dyeing 2 sew

The first show of the year!

2012-01-25T14:25:00.000Z

We are off to Ardingly in Sussex tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn. This will be our first show this year and one we haven't done before. It is about 298 miles in total. A long way in a mobile home. There will be no dashing along at 70 miles per hour and overtaking everything in sight! Oh well a slowish journey but I will be able to take in more of the countryside.

I have been to Ardingly before as in a previous life I used to show dogs and the show at Ardingly was one I went to. However this was so far in the dim and distant past that I don't remember it. Caroline was two at the time and she is now into her forties! Doesn't time fly! It will be fun living in the mobile home as opposed to a Travel Lodge...well I hope it will be!

One thing I have found out from experience is that lists are a good thing. I have lists for food to take, clothes to take, things that we need for the stand and stuff that we are going to sell! I can then tick off and know that all things are covered. I have found a good site that allows one to print out daily and weekly lists. Very useful when one has a project to get done in a specific amount of time. The site is here. One of the best sources I have found for planners.

Another thing I have found out recently is that if one is storing fabric painting pens or dye pens that it is a good idea to keep them horizontal. If they are stored vertically then they dry out. Ask me how I know this! :-) I love dye pens & watercolour pencils for adding a hint of colour into some of my applique shapes.

So for the next four days it will be all systems go. I'm going to see if I can find a Simplicity bias binding maker while at the show as it looks amazing! I watched the video on the Creative Grids website and was well impressed. I do love gadgets!

Fabric and silk ribbons

2012-01-18T20:39:00.001Z

I have been having fun dyeing fabric as backgrounds for silk ribbon embroidery. We have finished dyeing nearly 1200 metres of silk ribbon and now I want to start using some of it. Most of it will be for sale but I have earmarked some of it for myself!

This is a small notebook cover that I embroidered using small pieces of left over ribbon. I love the browny green ribbon! Below is an embroidered coathanger in silk which I made for a friend.

And I have finally finished the Bird Sampler. This is the latest in our line of cut out adhesive shapes for appliqué. It was great fun to do. Not the best picture unfortunately!

Consolidation and concentration

2012-01-09T16:04:00.000Z

Consolidation and concentration! These are my two words for this year. I am determined to bring all my craft interests together and to focus on them constantly! There are so many things I do, from dyeing fabrics and silk ribbon to making appliques and teaching. Each and everyone of these activities impinges on one or more of the others so it makes sense to see them as a whole and concentrate on the whole instead of having bits of this and bits of that being done. I shall take the step by step approach after seeing the whole thing. So a project will be researched in it's entirety and then be broken down into it's component parts. This way I am far more likely to actually finish something! Whereas if I do a part of something without really having a finished object in mind there is every liklihood that I will in the meantime move on to something else and there is another UFO taking up space in the workroom! A staple resource of this method is THE LIST! I am a great believer in lists. They work for me! I love being able to tick things off as they get finished. So this year I will make the effort to actually write the list and pin it up and design the finished project before breaking it down into manageable chunks instead of doing something and working it out as I go. This time next year I might have achieved a lot of well thought out pieces of work! All finished! We'll see! Now I must go and finish the crazy patchwork waistcoat; the applique bird sampler; the landscape quilt;dye some more silk ribbon; the article I'm writing for a magazine and the notes for my class on Wednesday!

Sunday afternoon walk!

2012-01-08T19:34:00.001Z

We walked over the cliff path from Durgan to the Ferry Boat Inn at Helford Passage on the Helford River, to have lunch. It was quite exhilarating even though it was misty with occasional drops of rain. The paths were very muddy and quite hard going at times.

But there was a roaring fire in the inn and the meal was delicious. There were a fair number of other folk, mostly walkers complete with maps and walking sticks. The long thin poles like ski poles which are supposed to help one's knees!

Durgan is a quaint little hamlet with several cottages and a few larger houses. Most of which are now holiday homes. There was a school, built in 1870 something, but which is now a house. It is interesting to think that there were sufficient children at one time to warrant what seems to have been a fairly large school. Now the hamlet is quiet in the winter months and it is not until the influx of summer visitors that it comes to life. There is no shop just a telephone kiosk!

The white blobs are rain drops on the lens of the camera! It must have been a fishing village at one time as the jetty and boat launching area are quite large and impressive. There are still boats so someone must still be fishing! The view up the river was not as far as it could be due to the mist. A very different view of the Helford in the winter than the view in the summer!

Why am I doing what I do?

2012-01-06T14:38:00.002Z

I unexpectedly came across something I'd written in 2005 on the blog. It was very thought provoking and I thought it wouldn't go amiss to include it again with a few additions having moved on in the intervening years! I was interested to see though that my thoughts on the subject today haven't changed very much in six plus years!

'What drives you to create......' At the time I got involved in researching Artist's Statements as I needed to have one for my work on site. My knowledge on this subject multiplied fourfold. In fact on one Site I was able with the judicious inclusion of a few well chosen adverbs to get an artist's statement written for me.

Valeri Bennett's work investigates the nuances of modulations through the use of slow motion and close ups which empathise the generative nature of digital media. Bennett explores abstract and liberating scenery as motifs to describe the idea of infinite reality. Using fulfilling loops, non-linear narratives, and interactive images as patterns, Bennett creates meditative environments which suggest the expansion of space.....

Sounds good doesn't it but what the hell does it mean? You can have four guesses as to the words that I suggested! Grin

Anyway after a good time was had by all playing with the concepts I actually got back to the subject in hand. Firstly I chose my five words to describe creativity. They were: colourful, satisfying, meaningful, necessary and liberating. This is the order that they came to me but if I had to put them in order of importance then I would put them in this order: necessary, liberating, satisfying, meaningful and colourful. Its interesting (to me anyway) that my first thought was of colour as colour rocks my boat and yet it came last in order of importance. From a very early age I was encouraged to be creative. My grandmother was a milliner and it was she who taught me to make silk ribbon roses and other 3-dimensional designs. My great-aunt had been a court dressmaker and she was the one who gave me scraps of delicious fabrics and started me down the road to ruin! To this day I HAVE to have fabric to look at and touch! My glee when at the age of six I made a doll's jacket in green velvet, complete with tiny set in sleeves, knew no bounds. I was hooked! My mother let me use her old treadle sewing machine to make dolls clothes and then clothes for me. Dolls were a pain to me and only good for clothing. I was forever cutting their hair off and expecting it to grow so they were always bald manniquins. Lucky for some that I didn't have designs on being a hair-dresser! From this early start came my desire to create. I couldn't be doing with bought patterns and made things up as I went along. And then I went to Art School. My eyes were opened, my cup ran over! One of my subjects was woven textiles and that streak of indepence was still with me. I didn't want to buy already dyed wool for weaving, I had to dye my own and I never looked back. That first rya rug I made is still on my floor forty years later - a bit worn but still looking good and the colours are still bright and strong. Orange, blue and green and bright at that. I dyed several shades of each colour and then blended the wools together so as to get a mixture of colour. From that time on colour has been the engine that drives my creativity and yet it isn't the most important aspect. It is absolutely essential that I am being creative even if its baking a cake or making up a salad. It is also essential that the process is liberating. It has to free me from this mortal coil....allow me to get away from everyday hiatuses and yet at the same time be satisfying and meaningful. This can apply to anything creative and I would get the same buzz if it was in black and white but colour adds the icing on the cake for me. My preferred medium is fibre because I love the look and feel of fabric. The way it can change depending on what is done to it. How one moment it can be ethereal and the other down to earth and heavy! It can be cut, stitched, folded, pleated, draped, etc etc. And fibre can mean fabric, ribbon or yarn. What I do know is that if I was deprived of all my 'arty' things and my sewing machine I would slowly die inside unless I was able to channel my visions into other mediums. But they wouldn't be the same. It is very nice to make money from one's art but on the other hand the art comes first. Commissions are great but I have to identify with the subject matter. In my case if I try to create with money in mind it doesn't work! This is why I teach because I like to pass on what I have learnt in a life-time of 'sewing' and get paid for doing so. This enables me on the whole to make things because I want to and enjoy the process. The 'what if ' factor is always strong. This has made me think deeply about why I do what I do.It liberates me!

But I'd be much happier if I had a bigger workroom and could see all my fabric at once! Grin!

So let me ask all of you who read this blog...why do you create?

An Outing!

2012-01-02T19:02:00.000Z

As it was the last day of my holiday before I go back to work tomorrow we decided to go to Penzance. It was a lovely sunny day when we left Falmouth and we had a great time, with lunch at the Admiral Benbow and a long walk along the front battling the very strong wind. Then just as we were deciding to go home the heavens opened and a mad dash to the car was made.

It was a lovely day out but it is even nicer to be home in front of an open fire! I have a crazy patchwork waistcoat to stitch so I will sit and sew a fine seam. Pictures when I've finished!

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T17:05:00.000Z

A Happy New Year to everyone. May 2012 bring you peace, happiness and prosperity! I'm really looking forward to it. Lots of good resolutions like finishing all my UFO's and being more organised! :-) And I will try and keep the blog up to date!

Dyeing Silk Ribbon

2011-12-29T18:39:00.000Z

I have had a lovely day dyeing 450 metres of silk ribbon. Varying sizes of ribbon from 2mm to 7mm and all done in 20 metre skeins. That was the worst part skeining up the ribbon and tying it so that it wouldn't come adrift during the dyeing process. I haven't dyeing ribbon for some time now so I had to remind myself how to do it but it was like riding a bike. One doesn't forget! I used acid dyes and the microwave; first soaking the ribbon in vinegar and water. It was great fun and I'm looking forward to the next ribbon dyeing session. What wasn't fun was the unwinding, ironing, cutting into lengths for sale and putting said lengths onto cards. It was very tedious and long winded! But it does look lovely!

2011-12-24T16:31:00.000Z

Silk Ribbon

2011-12-22T14:24:00.000Z

I've just had a delivery of 1350 metres of silk ribbon! So at least I will have plenty to keep me occupied over the Christmas break. Because I have been asked to do some classes on silk ribbon embroidery we have decided to add hand-dyed silk ribbon to the website. I love dyeing silk ribbon as it looks so gorgeous when it is done and it is wonderful for embroidering flowers. Go here to see some examples. I shall do plain and multi-coloured ribbons. I am not sure whether to sell in 3 metre lenghts or 5 metre lengths. Which would be the most useful? I'm doing two widths - 4mm and 7mm, as these I think are the most often used. If you have any ideas on this do leave me a comment. It will be gratefully received!

One more day and I will officially be on holiday! I have eleven days off this year and don't go back to my part-time day job until the New Year. I have great plans for getting a lot done, including the silk ribbon dyeing, but often I find life gets in the way and not nearly as much is achieved as one wants! I really do need to have a blitz on the workroom as it is getting almost impossible to find a clear place to work on! I do this periodically though not as often as I should and I am always amazed at what I find! This makes the whole exercise more than worthwhile. However when everything is tidied and organised I then forget where things are so we are back to square one! Its a vicious circle! I think some serious New Year resolutions are called for here!

Blog Hop Winners!

2011-12-17T20:02:00.001Z

In reverse order!

Third name out of the hat is:

Linda at firecracker@hfx.eastlink.ca

Linda please email me and let me know what colour of fabric you would like.
_______________________________
Second name out of the hat is:

J Fortune at j.fortune@open.ac.uk

Joyce please email me and let me know what colour of fabric you would like.
___________________________________
First name out of the hat is:

Connie's Quilts at connysquilts@live.nl

Connie please let me know which colour you would like for the crazy quilt pack......elegance or roses
______________________________

Can you all let me have an address to send to. Thank you! Can't guarantee things will arrive before Christmas!!
________________________________

My email is valeri@farnedesigns.co.uk Congratulations to you all and thank you to everyone who came and had a look at the blog and took part!

