Little Birds (Design Collective)

Sept 10

Unlike most collections, which concentrate on a particular craft, this collection, the first in Stash's new Design Collective series, focuses on a theme: birds. The styles vary from folk-art embroidery, to realistic stuffed toys, to colorful quilts and wall hangings. Most of the projects are small, sweet, and suitable for beginners. They aren't children's toys as much as trinkets you might display on a mantel or with a whimsical collection of objets d'art. Each project includes a brief designer bio and contact information, including a website.

July 10

This book features 26 projects involving birds from soft toy birds to embroidery involving birds in the design there is something for everyone. The book incorporates techniques such as quilting and embroidery but the projects are suitable for beginners. Some of the birds are decorative and others, like the Bird on Branch Make Up bag or little birds quilt, are functional. Each project has the instructions broken down into a few different steps, from getting the necessary equipment together before you start to cutting the fabric and constructing the bird itself. What I love is that at the start of each project there is a little biography of the contributor along with links to their website/blog/shop so that you can find out more about them, or buy one of the birds if you don't want to make it yourself. At the back of the book you will find pattern pieces and a guide to the embroidery stitches used.