Dyeing Results

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

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!

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!

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!

Thoughts on Blogging

Apropros to my comments about a lack of comments it was interesting to see that my subscribers on the Blog Roll went overnight from 26 to 8! I then decided to look through the many blogs I subscribe to -- 126 -- and found that out of that number over half were defunct! What has happened to Handmaiden and Suckers Anonymous to name but two? Of the rest some of them were no longer of interest and I have ended up with 46 which will be much more manageable and I will probably be able to keep up with reading them all and I shall make a new resolution to comment where I can. People like comments. It makes them feel that a) they have something to say that is of interest to someone else and b) that they aren't alone in the world! I shall continue with the blog for my own edification in the future when not only do I want to find lost photos but also I want to know when and possibly how I made things and why I made them. It has been interesting while looking for my lost photos to see how my dyeing style has subtly changed over the years. I think it is much better now but that is as maybe! Anyway I shall persevere and continue to put my thoughts down. I was going to say on paper but it isn't paper so what is it?

Festival of Quilts

Thank you Goosey and Jeannie for your messages of support and interest. It is good to know you are out there!
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This year I thought I'd go with friends to the Festival of Quilts at the NEC in Birmingham. Most years I go to the Allie Pallie (Alexandra Palace) in London for the show there but I thought it would be good to have a change. Now this show isn't until the end of August but when I tried booking rooms at the hotels recommended on the F of Q site I found that they were all fully booked. So is this show popular or what! I was able eventually to book rooms at a hotel on site that wasn't going to cost us an arm and a leg. I want to be spending my money on more things for my stash not on room and board! I am really looking forward to it and it will be a mini holiday. We are going to travel up on the Thursday and go to the show on Friday returning home on Saturday. I'm relieved that we've got rooms and that we didn't leave it any later or we might not have been able to go! That would have been a disaster. Now I just have to book the train tickets!

The Reason Why!

I had been wondering why I kept a blog as it seemed to be of interest only to me. At least that is the impression that one gets with no comments to say otherwise! But now I really do know why I keep a blog. It is to save me from myself. For sometime I had been meaning to organise all my photos and put them onto one 16gb memory stick. But when I came to do this I found that several folders of photographs were missing and not to be found anywhere. I searched all my back-up CD's and both my computer, my laptop and my external hard-drive but to no avail. Then I remembered that sometime in late '06 or early '07 Martin formatted my computer for me and although I had thought I'd backed up everything obviously I hadn't. And to make matters worse one of the hard-drives decided not to work again and so although clever Martin was able to rescue the stuff on it there was every possibility that some things slipped through the net. I was gutted to say the least as some of the pictures were important to me. I now call this drive Phoenix as it rose from the ashes!Then I had a brain wave! I would look on my blog going back into the archives and see if any of the photos were ones that I'd put on the blog. And yes they were! Lots of them! I was able to save them into a folder and then put them onto the memory disk so that I could find them in the future. So that is why I write a blog so that I can go back in time occasionally and find that which is lost! Pictures like the tree below (taken at Lanhydrock)which will provide loads of inspiration for some bobbin work.

Thoughts!

'Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child). Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty of casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day.'
I don't know where I found this piece of wisdom as I've had a copy of it for a long time. I'd like to give credit where credit is due. I was thinking about this in relation to my new bag and my indecision as to whether I liked it or not. Thinking about these words of wisdom I realised that it didn't matter if I liked it what was important was that I'd had fun making it and learnt several very useful lessons along the way. Sometimes we lose track of where we are going and get sidetracked and forget the point in the fog of uncertainty. The point in making my bag was to see if the design worked - and it did - so the exercise was successful even if the outcome wasn't exactly as I had visualised it.But if I had achieved the image I had in mind then I wouldn't have learnt the lessons I did and I wouldn't have added ideas to my repertoire. Process is more important than outcome as then we grow and we know that we are growing by the extent of the work we produce. If we only ever allow the outcome to be the driving force then we will only ever go where we have been before.

Pictures!

