The Farm

At the smalls request we paid a second visit to Myuna Farm recently. It's a small community farm in south-east Melbourne, surrounded by suburbia.

Below is Audrey's sole reason for wanting to go. She would have remained in the guinea pig and rabbit enclosure forever having a 'piggy cuddle'. Didn't want to hold one of the super soft bunnies, just piggies.

Deer feeding? Yes and yes. Patting the huge buffalo? No and no.

Hannah is always keen to have a (very short) pony ride, and even managed a smile by the end this time! Audrey is not brave enough yet and is happier watching two other ponies having a disagreement nearby.

Evolving

Three friends, all attempts at perfecting an old design. Each a little different from their predecessor. But not quite right yet. The eldest member of my test panel gets frustrated when Catta (the brown one) won't sit properly. Some fatter bottoms are required.

Dogga was feeling a little bashful. So now he has some knickers. The smallest tells me that knickers are not enough for her modest dog. He wants pants. And a vest and a jumper and a very pretty dress and ......

Goodbye saggy ... hello plump!

We've been living in the past. Hanging on to our saggy old U-pillows for far too long. Looking longingly at the coverless, plump European pillows waiting patiently across the room. After only a couple weeks of prodding from J, the Euro pillows are coverless no more! Pre-sleep reading has just entered a whole new comfort zone.

The bird silhouettes are from a free stock photo. So much better than the simple 'V' birds I'd originally imagined. Don't look too closely though. After thread disasters, there are around three different shades used for these birdies. The tree is just a simplified sketch of what's on our quilt cover.

My furry helper seems to like them.

And the felt food love continues

Much to Audrey's dismay, this set was made as a birthday gift for Hannah's kinder friend. Lucky for Audrey I'm loving making felt food and will be making a second set for keeps.


If you're after a sandwich tutorial, I found this one on Snazzle Craft. I didn't end up using the tutorial though, just winged it with my own bread, cheese and ham shapes. The cheese and ham slices are needle felted together, both for speed and to test out my new toy. For the tomato slice I followed the tutorial found on One Inch World. I love how it turned out!

The apple gets the most love though.


I could look at that apple all day. It lived on top of my sewing machine for a few days. When walking past I couldn't help smiling at it and squeezing it. Is that cause for concern?? Audrey loved hugging an armful of 'soft food' too. So much nicer than the plastic play food.

I used a Japanese pattern from the Honda Quilt fair. To make the stem I rolled up a piece of brown felt. On the base of the apple there is a little star shaped piece of brown felt pulled in to make the leftover flowery bits.


Anyway ... I think I'm addicted. This isn't the last you'll see of felt food in this neck of the woods.

P.S. I couldn't resist this blurry photo of the gift giver. Hannah was given the task of decorating a brown lunch bag to pack the lunch into. You can probably tell that she's quite pleased with her writing these days.

Tutorial: felt carrot

After several many requests from Hannah, I've begun exploring the world of felt food. First attempts were with some much appreciated guidance: a strawberry from here, a doughnut from here. Then I got really adventurous and made up my own carrot pattern! Here's a tutorial for anyone else who has hungry bunnies or kids:

Materials: orange felt, green felt, stuffing, orange thread, green thread

Pattern: carrot pattern PDF

Instructions:

1. Cut out one of each pattern piece from felt.
   
2. Fold carrot piece along fold line and stitch sides together to form a cone. Trim away seam allowance close to stitching at both ends of the seam.
3. Turn right side out. Stuff firmly.
4. Using orange thread perform a long running stitch around top of carrot.
5. With green felt, fold one of the short ends over about 2mm and then keep rolling up felt to form a short carrot stalk. Using green thread stitch free end of green felt strip to the layers of felt underneath. Tie off green thread.
6. Pull on orange gathering thread to close up top of carrot. Before completely closed, push stalk into the opening until only about 1cm of stalk remains visible. Close up carrot around stalk.
7. Insert needle through stalk to opposite side. Take needle through a fold of orange felt close to the raw edge. Insert needle back through stalk to opposite side near another raised fold. Continue taking the needle through the stalk and carrot top until all of the folds of orange felt have been sewn to the stalk, and the stalk is secured in place.
8. Using orange thread, make long decorative stitches around the carrot from top to bottom. Tie off thread. Done!
   

Please bear in mind that this is the first time I've put together a tutorial. Hopefully it's understandable. I'm happy to answer any questions or hear any constructive criticism you may have. (Oh, and if you notice that a couple of the pics have extra seams please just ignore them. They were from an earlier more complex version.)

Poppy

Who does that fluffy tail belong to?



Oh! It's Poppy Rabbit! You've finally got a tail and face!! That must feel better. You probably want some clothes now, huh?? Winter is approaching and the nights are getting colder. But it's wonderfully warm in the Autumn sun, plus it's lunch time now. How about a carrot instead?


Mmmmm ... felty carrot. Delicious!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! I hope the big bunny was kind. He treated our girls to an indoor egg hunt, books and a big wooden farm set perfect for their beloved plastic animals. Very early in the morning our cranky, loudly-meowing old cat was given some instructions from Hannah: "Quiet Sooka! Today is a special day and we don't need you to ruin it!" And, no, I'm happy to say that's not something she's heard from her parents. We learned many occasions ago that a 'special day' brings out the worst in our little darlings. My standards for 'special days' have been chipped away at over the years. I now just hope to get through the day with some shred of sanity and patience remaining.

Just moments before their wrapping, I remembered to photograph some of the Easter pressies I've been working on:

1. Leaping bunny magnet for a magnet-loving niece. I've since seen a tutorial for a similarly shaped felt rabbit here if you feel like making one.


2. Happy and Sad Carrot magnets. A vegan-friendly Easter gift.


3. Half-dozen rainbow-coloured, beanie eggs for my niece. The first two I filled with rice, until 'machine-washable' crossed my mind. I love their versatility! She can empty and fill her carton, or toss them at her parents, or put them all in a pot. And if they're still around in a few years she can practice juggling them!


For the egg shape I used the pattern generously provided by retro mama. To make them fit in the egg carton I reduced the pattern piece by about 1/4 inch around the outside.