The Blog Hop!

2011-12-10T20:44:00.000Z

Wow! I'm amazed at how many folk have looked at the blog so far and so many good comments in answer to the questions. I think I'll make it a 1st, 2nd and 3rd draw! Another couple of FQ's for the drawing!

There are some amazing blogs out there! I've had so much fun looking myself!

Keep the comments coming!

This should be lots of fun!

2011-12-06T19:05:00.003Z

The Blog Hop starts from December 10th until December 17th!

Well this is something different but I thought I'd try it out! I'm giving away one of our Crazy Patchwork packs(winner to choose from the two examples shown) and also 2FQ's of our hand-dyed fabric! The fabric pieces are examples and again the winner may choose the basic colour that she or he would like!

To enter the give-away:Leave a comment answering the following questions: What’s the one thing you now know that you wish you knew when you first started quilting? What do you look for when buying kits for quilting? Winner will be randomly chosen on December 17th.

Click on the panel at the top to visit all the participating blogs. Have fun!

The Give Away is now closed! Thank you for participating. I will announce the winners later tonight!

Tomorrow is the day!

2011-11-30T14:23:00.000Z

Tomorrow we collect our new motor home! As well as being very excited I am also quite nervous as I haven't driven anything this size for quite a while! I think the actual driving on the road will be fine. It is the reversing into our drive way next to the house that is the problem. It isn't the easiest of places to access and with no back window could prove to be a very testing time! Fingers crossed!

Today has been lovely and sunny! And I've actually seen a person swimming in the sea and they didn't have a wet suit on! It is incredible that tomorrow is the first of December and we haven't got the heat on yet! Long may it continue! While the weather is like this long walks around the coast are on the agenda before the paths become muddy and impassable. Before we know it Christmas will be upon us. As usual I am in a mild panic about Christmas presents but as happens most years I expect all will be well on the day!

Always something to do!

2011-11-28T14:46:00.000Z

I have been tidying up to make more space! It is a very therapeutic thing to do! And in the course of the tidying up I found this half started quilt top. I could see why it wasn't finished as it lacked pizazz! So I added to it. Here in pictures are the steps so far. 

I decided to add butterflies to give it more interest. And I put blue circles around the centre circle.

It still looked a bit bleak so I put extra circles into the centre circles. However this still didn't quite give it the feeling I was looking for.

So I added markings to the butterflies. This was much better and I decided to leave it at that. I will now layer it up with wadding and a muslin backing and then quilt it. The quilting and stitching will transform it....I hope!

I shall post more pictures of the quilt as it progresses! The butterflies were all fused on as were the small circles on their wings and in the middle fabric circle. The original piece of work was a version of Drunkards Path and was very quick and easy to do!

Little bags

2011-11-25T17:08:00.001Z

I am using up scraps of silk ribbon to make little sachets like these to put lavender and rose petals in. I think that not only would they make good little gifts but one could also hang them on the Christmas tree! The biggest problem I have is a lack of time! But they are very quick and easy to make that I am sure I'll find the odd half hour to make a few.

There is exactly a month to go before Christmas Day and I haven't done very much preparation for it at all. I have lots of ideas but that is about it. I have sent the grandchildren Fenella and Fred their advent calendar and they love it so that is good!

The weather is at long last getting a touch of winter about it. Colder at night and more windy as evidenced by the waves on the beach!

There are still lots of seed heads in the garden and the leaves are still on the oak tree so winter isn't here quite yet. In fact Graeme finds it so much warmer down here than Scotland that he is still wearing shorts! Now I am into jumpers and woolly scarves feeble person that I am!

A Sad Day!

2011-11-24T14:07:00.000Z

Well my lovely Renault 25 txe has gone to the big scrap graveyard in the sky! In the end I scrapped it as the locks all jammed and it would have been as expensive to get them fixed as to the amount of money I'd get selling it. And the scrap man did give me some money for it so it's not all bad! But I will have the lovely new motor home to play with soon!

I think I have finally cracked how to use the Slice Fabrique. The secret is to use a brayer when putting the fabric onto the plate. This really helps bond the fabric with the spray glue on the plate. And also to make sure that the transfer adhesive is well and truly ironed on. Having said that I can truthfully say that I am now having 99% success. There is the occasional screw up but this is down to operator error on the whole. I've just cut out a set of numbers for an advent calendar and they went like a dream! So perseverence pays! And a new design card arrived today which is not particularly for the Slice Fabrique but for the ordinary Slice which is designed for paper and stuff. To my delight the Slice Fabrique cut out some really funky curly letters with no problem even though they were narrow and twirly! This new card has loads of stuff for Christmas so I will be playing with it as soon as I get a spare moment! Spare moment? What's a spare moment!!!!

Very irritated!

2011-11-22T14:19:00.000Z

I am extremely irritated with Blogger as every time I look at a blog and want to leave a comment it tells me that I am not authorised to leave a comment under the account I'm signed in with and that I should log out and sign in again. Well I've done this to no avail! I could use lots of bad language! $**£&"^*!

The Joys of Dyeing

2011-11-16T17:05:00.001Z

There is something quite blissful about doing some dyeing. Getting the colours out and deciding which to use. Cutting the fabric and arranging it in the buckets. Then waiting, and waiting, and waiting, until finally the fabric is rinsed and put in the washing machine and one does another load of waiting. The excitement of then ironing and finally seeing the finished colour is the cherry on the icing. Yesterday we dyed some browns and did a time delay on the immersion into the dye. The resulting colours were amazing. The darkest colours were to be expected and although lovely nothing new but the lightest colours were fantastic and surprising. Who would have expected to get green streaks in a brown dye! Some lovely pieces for landscapes! The two browns, chocolate which is a warm reddish brown, and dark brown which is a cool brown colour with blueish overtones, reacted completely differently to the experimentation. I am now anxious to try this experiment with other colours to see what results we will get.

Today in class we made advent calenders, which the students found fun, and I was able to utilise the numbers that I had cut out with the Slice machine. I am getting more adept at using this piece of equipment I am pleased to say though I still don't feel it is completely problem free! Now that the advent calendar is finished I can fill the pockets with gifts. I have bought some lovely chocolates to put in some of them and that is such a temptation as they are really yummy!

My next job is to think of Christmas and decide what if anything I am going to make as gifts. I have some picture cushions to do but apart from that I'll probably not make things this year due to a lack of time and the pressing need to get other things finished. I have the pictures printed onto fabric and ready to be incorporated into cushions. All I have to do is find the time! I have got to the stage where I have lists of lists!

We have bought a mobile home so that we can not only take stuff to shows but also have somewhere to rest our heads and save on hotel bills. I am quite excited and can't wait to take it on a trial run. Firstly though it will need equipping and that will be fun as well. So far we have booked to do six shows next year so it will get a fair amount of use! I shall be very sad to sell my Renault though as it has done me proud over the last ten or so years. However it has really come to the end of it's life being around 20 years old and having done 120,550 miles! It is becoming expensive to maintain! I shall use Graeme's little car for running around in....much cheaper on petrol too!

Slice Fabrique part 2

2011-11-12T16:27:00.000Z

I have been playing with my Slice and am beginning to understand it. I cut some numbers for an advent calendar that I am making plus some of the other shapes on the card which comes with the machine. It took me some time to cut the numbers as I tried to be economical and the machine screwed up every now and then. I have found that it is important that the fabric is smoothed down onto the cutting plate between cuts and a rubber roller really helps here. Also it is important not to cut to closely to any other cuts. Make sure the transfer adhesive is well and truly ironed on and then the machine will work perfectly. Here are some pictures of some to the stuff I've done.

Slice Fabrique

2011-11-10T17:01:00.000Z

I have treated myself to a Slice Fabrique from Making Memories. I watched lots of videos on the net and read up about it before I bought it and was well impressed. However when I got it home I found it wasn't as brilliant as I had expected. That isn't to say that it isn't good but it is NOT the next best thing to sliced bread!

It is light and compact and comes with everything one needs to get going. However having said that the adhesive supplied with the machine isn't the best! And only three small pieces of transfer adhesive are supplied! I put too much of the adhesive on to begin with which was a mistake as the fabric slipped around on it. Also I didn't let it dry sufficiently so my impatience to get going didn't help. As well as the kit I also bought the 12" hands free kit which was well worth it and some spray adhesive which is MUCH better.

So the glass mat is tacky with adhesive and I've put some transfer adhesive onto a 12" square of cotton poplin fabric. This is now my second attempt having not been very successful with my first attempt due to the reasons stated above. I'm using the transfer adhesive that I always use as that way I can have a larger piece of fabric on the glass. The disks with the designs on are easy to insert and have a large number of designs including letters and numbers. The machine comes with a basic applique disk which is very good. I also bought the Christmas disk. To access the designs one pushes buttons on the front of the machine and when one has chosen a design then one can choose the size. Designs can be cut from 1" to 4" in 1/2" increments. They can also be mirror imaged and a shadow effect can be got. On some of the disks there is a layering technique which is useful.

It is important to make sure that the fabric is smoothed down onto the glass mat thoroughly so that it won't move while the machine is cutting. Once the design is chosen all one has to do is select it to put the cutter into position and then hit the on button. Within seconds the design is cut. It does make a fair amount of noise while it is cutting! Then one lifts up the cutter and voila upon lifting the fabric one has a cut out design. I found that it was easier to lift the cut out design using a paint spatula but you can buy spatulas for doing this from Making Memories (or local supplier).

I like to utilise every scrap of fabric and this wasn't the simplest of things to achieve. Possibly with time I may find it easier. I did manage to cut out enough numbers to make an advent calendar but not without a few problems along the way. One of the problems is that if one cuts too close to a previous cut the fabric screws up. Also the blades seem to blunt very quickly and a blunt or nearly blunt blade doesn't like cutting curves! Blades cost £12 for 5 so they arn't that cheap! However they do seem to be easy to change. There are three blades that come with the machine plus one that is already installed. The instruction book is quite good but could be better.

What I found was that I couldn't rely on getting a good cut each time. I would think that I was going along swimmingly and then it would crack up. Most annoying! I did cut different types of fabric such as silk and rayon and they cut OK. And using 505 one can adhere copy paper onto the fabric if one doesn't want transfer adhesive. For example cutting patchwork shapes. At the end of the day I think the biggest problem is knowing when the cutting blades are giving up the ghost and changing them.

Am I pleased I have one? Yes and no! The pros are that it is quick and cuts shapes that would be fiddly if having to be done by hand. It is light and also works both on the battery and plugged into the electric. It holds a charge for a long time! So would be good for taking to class. The designs are good and the design cards are not expensive when one considers that one is getting fifty or so designs each of which can be of several sizes. It works well on paper so could be good for card making or labels. It is quick in its operation.

On the con side it doesn't always give one the result one is expecting. One can waste a lot of fabric. It is necessary to have a fair number of spare blades on hand. The adhesive supplied in the kit isn't useful. It is necessary to have the spray adhesive.

At the end of the day I think I am glad I have one and the more I use it the more I will learn about it. For anyone who loves applique as I do it will open up a whole new world. The main thing is not to let it stress you out and to take it slowly when starting! It is allowed to yell at it! lol

Malvern

2011-11-09T20:39:00.001Z

Malvern was fantastic and I would have written about it sooner only no sooner had I arrived home than I was struck down with a heavy cold which is still refusing to give up the ghost and go away! Not fair!

We hadn't been to Malvern before and were blown away by the view over the valley from out room at the Wyche Inn. Unfortunately I only took pictures of the sunset which was incredible! I can highly recommend this inn for a visit to the area. The food was amazing and I put on pounds just looking at it! And what was even better was that it was only a fifteen minute drive to the show ground.

We had fun at the show and I was pleased to see that the Crazy Patchwork packs all went. Eleven years ago I started selling packs for crazy patchwork which included all one needed and they were very popular. Then over time I gave up on them but now I am finding that they are just as popular. Also the light to dark packs of cotton fat quarters also walked off the stand. Very pleasing.

