Is it a bird?? Is it a plane???

A friend showed me the most adorable little patchwork bird decoration she had made the other week and very generously shared the pattern for it ... it was all fat and squooshy and fabulously well done and crucially, it looked like an actual bird when she had made it.  I was foolish enough to think that I too could concoct some darling birds for my own christmas decorating needs.  I had visions of lots of these birds on my christmas tree or at the very least, ten or twelve of them along my mantlepiece.
However, crafting little stuffed things has never really been my forte.  Good at plenty of other things, but making realistic stuffed creatures isn't one of them. 

I made three.  Three were enough.  And thus my grand plans have been reduced to a string of three "sort of" birds that can be put on the bannister in the living room. I'd bought six fat quarters of lovely fabric specially to make this flock of birds.  So I now have quite a bit of christmas themed fabric and will no doubt be looking for a christmas themed project to use them up on.  One that doesn't involve avians of any kind. 

And here are the "birds".  They aren't too bad from a distance, and they do look like birds of a kind, but they aren't the fat, lovely, well crafted birds that my friend produced.  I'm probably just being too picky and perfectionisic (if that is even a word, which I doubt) but I didn't feel they were my best work.

And in close up we have Mr Psychopath Bird with the red body and cream patterned wings... he looks as though he would kill you if you mention Christmas one more time. He also has a pointed head and a deformed tail, which might be why he is feeling a bit bad tempered. 









Tiny Clanger bird, who is cream with red wings.  For those of you unfamiliar with Clangers, I've included a picture of one.  I believe this might actually be Tiny Clanger him/herself.  For those not old enough to recall these creatures, they were a children's TV programme made by Oliver Postgate.  These knitted creatures communicated by whistling and lived in, and on, a planet which they shared with the Soup Dragon (a creature made from meccano).   I watched these things as a very small child and loved them.  Even now a certain kind of whistle will always make me think of these creatures.  However, it must be said that I had not particularly set out to create a christmas themed, Clanger-headed bird.  The close up of the other bird, Mr Lumpy Head, didn't come out right so is not included.  However, the description presumably gives you an adequate idea of his appearance in close up.