A Village Quilter

Holiday

2011-10-15T10:58:00.001+01:00

Hi All.

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. I've been on holiday to lovely Southwold. We managed to pick the week where we had fantastic weather. Hope you like the photos.

Thought you might like to see some of the views from our balcony.

Enjoy the sunshine this weekend.

FoQ part 4

2011-09-25T16:27:00.000+01:00

Hello,

Just a quick post this time. For those of you who weren't able to make the FoQ Bonnie McCaffery has posted a great vidcast (in 2 parts) for you to share the event. It's worth keeping your eye on this site as she meets some great artists.

I've been busy at work this week so haven't done any drawing. I hope to rectify that this week.

Have a great week.

More baking (not mine...)

2011-09-16T19:38:00.000+01:00

I'd like to be able to claim responsibility for baking these lovely Butterfly Cakes - but I can't they are all DHs hard work. And boy are they nice.

And I thought I'd share a few pages of my Sketchbook. I'm really enjoying it. It does make me draw on a regular basis. I've found a new products - like water soluble graphite pencils. Very nice they are too. I found the shading really difficult - but it has improved.

I must say sharing sketchbook pages is like baring your sole - so please be kind with your comments.

Hope you all have a nice relaxing weekend.

Take care.

FoQ part 3 and baking

2011-09-04T09:59:00.000+01:00

Hmm... Pear and Ginger Muffins from a Nigella recipe. Very nice.

Thought you might like a post staring with cake.

I've lots more photos from the FoQ. And here they are:

I made this at the Rise and Shine session on Saturday. A great opportunity to sit and chat and do a bit of sewing.

I thought the show was great this year.

My sketchbook course is going well. I'm drawing at the mo. Not my best skill - but that's the point isn't it. And it is forcing me to draw, which can only be a good thing.

I've also been making very good progress with my UFOs. Finished a number of cushion covers, a couple of tea cosys and a couple of Linus quilts. It's very satisfying finishing off things. I'm enjoying my new style sewing room. It's great to be able to see all my stuff rather than thing it's there and not be able to find it.

Have a great weekend.

FoQ part 2

2011-08-27T15:04:00.000+01:00

So - here's another post about the FoQ. There was so much that I couldn't fit it in one post.

Many of us struggle to find inspiration and I've often heard tutors say - 'it's all around you - you just need to open your eyes'. Well, here's proof of that. A single yellow line on a road. We must all see them every day. This photo is just of a small section of the finished piece - it really made me smile. The artist is a graduate from last year, Sue Dawson, and she had the opportunity to exhibit her work in a small unit. The texture was very well constructed and some parts of the yellow line were made from fluorescent yellow fabric from jackets.

Another piece she made is below.

Again, a very interesting texture - but just look at it when photographed with the flash on.

In this piece she used grey fluorescent fabric which didn't look anything at all without the use of flash - but looked very different when flash was used.

She was a really interesting lady to speak to.

Another student exhibiting with this years City & Guilds graduates was Susan Jones. She integrated embroidery into some very stylish clothes. She had a great set of sketchbooks - as did all the students and they were all happy to have a chat.

Here is some of her work.

Maggie Grey was her usual entertaining self - always delivers a good lecture and is very generous with her work, experience and techniques. If you get the opportunity to listen to her do go along.

I'll leave it there for now - I do have more to post...

And I'm very pleased to say I have received my password to enter the website for my Sketchbook course. I must say the quality of the material is very high - as you would expect from the Kemshalls. I'm really looking forward to cracking on with it this weekend. I promise to keep you updated with my progress.

Hope you enjoy the Bank holiday weekend and you manage to avoid the thunderstorms.

FoQ

2011-08-23T19:36:00.002+01:00

Hello all.

Apologies for the delay - but better late than never. I've lots to share with you about the FoQ. It was a great exhibition this year.

So... here's the first of a few posts about the show and what I liked about it.

I hope you like it too.

So here is Hilary Beattie. She was very generous and shared her technique with us of making backgrounds by using her fabric scraps and using Bondaweb or other products that bond fabric to fabric. It's such a great technique, and she makes it sound so easy - but when you try it yourself you realise how difficult it is and what a great eye Hilary has. She was demonstrating at the Rise and Shine coffee morning on Saturday. I went to the session last year. It's a great opportunity to meet people and see techniques.

Below is her entry to FoQ. A really beautiful quilt.

The two photos above show the outfits made by the Kemshalls and entered into the fashion show. Sometimes clothes with embroidery or when they're quilted are - can I say a little hmmmm cheesey! Sorry. But these were very elegant and the quilting added to the outfit - it didn't detract.

The Kemshalls stand was great. Have a look at Linda's Blog.

Also at the show I saw Linda Miller and Bonnie McCaffery. Keep your eye on her site as she was filming at the show - see if she had the same impression of the show as you...

I attended a few lectures this year. And one of them was with Barbara Weeks. She also had a large exhibition whihc was very interesting. She made lots of journal quilts which gave her the opportunity to explore and develop techniques. I think this is a great idea.

Well I'll leave my update there for now. I've lots more to share and hope to post soon.

Apologies for not posting sooner - been a little busy re-organising my sewing room - I now have a HUGE Ikea Expedit unit. Looks great now its up - but DH didn't enjoy the 'building' experience.

Class with Pauline Barke

2011-08-07T08:59:00.001+01:00

Hi,

Thought you might like to see my work in progress from a class I attended recently.

It's my own dyed fabric torn and reassembled. I'm not sure if this will end up as a picture or a cushion.

It needs some more machining - but my little machine is in for a service with the fab Supreme Sewing Machines.

So hopefully I'll have it finished very soon.

Hope you're all looking forward to the Festival of Quilts. Might see a few of you there.
If you want to see the catalogue early - here it is

New month, new course

2011-08-01T19:29:00.001+01:00

Hello all.

Hope you're all well and enjoying August. I can't believe it's August already.

Anyway I'm very excited as I've enrolled on a new course - Sketchbooks with Design Matters.

I'd really like to hear from any of you who have already completed courses with the Kemshalls or have signed up for this course.

Hope to hear from you all soon.

Busy busy

2011-07-18T19:59:00.000+01:00

Hello all.

Hope you've had a nice weekends. It's been rather wet - but luckily when DH and I went away for a few days in Ludlow it was beautiful sunshine. Managed to top my tan up. Yes - I meant I got a little pink - perfect when you're wearing a skirt and socks with trainers - very attractive.

And was told I looked like Miranda. Friends have now suggested I make a living signing autographs or act as a double. I may well write and offer my services.

I thought you might like to see a few photos of our time in Ludlow.

This is a photo I took at the top of the tower of St Laurence Church in Ludlow. And below is the view from the tower. It was a fantastic view on a bright clear day. Well worth the 200 tiny steps - not good if you have big feet like me and DH.

And the flowers for sale on the market were really beautiful.

The War Memorial was rather interesting too. No information about it which is a shame as it was beautiful.

And this is the hotel we stayed in, The Feathers. It's a really interesting building. We had a room on the front, second floor with a very wonky floor and a four poster bed.

And on Saturday we went to a lovely wedding - my cousin Louise (who was bridesmaid at our wedding) got married. It was a really great day - the bride looked stunning and we all had a great time.

I promise to do some art work soon.

And for those of you who are interested the Kemshall's will be opening their disatnce learning sketchbook course at the end of this month. I can't wait.

See you all soon.

Another walk

2011-07-12T21:13:00.000+01:00

Hello all.

Thought you might like to see where I went for a walk with DH on Sunday. Very nice.

Although it was overcast the whole time I still managed to end up rather pink, well red to be honest. Will I never learn.

And here is some lace and thread that I've tea dyed. I'll show you what I do with it later.

I've also made really good progress with my altered book project. I can't wait to show you all - but it's hush hush until the end of the project.

Take care all and hope to hear from you soon.

Hello

2011-07-09T15:46:00.000+01:00

Hello all.

Hope you're enjoying this weekend.

Thought you might like to see what can happen when a tape measure and a rotary cuttter meet. Not good - but at least it wasn't my finger.

And here is a cushion I've made for my cousin as a wedding present.

I hope she'll like it.

I'm hoping to get a few more things finished this week - I'll let you know how I get on.

Frances Pickering

2011-07-06T18:41:00.000+01:00

Hello all.

Just a few photos to show you the work our group completed on Frances' class.

Mine are the in the photo above, on the right - the rather psychedelic pages...

I promise to show you the book when it's finished.

See you all soon.

Apologies

2011-06-30T20:38:00.000+01:00

Hello all.

Apologies for lack of posts this month - thought I'd just sneak one in before the new month. I can't believe it's going to be July tomorrow.

Thought I'd share the completed work from my class with Linda Miller.

