LIBERTYBELLE

This Week's Tag

2012-02-10T14:43:00.000-08:00

I have had a busy week so I didn't get my tag finished in time to post on Tuesday- but here it is late! This week's theme was "hearts". I stencilled and stamped the tag using a heart stamp. The heart is made with card covered with sheet music called "First Love". This was stitched to two layers of sheer fabric. I added the button and key charm and finished the tag with a ribbon.

Catching Up

2012-02-05T10:05:00.000-08:00

Today is catch up day. I was without my computer for most of last week as it was hit by a virus and had to go away to be repaired. i am making up for the postings I couldn't do. First here is a picture of my tag for last week's Tag Tuesday. The theme was "Lace". There are so many talented people taking part it's worth going to the blog to see all the wonderful interpretations of the theme.

This morning I woke up to see this outside my windows. I was supposed to be going to Milton Keynes today to take part in the BBC Choir of the Year competition with the Swift Singers. We were going to leave by coach at 5.45 in order to reach the venue by 9am. Needless to say the weather had other ideas! These pictures are of my garden.

February is the second month of the journal challenge organised by Kate Crane Here is my page. I coloured the page with Koh-i-Nor dyes which were then stamped and stencilled. The hearts were stamped using the free stamp from the February edition of Craft Stamper and the image was a free download from this wonderful blog

Vintage Tag

2012-01-25T14:29:00.000-08:00

This week's theme for Tag Tuesday is Vintage. I had great fun making this one as I love anything vintage. I used sheet music and lace for the background. The picture is of my wonderful paternal grandparents, George and Ellen, on their wedding day. They were married for almost 65 years.

The tag was finished off with more lace, the words "I do", ribbons and a pearl bead.

Week 3 Tag Tuesday

2012-01-17T10:25:00.000-08:00

This week's theme for Tag Tuesday is WHITE. I made my tag with handmade paper covered with punchinello, hand embroidery and lace. It was finished off with paper snowflakes, a fabric flower, beads and washers covered with blanket stitch.

Tag Tuesday again!

2012-01-10T08:50:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that it's Tuesday again and a week since I last posted here. This week's theme for Tag Tuesday is snow sports and games.

Here is my tag for this week. I just had to use this cute little picture. The background is scrapbooking paper stuck onto a plain white tag. I then added the picture, words, a punched snowflake and lace along the bottom. It was finished off with beads, ribbon and fluffy white thread.

Tag Tuesday

2012-01-03T11:40:00.000-08:00

I have decided to take part in Tag Tuesday organised by Carolyn of Love Stitching Red. This week's theme is Snow and here is my snow tag which was made with two layers of handmade paper stuck to a luggage label with mod podge. I added a picture and words together with lace and fancy threads. The tie was made with thin ribbon and small beads.

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T13:08:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

I am starting the New Year with a new challenge. Last year I admired all the work in the journals from the participants taking part in the 2011 365 challenge organised by Kate Crane. I have decided to take part this year. The idea is to create a journal for each month of the year.

Here is my January page, ready and waiting to be filled in. I only hope I will disciplined enough to keep it going all year!

A New Arrival

2011-12-02T13:48:00.000-08:00

I have a new great niece, Grace Kathleen, who arrived late on Wednesday evening over a week late. I am flattered that she shares my middle name- we were both named after my lovely Mum who died in 2000. I just love making things for babies so l have been busy making things for the new arrival.

A three bears quilt.

some cute felt boots

and a sweet jacket and hat in bright colours as requested by her mum!

The last ATC's

2011-11-03T15:38:00.000-07:00

Over the past year I have been taking part in a Birthday ATC Swap. It has been great fun taking part and I have made contact with some lovely ladies from various parts of the world such as the USA, Canada, Spain and the Netherlands as well as the UK. November is the last month of the swap as no-one has a birthday in December. Here are my last two ATC's ready to be posted to the USA and the UK. They were made with merino wool and craft vilene using my embellisher. They were finished off with hand embroidery.

Workshop

2011-10-31T14:27:00.000-07:00

On Friday I did a patchwork workshop with Lorna Dakin.- I haven't done one in ages so I really enjoyed it. She calls this pattern New Orleans Beauty. We had to join one and a half inch strips of fabric together before the workshop, so we were able to finish the tops during the day. I used up some batiks from my stash and went outside my comfort zone with the colours I used. This picture subdues the colours a bit as they are brighter in the flesh! I have now backed, edged and quilted so it is now finished.

The picture below shows Lorna surrounded by the other ladies at the workshop together with their stunning quilts which will hopefully find their way into our next exhibition.

Another Little Quilt Swap

2011-09-27T00:52:00.000-07:00

Since I got back from St Ives I have been working on my quilt for Another Little Quilt Swap organised by Kate North. The sides of the quilt had to measure between 18 and 24 inches. I decided to make mine 20 inches square and I dyed some cotton fabric with indigo coloured procion dye for the base. I folded the fabric in the dye bath so that it dyed unevenly. I stencilled and printed on the fabric with Markal paint sticks and Lumierre paints using lots of different sized circles. The piece was then embroidered with hand dyed threads, beaded, layered and hand quilted.

I backed the quilt with a piece of space dyed cotton.

This is a close up of some of the embroidery and printing. Some of the circles are filled with sequins, beads and covered washers.

Catching Up

2011-09-23T03:08:00.000-07:00

At last I can catch up with my blog! So much has happened over the last month which has meant I haven't been able to keep up to date. First we had a wonderful three week holiday in St Ives visiting my son and his girlfriend. We have been home for almost two weeks but my internet has been down since I returned home so I have been relying on my phone for emails. We are now back on line so I can blog again!

We were really lucky with the weather and we managed to visit lots of lovely gardens. This picture was taken at Trevarno and shows the lake. They have peacocks running around the garden (much to my dog's annoyance) and the shop sells lovely hand made soaps and other beauty products. They are also renovating a station, steam trains and a railway line so my DH was happy as well!

I spent a lovely day in St Ives with Carolyn Saxby http://love-stitching-red.blogspot.com/. We met in a little tearoom and had tea,coffee and of course cake! It was low tide so we spent some time beachcombing and I have come home with a collection of bits to use. I've not had time to do anything with them yet, but we found lots of small pieces of blue and white china which are just waiting to be used in a collage.
We had cornish pasties for lunch overlooking this wonderful view.

Carolyn then took me to The Gallery on the Square where there is some amazing work by local artists We also went to meet Sheila Stayne who has some beautiful work displayed in her studio in her

Porthmeor Studio, which is pictured below.

I had a really lovely day with Carolyn and I'm looking forward to meeting up with her again when I next visit St Ives.

I went to St Ives Tate Gallery where they have got two interesting exhibitions on at the moment. One was by Martin Creed and was called Half the Air in a Given Space. A room is filled with balloons that you walk through. It was quite an experience!