And I had to wander round and see what everyone else was doing. It was very tempting and I had to restrain myself from using all the profits to buy more stuff! There were some lovely quilts on display. Beautiful eye candy!

So all in all a good show!

Malvern!

2011-10-26T12:58:00.001Z

We are off to Malvern tomorrow for the quilt exhibition there. I'm really looking forward to it as I've found the last two shows we did great fun as well as meeting all sorts of people and putting faces to names. As I write Graeme is starting to pack up the car. It is always difficult getting everything in, especially making sure every inch of space is used! If push comes to shove then it will be my clothes that get cut back! This time we have more fabric and more packs and patterns so it will be even more of a squeeze.

We are going to get a mobile home as it will not only give us more room but also will double as living accommodation for the three nights we are away at shows. I can't wait! As soon as Malvern is over we will start looking. In fact lately much of my life has become 'after Malvern' so I am going to be really busy when I get back. Hopefully it won't pour with rain tomorrow! We are staying at a place called The Wyche Inn which is very suitable for a gig so close to Halloween! I'm taking a witches's hat just in case! lol

Should you go to the show do come and say hello!

This and That and some dyeing!

2011-10-13T19:58:00.000Z

This view signifies the end of summer for me. Empty beach huts and an absence of people. The summer is over....what summer!

The following and the picture above are pieces of crazy patchwork that I have put together to work on over the winter. I like to have some hand work on the go and I have plans for these pieces! The above piece was made from scraps of beautiful silk that I had.

The piece above and the similar piece below are the front pieces for an armchair tidy. I find these small holdalls very useful for keeping one's sewing equipment in one place when sitting on the sofa sewing.I have worked quite a bit on these two pieces and there is every chance that I will get the whole thing finished in the near future!

The next piece is a longer piece which I want to use as a runner. I shall be very careful where I place any beads so as not to make a rough and uneven surface.

And the last piece I put together to take away with me to work on but I didn't actually do an awful lot!

This is a hanging I did some years ago to demonstrate fabric manipulation. It was cut hand-dyed cotton cut and re-shaped and then overlaid with nets and then machine stitched. It is actually straight but the way I took the picture made it look very crooked!

I had net lying around and some hand-dyed fabric that looked like muddy fields so I did this study of leaves on mud. Very much an autumnal piece as is the next one which is similar though has more leaves. I love working with leaves!

The next pictures are of yesterday's dyeing. A range of light and dark half metres. I dyed five metres of fabric in a bucket and then cut it up into half metres. The dyes were literally thrown onto the fabric as I was stuffing it into the bucket!

A slightly darker piece.

I did two lots of five metres and the second lot was very pastel as I was running out of dye and I just diluted it. Lovely pieces for skies and pastoral scenes!

This term in class I am doing an appliqué runner and this is it before sewing. This is a close up. The pattern is reversed at the other end!

I try to include at least one applique piece each year. The gooseberries were last years offering! We did a set of fruit blocks!

Back Home Again!

2011-10-09T11:10:00.001Z

Had a lovely break in Rannoch even though it was wet most of the time! However it was much warmer than I expected which was a bonus! Here are a selection of photos in no particular order. Starting with more fungi for the album!

The next two pictures are from the small chapel in the ruined church of St Bride at Blair Castle. This was a most interesting ruin! The first burial of John Graham was in 1689! And the second one two hundred years later!

The memorial stone related to the graves above!
This is Blair Castle where we spent a most interesting day.

This is a view of Loch Rannoch from our apartment. Schiellian is the pointed mountain in the background. It is one of the Munro's. I have yet to climb it! There was a lot of wind while we were in Scotland and the Loch was as rough as Swanpool on a bad day!

One day we walked up to the ruined village of Annat. This had been quite a large and thriving village until the clearances in the 1800's! It was quite impressive. We then walked on and round doing a circular route of about 7 or 8 miles. It was blowing a gale and raining and by the time we got back to the apartment I was exhausted...feeble thing that I am!

This picture of heather is for Sue! She will know why!

This small castle is in the middle of the Loch and the story goes that a clan chief built it to keep his wife in!

The burns were in full flood after all the rain. This is the one that runs down the hill side in the village.The day after I took the first picture it poured and there was even more water rushing down.

And last but not least for today ...I woke up one morning to see these two sheep peering into our bedroom window (large French doors)which was quite a shock. They appeared regularly after that!

Holidays

2011-09-28T13:04:00.001Z

We are off to Rannoch tomorrow for a week's holiday. I'm really looking forward to a week of chilling out and renewing my energy! There will be plenty of walking and fishing. I may even catch a fish! We went last year and it is a lovely spot. What I'm not looking forward to is the twelve hour journey!

I found a lovely tripod to use with my camera in a charity shop for £5! So I am going to become a dedicated photographer this trip and try and get some good pictures of the local wildlife. Last year I was lucky enough to see an Osprey and a hare. Two creatures that we don't see a lot of in Cornwall. Who knows, this year I may even get to see an eagle!

I'm taking some crazy patchwork to do in the evenings as hand embroidery is so restful. And lots of books! I have a great book on Culloden to read which I think is fairly topical for the area!

The weather is supposed to be hot all over the country which poses a problem of what clothes to take as in the past I have found it exceptionally cold in Scotland at this time of the year! At least we are going by car so I can throw in my whole wardrobe if necessary!

Pictures when I get back!

Sunday afternoon walk

2011-09-25T17:24:00.000Z

It is becoming a habit going for a walk on a Sunday afternoon! But a good one. However this one didn't include a cream tea or any tea at all! How bad is that!

We walked round Argal Reservoir as this was something neither of us had done and it seemed like a good idea. There is only coarse fishing done on Argal so no fly fishing for trout! It was a lovely afternoon with a bit of wind and some sun. However the weather forecast had predicted lots of rain so that wasn't bad. There is a round walk around the lake which we did and it took about an hour or so with a sit down to admire the view about half way round. I took my camera so was able to take some pictures.

The reservoir is very low and the old walls could be seen. The mud is dried and cracked but still very squishy!

Very autumnal with lots of fungi under the trees.

This was the closest I could get to the heron as it kept flying away as I approached it. I do like heron even though they catch the fish but they arn't as much as a problem as the cormarants! They were sitting on exposed tree stumps like the three witches except there were four of them!

More fungi and lots of berries in the hedgerows. The blackberries are not so good this year not having had enough rain to plump them up! Very pippy!

A view over the lake as the sun was setting.

Lots of little streams running into the lake but not enough to fill it up! There is something very relaxing about the sound of running water!

Next Sunday we will be in Scotland on Loch Rannoch!

Rinsey Head

2011-09-18T18:54:00.000Z

It was a blustery but sunny day today so we went to Rinsey Head on the south coast for a meander along the cliffs. The wind was really strong and it was scary at times on the cliff tops. However the only casualty was the loss of one of my earrings when my waterproof hood was whipped off by the wind. Sad because Graeme gave me them on our wedding day! I shall have the remaining one made into a locket on a chain. Anyway back to Rinsey. This area was mined in the previous centuries and there are mine shafts and engine houses along the cliff tops and in the cliffs themselves.

This rocky outcrop reminded me of a meerkat looking out to sea.

This photo above shows the mine openings in the cliffs. They are now all blocked up for safety's sake but when I was a child it was possible to explore some of them. The openings are enormous!

After all that walking up and down the cliff tops we eventually arrived at Prah or Praa sands. The spelling of the place name changes constantly! So it is either pronounced with a long or short a depending on the spelling you use. And I didn't feel at all guilty at having a cream tea! I still had to walk a couple of miles back to the car so I was allowed! Graeme had pasty and chips!

Fascinating mushrooms. Really large and with a nob on top of the cap. I think if you click on the picture you will get a larger version and will be able to see the detail. They were on the edge of this mine shaft (below) which was fenced off for safety's sake. There were notices warning of mine shafts and there were several depressions in the gorse and bracken which were probably shafts and to be avoided!

I am always amazed at the things I see when out walking and to see this large pampas grass swaying in the wind in the middle of bracken and gorse in the middle of nowhere was another amazing sight.

This is the coastal path with Prah Sands in the background. It was really quite steep and I was glad we hadn't had any rain recently or else it would have been very slippery.

On the way home we stopped off at Porthleven and had a wander around. It was exciting watching the surfers and wind surfers braving the heavy surf. They were very close to the rocks at times but managed not to come a cropper. The photo below is looking away from the town out to sea beyond the clock tower. The one below that is looking towards the town and harbour.

Rain, rain and yet more rain!

2011-09-06T16:16:00.000Z

It poured with rain in the night and the wind was almost at gale force. I know we need rain as the lake where Graeme and I go fly fishing is so low that it is just not fun! In fact I don't think I've seen it this low for a long time. I don't think it was even as low as this in the drought year of '76. However the heaviness of the downpour has battered my poor begonias and they are all washed out and sad looking! So it doesn't look as if we will be going for a long walk tonight when I get home from work! In fact I am really looking forward to the time when we can light fires and draw the curtains and toast crumpets! Summer wasn't long but when it's gone, it's gone!

Crazy Patchwork. Reprise!

2011-09-05T13:26:00.001Z

When I first started my website Farne Designs my main focus was on Crazy Patchwork and I produced several packs of fabric, beads, ribbons, etc for sale. Each pack was capable of providing sufficient materials for a large or several small crazy patchwork blocks. I even included a marked background piece for the fabrics to be sewn onto. These were very popular and I did about ten different types of pack such as Fire (mainly reds), Sea and Shore, Elegance (black and white) and Sunset (blues and pinks) to name but a few. For some reason I stopped doing these... I don't remember why now but I am going to start producing them again in the hopes that they will still appeal to Crazy Patchworkers.

We are starting off with five different packs. There will be Fire, Sunset, Elegance,Sea and Shore and Roses. (See picture above) I love making up these packs as I get to play with fabric (mostly silks), beads, buttons, threads, ribbons, lace and braids.

The block above is one I did some time ago as one of many for a quilt. This was a 6 1/2 inch block which is handy for carrying around and stitching in odd moments. Such a relaxing past-time!

Trevarno

2011-08-21T17:23:00.000Z

It was a lovely day so we went to Trevarno Gardens near Helston. I have been before but Graeme hadn't. The gardens, grounds and woodland walks at Trevarno are supposed to date back to the 1200's but the present house is Georgian in style.

This is my favourite part of the estate. The lake with boat house. A very restful spot watching the dragonflies and the fish, small brownies, in the water.

The Italian garden is of modern design having been formed only at the end of the last century. In previous centuries this had been a lawned area but it is extremely attractive even if it isn't so old! The roses were lovely and there is an old bit of stone work at the far end which enhance it!

Wherever one goes in Cornwall one sees Monbretia! It is so common and yet a colourful and attractive plant.

And of course we had to have a cream tea. No Sunday afternoon on an outing would be complete without the scones, cream and raspberry jam! It was delicious!

While we were eating the peacocks which were in a scraggy state of moulting were eyeing our every mouthful. They were so tame!

We also went and saw the reindeer which come to Trevarno for their summer holidays! It was really too hot for them today and most of them were in the shade in their shed.

And odd as it may seem I have already designed and made the sampler for our packs of Christmas shapes which includes reindeer!

In fact a thoroughly enjoyable day! Then home to enjoy the sun in the back garden with an iced drink of elderflower cordial! Delicious!

Weather!

2011-08-13T11:22:00.000Z

The weather forecast shows sun all day today but what did I wake up to but rain and now it's raining again! It's not fair! It's Saturday! And a fly I thought I'd swotted has now come to life again and is annoying me considerably by buzzing behind the curtain against the window! I can see it is going to be one of those days!