She was a great teacher and managed to get quite a large class of differing abilities to complete a piece of work on the day and inspired me to attempt a larger piece.

As you can see from the picture - both are finished. I'm rather pleased with them.

She also came to deliver a talk to the Lutterworth Guild. Very interesting to see lots of her work and to hear her approach. A very smart cookie with an eye on the commercial side of things without compromising the quality of the art she produces.

I'm very excited about the next class I have -Francis Pickering.

See you all soon.

Talk at Leamington

2011-06-05T14:59:00.000+01:00

Hello all.

Hope you're all well.

On Friday I went to the Leamington Embroiderers Guild talk given by Lesley Alexander.

Her work was really interesting and the description of her degree course at Manchester in Embroidery was interesting too. I really enjoyed looking at her sample books and finished pieces of work. It's made me realise that making up a sample book is vital - its shows what your machine can do and what results can be achieved with different threads and material. So I'm now going to try to start a sample book. I promise to show you how I get on.

What are you all up to?

Hello all

2011-05-16T17:13:00.000+01:00

Hi,

I've just not been getting much sewing or anything else much done. Very disappointing. But I did manage to get to Compton Verney to see the Alfred Wallis and Ben Nicholson Exhibition. It was well worth the trip - great work and well displayed. I really like his naive style and seeing the work (rather than reproductions) you can see all the texture and appreciate the use of material - cardboard, ply wood, paper - and you could see how he made use of their properties.

But this week I intend to crack on and actually make some progress.

So I'm struggling to add an image this week - so I've 'borrowed' one of Alfred Wallis' work. I hope you like it.

Out and about

2011-05-08T14:51:00.000+01:00

Hello all.

Hope you're well and that your gardens are appreciating the rain - mine has perked up no end.

I had a great class yesterday with Linda Miller - what a lovely lady. And I hope to be able to show you the items I'll complete over the next few weeks.

And I've also been walking a few times recently and thought you might like to see the photos I took en route.

And in a few weeks time its the Embroiderers Guild Day in Lutterworth - 21st May 2011. It would be great if you could come along - sounds like it'll be a great day.

See you all soon.

UFO Progress

2011-05-01T15:45:00.000+01:00

Hello all. Another Bank Holiday weekend YAY.

Well I'm going to start off with a Royal link that I'm sure, if you haven't seen it already, it'll make you laugh. It makes me laugh every time.

Another I'm very pleased to say I've made progress with a UFO. It was the Mystery Quilt we started on one of the last classes with Bren last year. And here we are with the top made. I'm still thinking about what borders to add - or not.

I also wanted to let you know about an article in the latest issue of Embroidery. It features an article on Michala Gyetvai who's a member of the Leamington Emboierers' Guild. She has a great blog too that you might want to have a look at.

So - I'll leave you to enjoy the rest of thye Bank Holiday weekend and yet more glorious weather.

I do get things finished...

2011-04-25T14:40:00.000+01:00

Hello all.

Hope you're enjoying this continued fab weather. We British really are obsessed with it aren't we.

So - here's my evidence that I do get things finished. Here's my Olympic postcard for the Embroiders offering to the Olympiad. One of the countries our group has is Cuba and I decided to represent the cultural side of things and illustrate ballet. So here we are:

I used soluble fabric as a base for the ballet shoes. And just so there was no confusion beaded the word 'ballet'.

I've also finished another altered book page - but won't be able to show you these until the end of the project.

So now - just one more altered book page and then I can look at my Angie Hughes UFO. Oh it never ends does it. LOL.

Take care all.

Another exhibition

2011-04-23T19:41:00.000+01:00

Well - had a great day yesterday and saw a great exhibition - really top quality work. It was the Living Threads Group and if you get the opportunity to go - please do - you really won't regret it. Besides displaying a very wide range of textile skills - the way it was displayed was extremely well done.

One of the artists we met, Gilli Theokritoff, made the piece below which I'm sure many of you saw at the Festival of Quilts and Malvern last year. Unfortunately you couldn't take photos but I hope this quilt will give you an idea of the quality of work.

Hope you're all enjoying this unseasonally warm weather - I've seem lots fo very pink people. LOL.

Take care and I hope to hear form you soon.

Uttoxeter Quilt & Embroidery Exhibition 2011

2011-04-19T16:49:00.000+01:00

Hello all - sorry for the delay in posting - I've been enjoying the sunshine and I hope you have too.

Had a fantastic day out on Sunday at Uttoxeter race course at the Quilts and Embroidery 2011 Exhibition. It was great - fab pieces on show and great company too. So I thought you might like to see some of the work on show:

Great work I'm sure you'd agree.

A real surprise for me was the postcards we'd made at Leamington Embroiderers Guild.

It was great to see all our work on show.

Take care and enjoy the sunshine.

Angie Hughes class

2011-04-03T18:11:00.000+01:00

Hi all. Yes surprise surprise - here's another post. Just got back from a class with Angie Hughes organised by the Lutterworth Embroiderers Guild. It was so popular we had to book her for an extra day.

Had a great time and wanted to share with you what we all got up to.

So here's what I ended up with. For those of you who know - you'll see there's a lot of work left to go.

And below is another piece I managed to get started on - much bigger and a different colour scheme - lets see how it goes.

If you get the chance do Google her please do as there are lots of images out there of her work as well as lots on her site.

If you get the chance to take a class with Angie - please do - I'm sure you'll have lots of fun.

I also popped in to see the Market Bosworth Quilters yesterday. Theye were taking a class with Edwina MacKinnon. Another great teacher.

More holiday snaps...

2011-04-02T16:18:00.000+01:00

So here are a few more holiday snaps.

See you all soon

Hello - I'm back...

2011-03-27T16:20:00.000+01:00

And I've got a tan LOL.

Have a look at the photo below and see if you can guess where we've been for the week.

Well - it's St Ives.

We had a great time - fantastic weather too - hence the tan (well perhaps not so much of a tan than a shade more off white than normal). So the next few weeks I'm afraid you're going to be bored rigid with photos and what we got up to.

We started the week with a walk about the history of St Ives and later in the week a walk and talk about the art of St Ives. They were really good.

As you can imagine lots of art in St Ives a large number of very well known artists such as Patrick Heron, Ben Nicholson, Alfred Wallis and of course Barbara Hepworth. We went to the Barbara Hepworth Museum and I took a few photos. I hope you like them.

See you all soon.

Hello

2011-03-17T18:35:00.000Z

Hello all,

Hope you're well. I'm enjoying the sunshine - I hope you are too.

So here's a photo I took on an early evening walk earlier this week.

See the sunshine reflecting on the lake.

And I am doing some sewing too. I'm making slow progress - but I'm really enjoying it. I'm rediscovering old stitches I haven't used for ages.

I'll be back soon.

World Book Night

2011-03-07T18:32:00.000Z

Well - Saturday was World Book Night.

I was lucky enough to be selected to give away 48 copies of 'Cloud Atlas' by David Mitchell.

The books were specially printed - as you can see below.

I had a very nice evening sat in the pub - with great people - giving out books and having a drink. It really couldn't have been much better

I'm pleased to say I've managed to give all of my books away.

If you weren't lucky enough to pick up a book on the night -keep your eyes open as the idea is that they're circulated once people have read them.

Now I'd hate to think you thought I spent all my time in the pub - handing out books. So below is a combination of fabrics I've put together to use as the basis for an exercise using different stitches. As you can see I've used the fabrics I dyed the other week. And the threads too. So keep watching and I'm sure you'll see how I get on.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Dyeing Day

2011-02-26T14:34:00.000Z

Hello all,

I've had great fun this morning. Been dyeing and am very pleased with how it's gone so far.

So here is my attempt at graduated dying from Magenta to Ultramarine.

And this set runs from Bright Turquoise to Golden Yellow.

And I've been very good at making sure I keep a record too. So I've noted the colours and how they've been mixed. I also brushed the colour against the notes and I've added a square of fabric to ensure I have a record of the colour achieved.

As i had some of the dye mix left I made another plastic cup up and added some threads that have been wound onto plastic cotton reels. I also added some manufactured printed fabric too to see how they turn out.

So - next time I'm sure I'll be able to show you the results.

Hope to hear from you all soon.

Preide & Prejudice - a lovely day...

2011-02-20T14:59:00.000Z

Well - I had a great day yesterday with some lovely ladies celebrating a good friends birthday.

We spent the day eating cake, drinking tea and watching Pride and Prejudice. The proper one from the autumn of 1995.

Yep - and here's a picture of the lovely Colin.

It was a real treat to spend time with such lovely people and watch such a great programme.

I'm very lucky.

Finished!

