Want a New Years Resolution that can save lives?

Come on crafters let’s make our 2013 New Year’s resolution a crafty one to make the world a better and fairer place for all :)

As a fellow crafter I’m calling on you to start 2013 by using what you do - craft - to help end world hunger! Imagine saying in conversations about new years resolutions... “I’m going to save lives by doing what I love.” Win win! Your craft can even inspire others to be a piece of the jigsaw to end world hunger too - win win win! 

My latest #imapiece for my MP

Why am I banging on about it?

* Because in a world where we know how to solve hunger we still have 2.3 million children across the world die because of hunger every year.

* If world leaders invest in life saving interventions that work (like supporting small-scale farmers, teaching people about healthy eating etc) it could save 1 million lives each year.

How can little-old-me be a piece of the solution?

You can stitch messages onto material jigsaw pieces which will be put together to make a HUGE creative, crafty installation alternative to a petition that Save the Children will show off to our Government, the public and World Leaders showing that hundreds, even thousands of us, want, with world leaders, to be a part of the solution to hunger, not the problem. You can also give a jigsaw piece to your local MP to remind them to be a part of the solution too or at least tell them about the piece you made for the installation.

From this:

To this:

 An easy way to save a life, I think!

Sarah Corbett, founder of Craftivist Collective, said: "Life is like a puzzle, it all seems a mess but when it gets finished it looks brilliant. There are some amazing small-scale successful projects happening all over the world that are tackling hunger and showing that the world doesn’t have to have malnourished children whose potential is stunted.

“Hopefully craftsters have had a good rest over the festive period and are energised to use their craft for good in 2013, and join us in this project as craftivists to show that we are all connected and our actions make a difference. There is no one solution to the problem of injustice but we can all play a part in a movement for change. The G8 coming back to the UK is too big an opportunity to miss so why not have your New Year’s Resolution to be part of eradicating hunger through your love of craft? That would be a pretty cool resolution right?!”

It’s difficult to ignore a big beautiful, original piece of art that has been made by a large group of people. Especially if it’s as HUGE as it could be - if all of us stitch a few jigsaw pieces each.

Check out some of the jigsaw pieces made by some of your fellow crafters & download our pattern and easy instructions here (http://imapiece.craftivist-collective.com) and get stitching! You can hold a stitch-in event and get others excited about the project, sign the Save the Children petition here, and spread the word online through Twitter, Facebook, blogs etc using the hashtag #imapiece.

Imagine your jigsaw pieces turning a bare wall into a beautiful, unforgettable piece of art that could make a difference to millions of lives. Now that would be an achievement that would start 2013 with a bang! Come on crafters! Let’s get our craft changing the world!! 

“If you think you are too small to make a difference try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito” 

                               - African Proverb

Love Lorna xx

What's new for 2013?

Happy New Year to you all!

I hope your festivities over the last few days have been wonderful and filled with love.

I wanted to leave a quick post to tell you what you should expect from LoveLorna over the next few weeks. I have been busy busy busy making lots of different items to place on my Folksy shop - http://folksy.com/shops/LoveLorna  . I hope to start selling a few more things online this year.

A small selection of items that you will find for sale on my Folksy shop.

I am also hoping to attend some craft fairs to sell my items in the local area. As well as this, I am starting a new project of a double sized patchwork quilt made up of Cath Kidston fabric. I have also been asked to make one for someone in the coming year as well.

So I have lots of hopes and plans for my 2013, what are your hopes and plans??

Stayed tuned for more updates and blog posts.

Love Lorna xx

Guest Blogger for Craftivist Collective!

I would like to say a big Thank you to the Craftivist Collective for making my #imapiece Jigsaw 'Piece of the week'!

My article on the Craftivist Collective website.

I was so excited when they emailed me saying they loved my Jigsaw and wanted it to be 'Piece of the Week', a new page they wanted to start!

This is my first Guest blog I have done so thought really carefully about the questions I had to answer.

Click here to go to the page and check out the article yourself (if you haven't just come from that page).

Many thanks again to all the people at Craftivist Collective, I hope my Jigsaw makes a difference. xx

Finished #imapiece puzzle campaign

Hi Everyone!!

Do you remember my last blog post that I wrote talking about taking part in the #imapiece campagin as part of Save the Children and Action Against Hunger campagin to end world hunger? 

Well I have finally finished my first piece! I have got the address that I need to send it to, so will be posting it off today to be part of their instillation or big art display that they are creating!

If you are still deciding whether to take part in this charity campagin (you really should) then I thought I would show you how easy it was and I had created my first puzzle piece.

1. Buy some fabric you really love or find some at home. Print and cut out the puzzle piece template (see my previous blog for the template), buy some Bondaweb (from any craft shop) and any other bits that you will be decorating your puzzle with.

2.Draw round the puzzle piece onto the back of the fabric and then cut out two puzzle peices.

3. Place the Bondaweb onto one piece of fabric (rough side down) and iron it on. Then peel it off and it should leave a sticky mark on the piece of fabric. Place your next puzzle piece onto the fabric and iron then together. Easy as that!

4.Begin creating the decoration for your puzzle piece. I decided to cross stitch a message from Gandhi that I really liked.

5. Sew it all together. Add any final bits. I add my 'Love Lorna' label and then some heart buttons that I got from my craft shop. 

And your finished! I emailed craftivist.collective@gmail.com to get the email of where to send the puzzle piece to.

I am really pleased with my finished puzzle piece and hope to see it displayed soon. I am now going to crack on with my next puzzle piece - the one for my MP!!! Hmmm......what design shall I do this time??

