A magazine article and an owl...or two.

Hello all. It's been an odd week this week. Some good days, some productive days, some really crappy days, some very hectic days, and some relaxed family days. Very much a mixed bag. 

The little dumpy owls are the result of my productive day. 

 Evolved from my fat birds which everyone thought looked like owls anyway. I decided that I better go with the flow and actually design them to look as much like owls as I could instead of a owlishly looking bird. Let's hope they as popular as their predesessors!

 So with a bit of tweaking and adaptation I've created a snuggly little handful. They're filled with wheat which gives them a little bit of weight and the option to gently warm them in the microwave for a comfort cuddle. 

They're a quite addictive.

 and take over quite quickly.

On my good day, I received a virtual copy of the March issue of Bustle and Sew Magazine from Devon Bear who had very kindly asked if she could write an article about MarmaladeRose. The result was a lovely little piece featuring little old me as her blog of the month. Thank you sweetie. 

Gosh they get everywhere those owls.

Till next time

love Fi x

PS. I'm going into the kitchen now for a silent scream. It's taken me hours to write this post because Blogger it appears has been tweaking too. Why can't they leave things alone AAAARGH!

Would you believe those pesky hens!

Look at this lovely bowl full of free range eggs all laid by our beautiful girls. Yes laid by our beautiful girls, not in our hen house though, no... in our neighbours hen house! For weeks now we've only be getting one egg a day sometimes none at all and the reason being that they've all been trundling off to the other side of the bank to lay their eggs in another hen house! Our neighbour who's a bit of a 'fair weather' hen keeper discovered them all yesterday in her coop. Goodness knows how many days they've been going over there! Pesky hens. hmmmpf!
This one is much less trouble though.

She looks very sweet but not too bright.

Oops! I think she took offence at that last comment.

I think I might have offended them all!

Looks like they've sent me to Coventry ;)

I've had a little break from hen handling today and made up some of my greeting cards. 

Anyhow time for bed now, early start in the morning.

Fi x

Maybe we'll have some cushion love next time.

Following Fat Birds, Fat Hens.

You know how we love our hens here in the MarmaladeRose household, you might even spy a pesky hen in the background of this photo. Please keep it to yourselves though as that pesky hen is actually in next doors back garden, oops! And the lady next door doesn't like hens in her back garden, even bigger oops! To be honestly honest we're not the terrible neighbours that you might think as that pesky hen isn't actually ours. No it belongs to another neighbour but likes to live in our hen house with our girls (obviously giving them a bad name by association). Wonderful Man and I will catch her later when she's not looking and clip her wing, that should do the trick.
These little fat hens on the other hand are very well behaved. They evolved from my fat bird design and are filled with wheat so they can be gently warmed in the microwave and cupped in your palm all toasty and warm.

I don't think Lady Gaga is too sure though. I think she sees them as competition or maybe she can just smell the wheat and sees them as lunch!

You've heard the saying about things snowballing...well here's a  larger hen to make a fabby doorstop.
OO! They look like they're sat having a good old gossip, lol.

Oops! I think one of them heard me!

Fat Birds Rule.

Meet 'Fat Bird'.
When inspiration strikes you've got to just go with the flow before it evaporates.
So thinking caps were donned and much sketching ensued.

Many prototypes were designed and made and abandoned, then even more head scratching followed.

Fabric was measured, cut, stitched and snipped. Pencils were chewed and tongues stuck out in concentration.Much mess was made as well as chaos organised, I daren't show you the heap of stuff on the floor and the bed.And eventually little 'fat birds' were born and somehow evolved into owlets.

Just large enough fill the cupped palm of your hand and full of wheat should they need to be gently warmed in the microwave to keep those hands cosy.

I don't think this is the last we've seen of fat birds or maybe even fat other things yet.

And in a nod to the date today I managed to fit in a bit of 'yarnstorming' here and there in the village.

Wishing you a happy Valentines Day.

fi x

Paper Hearts and Discruntled Hens.

I'm taking a break from hexagons.
I've been having a play around instead. Something we all need to do now and again.

Inspired by Dottie Angel's stitched paper I sewed fabric hearts onto some old printed pages and cut them out.

I particularly like the the ones with a bit of map on the back.

So they are now dangling in my porch which is open to the elements, so it will be interesting to see how long they last before looking a bit sad and past themselves. I think the term will definitely be 'weathered'.

Till next time

fi x

Vintage hexy cushion No3.

Hello lovely ladies. Are you all hexed out yet?

or

can you manage another session of floral 6 sidedness?

and we're talking a lot of hexagons here, in fact were talking more hexagons than I had envisaged due to a mistake made with my cushion pad order!
Yep! I counted 92 little seams stitched, with a bit of lace thrown in for good measure.

It came as a bit of a shock when after stitching all my hexagons together I ripped open the parcel containing my new cushions to find a whopping great big 20"x24" cushion where there should have been a much smaller one.

Well you know what they say, 'If you've got lemons, make lemonade', so I got the fabric and scissors back out and added even more hexagons to make my cushion front large enough. Here it is ready to have a nice cotton backing attached to cover up all those patched raw edges. I can't bare having an untidy backside...if you get my meaning.

All that is left is my ta-daa moment so are you ready...

Ta-daa!

As is often the case, I rather like the backside too!

love fi x

Machine Hexed. part 3

Good morning you lovely lot. (Thank you for the Garden Wall appreciation.)

My journey with machine sewing hexagons has continued on a little. At the suggestion of a lovely new friend I've been stitching these together by only using seam allowance as a guide rather than marking with pen lines.

Still fiddly and very time consuming (but nowhere near as time consuming as hand piecing!) and there is a certain amount of guess work when it comes to starting a finishing each little seam but on the whole it's working.

Even though these hexes are quite large, you need more than you think to make a piece of fabric large enough for the front of a cushion cover!
Needless to say the back isn't hexed!
But never the less a rather gorgeous vintage looking squishy cushion.

There's been a little bag making too since I last posted. Inspired by the recent issue of Molly Makes. I made mine differently and to my own pattern though.

Not my usual style of bag but more a messenger shape. I'm particularly loving the old brown leather button that secures the lined front pocket.

Made from seriously scrummy Sanderson fabric and lined with some soft, blue spottiness, a skirt in a previous life. (waste not, want not)

I knotted the extra long strap at one side so that the length can be altered for 'across the body' or 'on the shoulder' wear. Hmmm... I'm not altogether sure about this bag, I think I will have to revisit this style of bag and have another play around with it some time. I feel the need for a little 'tweaking'.

And on the sewing machine today...

More hexagons.

Fiddly? Yes.

But obviously not fiddly enough as I've decided to add some lace too!

When will I learn!!!

Oh well...my mother always said I enjoyed a challenge!

love fi x