Laima is a chocolate factory here in Latvia and the Laima clock is a well-known meeting place in the centre of the Old Town. I can't imagine how long it must have taken to produce a knitted cover for the clock and would love to have been around when the clock was being dressed. Knitting is not my forte, unfortunately, despite my mother being an excellent knitter. I have bursts of enthusiasm and buy lovely wool and fancy needles but always end up adding to the basket of UFO's as the finishing off throws me every time. Perhaps I should sign up to a Knitting WIP challenge, but then again maybe not!
My favourite part of the whole knitted outfit was the scarf, how sweet for the clock to have its own scarf! I shall have to try and keep a lookout for when the knitted outfit comes off, as that must mean that the winter is officially over :)
Whilst waiting impatiently for the next blocks of the Sew Happy QAL and the HST BOM due this week I decided to work on another cushion in one of the colours of the rainbow. Having decided that blue would be the colour, I rummaged around in my scrapbag and came up with enough fabric pieces to have a go at a cushion pattern I had seen in the May 2009 issue of British Patchwork and Quilting. (I knew it was worth keeping that magazine!)
The cushion pattern is called Fleur Audrey and is also available online here so I have called my version Fleur Bleu. The cushion front and back are both cut from a discarded business shirt of my husband's, which was the perfect shade of pale blue for the background. He disputes that it was discarded but it truly was! He will be "losing" more shirts in the future as I received, for Christmas, a copy of Juliet Bawden's book "The shirt off his back", which is full of great ideas for re-purposing men's shirts. I was already putting shirts in the laundry and thinking "that would make a great bag lining" so the possibilities have increased with ownership of Juliet's book :)
Finally, if the forthcoming London Olympics and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee are putting you in the mood for all things British, check out Sam's blog "Cup of tea and a Slice of cake aka UKMUMINUSA, where she is hosting a giveaway for her Union Jack pincushions. Details of the giveaway can be found here
Your post just gave me some inspiration to repurpose some of my husband's shirts that might make great fabric, but make some *awful* shirts lol I really like the cushion and the adorable button in the middle ties it all together perfectly!
ReplyDeleteThat's a lovely cushion and a great way to re-use a shirt. Wonder if my husband would notice if one or two disappeared from his wardrobe!
ReplyDeleteRiga looks interesting. I'd love to see some more photos on your blog sometime. And the scarf on the clock is really funny!
Your cushion is very pretty and I love the colours you used, Di you hand stitch the pattern? Thanks for posting about my giveaway. I love repurposing clothing LOL, especially my families!!!! The pincushions I made were from some of my sons jeans! Now I need to figure out what to do with the pockets! I have a few ideas.
ReplyDeleteThe cushion looks beautiful - and you are right the shirt has the perfect shade.
ReplyDeleteThanks I have my eye on several shirts in my husband's wardrobe for upcoming projects!
DeleteGreat cushion! Thanks so much for sharing at the Tuesday To Do Party!
ReplyDeleteSmiles!
Jami
www.blackberryvine.blogspot.com
The cushion is lovely!
ReplyDeleteThanks Melissa, I am really enjoying making them having procrastinated for so long!
DeleteThe cushions make me want to pick them up and hug them! But my favorite thing is the picture you took of the clock that needed a scarf for the cold! Too funny - we all need a clock to remind us to bundle up. Hope winter doesn't last too long.
ReplyDeleteIt is February already and we are only now experiencing really cold temperatures, so already it is a short winter! Glad the clock photo made you smile too, thanks for your comments.
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