Our 1st Commissioned Project

Fifyjo recently passed me this piece of fabric and asked HSH to make somehting of it.  Anything.  She bought the fabric just because she liked it, with nary a thought of what can be made out of it.

I fingered the pale cream fabric gingerly, my chest tightening.  The faint line drawings, combined with washed-out water colours, were a departure from Fifyjo's usual choice of cheerful fabric, and was frankly, rather uninspiring.  But business is business, I will take it as a challenge.

On closer examination when I brought the fabric home, I finally realised why Fifyjo loved the fabric so much.

 

 

The pictures depict the daily scenes from the life of Anne of Green Gables and were deliberately rendered in a vintage hue, as befitting such a children's classic.

This picture depicts family love - here, Anne is trying out the new dress bought for her by her caregivers (admittedly, I didn't read the book so I'm not sure whether these people are her parents or she is orphaned, as is oft the plot for most children's classics).

 In this scene, Anne is being reprimanded by her teacher for breaking something (aren't we are familiar with that?).

Anne's story celebrates friendship...

 

..kinship...

...and being yourself, standing up for what you believe in..., themes I hold dear.  I was therefore determined to make a showcase of this commission.  I decided to consult Tinkerbelle, a veritable creative genius (in the meantime, Bobo is away cha-ing cha-ing on an overseas holiday.  BBCC (shouting from afar), "how many times do I have to tell you that I am on a buying trip for the stall, not holidaying!")


Anyway, as serendipity would have it, before I could show Tinkerbell the fabric, she excitedly whipped up something she just bought in the morning.

Does anything look familiar?  Why, it's Anne's life, this time depicted in postage stamps.  Even the shade of brown was complementary to Fifyjo's fabric.  We were so excited that we jumped up and down, like the little girls we actually are.

Things moved fast from then on, as ideas tumbled upon each other...

 

The inspiration for the final product came from the fads Fifyjo and I went through:-

• Laying out the pictures like in a photo album reminds me of the brief period when a few of our colleagues went crazy over doing up photobooks.  
• I deliberately restrained from over-doing the embellishment because I wouldn't want to insult Fifyjo, whose talent in scrapbooking is unsurpassed.
• As for the crocheted doilies - Fifyjo would remember them as my and her 1st attempt at learning crochet.  I even sacrificed the original, very flawed, piece because it would be more meaningful.

The whole afternoon, I was painstakingly handstitching each and every piece onto the background fabric.  I now present to you....

Now, I have a dilema.  I don't know what to do with it next.  The piece measures 72cmX76cm.  It can be mounted on a styrofoam or cork board and used as a notice board.  There is enough empty space left for Fifyjo to further embellish or pin her own special memorabilia.  Or this can be made into a lap quilt - just enough to cover those cold knees in the freezing office.  Anyone got any other suggestion?


Oh, Fifyjo, your humble servant awaits your further instructions....