Happy New Year!

I want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year full of Peace and Prosperity! Looking back on 2007 I seem to have achieved a lot although it didn't seem like it at the time! The most important thing for us was buying our house and this has made such a big difference in our lives. Martin has been able to get his new Espace on the road and this has made his job that much better. I have been able to start my own classes which have gone very well. And most importantly we have all been healthy. I don't know about the wealthy and wise bit! Hopefully that will come in 2008!
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Today I started as I mean to go on. I finished a quilt that had been half finished for several months. Shame on me! I also did a load of dyeing and over-dyeing. In fact the fabric is in washing now. And I got out a drawing pad and did lots of doodling and scribbles which when translated into ideas will provide me with the first set of quiltlets. I am going to work small and achieve a lot! Now I'm going to go in the attic and continue with clearing out the clutter. The dustman comes tomorrow so this is a good time to find stuff to throw. I already have a huge bag for a charity shop.
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A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR - SEE YOU IN 2008!

A Superb Christmas!

Thank you for all your Christmas greetings. I had a great Christmas and was thoroughly spoilt by my family. Martin gave me a USB record player so I can convert my old vinyl LP's to CD's. I am having a super time going through my hundred's of LP's and 45's listening to them through the computer. Isn't technology wonderful. These stretch back to the late 50's and I'm finding it really nostalgic. Such fun!

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My mum gave me EQ6 so that will keep my occupied. It is a great improvement on EQ5 and that was a pretty fantastic program. And what is even better is that I can use it while listening to my records. I'm going to be very good and work through the lessons so that I really know how to use every bit of it not just the things that I know already.
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My niece and nephews gave me books. I am going to really enjoy reading them. The landscape one has some great ideas in it. For some of her work she was inspired by the paintings of Ton Schulton and I really like his work.


These three books are going to be most inspirational, especially while I stretch my brain and try to produce some art inspired work. The Art Quilt workbook has a series of exercises that I am going to follow week by week just to get the brain in gear. My aim is to produce small pieces of work each week/month. Notice I'm not being too hard on myself! Smile!


This is my son and his fiance huddling under a hand woven rug that my daughter gave them for Christmas. As a weaver I can really appreciate the different weaves in it. A really lovely piece of work in soft heathery colours. I was hoping he'd leave it behind!!! But I guess in cold Scotland he has more need of it than I do in mild and occasionally sunny Cornwall.

The food was wonderful though I say it myself. I've put on a couple of pounds to prove it! We all had a good time. My friend Sue and her husband came over on the Sunday evening for dinner. We played Trivial Pursuit after the meal and I was on the losing side. Andrew and Matt were too busy giving clues away to the other side for us to win. Just as well I'm not competitive! It was a hoot from start to finish and a good time was had by all.
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I am now stocked up with wonderful things to make me smell and look delightful in the coming year. And so many scarves I can venture into the coldest weather with impunity! So colourful too that I wouldn't be lost even in the deepest snowdrift! I'm off to the sales tomorrow to see what bargains I can find. My Christmas money is burning a hole in my pocket.
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I hope you all had a great Christmas and are ready for the New Year. Still a few days to go. Time to reflect on the last year and the changes for the better that could be made in 2008. I'm on holiday still until next Thursday. It's wonderful. =

Four more sleeps to go!

