Charity {More Inspiration}

Charity... Not the easiest of theme and then again, pretty easy when you think about the possibilities. Lucy and I came from two different angles on this - she was thinking of making something for a charity (which is an amazing thing to do); I was thinking shopping - in charity shops. 

During my maternity leave I have had time to go to charity shops, a lot - they close at 5 pm, and because there are none near my work in London, it is not as easy now for me to shop there. But I do love finding gems in these shops. And believe me you can find amazing stuff, my mother-in-law found a real Mulberry purse for £8, I am not joking - I saw it, and it is the real deal. However I would not be prepared to upcycle a Mulberry purse.. 

However I have been known to upcycle jumpers from charity shops into cushions.. 

The tutorial is here

paint jars I did not like the look of, but like the form of.. 

More info on this here

 Buy a necklace, and make the wood beads more golden

More here

 Or just add interest to a chunky necklace

More here

These are not big projects, and easily manageable until the 15th ;) As for me, my entry is currently looking like this - a bit obscure but it is all in the structure... 

We hope to see many of you joining the linky party on 15th! 

Charity {fabric inspiration}

Are you finding this theme tricky? I have a project in mind but here's what I could find to inspire you...

There is the virtue of charity: love and kindness

 blankets or quilts for charities such as Project Linus / Project Linus UK

Horses? There was a racehorse called 'Charity'
(I'm already stretching this theme!!)

and a British Royal Navy ship HMS Charity
(I realise that's a boat pattern - this is getting tougher!)

Precious

Originally in Latin the word caritas meant preciousness, dearness, high price (thanks Wikipedia).

The encompassing idea of charity seems to be giving.

A gift of time, thought and handmade goodness maybe?

How is everyone getting on? Any more out of the box ideas?

Remember to come back and link up your finished projects on 15th June!

And the winner is...

Erin from Missy Mac Creations, congratulations! And we will see you all next month!

Next up...

The theme this month is CHARITY.


There may be obvious things that spring to mind and we hope to give you great inspiration this month!

The link will open on 14th June for your fabulous finished creations and a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop.

Le Challenge #12 - Nature

We're excited to see how you've interpreted the theme this month!

Here's a peek at what we have made...

see how to make this headband and other ways to wear it at Charm About You

 Find out more about my new cushions at Made in Home

Check back tomorrow to find out the new theme and if you are new to le challenge find more information here.

For a chance to win a $25 Fat Quarter Shop gift certificate make sure you link up your finished projects and please remember to include the button or a link to Le Challenge in your blog post or Flickr description. Show us how you've interpreted the theme Nature...

An InLinkz Link-up

Nature {More Inspiration}

How are you all getting on with your NATURE project - do you need more inspiration? Well here are a few projects or pictures that may be helpful. 

I am always amazed, like Martha, on how inspiring nature is... Look at this pattern, wouldn't you love to recreate it (somehow, not sure how)...

Pinterest

Or this colour palette...

Pinterest

For some quick projects in the theme, I found some cute crochet patterns...

Pinterest

Pinterest

Or something I have always wanted to make... huge tissue flowers - perfect for outdoors summer evenings (except that it is still raining in the UK, so not sure when I intend to use those)

Pinterest

 My own project is very quick but allowed me to finally use some fabric I have been dying to use for a long time...

Right on theme! See you all on 15th! Good luck with your finishes!

More inspiration from Martha of Weekend Doings

Today's guest post is from Martha who blogs at Weekend Doings.

Hi everyone, I hope you are finding lots of inspiration for this month's challenge. 

I think the theme is super fun. I love nature and it is definitely a great influence on my creations. I love taking photographs of my surroundings and sometimes the smallest details captured by the lens of my camera serve as inspiration for my projects. 

The greatest influence that I get from nature is color palettes. I don't know about you, but many times I find it difficult to choose fabrics. So when in doubt or when searching for a spark in creativity I always turn to nature. 

I want to share with you a couple of my projects and the pieces of nature that inspired them.

The colors of my Feathers and Patchwork quilt were inspired by the colors of fall. I created this quilt for Christmas of 2013. So when I decided to start this quilt fall colors were all around. Bare branches and brown leaves were abundant and the mossy surfaces were starting to pop up everywhere. So I couldn't help myself but grab inspiration from those lovely autumn colors and translate them into the color palette for this quilt (one of my favorites). 

Another project that I borrowed inspiration from nature was this Half Square Triangle Quilt. I took the photo of a beautiful rose in my garden that caught my attention. The bright pink and the different shades of green seemed the perfect color combo for a summer quilt.  

There are so many ways to use nature as inspiration or to incorporate it into our projects. Nature offers us infinite sources of inspiration and I'm really looking forward to seeing your projects inspired by it. 

Isn't she talented, and those pictures are so beautiful! Thanks ever so much Martha for sharing with us how you are inspired by nature... 

Hope you are all getting on well with your own interpretation of NATURE!