Since I arrived home I have been working on two projects. Firstly I have been knitting cakes for Gina Ferrari for her Pink Friday Tea Party. My plate of cakes is pictured below.

I have also dyed, printed and stencilled some fabric to make a small quilt for Another Little Quilt Swap I am now busy finishing it with hand embroidery, beading and quilting. One more week to go and it has to be finished. Watch this space for updates!

A Wonderful Day

2011-08-13T11:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a really wonderful day-it was my niece (and god daughter!) Hannah's wedding. She looked really beautiful and is pictured here with her lovely new husband Charles and her four pretty bridesmaids.

I love this picture of Hannah with her proud grandad.

It was a real family occasion as her sister-in-law Anna officiated at the wedding. I was honoured that Anna asked me to make her clerical stole which she is seen wearing here.

Hannah and Charles have now flown to Italy for their honeymoon and I hope they have a long and happy life together. It was wonderful to be able to share their special day.

Just in time!

2011-08-09T13:36:00.000-07:00

I have finished the quilt just in time for Hannah's wedding which is on Friday. I can safely post a picture on here as I know she will too busy in the next two days to be browsing the internet. As the fabric in the quilt was quite bold I decided on simple blocks which I think has worked well. My sister has seen it and thinks it will go perfectly in Hannah's new house. Now all I have to do is to add a label and get ready to enjoy the wedding.

Hannah's Hen Weekend

2011-08-03T13:25:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had a great time in Cambridge at my niece's hen weekend which was a murder mystery. We were given our characters before we went and we had to arrive at the hotel in fancy dress. My sister and I were told to go as Patsy and Eddy from Ab Fab- this is us dressed up and ready to go.

Hannah, the bride, was Cruella de Ville and her sister-in-law to be (another Hannah on the right) was Dame Edna Everidge

I'm not sure what the people of Cambridge thought but we had a great weekend, and we are all looking forward to the wedding next week.

Olympic Pennants and Wedding Quilt

2011-07-27T14:03:00.000-07:00

My life seems to revolve around stitching at the moment- I have so many projects on the go. Last Saturday some of the members of Ferrers Quilters got together and had a day making pennnants for the Olympic games. As I had to leave early I don't have any pictures of the finished pennants yet so I will have to post them later. We had a great day and as everyone brought food along we had a delicious lunch.

Another of my current projects is a quilt I am making for my niece, Hannah, who gets married in two weeks time. She wanted the quilt to include black to match the bedroom in her new house. I found some lovely fabric by Benartex in their Habitat range . Below is a sneak preview of the quilt. I'm not posting a picture of the complete quilt as I want it to be a surprise!

This weekend we are off to Cambridge for Hannah's Hen weekend- A Murder Mystery . It should be great fun. I have to go dressed as "Eddy Monsoon" from Ab Fab, so I have spent most of this week making my costume. Watch this space for photos!!!!

Books, books and more books!

2011-07-08T12:48:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it's been so long since I last blogged- I have been busy honestly!

Two weeks ago my little books arrived from the little book swap I joined. I am so pleased with them and they are all in my favourite colours too. Thank you Sarah, Sharon, Jo-Ann and Frieda- they are lovely.

Two weeks ago we had one of our regular Fen Edge Textile meetings and we had a workshop making sketchbooks ready for our next big exhibition, "Diversity" which will be in February 2013. Sounds a long way away but we have a lot of preparation to do and I'm sure the time will go very quickly. I used my workshop book as a prototype as I wasn't sure how many pages I wanted or what size to make. Having made some decisions I have worked on my book this week and it's now finished ready for tomorrow's meeting.

The book is 8 inches square and the cover is made with space dyed cotton which has been machine and hand embroidered and beaded.

I coloured the spine of the book with inks to match and added beads for more interest.

The inside cover has been inked and stencilled and I have added a pocket. The pages are made with watercolour paper and cotton rag paper.

Now all I have to do is fill it with sketches!!!

My New Toy!

2011-05-22T13:23:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting one for ages and now I have one! I was shopping in a well known local supermarket to discover that they are now selling them for Amazon so I just had to get one straight away! Can you guess what it is from the cover I made for it this afternoon?

A Kindle!

Not too difficult to guess really.

I have spent most of the day downloading books and I can't wait to start using it.

Fabric Collages

2011-05-18T14:07:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it has been so long since I last blogged- I'm not sure where the time has gone!

I have been working on two fabric collages both twelve inches square. I tea dyed all the fabrics and lace to antique them and I used both machine and hand embroidery. I sewed on lots of beads buttons and sequins and mounted the pieces on tea dyed calico. To finish the pieces I am going to stretch them over wooden frames.

On Saturday I am going to Cottenham for our next Fen Edge Textile Group meeting. Pauline has arranged a "Wired to stitch" workshop which I'm sure will be great fun.

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T05:22:00.000-07:00

I hope you all have a very Happy Easter!

More little books

2011-04-18T08:52:00.000-07:00

I have finished two more little books this afternoon so I now have enough for the book swap with some left to take to the Craft Fair. I'm on a roll making them so I will probably make some more to take to the fair.

No time for making tonight as it our Embroiderers' Guild Meeting with Jennifer Hodgkin speaking about 'The Quaker Tapestry'.

More little books

2011-04-17T09:53:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy week this week with DS2's birthday, visiting relations and Ferrers Quilters'AGM, so there hasn't been too much time for creating. I have managed to finish making two more little books and the pages are painted ready for the next two. I have now made enough for the little book swap and I have decided to make a few to put on my craft stall at a May Bank Holiday craft fair.

Little Book Number 2

2011-04-12T13:31:00.000-07:00

Today I have finished making my second little book for the book swap. I decided to make it using the same method that I used for the first book- this time with poppies instead of daisies.

I didn't realise how much I enjoyed book making - this has been great fun. I was going to stop with after I had made two but I think I will continue. Watch this space!!!

Little Book Swap

2011-04-10T13:30:00.000-07:00

I have just signed up for a little book swap organised by Lenna Andrews. You have to make either 2,3, or 4 little books no bigger than 5 inches square, using any method you like and each book must have between 4 and 20 pages. I have been making my first book today. The cover is painted craft vilene which has had a layer of paper napkin bonded to it. This was then sealed with acrylic wax.

The pages are made from lining paper which I coloured with Koh-i-noor dyes. I have stitched the edges of some pages, added some sayings and pictures, beaded the edges and made a tie round cord. I now have to decide how I am going to make the other books!

What happened to March?

2011-04-03T08:09:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that we are now into April and that it's a month since I last blogged. I have no excuse and I'm really not sure what has happened to the last four weeks. I need to get my act together and start being more productive.

Yesterday I spent a lovely day doing a workshop with Jill Flower. She uses re-cycled paper and stitch to make wonderful ruffs and brooches, some of which are pictured below.

