From Start to Finish

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

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

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

 




 


















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

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

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

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

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

Inspiring photographs!

 These are all pictures I've taken recently that will be the start of some creative inspiration.  The tree above and below was just amazing with it's texture and shape!

Sandown Quilt Show

Sadly Sandown was not as good for us this year as it was last year but we had a fun time and met some lovely people. They included the very talented Kim Shaw. If you get a chance to take a class with Kim then do so as her work is spectacular! I was also able to buy some lovely beads from Images of Egypt and some beautiful fabric and threads from Empress Mills. Our kits for making Crazy Patchwork Pouch bags sold out which was wonderful and has had me being very busy making more! I have lots of ideas for new Crazy Patchwork kits so watch this space. And our draw for a Tote bag made out of our mandala fabric was very successful. The winner was Julie Fieldsend and the bag will shortly be winging it's way to her. 

I made a large and a small grab bag. The jury is still out on whether or not I like them! :-)

We stayed on a lovely campsite just two miles from Sandown Race Course. It may have been so near but wasn't the easiest of places to find due to the one way system in Esher. However by the final night we had it off pat and arrived with no diversions! The campsite was by a river and I think we were the only people there...well we saw no-one else! Quiet and peaceful.

Our next big show will be Harrogate at the end of August but we are doing a one day outing at Stithians show on July 16th as I am judging there. Now we just need to prepare lots of new stock so it will be dyeing every day for a while!

Even more bags!

I'm on a roll when it comes to bag making. I made these two bags today after lunch! Took me about six hours in total.

The bag above is shaped and very simple. I free machined feathers up the fabric following the bars of colour. I'm really quite pleased with it and I was able to find an antique button to go with it. 

The above bag is just a normal tote bag with squared bottom and loop fastening. Again I was able to find an antique button to go with it. The quilting followed the lines of the mandala fabric and was, I think, quite effective. There are plenty of pockets in all the bags!  I shall offer this bag as the prize in the draw we will run at Sandown. The draw at Malvern was very popular so we will repeat it. 

The black bag was made a while ago and I used faux suede and a woven panel which I did using two fat quarters. It is very effective. This bag has a shaped bottom with feet and a bag stiffening at the base. All the bag findings were got from U-handbag. (See earlier post)






Below is a piece of crazy patchwork I have started to make another bag. It is good to have some hand sewing to do in the evenings.  

Bags of fun!

I love making bags! I have more bags than I know what to do with but still I make more. Occasionally I'll give one away and they also make good presents. Today I have made two loop bags. I don't know whether I like them but what I do know is that if I make another one I won't use any stiffening between the lining and the outer bag pieces. In these I used iron on Vilene and I think the bags are too stiff. Usage will tell in the end! 

I love pockets so I put pockets across one side for things such as mobile phone and keys. 

 This is one side of the larger bag. I modified the edges on this as I found with the smaller bag the opening on the edge wasn't easy to get neat at the join.

 This is the bag looped and closed, showing the other side with three flowers. I think if it wasn't stiffened it would hang better.

 This is the small bag which hasn't been modified and does not curve at the top of the side seam.

Other side of the small bag. 

This is the small bag looped closed. I like this small bag as it just fits over the wrist and would be good for the evening. 









I have a new book which was given me by a friend for my birthday. It is all about bag making! It is called 'A Bag for all Reasons' by Lisa Lam. It is great and I'm going to have fun working through the patterns. I also have to say that Lisa Lam is great for bag findings! Click on her name to go to her site. You won't regret it!

Celebrating my birthday in the van!

Sixty years ago my birthday fell on coronation day and I can remember being so upset that there was no post on that day as I was looking forward to getting cards from the postman! Well fast forward to the Silver Jubilee celebrations and I just wanted to get away so we decided to take the van up to Colliford lake on Bodmin moor and have a relaxing break and celebrate my birthday! 

We left after work on the Friday evening and arrived in time for Graeme to cook dinner! A simple meal followed by a trip to the on site pub for a glass of something! Karaoke was the theme for the evening but fortunately we had been able to get comfy sofa seats and were able to just sit back and enjoy our drinks and comment on the activities! 

The next day we walked to St Neot's and I am really proud of the fact that I managed to do nearly ten miles round trip and still enjoy my birthday dinner in the evening! St Neot's is a lovely picturesque village with a lovely church. We had our picnic in the church yard and admired the gravestones! 

I also picked up several pieces of fleece along the road from the sheep in the fields. It is rather coarse but it will be interesting to see how it takes dye and felts. Graeme strode out ahead of me but we did manage to arrive together! 

I had a lovely birthday dinner. Graeme bought me a beautiful lacy jacket which went beautifully with the dress I'd taken! Plus a bottle of champagne which we celebrated with in the van! A very good night all round! 

The next day dawned misty and wet so we went to Lanhydrock which was a very good choice. I had been before but it was all new to Graeme. Here are a few pictures. 

There were several pieces of whitework on the surfaces of chests and tables. All beautifully done by hand!





This is the gate house and very impressive!
 

 In the nursery was this delightful small sewing machine. If the sample was to be believed it did a super stitch!

 Wall paper in his lordship's room. Very masculine!

Beautiful lace and white work in her ladyship's bedroom. 

Formal gardens. 

 Christening gown on the only patchwork I saw. A typical hexagon piece in rather boring fabrics but typical of the age when fabrics were limited.

 More white work!












A very relaxing weekend and now back to work. Well not quite as I'm on holiday tomorrow as well but there is lots to be done!