I meant to be so good!

 Firstly apologies to Diana. Diana I don't have an enlargement of the flower quilt and I haven't done any more on it but when I do I'll post it! 
 
 I was going to be so good and keep the blog up to date but sadly I haven't. In my defence I have just been so busy. Firstly making bags; lots of bags, and then making Christmas things including the crazy patchwork stocking below. I had great fun making this even though I had great difficulty in sourcing the fur fabric around the top. But in the end I found just what I wanted.


















I also made some felt stockings with silk ribbon embroidery. Quick and easy to do. They will look great hanging on the tree!


















I had a Christmas themed crazy patchwork block which I turned into a cushion. It looks lovely and I am sure I will use it all year!













This is the newest shape pack. It was such fun to do! It will look great at Christmas hanging on the wall! I love making appliqué pictures like this. I know this is a bit clichéd it is for Christmas after all! 














And before Christmas struck I was busy making bags. Lots of bags. Some of which I've shown below. The grab bag is lovely but not so useful as the tote bag! Lovely for using appliqué shapes on and I made two sizes. The tote bags will remain my favourites though as they are great to practice quilting on. The one below has quilted feathers on the dyed stripes on the fabric.































































The next projects will be small quilts which I want to make patterns for. However I am going to Scotland this weekend for my son's wedding so they will have to wait! Hasta la vista!

Class

Brilliant class this morning in our new venue. Lots of light; large airy room and sufficient tables for everyone and some over! What more could we want. Oh yes and it was very clean! Great fun was had by all and we all agreed it was a good move!

The quilt project is progressing well. We are making a variable sampler quilt with blocks of different sizes. We are using the quilt as you go method as the finished quilt is quite large! The blocks get progressively more difficult but each one is a learning curve with lots of quick techniques on offer. Fun for all regardless of ability!

I am busy making Crazy Patchwork Christmas stocking kits. They are about 11" high. Enough for a small gift or two! 

This throw has been languishing in my unfinished pile for too long so I have made a note to myself to get it finished! In fact I have decided to try and get one UFO finished each week! Will it work? We will see!

The End of Summer

The last few weeks have been really busy and now I'm up to my eyes preparing for my patchwork class which starts on Wednesday. We are going to be making a varied sampler quilt using the 'quilt as you go' method. I'm really looking forward to the classes as they are such fun!

A few weeks ago we were in Scotland staying in our time share on Loch Rannoch. The weather wasn't brilliant but we had a good time. The first full day there we went to the local Highland Games which was a good laugh and most interesting. Fortunately the weather stayed fine! 

Later in the week we took the train from Rannoch Station to the next station and walked to Loch Ossion where Graeme caught two very good sized brown trout which we gave to my son and his fiancée later in the week. I however got eaten up by midges! I think I was the attraction of the week! I felt and looked as if I had chicken pox. Not a good look at all! We also visited a local craft shop near Aberfeldy which was interesting and after browsing the shelves for goodies we had home made cake and coffee. Yummy! 

Then after a few days at home we were off again to Harrogate for the quilt show there. Brilliant quilt show and only second in my opinion to Malvern! I indulged in some retail therapy and treated myself to some lovely things. 

I bought a fantastic bag pattern from Japan Crafts and some lovely fabric as well. I only have a large draw full of japanese fabric at home. Certainly no where near enough to make bags! Then I bought an electric hand held embellisher from Lady Sew and Sew. I haven't tried it yet and am dying to give it a whirl. I'm sure it will be great fun. Other things included a lap tray with under cushion and magnifying light. So useful in the dark evenings for crazy patchwork. All in all a good time! 

I also took some pictures for inspiration. Colours for dyeing and flowers for silk ribbon embroidery plus a few just because I liked them! 

This was a weird fungus growing on a tree!








Now we are home I am having to tidy up the garden, do some custom dyeing for various clients, make some samples for class and play with my new braid maker! Not much! 

Class coffee morning!

Last week we had a coffee morning for all the students, past and present, from my Wednesday morning class. It was great fun! Lots of work was brought in for a show and tell and everyone was most enthusiastic! Pictures are worth a thousand words so here goes!

This lap quilt was made by Yvonne. The fabrics were all dyed by Farne Designs. This was the last project of last term where we used the Drunkards Path block to make a quilt.

This was made by Heather. We made a kaleidoscope quilt a year or so ago in class and this was her piece. Very striking!

An unfinished applique wall hanging by Ellen. A really fun piece. 

Jane's beautiful and large applique quilt. A work of art! 
Below are four pouch bags made by Barbara from kits she purchased from Farne Designs. She made one and so enjoyed doing it that she decided to do more and give them as Christmas presents. She has done an amazing job and the recipients will be thrilled I'm sure!

This is several of the group including me, holding up Jane's quilt. It was twice this size as it was folded!

Tina's quilt for her grandson. A really lovely piece.














Barbara and I showing off the backs of our crazy patchwork waistcoats!

Some of Ellen's beautiful Baltimore Album quilt. This was a project a while back and Ellen is still putting hers together. The blocks are all done and the quilting.

We hold our classes in the local rugby club and this is a view of the room complete with pool table which is such a good height for cutting out on. It is a lovely class and I can't wait to get going again in September. This coming term we are going to do a quilt as you go double bed sampler quilt with lots of learning curves!

For information on classes do email me!

This and That!

I am at the moment making Christmas stockings. Both in felt as those above and also in crazy patchwork. With the weather as cold and miserable as it is it doesn't feel at all strange to be doing this! I want to organise some kits to sell and it seemed as good a time as any to get started. I'm also thinking of making a kit for the armchair tidy below as several people have asked for the pattern!

The collage below is of some embellishment stitches that I have used on other pieces of crazy patchwork. I'm particularly fond of the lilac and had great fun doing this.

The small bag below featured some applique and machine embroidery that I devoped from a picture of lilac but I used a heart instead of the flower. It makes a lovely evening bag!

Tomorrow with my class we are going to be making faux chenille cushions. Faux chenille is such fun to do. Below is a bag I made using a piece of special dyed fabric in a faux chenille panel. I have used this technique several times in bags as well as using mandala dyed pieces in cushions. The faux chenille shows off the dyed fabric beautifully! 



From Start to Finish

This is a step by step journey from inspiration to the finished article. I was inspired by this picture.

I had a piece of hand-dyed fabric that looked like the table top with shadows and light that would be marvellous for a background. 

The first thing I did was to play around with the above picture in Photoshop and see what effects I could get. 

 




 


















The above are some of the results but I was most taken with the last two and in the end I used the very last one with hints of the one above to inspire me. 

I stitched the outlines onto the background fabric adding plastic and wax, and used a small heat tool I cut out areas of the plastic and heated the wax so that it ran unevenly. 

I added more stitching and overlaid threads and wool. I worked heavily into the fruit shapes to make the stalks look solid.

Then I used net to get the shadowy effect and to highlight certain areas. 
 

And below is the finished piece. I worked on it for about a week perhaps a bit less. Once I got started I was full of enthusiasm and worked every moment I had. I added the shaped border to represent a table cloth. The fabric background highlighted the apple shapes and continued the theme of light and shadows. All in all I was pleased with it!