Sewing and some mending.

Well, I haven't done very well this week. I have been trying to get back into sewing after finishing off my Horizons quilt. These two bags are the only new things I have completed.

Little bags

The bags were bought as a kit from the Quilt Museum in York. There is a shop there and I really couldn't resist getting the materials to make these. 

Dragonfly bag, opened to show lining

I'd never worked with these fastenings before, so thought the kit would be fun to get started. I bought a couple of extra mechanisms to make some more bags. They are of the type which you push to open. 

As you can see from the photo at the top, one of them holds my iPod and the earphones too. There is space inside for the charging lead for when I am away from home. So useful. The pretty red bag holds a pocket game - Sudoku. The instruction leaflet lives in there too. I found this on sale on a Charity stall for 50p, so couldn't resist. I'm still trying to learn how to use it.

Apart from sewing these together I really haven't done much. I looked through my mending pile to see what needed doing and managed to replace a zip on a pair of jeans. Two more zips are waiting for me to get around to replacing them. One is for my favourite skirt, so I really should get around to doing that one.

There has been no contemporary style quilting, sadly. I do have a number of projects I have almost ready to start in my head. Unfortunately the fact that there is a list is putting me off doing anything at the moment. Did I ever tell you that prevarication is something at which I excel?

Ah well, I'd better get started on those zips before the mending pile falls over again.

A finished quilt and sundry items

Horizons - Caribbean memories.

This week has been a busy one, with my quilt finished and sent off. It has now arrived safely, much to my relief. It will be interesting to see if it considered for inclusion in the Horizons exhibition at Festival of Quilts. Horizons is a challenge by Contemporary Quilt, a specialist interest group of the Quilters' Guild of the British Isles.

This is the first time I have attempted to take part in a challenge like this. This quilt is 1.5m long and 0.5m wide. (59 inches long and 19 and three quarter inches wide.)

close-up

The background is painted fabric with layers of sheer fabric over satin for the "sea". The "beach" is constructed in a similar way.

handling sample

Those of us taking part in the exhibition were asked to make a 20cm square handling sample using the same techniques as the quilt. These will be put together into a book available for those coming to visit the Festival of Quilts. This will take place from the 8th to the 11th August at the NEC in Birmingham, UK.

Textiles and promoting tolerance.

Well, the past week has been rather a blur - trying to get my quilt finished, getting to know a new member of the household and making sure Coco didn't get too upset. Hence the tolerance issues.

Stitching sheer fabrics to create texture

My quilt is rather further on than this photograph shows, but I thought you might like to see the fun I had making textures using various layers of sheer and satin fabrics.

Coco

Coco is the cat who rules this household. A very dear friend, she is now 18 years young. She has a reputation for going round each of the neighbouring houses and sampling the food of the cats living there. 

Last weekend we had a visit from both my daughters, the elder of whom brought a dog along. The dog had been found wandering the streets of Macclesfield and Liz had been trying to trace the owner. Coco ignored this dog for the duration of the visit.

A couple of days later, Liz had successfully traced the owner. Very sadly, the owner did not want the dog back and so ownership was transferred to us.

Ella

Ella is now the new member of the household. Six years old, a Husky-Akita cross, she is getting to meet all our neighbours and explore the local area with us when we go for walks together. She is a delight, and is lying behind my chair as I type this post.

Coco is getting used to Ella, and is quite happy to be in the same room as long as Ella does not approach. Since she used to live with cats, this is not a problem.

Both animals are getting a lot of love and attention, the only thing we ask in return is tolerance.

Ah well, off to the sewing machine and getting Ella used to the various noises it makes.