I don't think I will get an opportunity to blog again until after Christmas. Possibly on Boxing Day! My son is at this moment driving down from Edinburgh and at the last count expected to be with us around 1 am tomorrow morning! Not the best time of the year to be making a 600 mile journey in one fell swoop!
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I am totally organised which is amazing me! I have bread made and a pot of soup is simmering on the stove. All the shopping has been done. I actually managed to get to the supermarket before the hordes descended! The presents are wrapped; the bed is made up and the room tidy and dusted! I have cleaned and polished and all is ready. In fact I have time to read a good book should I so wish.
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Talking of good books - my present to myself arrived this morning. It is Gaudynski's Machine Quilting Guidebook by Diane Gaudynski. A quick perusal has told me that this will be a most useful book to own and I will be pleased I gave it to myself.
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I am on holiday now until January 3rd and I have got so much planned that I wonder if I'll get it all in! Already I have made a few resolvements (I won't say resolutions) that I am going to put into practice in the New Year or sooner! I don't know if that is a word but it sounds good to me. I'm going to start making my brain work and do more hands on designing. I'm going to start planning now for next Christmas so that I can do wonderful things without pressure. I'm going to give myself projects to do so that I can practice new techniques. And I'm going to prune my life. This last one is the biggy! I'm going to work out what I enjoy doing, what I do most of and what I avoid doing if I can help it. Then I'm going to give away, sell, jettison and otherwise get rid of all the clutter that I don't need and which I'm never going to use because it isn't part of my 'enjoyment' list. I have been quite good at this so far this year but not good enough. And the attic is going to feature strongly here. I am loving the attic. It must be the next best thing to sliced bread. A floor and lights...what more could I ask. It enables me to keep and get hold of stuff quickly so that I can create more space where it matters. ie In my workroom. Oh I'm getting quite excited about it all already especially as I plan to do more of my first love which is applique.
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I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas, holiday or whatever you are going to do over the next few days. Our works Christmas lunch today was yummy. I shall leave you with a picture of my absolutely fabulous dessert. It was superb! In fact pictures of all the desserts. They were, in order, our table, Christmas pudding, cherry and lemon creme brulee with shortcake and sticky toffee pudding. The creme brulee was best! I do love dessert! I'm going to make a trifle now!

A Wonderful Day!

I had a wonderful day yesterday. It was just like being retired! I wish! I got so much done that I felt really pleased with myself. I started by making bread and a pot of red pepper soup. Have to keep the inner man going! Then I made a hot water bottle cover which was easy peasy. No big deal there! After that I made the small bag for my mum with a longer handle so that she can put it round her neck to carry small things up and down stairs and thus leave her hands free for clinging to the bannister as she has difficulty getting up and down stairs. I was really pleased with this one. I embellished an abstract design on the front with dyed fleece (from the sheep)! So no picture just in case she should glance at the blog. You never know! She has been known to. Then I did a load of washing and got it all dried and put away. In between times I sorted out all the Christmas presents into recipient piles and started to wrap them. So far I haven't done very many! And last of all I went into the attic and attacked another pile of boxes. I find this so exciting as I never know what I'm going to find. This time I found a set of curtains which I'd forgotten I had. Today I put them up in place of some really manky ones which I put out with the rubbish. They are a great improvement! And I was still in the attic when Martin came home and I had to get dinner. But a wonderful day all told as I achieved so much. Well it seemed like a lot to me!
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It was hard going back to work today but there were compensations. There have been so many tins and boxes of chocolate given to us that I think we will probably suffer death by chocolate. It is especially bad for me as they are put in reception for folk to help themselves to as they pass by but I have to look at them constantly. My will power has never been that good so it is very hard! I have to keep telling myself that the more than a stone I've lost took an effort and I don't want to have to struggle to lose it all over again!
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I have just bought myself a superb book on colour by Stephen Quiller called Colour Choices: Making Colour Sense Out of Colour Theory. (It's an American book so of course colour isn't spelt like that!) And it's a book for artists but that doesn't matter as often books for artists have more meat in them. And this one has lots of good ideas and interesting uses of colour. Will be brilliant to try to translate it into dyed fabric. All I need now is a bit of time to indulge myself and read it from cover to cover!

Wintery waves

We went shopping this afternoon to try and find some Christmas cards for Martin to give to his customers. I found several things I suddenly needed but he didn't find any cards! Or anything else that he was looking for. Mind you we only search one store, Trago's, as it is the main one that is open on a Sunday and handy for parking. On the way home taking the scenic route along the coast I was bemoaning the fact that I had left my camera behind when Martin remembered he had his in the glove compartment. So all was not lost!

