Knitting, sewing and visiting an exhibition

At the NWCQ meeting last week we were messing about with fabric paper - using PVA glue, paper and a calico base covered with tissue paper to hold it all together. These are my two pieces. I used some Japanese wrapping paper which had been around a couple of gifts I have received over the years, along with some rather nice paper bags and other papers from my stash. Coincidentally, they all used a similar colour scheme.

Neither of these are quite finished yet, they need some stitch and embellishment before turning into book covers. Well, that is the idea at the moment.

During the week, I also bought myself some lining fabrics for the two skirts I intend to make. The fabric on the left is a polyester habotai and is gorgeously light and soft, just right for the skirt fabric. Unfortunately, they only had white and I could really do with other colours in this weight. The other fabric is a standard dress lining which is just too heavy for the projects I have in mind, but will be extremely useful at some stage for something else. These were bought from Abakhan in Chester. Yes, I know I could buy this online, but there is something rather nice about visiting a shop and being able to handle the fabrics.

There has been knitting. This toddler size hat is well under way. It needs to be finished before the 4th April. The cuff is designed to be worn double, although I do wonder whether I should sew it in place. This is another test knit, this time using remnants of Debbie Bliss Rialto 4ply from my yarn stash.

The knitting experiment has been completed. This will turn into a cushion cover. I just need to start on the reverse. The back will use stripes of the yarns used on the front. 

I visited this small exhibition on Sunday. It was delightful, with a lovely range of techniques with needlefelt, weaving, free machine embroidery and beading amongst quite a range of others. The cards give a very small indication of the quality of some of the work shown. They were made by Susan Marsden and Elsa Buch. The items on show were all beautifully displayed too. It may sound a strange venue, but this is apparently where the group meets. Also Marbury Park is a wonderful spot for dog walkers and families out for the day. On Sunday the weather could not have been better, bringing out lots of families eager to enjoy the sunshine. I hope they had a lot of visitors to this exhibition. I look forward to the next one.