2011-02-17T19:45:00.000Z

YAY - finished

I'm really please to have finished this. It's not exactly as the one we were shown on the class - but it is in the style of. I've really enjoyed doing something different. Beading wasn't something I'd really done before - but I'm pleased with the finished piece and would certainly include it again as embellishment.

And here is one of the altered books I'm working on. The cover (above) and the inside pages (below).

I won't be able to show you anything else on this until I get it back - completed - at the end of the year.

As you've probably guessed the theme is 'The Celts'. I'm intrigued what others will some up with.

Hmmm. I need to find something else to make now....

Progress

2011-02-12T14:23:00.000Z

So - I hope you're all well.

As you can see I have made progress with the beading and I hope to have it finished next week. I've enjoyed working on a different scale.

And I've also found time to paint some papers. I used good quality lining paper and Brusho paints. I'm rather pleased with the results.

I'll let you know what I make them into.

I've enjoyed the sun this morning. I managed to get into the garden and hack back the buddleia. It looks a lot more open now. Still lots to do but I thought I'd spend the rest of the afternoon having a play with a few things I've got on the go.

Hope you're all well and hope to hear from you soon.

Free Book - really?

2011-02-09T17:54:00.000Z

How often do you get something for free these days? Not that often - generally there's a catch. Well - I have something to give away - and so do 19,999 other people. Between us we have 1 million books to give away on World Book Night - Saturday the 5th March 2011.

I'll be giving away 50 copies of Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell at Ye Olde Red Lion in Market Bosworth between 5 and 7.

So if you can't get across to see me look out in your local area for events.

Hope some of you will be able to make it.

Another class

2011-02-06T14:18:00.000Z

Hello all. Hope you're all well and haven't been blown away in this ridiculously windy weather.

I had a lovely day yesterday. A great class with Viv Denscombe at Lutterworth with the Embroiderer's Guild members. If you have a look on her site at latest news there are some photos of her work. The one we were aiming to complete was called Allotment BR and is the first photo in detail. I had a great day and tried lots of new things. I can assure you it will turn out something like the photo.

And here is a photo of the first snowdrops I've seen. I really hope this means Spring is really on its way.

Hope to hear from you all soon.

Day out in London

2011-01-30T15:01:00.000Z

Hello all.

Apologies - but no photos today. But I can tell you about the exhibition I saw yesterday in London at the V&A - Imperial Chinese Robes from the Forbidden City. It's very reasonably prices at £5 and well worth a visit. The detail on the gowns and their quality was really superb. I can only imagine how many hours work it took to produce the gowns - couching on gold thread.

I had a great day and managed to limit myself to only buying one book - it details the work of Charles Harper. He specialised in drawing birds and although they're stylised they're really amazing to look at - great movement and texture. If you look you this book via this link it shows you a number of his pictures. The book, Charley Harper's Birds and Words, is a real work of art and has so much to look at.

I'm also trying to make progress with my altered books - still very much out of my comfort zone. I'll let you know how I get on.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Busy busy

2011-01-26T19:32:00.000Z

So - hello.

Aplologies for not having posted at the weekend. So to compensate it's a bumper blog today. Lots of photos.

So first is the progress I made with Thermogauze - I concentrated this time and managed not to burn it. Still quite a bit of work to do - but at least this first part is ready to go.

Last Thursdya DH and I both went to The Beetroot Tree for an open evening and managed to decorate a spoon each using alcohol inks and beads. For those of you who know DH and me I think you can guess which of us made each one.

And as I'd booked Monday off too I went back for a 2 hour session in the morning and tried my hand at mixed media on a canvas. It's getting there but I still have a little bit of work to do. It was a great morning and a great way to try new techniques.

And here is a cushion I made for a friends birthday - it was a little bit late - but she was really pleased with it.

And below is a little bit more progress with my altered book. I've just painted it with gesso and will be adding a coat of red acrylic with some gold added. I've no idea how this is going to turn out - but that's the whole point of trying new things.

And for the very cheeky ones who look at this blog - you can all me maam in future as I'm now the Queen of Comedy. Yes Miranda Hart won 3 Comedy awards.

Take care all and let me know what you've been up to.

Another mid-week post

2011-01-19T17:16:00.000Z

Thought you might like to see what I've been up to.

Here is how I've got on with my work toward my Cuban postcard. I thought I'd try vanishing muslin. I was very pleased with the result. But I over did the ironing part (got distracted) so it's not quite as I intended - but I do now have a piece for my sketchbook.

I've also realised that there isn't enough contrast with the background - so I'll rethink that.

See you soon.

Lost more done

2011-01-15T12:21:00.001Z

Hello all. Hope you're all well - I'm enjoying the weather - bit blowy today but warm.

So as you can see above I've been busy with sewing. It's been very nice to sit and sew something smaller. I thought I needed to add another colour to lift it. Lets see how it goes.

Now - although it's much warmer than it has been - it has been absolutely freezing here. And having cold feet for days on end is no fun - so I thought I'd ditch the cheap slippers and get some nice new warm ones - with a proper sole. These ones from Moshulu weren't cheap - but having warm feet us fantastic. I don't care if I sound like I'm 100 - warm feet is bliss.

What do you think?

I think I've already mentioned that I've been brave and joined an altered book group. And here is the book I've got for the first month - the topic is weather. Ohh - a bit nervous but excited too. I've never done anything like this before but that was the idea for this year - to find challenges and meet new people. One of the ladies has been very kind and has offered to show me the basics of altered books - that's booked for next Friday. I'm really keen to give this a go.

Here's the progress I've made with my fabric paper. I've certainly learnt some things with this first attempt. Firstly I added too much gesso - and I should have added some colour whilst it was still wet. Also the ink pads I use are pigment and these take a long time to dry. However it's not a complete disaster.

So as you can see lots done again this week - little and often is the way to go. I hope you've all been able to do lots too.

Take care and hope to hear from you soon.

More stuff...

2011-01-09T10:32:00.000Z

Hello all. Hope you're well and enjoying 2011.

So here are some more things I've started on and progress I've made with others.

So the first photo of a project measures approximately 9" x 11". I've used my potassium permanganate dyed fabric and I'll be stitching on them - hopefully later today.

Here's the progress I've made with my fabric paper. I've started stitching and will be doing a little bit at a time. Not too sure how I'm going to use these - but it means I can keep my and in with free machine embroidery.

Yesterday I went to the Leamington & District Embroiderers Guild Members Day. It was really good - a really good group of people. For those of you who saw the broach I made for my friend for her birthday (see photo below) I had the pleasure to meet the lady who wrote the article in Stitch. She very kindly told me about her blog - well worth a look.

You may well be wondering what the photo of a book is doing.

Well - altered books here I come.

The Leamington & District Embroiderers Guild have a small group who will each be selecting a topic and then the book will be passed around the group - with each interpreting the topic. I'm a little bit nervous - but am looking forward to the challenge. Again I'll share my progress with you.

And just a quick update on the cake I baked and froze. Well it was defrosted and warmed and we had it with ice cream and cream. Hmmmmm it was very good. So I'd certainly recommend the Sticky Pear and Ginger Cake.

So - hope you all have a good day and hope to hear from you all soon.

Thank you so very much for the comments it's great to know you're all out there.

What I've been up to...

2011-01-05T19:44:00.000Z

So - here's a bit of a surprise for you - a mid-week post - just to prove I do eventually get around to some stuff.

Here are 4 cards I've made. I thought it would be a good use of some fabric I'd made rather than it just sitting in a box. So I'll be signing, dating a numbering them.

One of the things I'm going to try this year (note I'm NOT calling them New Year's Resolutions) is to pick a book each month to focus on and try out some ideas from. So this month it's a relatively new book called 'Drawn to Stitch' by Gwen Hedley. A great Christmas present from my mother and father in law.

So I've started in my sketchbook - the idea is that I'll use the one sketchbook for the year of the 12 books. Lets see how it goes.

Above and below are my attempts at making 'fabric paper'. I met a very nice lady on the course at Bramble Patch last year, she's much more a mixed media artist. She very generously provided instructions of how to make fabric paper and she provided a sample too. I'm not sure how successful my attempt will be. I'm going to persevere.

So I've started with a muslin base - pasted with PVA watered down, the next layer is paper (or chocolate wrappers from Christmas) again with a coat of watered down PVA finally covered with a final layer of white tissue paper - with - yes you guessed it another layer of watered down PVA. Once it was dry I applied a thin coat of gesso. The idea now is to stitch it and add stamping or more watered down acrylic paint. I promise to show the results - whether good or bad.

So now I'm going to get the sewing machine out and see what I can do.

Hope you're all enjoying the New Year.

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T13:58:00.000Z

Happy New Year to you all.

I hope 2011 will bring you all happiness and lots of creativity.

I'll be sharing my ideas for what I want to do in 2011 very soon - but would love to hear from you in the meantime.