The bag front which I put together using samples that I'd done on my embroidery machine. I thought this would be a good use for them. If I'd taken more thought I'd have worked out the sashing more exactly so that I didn't have to start and stop. But hey, it's a learning curve. I meant to have green on the right side edge and not pink. The pink should have gone at the top. More haste, less speed.


This picture shows the bag handle and pocket on the side where I've put my umbrella. Very useful! The handle has an inner growgrain ribbon for extra strength. And the picture below shows the inside full of my clutter. Absolutely essential for life! There are three pockets on the back and a zipped pocket on the inside front. Also on the back outside is a large pocket which I had hoped would be A4 size but actually it is a tad smaller which is a bummer. More care needed in the planning stages. You can just see papers sticking up out of it in the top picture. Definitely had my amateur head on! The lining is one of my hand-dyed poplins.It was fun to do and I learnt a lot which is always good!

Good or Excellent!

'We are what we think we are.' Amazing words that I found on Melody Johnson's blog Fibermania. I was so impressed with what she had to say about Professional as opposed to Amateur creative heads and the results that one would get depending on which head was on at the time. Go read it for yourself - Wednesday 13th's post. What she says is so true and I know this for a fact. When I make things for myself I am never as on the ball as when I make things for class samples or for sale or commission. Then everything is just perfect but for me I can be a tad lazy being more concerned with finishing than with the finish. None so true a word as to the bag I've just made for me. It's very nice (isn't nice an awful word?) but I'm not sure I like it. It's very big! I suppose this is because it was a prototype and I was trying out ideas and therefore not as fussy as I could have been. It's not sloppily made but just a tad off. I needed a list! Actually I had a list and it would have been better if I'd followed it! I found I forgot several stages that then had to be rectified and added in and I went for a stiffened bag which on reflection needed more thought that it got. And do I really like stiffened bags? Probably not! What this bag has got going for it is loads of pockets. I love lots of pockets in a bag. This one has inside pockets and outside pockets and even one for my umbrella! I will post pictures tonight as I'm at work now so no pictures to hand.

Working in the new room!

To celebrate having my room finished I decided to make myself a new handbag. This was partly influenced by the fact that the bag I was using decided to break at the weekend. The strap, which I had already mended once, broke again beyond repair. So I have designed myself a really useful bag with lots of pockets and space for all the hundred and one things I can't live without! It is no wonder that the strap broke as my bag weighs a ton! So far I have cut out the bag and lining pieces and attached the pockets; one with a zip fastening. I have also decided on the design for the bag flap and have started to put that together. Then I had to leave it all to go and have lunch and go to work!
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It was a joy working in the 'new' room as everything was to hand and there was so much space. I shall post pictures later.

Ta Da!

At last my workroom is finished and I can back to doing some creative work. It has been an experience! I have found things that I'd forgotten I had; things I thought I'd lost; things that I'd searched high and low for; and things that I no longer have any need for! I have to admit that towards the end when I was sorting fabric I just threw it all in the drawers without any sorting so that will be a job for the future. I was pleasantly surprised to see just how much fabric one of those drawers would hold. Of course this isn't all of my fabric just a selection. I also have a cabinet in the spare room with more fabric, several tubs of fabric and I am dyeing more fabric more or less each weekend so I won't go short. The goody bags I made up went like hot cakes. I think I only have three left and one of those is spoken for. The pictures above show the room from all angles. (Go back to April 29th to see how it was before).It is so small that it is hard to get good views so there are duplications but the general idea is there. I'm thrilled to bits with the units and if I had anywhere to put them I'd get more! For anyone thinking of doing a similar exercise I can't stress to much the importance of drawing out a plan first with accurate measurements. This saved me so much grief and anguish of things not fitting or being in the wrong place. The ideal thing would be to plan a completely empty room and not have to work round things already in situ such as shelves but then in an ideal world lots of things would be easier! I'm now off to enjoy it!

Worse before it gets better!

