mocha chocolate coffee

Ooohhhh....yum....brown! I love it. Yeah yeah it's the new black, or was, I'm not sure if it still is?? Actually I think grey now has that guernsey??? Anyway, brown has always been a personal favourite of mine. I can find a way to combine any colour with brown and it always accommodates so modestly. Never wants to be the star, just happy to work as a team. What a selfless colour!

So feeling all warm & fuzzy about this week I thought it was time to get cracking on some new designs that have been waiting in the wings for too long.

Introducing..... ...... ta da........ ... ... ... ....... First Fork 'n Spoon

I'm really pleased with the way they turned out (photo is not a very good representation of the colour...it's actually a chocolate brown - see flickr or fede shop for more pics) so I'm planning to make a few more for the shop. The Anna Maria Horner fabrics are from her Chocolate Lollipop range and were fun to work with. I've got a few more cut squares stashed away so I'll be putting them to good use very soon.

Speaking of Lollipops (aaah...yes nice transition) I'm also about to pop this little brown & watermelon pink number into the shop. These Lollipops have been a little experimental for me & my darling Bernina sewing machine. After the first prototype, I pulled back on the amount of fill in the top section but then ended up with this (created weeks ago so not brown).

Looks quite cute yeh? Until I discovered it was a ....... droopy ........ sad little lollipop.

I think this time I have almost got it right, however it did still result in one broken needle & several broken threads along the way. Mental note: must get that Walking Foot attachment organised.

Again, the feature fabric here is gorgeous and one that I have used previously on a First Tools Set. It's a Tina Givens design from the Zazu Collection. I used a heavy cotton drill on the back which was a pleasure to sew. I'm always combining all sorts of fabric types on my toys and struggling with stretching/pulling/sliding/walking fabrics but this one was a joy to work with.

I think I have been using my sewing as a means to distract my mind from the unfortunate house buying situation. Yesterday we retracted our offer after many hours of emotional struggle between our hearts and our brains. After a few unexpected hitches with the negotiating we finally listened to our gut feelings that something was not right with the sale and walked away. Still in love with the house, it is not to say we will not weaken again and foolishly jump back in, but at this stage we are just sitting and questioning. Would love to show you pics of the 1950's house but that would be like opening a can of worms!!