Oh and we had some more

2010-12-28T15:21:00.000Z

Hope you're all well and have had a good Christmas.

I thought you might like to see what greeted me when I left for work last Wednesday morning.

Mmmmm - it was snowing. Lots.

Some of you may have seen our village on the BBC 24 hour news or the BBC One O'Clock news. I did shout at the TV a bit as they kept saying it was the first snow we'd seen. But why let facts get in the way of a good story.

I did get to work - despite a bit of slipping - but then we all got sent home due to the continued heavy snow and worsening road conditions.

I'm very happy to say at long last the snow has now melted and we can all get out and about.

I hope you've all had a good Christmas. I had some great pressies - very nice books that I'll share with you soon.

I've also almost managed to get rid of my sticking cold - was a little rough but am feeling better as each day goes by.

Anyway - I'll leave you there now and hope to hear from you all soon.

It's back

2010-12-18T15:32:00.000Z

Well if you have a look at my last posting with the beautiful sunrise - you can see it looks a bit different today. Yep - the snows back - and boy is it back.

I'm very bored of it now and would much prefer to be able to get out and about as normal. The trouble in the UK is because it's not cold enough we get rain that turns to ice and then we get snow - whereas in the Scandinavian countries it's so cold it just gets snow - with no rain to turn to ice.

The picture below is what my budlia looked like after the freezing fog lingered for a few days.

I've been lucky that all the items I ordered on line have arrived - and I've only got fresh stuff to get in for Christmas dinner now.

I do realise that we've been much more fortunate than many.

How are things with you all?

Keep warm and hope to hear from you soon.

Brrrrrr.......

2010-12-05T19:55:00.000Z

Hello all,

Apologies for my tardiness at posting. No excuses - I'm rubbish.

I thought I'd start by sharing a scene from my bedroom window this morning. Spotted by DH.

And here's a cake I've baked this afternoon for Christmas. It's getting packed onto the freezer very quickly otherwise we'll end up eating it now. It's a pear and ginger one from the BC Good Food magazine.

And here are the 'yellow squares' that members from the Leamington Embroiderers' Guild have made. Mine is is second in from the right on the second row from the bottom. very simple - but I like it.

The variety and skill were great to see.

Anyway I left the weather until last. I'm sooooo bored of it now. It's become very slippery underfoot and I'm such a coward as I'm terrified of falling over. I have managed to get to work every day last week and do appreciate there are lots and lots of people much worse off than me - but I'm ready for it being cold and dry now.

Take care everyone and keep warm.

Class

2010-11-07T15:00:00.000Z

Hello all,

I hope you're well and enjoying the beautiful autumn weather at the mo. Today it's a beautiful fresh sunny day. The leaves are spectacular.

The flowers don't seem to know what to do. Here's a photo of a poppy that's decided to flower.

I attended a Leamington Embroiderers' Guild lecture on Friday. It was really interesting. It was given by Jane Davies and her trip to south west China. She very generously shared all her purchases with the group and explained how traditional dress was reflected in modern dress. She gave a really good lecture.

So on Saturday there was a class run by the same group at the same venue. Unfortunately no one turned up to open the hall. Bit of a problem. But being a resourceful lot another hall was found nearby and we managed to run the class only starting an hour later than planned.

I've included photos and brief descriptions of the techniques below.

This illustrates 3 techniques. The one on the left is wax crayon shavings that are then attached by using an iron and baking parchment.

The next one top right is again using a texture plate with water soluble crayons this time.

The bottom right is using the shavings obtained from using fine sandpaper and water soluble pencils. You can either use damp fabric or dampen the fabric and shavings.

You can combine these techniques with using stencils.

So the first one above is using both a texture plate (From Hobbycraft) and soluble watercolour pencils. The different effects are achieved by the fabric being wet or dry before you start rubbing the texture plate

This is my favourite one. The fabric was sprayed with a number of Crafty Notions sprays and then, using the texture plate again (but only small specific parts, use Markel sticks and a metallic one to lift the design.

So in spite of a bit of a of a rocky start the class was very good. They were a very friendly group and I'm certainly looking forward to more classes.

See you all soon.

Hello all

2010-10-30T13:48:00.000+01:00

So - here's what I've been up to. I'm not sure what it's going to be either - but hopefully after my class with Bren next month the pile of fabrics for a mystery quilt will indeed look more like a quilt. I'm about halfway through the cutting - there is rather alot.

And below is the tin for the class to. the idea is that we fill a tin and at the class we each take a tin - obviously not your own. I won't way that's in mine until they've been handed over.

I had a lovely evening on Thursday at my first Lutterworth Embroiderer's Guild meeting. A really friendly group of ladies. When I've finished what I've made I'll post a photo.

I hope you're all enjoying the sunshine - but don't forget the clocks go back tomorrow - oh - an extra hour in bed. Hmmmm

Last weeks crafting

2010-10-15T16:35:00.000+01:00

Well - just to prove I did make something last week - here's the broach I made for a very special friend's birthday. I hope it arrived on time otherwise she'll see it here for the first time.

I really enjoyed making it - based on an article in this months Stitch magazine.

It was so nice to sit and stitch and finish something within a couple of hours. I'm really pleased with the finish - it's got a very tidy back with a nice broach pin.

What have you made recently?

Hello all

2010-10-10T09:39:00.000+01:00

So, I've been doing a bit of cooking. A Blackberry and Yogurt cake. I was really pleased I found a recipe I can use my frozen blackberries in. The fruit looked really pretty in the cake - and tasted good too.

And then a bit of batch cooking. It's amazing how far a kilo of minced beef can go. So from the top:

Chilli

Cottage pie

Spag bol

All for the freezer.

I had a very nice trip out to the Garden Barn. It has some great things for the garden - all very reasonably priced. And they have a great coffee shop with fantastic cake. Well worth a trip out.

And finally this is the view from our church spire. DH and I walked up the narrow, steep, spiral staircase and got a great view. It was a shame it wasn't a little clearer - but we still had a great view.

I have been sewing - but can't show you the results until next week as it's a pressie for someone...

Take care and have a great week.

Guess where I've been?

2010-10-02T12:20:00.002+01:00

To the seaside on holiday - back to Southwold in Suffolk.

Yay.

And there was sunshine - well for 2 days anyway. We were very brave and went for a paddle - it was rather warm.

So here's a photo of the sun reflecting on the sea. It was really good.

Here's a view from the pier to our flat - just to the left of the lighthouse.

I may have had a glass of rose in my hand at this time LOL

Some cheeky seagulls.

I saw some great art too.

Some interesting mixed media art in the Buckingham Gallery.

And some very funny characters by Samantha Bryan. They make me smile soooo much.

So much fun.

I also managed to get out last night to the Leamington Spa Embroiderers Group meeting. A really friendly bunch of ladies. The thing I'm finding so appealing about embroidery is the variety of work produced.

The speaker was Kathleen Danswan - she gave a great talk on the influence Venice has had on her work. Her work was very interesting - but seeing her sketchbooks and hearing her speak about how the city had influenced her was fantastic. She was very generous and encouraged us all to come and have a look and feel of her work.

And finally - a huge thank you to you all for keeping with me as I blog - I promise I'll try and blog more often. Thanks for all the lovely kind words and messages - it's great to know you're all out there.

Take care and I'll be back very soon.

How exciting

2010-09-20T18:15:00.000+01:00

Hello all.

I had a very nice e-mail yesterday telling me I was in October's British Patchwork & Quilting magazine as their featured blog of the month. And yes I'm there on page 68. A very nice surprise as I had no idea my little old blog would make a national publication.

So if any of you are looking at my blog for the first time please do leave a comment - I'd love to hear from you.

Baking

2010-09-19T10:58:00.000+01:00

Hello all.

Hope you're well.

Aplologies for taking so long to blog. Thought I'd show you what I've been up to. Well one thing is baking. I treated myself to the new Nigella book, 'Kitchen' and I tried a new recipe - a Banana and Cherry cake. Hmmm nice. What do you think?

Have you cooked anything new recently?

FoQ

2010-09-05T19:43:00.000+01:00

Thought I'd show you a piece made by Alicia Merrett who I took the class with at FoQ. I really love this one- it's so detailed.

I also fell in love with one of the student's work - Sheena Hughes. Here are some photos of her work

I loved looking at the mini studios. I just love looking at a sketchbook.

For those of you who were lucky enough to go - what did you like best?

See you soon.

Yes - I'm still here...

2010-08-29T15:10:00.000+01:00

Apologies for having neglected my blog - I've been really busy - but I'm sure you have been too.

So - I'll start with the Festival of Quilts. I hope lots of you managed to get there - I had a great time and the photo above is from my short class with Alicia Merrett. It was really fun. I'd recommend going to one of these short classes if you go to the Festival for a few days. I also noticed they've started putting on twilight classes - from 5 - 8, I might give that a go next time.