Jill's brooches

She showed us how she makes her brooches using aquabond, strips of coloured pages taken from magazines, scrim, machine embroidery and embellishments such as beads, buttons and sequins. The picture below shows some of the brooches almost finished at the end of the workshop.

I spent last night sewing on more beads and adding the pin and and the finished brooch is pictured below.

What a great way to spend a Saturday!

Sketchbook Challenge Prize

2011-03-01T08:42:00.000-08:00

I have been taking part in the Sketchbook Challenge and today I found out that I have won one of the February prizes. As I don't find keeping a sketchbook very easy I was so surprised! I have learnt that the prize I was supposed to receive contains liquids and can't be sent from the USA so I am going to get cash instead. I will have no difficulty spending it!

Textiles in Focus

2011-02-27T13:28:00.000-08:00

Today I have spent the day at Cottenham at the Textiles in Focus exhibition. It's a lovely exhibition with a great atmosphere and a nice mix of work on display, workshops and sales tables.

I only had a short time to look at everything as I was teaching two wokshops and it was great to catch up with Myfanwy before I started. The ladies worked really hard as there was a lot to get through in two hours. They made brooches using silk paper and embroidery.

This is this morning's group with their work pictured underneath. The brooches are lovely and almost complete.

This was this afternoon's group hard at work with their almost finished work pictured below.

Well done ladies, it was a great day and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.!

Textiles in Focus

2011-02-26T12:34:00.000-08:00

I have spent the last two days preparing for the two silk paper jewellery workshops I am teaching tomorrow at Textiles in Focus at Cottenham Village College. My bags are packed ready for an early start! I just hope I have remembered to pack everything!

I have completed two more pages in my vintage glue book. It is such a relaxing activity and I am really enjoying collecting the materials and making the collages.

This morning the postman brought my quilt from the Little Quilt Swap. This pretty little Japanese quilt was made by Robyn in the USA and she kindly sent me some Japanese fabric with it. It has been great fun taking part and Kate has done a great job organising it. I hope she will do so again next year.

Bras and Books

2011-02-23T13:09:00.000-08:00

Today was our Tea Party for he Helen Rollason Cancer Charity. Dengie Craft Group have been spending the last few sessions decorating bras or making them into evening bags and the photograph below shows a seletion of the finished ones. It has been great fun and we have all spent a lot of time laughing. To date it looks like we have raised in excess of £250 for the charity.

This afternon I have had time to start on my online workshop 4 Artists 4 Ways. (see button on right) . The workshop is divided into 4 sections each one being taught by a different artist. The first part is vintage glue books taught by Mary Green. I have always wanted to try different styles of books and this course seems an excellent way to learn. The first page of my book is pictured below. I had great fun sourcing the materials and I am really looking forward of the rest of the course.

Taking Liberties at Art Van Go

2011-02-14T13:17:00.000-08:00

On Saturday I went to Art Van Go to see Fen Edge Textiles Exhibition "Taking Liberties" and below are some pictures. We had a "meet the artists day" with drinks and nibbles and although there weren't too many vistors, there was a great atmosphere and it was good to meet the others informally.

Yesterday I made my next set of ATC's for the birthday swap I am taking part in. It was my birthday last week and so far I have received a lovely selection of cards. I plan to make a fabric book to keep them all in. I still have a few more to come so I will post a picture of them when my set is complete.

I have also finished the bra I have been decorating for the Helen Rollason Cancer Appeal Tea Party which our Craft Group are holding next week. I am calling it "June is bustin' out all over". It was great fun to do and gave me plenty of practice working with sheer fabrics and free machine embroidery.

A Lovely Surprise

2011-02-07T14:01:00.000-08:00

Last week a surprise package arrived on my doorstep. It came fron St Ives from Carolyn Saxby Love Stitching Red who won my giveaway last month. Carolyn makes the most beautiful little hearts and she had made one for me using some of the giveaway fabric and lots of other goodies. I am so honoured to have a piece of Carolyn's work as I love everything she does. It's extra special to me as my son lives in St Ives too and I visit the town as often as I can. The heart now has pride of place in my workroom and will be a constant reminder of the lovely holidays I have had in Cornwall. Thank you Carolyn.

This month is when the Helen Rollason Cancer Charity hold fund raising tea parties. A while ago Stitch Magazine had an article about a group who decorated bras as a fund raising activity for breast cancer so my craft group have decided that we will do the same. We hope to have them finished in time for our tea party later this month. In another of the magazines they had little bags made with bras, so I thought I would have a go. This is how it turned out!

Whilst browsing through my back copies I also found these little caskets that I was going to make and never got around to so I have made one of those as well. I bet you can tell what my favourite colour is!

Fen Edge Textiles

2011-02-02T13:57:00.000-08:00

Today I have packed up and sent off my pieces for the Fen Edge Textiles Exhibition at Art Van Go

The exhibition has been extended and now finishes on March 14th.

My waistcoat is made from my dyed cotton and silk and has hand and machine embroidery on it. It is finished with beads and sequins. The bag was made in the same way.

I have made a set of cards as well. I should have photographed them before they went into their covers as the light has reflected on them!

We are having a meet the artists day on Feb 12th- do come along if you can!

Busy! No time to blog!

2011-01-26T06:56:00.000-08:00

Although it wasn't one of my New Year's Resolutions I had promised myself that I would try and blog more frequently. I don't seem to have managed too well so far. I am doing better with my destash however! This week I have been using up some of my fabric scraps to make a quilt top. I just need to back, wad and quilt it now! As you can see from the photos I haven't stitched any of the threads in yet! I am hoping to finish it by March 1st when I can take it to Broomfield hospital and donate it to the Helen Rollason Charity Appeal.

My next mini project was to make an ATC for the ATC Birthday Swap that I am taking part in this year. This one will be in the post tomorrow to a participant in Australia. Although my birthday is not for two weeks, my ATC presents have already started arriving. It's hard but I am being strong willed and not opening them until the day!

I have also really enjoyed making another bag from Bronwyn Hayes of Red Brolly.com. This is the second of her fun designs that I have made after I bought the patterns at the Knit and Stitch Show in October. This one will be so useful to take to workshops as it has loads of pockets, both on the inside and out.

I have been sketching for the Sketchbook Challenge- so far though I haven't photographed any pages to load onto Flickr. I will do soon I promise!

And !!! Today I have signed up for the 4 Artists 4 Ways online workshop which starts next month. It looks really good- can't wait to start. Can someone give me more hours in my day please!

Giveaway Winner

2011-01-07T13:10:00.000-08:00

I have asked DH to pick out a name to win my fabric giveaway and he picked out Love Stitching Red's name. Well done! Thank you all for your comments. It was so interesting to read about your resolutions- I hope you are all managing to keep them! My fabric stash hasn't diminished much yet so I will be having another giveaway soon.

