Heroes inspiration... fabric edition

Have you come up with any ideas for the Heroes theme?

Here's some fabric ideas to get you thinking...

The obvious to me is Superheroes:

Superhero

Marvel Comics Fabric

Make your own costume with these panels! 

Two quilt patterns

Or it could be war heroes:

Project Linus: Hugs for Heroes

Camo

Perhaps your hero is an author or a character from a book?:

Dr. Seuss

Nancy Drew

Or you have a creative/sewing/designer hero?

Aneela Hoey

You could have a sporting hero:

Pretty Sporty

tennis

Or a musical hero:

musical notes

Possibly TV heroes:

Star Trek

Homer Simpson

Why not have a break and think about it while you eat a hero sandwich?

Hero sandwiches

Then come back here on September 15th to link up your fabulous HEROES inspired craft projects and have a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop!!

Giveaway winner

The winner of 3 paper pieced patterns from Kristy's lovely shop is:

Congratulations Julie! I'm sending you an email.

Now I must fly back to my lair to complete more super feats of quilting ready for September 15th :)

Inspiration from Kristy + GIVEAWAY

Today the lovely Kristy from Quiet Play is giving us some inspiration for the HEROES theme on Le Challenge. Be sure to come back here and link up your heroes craft projects on September 15th for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop and follow us for more inspiration. Here's Kristy...

Heroes. We’ve all got them. But currently mine are all LEGO-fied. Thanks to my kidlets’ obsession with LEGO DC Superheroes and Star Wars. So for a bit of inspiration… here are some fun paper pieced heroes!

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

No! It’s Superman!


Nanananananananana BATMAN!  Okay maybe I didn’t have enough “na’s” in there but you get the idea.



Oh and Robin. We can’t forget poor overworked, underpaid, less star-powered Robin.



And for us girls…. Wonder Woman! (you’re supposed to sing that part).



Or maybe you’re a Star Wars fan – there are some heroes happening there too. And what are heroes without villains, or as well call them in my house, goodies and baddies? So here’s an assortment of both.



Keen to try one of your own for the very fun Le Challenge this time round? There’s extra time for this challenge so plenty of time to try some paper piecing! You can find these patterns in the Quiet Play Craftsy shop as freebies.

While you’re there, why not check out some of the other patterns on offer? You know, in case you win the giveaway. Oh yes, there’s a giveaway attached to this post! Winner’s choice of 3 paper pieced patterns. Just leave a comment telling us your favourite fictional hero!

And finally to end on the hero note… how about a theme song? You know it’s gotta be from the 80’s. I think the 80’s has a song for every possible theme there is.

So. Enjoy. ;)

Thanks Kristy! The winner of the giveaway will be open until Monday 29th July and announced here on Tuesday 30th... comment away!

**GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED**

And the winner is {le challenge #4}

 Entry no 10, by Vera (who actually made two items for this challenge)! Congrats!

next up...

The next theme is HEROES.

Now before you all run and hide and don't play along we are kindly giving you all 2 months to get this one done. So the link up will be September 15th (no link in August).

Since it is a baking hot summer here and a cooler winter on the other side we thought we'd give you a break, or more time to work on a bigger project.

Remember there is lots of room for interpretation and if you're stumped we will be giving you lots of inspiration over the next two months.

source

source - read about animal war heroes!

Can't wait to see what you all come up with! We'd appreciate help spreading the word about this challenge, so please hop on facebook, twitter, your blogs and rope some people in ;)

Le Challenge #4 - TOFFEE

We hope you've had fun with this month's challenge! Here's what we've been up to:

read more about Lucy's slightly dubious effort at Charm About You!

Read more about my toffee clutch at Made in Home

If you are new to Le Challenge please read through this post.

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.

Remember to come back tomorrow to see the next theme!

So go ahead and link up your projects and visit your fellow challenge crafters...

Kessa's inspiration

Hello fellow crafters! I am Kessa from Kessa In Stitches, a (mostly) knitting blog. I've been invited by Nat of Made In Home to talk about this month's theme: Toffee. 

I believe that most of us (including myself) were pretty stumped by the theme when we first heard the theme. Possibly distracted by the idea of chucking down boxes of the yummy candy, rather than crafting something inspired by it.... Or perhaps that was just me. ;) But once I got started brainstorming, the ideas just kept flowing! One of the most obvious way to analyse this month's theme is by the colour. Because toffee has such a wide range of tone (from reddish, to yellowish, to brownish) around a neutral colour that pairs beautifully with many other trending colours (white, black, turquoise, coral, navy, red, etc) it makes things so much easier. 

The next thing I considered was the medium. There is a surprising variety of fabrics that looks wonderful in toffee colour:

 

Tulle.

Have you heard? Tulle is back on the scene. As a rather girly-girl personally, I'm delighted! And as this fashion blogger have shown, there are ways to wear tulle skirts without flouncing around. Personally, I think it will make a perfect combination with a slouchy handknit sweater! Interested in trying your hands at sewing a tulle skirt? Try this tutorial here.

If you feel out of place wearing tulle, how about a little flower brooch? Perhaps something along the line of these precious looking ones here:

 

Source

 

Source Or a sweet little dress for a little girl in your life?

 

Source + Tutorial Or some tulle pom poms (wedding not required)?