I also went to the Contemporary Quilters Coffee Morning. It was great and a big Thank You to those involved in organising it. The idea was you moved around the room looking at 15 minute demonstrations - what a great morning.

Now - after the Festival I was very fortunate to attend a two day class at The Bramble Patch with Catherine Nicholls, It was great. Below are some photos of my sketchbook pages from the 2 days.

So we started with a photo. Mine was of a hedgerow with lots of flowers on the verge in front of it. We were to focus on the lines and shapes.

I then condensed these lines and shapes into 6 inch boxes.

I then isolated and highlighted different elements of the same drawing and produced printing blocks.

then sampled the block into two samples - one with Bond a Web and the second was machine pieced.

I've now made a full size sample and will see after quilting what the final size will be and see if I need to adjust the original size.

So by the end of the 2 days I was shattered. I've now got lots of ideas to make a number of small hangings so - watch this space and I'll show you how I get on.

Catherine was a great tutor and with a class of 9 we really benefited on an individual basis from her experience and comments. If you get the opportunity to have a class with her I'd highly recommend it.

I hope you;re all well and enjoying this Bank Holiday weekend.

More Exhibitions

2010-08-08T13:59:00.000+01:00

I dragged DH out for the day yesterday and we went to see a few things.

First stop was The Bramble Patch - we went to see Gail Lawther and Pat Archibald's work - it was really well exhibited - lots of space and light. I had seen Gail's work before when she gave a talk at Rocheberie Quilters and we'd been very fortunate that we'd been able to handle them and hear from Gail about each of the quilts. It's well worth a trip.

After that we went to a lovely tea shop in a barn at Upper Stowe- very nice indeed. There was a good collection of shops (and lots of cats) but what really caught our eye was the Hayrack Gallery. There was a great range of items for sale and a wide price range. If you're in the area well worth a visit.

We then made our way across to Compton Verney. I hadn't been before but as 'Id got a ticket using my Tesco Clubcard points. I hadn't been before and I wasn't too sure what to expect - but I really liked it. It's got a very modern interior - but the exterior is traditional. The current exhibition is about volcanoes. The exhibition was well curated and included a wide variety of media from a large Andy Warhol canvas and also a film which was a real work of art - I could have sat and watched and listened to it all day. We would have liked to have a walk around the gardens but the weather was rather strange - very warm and sunny one moment to heavy showers the next.

So - now I'm shattered - having nice day's out is hard work.

Exhibition

2010-08-05T20:28:00.000+01:00

Hello all,

Just wanted to let you know about a great exhibition I went to see earlier this week. I saw some work by Stephanie Redfern on the Bramble Patch website as she's taking a class there. So I saw she was exhibiting in Birmingham at RBSA - so I popped along. It's really a lovely place to see work - very light and airey. It was great to be able to get so close and see the work in detail.

There was also an exhibition on the top floor of some great printed work - a really high standard and affordable too.

If you get the chance please do go along to visit.

Selling work

2010-07-31T17:15:00.000+01:00

Hello all. Hope you're well.

Well if you want to look at the other page on my blog you'll see I've started to sell quilts via Etsy. I'f love to know what you think of the site and my quilt for sale.

2010-07-25T13:39:00.000+01:00

Hello all,

Apologies for not posting last week - I was really busy and I just don't know where the time went. I'll explain about the photos of rusty things later...

I've had a bit of a eureka moment too. I'm sure the rest of world has had it quite some time ago. I wonder if some of you have had this moment too.

Do you seem to spend all your time doing things but don't seem top get the things you want done (did that even make sense!). I spend lots of time ticking things of my 'to do list' but I still seem to have loads of UFOs, lots of sketchbooks with half developed ideas and still have a pile of ironing left to do. I think I might know where I've been going wrong (my eureka moment). And it's all to do with goals - I know allot of you hate the idea of setting goals - but I think this may be the key to where I'm going wrong. I think if I set some big goals like - set up a virtual shop to sell your work, develop your ideas around colour or set out a structured study plan I can then draw down a list of 'to do lists' I'll actually do things off the list and I'll be working towards these bigger goals. I know - you're probably all there... but at least I'm there now. So how do you work towards those 'big' things? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Now the rusty things. In the last class with Bren I should have rusted some fabric - but I just couldn't find anything rusty. I know that's hard to believe but DH does keep a tidy garage. So when I was out with my mum yesterday we found a little place that had lots of lovely rusty things - so I'm off to rust. I promise to show you the results next time.

Take care of yourselves and I hope to hear from you all soon. It's been lovely to hear from you all with comments about my site and how it looks - please keep those comments coming.

So

2010-07-13T19:22:00.000+01:00

thank you for all your comments. It's lovely to hear from you all.

Your comments have been very helpful and the general feeling I got was that the background was distracting - so I've changed it. I think it's rather nice and bright. What do you think?

So

2010-07-12T13:29:00.002+01:00

what do you think to the new look?

I'd appreciate any feedback you have...

Open University Digital Photography course

2010-07-09T21:36:00.001+01:00

Hello - I thought you might like to see the results of my OU Digital Photography course. There are a selection I'm submitting for my final assessment. SO let me know what you think.

Rusty beach view

Rock pool reflections

Moody canal view

Woodland walk

Light shining through leaves

Cones

Poppy

Scrap Metal

Market Bosworth Water Tower doorway

Ghostly ducks

Oh - and people keep telling me I remind them of Miranda... I'm never sure how to take that!

Market Bosworth Festival

2010-07-02T20:01:00.000+01:00

Hello all. Hope you've all had a good week. I've just about recovered from the festival - it was very busy and we made lots of money for our charity this year - Breast Cancer - just over £1000.

So here's what it looked like.

And just look at those cakes....

So - this weekend I'm going to be taking it easy...

Hope you all have a good weekend too.

Busy Saturday

2010-06-20T08:28:00.000+01:00

Saturdays are usually about either sewing all day or going into the village for a paper and having a coffee in the pub.

So yesterday started with sewing at the Bramble Patch with Bren. Lots of Lutrador painting and FMQ. Lots more work for this one - but I'll keep you posted.

But it finished with me, DH and some friends sitting in a field watching Alvin Stardust and then Dr and the Medics. It's true - honest.

It was a fun eveing and they both did rally good sets. Lots of dancing an d a little drinking.

What have you all been up to?

Busy busy busy

2010-06-17T14:39:00.000+01:00

So here is the finished item I was teasing you wit on one of my previous posts. It was a cushion I made for a friend for her birthday. She was really please with it.

I've also spent the last 2 days at the Bramble Patch with Sheena Norquay - and here are the results from the end of day one:

We started by using an array of items to print with on my dyed fabric. We used lids, corks, screws, cotton reels and cotton buds. I promise to post the results when I've finished it. I've also managed to master the use of metallic thread - I had a bit of an issue with it and have been rather nervous about using it. But I can only say I can free motion quilt with metallic thread. Yay.

And I'll be off to Bramble Patch again on Saturday for another lovely day with Bren.

Hope you're all enjoying the sunshine.

I did it

2010-06-13T13:09:00.000+01:00

Yep - I managed the 5k in 37:10 which is considerably faster than my last 5k effort.

And here's the proof.

I'm now going to relax.

Lots of sewing...

2010-06-12T19:30:00.000+01:00

I've been a busy girl - honest.
So here is a cushion I've made for the Market Bosworth festival where we have the quilt exhibition. This cushion for the cushion raffle.

I've also made a present for someone special - but I can't show you it all until I've handed it over...

And I've got something else on the go too....

So....

There you go - I've been busy honest.

Tomorrow I'm off to run the Race for Life - there's a link to my sponsorship page on the top right-hand side of my blog page if you'd like to make a contribution.

And I'm on holiday this week and I've got a class at Bramble Patch with Sheena Norquay.

And I was really pleased to see my quilt for the Margaret Every challenge on the Bramble Patch site. When I collect it later in the week I'll post a photo so you can see which on it is.

I hope you're all enjoying this lovely weather we having - after all the rain.

Have a good weekend and I'll post lots of photos of my class very soon.

Yum yum and the V&A

2010-05-30T16:53:00.000+01:00

Hello all. I hope you're all having a good Bank Holiday weekend - the weather is rather good too.

I had a great day out yesterday in London at the Quilt exhibition at the V&A. What a fantastic exhibition it was too - always helped by being with great company. If you haven't been yet do try to make the time and do get the audio guide as you'll get so much more from the exhibition. It really was very well displayed and not too crowded.

I already knew the cafe would be busy - and I wasn't disappointed. So after the exhibition we decided to go to the Hummingbird Cafe on theOld Brompton Road. here's the table before:

And what we had....