Another Little Bag

2011-01-05T13:48:00.000-08:00

I have made another little bag- using up some more of my huge collection of fabrics and threads. I made a stencil and stencilled it onto a piece of my spaced dyed cotton using Lumierre paints. I then hand embroidered it with some of my threads and some more from Stef Francis. It has been embellished with beads and sequins, and finished off with machine cords and fabric beads.

First Make of the New Year

2011-01-04T07:41:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I made something using design sources. The New Year has made me rethink what I have been doing recently and I have decided to revisit my sketchbook in particular some images I had of the Brighton Pavilion. I love making bags so that is what I have been making. I used some spaced dyed cotton from my stash, together with some hand dyed threads- some of my own and some from Stef Francis. It has both hand and machine embroidery on it and is embellished with beads and dyed viscose ribbon. The circles and button were made with washers covered with button hole stitch.

Thank you to everyone who has commented on my blog. It has been really interesting reading your New Year's Resolutions. I will make the giveaway draw on Friday so there is still time to enter.

New Year Giveaway

2010-12-31T14:24:00.000-08:00

People who know me well will tell you that I am a horder. I absolutely love my books, magazines, fabrics, buttons, beads and threads. Although I do not usually make New Year's Resolutions I have decided that I need to tidy and de-stash my workroom. This has taken at least three days and although it is now tidy and I know where everything is, I still need to get rid of things and make more room. I am making a start by having a New Year giveaway. If you would like to take part and win this pack of goodies please comment on my blog and let me know what your New Year's Resolution is. I will draw the winner on January 7th.

In the meantime I would like to wish you all a happy healthy and prosperous 2011, and thank you for reading my blog!

Christmas Preparations

2010-12-23T13:41:00.000-08:00

My Christmas preparations didn't quite go to plan today. I made an early morning trip into town and visit the opticians, then came home to do my housework. All went well until I got my hoover out and it died on me! I ended up making a second trip into town to buy a new one.
All my preparations are now done except for preparing the turkey and making up one more bed for visitors. I just hope it doesn't snow otherwise DH and I will have a huge amount of food to eat!!

Christmas Card Swap

2010-12-21T12:21:00.000-08:00

I've had a busy day today doing the thing I hate most- housework! Visitors will be arriving on Christmas Eve and will be expecting somewhere to sleep and something to eat so preparations have been made and everything else has been on hold.

I have taken part in the Etsy Craft Britannia Christmas Card Swap and the postman arrived today with this lovely card from Dayzee Love. Thank you!

Lottery

2010-12-18T12:58:00.001-08:00

It's been an exciting evening. I was given a lottery ticket for tonight's draw as a Christmas present. I had 4 matching numbers. It must be beginner's luck as I have never done the lottery before. I'm just waiting to see how much I have won!!!

Busy week

2010-12-18T08:06:00.000-08:00

It's been a very busy week which started with a visit to the opticians on Monday morning.

I managed to make this little purse to go with the owl bag that I made recently and on Wednesday I made the owl tag which is attached to it.

We had our Craft Group Christmas Lunch on Wednesday too. Some of the ladies were so busy making things they hardly stopped to eat the lovely lunch which Gloria and some of the other ladies had prepared.

Tonight I should have been singing in our choir's annual Christmas Concert. But guess what? We have had so much snow this afternoon that it has had to be cancelled.

At least someone is enjoying the snow. My dog Libby has been having a wonderful time.

Christmas Card Swap

2010-12-10T14:21:00.000-08:00

Some of the UK Etsy members are having a Christmas Card swap and this is the one I have made to send. I'm not allowed to say who it's going to as it's a surprise! There are lots of talented people who sell on Etsy and I'm really looking forward to receiving my surprise card.

Another day sewing

2010-12-04T13:20:00.000-08:00

This morning I woke up to see these amazing icicles hanging over my kitchen window. It has been a bit warmer today but the slow thaw has meant the roads around the village have been really slippery and dangerous. As a result I decided not to go to Cottenham for Fen Edge Textiles meeting and Christmas lunch.

I have signed up for some blog swaps so I started sewing pieces for them today. One of the swaps is for an A4 sized quilt. I haven't made any quilts for ages so I thought I'd better have a go at making one before the swap. I based the quilt on Gustav Klimt's paintings.

This is a close-up of the top part of the quilt.
I am also taking part in a UK Etsy Christmas card swap. As I had all my patchwork bits to hand I made a patchwork Christmas card.

Now I need to spend the rest of the weekend clearing up my workroom!!!!

Snow, snow and more snow!

2010-12-02T12:45:00.000-08:00

Like many areas of the country it has been snowing now for three days. These pictures were taken in my garden this morning and the snow is much thicker now as it hasn't stopped all day.

I have spent my time sewing this afternoon. I have made these cute bustier bags as Christmas presents for two of the young ladies in the family. I plan to fill them with goodies. I am going to make a wedding version later as a "hen night" present for my niece.

Finished Embroidery

2010-11-28T13:26:00.000-08:00

I spent this morning finishing off my embroidery from yesterday's workshop with Richard Box. It was really interesting to learn the techniques he uses for his work. I'm not sure I would do another piece this way but it was a really enjoyable workshop.

Workshop with Richard Box

2010-11-27T12:23:00.000-08:00

Today I have been on a workshop with Richard Box. Here are all the ladies hard at work.

These pictures show some of Richard's work- both drawings and embroideries. it was an extremely well organised workshop and it was interesting to see the techniques he uses in his work.

Mine is still a UFO so watch this space!

Bag Making

2010-11-24T13:07:00.000-08:00

Anyone who knows me will know that I love making bags, usually from my own designs. Recently I have made two fun bags that were not mine. The first one was this colourful owl bag which all the ladies at my craft group have made. I know someone who would love to have this from Father Christmas.

The next bag I made was this one which was a design by Bronwyn Hayes from Red Brolly. Bronwyn is Australian and I saw her at the Knit and Stitch Show in October. For some reason the bag reminded me of the poem

Warning - When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple

By Jenny Joseph
When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple
with a red hat that doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
and satin candles, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I am tired
and gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
and run my stick along the public railings
and make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
and pick the flowers in other people's gardens
and learn to spit.
You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
and eat three pounds of sausages at a go
or only bread and pickles for a week
and hoard pens and pencils and beer nuts and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
and pay our rent and not swear in the street
and set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I love the poem so I just had to have my lady wearing purple and a red hat!

Today at craft group I have made this cute little chicken tidy which is finished in time for me to use on Saturday at a workshop I am going to run by Richard Box.

Silk Paper Vessel

2010-11-08T14:39:00.000-08:00

I love using silk paper and today I have made a little vessel. It was made with a silk hankie, layered with silk fibres and angelina, covered with a water soluble layer and free machined with variegated threads. It was lined with a piece of hand dyed cotton in a complimenting colour. I then stitched beads around the top.
I have also been working on my designs for Fen Edge Textiles next exhibition which is being held at Art Van Go in February. Tomorrow I need to work on my samples.