Well the units are in, complete with drawers but oh, what a mess! I have far too much stuff! Already the drawers are full and labelled. I have tidied up the shelves above and made more room there by amalgamating half full boxes. Everything is being labelled so that I know where things are, as what usually happens is that I remember where something used to live but not where it is now! The units are wonderful and I have space between them to put large cutting boards and rotary squares etc. There is also a gap behind them where I can put frames and flat things that I don't use that often but like to have handy. But what to do with the excess stuff? Some of it will go in the attic. And some of it I have divided up into baggies which I will sell. I have a coffee morning tomorrow so I might offer them up then and see if I have any takers. I have put a book in each bag along with fabric, both silk and cotton, plus threads, beads, ribbons and oddments. Good value for £8 I think!
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It was annoying that the units were damaged slightly when they arrived. I have put the damaged bit at the back but the crack in one of the box fronts shows! I have complained but I didn't want to send it all back. So I've sent photos and I should get compensation. I hope! Not the same as getting perfect items!

At Last!

My Ikea stuff came today! Hurrah! Unfortunately I wasn't feeling too good and although Martin put them together for me and placed them in the workroom I just didn't feel up to doing anything with them. Such a disappointment. But never mind, I'm sure tomorrow will be a better day and I'll have fun sorting everything out! They do look lovely!

Just waiting!

The room looks so bare now that most of the stuff from above and below the workbench is scattered round the rest of the upstairs rooms. Especially the spare bedroom which is almost impossible to move in! I had a mammoth clean up and Martin mended the bottom of the small cabinet and put an extension bank of plugs on the wall for me. For a long time I have felt that it would be useful to have the plugs at work table height rather than on the floor. I shan't be able to do anything tomorrow as in the morning I am helping a friend with a piece of machine embroidery and in the evening I shall be struggling round the supermarket shopping! I did a practice run on my embroidery machine as it hasn't been used since before Christmas. Fortunately I remembered where I had put everything in the big move! Roll on Wednesday!

Plans

Well there isn't a lot I can do now until the units arrive on Wednesday, so I have been drawing out plans as to where everything will go. I love making lists and plans as they are so very satisfying! The room is actually a little bigger than I thought it was but not a lot! It is still pretty cramped. The scale on the plan above is 1" to 1'.

What a Mess!

I got Martin to help me take the tallboy down to my mother's garage where it will stay until we get rid of it. The immediate improvement was gratifying. Then I dismantled the work top and moved the small two drawer chest next to my sewing machine table. This has given me more space when I am sewing and I don't feel so hemmed in.


I will keep the small cabinet which held up the other end of the workbench as it is a very nice Victorian bedside cabinet and goes with my Victorian wardrobe and dressing table. The rack of drawers (white) which was under the workbench has fitted quite nicely onto the small chest of drawers. It can just be seen behind the rack that holds my rotary cutting rulers and squares.


Everywhere is a mess with things piled high on the floor and on the landing. I won't be able to do very much more now until the units arrive. Mainly because I need to pile everything that is left onto the bed to give me some floor space to put the units together and if I do this now I won't be able to go to bed until Wednesday!

The workbench is leaning up against the bookcase and makes going in and out a bit of a struggle! But this is nothing compared to what is already piled up elsewhere!

Hidden treasures!

One of the things that I find when I am having a major tidy up and clear out in my workroom is that I discover things I had forgotten I had! I am hoping that with my new storage system that I will be able to see things more clearly and also have a better idea of what I've got and where it is. The downside of these new discoveries is that they haven't been allotted a space in the new plan. Where are they to go without throwing all the carefully calculated plans adrift! For example in amongst the laces which I sorted today, and I'm pleased to say there was less than I thought, I found lots of Angelina and special water soluble such as the thicker versions for making sculptures. Why they should be with the laces I don't know! And I'm ashamed to say that I bought this thicker water soluble at a show a couple of years ago and haven't even used it! How bad is that!

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I am very glad I decided to go with one set of double drawers because things like templates don't need depth. Also they run the risk of being damaged if in a deep drawer.

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Another thing is that I'm running out of space to put things so that I can remove the tallboy from the workroom. I have to remember that I'm going to need to go to bed at night! But a lot has to come out before it can go back in! I expect this weekend I will be able to organise it all a bit more efficiently so that come Wednesday and the delivery of the unit I shall be all ready to go! Roll on Wednesday!

