Lately, the mists of guilt have started to descend whenever my thoughts turn to this blog; but then I remind myself that "not perfect, but good enough" goes for the writing of this blog just as much as it does for any of the "makes" I post about. I make no claim to be a prolific or conscientious blogger; my aim is to share ideas, to strengthen my belief in the joy of creativity over the search for perfection, and to hopefully inspire you to put a little time aside to get creating.
Having made my excuses, I was about to say my problem is that I have too many projects on the go, but a more positive way of looking at this is that there are several things I am working on, all of which I'm enjoying, and I'm looking forward to sharing them with you eventually. This isn't a race and I'm not setting myself monthly quotas of projects to complete. So you'll have to bear with me I'm afraid.
Which means that for the second time running I'm bringing you a project from the archives. This cushion was another Christmas present, this time for my mother, who has a liking for pictures of hares. So during a stay with the P's I made a sketch of a hare from a card M had received. When I got home I then scaled this up (drawing grid lines to help me) to make my template, based on which I sketched the opposing hare. For someone who is not an artist I'm pleased with the templates I produced - they actually look like hares!I think the red fabric for the hares works really well. I took care when placing the templates to position the circles in the pattern to be eyes. Like the teapot, the appliqué was fiddly - I had given myself some difficult angles. I think this project would have been easier if I had used Bondaweb (an adhesive which you can buy in sheets and use to bond fabrics together by ironing), and I will certainly consider using it if I attempt a similar project in the future (in fact I've been using it in one of my current projects and have been impressed with it - hopefully I'll be able to share the results with you soon!).
I have to say I'm really rather proud of this cushion. I think the combination of fabrics is striking, and would fancy making a series of cushions using these - a squirrel and a stag's head are two images that I think would work well. But maybe I should try to finish at least one or two of my current projects before making a start down this road...
M loved her present, which really was the most important outcome. It is a special thing to be able to give something you have made to someone you love - not only are you giving them the "thing", tailor-made to them and a product of the relationship between you, but you are also giving them the time you spent. I got a lot of joy from making this cushion, knowing how surprised and pleased M would be. The cushion is now proudly displayed in her living room.