Village Autumn Fair

2010-11-06T11:27:00.000-07:00

Today we had our annual Autumn Fair in the village. I haven't sold any of my craft work for ages but I decided to have a stall this year. The fair was well attended but people didn't seem to be spending much money! I did sell a few things so it was worth going. Most of the sock monkeys have gone to new homes. I have another craft stall next week so I don't need to make anything new. This afternoon I took some more of my work to Maldon for the Christmas Exhibition .

I took the photographs with my new camera- a Canon Powershot. It's much more sophisticated than my last camera so I think it's going to take a while to get used to.

Les Miserables

2010-10-04T13:10:00.000-07:00

Photos of Les Miserables finale that wouldn't load earlier!

Les Miserables at the O2

2010-10-04T12:23:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the 25th Anniversay of the opening of Les Miserables and we were lucky enough to get tickets for the anniversay concert at the O2. It was an absolutely brilliant perfomance and starred Alfie Boe as Jean Valjean and Matt Lucas as Thenardier. At the end of the performance the cast was joined by former cast members such as Michael Ball and by Cameron Mackintosh, and Alain Boublil. I managed to get some photos of the stage but for some reason they won't load! I will try again later!!!

FET

2010-08-28T11:42:00.000-07:00

Today was the deadline for handing in our work for the Fen Edge Textiles Maldon Exhibition. I set off early for Cottenham and fortunately the road was clear so it didn't take too long. I spent last night packing up the things I have made for the sales table- some of them are pictured below. Only a few of us were there today as most people took their work along two weeks ago. It was good to see the finished pieces. It looks like it is going to be a really good exhibition.

As I wasn't going to be long delivering my work my DH came along with me today. Afterwards we went to visit Wimpole Hall. The house was owned by Rudyard Kipling's daughter.The grounds are beautiful- wonderful views across the open countryside. The house is very interesting, especially the area "below stairs" where the cook and the butler worked. Wimpole Hall is well worth a visit if you are in the area.

Family Celebrations

2010-08-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

This weekend we have been to Rye in Sussex for family celebrations. Next weekend my husband and I are celebrating our Ruby Wedding Anniversary, and two of my cousins are celebrating theirs this month too, so we decided to have a family get together.We stayed at the windmill in Rye http://www.ryewindmill.co.uk/ which is owned by friend's of my brother. They have turned it into luxury bed and breakfast accomodation- see their website for pictures! It is a wonderful building and it has been featured in House Beautiful Magazine. We spent a great weekend exploring Rye and eating, drinking and generally relaxing! The picture below shows us all inside the windmill before we went out for a fantastic meal in a fish restaurant..

Wallhanging

2010-08-11T14:48:00.000-07:00

My wallhanging for the Fen Edge Textile Exhibition is nearly finished and I have finally got riound to taking photographs. The background is woven strips of fabric, lace, ribbons etc which were stamped, covered with sheers and machine embroidered. The image of the Pavilion at the bottom was printed onto lutradur. It has been finished off with beads and sequins. I now just have to put the finishing touches to it.

A Noisy Night

2010-08-06T16:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon a heavy lorry visited our village and burst the water main outside my house. We now have workmen, floodlights and diggers working a few feet away from the house and our water has been cut off. It's so noisy I don't think we will be getting much sleep tonight! At least there will be more time for sewing!

Wallhanging

2010-08-04T14:31:00.000-07:00

I have spent this evening working on the background fabric for the wallhanging that I am making for the Fen Edge Textiles Exhibition in Maldon. My design source is the Royal Pavilion Brighton. I have agonised for days about how I was going to make it and after making an experimental piece yesterday I have at last set to work. No photos yet as my camera batteries are flat! Will post some tomorrow hopefully.

Fen Edge Textiles

2010-07-25T12:47:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I visited Maldon with some of the members of Fen Edge Textiles. We went to look around the Maeldune Heritage Centre as we are having an exhibition there from September 8th to October 2nd. The theme of the exhibition is "Yesterday". We had a lovely day and were able to have an alfresco lunch as it was warm and sunny.

When I got home I decided I really must get down to finishing my pieces for the exhibition. We have been challenged to make a fantasy insect as one of our pieces. I love doll making- so decided to make mine a doll and she is pictured above. I've decided to call her "Madam Butterfly". She has a needle sculpted face and her body is made with layers of sheer fabric and cotton which was dyed and machine embroidered. Her wings were embroidered onto sheers using water soluble film. They were then wired and embellished with sequins.
I must get back to the sewing machine and get to work on my wall hanging!

Ightham Mote

2010-07-11T10:36:00.000-07:00

I am ashamed to say that even though my paternal ancestors came from Seal in Kent, a few miles away from Ightham Mote, I had never visited the house before yesterday. The weather was beautiful when we set off, but as a result the world and his wife were on the M25 at the same time as us, resulting in a rather lengthy traffic jam. I did worry at one point as the car thermometer hit 36 degrees but once we were over the Queen Elizabeth Bridge the journey passed quickly. Ightham Mote is a moated medieval manor house dating from the 1300's and it is a National Trust property. The house has been restored and you are able to walk through many of the rooms. The Tudor chapel has a wonderful painted ceiling.

The grounds and gardens are well worth walking around. The sweet peas were in full bloom and had a lovely strong scent. The moat was full of fish and ducklings were bobbing about on the water. We finished our visit with a cream tea in the restaurant. Fortunately by the time we came home the traffic had cleared from the motorway!

Cornwall

2010-06-30T13:45:00.001-07:00

We have just returned from a lovely holiday in Cornwall. The weather has been perfect- warm and sunny everyday. The first photo is of St Michael's Mount. You can walk to the island at low tide but we had to go over by boat as it was high tide the day we went. It was very hot and quite a climb to the castle and church at the top.

This is Kynance Cove near the Lizard- the most southerly point of England. We were hoping to see basking sharks but unfortunately they weren't around!

My favourite place in Cornwall is ST Ives. My DS1 is lucky enough to live and work in the town, so we have plenty of reasons to visit often. Can't wait to go back again!

Round Robin Challenge

2010-03-30T13:50:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the month Sharne challenged five of us to a Round Robin. We each had to produce a fat quarter of fabric based on a continent. We had until the end of the March to complete it and pass it on to the next person. My design source is Asia. I have some lovely wood blocks for printing so I knew exactly what I was going to do. I love bright colours so choosing my favourites weren't a problem. The colours in the photograph are not as bright as the real thing!

Hyde Hall

2009-10-23T13:59:00.000-07:00

Today has been the most beautiful Autumn Day. Nicola and I took a trip to the RHS Gardens at Hyde Hall. There are still lots of flowers to see and the colours are really striking.

With the warm sun and these pretty flowers you could almost believe it was still summer.

I love the silhouettes of these seed pods against the bright blue sky. I got so carried away taking photos of the plants that I forgot to take any of the Autumn leaves. I will just have to go back for another visit soon!