I was fascinated by the rays of the sun coming through the cloud and immediately got some great ideas for some designs. The waves were pretty too though not awesomely huge like they have been during the recent gales. The large building in the picture on the end of the middle row is the Falmouth Hotel where we will be having our works Christmas lunch. Always a good occasion. And last but not least Martin's new car! It was bitterly cold and I was glad I had the boots AND gloves!

Very, very cold!

It is exceptionally cold. I have the heating turned up and still my hands are frozen! An extra couple of jumpers wouldn't go amiss. So short and sweet.
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I have continued to drag stuff up to the attic and am being constantly amazed at what I am finding squirrelled away in boxes which I haven't looked in for months. I am being very organised and putting everything away by category. So that means that when I want something that is sewing/textile related I'll be able to find it quickly. Whether this is so will only become apparent later when I need something!
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After all that effort and expenditure of energy I felt the need to take a break so I finished a book I started a few weeks ago. The Chameleon's Shadow by Minette Walters. I didn't think I was going to like it when I read the blurb on the inside of the book cover but it was very good and towards the end quite riveting. I couldn't put it down! I have read all her other books and enjoyed them immensely.
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I made a small gift bag in machine embroidered felt. Very simple with attached yo-yo's. Well they will be attached when I can find some spare time. And I thought this would be a good bag shape for my piece of embellished wool. So I added to the embellishing and turned it into a small bag with hand-dyed cotton lining. I like it! They are both quite small being about 8" high.
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They were much admired at the workshop on Friday. We had a good time and got lots done. Plus we enjoyed mince-pies, scones and pie with our coffee. And my wonderful students gave me a gift voucher for Creative Grids which means I can indulge myself in the new year! For now I have to think CLEANING, TIDYING and COOKING in that order. Actually as I clean I will tidy so the two things will go together. I have put up the Christmas tree so I do feel I'm on the way to Christmas! And I have Monday off to get lots done!

Almost there!

After tomorrow I will have a whole week to clear up in before my son arrives from Scotland for Christmas. This may sound like a long time but believe me I will need every minute! I will firstly have to clear up the mess I've made making Christmas goodies. Then I will have to wrap up all the presents that are residing on the bed he will sleep in. And when they are wrapped I will have to find somewhere to store them until Christmas day. I am feeling virtuous because I have posted off everything that has to be posted off. Fingers crossed that those gifts going to the US do actually arrive this year! And when the pressies are sorted then I have to sort the attic (the attic with the wonderful new floor that is going to make my life sooooo much easier!) so that I can put away the clutter I'm keeping from the living room. And Martin wants me to move the stuff I stored in the garage so that he can put one of his cars in there. And my Mum would also like me to remove some of the stuff that I have stored in her garage. Not because she has a car that needs to go in there but she would actually like to be able to walk from the house door to the garage door! And we haven't yet got to any actual cleaning. You know, dusting and stuff! I'm not really good at that! And then the bed will have to be made, the Christmas tree put up and decorated with those wonderful decorations I've been making; and if I am still standing I have to do some cooking! And go to work every afternoon. I'm feeling tired all ready! It's just as well that the wonderful book on colour and the book on free machine quilting which is coming from America, won't be here this side of Christmas. Because were they to arrive the temptation to read them would be great. But when they do finally appear I will no doubt be flat on my back from all the Christmas exertions and barely able to open them! Or on the other hand they could gee me up and give me a new lease of life!
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'Exuberant colour' I'm sorry about that long and involved paragraph with long and involved sentences but that is unfortunately the way I talk, and think! I HAVE been trying to be less verbose! Have you noticed?

Another change in the weather!

It is hard to keep up with this week's weather. Today Falmouth work up to a frosty start with cars iced up and roads slippery. The sun came out and it was a cold and sunny day. So cold that when I was de-icing my car windscreen my hands became so frozen that I couldn't feel them. I was so demoralised by the cold that I bought a pair of fur lined boots when in town just to cheer me up! They are lovely! I expect I shall now live in them until April!
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Again it has been a productive if mindless day. I completed the bottle carrier this morning and spent most of the afternoon getting hand out sheets ready for Friday. Then this evening I have been mindlessly making yo-yo's to sew on the bottle bag. But I am now finished. Hurray! Tomorrow I will be able to wrap up presents that need to be posted! And I quite liked the effect of the bottle carrier that I might make a small bag along the same lines but with a bit more pizzaz!

