Having a wonderful time!

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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!

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

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!

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

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

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!

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!

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!

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!