Have fun!!!

Do Some Good in the World TODAY!

Hi Everyone!!

 So I was laying in bed on a lazy Saturday morning and I thought I would check out my emails to see if anything new had arrived. I opened my emails and sitting there waiting for me was a lovely email from Craft Blog UK (a site where you can find hundreds of craft bloggers).

 The email was all about a campaign they are working on with Save the Children and Craftivist Collection as part of the Race Against Hunger Campaign.

 What they are asking  people to do to get involved is to use there crafty imagination to create a jigsaw piece that will be brought together to create a giant art sculpture in the spring. Each piece will be embroidered or painted with a positive or provocative message about the issue.

 Crafters are encouraged to make 3 pieces -
 1.One to keep to remind them to be part of the solution and not the problem.
 2.One to send to be a part of the big jigsaw puzzle, so we can make a huge impact when they are all put together.
3.One to send or give to their MP, because the fact is hunger is a political issue with a political solution.

 I'm so excited about getting started and would love it if other people would get involved too. What could be better than making something that will do good in the world??

I have a few ideas flying round at the moment...You could do anything crafty, really use your imagination.

 If you want to get involved you can insert the image I have at the top and bottom of this page onto your blog to show your support (message me for the html code), tweet or instagram about it  with #imapiece and it will be shared on their hub website, make a jigsaw and craft away, or all three!!

Click here to download the jigsaw templae if you have heard everything you need to and want to get started.

  
Watch the youtube video below which will explain all about what you have to do:

Or for more info click the below which will take you to the site:

CLICK ME!

Thanks for reading and watch this space for my  jigsaw pieces!!!

LEAVE A COMMENT IF YOU ARE INSPIRED AND WILL BE JOINING ME IN MAKING A PIECE. xx

Knitted Lavender Bag

Hi Everyone!


I hope you are all enjoying yourself on your time off. I'm sure you will be all busy visiting family and friends, but you may have a few hours free time in the afternoon to get your knit on!! Heehee.


Here is a little something I made to send to a friend. After searching for a while, I finally found dried lavender in a little health shop in my local town. Lavender bags make such great presents and knitted ones look lovely too!

 It was really easy to make the outside of the bag. I got the pattern from the Usborne Art Ideas book called 'How to Knit'. I think the book is aimed at children but the instructions are so clear and the projects are so lovely that it is one of my favourite knitting books. Here's a link to amazon so you can have a look at it:

'How to Knit'

Once you have put the bag together (by basically folding you knitting in half and sewing up the sides) you can then thread some ribbon through it, to secure the bag. I chose pink as it went well with the purple colour of the bag.

 I then decided to decorate it with the pretty pink flower button on it and put my 'Love Lorna' tag on it of course!

The lavender bag inside was really easy to do. I just sewed up a small bag with fabric and then filled it with lavender. I soaked the lavender in lavender oil for a bit to increase the smell before putting it in its bag.


I really hope my friend enjoys receiving this as a gift, especially when its just after christmas. I am considering making some more of these and putting them on sale on my folksy shop. I need to get some more items up for sale on there in the new year, so I will keep you posted.


Lots of love xx

Birdy Bag

Now I'm on my holidays for two lovely weeks I get some time to do what I really enjoy - making!!

With the fabric bundle I got from the Country Living Christmas Fair I decided to make a bag using the beautiful bird fabric.

It started off as a simple tote bag, but then I decided to make a lining for it, and add a zip on the inside...

I then made some long handle for the bag and lined them with some spare wadding that I had...

 Once I had finished I could add the finishing touches in the way of buttons, a bow and a label...

 And the final finished product looks like this....

I'm quite pleased with it as it is my first ever bag? What do you think??

The Very Hungry Caterpillar!!

Yesterday it was my friends baby's first birthday so I wanted to make him something really special. She was at my other friends baby shower who I made my first ever quilt for, and she loved it so much, I decided to make one for her baby. Here it is:

As you can see, I purchased The Very Hungry Caterpillar (TVHC) Panel which has a butterfly at the top...

...and a caterpillar at the bottom. It also has a grassy effect around the edge of the two creatures.

I also purchased the back fabric which is part of TVHC set. Surprisingly the back fabric was almost twice as expensive as the front!

You might also be able to spot in the corner of the back fabric my 'Love Lorna' label :o) 


I filled the middle with the thickest wadding that I could find as I wanted him to be nice and cosy in these cold winter months. 


From personal experience, the quilt might seem thin, but it is so warm! If I'm feeling a bit chilly at night, I put my patchwork quilt over me and I'm soon toasty. 


I hope you like my quilt, I may make one to think about selling soon....:o)

Love Lorna xx

My first ever Patchwork Quilt

FINALLY, I FINISHED IT!!!!

I started this project early January and have finally finished it now in November. I had a long break from it while I did other crafts, but a couple of weeks ago I decided it was time to finally finish the patchwork quilt.


I am so pleased with it, especially as I am a complete patchwork beginner and did it completely unaided (except with the help of Kirstie's Homemade Home book).






I started by cutting all the fabric into squares the same size (you can buy bundles of fabric which have already been cut for you). I then sewed these altogether - which took the longest time.


I then purchased some wadding and the backing fabric, which you can see below.

After this, I used a fixing spray that I brought from Homebase to secure it all together while I pinned and then sewed across the patches.

I then added a border around the edge of the quilt, before adding my 'Love Lorna' label.

I am very pleased with the final result, and even though I plan on making more quilt, this one is just for me :o) 

Here it is in pride of place, where it will live from now on!