Encrusted Crazy Quilting.

I have been very lucky to be able to start this course with Sharon B.
http://www.inaminuteago.com/blog/
http://www.joggles.com/
As part of this I've had great fun playing with colour.


Its really interesting, looking at things in a very different way. Thanks Sharon.

Feltmaking.

On Monday I had a great time trying to make felt. This was my first attempt and was great fun. I go to a Textiles class run on Monday evenings in the local Sixth Form College. Its a good opportunity to go and have a chat whilst getting to learn how to do new things.
Feltmaking is messy, wet and lots of fun. The piece of felt I made is nothing exciting or brilliant, but that doesn't matter. Ruth, our tutor showed us all how to do it and then away we went.
A lovely, chatty evening, being creative. Wonderful!

Too long.

Its been rather too long since I sat down and added some words to this Blog of mine.
Sorry anyone who is reading this. Work has been taking over and time has had to be used for other things.
The stitching still goes on, but slowly.
I shall get my work-life balance back under control somehow.
Meanwhile, anyone got any advice? Or have you found the perfect way of enjoying your hobby whilst earning?

Its been a while.

Hello there, sorry its been rather a while since I last wrote anything on this Blog. Been rather too busy even to sew!
The photos are of a piece of black work started recently, this has turned into a sampler and will have strips of different designs all in autumnal (Fall) colours - brown, red, orange, yellow, etc. I've started it in YLI Jeans Stitch thread, which is rather nice to use for handstitching. The work is being stitched on 28 count fabric.
The little book shows what happened to the sample I made to try out the motif. I couldn't waste it, so I made it into a little notebook. Not sure what I shall use the notebook for.....
The motif comes from a delightful book by Pamela Warner, called "Tudor treasures to embroider" (ISBN 1-86108-249-5).

This is the eighth block I was planning to make the last time I wrote.
Next, I am starting a new bag. This will be another project bag - plenty of pocket space for bits and pieces.



This is being made in the same way as the fabric for my hussif and bagpurse. Lots of fabric scraps from my collection. (Can anyone tell me why it is that the more of these scraps I use up, the more I seem to have?) For this one, the colours are autumnal (Fall) - browns, reds, yellows, with some orange too. I have doodled daisies and leaves all over the surface to tie down the scraps.

These are two blocks, part of a Block-a-month challenge which I have been steadily working on for Knots and Needles P & Q. So far I have completed seven of the twelve. The eighth is ready in my work-box waiting to be constructed.
I decided that half of the blocks would be on a white background whilst the rest are to be on black - the eventual quilt should almost look like a rather bizarre chess board. These are ready to be quilted since I shall be constructing this as a quilt-as-you-go. Typically, I haven't started doing this yet!
The original designs came from a local Quilt Shop called Calico Wagon. They call these designs "Beartown Blocks".



The following photo shows the reverse of each of the above blocks. I had lots of fun cutting up squares for this, just wanting a lively pattern for the reverse of the quilt. I have already made enough to back twelve blocks.

A photograph of one of those UFOs I mentioned last time. This unfinished object is the Round Robin I started with Cranford Quilters. Its now got the stage of having all the bits sewn together. All I need to do now is the quilting. I only hope that I can get it all finished in time for the group's exhibition in early November.



This second photo shows my original block. The centre was the first piece to be done, being sent off to be added to during the run of the Round Robin. The cats faces were taken from photographs taken by my younger daughter of our own two cats.
For this Round Robin, the strips were not sewn together as the work progressed. Instead the pieces were all returned to the original block-maker to be pieced and quilted. I have added the two blocks either side since the pieces were returned to me at the end of July. I have also added sashing with written statements between each of the blocks.
The writing beneath the block reads "Now who's the cats paw?" A cats paw being someone who acts at the bidding of another. I feel myself, like many cat owners, to be the cats paw in this household.
I felt really privileged taking part in this Round Robin since the other members have made such a wonderful job of each of the strips.