Storage

Just a few of the many ribbons that needed sorting and organising in boxes. The machine embroidery threads below have been colour sorted into the plastic inserts from the cardboard boxes. Sadly the boxes are just that too big for the transparent drawers that go in the Expedit shelving units but the plastic boxes are just right! I have lots of these so I can organise the ribbons to my heart's content.


And I've worked out that they will stack seven high! Here I have threads in the plastic inserts stacked three high. I shall label each one so that I can see at a glance what is in each one. These inserts are brilliant being quite firm and solid. I got the boxes complete with inserts from the Scrap Store originally and they have been a boon. They came from China but I don't know what they had in them as I don't read Chinese!

Ribbons

Today I started to sort out all the ribbons I have. The intention is to have one 33x37x33cm drawer for all my ribbons. I am fond of making jokes! I didn't realise just how much ribbon I have. When stuff is all over the place gathering it together into one spot is enlightening to say the least! So many reels with 25yards(bought in the US) or more on them. I will never use all that! So I rewound them and gave the spools to a friend and halved all the quantities. The spools alone would take up half a drawer! One half for me and one to make up into the goody bags I'm going to do. I have wired ribbon both plain and ombre shaded;satin ribbon; velvet ribbon; silk ribbon and grosgrain ribbon just to mention a few. And all of these come in several widths from teeny tiny to ginormous!I will arrange it by colour and size! This way I will see what I have and may even use it! So anything that won't fit into the drawer will be out! I have made a list of all the kinds of supplies I have and I am slowly going to be working through it so that when the drawers arrive next week I am ready to go! Tomorrow I will look at the lace I have! Again, a drawer's worth is all I want to keep!

Sewing Room

Click on picture to enlarge!
Pictures of my sewing room as it is at present. The top left and top middle pictures are the view through the open door. The door has hanging on it the wonderful 'Keep Out' crazy quilt notice that my friend Martha Green made for me when we were teaching together somewhere. I love it! The top right is of the back of the door. No space is wasted! Middle and bottom left are of my sewing machine and the boxes piled high on the shelves at the back of the table. Middle middle is of the bookcase beside the door and middle right is of the window and my chair. Bottom middle is underneath my workbench and bottom right is the workbench with the shelves above it. The basic plan is a U shape or actually more of a galley at the moment as I have moved the trolley that used to be under the window.It is definitely time for a change. I shall get rid of the tallboy that restricts one's entrance and the bedside table/cupboard that holds up one end of the workbench but keep the small two drawer chest that holds up the other end. It will go where the tall boy is now. I shall miss the tall boy as it has three shelves and two long drawers. But then I am going to be moving stuff on! Keep reminding me of this!

This and That!

Yes Sue, I know what you mean. I too could do with a larger house. Or at least a larger workroom. My workroom is barely 7ft by 7ft and with all the stuff I've got crammed in there it is amazing that I get anything done at all. But all that is going to change. My friend Yvonne has had a make over of her workroom which was the dining room in her house and I was so impressed with the units she got from Ikea that I immediately went home and thought of new arrangements for THE room! I have ordered two shelf units(Expedit range) which will give me 8 spaces and into seven of these spaces will go a transparent box and in the eighth one a two drawer insert. This overall unit will then have my work bench which is 6ft by 2ft 6inches on top. The amount of storage compared with what I have now will be massive! The fly in the ointment is that I can't have it until next Wednesday due to the Bank Holiday on Monday. The waiting is killing me! I want to be doing! I shall take some pictures of the before and then eventually of the after. I'm hoping at the same time to clear some of my stash. It has been suggested by one of my students that I make up bags of assorted bits and sell them in class. I may just do that as I have more ribbons, beads, threads, lace and fabric than I can use in a life time, and I'm sure there will be other surplus to requirements things as well, as now that I'm not teaching City and Guilds embroidery, patchwork and dressmaking, I don't need half as much stuff. I am now going to make lists! I love lists. They are such fun! More later!