The New Forest

2009-08-27T14:03:00.000-07:00

Libby on the left with her sister and aunt!

This little sweetie is six months old.

We have recently returned from a trip to the New Forest. This is one of our favourite parts of the country to visit, with lots of lovely walks in the forest and close enough to the sea if the weather is good. It also gives us the opportunity to visit our friend Sandra who lives in the area. Sandra is the one who introduced us to golden retrievers. She currently has four- three adults and a puppy. One of her dogs is from the same litter as Libby- our dog. They all had a great time together playing in the river.

Rust Dyeing

2009-07-26T06:05:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Myfanwy Hart came to the Chelmsford Embroiderers Guild to do a workshop on rust dyeing. Although I have done lots of dyeing in the past using rust to dye with was a first for me. We had to make a collection of rusty objects to take along so I raided my husband's shed for rusty tools, nails, etc to take.

We placed our rusty objects onto damp dyed and natural fabrics, placed our rusty items on the fabric and added salt or vinegar. We also added strong tea or teabags to some of the fabric. It had to be left overnight to cure (some of my pieces are still not ready!). This morning I took the fabric out, washed and dried it and this is what it looks like. There aresome really lovely effects and I can't wait to use it as all sorts of ideas are going through my head. I will definitely be trying this again. Thanks Myfanwy!

Another Day, Another Workshop!

2009-07-12T12:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at School House we were lucky enough to have Pauline Verrinder came to do a workshop called "Boogies with Books" It was a very busy day but by the end of it most of us had two books completed with another one started to finish off at home. Pictured above are some of the finished books.
I have spent today making another one, which is drying at the moment. I will post a picture when it's dry!

Jennie Rayment

2009-07-10T14:08:00.000-07:00

Last night Jennie Rayment entertained our quilting group with a very amusing talk about her travels. She had us all laughing a great deal. This was followed by a delicious strawberry tea.
Today Jennie did a workshop for the group. It was a very full and busy day. Pictured above is Jennie signing her books alongside some of her beautiful work. I am intending to turn my folded blocks into a bag when they are finished. A photo will follow later!
Tomorrow is another busy day. Pauline Verrinder is coming to School House to do a workshop called "Boogie with Books".

Fairy Shoes

2009-07-06T14:29:00.000-07:00

I love making and dressing art dolls- particularly fairies. Sometime ago the Embroiderers Guild magazine "Stitch" had an article on making fairy shoes by Annette Emms and I have been looking forward to making a pair. They are made with layers of fabric and felt and they are finished with hand and machine embroidery and beading. They took quite a long time to make but they were great fun. The photos don't do them justice. I have lots of ideas for making more pairs- probably using silk paper next time.

Workshop Follow-Up

2009-07-03T13:47:00.001-07:00

We had great fun making felt beads at our workshop on Saturday. I decided that I must do something with them so I have been busy adding embroidery and beads and making them in to necklaces. These are now for sale on my Etsy shop.

School House Arts Workshop

2009-06-29T11:19:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we had one of our workshops at School House Arts- this one was a Dabble Day and we tried out various forms of felting. We started off wet felting beads which the ladies have taken home to decorate and make into necklaces when they have dried. After that we did some dry felting with felting needles and they made pebbles or fruit. Lastly they had the chance to try using embellishers. Nickie, Sharne, Debs and I all took our machines along for those ladies who didn't have one to try. Pictured below is some of the work that the ladies did- didn't they do well!

Embroiderer's Guild

2009-06-16T06:02:00.000-07:00

Last night at Embroiderer's Guild Myfanwy Hart came to give us a talk about using items from the kitchen to produce items such as paper and dyes to use in textile arts. It was a very informative evening which was well attended dispite the heavy thunderstorms we were experiencing.

I have met Myfanwy at Cottenham and we are both "etsy buddies" and it was good to meet up with her again. I am looking forward to her returning to Chelmsford next month to do a workshop about rust dyeing which I am participating in.

Cornwall

2009-06-07T13:23:00.001-07:00

I have just returned home from my holiday in Cornwall. The weather has been perfect- long sunny warm days. We have been on lots of walks and visited several National Trust Gardens. This is the lighthouse at Gwithian.

Here is the view looking across the bay to St Ives from Godrevy.

My dog Libby enjoyed the walks and the view! She is seen here taking in the air.

The Penrose Estate which belongs to the National Trust has acres of natural parkland. We had a long walk around the lake and did some bird watching. We saw lots of water birds including a heron.

I am now busy planning my next break and can't wait to get away again!

Silk Paper Workshop

2009-04-26T13:52:00.000-07:00

I have been really bad about keeping my blog recently so I must make amends.

Yesterday I had a really enjoyable day teaching a group of lovely ladies how to make silk paper.

I first used silk cocoon strippings when I did a workshop with Cherillyn Tyler. I also met Sarah Lawrence of Crafty Notions at Alexandra Palace last year. She has written a book about silk paper. Now I'm hooked!!!

I love making jewellery with silk paper (see my previous blog) and I wanted to show other people how I make it, so we organised a workshop at School House Arts. I am really looking forward to seeing the ladies finished work.

Chilford Quilt Exhibition

2009-03-15T11:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Debbie, Nicola and I visited the quilt exhibition at Chilford. We had a great day looking at the quilts and doing a bit of shopping. I bought some buttons and embroidery threads and two books, one of which was about silk paper. I am really enjoying the possibilities of silk paper and I came home with renewed enthusiasm and last night I completed my latest jewellery.

Silk Paper

2009-03-09T01:38:00.001-07:00

I have spent the last few days experimenting with silk paper. I bonded it onto fabric, coloured it with paints and dyes then used hand and machine embroidery to decorate the surface. It's great for making jewellery, vessels and bags.

Textiles in Focus

2009-02-21T14:26:00.000-08:00

Today I went to Cottenham to the Textiles in Focus Exhibition with Debs and Nicola. We met up with another Etsy seller Myfanwy who had a trade stall there. We had a great day looking at all the lovely things for sale and spending some of our money of course!

After lunch we had a look at the work that was being exhibited. I loved the display of Artists Trading cards that are pictured here.

Power Cuts

2009-02-18T13:29:00.000-08:00

Last night just after 9pm our electricity went off! All the village was affected and as we don't have a gas supply here it meant no heating or cooking. We expected it to be restored this morning but unfortunately it wasn't! Fortunately we have a caravan so we were able to boil a kettle for hot drinks. Todays Craft Group meeting in the Village Hall had to be cancelled- no sewing without electricty! A plus point was that we were able to go out to a local restaurant for lunch. During the afternoon big lorries arrived carrying generators and electricty was finally back on late this afternoon after over 17 hours. We are not sure how long we are going to have to rely on the generators- not too long I hope as they are rather noisy but better the noise than being without electricity. Being without electricity makes you realise how much you depend on it.