Another day entirely!

The weather today was gorgeous! Bright sun, no wind and remarkably warm. Compared to yesterday we could be in another country. Long may it continue - well at least until I've been into town tomorrow morning!
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I am feeling virtuous as I've finished the place mat I was doing. In fact it was very quick from start to finish. I appliquéd a poinsettia flower on the left hand side of a rectangle of beige self print Christmas fabric. I layered the fabric to start with by putting the top fabric and Bondawebbing it to the wadding, placing stabiliser behind this and then doing the stitching. I love the effect of ironed wadding. So smooth and flat and yet so solid. Then I bagged the whole thing out with another piece of the beige fabric. Topstitched the edges and voila one table mat. The next thing to do is a bottle carrier in green felt decorated with yo yo's. The good thing about all these samples I'm doing is that will come in useful over Christmas. If I get time I want to make some small humbug bags and stuff them with pot pourri. Lovely for hanging from hangers in the wardrobe.

Finished!

Two posts in one day! Wonders will never cease! I have finished the table runner and tomorrow I will be able to finish another of the many half done pieces waiting patiently by my sewing machine. I quilted this in gold and multi gold thread though it doesn't show up in the picture. I put two threads through the needle to make it bolder! One was gold metallic and the other was gold shot with a greeny blue - very pretty!

I really didn't have enough room to photograph this properly. I made three ragged log cabin blocks and cut them back to 10" and then put a border round the three joined up of 3". And now to bed to listen to the wind. Just the night for a really creepy book at bedtime!

On being busy!

These are some of the dyed pieces I did yesterday. I did a range of whirlpool designs using already dyed fabric for some and white fabric for others. Whirlpool designs are the most popular design that I do. I don't know why! It is always exciting pressing the washed pieces out as they look completely different when ironed. I love the one in the top left and the one in the middle. The camera hasn't done them justice as they are really vibrant.
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I have finished the top for the ragged log cabin table runner and I'm very pleased with it. If I can get it finished tonight I'll post a picture tomorrow. It was very quick to do and I have more ideas to use this technique, which is a good way of using up odd strips of fabric.
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The weather is still stormy with gale force winds. I meant to go down to the beach and take pictures of the waves but forgot and then didn't want to go out as the rain was tipping down. If it is still windy tomorrow, and it no doubt will be, then I'll go then. Last night was so bad that at one stage I thought we might be going to lose our roof so it was with great trepidation that I drew the curtains this morning but there was no obvious wind damage anywhere. Just a sodden lawn and bare trees.
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I have signed up for Sharon's Take it Further challenge that everyone is talking about. Hopefully it will encourage me to take the time to be more 'artistic' next year. I need something to motivate me and I know once I get into something like this the whole thing spurs me on. Well that's what I'm counting on. I use the word 'artistic' loosely. I know what I mean but it's hard to explain! Just that I need to think more about the design concepts and stretch myself. Life's too short to knock myself up over it; suffice to say that a tad more thought and organisation wouldn't come amiss! After all as Gabrielle said on her blog - I have lived over half my life already - or words to that effect! But that doesn't mean I can't make the best of what is yet to come!

Too busy to blog!