The radishes Graeme planted a few days ago are up and running and really need thinning out. If the rain could stop for a moment I will go and do it. Fortunately the men who have changed our black guttering and downpipes for white ones have been and gone before the rain stopped play. The front of the house does look smart now!

I've given all my knitting needles away to a friend so I won't be tempted ever again to do any knitting. This will save me so much money as I would get carried away, buy wool and then abandon the project half way through because I am not a natural born knitter. Not even an aquired knitter. My skills are zilch! Just as well I can sew!

I have been designing the next sampler quilt for the autumn's classes. I am using EQ6 which I find really good and it has been fun. Now all I have to do is choose some fabrics and make it! Easier said than done! The fabric choice should be easy but when has one had just what one wanted regardless of however many fabrics one has. Certainly not me....not even with all that dyeing. Well I will have fun rummaging and finding things I thought lost or given away. That is the best bit!

Love the patterns that one finds on old gravestones. A lovely source of quilting patterns!

So very hot!

2011-07-27T13:39:00.000Z

The weather is lovely and it is a shame that I have to be at work this afternoon. It is so hot! Last night it was almost unbearably stuffy and I had difficulty getting to sleep! However not to complain as we don't often get days like this.

The class on colour went really well and a good time was had by all. However due to the pressure of time I didn't get a chance to photograph the range of greens I produced in the morning. I will get round to it eventually. Probably when it's cooler! Here are a couple of pictures of the colour wheel dyeing I did earlier.

Greens!

2011-07-26T15:36:00.001Z

There are so many different greens. Thousands of them! I was dyeing a colour wheel last weekend for a class on colour I'm giving tonight and I was struck by the sublty of the greens. So much so that I thought I'd do a run of just greens. I did three colour wheels: lemon 8G, magenta and turquoise: buttercup, scarlet and royal: lemon 4G, intense red, navy. So there were a few interesting greens amongst that lot but the differences between them were quite large as I was only doing a twelve colour wheel. This morning I decided to work on the Ives colour wheel of twenty four steps and started off with lemon 8G and bright royal. A lovely lot of greens were the result but even so I reckon that I can make the range of greens even larger and closer in colour by extending the steps in dyeing. And when one thinks that this was just one colour combination the mind boggles at what one could achieve with several colour combinations. And then again one could add in a tad of black and achieve even more colourings. Water colours down to get paler versions! The list is endless. Have I got enough time left to achieve all these thousands of green? I'm typing this at work so I have no pictures but I will take some and add them in later.

And after greens I can graduate to purples and oranges! Not to forget all the browns and neutrals! Oh what fun! The reason I started with green was because one uses so much green in quilting especially when doing applique work or landscapes. However with all that dyeing will I ever have time enough to sew!

The Day After!

2011-07-21T16:07:00.001Z

I am delighted with the moves of yesterday. More space, stuff is easier to get at (if I remember where I put it) and everywhere is clean and tidy. Tonight I am going to titivate and finalise the putting of stuff in drawers. Graeme keeps telling me that this is the last time we move this wardrobe (or any other large pieces of furniture) so I must make sure that I've got it all just as I want it!

The next project must be some dyeing of fabric as I noticed when moving things that I have very little multi coloured half metre pieces. So I can feel some sunset and underwater pieces coming on for starters. And with the weather being quite good it might be a good time to get out the wax and cjanting tool and do some batiks.

This was a piece of silk that was batiked very simply and then embroidered and turned into a cushion cover.

Another piece in silk waiting to have something done with it. Below is a piece that has had applique, machine embroidery and cut outs added to it. Eventually I'll make it into a small book cover. The trouble is that there is just too much to do!

Close up

The Urge to Move!

2011-07-20T14:28:00.004Z

At last I have finished one of the pieces of Crazy Patchwork. It is an over-the-arm of a chair work tidy. I started this more years than I care to remember ago! I have enjoyed finishing it. It was great fun to do and will be our latest pattern offering. I have two more nearly finished so this might not be the final picture.

I have been feeling the urge to have a big clear out and move furniture around! I think this has been brought on by the fact that we have guests at the end of the month. Graeme's brother and family are coming to visit us from Egypt! So as well as giving the house a good and thorough clean, it also has meant making some more space. One of the joys of having guests is that one's house gets a real over- haul! Almost as good as moving!

And that is just what we did this morning. We moved furniture. I had the bright idea in the middle of the night...as one does! We were going to send our enormous Victorian wardrobe up to my son in Fife, as he is desperate for a wardrobe, on condition that he held it in trust for my daughter who I think would disown me if I got rid of it permanently. But I love this wardrobe and I really didn't want to let it go, plus the fact that is most unwieldy. But now I don't have to as he is going to have my double wardrobe instead which knocks down and puts up so easily. And it's solid wood too so he isn't being fobbed off with anything cheap! So now we have the large wardrobe in our bedroom; the spare room has the dressing table(we had two in our room!) and looks much better and Graeme can at last open the doors on his wardrobe as we've moved it to the other side of the bedroom. However this didn't happen just like that. To get the large wardrobe into our room we had to take the banisters off the landing and have the wardrobe suspended over the abyss of the stair well. But we made it without mishap and I left Graeme putting the banisters back while I went off to work. However when I get home tonight I have to sort, hang and otherwise put away the mountain of clothing and stuff that is on our bed or we won't be going to bed tonight! There was a stage when the wardrobe was stuck in the spare room door with me inside the room when I thought I might be marooned there for good! But we got there in the end and I can't wait to have it all organised and sorted. Almost as good as having a new room! Plus I'll be able to get rid of more stuff to the charity shop! Can't be bad!

This picture above is the top of my Victorian wardrobe. Below is the inside with drawers stacked full of sewing stuff. The other side is for hanging clothes but is also stuffed full of sewing stuff as you can see in the picture at the bottom. What you can't see are the two very large drawers at the bottom of the wardrobe. It is a huge piece of furniture!

And believe it or not I actually found homes for all that stuff in the workroom. Well to be honest I did give some of it away! There is only so much one can use in a lifetime after all!

Silk

2011-06-27T16:04:00.001Z

I spent a lot of the weekend having a clear out of cupboards and drawers trying to make space! In my turn out I found lots of pieces of plain white or cream silk which I am going to dye. I love dyed silk as it has such a gleam to it. When it's dyed I am in two minds as to what to do with it. Should I sell it as it is in 1/2 metre lengths or cut it into fat 1/8ths and sell mixed packs. If I do the latter should I sell mixed colours/fabrics or mixed fabrics in a range of one colour because each silk will take the dye differently. Choices, choices! What do I do? Which would be the most useful? Any thoughts on this please let me know. It would be very helpful.

It was a beautiful evening yesterday with the most amazing sunset. All golds and pinks. Gorgeous! So we went fishing! Not that we caught anything but it was really lovely. Warm and tranquil. I actually had a couple of bites but nothing that I could haul in! They were too wily for that! Graeme caught a wee brownie at the last minute and let it go. One would have had to be starving to eat something so small! So he or she can grow on to become more of a mouthful!

This evening there is more tidying and sorting to be done. What treasures will I find tonight! I am pleased to say that I found the corded elastic that I had been searching for for weeks and lots of gold cord and ribbon that I had also 'lost'! Everything comes to he who waits...or in my case tidies up!

Home Again!

2011-06-21T14:25:00.001Z

Sandown was great! Well that is apart from the London traffic. I felt that I was taking my life in my hands everytime I had to drive to or from the hotel! But it was a fantastic three days and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. We made some new friends, met loads of lovely people and saw some superb quilts. So all in all a good experience. So much so that we have booked again for next year!

A couple of pictures of our stand which was tiny! However we managed to cram an awful lot into it! Now we have to replenish stocks and think of some new ideas for patterns and kits. Our next show will be Malvern in October so we will have plenty of time to get organised!

Sandown here we come!

2011-06-14T13:35:00.001Z

Well we made it! Everything that had to be done has been done and now all we have to do is pack up the car. Easier said than done as we have more stuff than we took to Exeter. It's a bit like doing a jig-saw fitting it all in. I expect we will manage even if I can't take much in the way of clothing! More important is to make sure we have the coffee and biscuits!

The stand is smaller than the one we had at Exeter being only 3 x 2 metres instead of 3 x 3 metres so it will be a bit of a tight squeeze to get everything on display! This was the stand at Exeter!

This time I have made curtains with loops for rods to hang things from plus a banner with our name on it! It should make life a bit easier if we arn't having to pin everything up on the backdrops.

I have been thinking of ways of using heart shapes and also thinking of doing some embroidery with my Bernina embroidery attachment. Thinking is as far as I've got but I want to produce more of these butterflies which I digitised a few years ago. Where does the time go?

June already!

2011-06-08T14:36:00.001Z

At last I've got something finished. This is the sample wall hanging for the cut-out adhesive hearts packets. I had great fun doing this and was pleased with the way the two background fabrics meshed together. In fact I was so pleased that I am going to put it onto the website as a pattern for sale.

It is all being a great rush again as we are off to Sandown Quilt show next week. We've lost a week by having to go up to Scotland for the funeral of Graeme's mum. She had been in a home with alzeimher's for several years so it wasn't unexpected. The downside was that the funeral was on my birthday! However we went out for a superb meal at La Mouton Noir in the evening so all was not lost! And we were able to go fishing one day and I caught a good sized rainbow trout! Graeme caught four! We stayed with my son and his partner so we had grateful recipients for the fish!

When we arrived back it was to find that the relatively tidy garden had turned into a veritable jungle! Roses everywhere and the herb garden had gone mad. It looked a mess though as the forget-me-nots had all died and shrivelled up and now need pulling up. However they will have seeded everywhere so lots more next year. Once the lawn was mown though it appeared to be much neater.

I have written a day by day list of all that needs to be done as I find by doing this it concentrates the mind beautifully. I have curtains to make for the stand and a banner with Farne Designs appliqued onto it. Trago Mills which is a wonderful store in Falmouth selling cheapy stuff had some great fabric. A slubbed cream cotton which is quite heavy and very wide (108") but only cost just over £5 a metre! Brilliant! I'm now going to trawl the web looking for a rep for Kona Bay fabrics. Will I be lucky?

Samples and Pictures

2011-05-24T14:51:00.000Z

I have been making a wall hanging as a sample to show off the use of pre-cut circles. Unfortunately not the best of photos but sufficient that the overall design can be seen. I still have to attach silver braid round the circles and do some quilting but I am finding it fun to do and enjoying stitching again. Below is a close up of the hanging circles at the bottom. I used wired ribbon to hang them from and backed them as well so that they were stiff enough to stand up and not flop around.

Below are a few pictures from the day out at Kennack Sands on Sunday. The waves were quite strong and really very magnificent. The bottom picture is of the estuary of the creek at St Anthony in Meneage which leads into the Helford. It was a lovely sunny day and once out of the wind quite idyllic!

Tomorrow I have a class in the morning so will have to be organised for it. I'm going to do woven fat quarters with applique and think it will be fun!

Sometimes I wonder if I am talking to myself and wonder what one has to do to illicit comments. It would be nice to know what other people think!

At Last!

2011-05-23T13:20:00.000Z

Finally I have been able to get the website finished! I have learnt a lot while updating and putting the payment pages on so in many ways it has been a good learning curve. I didn't realise when I started how by putting a shopping cart on and organising card payments what a tangled web I was weaving. But it is all sorted out now and checked and according to my computing guru it is all tickety boo! Well I hope so! So now I can concentrate on doing some actual sewing!

I have been planning some new patterns to sell and making samples for them but this has had to take a back seat to the web building. Now at last I can get going with some real work!

For my birthday Graeme has got tickets to go to a Kaffe Fasset lecture at the Falmouth Pavilion. I'm really looking forward to this, especially as I know I'll run into lots of quilters I know there. Some of Kaffe Fasset's work is just gorgeous and I like his use of colour.

