word!

Number 6:

 This one is a sort of forest green colour, not particularly objectionable but doesn't go with anything else I own.

And finally, number 7:

This one's actually really cute, but I got it to make a stuffed lizard for my ex so I'd rather just get shot of it to be honest.

So if you would like any of these, just follow my blog and leave me a comment :)

Having seen this little button:

...on a couple of blogs today, I decided to find out more:
http://charmaboutyou.blogspot.com/p/fugly-fabric-party.html

I seem to have come late to the party, so a lot of the fabric has already gone :( Anyhow, I want to get involved so I am off to try and find some fugly fabric...watch this space!

Shaving soap

Ooh, forgot to mention, I recently tried making my own solid shaving soap, at my dad's request. He always uses solid soap and a badger bristle brush, and since I started making my own soaps he's been wondering if I could make a workable alternative to the Crabtree and Evelyn one he usually buys. So I rootled (technical term!) around on the net for a recipe but wasn't grabbed by any of them, so made up my own! I used about 150g melt-and-pour soap, with about 2mls of sandalwood essential oil (could do with more next time), 1tsp of bentonite clay and 1 tbsp of goat's milk powder. Dad is really chuffed with it, he made me feel his freshly-shaved face and it was indeed silky smoth! I think next time maybe half a tsp more bentonite clay, and it really needs to be white soap, not clear, just for aesthetics. Plus I need to remember to make the two powdered ingredients into a paste with a drop or two of water before adding to the soap. No photies for this one, I'm afraid, as dad snaffled (another technical term) it as soon as it was made!

My bunny boy

Ok, so today I have made some snuggle safe covers! If you haven't heard of a snuggle safe, it's like a hot water bottle for animals. It's a solid round thing that you pop in the microwave, and it's safe because your animal can't chew into it like they would a hot water bottle. So I have one for my bunny, which leads me nicely into a little introduction!
This is Mr Beau Jangles:

A friend of mine got him when she was very depressed, but quickly realised a bunny wouldn't fit in with her lifestyle, so we took him in... best decision I ever made! He is an absolute sweetheart! It took a while for us to get to this stage...three years in fact, but he will now come to us for attention and can't get enough of you stroking his face and ears! He was originally called Miss Sophie Jingles! It wasn't until he went in to be spayed that we discovered she was in fact a he, and 'Mr Beau Jangle' became! So that's why my blog is so-named, in case you were wondering!

So I made a snuggle safe cover for him, and had lots of fleece left over, so I've made 5 more and I'm hoping to pass them on to a rescue, either for their own bunnies or for some fundraising:

And finally...

I made this bag on Wednesday night... ok, you got me, it was what we crafters call a UFO  (Unfinished Object) and I finally got it finished on Wednesday. I bought the pattern from Hannah's Room's stall at the National Quilt show at the NEC ooh about 7 or 8 years ago! I didn't like one of the fabrics, so spent ages trying to find one to replace it, then I did the piecing for the front and free-motion quilted, then couched the yarns between the pieces, then I got stuck for a few years, then I beaded it, then stalled again. But finally it's finished:

And a close-up of the sunflower detail:

FYI here's the link to Hannah's Room: http://www.hannahsroom.co.uk/home.php. I always make a beeline for their stall at the show, I love batiks!!

My latest quilt

Ok this is my latest quilt. I have 4 of the jelly roll books by the mother and daughter pair, Pam and Nicky Lintott. I loooooove jelly rolls! For those not in the know, a jelly roll is a set of 40 strips from the same fabric range, so they come already co-ordinating, a godsend for someone like me! The pattern for this quilt was in this book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Two-One-Jelly-Roll-Quilts/dp/0715337564 and I used a jelly roll called Nicey Jane by Heather Bailey. I intentionally try and choose fabrics that are out of my comfort zone - my rule of thumb is 'Would my mum buy this?' and the answer I'm looking for is no! Anyway, here is the quilt:

I love it, and have used it to cover my ripped chair at work, to cheer me up on even the most dismal Monday morning.
And the best thing about the patterns in this particular edition? Each one only uses half a jelly roll, so I still have another half a jelly roll to use! I've got all the cutting done so I plan to get started on the sewing over half term, which begins tomorrow! :)

Quilts Two and Three

My second quilt will always have a special place in my heart, not just as I made it for my best friend's baby, my god-daughter to be, but also because I started properly working on it during our holiday in Ireland, where my partner and I got engaged. Here's the ring for those who are interested ;)

So anyway, the quilt! This quilt was inspired by my mum's style. She has only been quilting for a few years, but has such an eye for colour and design, she's got to the stage where I think even her teacher is in awe of her! So I designed my applique patches first, with several bunnies thrown in for good measure (I LOVE bunnies!!) and then designed the quilt around these. The fabric is a jelly roll of Oasis by Three Sisters for Moda: http://www.unitednotions.com/fcc_Oasis.pdf (I love love LOVE Moda fabrics... I have my eye on a jelly roll by 'Bunny Hill Designs for my next baby quilt, for obvious reasons!) Anyway, I am rambling, here's the quilt!

Excuse the wonky picture! In fact excuse the quality of my camera work generally - it's not my strong suite! Will try to work on it, specially for you ;)

Then of course I 'had' to make a quilt for baby's sister (poor me!) I had just the fabrics - a set of glittery star and unicorm fabrics I had bought a few years earlier, originally planning to make myself a lap quilt. There was no real plan to this design. I cut out as many unicorns as I could first, then made the applique patches because I just love to sit and hand-applique in front of the TV in the evenings, and then I wanted a patchy square to showcase the fabrics for the remaining squares. I sewed them together, then backed with pink fleece, and Bob's your aunty's dentist's cat's vet's mother!