Not a fan of tulle? Toffee looks great in other fabrics as well:

 

Source. 

A toffee coloured garment will make a wonderful addition to the wardrobe with Autumn just around the corner.

Which brings us to the second medium: Leather/suede.

 

Not exactly made with suede but the fabric has a suede-like finish. I have made a tutorial for some easy flowy skirt and this dress/long skirt was sewn based on that tutorial.

For some reason, toffee and leather brings to mind a well-loved, well-used leather-bound book. Well, how about making one to love and use?

 

Source + comprehensive Tutorial

Another medium that looks great in toffee: Burlap.

 

I have glued some burlap fabric to old glass jars and tied some twine around it. These are made for a friend's wedding. On the night of the wedding, they will be filled with little bunches of Baby's Breath flowers for romantic but inexpensive table centerpieces.

If you're not a fan of fabric crafts, perhaps decoupage?

Here I have decoupaged a thrifted wooden box, covering it with pages from a thrifted Finnish storybook and dabbed toffee-coloured wood stain over to give it a nice vintage/aged look. A thin layer of varnish keeps it clean and fresh-looking. This was a money box for another friend's wedding, hence the slot. But after making and gifting it to my friend, I have decided there is going to be at least another one (without a slot) in the near future!

Or some beading?

 

This bracelet features pink-metallic brown donut-beads that reminds me of crunchy toffee.

 

All this research and brainstorming about toffee is not without its repercussions. ;) I whipped up some caramel (which I like to think of as liquid toffee), some for a friend and some for myself.

As a knitter, I have also been working on some toffee-inspired knitting projects this month...

These are actually designs I'm working on at the moment. They are yet to be finished, but I have 4 more days!.. Though it is highly unlikely I will finish these in time.

But all is not lost. The main craft I had chosen, and completed, is actually..... *drumroll*...

Dyeing.

 

Some cashmere taking a nice long hot bath.

 

These are what I ended up with.

 

The  toffee-inspired colours, clockwise from top left: Light Tan, 50g of Angora/Merino/Cashmere blend lace-weight yarn, Pinkish brown, 50g of Angora/Merino/Cashmere blend lace-weight yarn, Toffee Apple, 50g of 100% Silk lace-weight yarn, Toffee, 40g of 100% Mongolian cashmere lace-weight yarn.

And this is the end of my post. I hope you are inspired/have enjoyed this post and look forward to seeing everyone else's toffee-inspired projects!

More inspiration from Erin

Hello!  My name is Erin and I blog over at Missy Mac Creations.

When Lucy and Nat first announced Le Challenge I was crazy excited.  Like crrrrazy excited.  I love the whole premise and look forward to hearing each month's new topic - and then seeing everyone's amazing, and often diverse, interpretations

Therefore it is an absolute honour to be here today sharing some of my inspirations with you.

I have to admit, though, this month's theme - TOFFEE - surprised, shocked and scared me.  Toffee?  Really?  What could I possibly do with that?  Well, other than take some rather artsy selfies on IG of me scoffing box fulls of the stuff, that is.  ;)

I'm sure I wasn't the only one whose first thought upon seeing the word "TOFFEE" was, well, toffee.  Yum.  But instead of sitting back and just drooling (or eating), what about using some images in a palette builder to create the perfect colour scheme for a quilt?  Or a knitted jumper?  Or a cushion cover?

For these I used the absolutely FREE Pictaculous.  It was quick, easy and lots of fun.  Just don't ask me where the light blue came from.  Anyhoo... go have a play!

My second thought was toffee apples.  I know, more food.  Ignore what that may say about me.

So, there's fabric...

 

Candy Apples by Kanvas for Benartex - Pink

Or a handbag...

Toffee Apple handbag pattern by Melly & Me

Or get the kiddies involved and have fun making some bookmarks...

Moving away from food (there is hope for me yet), did you know that there is a Lalaloopsy called Toffee Cocoa Cuddles?

Isn't she super cute!  I think so too so why not let her inspire you?

Make your own Toffee Cocoa Cuddles rag doll...

Loli Dolly Big Sister pattern by Quirky Artist Loft

 Or grab some yarn and crochet a hat...

Lala-Loopy Crochetted Beanie by SewLoca

Or feel free to dye your hair pink and play dress ups.  Just remember that we want to see pics.  ;)

Another cute character is Toffee the My Little Pony.

Howdi pardner!  This simple design could turn into a sweet embroidery or a cross stitch or a softie or even a quilt!

Or... go crazy and make a Toffee inspired hobby horse... out of socks...

Sock Hobby Horse tutorial by Rad Megan

... or fabric!

Hobby Horse tutorial by Abby Glassenberg

Just don't forget her trademark hat or tatt (the theme is "toffee" afterall!).

And if all that isn't enough, you still have time to whip up one of the Toffee the Bear cross stitch designs by Sue Hill for Heritage Crafts.

There are a number of different kits available, with Toffee in all sorts of adorable poses, but I think I heart this one best.  ;)

What do you think?  Are you inspired?  I hope I've given you all some new ideas.  I'd love to see where you take them so be sure to link up your "Toffee" inspired pieces in 2 weeks time.

Thanks again to the lovely Lucy and Nat for allowing me to hijack their page for a wee second.  Truth is, I totally bugged them until they gave me the call up (apologies ladies!) but it has been fun.

See you all at the linky party!