We went to Kennack Sands at the weekend down on the Lizard and it was lovely. The sun shone but the wind was very strong. Lovely when walking on the cliff path with the wind at one's back but quite daunting on the return trip with it in one's face. Was delighted to see a small silver lizard which ran across the path in front of me as well as loads of butterflies. Took lots of pictures but of course I don't have them with me. Later!

Being busy!

2011-05-17T14:32:00.001Z

I have spent a lot of the last few weeks looking for things I've lost and finding other things that I'd forgotten I'd got! The annoying thing is that I know exactly where the things I've lost are but only if I hadn't moved the rooms around!

This crazy patchwork block is one that got lost in a Round Robin. I made it about eight years ago just after my grandson Oscar died at the age of nine months. The dark semi circle to represent the death but the colours above to show that one could go on and that one still had all the memories. Unfortunately it just disappeared somewhere in the US! Should anyone find it unexpectedly ...well it belongs to me!

The sketch above is a table runner I want to make. It is just an idea and needs working on but having now found this sketch I will make sure it gets used! And another sketch that I want to expand and use is the one below. I had an idea for using moon shapes with overlays of chiffon or net. Well all I need is time!

I have a dozen fruit blocks like the one of gooseberries below which I had forgotten I'd got! They need to be made into a quilt! I have apples, pears, plums, peaches, oranges, lemons; to name but a few plus twisting strawberry blocks to link them! Again it's all down to time!

With the above blocks was this odd piece of printed fabric. It is so long ago since I did it that I have forgotten why I did it. Perhaps I was just playing! But now I've found it I'm sure I'll be able to find some use for it! It's good to play occasionally as sometimes really useful things emerge!

However in spite of the fun of finding hidden treasures I still haven't found the pieces of fabric that I was looking for or the notes and handouts that I need for my next class which means I'll have to start from scratch! I bet they turn up the week after the class!

Everything in the garden is lovely!

2011-05-10T13:16:00.000Z

I bought this yellow rose about three years ago and it took a long time to get established. For the first year I had to water it daily and it looked as if it wouldn't make it. However last year it had three roses on it! But this year it has gone mad. It is lovely and looks a real picture. I was afraid it was going to be over when I came back from the honeymoon but it is still blooming and has lots of buds coming on! It was meant to be a scented rose but although it has a bit of a smell it isn't what I would call scented!

The blooms are really large. The buds start off looking orangey but then become a brilliant yellow as they mature.

With the Clematis right next to them they make a pretty picture together. I will have to watch that the Clematis doesn't rampage through the roses!

The for-get-me-nots are still going strong and hopefully will seed themselves for next year. They have provided loads of colour in the garden since February! I have planted a new blackcurrant under the clematis called Big Ben and it is supposed to have enormous berries! The Rosemary is very happy where it is next to the rose and has grown considerably. In front of it there is a Lovage plant. I have to keep chopping this down as it grows out of control. Apparently placing some lovage leaves in ones shoes makes one feet feel and 'smell' better! :-)

This is a close up of the Clematis.

More from Cotehele

2011-04-29T15:00:00.000Z

The picture above and the one below are of Cotehele quay. There used to be a thriving trade here but now it is just a tourist attraction.

Views down the river

This is a patchwork bedcover which is worked in very small pieces of silk in a geometric pattern.

A carved doorway which I think is quite inspirational for a piece of patchwork! I can see it with layered appliquéd roses in the centre of each square.

One of the wonderful beds complete with hangings. The bed cover was of Jacobean design but sadly my pictures were fuzzy!

A beautiful quilted bedcover. Must have taken hours of work!

Another bedcover done in candlewicking - white on white. Quite lovely and very intricate.

Another of the wonderful four poster beds. Again my close-ups of the hangings were fuzzy!

Fantastic ceiling in the main hall.

One of many patchwork cushions which were dotted around. They were all covered with fine net to help protect them. It was interesting to see the fabrics used.

A lovely old archway out of the main courtyard.

The first view one has of Cotehele as one enters the main gates.

Having a wonderful time!

2011-04-26T18:54:00.001Z

It has been the most wonderful Easter. On Maundy Thursday I got married! It was very quiet and quite superb. My son (with his girlfriend Mel) came down from Scotland to give me away and my 91 year old mother was there plus my very good friend Sue and her husband. And that was it! Nice and quiet! And on the Good Friday we went off on honeymoon to Exmoor for a few days. We stayed in a lovely old hotel which dated from medieval times. Reputedly it had been the headquarters of Oliver Cromwell during the Civil War. The food was amazing and I've put on pounds so it's a strict diet for a while! But I can thoroughly recommend the Luttrell Arms at Dunster. We went for long walks and saw both the gentle side of Exmoor and the bleak moorland side. On the way home we stopped off at Cotehele, the home of the Edgecumbe family. So as pictures are better than a thousand words some more pictures!

An old bridge by the mill in Dunster. I liked the patterns the reflections made! It was easy to imagine the pack horses bringing the wool to the yarn market in the centre of town.

Below is a typical house in the village. This one was at the gateway into the church yard.

A pottery kiln behind the hotel. I'm not sure as to how old it is but it is probably medieval.

Beautiful woodwork in the inner courtyard of the hotel.

Exmoor ponies!

The yarn market in Dunster. A fabulous building dating from the middle ages when farmers would bring their wool into town to sell.

Dunster Castle which we didn't get to see but will be an excuse to go back!

Cotehele which was fabulous.

I have more pictures from Cotehele but they will have to wait for another day. Some lovely pieces of old needlework including quilting and patchwork.

Wednesday!

2011-04-13T13:57:00.000Z

I don't know where I found all these little motifs with the day of the week on but I think they are quite quaint! I have several for each day so will be able to indulge myself for a few weeks more!

As I am on holiday after Friday for two weeks until the beginning of May I thought it would be good to try and tidy up a bit in the workroom. And among the many bits and pieces I have found so far were these three pieces of machine embroidery that I digitised a few years ago. It seems a shame to leave them languishing in a drawer but I don't really know what to use them for. All suggestions will be warmly welcomed!

I had a lovely morning indulging myself in some retail therapy! I went into Redruth to the Sewing Studio where I bought loads of lovely material. Some pretty printed greens which will be good for leaves; some browns and greys for cats and dogs and some lovely pinks and flowery material for strangely enough flowers! I also bought a couple of pieces of Japanese style fabric to add to my collection. When I have enough I will design a quilt to use it up and show it off! Part of my tidy-up plan is to use up all the oddments of fabric which are cluttering up the CD tower where I keep my FQ's. I am going to make bags of shapes such as squares, rectangles and triangles with them and then sell them by the bundle. These won't be bondawebbed but will be for patchwork projects such as nine patch or flying geese. It has been necessary to start making a list of all the things I need-want to do so that I can be organised!

Time is flying by!

2011-04-12T16:27:00.000Z

Another day another doughnut as they say! Where is all the time going? There is so much to do but at least we have managed to aquire a bed that works! The first one was most peculiar and wouldn't unfold into a straight line! Good if one wanted to lie with one's head at least a foot below one's feet! So in the end we decided to give it up as a bad job and went and bought a superb 1930's small sprung double. Being old it has room underneath to store stuff which modern divans don't. And it is very comfortable which is good! Plus there is still room to shut the door and get into the wardrobe.

I even managed to get into the garden today and plant a blackcurrant bush and some herbs. Parsley, dill, coriander and fennel. Both ordinary fennel and bronze fennel. The compost bin was overflowing so it was good to be able to use some of it! Lovely stuff!

On the sewing front I am making a pattern for a quillow using our fabrics in a crazy patchwork pattern. I was really pleased with the backing fabric I dyed. Very colourful. There will be pictures eventually but as I'm at work I can't take any! This week in class I'm going to show the students how to do shadow quilting but can I find my organdy? The answer is no! However I have some sparkle see through voile which could possibly be used instead plus I have some samples already done. It is always good to be prepared! Not that I am very often!

Friday

2011-04-08T15:40:00.000Z

Is n't it lovely to know that today is Friday and the whole weekend stretches ahead of one! Because I work I have come to really appreciate the weekends. When I was at home all week the weekends tended to blur into the week days but now they mean so much more to me. The sun is shining and it is supposed to be shining tomorrow as well. If it is a sunny day I shall try and go for my first swim of the year in the sea! Of course all conditions will have to be right! Sun, no wind and the tide at a fairly high level! This last is very important as I know if I have to wade out to get any depth of water I'll give up as my legs below the knee will freeze into immobility! So fingers crossed all things will be ideal for that first swim. I really do need the exercise!

We have bought a new bed for the spare room and will probably spend a large proportion of the weekend, when I'm not swimming and Graeme isn't playing rugby, getting the spare room and workroom organised. Hopefully the end result will mean more space and greater storage facilities.

Enjoy your weekend. I will also if the sun is shining be trying out my new sun lounger which my neice had a hand in making me buy!

Black

2011-04-07T13:46:00.000Z

I love the way black dyes if one doesn't use loads of the dye powder. It comes out very mottled in a grey brown colouring. In fact it looks like puddles of water in a muddy field and I was inspired by a piece last year to do a small table mat with leaves on it to look like the debris found in a muddy field! In the top picture the brown in the piece was more pronounced, while in the two lower pieces the grey was more in evidence. Probably different batches of dye!

Gardening

2011-04-06T13:40:00.001Z

My poor garden has really suffered over the past eighteen months. It has had little or no attention and yet it doesn't look too bad! I'm amazed! Graeme keeps the lawn looking good with the edges trimmed and that does help. He is also very good at cutting brambles out of the hedge. But apart from that we have done nothing. I left the forget-me-nots to self seed and I now have a beautiful blue carpet. In fact I transplanted a few into the tubs and they are looking good too! The herbs are slowly coming to life again and I was delighted to see that a small lemon verbena plant in a pot which I thought moribund has a few leaves on it. Sadly my bronze fennel has bitten the dust. The bad weather in December was just too much for it! It was wonderful for adding to mushroom soup.

Here are a few pictures which I took this morning starting from the left hand side of the kitchen door and working clockwise.

Great swathes of forget-me-nots.

Beautiful camelias

And parsley coming through the forget-me-nots!

Picture cushions

2011-04-04T14:07:00.000Z

I really enjoyed doing the picture cushions. In fact so much so that I am thinking of doing some more. It would be fun to have cushions with pictures of people and events as well as scenic views. I have just gained a new great-nephew Sam so perhaps I'll make a cushion especially for him as a birth momento! He has an unusual set of names: Samual John Auberon but I think they are good and I like the name Sam!

After a lot of searching I have found the dress for my wedding in three weeks. Well actually it is less than three weeks now! Gosh how time is flying by! I am not going to post pictures until after the day but it is quite delicious and I am going to love wearing it as it is so flattering. It has it's own little jacket and I bought a toning head 'thing'! It isn't a hat but then again it isn't a hair ornament so what to call it I don't know. It is all getting really exciting!

And to add to the excitement I actually caught a fish at the weekend!

Too many UFO's

2011-03-31T14:01:00.002Z

I have far too many UFO's! Looking for some patterns that I put together for a class a few years ago I came across a myriad of quilts and pieces of work that are all but finished but not quite! How sad is that!

There is the drunkards path collection made into a lap quilt in beautiful Japanese printed fabric just needing a border of flying geese and 9-patch blocks. A wall hanging of leaves on a wall background which just needs finishing off! Similar to the above is a piece of leaves done in mauves and purples called 'Leaves in the Moonlight'. It will look lovely when done! Then there is the garden quilt with printed photos of flowers and applique leaves running across it. Can you tell I'm into leaves? lol And if I ever get the 'Cats in the Garden' quilt finished it would be a fun quilt for my grand-daughter. At this rate she'll be an old lady before she sees it! Also a faux chenille cushion top just needing a backing; a crazy cutz bed quilt needing to be quilted and several pieces of free machine embroidery to be finished - mostly landscapes. I feel quite tired now just thinking about them all!

