Some Works in Progress

I would love to be able to post some pics of the mobile I am working on this weekend, because it is looking awesome, but it is going to be a surprise for my friend & I can't remember whether or not he has my blog address! Instead, here are a couple of the other projects I am in the middle of at the moment...

I am making lots of leafy brooches to restock my supplies because all the others have sold - if nothing else I wanted one of each to wear myself! I love leaves so darn much, and sewing these is a very restful soothing process.
This afternoon I did no sewing whatsoever but instead made a huge mess in the kitchen doing potato printing. I had some very nasty-looking potatoes that were a highly suspicious shade of green that totally has not come out in this photo (just trust me when I say they were uber-dodgy in appearance)
... not wanting to just chuck them in the bin (and lacking a compost pile in the garden as I live in a top floor flat) I wondered what I could possibly do with them & then remembered I had some fabric paint (bought about 10 years ago but still good) so a massive printing session took place.

I ran out of fabric pretty quick, and now have to go out on Monday and buy a "new" (ie from a charity shop) white pillowcase to replace the one I have destroyed! I'm not sure how great I am going to think the results of all this when I look at them in the cold light of tomorrow, but still reeling with the creative excitement of it all I am currently rather pleased. I'm going to use a lot of it as fabric for purses, bags or cushions I reckon, with some embroidered details picked out among the plain patterns.

Here you can see how the blue paint got used...
An arrow print for a bag or something, some letter Es and As to make into purses (for Emilys and Annas and so forth), and some words that I'm hoping to make use of in my tea party range, perhaps combined with some great blue&white striped pillowcases I bought the other day & this great teatowel that I have blogged about before:
There was also some black paint that became a pattern of repeating black hearts and some more letters, eg Ks for Katherines, Katies and perhaps even Kevins:
... and then red and yellow paint became a red heart pattern and bold star prints (these are really not the best photos but you get the idea)
The process of doing all this was so enjoyable, I would not be too surprised if I suddenly started doing this sort of thing more often. I have some of the fabric paint left and also some poster paint & am already thinking about what I might use to make stencils, and about looking out for second-hand cotton fabrics to print onto... As if I didn't have enough to do already! Argh! :)