New Door

We now have a lovely new door and I am very pleased with it. Martin made a new plaque for the number and altogether I think it all looks very smart. A great improvement on the old door as there are no droughts!
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I have a class tomorrow. The first one after Easter. There will be eight or nine students which is a good number. We are going to meet once a month and then have coffee mornings on the second Friday in each month. I think this will work well for the summer months when classes are competing with holidays and gardening. Tomorrow we are going to be doing a session on machine quilting using free machine techniques. This is really a most important part of the quilt making process but so often is the least important part because of the rush to get the quilt finished. And yet so often the quilting can add just that final touch that brings everything together. I was amazed at how many different ways I was able to quilt using a squared grid to form a sampler. Ideas just kept coming. Should be a fun class!

Too busy doing other things!!

I have been so busy with the garden that I haven't had time to sew or do crafty things. But all that will change as the garden is now manageable and won't take so much effort and also I'm getting withdrawal symptoms from not doing anything crafty. I did have a mammoth dyeing session at the weekend and produced a good pile of fabric to sell. It is always difficult not to pull out half a dozen pieces or so that I really, really love. But I have been strong. I have a drawer full of Liberty lawn fabrics which I must either use or sell/give away/or lose! I might be tempted to make bundles with a selection in each and see if there is a market for them.
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Tomorrow they are coming to fit my new door and it will be chaos but after that I shall sort the fabric out and see what I can do. I'm quite excited about the new door as the old one is terrible. Very hard to close without slamming it! And it's going to be another lovely sunny day! Pictures of the door tomorrow!

New finds of old stuff!

I was searching in my cupboards for some samples and came across these two items. The first one above is of a red velvet bag I made with silk ribbon embroidery. The one below is of ribbon flowers made with wired ribbons on a quilted velvet strip which has been washed so that the backing shrunk and pulled up the velvet. Very easy to do and very effective. These two pieces have reminded me as to why my cupboards and shelves are overflowing! It is because I dabble with too many things rather than just concentrating on one or two! I am going to have to really think about what I do, why I do it and how much of it I'm going to being doing in the future. Like for example the silk ribbon embroidery. I do very little of this now, mainly through lack of time, and have run down my stocks of ribbons. But I still hang on to all the equipment needed for these and several other creative techniques. I used to make lots of hand-made paper but haven't done that for a while but still all the stuff is there. I find it hard to move on! But I will try and make a plan! I enjoy making plans and perhaps this time I will actually act on it. Watch this space!

Easter Treat!

As it is Easter this coming weekend I made a Simnel Cake. I haven't made one for years so it is a bit of a treat. For those who don't know Simnel Cake is an Easter speciality. It is a rich fruit cake with a layer of marzipan in the centre of the cake and then a layer of marzipan on top. Traditionally it has 11 small balls of marzipan on the top also and the centre of the marzipan is covered with yellow glace icing. However I decided to put small chocolate eggs on the top. I made two loaf tin shapes instead of one big round one and took one to work this afternoon where it was soon devoured and pronounced good! We will have the other one for Easter Sunday tea!
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I am delighted to hear that my stick insect is possibly a Praying Mantis and fond of aphids! Anything that feasts on aphids is welcome in my garden. So thank you to Anonymous from Memphis for that comment. Much welcomed!

Stick Insects

Some time ago I mentioned that I had found a stick insect in the garden and one in the house! Today I decided to pull compost out of the compost bin to mulch the garden and there on the top of it on the lid was a baby stick insect. I think I had shakent the Weigilia which is next to it and the poor little thing dropped off. So I put him back and hope he manages OK. He had gone when I next went out to look. Do I perhaps have a colony of stick insects in my garden? Are they breeding like mad! It is Spring! I know next to nothing about them and I'm curious! Do they fly? I always thought they were a foreign creature. Obviously they like the garden!

Moving one of my blogs!

I have moved my blog 'My small Cornish Garden' to Blogspot as I just couldn't get on with Wordpress. I know some people love it but it just wasn't for me. I have told myself that I will write more consistently so that next year I have a record of what I have done and what the weather was like!

Handmade books

I have been spending my time making handmade books. The picture above shows a selection. I am in the process of making larger books (A3 size) but haven't finished them yet.