Garden quilt and 'Leaves in the Moonlight' piece.

I really MUST make an effort and finish things quickly! Am I the only person who has a drawerful of unfinished stuff? And I hate to admit it but the piece below which was the beginning of a three section underwater scene is now nearly seven years old!

Spring Quilt Festival Exeter

2011-03-29T14:34:00.000Z

Well we are back from Exeter where we had a very tiring but fun three days at the show. We did better than we expected to and met some lovely people. I'd have been happier to have sold a bit more fabric and more of the picture cushions but on the whole it was a good show and we have booked to do next year!

There were some gorgeous quilts on display - not that I got a lot of time to go and look at them! I did manage to wander around the other stalls and bought some lovely pieces of Japanese fabric. I love the gold on these flowery pieces. Something we don't do - yet!

Our next show will be Sandown for the National Quilt Championships. We would have had a go at Malvern but the show was all fully booked!

A view of the stand above and some of the fabric below. We ran out of some things which was good and gives me a good idea as to what to go for next time!

It was lovely weather all weekend but now we are home it is misty and damp! Typical! So we have two and a bit months before the next show and during that time to fit in our wedding! Busy all round I think!

Ready for the off!

2011-03-23T15:22:00.000Z

Well we are as ready as we will ever be! We have mountains of hand-dyed fabric, quilted cushion covers, hand-dyed thread packs and cut out shape packs all ready to be loaded into the back of the car. I've sorted out samples of quilts to take to make the stand look interesting and all the bits and pieces that one needs such as string and drawing pins. Hopefully I won't have forgotten anything. So tomorrow Exeter here we come. I've been to the Spring Quilt Festival at Westpoint before and it has always been a good show but I've been a customer not an exhibitor before so this will be quite different. Although I'm nervous I'm really looking forward to it and I will have Graeme for company and help and support! If this one goes well we will try more venues later in the year! We might even make one in Scotland! A long way to travel though!

This has been the view on the draining board for the last few months! Pots of fabric dyeing!

And often the table has been out of use because of the dyeing!

Below are some of the many threads that have been dyed. These take forever compared to the fabric!

But for now everything is cleared away and we will have a different hat on! Fingers crossed!

Fishing

2011-03-15T14:45:00.002Z

It was a misty start to the first day of the fishing season! I was up at the crack of dawn and Graeme and I set off for the lake complete with fishing tackle and food! Food is very important when one is fly fishing! It wasn't warm and the lake (Stithians reservoir) is as full as I've ever seen it. Graeme caught a small trout almost immediately but I spent more time entangling my fly with the bushes behind me than actually getting it far enough out to catch a fish! Actually I did manage one or several very good casts, even though I say it myself! However not good enough to catch anything. I obviously wasn't using a fly that the fish could feel worthy of eating! After a few hours I left Graeme there as I had to work in the afternoon. However after all the time he has put in dyeing fabric he deserves a break! And hopefully he will catch a few more fish to put in the freezer!

I have found fish to be a great source of inspiration for design work and have used fishy themes frequently. Here are a few examples.

Well I would have added more but Blogger would n't let me! Wah!!!

Third time of trying lucky! I had to publish and then have another go! And then I was only allowed to put up one more! I obviously don't understand the system!

Dyeing outside!

2011-03-10T16:35:00.001Z

It was such a lovely sunny day yesterday that we did some dyeing outside on the lawn so that we could lay the fabric out flat and paint it! This is a good way to get back ache as the acrylic sheets are raised off the ground on milk crates which are only about 18" high! I was OK as I put my sheet on top of the coal bin which was waist height and then put sheets on top of sheets. In spite of a few drops of rain and a not very warm breeze the pieces came out looking good with bright strong colours.

The pictures above are old ones but the fabrics are very similar to the ones we did yesterday. I have been experimenting with doing land and seascape pieces with a defined sky, sea and land area so that the fabric can be used as a background for a project.

This picture on the left is a piece I've shown before but it illustrates what I mean by landscape/seascape background fabrics. Having the major components of the picture in place - ie the sky, sea and sand - it was simple to place the sun and fence post and free machine in the details such as the wire, the bush and the sunlight on the water.

Tonight I have just 3 cushions to finish off having done the other 12! I'm really pleased with them and would like to keep a couple as I like the picture so much. I shall try and get some pictures up soon. The problem with writing this at work is that I have no art work with me! However if I wait until I get home then ten to one I won't write anything! And one of the good things about keeping a blog going is that it is such a good record as to where one has come from and when certain things got done!

Fabric, fabric and even more fabric

2011-03-08T14:31:00.001Z

With only just over two weeks to go before the Spring Quilt Show in Exeter I am drowning in fabric. We have been dyeing fabric every day now for the past month! I'm just hoping that I'll be able to get it all into the car! Graeme has become a very accomplished dyer in a short space of time which is just as well as I don't think I could have done all this on my own! I don't have any pictures at the moment but some of the pieces are to dye for! Compared to the dyeing of fabric, dyeing threads is a real pain. There is so much rinsing to be done and one is dealing with fiddly amounts as well. However the finished products are worth all the time and effort involved.

I am setting my website up so that we can take credit cards and hopefully I have today found a web designer who will be able to help me do this. To date we have used Pay Pal which is very good but isn't suitable for a hand held terminal which we will need at the show. So fingers crossed the website will become better and better!

And as if all that isn't enough tonight I am going to make 15 picture cushions! I feel tired already! lol

Time is flying by!

2011-02-20T21:03:00.000Z

I have spent the last two weeks dyeing threads. I had forgotten what a long winded process this is! Most of the threads come on skeins which have to be wound into smaller skeins before they can be dyed. When I am doing a multi-dye then I dye the whole of a large skein but when I want lots of colours then I need lots of smaller skeins. Each dyed skein then needs lots and lots of rinsing to make sure all the dye is out and then when dry needs to be twisted into a smaller skein and added to the relevant pack! But I have to say that the packs look really good and yummy! While I am doing all this Graeme has been dyeing the fabric and making a really good job of it! There are now only five weeks before the show so lots to be done!

I was really pleased with the advert in Patchwork and Quilting as we had a whole half page and it was beautifully set out. Now one just has to hope that the orders will come in!

We walked into town this afternoon to go to Trago's and buy a few bits and pieces. Amongst which a small guillotine to cut up paper. I have been cutting backing papers up with scissors but this is so much neater! On the way back we stopped at the Gylly Cafe for a latte and a brownie and to our amazement there were lots of young people in swimming! Not in wet suits but in normal bathing suits! Brrr! I shan't brave the water until April 1st!

Beautiful Felt

2011-01-18T16:33:00.003Z

My daughter gave me this beautiful piece of Nuno felt for Christmas. It is a small scarf and is really quite lovely. It is in some of my favourite colours and is so soft to wear. I have made felt but never anything this fine and soft. I would like to have a go at making some but at the moment I am busy dyeing fabric for our debut at the Exeter Quilt Show at the end of March.

I have had stands before at shows in the US and France but haven't ever tried selling at an exhibition in this country so it will be a first for me. Without Graeme encouraging me and giving me loads of support I don't think I would have taken the plunge but having done so I am quite looking forward to it!

My classes at Falmouth Rugby Club have been fantastic and the good Arthur who runs the bar and function room has fallen over backwards to make sure that everything is ideal for us. Lots of room and very light and airy! We are having fun doing a row by row quilt and it is as much a surprise for me as it is for the students as being ill with flu in the new year I didn't get it finished as hoped so I am only a step or two ahead of them. In fact it could almost be called a mystery row by row quilt!

My friend Yvonne and I went shopping today and I ended up buying a lot of fabric! This wasn't the intention but I have some great ideas as to what I can do with it! I just need some time!

A Fresh Page and another Year

2011-01-07T15:40:00.004Z

Already the first week of the New Year is nearly over. I have done nothing! Christmas was good and then I got the dreaded flu! What a waste! I was going to do so much over Christmas and the first few days of the New Year but instead I just sat around feeling sorry for myself, constantly sneezing and feeling as limp as last summer's lettuce!

Today was my first quilting class for this term and I had half a dozen students turn up. The others were down with ...flu! But it was a good class in our new venue at Falmouth Rugby Club. There was lots of space and it was light and warm. This term we are doing a row by row quilt which I had hoped to have finished over the Christmas break but hadn't due to the afore mentioned illness. However I had planned the quilt using EQ6 so was able to give everyone a handout which with what I had sewn at least gave them an idea of what they were letting themselves in for! In fact the first class went really well and we all had fun. I now have to finish the quilt and then I'll post some pictures.

There are ten weeks before our first venture into the world of exhibiting! Ten weeks in which to dye enough fabric; put together enough kits; have lots of good ideas and put them into practice and also to get more and more nervous as the end of March gets nearer and nearer! I'm sure we will manage. Well I hope so! Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

The above is a book that I have found most useful and I am going to re-read it and put it's words of wisdom into practise this year. I can thoroughly recommend it! It staves off procrastination. Something I am very guilty of!

I will also start dyeing threads and ribbons and not keep putting it off for yet another day!

A belated Happy New Year to all.

Time is running out!

2010-12-22T16:25:00.001Z

I have a new set of classes starting on 7th January and I need to have a quilt designed and finished by then. I have decided to do a row by row quilt as this is something we haven't done before and will enable me to use some quilt blocks that are new to me and will be useful teaching tools. So far I have designed what I think will be the finished quilt and have six blocks interspersed with plain bands,flying geese strips and one Broken Sash strip which uses diamonds. Most of the blocks are eight inches square but I've also included a sailing ship block which is twelve inches square. Now I have to print out templates and start sewing each row. Then put it all together and back and bind it. If I have time I'll add more than one border. The size at the moment is 78 x 64. I've sorted out the fabric I'll use and I have the idea of scanning it into EQ5 so that I can do some trial colourations. The only thing is that I have to remember how to do this as it is a long time since I've used this program. I've used it to design the quilt but that is as far as I've got. I do have EQ6 but for some reason it dislikes being on my computer and is forever crashing so I am sticking with EQ5 for the time being. I'm tempted by EQ7 but really don't use this program enough to warrant an upgrade.

On the Christmas front I am all prepared. Well I have a few presents still to wrap and I have to go food shopping tomorrow. Not something I'm looking forward to as it is sure to be crowded! I'm looking forward to a lovely quiet Christmas with time off from work to read and sew and generally refresh for the coming year.

Time is racing by!

2010-12-16T14:52:00.000Z

I have been busy making cushions using photo printed fabric. This elephant one is a present so I have been rushing to get it into the post! Why is it that no matter how much one measures the size for the cushion pad there is always a dearth of filling in the corners! The answer is obviously to make one's own pads. Feathers would be better but then they are so heavy to post!

I have just looked at the weather forecast and it seems that we are due to have heavy snow at midnight! However it doesn't say how long this heavy snow will fall for. A minute and it won't amount to much but an hour and we could be snowed in, especially as it is blowing a gale too! Everything is done except for getting the Christmas food. All parcels are posted and presents bought and/or made. In fact I am feeling surprisingly chipper about the whole thing! So tonight instead of feeling I have to make something I'll take the opportunity to tidy the workroom up and see the worktop again!

I even found time to make a new bag!

2010-12-12T20:27:00.000Z

I have finished the second cushion kit and put it onto the website. I have enjoyed doing these cushions and found once the applique shapes were cut out that they were very quick and easy to do!

The next cushions will done using printed

photos on fabric plus some toning hand-dyed cotton.

I then had time to make a new bag! I love bags and can't have too many of them. This one was so easy to do!