I have been so busy these last two weeks that I have felt quite stressed. Firstly I have been having to keep up with making samples and hand-out sheets for my class on Friday mornings and then I've also been working like mad to make things for the workshop this coming Friday. I've got a good collection now of stockings, tree decorations, table runners, place mats, bags and sachets to name but a few. My workroom smells like Lush or the Body Shop the perfume in the sachets is so strong in such quantities. One sachet good; several sachets overload! Then I've also been trying to get on top of my Christmas present list and I'm happy to say that after a mammoth haul this morning in Truro (in the wind and pouring rain!) I now have everything organised and bought. I just need to wrap them all and pack those gifts that are being sent. All I have to worry about now is the food! I am also making 'The Projects' which is this year's made set of pressies. But I can't tell you about this as it has to be a surprise until after Christmas. So far I am one down and five to go but I have a day's holiday on Monday week so I hope to get finally finished then. None have to be posted so I'm not under pressure. Well not that much pressure. I am also in a Crazy Patchwork round robin and I have a block to finish doing my bit of embellishing on by Sunday night so I can post off on Monday and I have to set up a scanner for my Mum so I am going to have a busy day tomorrow. But it's fun! I do like to be busy!
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And as you can see by the picture I am keeping on top of the dyeing. The hand-dyes have been selling like hot cakes so I've been dyeing batches every weekend. One of the pictures is a close up but the others are all of the same batch just at different angles. I haven't done so many pieces this time, just thirty or so. Usually I do twice or even three times that amount. But space was at a premium. I want to use some of the stripey pieces with Christmas fabric to make a table runner like the one on Gerrie's blog on December 6th. I think this design has great possibilities and I want to play with it. I love making uneven log cabins as they are such fun and its a good way to use up scraps. I might even fuse it to save time! But now I have to go and rinse out the dyeing and throw it all in the washing machine. Ho hum, another Saturday which has flown by! But I have done a lot!

I love, love, love, my hand embellisher!

First sample using cotton on cotton and glittery yarn.


Stockings waiting to be made up; embellished with felt and glittery yarn.


The edging round the embellished star is faux chain stitch done on the sewing machine. It makes a great finishing touch to appliqued things.

I bought a small hand embellisher at the Mylor Quilt exhibition because I'd always wanted one! And then I bought the base unit for it when I was shopping with a friend at a local quilt shop. Isn't it amazing - she suggested we go and I was the one who spent a fortune! Big grin! But I love everything I bought which is the main thing. And then of course having the tools to embellish I started to play and oh boy isn't it so easy and so addictive and just so wonderful. The first thing I did was embellish onto the felt stockings I was making and not having read the instructions thoroughly I actually embellished cotton fabric onto the felt and it worked. However when I read the instructions in depth it recommended wool on wool so I had another go with the piece of felted knitting above. This was a piece my Mum knitted for me with boucle wool on her knitting machine and then boil washed it to felt it. The texture is great. For the sample (above) I used hand dyed fleece which I teased out and just embellished it on. When I find my carders I'll try a more formal approach though I was pleased with the transparency and randomness of the teased out fleece. The random result was reminiscent of a flower bed although the second red flower in from the right is the spitting image of a cockerel's head and now I've seen that in it I can't get it out of my mind! But it is only a play piece. I shall do more...lots more and try different and various fabrics and threads. The felt the tools are sitting on is a piece I made and incorporated some pink strands of wool. I have added a little more with the embellisher but I can see this as a rainbow piece and will work on it later. Both pieces would make lovely little purses with silk linings! And the tools are so small I could carry them around and do this anywhere! Wonderful! I am truly hooked!

An Outing

The exhibition that the Mylor Quilting Group put on was very good, especially considering what a small group it is. From the top the first two pictures are of quilts made by a couple of my ex-students. I was impressed with both of them and a lot of work had gone into their making. The third picture is of my friend Yvonne with whom I went to the exhibition. The first picture in the middle row was done by the group to represent the village. I have put a couple of close ups. Mylor is a small village at the head of one of the creeks off the River Fal. Being a tidal creek it gets cut off at low tide and beware the novice mariner as the mud isn't far beneath the surface of the water. But very attractive and has a lovely very old church of which I've posted photos in the past. This was a most interesting piece of work and the more I looked the more I saw. The first close up is of Pandora's Inn which is an old hostelry going way back with old beams and thick uneven walls. A great place for a drink on a summer's evening. Being so near to Christmas there were lots of Christmassy items around which made it all very jolly. Yvonne and I had the obligatory coffee and cake. It is a given that going to a quilt exhibition means coffee and cake, especially as the cake is always home made. Delicious!
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And the last two pictures, one of which has lost it's top, are of the bottle bags I've been making. Nothing fantastic just very useful and taking no more than 20 minutes to make from start to finish. The first one is made using strips of Christmassy fabric and the other one is just one fabric. Both have gussetted bottoms made by sewing across the seams and tie with a ribbon in a casing at the neck. Simple but useful.
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Of course I had to spend money at the sales table at the exhibition and bought myself a hand embellisher. I have been wanting one of these for some time just so that I could have a little play and see whether it was something I'd use more than once. I don't have the base unit but reckon it could be done over a deep nail brush or similar. Perhaps a hair brush would be better. I find it strange when things are sold without the complete kit but perhaps they didn't realise there was a second part to it. I have been leaning to the traditional lately and this really isn't me so it will be good to get back to a more free form, arty approach to productivity. I'm going to see if I can apply holly leaves to felt using this method. Worth a try!

