I gave my first attempt at a glasses case to my Mum.  It was a mix of greens and browns, her favourite colours and she was upset because she lost it.

I decided to try another for her.  I had some silk left from the sky on the lighthouse picture I made.  It was printed at one end.  I used some old curtain interlining and my embellishing machine to make a strip of needle felt.  I wasn’t sure of how it would turn out, making it up as I went along.

Punching the fabrics together with the six needles on the machine distorts it into shapes I still can’t predict and as the printed end of the silk scrunched up, it suggested a tulip flower and leaf.  I worked over the flower with several layers using tiny scraps of felt, a little pink wool top and some chiffon.  I added wool worked in random lines, the fibres helping to keep the machine felt together.  Finally, using some metallic thread, I machine stitched slightly curving lines to quilt the piece.  I then made up a small bag, lined with linen fabric and finished with a diamante button.

It was a lucky combination of scraps and lack of knowledge with the needle felting to create something unexpected.  I am really pleased with how it turned out – and so is my Mum!