Isn’t it lovely? This was my little patchwork swap treat from my partner Clara (who has no blog). A little quilted zipper pouch done with some beautiful fabrics. And she sent me a big stack of patchwork squares. Here are just some of my favorite ones (the little black and white drawn vegetable print is fantastic–anyone know where it’s from?).

I sent out my little package today. I made a patchwork needlebook that turned out a little too big, so I hope my partner has lots of needles to store!

And of course she got a big stack of scraps as well. I hope she likes it (I’ll tell you who she is as soon as she gets it).

That’s it I’m afraid. I’m worn out from 2 whiny babies who don’t seem to need sleep.

little jack horner sat in a corner,

eating his christmas pie:

he put in his thumb, and pulled out a plum

and said, “what a good boy am I!”

Here he is pulling out the plum! I was really nervous about tackling the pie and the plum, but surprisingly I didn’t have problems with either (problems with my sewing machine that resulted in very loud swearing, yes). The pie plate has pintucks all around and is stuffed with foam and cotton batting. The pie is a natural linen lined with a purple and red print that I have ridiculous amounts of. I don’t normal like purple, but I thought that it almost looked like the inside of a plum pie: all red and purple and oozy. The pie is just gathered and hand sewn to the plate. I have no idea where this idea came from, but I think it actually looks like the crimped edge of a pie. And as I used to be a baker, I am especially proud of it. The pie also has a little pocket on top to hold the plum. I sewed the pocket in and then made a little bias tape and finished it with that. It looks okay, but I think there are neater ways of doing something like this (putting an invisible pocket not on a seam) that I don’t know of yet. I made the plum from this beautiful deep purple (really, I never liked purple before this) cotton that feels very fine and soft. A half yard of it cost me a whole quarter at my local thrift. It has a little elastic at the bottom to fit over Jack’s thumb and to make it more plum shaped. The plum is stuffed a little and lined with the purple and red print as well. Except for the pie, I stuffed everything with the new eco- friendly fiberfil which is made from corn. It worked pretty well, though I’m not the world’s best stuffer so I don’t trust me. The package doesn’t have any washing directions on it, so I have no idea if you can wash it or not, but you must be able to right?

All in all, I’m really happy with how everything turned out. When I started to make toys from nursery rhyme characters I had this idea that they should be slightly interactive–not really the right word, but you know what I mean. So, Jack, the pie, and the plum are all separate and you can act out the rhyme (if you are so inclined) or just put them in different poses on display. See the whole rhyme in pictures on my flickr page. As I mentioned before, this is my entry for the Softies Central Holiday awards (holiday smorgasbord category). So go look at all the fabulous entries right now!

I’m working on my entry for the Holiday Softie Awards.  Well really I’m sitting on the couch whining to no one imparticular about being sick and trying to motivate myself to actually work on my entry for the Holiday Softie Awards.   So far it’s working pretty well, but there are a few more components and I’m a little nervous about tackling those.  I don’t want to give it away before it’s done, but you could probably figure it out.  Any guesses?

My daughter and I did a little craft project, but seeing as we are all sick it really wasn’t much of a project.  I taped a a big sheet of paper to a table (it would probably have worked better on the floor, but I didn’t want her little brother messing with it) and we colored little scenes for her toys:  a table she could draw food on, a road for all the cars, she drew a lake and I put in a diving board and some sea creatures, and a playground.  We color all the time, but I don’t usually think of getting her other toys “involved.”  She could add new things when she thought of them and her little people ate and swam and drove all around.  It made for a nice morning of rainy day play.

jack sprat could eat no fat

his wife could eat no lean

and so, betwixt them both

they licked the platter clean

Here they are staring at the clean platter.  The platter was kind of an afterthought actually (and I think it’ll probably end up as a rug in the dollhouse, because it looks more like a rug anyway) but it has given me a couple ideas for the dish who ran away with the spoon.   Jack and his wife turned out well–not quite as I imagined, but good enough.  I have this silly notion that if I can come up with the idea and draw it, then I can sew it.  When really I’m not a very experience sewer and even less experienced when it comes to soft toys.   These two, I think, are closer to dolls than to soft toys (if there is such a distinction).  And dolls are hard:  little limbs are hard, heads are hard, and hair is pretty much impossible.  I wanted Jack’s wife to have a little, neat bun, but instead she has a mass of wool dreadlocks rolled into a ball at the back of her head.  And the bonnet I made (pre hair) is a bit too small, but it matches her outfit–and it’s reversible–so it stays.

On the other hand, I’m very pleased with how Jack’s hair turned out.  Granted there isn’t much of it, but it turned out just as I pictured, so I’m happy.  He is a little lacking in the accessories department, so I think I might whip him up a little vest to wear to dinner.Just one more picture, so you can see his wife’s apron.  I based it on one of Amy Karol’s aprons in Bend the Rules Sewing and I’m happy to say her patterns are just as fabulous in teeny tiny sizes.If you’d like to see more pictures of these two you can jump over to my flickr page.  Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!

I was lucky enough to be a part of the lovely “pay it forward” giveaway on Life in Yonder’s blog. If you haven’t heard of this little crafty exchange, the rules are as follows:

“I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week… but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.”

So please leave a comment and play along! I don’t know what I will make yet, but it seems I always have good ideas after Christmas is over (and the pressure off). It could be a little toy like the elephant I made for a new baby, or a little patchwork piece, or maybe one of those art quilts I’ve been meaning to get to. Who knows? That’s part of the fun. And if you are visiting via whipup, welcome! It was such an honor to have a one of my soft toys pictured on their wonderful site. If you stick around I might just have some pictures of Jack Sprat and his plump wife tomorrow. I finished them this morning!