But I did feel rather sick afterwards. But it was a nice treat.

Anyway - have a great weekend.

What I've been up to...

2010-05-22T13:36:00.000+01:00

Hello all - yes I'm still here.

Wow what wonderful weather we're having at the mo.

Well - I've been busy - as you can tell from the lack of posts.

Well - I've been to Malvern - where one of our group won 1st prize in the cot quilt section

I entered a quilt - but was very disappointed with how it looked when it was hung - very very creased with a scunched up patch too. I think i was aprtly to blame as I didn't hang it before I sent it. So, I've washed it again, and this time its stored on a roll with bubble wrap layered. I hope this will improve it's next showing.

The weather has also brought everything out in the garden - here's one of my jumbo poppies.

I just love them.

And finally - just to prove I am working my way though my OU Digital Photography course - even if I'm a little behind schedule - here's one of my edited photos.

I'll show you original next time.

Have a great weekend.

2010-05-01T08:06:00.002+01:00

You may have wondered where I've been - well we've had a week away in Lyme Regis at a very cute cottage - 'Wren Cottage'.

It was on the little side (2 up and 2 down) - but what else do you need really. It was very near to the sea front and the centre of Lyme Regis.

I fell in love with this shop Susie Cole. It was beautiful inside - organised by colour theme. It was a great shabby chic shop. I loved it - so many beautiful things.

And Ginger Beer was full of great things for living outside; bug houses, weather stations, plant signs, bags and lots and lots of other lovely things.
There were also some great galleries - Blue Lias was one I really loved. A great variety of items and all a good range of prices so anyone could buy something.
And you can't go to Lyme Regis without going fossil hunting.... DH did have to be rather patient as I'm a but of a wuss on slippy surfaces - but we did get across the beach (even with one very wet foot). So here are some photos of our little session fossil hunting:

There had been a recent landslide so you couldn't get all the way across - but we did manage to find some ammonites.
Lyme Regis is a lovely place to visit and I'd certainly recommend a visit.
On the way home we thought we'd go the scenic way and managed to squeeze in a visit to the American Museum - to look at the quilts of course.
They've got some great quilts.
So now I'm back and looking forward to a lovely Bank Holiday weekend - hope you have fun too.

Screen printing

2010-04-18T17:43:00.000+01:00

Hello all.

Hope you're well and have enjoyed the lovely weather we've had this weekend.

I thought you might like to see the results of my screen printing at Bramble Patch yesterday.

As you see I've used some of the fabrics I dyed at the last class. Some of the results are a little too subtle but I do have some ideas how to use them - and they will be used. I can see I've veered towards more subdued colours and not the bright ones I was aiming for - but luckily I can screen print at the next class too so I can put that right. But I'm pleased with the technique and am looking forward to the next class.

Hope you're all well and hope to hear from you.

Dyed fabrics

2010-04-15T20:05:00.000+01:00

Hello all.

I thought you might like to see the fabrics I've dyed before I screen print them on Saturday at my class with Bren. You'll have to wait and see what they look like then.

Trentham (well Uttoxeter really) 2010

2010-04-11T19:45:00.000+01:00

Well, I've just had a great day out at the Trentham Quilt Show (although it was held at Uttoxeter Racecourse as the marque at Trentham collapsed under the weight of snow in February).

So I've taken lots of photos and posted them below for you all to have a look at. It's a great show - not too big - with lots of traders (yes I bought lots) - well worth the effort of visiting if you're local.

So here are the photos.

What do you think?

I've been busy - honest.

2010-03-17T18:25:00.001Z

So - just to prove I do sew, here's the quilt I'm entering at Trentham - that's not at Trentham now. Unfortunately the snow fall earlier in the year resulted in the roof collapsing on the building used - so Margaret has been an absolute star and has managed to find a new location - very near to the original. Please look at her website for full details.

And here is my entry for Malvern - like the previous quilt I've got to sort out a sleeve and a label.

And to prove what a great day I had on Saturday at the Bramble Patch dyeing fabric with Bren - here's whet I ended up with. I'm rather pleased and have a cunning plan to do some more.

And I can't tell you how excited I've been with this edition of The Quilter ( you get this when you're a member of the Quilter Guild). It's got soooo many great artists in it and articles too. So we've got Edwina Mackinnon, Ineke Berlyn, Laura Kemshall and Sheena Norquay.

And I'm hoping this edition of Selvedge will be just as exciting.

Run for Life

2010-03-07T13:51:00.000Z

Hello all,

Hope you're all well and enjoying the beautiful sunshine today. It's so nice to see it at last.

Just wanted to let you all know that on 13th June I'll be doing the Race for Life and wondered if some of you might like to sponsor me or perhaps you'd like to give it a go yourself.

Promise I'll have some photos for you next week.

Take care

Goals and stuff...

2010-02-28T14:07:00.000Z

I don't know about you but I can't believe it's already the last day in February. Where is the year going?

So I thought it might be a good time to review some goals and stuff with you all.I have a lovely card from a very dear friend recently and she was kind enough to agree I could share her 'rules for the year':

to stop writing things off so quickly
to take 10 minutes everyday to benefit me
to be outrageous
to be creative
to let people know how I feel
to smile more

And her motto is:

If you don't like the way things are going, change the way you're thinking.

I'm really impressed with these and I wholeheartedly agree wit the idea of if you don't like how things are - change something, take action. Otherwise they won't change.

Have you got any goals or motto you try yo live by?

This year I'm trying to spend time each day on my creativity, to look after myself and to be a good friend. What about you?

Lots more snow...

2010-02-21T09:21:00.000Z

Thought you might like to see a few photos from our morning stroll around the village in the snow this morning. How are things where you are?

More snow...

2010-02-20T08:03:00.000Z

Well - I can't believe it but we've had more snow. I'm not impressed. Thursday night we had lots and lots and these photos are from Friday morning. This morning there is still all the snow and we've had a really good frost too. I really hoped we'd seen the last of this - but never mind.

Hope you all have a good weekend. I'm hoping to get lots of sewing done - how about you?

Work In Progress

2010-02-14T06:48:00.000Z

Hello all. How are you? I'm great thanks.

I had a great day at the Bramble Patch yesterday - it was great to just get on and and do something different. You can see where I got to below. The Kingfisher was printed onto Lutrdor and then I free machined the colours in. As we looked at composition and I decided I hadn't made anything that was diagonal - so this is very obviously diagonal. I also included some texture, with torn edges and lots of different types of material. I also used a mixture of stitches and threads. There is still some way to go - but our homework is to finish this piece before next week. So over the next weeks I'll show you how I get on.

And how funny is this. Both DH and me bought each other exactly the same Valentines cards. Shows what great taste we both have.

'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement: nothing can be done without hope'

Helen Keller

Books and stuff

2010-02-06T13:58:00.001Z

Hello all. How are you? I'm really good. I'm certainly enjoying the gradually improving weather.

One of the challenges Bren set us was to stock take our books and magazines. Hmm Can't give you the results (as DH reads this sometimes) but there's alot. And one thing we were also asked was to pick the one book we'd take to a desert island. Well my selection is the one below; 'An illustrated Life' by Danny Gregory. I often pick it up and can always find something interesting to read.

What book you you take?

One of the many books by my bed at the moment (there's always a pile) is this one 'The 12 secrets of Highly Creative Women' by Gail McKeen. I'm so enjoying this so much. The women interviewed are so generous with their ideas - it's a really encouraging book to read.

When I went to the November Rocheberie Schoolhouse Quilters one lovely lady was demonstrating making Christmas Puddings - they looked so cute I couldn't resist - so here are my two.

And finally here are my completed strawberries. Another bit of fun. I got the kit for these from The Bramble Patch some time ago and have finally stuck on the stalks.

I'm off to spend more time tidying up - have a good weekend.
'The mere sense of living is joy enough' Emily Dickinson

I've been doing stuff - honest

2010-01-30T09:11:00.001Z

Hello all. Hope you're all well.

Sorry I haven't posted (again). Here are the excuses: I had a really busy week at work after my last post and then was booked on a 5 day residential course last week. So the weekend (when I should have gone to Rocheberie Schoolhouse Quilters) was spent sorting out lots of 'stuff' rather than having more fun.

But in spite of this I did manage to scan in a picture I'd found in a magazine and then print it onto Lutrador and craft vilene (as you can see below). The printer (HP Photosmart C7280 All-In-One) was an absolute dream and just took the different media and printed. I know this is how it's meant to work - but I'm sure many of you will agree how it often doesn't.

Not too sure what I'm going to do with them - but I'm sure my next class will give me lots of ideas.

Thought you might like to see Flo - in her favourite position - on our bed asleep. Can you see the tail is starting to swish - she really doen't like to have her photo taken.