This one is covered in handmade paper. All the paper I bought from Paper Chase in London. This is one of my favourite shops and one could spend a fortune there as there is such a variety of paper which makes it difficult to choose. I have some handmade paper that I made myself but the only problem is that the biggest piece is only A4 size. The binding cord is coloured string.

This is the inside of the book showing the endpaper and flyleaf. The flyleaf paper is very pretty with inserted rose petals and ferns.

This little book is so easy to make being just two covers held together with suede and a post-it block inside which you can see below. Great idea for small gifts!

I love these miniature books. They could be hung on a chain and attached to one's bag or key chain. Very handy for making notes of measurements etc. They are approximately 2x3 inches.

I am having such fun doing this and will soon have quite a collection. It will solve some of my Christmas present dilemmas. As I've got my workroom set up to do this it seems only sensible to do as many as possible!

Sorted!

Well I have solved the problem. We are going to run our classes once a month and have a coffee morning once a month so that in effect we will all get together twice in the month. I will organise one project per month and we will be open to guests. Students who just want to attend for that one session.(So you would be very welcome Susan) Works for me!
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I have 100 metres of fabric to dye and I have lots of ideas for colour runs,value runs and one of a kinds. There will be competition if the weather is good between dyeing and working in the garden. I am wanting to do some batik pieces so perhaps I could actually dye in the garden! More room and less mess!

New Blog

I have started another blog. As if I need another blog! The link can be found in the sidebar. I wanted a blog where I could post inspirational pictures. These will be of things and scenes which motivate me to create and I will add a few bon mots as to what it is about the picture that gets the juices flowing. Sometimes I will follow up with actual work that has resulted from the picture.

In a quandary!

I don't know what to do. We are coming to the end of this term's classes and there is going to be a shortage of students for the summer term. In fact we will barely make the room hire money which means I will be teaching for next to nothing. Do I do this as a labour of love because there is every possibility that it will pick up for the winter term or do I call it a day and stop teaching? I can always advertise again for the winter sessions. I do enjoy teaching but do I really want all the work of planning classes for very little in return. There is a core element of students whom I really don't want to let down but on the other hand I could be using my time more productively. I really don't know what to do. The summer is always a difficult time because people go on holiday, have gardens to tend and just like to be free to do what ever and not tied down to a class. I can understand this! I suppose in the back of my mind is the fear that if I get off the track I won't be able to get back on. Should I perhaps just run one class a month for the next six months and see how this goes? Make it more of a group than a class? I shall have to discuss it with those students who are keen to continue but I don't know what to offer them for the best. These things are sent to try us and they do. Not forgetting that I actually sell a fair amount of fabric at class! Always an important point to remember! Though with less students and a recession that too could go down. I need help and advice!

This and that!

These are a few of the kaleidoscope blocks done in class last week. Heather had a very large repeat (top row)and we had to move the fabric around a lot but we got there in the end and these lovely patterns were the result. This is a superb block to do as each pattern is subtly different. The difference between the pansy material and the japanese fish material is decidedly marked though both are attractive. The ooh's and aah's as the patterns were laid out were most gratifying. One of my favourite classes to do!



This week we made a crazy patchwork armchair tidy. This is my sample for the class. It is a very simple pattern and once the crazy patchwork is done quick to make up. I used silk on the top side but a linen underneath so that it wouldn't slip.




Next week we are making journals. The one below is covered with fabric and is A4 size with corners in the same fabric as the spine.




This is the fly leaf of another one which was covered with hand-made paper bought at Paper Chase - one of my favourite shops! The fly leaf is a piece of onion paper that I made myself. I haven't made paper for quite a while but stocks are getting low so perhaps I'll have a paper making day this summer.



My son is coming down from Scotland tomorrow for a few days so I won't be posting for a while. We don't get to see him that often due to the distance, so I am really looking forward to this visit.

How Time Flies!

A month has gone by since I last wrote anything. It has gone so quickly but then February is a short month. My daughter and the two grandchildren, Fenella and Fred, were down for nearly three weeks and that made time speed by.This is a photo of them building a mousetrap in the garden. I don't think the mice need to worry just yet!