There has been a plus side as I have been able to finish my teddy bear that I have been making at the Craft Group. I am really pleased with him and I am going to call him Bailey (after the make of our caravan)

Snow!

2009-02-02T07:34:00.000-08:00

Like many parts of the UK today we have had snow. It happens so rarely here that the whole country comes to a standstill and today was no exception.

This is what my front garden looked like early this afternoon-it's still snowing and it really looks lovely. The forecast is for it to continue snowing for some time so I may be staying at home for quite a while!

I have taken the opportunity to finish off some things that I have been sewing. I love teddy bears and I love patchwork I have been promising myself for some time that I would make some patchwork bears. This is the result! It's a great way to use up the scraps of fabric that we all have hidden away in the cupboard. I had enough pieces left to make each of the bears a little matching patchwork quilt. The two baby quilts behind them are a first for me as well. Instead of using wadding and fabric I finished them off with a fleece backing. The fabrics I used were from the "Urban Chicks" range by Moda. I am really pleased with the results.

I now need to update my shops and start selling!!!

Hot Textiles

2009-01-23T07:50:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday Deb and I had a day out in Hove to do a Hot Textiles Workshop with Kim Thittichai. Deb kindly offered to drive and we left home at 7.30 am. We found our way there even though the sat nav refused to work and we were in plenty of time to start the workshop at 10 o'clock.

We spent the morning painting and dyeing materials such as lutrudor, tyvek, bondaweb, and pelmet vilene. Kim kept us entertained and made sure we kept busy. We had a short break for lunch and just had time for a bracing walk by the sea. Although the weather was bright, it was cold and rather windy.

In the afternoon we used foils, seeds, hot spots, threads and other materials to bond onto the base fabrics we had prepared in the morning. The day was informative and we went home with lots of samples and ideas. We had a great day and it was worth the long drive to do the workshop.

Happy New Year

2009-01-04T14:06:00.000-08:00

At last I am able to wish you all a Happy New Year! My PC gave up working a few days ago and I have been suffering withdrawal symptoms as I have been unable to get on to the internet! However I am now the proud owner of a brand new laptop so things are now back to normal.
One of my New Year resolutions will be to update this blog more frequently. I wonder how long that will last!!!!

Happy Christmas

2008-12-23T13:21:00.000-08:00

The shopping is done, the presents are wrapped, and I have just collected my father for the holiday.
There is just time to wish everyone a Happy Christmas and Prosperous New Year!

I've Been Busy

2008-12-17T13:37:00.000-08:00

I have not blogged for ages but I have been busy since my last listing.
I have been to two craft fairs recently, neither have been very successful. I have had my first sale on my Folksy shop which is great. I have also been very busy making Christmas Presents.
I was asked to make the bag for my friend's daughter after she saw one I had made for a craft fair. The little spotty cosmetic pouches are for my neices and the wallets for the adult female members of my family (I hope they don't read this before Christmas!). There may be a couple of spares to list for sale on Etsy, Folksy or Misi.

Workshop at School House Arts

2008-11-15T13:29:00.000-08:00

Today Deb and I organised a dyeing workshop at School House Arts. Nickie and Sharne came along to help out and looked after everyone providing them with tea and coffee at regular intervals. Nickie even made cakes which were gratefully eaten this afternoon. This morning we did some graduated procion dyeing using primary colours. This was followed with disperse dyeing, which was used to colour a book cover made of craft vilene. We also used Brusho dye to colour the book pages. At the end of the day some of the fabric was rinsed out to reveal some beautiful fabric and threads ready to be used in some interesting projects.

Fabric Postcards

2008-11-07T14:10:00.000-08:00

I have spent my weekend making fabric postcards. I love the vintage look so I have used some vintage photos printed onto lutrador in some of my postcards. I also love the faded look of old fabrics, lace, buttons and beads so I have incorporated some of these into my pieces, which are now listed in my Etsy shop.

Ferrers Quilter's Patchwork Exhibition

2008-10-27T13:58:00.000-07:00

This quilt was made by the members of Ferrers Quilters as the first prize in their raffle.

This weekend I have been involved with Ferrers Quilter's Patchwork Exhibition, held in South Woodham Ferrers Village Hall.
We weren't able to get in to the hall until 10pm on Friday as it had been in use during the evening so it was all hands on deck to get things ready. A number of husbands, partners and sons came to give a helping hand with the quilt stands and by 12pm when we had to leave most of the hard work was done.
Members arrived again at 7.30 am Saturday morning to finish putting up the exhibits and by the time the doors opened at 10 am the hall was ready.
We were lucky enough to have Leslie Harwood to open the Exhibition for us.
The exhibition has been very successful, particularly as so many of our members gave up their valuable time to make it so. Doors closed at 4pm on Sunday and by 5.30 the hall was returned to its normal state, and members returned home for a well earned rest.

My sampler quilt

The jacket I made when I was doing my City and Guilds Certificate and a small quilt I made at a workshop by Claire Tinsley.

Using the Embellisher

2008-10-16T14:38:00.000-07:00

I love my Babylock Embellisher and I have been making little felted flower brooches on it for some time. I have been lucky enough to sell a few of these through my ETSY shop and at craft fairs. I have also made a few ACEOs as well. Today I decided to try something different. I made three small pieces with embellished and embroidered flowers and mounted them onto cards. I am quite pleased with the results- here are the finished cards.

Exhibition Visits

2008-10-12T14:07:00.000-07:00

Over the last few days I have been lucky enough to visit three exhibitions. On Thursday my friend Deb and I went to Braintree to look exhibitions by O2 and EAST. We first went to the O2 exhibition and I particularly liked the dolls and some textured embroidered stones (unfortunately I forgot to take notes and photos as I was so keen to look at the work!)
We then visited the EAST exhibition. There was some beautiful work on display there. The first pieces that really caught my eye were some stunning dresses made by Libby Smith. They were made with net, newspaper and embroidered words and were really delicate. They showed up well in front of a window with the light shining through.

Other pieces I liked were colourful vessels based on flowers by Di Christopher.

After the visits we found the Museum cafe and had a delicious lunch. We even managed to resist the delicious chips that some people were eating there!
Yesterday we made our way to Alexandra Palace to the Knitting and Stitching Exhibition. We took a shopping list of items that we needed to get for our next School House Arts workshop on dyeing. We managed to get everything we needed. I bought Maggie Grey's new book and one by Sarah Laurence of Crafty Notions about silk paper and just a FEW (honestly!) bits and pieces that I needed.
My head is now buzzing with ideas so I will need to get up early tomorrow and go to my workroom and get started!