And I was so happy to come home to my copy of Selvedge. Oh it's such a delight to read and look at the pictures and the ads. The next issue is about quilts - I'm sure it'll have lots of news about the forthcoming exhibition at the V&A. I know sine the sad demise of Borders it's not as easy for everyone to get a copy of Selvedge off the shelf - I think Waterstones might be tsrting to try to fill this gap - so do try to have a look at a copy and see what you think.

Anyway - I'm off now to do all those jobs I haven't been here to do for a week. Have a great weekend.

Exciting weekend

2010-01-17T13:43:00.002Z

Hello All,

I'm so glad the snow has at long last gone. We have a really big snowfall on Wednesday and I get sent home form work as they were starting to cancel the trains. Bit annoyed as I'd struggled to get in and really had to drag myself out of bed.

Well, as you can see from the photos I've been cooking again. I'm trying to reduce what we throw away and so I had to find a couple of recipes to use up some left over cranberries and some bananas that were a little over ripe. So the result is a fruity tea bread and a banana and walnut loaf. The fruit looks very moist. I've been very good, cut them in half and put them in the freezer - so at the next quilting meeting I host I can offer some very nice home baked cakes.

And the next exciting thing I've been up to is to re-join one of Bren's classes at the Bramble Patch. It was great to be back there doing this class. She is so good at setting challenges and getting you to use your brain. I hope you like the display below of the small collages we made in the afternoon. The idea was to reflect and represent the photos we'd brought in. So now I've got a nice list of things to do for homework - one of which is stocktaking the books I have related to arts and crafts.... oh that could take some time.

Take care.
'The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity'
Dorothy Parker

Snow snow and more snow

2010-01-10T11:15:00.004Z

Hello again.

I thought you might like to see some views - you may notice a little snow. It just hasn't shifted at all in the last week and it's snowing again.
And here are the poor duck and geese on the frozen lake.

Luckily they seem to have a little bit of water to have a swim in.

And, of course, we had to feed them - here is DH trying to make sure they all had a bit (didn't really work - but we did try).

Hope you're all able to get out and about.

I think I'll curl up now with some hand quilting.

A belated Happy New Year

2010-01-06T16:18:00.004Z

Hello all.

Hope you're all well and not struggling too much with the snow, cold and ice. It's a great excuse to sit by the fire and hand quilt - not that many of us need an excuse.

Apologies for disappearing - like many of you I was rather busy with the festive season. I must say I had a great Christmas an New Year and booked some extra leave so I only went back to work today. How nice a short week.

Well I've been thinking about what to write - so here we go:

I must tell you about the forthcoming exhibition at the V & A - Quilts 1700 - 2010 It looks like it's going to be a great exhibition. I've also found the curators blog - well worth a look at.
Also, as it's new year, I have been thinking about 2009 and how It went and also looking froward to 2010 and what opportunities there are. Alyson B Stanfield makes the great suggestion - 'decide what your year will look like'. Decide that each day will be a good day and that you'll be in a good mood. What a great idea. Life is certainly a lot nicer when you're having a good day. If you haven't listened to Alyson's podcast yet - please do take the time to listen as it's really useful.

And this year I've got a few things to 'assist' with my creativity.

I'll be attending the monthly class with Bren Boardman at The Bramble Patch
I've also decided to keep a 'Creativity Diary' - this is where I'll note what I do EVERY DAY that's creative - it might be reading a book, investigating submitting to a quilt to an exhibition or actually doing some quilting. LOL.
I'm also starting a course with the OU on Digital Photography (paid with Tesco vouchers) as I'd like to improve the skills I have in relation to my digital camera and how to use the software.

So what are you all up to this year? I'd love to hear from you.

A lovely day sewing...

2009-11-21T17:55:00.003Z

I've had a lovely day today sewing with the Rocheberie Schoolhouse Quilters. It's always nice to catch up with such lovely quilters and bloggers:

Sew create it

The Contented Quilter

Quilting in Chaos

Master of Patience

There was a great speaker as well - Gail Lawther. She described the influence her visits to New Zealand had had on her and also showed us the great work she'd produced. As you can see I just had to buy the book.

We were also very lucky as we got a Christmas pressie too - a charm pack of lovely fabrics. I'm afraid the cake we had didn't last long enough for me to take a photo of - but I can assure you it was very very nice (and a very generous slice it was too).

So all in all a great day. As you can see from the photos below there were lots of us there.

A great book

2009-11-13T17:26:00.003Z

Thought I'd let you know about a great book that Radio 4 will be having as their book for Bookclub. The programme format is the audience will have the book and the author, John Irving, is there to answer them. I can't begin to tell you what a great book it is. I've always found that John Irving books always make me laugh, when I know I shouldn't and always have surprises in them. This one is so funny in places but so moving in others. If you do get time to read it - please do. I can promise it will stay with you.

I have finally got round to making some things for Christmas - but I'm sure you'll appreciate that I won't be able to share these with you until Christmas.

Luckily I've got a sewing day tomorrow in a neighbouring village hall - so I've got a list of things I want to crack on with.

If you're in the UK take care this weekend as it sounds like we're going to have some rather bad weather.

Take care.

A class and stressed Flo

2009-11-08T10:18:00.003Z

I had a great day yesterday playing. I had a great class with Mikki - who I originally met at Bren's class at Bramble Patch. It was a really good day and I'll show you in more detail how I'm going to use the techniques I've learnt. I've certainly got a much better idea about how to use some of the stuff I've acquired over the years. Watch this space... And now to Flo - the strangest cat we've ever had in our life - and she's number 6. Well we took her to the vets to make sure there was nothing wrong - but after a very thorough examination she said she was physically fine - but it was more likely to be stress. Yes stress.
So now she's a very spoilt cat who gets her own way all the time and gets to sleep on our bed every night. And she's a delight - enjoys fuss, comes when you call her and she hasn't gone for either of us once. So there you go.
Here she is sitting in the bath waiting for the tap to be run.
Anyway - must go now for the ceremony we have in the village at our war memorial for Remembrance Sunday.

sewing and cooking

2009-10-18T14:19:00.004+01:00

Hello.

Well here's some fabric I bought this morning at Kisko (The Fabric Guild) for a project we're going to do next Saturday at a neighbouring village's hall. I shan't spoil the surprise but I'm sure we'll have a range of colours used with the same pattern.

Now I'm rather proud of this - it's my very first large fruit cake I've ever made - it's for Christmas. It's actually a Fig and honey Christmas Cake from the November issue of the BBC Good Food magazine. I do love looking at cookery books and magazines - but I'm not an overly confident cooking. I think one of the issues is that when there are only 2 of you if you make a big anything - you have to eat it for ever and it kind of spoils it. But I'm really going to try to be a bit more adventurous with my cooking as I enjoy it.

Lets hope it tastes as good as it looks by the time Christmas comes. I think, as it's a bit on the large size, I'll cut it at the start of December - so be warned if you're coming round you've been warned - every cuppa will have a slice of cake with it.
QUESTIONS
A couple of questions for you out there:
Do you have any ideas about food you can make for people for Christmas?
And
Have any of you done the OU course on Digital Photography? (And if any of you consider it don't forget you can use Tesco vouchers to pay and for each £10 of vouchers you get £40 worth of OU course)
Hope you're all enjoying the glorious autumn day today. Cold but very very sunny.

Holiday...

2009-10-02T17:06:00.004+01:00

Hello all. Yes - I'm still around - just been away for a bit and I thought you might like to see some of the photos I took. So this is a photo I took from Pontcysyllte Aqueduct across to another one. It was so high and only narrow enough to get one canal boat across - the path next to it wasn't so great either.

What do you think to the artwork below? That was at the entrance.
This is just a great photo DH took - a great shape.

These two photos were taken at Copper Kingdom - some of you may have seen the site shown on the TV programme Coast. It was a great landscape - sort of lunar.

This is Beaumaris Castle - it was a beautiful sunny day as you can see and it's a great castle to look around.

And finally I took some lovely photos when we went to Penmon Priory - the water in the rock pools was so clear - and the seaweed was a great range of bronze colours.

I couldn't resist taking photos of the pebbles....

So - I'm back now and have enjoyed sewing now I've got back. I keep trying to tidy up my sewing room - but it's an uphill battle.

Hope you all have a good weekend.

Books

2009-09-12T08:57:00.006+01:00

I thought I'd share some of the books with you that I had for my birthday. The first one is 'How to be an explorer of the world' by Keri Smith. It's a real fun book that aims to make you look more at the things around you.
Here's an example of one of the 'Exploration' exercises. This one encourages you to record everything you consume or purchase in a day or week.

And this one encourages you to look at colours more closely around you. By using the colour chart chips you match them to what you se around you.

