Crafting and such

Fresh off the sewing machine is this decorative pillow. I'm glad to have finished it since it was kind of an abandoned project for a while. The pattern is by Susan Pinick of "On Pins and Needles," but I can't find a website for her to link to--she had a booth at a local quilt show where I got the pattern.


The wool felt bunny is hand appliqued onto another piece of wool, which was then appliqued to my fabric. After trying her variations (see original below), I chose only a few plain embellishments for mine.


This project was rather labor intensive for what it actually is. I decided to do buttons on the back in case I should ever have to wash it (hope not). I used a vintage button maker my mom gave me to make covered buttons. I also had to refresh myself on how to make buttonholes on my sewing machine. The last thing I did was finish the seams with my serger, which required lots of manual reading to thread the thing. So all in all, a most useful project :o)


It's not without its design features, though. I love this fabric but it never occurred to me to see if there's an up or a down to this print. My little birds are all diving towards the ground because they are upside down.

I continue with the Ultra Alpaca shrug. I love 4-row lace! There's the benefit of knitting lace without having to slog through a lot of charts or use stitch markers, etc. It's a very enjoyable project. I've knitted into it the BBC documentary Windsor Castle: A Royal Year, about the inner workings of the Queen's official residence, which is by turns fascinating and bizarre.


I'm also reading this book by British artist David Webb and thinking of trying watercolor again now that school's back in session.