Keeping Busy!

This is this year's table runner. It has a musical theme and if I'd had enough of the blue centre fabric I would have used this instead of the sky blue triangles on the edge. I over stamped the sky blue with gold but it wasn't a success. But by using a gold thread and quilting over it the end result isn't too bad. This was very easy to do. I've put a close up underneath to show the basic pattern. It was fun to do but this year I am not going to make masses of them. That was last year's project. This year I am hoping to use some photo printed fabric and make wall hanging pockets. I have the design drawn out so it's just a question of finding the time to get started. The weekend stretches ahead of me so perhaps by Monday I'll have done something, even if it's only getting the photos printed onto the fabric.
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It is very cold here and we will probably get a frost tonight which makes me wonder if we are going to have a cold and frosty Christmas. In many ways I hope not as my son Andrew will be driving down from Scotland and icy roads won't be fun at all. As a child living in Kent we often had snowy Christmases and it was great fun but then children don't have the responsibilities that adults have. Since becoming an adult (like last week!) I've never felt the same about snow as it causes such problems. It is easy to forget how much one enjoyed as a child that now doesn't have the same glamour as it once did. Skinny dipping at midnight is another young pursuit that springs to mind!
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Tomorrow I am going to a quilt show with a friend which will be fun. As well as the joy of seeing quilts etc I am looking forward to browsing around the sales tables looking for stocking fillers. It never fails to amaze me that beautifully made items are sold off at rock bottom prices. Prices that don't in many cases cover the cost of the materials. Last year I bought a gigantic stocking with lovely applique all over it for £1! The fabric must have cost more than that! It was ideal for Martin as I could stuff it full of oddly shaped packages. I like to give him a few out of the ordinary gifts that he wouldn't think of buying for himself. Small and inexpensive but conducive of some ribald laughter. It gets harder each year to find these one off pressies! If I remember I will take my camera. The last few exhibitions I've been to I've forgotten it! Too much on my mind!

Lacking a little something!

I have noticed that I have been losing subscribers to my blog. Obviously it is no longer as vibrant and interesting as it has been in the past. I'm sorry! Unfortunately there is so much going on of a mundane nature that I don't always or not very often, have anything of great note to write about. I was reading Sharon B's blog: In a Minute Ago and I was fascinated by the reason's people give for not leaving comments on blogs they have read. Which made me think about what it is that makes some blogs so much more readable than others. I have to admit that I have about a hundred blogs in my subscribe list and yet I only read about a half a dozen regularly and they are the ones that are interesting or funny or show good pictures and talk about new techniques. And yet that isn't really it but I can't put my finger on it. There has to be something that gives a blog a certain amount of pull but what is it. Any suggestions? I'd love to know your comments on this. It might give me ideas for saving my own blog from mediocrity!
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I spent the morning in the attic clearing one half of it preparatory to boarding in the floor. Basically I moved everything over to the other half and then when one side is done I will move everything back so that the last side can be boarded. I wasn't as lazy as I sound. I did go through lots of boxes and junked masses of stuff. I have so much for the dustman that he will probably turn tail and ignore me! Also I got rid of all those boxes that we all keep which came with our printers, computers, sewing machines, etc. Why do we keep them? They are never used! In future I'm only going to keep them for the period of the guarantee. If the item doesn't go wrong in that time and need sending back then I will jettison the box. After all if they go wrong after the guarantee is ended ten to one it is cheaper to buy a new one. The only exception I will make to this is the box my sewing machine came in. That I will need when I send it back to be serviced. By getting rid of these boxes, and some such as those the monitors came in are gigantic, I have opened up loads of space all ready to take more of the overflow from my previous clear outs. The things I'm not quite ready to move on. Of the boxes I went through today 90% of the stuff was tossed! What does that say about the need to keep stuff! But then if I'd tossed it all at the time I cleared out rooms I'd have lost the 10% I'm still keeping.
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I have bought some sheets of foam that when placed on top of the fabric in my embroidery hoop when doing machine embroidered letters will give me a 3-dimensional effect. I can't wait to try it as it will be just what I need for some of my Christmas things. Perhaps I could put giant 3-D letters on the stockings I'm making. If I have time I'll try it tomorrow. Something to look forward to.