Fenella had a camera for the sixth birthday in January and is an avid picture taker! Suddenly she is becoming very grown up.


One day we went to Newquay Zoo and I loved the shell on this tortoise.The markings on it were exquisite.


Then I had a workshop to do for a local quilting group and that needed work preparing for it plus my regular Friday morning classes which need a new sample every week. Considering I also work in the afternoons I am kept quite busy.
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At the moment I am making a kaleidoscope quilt which is not growing very quickly and this weekend I hope to make a selection of hand-made journals. I love doing this and will take pictures of the process. Hopefully I will make a dent in the pile of hand-made paper I have stored up and free up some room.I will also make some fabric covered ones using some of my hand-dyed fabric. I have finally found a new supplier. For those who are interested I am getting my fabric from Whaleys. I couldn't find a cheaper supplier and get the quality. This is working out well though.


I dyed some wool last weekend which will be useful for decorating the covers and fastening the covers together. The picture above is an old one but the wool I dyed is exactly the same. I love these colours. I also did some deep ruby reds and dark blues. The wool is a rough spun fibre with lumpy bits in it. Lovely for decorative work. I have some more in hanks which I will dye up soon as I don't think what I have done will last for long! I also have a fleece living in the boot of my car which needs carding and then dyeing so that I can make some felt. It has been there for a few years now and really needs to see the light of day! It is there, along with some sacking and various plastic pots and a portable ironing board, two irons, a folding chair, an umbrella and a roll of cardboard. It is as good as having another cupboard! There is just room for my sewing machine when I go to class! One day I must give it a good clear out and see just what I have there. I think I've even got some wadding and embroidery threads. It's no wonder I have a job finding the spray can of de-icer when it's frosty!!

Snow!

This was taken last night. There was a really bright moon and it all looked quite ethereal! For some reason it reminded me of a Thomas Kincaid picture! It is quite cold now and beginning to freeze. I'm glad I'm home in front of a roaring fire; and glad I've been to Asda and bought enough food for a siege! Now will I have enough books from the library to keep me going? Well I can always fall back on Sudoko if I'm stuck. It's too cold to go and sew as I am too mean to run the central heating all the time! But I could knit! Now there's a thought!

Aaaaaagh!

Eventually I got around to trying to copy the Husqvarna instruction video and wasn't that a big mistake! Now this is a twenty plus year old VHS tape I am trying to copy and I haven't viewed it in at least fourteen years! It was fuzzy! Well actually that is an understatement! It was completely unviewable save for the first chapter on setting up the machine. If I don't know how to set the machine up after twenty odd years then I am more of an idiot than I imagined! So it was a wasted effort and what was worse it completely wrecked my Mum's recorder. Which we didn't realise until she came to record one of her weekly programs. She was not happy! However my husband rode to the rescue and the machine is now all hunky dory and working well but it has put me off trying any more videos for the time being. I'm really sad about my Husqvarna video as it had some good motivational stuff on it using pictograms as well as the basic instructions. Ah well - win some, lose some!

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No pictures as I'm at work typing this. I had to walk in as we had four inches of snow last night and there was no way my car was going to make it up the hill. Very slippy under foot too! I'm doing an early shift so as to get home before everything starts icing up again. For those international readers of this blog I have to tell you that Britain comes to a full stop when it snows. Trains, planes and buses don't run; schools close and lots of people can't get into work because of the general chaos! Not like Canada or Norway where life goes on as normal regardless of weather conditions. I can remember when I was first married and living in Devon, where we would get a lot of snow, that we always kept chains to put on the car but I think this preparedness was due to the fact that Martin had lived in Norway for a year where his only mode of transport was across country by ski! Now I am a total wimp and only go out in ice and snow if I absolutely have to! I'm wondering if my daughter and grandchildren will be able to make it down here on Thursday from London. They have had it really bad in the South East. I have taken photos so perhaps I'll be able to post some tomorrow. Falmouth rarely gets masses of snow as it is on the coast and fairly protected. I remember one year in the sixties when I was living in Kent that the whole country was snowed up save for Falmouth! Mind you those living in Falmouth were completely marooned! So really it isn't that bad though I have yet to walk home!