A Village Quilter

Hi all. Yesterday I treated myself to a trip to London and went to see the first exhibition  in the UK about a famous Canadian artist called Emily Carr . I'd never heard of her before but saw that Catherine Nicholls was running a class next year at the Bramble Patch inspired by her work. The exhibition was very well displayed and combined large pictures with artefacts and sketchbooks. The audio guide was particularly useful in providing interesting background information. Emily focussed on recording her surroundings in British Columbia and also the deteriorating artefacts of the indigenous peoples whose population had been decimated by disease. 

Hello all. I hope you're all well. Apologies that I haven't posted for a little while.  I've been really busy - lots of classes and a sewing retreat too! So here are a few things I've been up to. Firstly I had a great time on a  Pauline Verrinder  class.  Tried lots of new things that I hope to finish.  Here they are - work in progress :  And last weekend I had a great time at a sewing retreat.  I took some projects along that needed finishing off.  It was lovely to meet up with friends and have a good catch up and lots of time sewing with someone else sorting out all your meals. So - been very busy. Take care all.

I thought you might like to see what I'm working on.  This EPP (English Paper Piecing) project will, hopefully, end up a 20 inch cushion.  It has made me realise that doing close work works better if I take my contact lenses out! The pattern is from 'I love patchwork and quilting ' which I have now subscribed to. It's a lovely magazine and I'd suggest you have a look at it. I have a class tomorrow which I'll be sure to take lots of photos of. Take care all.

So yesterday I attended a class with Vicki Mansfield with the Leamington Embroiderers Guild . She is an amazing embroiderer and had wowed us the previous evening with examples of her work. Now, I'm not great at formal stitching - I'm much more laissez faire in my approach, so I knew this was going to be a real challenge. And boy was it a challenge. So this is what we were aiming for:  And this is how it progressed throughout the day    It was tough and I've never attended a class that was sooooo quiet!  All that concentration.  Although I did find it hard I was pleased to have tried something very different, which is the whole point of joining the guild.

Hello all. I'm back from a holiday in Falmouth.  The weather was amazing.  We did lots of stuff, a visit to Pendennis Castle, a boat trip and some great meals too.  On the way back we visited Wells. Here area few photos:

Wow - September already. How did that happen? I have been busy doing some sewing, but will show you more in another post. Yesterday I went to Oxford with two lovely friends. The main point of our visit was to see The Eye of the Needle at the Ashmolean. There were about 50 pieces on display, and they were amazing.  The work was so fine.  Some of the cutwork looked like lace.  It was also interesting to see how they combined such a range of stitches. A number of the pieces were quite formulaic, with the same features repeated in many of the pieces which showed how many of them must have used a pattern book.  And then - we couldn't resist it - we went to The Pitt Rivers Museum .  And all I can saw is WOW.  I have been before but had forgotten quite how amazing it was, and in parts how gruesome.  An amazing Victorian collection.  Some weird items - shrunken heads, a totem pole, a parka coat mad...

Hi all, I've been busy finishing off some bits and bobs, you know projects not far off being finished after a class, zips in cushions that were bursting etc.  I have some more photos to show you from the show that I really liked. I hope you like them too. Still some more to follow...

Hello all. I went out for a coffee today at the Garden Barn   and saw a very cute fluffy sparrow having a bath.  And here are some of my purchases from the Festival of Quilts with links to their websites  Stencils from Stamposaurous and Hilary Beattie  Beautiful threads from Alter Ego  Threads from Barnyarns  Fabric from Puddleducks  A lovely little book from Annette Morgan  Loved so mnay of the quilts on display by the European Quilt Group  And I just loved these fabrics from Moda designed by Janet Clare More quilts to follow soon

Hello all. So - I went to the FoQ yesterday and had a really good time.  As usual I've taken loads of phtotos and will blog them bit by bit.  So here are the first lot. Art Textiles: Made in Britain are exhibiting at FoQ with the theme of Identity. As part of this they decided to make mood boards, which I think really sum up each of the artists. And I love this piece by Hilary Beatti e.  More to follow...