Christmas!

Flower fabric

Christmas is rapidly approaching and I have been busy making samples for my Christmas workshop. The garden is still so full of flowers that I made some flower fabric (see top picture). This is so easy to do. Place some silk or a fine fabric on a flat surface. Then take some Bondaweb and place sticky side down onto the silk and iron in place. When cool remove the paper backing. The fabric surface will now feel sticky. Arrange the flowers onto the sticky surface. Cover with a piece of net or tulle. Place another piece of Bondaweb over the net and press. Again when cool remove the paper backing and voila one piece of flower fabric which can be used for all sorts of things. I'm going to use it to make small gift bags. This piece was made last week and I used nasturtiums and they still look fresh. I have a piece that I made several years ago and the flowers still to this day retain their colour. There are some pictures on my website.
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Also I am getting quite a collection of Christmas goodies. They have been fun to do although they have taken a while as I'm not yet completely recovered. The standing Christmas tree table decoration I have to admit I made a couple of years ago, and I had started the crazy patchwork stocking earlier so it just needed finishing off. I have had fun making the woven stars. I find that weaving the pattern is so therapeutic. The little bag with the hanging bell charm was so easy to do that I will make loads more to hang on the tree with little chocolates in them. This is a good way to use yo-yo's as tree hangings especially by adding beads to them and I love the pelmet vilene cut out shapes with beads and glitter glue. Again so easy to make and quick. I like quick! Now I have to make felt applique stockings and Christmas bottle gift bags. And I'm hoping to get some photo printing done on fabric and make some hanging letter holders. And its so cold here that if I find time I'd like to use some gorgeous shaggy fur fabric to make a long jerkin. Time...it's always the problem. Finding enough time to fit everything in. I must become more organised!

Almost back to normal!

What is normal? That is the question! Well for me it means not being so tired that half way through doing something I feel as if I'm lifting a ton weight. I never realised that glandular fever could be so debilitating. But I am well on the road to a complete recovery I am happy to say. Thank you to everyone for their good wishes!
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I have been reading Gabrielle's blog and was especially struck by her post on what being an artist means to her. I think it was yesterday's post. It made me think about what my creativity means to me. I won't call myself an artist as I am a jack of all trades and if any label were to be applied it would be designer. I like thinking of ways and means of doing things; working out new colour arrangements (I love colour-it is almost my raison d'etre); thinking of new things to make and new ways to get the end result. But I am not compulsive about it all. I suppose one could say that I lack that dedicated driving force that takes the great 'artist' to the top. There is no great burning ambition in my life. As long as I can have my workroom, my tools, fabric and a decent sewing machine then I am happy. In fact I get a lot of satisfaction from just going into my room and looking at things or sitting in the middle of it all and letting my eyes take it all in. This can often galvanise me into starting a new project! There are a lot of things I have in common with Gabrielle's approach especially the bit about self-direction but I am not I'm sorry to say at all focussed. I can be distracted and let my 'art' slip into second or even third place. Books; the garden; the landscape around me (sea and coastline) can all distract me and even though they all represent creativity for me they often take over from the focal point which is what I'm actually making. I can do a lot of thinking but not always a lot of doing. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak as my Granny used to say. I call it Lazy with a capital L! What pulls it all together for me is the teaching. I love to encourage and motivate others to give of their best and achieve work of a greater height than they have before. In fact I'm happy as a sand-boy if my students do well as this is when I know I am putting out my most prolific creative efforts. And at the end of the day there is great satisfaction in knowing that with possibly the help of a book of instructions I can do anything I turn my mind to. Do read Gabrielle's post as it is very thought provoking. How do you feel about your creativity?
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I have been starting on small gift ideas for Christmas. The first one to be finished is a scissor holder. I am always losing my scissors or burying them under piles of fabric so I thought this could make a useful gift for my quilting friends. It is so easy to make and a wonderful way of using up odd blocks that don't have a home in a quilt. I used a 6.5 inch Nine Patch block that was left over from another project. I put wadding behind it, chose a toning backing and bagged it out putting in a hanger at the same time. I then quilted it and folded it to shape. So simple and so effective. The first of many! Blogger isn't letting me add a picture and I have to get dinner so I'll try and add it later.