Workshop at School House Arts

2008-10-04T13:38:00.001-07:00

Today we had a workshop at School House Arts, run by Nickie with Sharne as her right hand man.. She showed everyone how to make two different fabric postcards. Everyone worked really hard painting, stitching, burning and soldering and using different materials such as pelmet vilene, gesso, brusho dyes, bubble wrap and tissue. Deb and I were in charge of refreshments and Deb made some delicious chocolate and lemon muffins for afternoon tea. As you can imagine they didn't last very long! Although the postcards weren't quite finished at the end of the day everyone was able to take two pieces of work home to finish. When they are completed Nickie has asked people to send them to her in the post!

I've been tagged

2008-10-02T13:51:00.000-07:00

I have been tagged by http://sassalynne-at-etsy.blogspot.com/ and that means I have to reveal six of my innermost secrets to the world!
Well here goes.
1. I had my appendix out when I was eight and spent six weeks in hospital with peritonitis.
2. I love singing and sing in a ladies choir.
3.I grew up living by the sea.
4.I love chocolate and I hate lemon curd.
5.I had really curly hair as a child and I used to straighten it with sellotape and an iron.
6.I used to avoid playing hockey, when I was at school, as I hated getting hit with a hockey stick.
I now have to find six more bloggers to tag!

Monkey Business!

2008-09-30T08:41:00.000-07:00

Today I have been busy creating these little creatures ready for a craft fair next weekend.
I sold several at the last fair I did, not just to young children but to teenagers as well. Here's hoping these little fellas get sold too!

Dad's 86th Birthday

2008-09-29T06:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my Dad was 86 years old. We celebrated the occasion with a get together at my sister's house when Dad opened his cards and presents. This was followed with lunch for seven of us in a local restaurant. It was a lovely family day.
Dad is brilliant for his age. He has been on his own since Mum died in 2000. He does his own cooking, shopping, washing, ironing, gardening and housework. He does however think he is getting too old to redecorate his bungalow and thinks he may have to get someone to do it for him! He regularly uses a computer and the internet and two weeks ago he bought himself a new laptop! He keeps abreast of the news and is able to have a lively debate about politics or sport. He drives regularly and has recently acquired sat nav for the car!
Happy Birthday Dad!

Darning with a Difference

2008-09-22T14:23:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I went to and Embroiderer's Guild Workshop run by Mary Crehan called Darning with a Difference. I had previously heard Mary give an entertaining and amusing talk, which was illustrated with examples of her work and I knew we were in for a good day. I wasn't disappointed as she kept us amused with stories of her visit to Australia and her life in general. I have still to complete my piece, based on stones, so I cannot post a picture of it at present. However here are some examples of Mary's work which look much better in real life than in my pictures.

Getting Ready for Winter

2008-09-18T04:14:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we are having a wood burning stove fitted in out lounge. We made the decision to go ahead with the work as rising oil prices are making our central heating very expensive to run. It is going to be quite an upheaval as we are going to have to move a radiator, an electric socket and the television to accommodate it. This of course will need to be followed by re plastering and decorating! I am sure it will all be worthwhile when winter sets in and we can burn the logs that are already drying out in our shed. This is what it will look like- the dog is not included but I'm sure mine will soon make herself comfortable in front of it.

Etsy

2008-09-15T01:50:00.000-07:00

I spent yesterday updating my Etsy shop by adding some new items and re-listing some others. I have listed some mobile phone pouches I have been making with Amy Butler fabric. I love her designs and I am pleased with the results.

I also made my entry for the Boomers Etsy Swap. The theme for this swap is "butterflies" and I had some lovely butterfly fabric to use. I made a zipped pouch with a detachable handle that can be used as a key fob. I hope the person who receives it loves the fabric as much as I do!

Dabble Day

2008-09-13T14:45:00.000-07:00

A group of lovely ladies came to School House Arts today for our Dabble Day workshop.
Debbie, Nickie Sharne and I had arranged for them to try out a variety of techniques and materials that they may not have tried before. By the end of the day they had four finished pieces that they could take away and assemble into a zig zag book. It was a lovely day and all the ladies worked really hard. We even had time to sit outside for lunch and enjoy the late summer sun!

Here is some of their lovely work- I am looking forward to seeing their completed books. Well done ladies!

School House Arts Workshop

2008-09-11T02:42:00.000-07:00

Deb, Nickie Sharne and I spent last night preparing for a workshop that we are running on Saturday at School House Arts, North Fambridge.
We are calling it a "Dabble Day " as we are giving people an opportunity to try out lots of different materials. By the end of the day they should be going home with a little zigzag book similar to the one we have made. Materials that they will be using include gesso, masking tape, brusho, lutrador and a whole heap of other materials. I'm looking forward to the workshop it should be a fun day.

Quilt Challenge

2008-08-15T04:10:00.000-07:00

The quilt group that I belong to is having an exhibition in October and all the members have been given a challenge. We have to make an item to display in the tea room and the theme is "Everything stops for tea".
I have just been working on my piece - a teapot.
It's base is pelmet vilene covered with batik fabric. On top of this is a layer of sheer fabric which has then been free machine quilted and finished off with beads. Here is the result!

Bag Workshop

2008-08-05T13:59:00.000-07:00

I took a fun Bag Workshop at School House Arts on Saturday. Six lovely ladies all managed to finish their bags and the results were great. Nickie kept us well supplied with coffee, tea and biscuits and she even managed to do some of her own sewing. Well done ladies it was a great day!

School House Arts Workshop

2008-07-20T15:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had a really great workshop at School House Arts run by Nickie. We had fun trying out different paints, bleach, discharge paste and dyes on fabric to create a picture. I chose a daisy as my focus and here is a picture of the small wall hanging I started and managed to finish today. I am really pleased with the results even though some of the free machine quilting is not brilliant. I am going to try this technique again as I think it will make great book covers.

National Quilt Festival

2008-06-22T13:14:00.000-07:00

I have had a great day out today at the National Quilt Festival at Sandown Park. I went on a coach organised by my quilt group, so no driving to do.
There were so many lovely quilts in the Exhibition and of course lots of stalls to buy fabric to make more!
Here is the fabric , buttons and threads I came home with. I can't wait to get started ;I think I am going to be busy!

My Finished Quilt

2008-06-21T12:15:00.000-07:00

I have spent today finishing off this little quilt. I have so many fat quarters in my stash that it is definitely time to start using some up. This is a quick and easy pattern. I love blue and these fabrics all seemed to go together nicely and look so fresh. I have decided to call it "Singing the blues". Plenty more fabric left to use so I had better get sewing!

Better Late Than Never

2008-06-20T02:16:00.000-07:00

Oh dear! This blog is looking sadly neglected. I have been really busy sewing, teaching and attending workshops. It's now time to make amends.
This lovely fabric arrived in the post the other day from Five Valleys Fabrics
http://www.five-valleys-fabrics.com/index.html
and I couldn't wait to get sewing. I love Amy Butler fabrics and I decided to make myself a bag out of the blue one.. This is my own pattern and I am really pleased with the results. I will be using it when I go to the National Quilt Championships at Sandown Park on Sunday.