Jo Avery – the Blog

Scrappy-ness!

I’ve had a few days off from work so I have been holed up in the sewing room making stuff for my shop. I still had my scrap box out from making the scrappy coin block for the Tag Square Bee. It all looked so inviting that I couldn’t help having a play! First of

Empty nest crisis approaching!

Yes I am having a bit of a weepy time at the moment, but before I bore you with that, lets have a look at a nice cushion! It is a 21st birthday present for one of my ‘Weekend Alisons’ (the 2 girls that work in the shop at the weekend are helpfully both called

Babushkas in a basket

Here is a nice little project that kept me busy on Sunday afternoon. 3 little patchwork matryoshka dollies. They look a bit sleepy, don’t they? Lets find them somewhere nice to have a nap. A nice felt basket with a snuggly mattress. I think they need a bit more comforting though. A pretty blanket for

Catching up in the sewing room

 Remember the Patchwork Box Cushions I made for my shop a few months back? Well they all sold really quickly and I even managed to get a couple of commissions to make more of them, but to bespoke dimensions.    These 2 are for ‘Curtain Clare’ who used to make the curtains and blinds for

Bearpaw Label Tutorial

I have been selling quite a few of my Bearpaw handmade goods over the last few weeks, through my ‘real’ shop (including 2 of the patchwork box cushions and 2 of the tote bags I featured on here recently!). So I needed to replenish my stock of ‘Bearpaw labels’. And because I have now perfected

new teacup pincushions

Here’s something I have been working on for a while. I actually made the first of these teacup pincushions at the same time as I made my hanging patchwork fishes.I made the 5 teacups first from old pattern book scraps and my own pattern. It would look a bit more like a teacup if I

Leaf Needlecases

The shop is all sorted out now and my Bearpaw creations have been selling quite well. I actually sold my first owl this morning! A bitter-sweet moment…The bestsellers so far have been the flower corsages and these leaf needlecases that I forgot to show you when I did my little bit about the ‘crafty stuff’

Our Shop

Well, after an exhausting week re-fitting and re-organising our main shop we finally opened yesterday.Here are some photos just before opening, with everything looking shiny and new. We are really pleased with the way it looks. The shop has 2 big front rooms and 2 smaller back rooms.Here is the second front room with all

Valentine Hearts

Yes I know I am a day early but I might not get near the computer tomorrow so I thought I would just get on with my ‘Valentine’s Day’ post today.You may remember my earlier idea of ‘felted, crocheted, beaded circles’ (really must think of a catchier name!) that I featured in an earlier post.

Little Trees

I was staring at a painting of topiary trees in flower pots a few weeks back, just letting my mind wander… hmmm, what a lovely shape, I’m sure I could recreate that somehow…And here is the result – Little Tree Pin cushions!It took a while to get them right and even now they are still