Happy Day stitching sampler...

I've had this Pam Garrison sampler for about 2 years so figured it was about time I embroidered it.

It came preprinted on white cotton and was lovely to sew. I usually use DMC stranded cottons for embroidery but thought I'd try out DMC Perle cotton #8 after reading Charlotte Lyons blog. I loved the fact it didn't need splitting and didn't tangle as bad. The colours available are gorgeous and so I was able to keep everything really bright and cheerful. 

Now I just need to decide what to do with it.  I think I'm favouring adding a patchwork border and making it up into a cushion.

If you want to try this yourself then Pam has them listed in her etsy shop.

A workshop with Abigail Brown...

Better late than never.  I've finally taken photographs of the bird I made on a workshop I did with Abigail Brown back in June!  Abigail makes the most wonderful fabric birds which I've been lusting after for ages so when I saw she was hosting workshops I had to sign up.

The workshop was held in her gorgeous studio at Cockpit Arts in London.  Seven of us were taking the workshop so armed with cups of tea we settled down around the work table ready to begin.  Abigail had already sewn together our fabric choice for the bird itself as we wouldn't have had enough time for all the embellishing if we did it on the day.  That was fine by me as I couldn't wait to get started with all the gorgeous fabrics Abigail had piled high on the work table.  First... to stuff the bird with more stuffing than I thought possible - it was completely solid by the time Abigail told us we had enough in there.  Now for the fabric.

After selecting a few fabrics we got started snipping and applying the pretty fabric scraps to our bird and soon their personalities emerged.

It was hard to stop adding fabric as there was so much to choose from but eventually she looked complete.  Embroidered eyes and tiny stitches finished her off beautifully.

Here are a few of the creations made by the other lovely ladies on the day - I love how different they all are.

Thank you Abigail for such a wonderful and inspiring day!