This is a blog I’ve been meaning to write for a while but just never got round to it.
I have wondered if anyone would find it interesting but, if there is one thing that I’ve learnt in the last 6 months or so, it is that you just never know when what you’re doing is inspirational to others.
So, I hope that some people might find my small selection of projects interesting or inspirational. For those that don’t, this little blog post isn’t for you, and that’s fine.
Over the last couple of years, there have been a few special birthdays amongst my friends and family which I have tried to mark by making special gifts for them.
I like making things for people and hope that they enjoy receiving them. Sometimes, you want to give something special, and what is more special than a handmade gift?
For friends who’ve had 50th birthdays I’ve made some patchwork cushions. I tried to choose colours and designs that I hoped the recipient would really like. For some people this was really obvious, you think of them and a clear colour choice comes to mind, for others it was a little more tricky.
I used the same patchwork design for all these cushions. I learnt to make this cushion at a Beginners Patchwork class at York School of Sewing.
I don’t seem to have any photos of the next cushion actually finished!!!
My little sister was also 50 so she needed an extra special gift.
I knitted her a temperature blanket using the temperatures of each day of her 50th year and creating a square for each month.
She has her blanket now as her birthday was a couple of months ago but I need to make a backing for it so she’s going to have to give it back one day so that I can finish it off.
It will be good to make a back for each month with dates on to correspond with the front of the blanket. I added beads to the blanket for family birthdays so I can include a key on the back, then in future years she will know what they mean!!
I also made some 60th birthday presents. These are cushions too, mainly free-motion machine embroidery.
I absolutely loved making these.
This last one was made from a piece of hand embroidery that I’d done quite some years ago. I found it last summer when sorting through some boxes. I looked at it and thought to myself what a shame that I’d done all that work and it was just sitting in a bag, hiding away. Straight away I knew what I wanted to do with it and made it into a cushion for Carol 🙂
Well there we are.
Hopefully you’ve enjoyed looking at my work and maybe you’re inspired to make some very special gifts for the important people in your life.