Coudre c'est facile and my Christmas decorations

I haven't shown you my Christmas decorations yet... I know it's a bit late, but anyway you might like to see them and they're not that "Christmassy"!

As you can see from the bunting, it's been a bit windy lately! The birds are not "flour of my sack" as you'd say in Italian, that is I didn't create them from scratch. They are from a pattern in the magazine Coudre c'est facile, issue n. 15 Novembre/Décembre 2012:

It's a really good French magazine with all sorts of projects from clothes to the brilliant "Le Carnet du Net" showing you some great creations to buy (or just look at!) on Internet. The explanations are really clear even for somebody like me who can't speak French. If I want to be sure I've understood everything right I ask my Mum if she can translate it for me!

Anyway, coming back to my birds, I used the pattern in Coudre to make them and some country style Christmas fabric and I'm quite pleased with the result. I would really like to make one with the wood stand but have to ask my Dad if he's got a branch of silver beech to cut for me! I wouldn't mind making some for Easter too, choosing a suitable fabric.

You really have to see the next issue of Coudre c'est facile because there are some very pretty Liberty purses I'm itching to make, I'll show you in a future post.

And, to finish off, who doesn't like Candy Sticks? A little bit of Washi tape saves me from drilling a hole in the front door! This masking tape is mt deco by Kamoi Kakoshi Co., Ltd (www.masking-tape.jp).

Creattiva Bergamo, Quilt Italia: Kazuyo Horiuchi and Marta Olivieri

I've done all my chores and I think I deserve to relax a minute writing on my blog. Creattiva Bergamo is coming up soon: from the 15th to the 17th of Febuary. This time I won't be going though because, to be honest, I'm totally skint! I'm sorry not to go because this Craft Fair is really good! It's my favourite one up to now. There is so much to see, I've been twice but neither times did I manage to go round the whole fair! I probably stop at too many stands!!!

Last time I went to Creattiva Bergamo was in October 2012 and I absolutely have to show you this quilt that won first prize (in the traditional category) of the International competition organized by QuiltItalia with the Fiera di Bergamo: Kazuyo Horiuchi and her Tabidachi (The departure):

and here's a detail, absolutely beautiful (and so precise!!!) 

And here is another quilt that caught my eye (I couldn't photograph all of them, could I?!). It's called La forza del desiderio (the power of a wish ... oh dear it doesn't sound quite right translated like that) by Marta Olivieri:

Quilt Italia is going to have another exhibition this year too at Creattiva Bergamo and the stands are not just Italian ones, there is so much variety, so you really shouldn't miss it if you're anywhere near!

Quilt Italia e Tessilesa

A proposito dei miei lavori, stavo sfogliando il bellissimo giornale di Quilt Italia (numero 4 - inverno 2012) quando il mio occhio cade su una foto e mi dico: queste sono cose che ho fatto io! 

Sul tavolo della mostra show and tell del corso di Roberta Sperandio (quanto mi è mancato il tuo corso autunnale!) c'erano dei miei lavori da completare e, in fondo al tavolo, uno finito. Il fiore non vedo l'ora di inserirlo insieme ad altri fiori in un runner. Chissà quando avrò il tempo d farlo! La foto in realtà è nella pubblicità per il negozio Tessilesa di Laveno Mombello di Francesca Miglierina. Francesca è una miniera di idee ed iniziative. Sta diffondendo l'amore per il patchwork!

A proposito di Roberta Sperandio andate a vedere l'incredibile risultato dell'iniziativa Mille Colori Emilia. Quiltiste siete grandi e Roberta ci mette un'energia che nessuno riesce a resistere. Complimenti a tutti!

CrossStitcher - themakingspot

I haven't shown you this yet, it's CrossStitcher, one of my favourite magazines. This is December 2012 issue (number 260):

and inside they published my buttons in the Reader Gallery! 

(See Buttons galore! for better photos!)

I'm really pleased, it was a very nice surprise and made me feel good! 

Thank you very much.

If you want to see more about Cross Stitcher then visit http://crossstitcher.themakingspot.com. There are lots of free charts for cross stitching and they're always really up to date with trends.

They work with Mollie Makes magazine, which is another beautiful magazine. The graphics/photos are fantastic and the projects really inspiring. Go to http://www.molliemakes.com and have fun!

MIHO always unexpected!

Dopo la mia post del 12.02.2011 su MIHO è successo una cosa unexpected. Perucco è andato a lavorare per Porrini Moda in Besozzo. Marco Perucco ha allestito lo spazio Porrini Casa nel negozio che è spettacolare, merita veramente una visita! Per qualche foto: www.facebook.com/Porrini.Moda. Hanno un'ottima selezione di prodotti MIHO.

MIHO continua a produrre delle cose fantastiche e sono sempre curiosa di vedere le loro nuove invenzioni. Questo Natale ho regalato il portavaso, veramente bello:

CasaFacile ha parlato ancora di loro? Sono contenta, se lo meritano.

Pinwheels

A fantastic template called Lil' Twister by The Country Schoolhouse for making pinwheels. Took a little while to understand the instructions (I always have problems with instructions!) and work out where the fabrics were going to show up, but I like the result. I think I'd really like to make a pinwheel quilt with this template. I'm thinking about it... I have a thing for pinwheels!

Buttons galore!

Look at these fun cross stitch buttons or badges I made while feeding Lucy! They are all from Cross Stitcher patterns. When you don't have much time, they're great to make, relaxing and you get a quick result!

Cheers to Daniele Di Ciccio for the beautiful photos! Thank you very much.