I used some wool for the outside and some hand-dyed cotton for the lining. The bag also has wadding to give it body. I am a sucker for pockets so inside there is a large patch pocket on one side and a small pocket for a mobile phone on the other. Outside there are two pockets on either side of the bag. I used grosgrain ribbon to edge the outside pockets and to strengthen the strap.

I wasn't happy with the finishing of the strap so added a mother of pearl button and then not content with one button I added several and some twisted cord! This gave the bag a very funky look. I finished off by adding snaps to the outside pockets so that they wouldn't gape. I also put a magnetic clasp in when I did the lining. All in all a very useful bag and so simple to do!

Little Boxes

2010-12-07T15:45:00.001Z

Now that I have a lovely new workroom to work in I have been making some little boxes for Christmas. I have done these before but thought that I'd make some more and share the method again as they are so useful for putting little things in and also I really enjoy making them! I hope you do too!

Start by cutting a square of fabric and adding bondaweb to it. Then place the fabric over some paper and bondaweb to the paper. Cut off waste. You should cut 1 x *1/4 plus 1 x *. The size is up to you but one of the squares must be 1/4inch bigger to make the lid. A 6 inch square makes a small 2" box.

Fold the corners in to the centre to make a marked square. Then fold up the corners to the first crease as shown above.

Cut up to the middle square on opposite sides of the fabric as shown above. Fold the uncut sides in once and then again. Do this on both sides.

Fold in the cut edges as shown below and then fold over the end flap. Press the crease well.

Repeat at opposite end.

Cut a square of fabric or card and push into the bottom of the box shape. Do this for both bottom and top. A dab of glue will hold them in place.

Now for the fun part. Decorate the top of the box with glitter glue and add beads, buttons, ribbon etc. Go to town!

I'm going into Truro tomorrow to buy some small gifties to put into them. I've seem some cute small chocolate Christmas puddings which will be just the thing for folk at work!

Another overhaul!

2010-12-06T15:31:00.002Z

I am absolutely exhausted as I've spent the weekend changing my workroom. I was using the smallest bedroom as a workroom but at 7ft by 6ft it was proving to be too small for all the work that is going on now. So we decided to swap rooms and turn the second bedroom which is 8ft by 11ft into the workroom and as we rarely have visitors make the smaller room the spare room! The picture on the left is of the workroom as it was showing worktop over Ikea cupboards complete with drawers!

Well the first problem was that the smaller room just wouldn't take the furniture that had been earmarked for it! If we had the bunk bed set up then the wardrobe door wouldn't open and there was no room for the small chest of drawers either. So we have ended up with an enormous Victorian wardrobe which is 5ft in length and reaches the ceiling plus a double bed which folds up as a sofa when not in use! That all took time and left me worn out! Graeme had dismantled all the shelving and then put it all up again in the new workroom. Half way through this we had to go and buy a drill and some drill bits as my ex had taken all the drills with him! Eventually the shelves were up. While all this was going on the majority of stuff was piled in our bedroom and it was touch and go whether we would actually be able to go to bed that night! I then had fun finding spaces for all the boxes, books, fabric etc. I was amazed at how much came out of the little room. It must have been like the Tardis! While I was frantically trying to find homes for everything Graeme was putting two Ikea cupboards together. I already have two cupboards from Ikea with transparent drawers and the six foot worktop sits on top of them. I have another worktop and I wanted to put this up as well, hence the extra cupboards. However since I first ordered from Ikea they had stopped sending the transparent drawers by carrier and these are only available in store so I am drawer-less! I am waiting for a friend's son to collect her drawers and collect mine at the same time. So for the time being fabric and stuff is just stuffed into the spaces! This does mean that I can't find anything easily and as is always the case remembering where things are is going to take time and effort! I have been pretty good at labelling boxes.

Well to cut a long story short everything was either found a home or junked! The new workroom is brilliant and I can't wait to get in there and do some work. I have a new worktop area 6ft x 4ft with ironing and cutting out facilities in place. I even treated myself to a new iron! My Bernina sewing machine is set up separately on my sewing table so I can sew regardless of what is going on on the worktop. And I have all my books available! Just writing about it is making me quite tired!

Lovely lot of space!

I am getting quite excited because I have a small article coming out in the next issue of Popular Patchwork re our new packs. Now I have somewhere to work I can really get to grips with things!

Looking back and moving on!

2010-11-19T15:10:00.000Z

I have been looking back to see what I was doing at this time in November five years ago. It was also fascinating to see what was inspiring me then. Such as this rusty anchor chain from which I designed and made this small wall hanging! I have it hanging on my living room wall still! And also I can still get inspired by this photo and have a few new ideas mulling round in my head.

I was also working on an apple wall hanging. I drew the apples and then played around with the arrangement in PhotoShop. The result was the piece below which is in the process of being stitched. I can remember having great fun doing this piece and getting quite carried away with it!

And five years on I am still making wall hangings based on natural objects and found materials. At the moment I am busy designing and making a set of cushions to go onto the website as kits. The first one is nearly finished and I will put up photos when it is done. I have a small piece coming out in next month's Popular Patchwork under the 'What's New?' section which is great! It is amazing to think that my website has been going for over ten years now! How time does fly! And because it is moving on I am going to do a draw for one of my Christmas Cut-Out Shapes pack. So email me valeri.b@farnedesigns.co.uk or leave a comment and I will enter your name into a draw and the winner will get a Christmas pack as shown here!

Working Hard

2010-11-03T15:31:00.001Z

I've been working hard at up-dating the website with new fabric and packs of Bondawebbed cut out shapes. I am so out of practice as for the last year I really haven't done much on the website at all. But it is all coming back to me thankfully!

Also I've been dyeing and having fun with disperse dyes. All the pieces on this page are for sale and can be found on the website. I have a class on disperse dyeing this Saturday and I am making samples and doing hand-outs for it.

And much as I'm fighting against it Christmas is rushing up and I have to think of presents to make! I'm also going to have a go at making my own cards this year. Due to circumstances I really didn't do much at all last year but this year I'll make up for it!

With all this textile activity the poor garden has taken a back seat. I really need to get out there and tidy up and prepare for the winter. There are still flowers such as nasturtiums and hydrangeas and everything is very green still. Lots of self sown Forget-me-nots which will make a splash of colour in the Spring!

Not a good start!

2010-11-02T15:06:00.000Z

Well not a good start in writing the blog!But I had to have a back tooth out and it was the most painful time! Not only were the roots splayed but also one of them broke off in the gum and is still there! But enough of that. I've been busy cutting out shapes and packaging them with the help of my partner Graeme. He is proving to be most invaluable! I've also made a few samples to go with the packs. Here is one of them using the Funky Flowers shapes. This is my favourite pack but I also like the hearts and Christmas ones too.

I now have to update the website with the pack details. So far I have done four sets;Christmas, Funky Flowers, Hearts and Circles. The shapes are all Bondawebbed and ready to go and remarkably quick to use. I took some into class and my students were delighted. One of them made a Christmas picture immediately!

This coming Saturday I have a Disperse Dyeing workshop so I have to get some samples ready for this. It is so easy to do! All I need is time!

Keeping Busy!

2010-10-15T13:42:00.000Z

I am having difficulty getting my head round the new editor in Blogger! My photos won't go where I want them to! I'm sure I'll get there in the end but apologies in advance for any anomalies!

Flower Photo-Print Hanging

This is the top of the hanging I'm making using photo-prints of flowers from the garden. I've added dyed fabric in a log cabin style and then used appliqued leaves over the top of the piece. These I have to stitch on (I've started on the top ones) and then back and bind the finished piece, attaching a hanging sleeve. I have been having great fun printing pictures onto fabric and am amassing quite a collection! There are lots of ideas buzzing around in my head for using them. Watch this space!

My friend has lent me her Accuquilt while she is away in Africa for three weeks. I can't wait to get started. She has a fantastic collection of dies for it with everything from basic shapes to trees, leaves and flowers! I am thinking of doing packs of various shapes and selling them on the website. If you have suggestions do let me know! This is an amazing machine and although it has been around in the US for a long time it is relatively new over here. And we are going to be offering a cutting service for anyone who just doesn't want to cut out hundreds of diamonds, squares, rectangles etc. I am certainly going to be busy!

Also many thanks to everyone who has written to me or commented on the blog. I have been touched at your warmth and the simple fact that I am remembered! Having been out of touch for quite a while I duly expected to have been forgotten! Now I must get to grips with bringing the web-site up to date and organising a Pay-Pal facility again. The fact that I work every afternoon doesn't leave a lot of time but I'm getting Graeme involved so in time a lot should be accomplished. Now if only I could get him to use the sewing machine!

Some more pictures!

2010-10-11T14:12:00.012Z

I've been busy sorting out pictures for printing onto fabric as I'm doing memory and photo quilts with my students. I took loads of photos while I was recently in Scotland so here are few that I think are interesting!

It rained heavily while we were there and the burns were in full flow. What a few days previously had been rock strewn rivulets overnight became torrents of foaming water!

I came across this ruined croft while wandering in the hills and took a scenic view of the loch through the ruined window. What a glorious view to wake up to!

This is a close up of the view above.

I found these stones and their reflections in the water totally fascinating!

And then to my delight this enormous dragonfly landed on one of the stones!

Loch Rannoch where we were staying. And the photo below is of the view from our bedroom window with the early morning mist curling over the Loch.

And last but not least a lovely tree showing three colours of leaves. The green of summer plus the yellows and reds of autumn.

I am full of ideas as to how to use these pictures in pieces of work and just need to get organised. Easier said than done! And I need to dye a collection of autumnal colours!

The Phoenix rises from the Ashes!

2010-10-07T15:03:00.008Z

Well I am back from the dead; alive and well! The last year has been a painful one full of ups and downs but now there are more ups. I am fully divorced and have a new partner living with me. Life has become fun again and I'm working on building up my crumbling textile business. It is sad that when one is deeply unhappy one tends to let important things slide but that's the way it was! On the plus side I lost loads of weight and am half the woman I was! My partner is a Scot so I have been spending a lot of my time in Scotland since the New Year. I can almost do the drive to Edinburgh in my sleep! But he loves being in Cornwall as it is so much warmer. We are still sitting on the patio to have our morning coffee! A couple of weeks ago we were staying at his time share in Rannoch and I was able to get loads of pictures for future textile use. I was lucky enough to see an Osprey, a hare and a herd of deer! I didn't catch a fish but I hooked and lost two small brownies! Who would have thought that I would become an avid fisherwoman! It is such a peaceful past-time and I really love making the flies. So creative!

I have classes starting tomorrow and I've been planning lots of exciting things for my students to do including printing on fabric and making photo picture quilts and hangings. Plus I've had a mammoth dyeing session and dyed up metres of fabric in yummy colours and patterns. I'm writing this at work so I'm going to have to add in more pictures when I get home! I treated myself to a new all in one printer. It is an HP F4500 and it's great. When printing on fabric I haven't had any problems or snarl ups.

A few of the dyed pieces. Two by half metre and one of a metre. It was a red day!

My next project is to update my website and bring it into the 21st century! I am going to start selling kits as well as my fabric and the site needs to be more user friendly. Plus I am going to have to get my head around inserting PayPal facilities again so I can sell abroad as well as in the UK. So I have plenty to do this coming winter. Onwards and upwards!

Fabric Painting

2009-09-10T18:30:00.009Z

Well I finally found time to try out my new fabric paints that I got from Laura at the Festival of Quilts. For a link to Laura's site see my last post.
They were really easy to use and I had great fun. I didn't do a lot as time was limited but what I did do I'm really pleased with. Especially the fact that when the paints dried the fabric was as soft and easy to handle as if I'd dyed it. In the past when using fabric paints the fabric has always been a tad stiff after painting.
The reverse technique is brilliant and gives an effect very similar to Batik. At the same time as one is printing that one also prints the plain fabric in the normal fashion so that one ends up with two pieces for the price of one! I am so impressed that I can see I will be doing lots more. I have a coffee morning tomorrow with some of my students so I will see what they think of the results.