Here it is!

Tired!

I have just had a nasty bout of glandular fever. At one stage when my glands under my jaw were swollen up I had a quite close resemblance to a hamster! It wasn't a pretty sight. The result of all this is that I now feel quite tired all the time. It took me an age to walk up Falmouth High Street this morning and I did wonder whether I'd make it back to the car. What I need is rest, rest and more rest so I am doing my best to comply by going to bed early and not doing anything strenuous. This is why there has been no progress on the leaves. Sorry! And I am decidedly lacking in enthusiasm for anything. Also this is why I haven't been blogging as often Shirley but I will try and make more of an effort. And sorry Sue but I just don't feel inclined to be tagged. The effort involved is just more than I want at the moment. If all you wanted were seven unknown things about me then I might manage that but to find other people and follow up...well just thinking about it has made me tired! I'm sorry to be a kill joy!
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On Monday I went with a group of my students to visit the studios of Atlantic FM which is one of our local radio stations. The setting was idyllic. Right on the headland at Wheal Kitty, St Agnes. Just a short visit but interesting. They were kind enough to do a short spot for me about my new venture into teaching my own classes as opposed to Adult Education classes. So when we were invited to visit I felt it would be rude not to take up the invitation. It was well worth it even though I got lost on the way there and had to reverse several times! They have the original Gus Honeybuns who will mean nothing to the majority of you but for anyone who is Cornish or lived here in the eighties he was a puppet that had a large following of under fives on Westward Television (now defunct!). I managed to get a photo! Also some photos of old mine houses and the bay at Trevaunance Cove. This is very much a tin mining area.


View from the studio over the bay. There is a chimney stack from an old mine in the foreground. The whole of this area would be a mass of tunnels underground.



View of an old mine house, now a ruin. Notice the chimney stack behind the engine house.


Trevaunance Cove


This is Jamie the son of one of my students holding Gus Honeybuns! He is a news reader at the station and gave us the guided tour! Jamie that is, not the rabbit!

Leaves

I love leaves and I love autumn leaves especially. Our neighbour has a flowering cherry whose leaves turn lovely shades of pink and red in the autumn and today the wind blew a great swathe of them over our lawn. That was the moment I decided to play. I already had some Virginia Creeper leaves and some variegated, possibly a kind of laurel, leaves so these were just right to fit in with them. They would be ideal for using as templates for some leaf appliqués. I already had a base made from some over-dyed and stamped fabric which I had woven together. The colours were just right. I then started to use pens, fabric crayons, pastels and felt tip pens to shade in some leaf shapes. Unfortunately I ran out of time before I'd really got started but I have left it all out so that I can do more tomorrow. I have done leaf collages before; several times! This time I shall try and have a new approach, if possible. But I never get tired of using leaves in my work. They seem to call to me! I shall go away and ponder the layout ready for a session tomorrow after I have been to a sale of fabric which our local mobile shop is having not far way. These people really need every support! Well that's my excuse!
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To be continued......