Covert Robin Revealed!

So far the highlight of another wise icky & sickly week was getting a package from Austrailia!

I signed up for the Covert Robin swap ages ago and have been excitiedly waiting for my mystery package. I was absolutely thrilled when I opened it up and found my gift :) Its unique and perfect for me! So without any further ado here is Karen to tell you all about what she created with me in mind…

Hi I'm Karen and I'm delighted to be chatting to you from Texas!  I'd love to visit properly but had a trip to Festival in Houston in 2010. I live in a rural part of victoria Australia in the gold rush town of Ballarat, and currently I'm a crazy quilter!

The secret is out now and Jennifer from http://findingmywayintexas.blogspot.com/ has opened her parcel.

I chose to make her a small little tote bag based on black and white fabrics because I read a post on her blog about a monogramed wall decor she made. So I hope I got the color choices right! The bag is a scaled down pattern from Sentimental Stitches. here is a link to the pattern http://sentimentalstitches.net/free-stuff/schlep-bag/
That sized pattern made a big shopping bag or beach bag. So my squares where 4 1/2 inches, the triangles cross cut from 2 5 inch squares, while the handles were 7 inches long by about 1 and 1/2 inches.

The flower is very easy to do. First make a simple template of a petal, but leave the bottom long and straight at the bottom. See to the right side of next photo.
Next take a rectangle of fabric and fold it right sides together, on the wrong side draw 6 petal shapes. Then sew with a tight stitch around the heavy line twice. Cut out each petal about 1/8 of and inch from sewing line. Turn right side out. Slip stitch end shut. Then taking a large "crowbar" of a needle sew them together and put a button in the center and attach to bag.

Next came some more blog visiting to Jennifer, to get some inspiration for her "Crazy for you " mini wall hanging. She is a very talented photographer so I thought a vintage camera and some black and white photos might do the trick. However I am very aware that people have strong reactions to crazy patchwork, so I was nervous about making this for her. Here is the starting block with selected possible embellishments.

Then I got to work and stitched those seams. However I do not cover every seam, as I like to make wavy fronds and put curves in with lace and beads. I also like to have a selection of "big, medium, small and tiny" in the work to give it more interest. The big were the silk images, mediums were the lace and frond embroidery. Small was the rest, and tiny was the rose tucked behind an ear.
Here is some detailed photos.

I've left some blank spaces for Jennifer to add her own special beads, lace, buttons or special "broken but not out" jewelry.

Take some time to visit Jennifer and get to know this lovely lady, I know that you will like her as much as I do.

Love Karen

Thanks so much for sharing Karen! The details, colors and embellishments are perfect!! I’m definitely going to check out the pattern for the bag and I might even work up the nerve to try my own crazy quilt :)