It really is a fun book and I'm going to take it on holiday with me. Keri also has a great blog called 'Wish Jar'. She's very generous and you get to share how she develops her ideas into the books she writes. I think it would be great book to share with children - or like me being a big kid just think its great fun.

The next book is 'Secrets of Simplicity' by Mary Carlomagno. A really beautiful book to look at if you look at the Amazon site it has some great photos of the art work.

Besides looking beautiful it does have some good ideas. Mary Carlmagno has a company called Order. It has some interesting insights from well known individuals and looks at things in a more simplistic and positive way - well worth a look.

And finally 'How to have Kick-ass ideas: get curious, get adventurous, get creative' by Chris Barez-Brown.
A really fun book.

I love this idea and I tried it out with how to find time to be more creative. The aim is you write down every idea you can to tackle the issue you have - and there are no wrong ideas - and then you see how realistic the idea is and the more practical for you - the more near the centre of the circle.

One of my ideas to have more time for creativity was to give up work - great idea but then I'd have no money to spend of stuff or food come to think about it.

I then thought about reducing the number of days i work - not such a bad idea - but perhaps in a few years time.

Then - the idea was to make out specific days for creativity and also to try to do a little bit each day. Now that is practical.

Chris Barez-Brown joined the ?What If! The Innovation Company in 1998 and many of the ideas in the book are used by them with larger companies.

I'd love to hear what books you've enjoyed recently.

Have a good weekend and take advantage of the great weather we have at the mo.

Studio envy...

2009-09-07T17:21:00.003+01:00

I had a trip out on Sunday afternoon. I decided to visit a friends studio that was open as part of the Northamptonshire Open Studio's event. (If you look at the PDF of their brochure this open studio is no 114)

So the first picture below is inviting you in and...

here you are in the studio. I now have a serious case of 'studio envy'. DH is not pleased. My idea is to get rid of the spare bed and wardrobe in the spare room and make it my studio - rather than the current situation of me working in there and having a bed and a wardrobe in there. Makes perfect sense to me LOL.

As you can see the studio is bright and light and airy.
The artists exhibiting and demonstrating are Mikki Stanswood, Bren Boardman and Fi Bowman. All great artists in their own right, but seeing all three at once is even better.
I had a lovely afternoon browsing the book shelves and having a chat with them all. If you do live in or near Northamptonshire please do try to make some time to visit - it's so interesting see artists studios.

My Festival of Quilts

2009-08-31T09:09:00.007+01:00

I hope you enjoy this selection from the FoQ - more to come.

Hope you're all enjoying the August Bank Holiday. It's such a shame the weather has been rather dull - but we did manage to get a little bit of gardening done.
Thank you for the kind comments about my first 'proper' walk. I'd certainly like to try some more in the future.

I wanted to tell you about the the lectures I attended at the FoQ. I'd certainly recommend having a look at them next year.
So my first one was Pauline Burbridge - what a great artist. She was really interesting. She explained how she planned her year and the process she used to make her pieces - she was very generous with sharing her sketchbooks. She makes 2 types of work now - large pieces and then pieces on a more domestic scale; these latter pieces allow her to develop a theme. She had a exhibition space at the festival - well worth a look.

Next was Maggie Gray. She is so enthusiastic (and very funny)- even though she'd only got back within the last week from a trip to Australia. She was great. My head was spinning by the end of the session as she told us all about so many processes and how she did things. A great speaker. Maggie did have a stall last year but didn't this time. Please do have a look at her blog as she is very generous with her ideas.

And finally was Regina Benson. She makes spectacular pieces. Many of them are bought by corporations as they need big spaces top be seen at their best. She had some great slides and again, like all the quilters and artist I have hear speak, was very generous with her techniques. She is also a member of the Surface Design Association - they had a stand at the show and you could buy their magazines. the magazines have in depth interviews with artists and each one has a theme. I was able to find one with an interview of Pauline Burbridge - a great find.

The show is always a great opportunity to meet up with friends. I was lucky enough to see Jane from Sew Create it, Bren Boardman (my great teacher at the Bramble Patch and a fab artists in her own right) and lost of other people I've seen at classes.

Hope you all enjoy the rest of the Bank Holiday.

I know it's the Festival of Quilts but...

2009-08-22T07:55:00.004+01:00

I had a few days away earlier this week. DH thought it would be nice to share with me his experience of walking the North Yorkshire Three Peaks - so we walked Ingleborough. Unlike him I managed to keep all my toes nails and could manage to walk up the stairs a few days later with ease. LOL.

And yes this photo is from the top - in August - I know it should be sunny - but as you can see it was a little overcast and a little windy.

And here I am at the trig point. I did have a hat on but it blew off once and I didn't have enough energy to run after it again.

I'm really proud of myself for getting up there as its the first 'proper' walk I've ever done.

Anyway - I'm off to FoQ again in a mo - so hopefully I'll bump into a few of you there.

Have a great weekend.

More stuff from Quorn

2009-08-14T15:40:00.007+01:00

I'm so glad you enjoyed looking at the quilts in the same pattern - but different colours. I hope you like the other examples here in the All Star jelly roll quilt.

Anyway - next week is the Festival of Quilts at the NEC. Are any of you going? I'm there on Friday and Saturday so hope to see some of you there.

Have a good weekend

Sparkling Jelly

2009-08-07T17:38:00.006+01:00

I thought I'd share some of the quilts that were made at sewing camp.

All these ones are a pattern called Sparkling jelly and you'll see what a huge difference colour selection makes. It also shows what great quilts you can make with a jelly roll.

Have a good weekend.

I'm a lucky girl

2009-08-04T11:45:00.003+01:00

I'm back from sewing camp - had a great time as usual - due to all the lovely people I met up with (and those I went with). My sewing desk did get rather messy - but I got lots done and I will post photos of the projects and what other people made.
The Jacksons (as they are called) each made an owl - they did make us laugh... I even had a dream about owls - I rescued a baby one.

And here are my cracked tile blocks laid out. I will post another photo of it finished - with borders.

And I've won some fabric on a blog - the blog is Greenolive. It's a great site and she's a very talented designer.

So after this quick post I really need to sort out my sewing room - it really does look like a bomb site.

A Saturday day out

2009-07-12T10:39:00.003+01:00

I had a lovely day out yesterday. But before I went out Flo decided to explore the climbing plant that comes over from the garden next door. It was really funny to see the rustle of the foliage and then a head pop out. The little dark lump is Flo trying to get on the roof. The lengths she'll go to to get somewhere.

I then went to an exhibition at The Brewhouse, Burton on Trent for 'The Feel Good Factor Final Show'. The artists displayed a great range of paper art. Please do look at Gillian Taylor and Linda Marie Young websites - their work is great.
I then went onto The Lavender Patch where I had fantastic lunch and bought a couple of new lavender plants. The photo below doesn't really do justice to how beautiful the shop and cafe was - beautiful soft furnishings. The lavender is a bit late flowering but the photos on their site look amazing.

I then went onto Staunton Harold for a look round. Yet more great art to look at.

Oh and The Fabric Guild have finally set up a website - it's got loads of links to free patterns and the producers websites - it takes some time to look at all the links but it's a great resource.

I'm off now to get all my jobs done - I was having too much fun yesterday so that's the price I have to pay LOL.

Take care.

Another sunny day

2009-07-05T15:14:00.002+01:00

I thought I'd share a photo of some purchases I made at Dunelm the other week. Some lovely voile. I also bought zips by the metre - and thanks to Liz I can now fit the zippers.
I also wanted to share the web site of a crafts person I met at the festival. She make the most beautiful paper items - hand bound note books and stationery.
Please do look at the Bee Design site.
I think I've just about recovered from the festival last weekend and another busy week at work.

Festival 2009

2009-07-01T19:19:00.003+01:00

Well here we are again with another Festival over and done with. Boy was it warm and boy was it busy.

I thought I'd share a few photos of our exhibition to give you a flavour of what we did. I did forget to take a photo of the cakes before we sold most of them - so sorry about that (I can promise they tasted great).

The photo above shows 2 quilts made from Jelly Rolls and the other is one made from batiks (a favourite of one of our members).

The brown one is one of mine and the one to the right is made by one of our members for her nephew.
Here are our entries for the Margaret Every Challenge at the Bramble Patch. All contain the fabric provided by the Bramble Patch - none of them look anything like the others.

A slightly brighter one by me (purple and yellow) it's quilt as you go.To the left here are our scrappy Irish Chain samples. You can see how different the colours we chose look.

And yet more by our members.

And more - plus one (in the centre) made by children at a local school.

And a few more...

Phew....

See you all soon.

It's a miracle!

2009-06-09T19:19:00.002+01:00

If I hadn't seen it myself I wouldn't have believed it. Yes - Fluff and Flo - asleep - next to each other.