Self-Imposed Christmas Challenges

Well, it's cold now, and Helen likes to save energy. The house is freezing most of the time, so I spend an awful lot of hours huddled next to the bathroom heat vent. When the door is opened just the right amount, I can create my own little warm micro-environment. This is how I plan to get through the winter, and probably the spring, too.

Recently, Helen's friend J9 was buying fabric at Mood Fabrics in New York, and grabbed some samples to send to Helen. Some of those swatches were pretty tiny! Helen loved the richness of the silk brocades, though, and became smitten with the idea of using them. The fabrics were mostly rich ruby reds or maroons, and you know, it's Christmas, soon. The only choice was to make some "sampler" flowers.

Since the swatches were mostly long and skinny, Helen's largest squares were about 1 5/8 inches, a size she had always avoided. She just managed to get rounded petals out of them, and came up with this pair of ume, or plum flowers.....

Buy them here https://www.etsy.com/listing/118890008/red-flower-hair-clips-kanzashi-silk . Next, she made triangular petals with the really small squares, and came up with this pair of flowers that resembles hellebores, sort of...

Here they are in the Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/listing/118774650/red-flower-hair-clips-kanzashi-silk

So. She really didn't have to go through all that to make her first sampler flowers, something she had been thinking about for a long time. She could have used normal-sized squares of some fabrics she already had, rather than have the stress of being such a miniaturist. But oh well, that's the way things happen sometimes. Better late than never!

Remember Helen's kikyo? The blue Chinese bell flower that she started back in September? Even though it's not exactly seasonal, Helen wanted to complete it. Here's how it turned out......

Buy it here https://www.etsy.com/listing/118826268/blue-flower-brooch-kanzashi-kikyu Happy Holidays, and try to stay warm!