The two pieces above are of the reverse printing. Below is a larger view. Click on the pictures to see a larger version.

This piece below is the print from the reverse printed piece,with a close up view next to it.

and the piece below that is the print from the leaf reverse print piece, with a close up next to it.

I can't wait to do more. I love the way the colours mix together.

Festival of Quilts

2009-08-26T19:27:00.008Z

I had a great time at the Festival of Quilts and will surely go again next year and spend two days there instead of one! I didn't buy an awful lot but I was very pleased with what I did buy. I spent most of my money buying fabric paint from Laura who can be found here.I am really looking forward to doing some of this as soon as possible! She had some lovely stamps and printed fabrics on her stand. It was hard not to buy up everything in sight. But I restrained myself and just bought a kit to start with plus a lovely wavy stamp.I also bought a few books. Only three which is very restrained for me but they will be very motivational and inspiring especially the stencilling one which has a lot of African images.

I treated myself to some lovely beads and a collar to hang them on. They came from Totally Beads and there was a fantastic choice. I bought lots of felt for burning and painting and doing all sorts of interesting things with it. Again I want to get started! Plus a really useful gadget for holding down rulers while cutting fabric. Initially meant for pulling dents out of cars it is now a fantastic quilting accessory. I shan't let my husband see it!

I didn't buy very much fabric but I loved this picture strips with gardening images. And I had to buy the strip with the robins as it will make wonderful cards at Christmas.
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Below are some of the quilts I saw and liked. Those which inspired me. There were lots of those but I have only shown a few for now as it is taking an age to upload them. More another day!

Another bag!

2009-07-08T16:56:00.008Z

I saw the pattern for this bag in one of the patchwork magazines and decided to try it out. I don't think I'll make it again! It is an octagonal bag and will be useful for my crochet but not really the sort of bag I want to use as a bag!

I 've got my pictures all wrong but the one above is of the shell beads which I attached to the flaps. There were four of them in all.

This is the top. The tie goes through the loops and then pulls the bag closed.

This is the bottom of the bag.

And another picture of the bag with the flaps showing in more detail. I also put shell beads around the top. It was an interesting concept but the instructions were bizarre. As they usually are I find. It didn't take long to make. As you can see from the picture below when laid out it looks a bit like a dead jellyfish!

Ribbon work bag

2009-06-19T18:51:00.005Z

I have been doing some ribbon weaving for the next class and I wanted to make into something rather than just leave it as a sample. A cushion didn't appeal so I decided to make a tote bag which I'm not sure that I like now I've made it. I sewed strips in a log cabin fashion around it to make it up to size and then used a piece of batik that I had to make the back, sides and top. I have no problems with the lining, that worked very well! Perhaps it's the blues which don't work together? Or just that the ribbon woven centre doesn't really go? Whatever it is I'm not sure about it. I am wondering whether I'll dye the whole thing navy and see how it comes out. At least it will make the fabrics all blend together. I put a tab on it for closing the top but haven't yet sewn a button on. Click on the picture to enlarge. It wasn't easy to get a good picture either as it was so floppy! Anyway it will always be useful for storing my library books!

At Last Something to Show!

2009-06-11T17:36:00.004Z

Click on the picture to enlarge!
The top row in the picture above shows the quilt. I did a simple 9-patch and meander quilted the plain squares. I used my embroidery attachment on the Bernina to add a label on the back and to embroider the baby's name on the front. I hope it will be liked!
The other pictures are of some ribbon weaving that I have done and will be doing in class. The little bag is lined with purple satin and quilted to pick up the pattern of the weaving. The middle piece is to make a notebook cover and the last picture is of a pillow case. I put gathered lace round the edge. This in a smaller edition could be used as a ring pillow. Anyway I am enjoying doing the weaving and as I have lots of ribbon to use up it is a worthwhile occupation! I like mixing ribbon weaving with fabric as I did in the pillow and one can have great fun making patterns.

Garden Inspired Dyeing

2009-06-07T18:57:00.004Z

Thank you Sue and Shirley for your comments. I have to admit Shirley that it does take up my time! But I have been doing some more much needed dyeing!

And with my addiction to gardening showing no signs of abating I decided to do some dyeing using colours inspired by my garden. I have put a collage of some of them above. The top left above is inspired by my flower beds and flower filled pots. The top right is also of the flower beds but with the green of the overhanging trees and the sky peeking through. Bottom left is the messy area in my garden with twigs and weeds and leaves. And the last one is hydrangea and rhodendron overhanging the bird bath. You have to have a lot of imagination but these are the things I was thinking of as I was dyeing. It was fun and I was pleased with the results!
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I have finished the baby quilt but can't post pictures until it has been received by it's new owner. So in a day or two!

Sidetracked!

2009-06-01T14:00:00.002Z

I have been sidetracked this week. While looking at other people's gardening blogs I found this site to join. It's called Blotanical and it is possible to view garden blogs from around the world and interact with them making loads of gardening friends and getting help and advice should you need it. It has been so inspiring that I've been mesmerised by it and hours can go by while I surf with the result that nothing is being done.

I can say however that I have sewn the cot quilt together and bought some Warm and Natural wadding this morning so will be able to put it all together and quilt it. I am not sure how I'm going to quilt it yet. I'm hoping that I'll be inspired when it is layered up. Also I have some ideas in the pipeline for my next project so more of that later unless the garden steals me away again! It's the fault of the weather. It has been so warm and sunny and starting with breakfast in the garden and then gentle pottering I've not felt at all like incarcerating myself inside! They say its going to rain soon! Good in as much as I won't have to water pots and plants and I'll be able to sew and bad in as much as the sun is so envigorating!

Quilting Samplers

2009-05-28T19:19:00.004Z

The cot quilt has had to take a back seat as I needed to do some samplers for the quilting class tomorrow. We are going to do freehand feathers which I love doing.

And also I've made some squared samplers of different types of stitching so that one doesn't have to always use stipple quilting or meandering.Not that those stitches arn't useful at times and can be very effective.

I shall finish off the quilt this weekend. I hope it all goes according to plan.

A New Addition to our Family!

2009-05-27T19:11:00.003Z

Our great niece Camilla Evangeline with her doting Dad! Babies are so cute. I'm always surprised by how tiny they are! And we've also learnt today that my daughter is expecting another child next January. A brother or sister for Fenella and Fred.
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No pictures of the quilt yet as it is all in pieces but I shall make a great effort to get on with it! I want to embroider a name and date label too on my machine. I'm going to be busy!

Cot Quilt

2009-05-26T20:09:00.002Z

I've been busy today sorting fabrics and cutting them out to make a cot quilt for my new great-niece. I'll post some pictures tomorrow but at the moment it is just in pieces. It is amazing how long it can take to sort fabrics, choose colours and then cut out the pieces. I'm doing a 9-patch with a mix of colours, especially moss green, yellow and oatmeal. These are the colours I've been told are wanted! I have cheated a bit and added in a smidgin of pink! Well she is a girl! But I have to say how much easier it is to work in my new room now I have more space and everything is to hand. So far I have found everything at the first go! This has to be a first. Usually after a clear out I'm lost as to the new places I've put things. I'm just loving it all!

Inspiration

2009-05-25T19:06:00.005Z

We drove down to the Lizard today; a round trip of about fifty miles. It was raining when we left home but the weather was infinitely better when we arrived with even some sun. I was able to take loads of photos. I was impressed with how many flowers were blooming on the cliffs and the colour of the flowers contrasting with the rocks was fantastic. The rocks here are serpentine which is a blacky grey stone which polishes up beautifully. There are lots of shops there selling hand crafted things made from serpentine.

I loved these grasses on top of a stone wall and thought they would be good inspiration for a textile piece in the future. As will the picture below. I wanted to get a photo of the lovely golden brown and yellow butterflies which were flitting about but they were too quick for me. Instead I got several pictures of the stone wall and the wild mustard.This one in particular I thought might come in useful some time as inspiration.

Dyeing Results

2009-05-24T15:41:00.007Z

This was how the piece I photographed yesterday turned out. It will make a good background for a piece involving tree trunks and foliage.

I called this piece Crazy Frogs because it looked just like frogs leaping about when it was still wet. I has dried lighter but still has the leaping effect.

I love this piece. It was a using up the dyes that were left piece. Probably it will look better when enlarged but the colours are subtle and morning misty. The photos below are of some of the stripey batch. I love the way the stripes bleed outwards into the second colour. Now I have to go and make a cot quilt as I've just become a great-aunt. My niece-in-law has just produced a little girl - Camilla Evangeline!

Having a Dyeing Day

2009-05-23T18:14:00.006Z

I'm very low on fabric so I am having a dyeing day. These are dyes mixed up in pots and some of the fabric rolled and folded in the pots on the back row. At this stage I was half way through. The rest of the fabric was being batched in trays. I did about 33 fat quarters altogether. Not a lot but it is surprising how long it takes when each piece is individually folded and dyed. Especially those where several colours are used. Also fat quarters sell like hot cakes. Funnily enough it isn't the same when I dye yardage and then cut it into FQ's. It is always exciting when it comes to rinse out time to see what I've got. Now I'm just waiting for them to wash out in the washing machine. I do a quick rinse under the tap in tepid water and then a long wash at 60 degrees with extra rinses in the washing machine. I've never had a fabric bleed on me yet...... They get ironed damp on a white cloth so I can test for colour fastness.The one below will be a layered piece with mottled blue for sky, stripey mottled green for grass and mottled brown for earth. I like these layered fabrics as they can be used for a multitude of techniques including appliqué. It will be interesting to see it washed out. All my dyeing is done at the sink in the kitchen. I have been working like this for nearly 40 years. It would be lovely to have a specific dyeing room. I live in hope!

Bag Two!

2009-05-22T17:57:00.005Z

Bag 2 is finished! I really like it and won't need to make another bag for at least 6 months! I wasn't happy with the first one and realise now that using Pelmet Vilene to stiffen the sides was a big mistake as it made the bag unwieldy. And I don't like flaps. They may be good for security reasons but for actual shopping where one is getting one's purse in and out of the bag several times it is just inconvenient. This one with a zip is much better. And I've put in extra pockets!

As well as pockets on both sides of the lining I've also added pockets on both gussets. And there are pockets on both the front and back outside plus pockets on the outside of the gussets. Two of the inside pockets are zipped for security. And this time I got the measurements of the outside pockets right and they take A4 size documents! All in all I am well pleased though the rings for the handle are a bit heavy but I had great difficulty finding them and it was only when Martin went to the chandlers that we had any success. The ones on the last bag I cannibalised from the bag that broke. I don't think I could make bags for a living! I enjoyed doing the bobbin work in heavy thread for some of the front pocket decorations.

Just had a birthday for my blog!

2009-05-20T19:15:00.006Z

Just over four years ago I started this blog. I have lost the first ten days as I changed my template not realising that I would lose all the content. It was interesting to go back to the first posts this time four years ago. I was into experimental work on felt. The felt in the picture below is some I made myself. I still like making felt and I'm also into embellishing with hand needles. I haven't yet been able to convince myself that I need an embellisher!

I was also into making bags. This crazy patchwork scrip bag has been around the world with me and now been honourably retired so that the embroidery doesn't get hurt! I had great fun making it. I particularly loved using broken shells in my embroideries. Inserted in this one is a small embroidered fish.

And I was also moving my workroom around! Doesn't it look better now! I obviously didn't have as much stuff in those days as it looks quite bare. I actually managed to have both my sewing machines set up at the same time. But then again I had no cutting area. So where did I cut out?

So all in all there is nothing new under the sun it just gets better. And yes Sue I am delighted that my sewing room is now functional and a joy to use. I am making another bag.This time with a zip fastening! Well why not!