Anniversary Gift

Back in March I shared some textile art I had created based on a Workshop on the Web workshop and inspired by some Dorset buttons I had made.  Here's a reminder....

My daughter Clare loved it so I decided to make another for her wedding anniversary and as they were decorating their bedroom at the time, I made it in shades of yellow and grey to match their new room.    The anniversary has now been and gone so I can share it with the world!

The background was once again made using strips of different papers and as Clare enjoys sewing and dressmaking I included some garment patterns and instructions.  After painting, I printed some random lines using an old credit card as the new bedding they had bought had similar lines.  Again I was using Dorset buttons so decided to use the circular shapes as part of the design.   So with the addition of fabrics and lace, beads, washers, sequins, machine stitching and hand stitches - again reflecting the same linear design - the Dorset buttons finished the design.

  

  

I'm glad to report that it was well received.

September Journal Quilt

This months quilt is inspired by the many cactus we saw in and around the hotel in Gran Canaria. 

For the construction I was inspired by some videos of Hilary Beattie that I have been watching on You Tube.   She is really a great inspiration and I have admired her work for some years.  She is also a very generous artist who openly shares her way of creating not just in workshops she runs from her studio but also on the internet.

Using her methods, I printed and dyed some fabrics inspired by the spines and form of the cactus.  Using the fabrics I arranged a collage of shapes, together with photos of the cactus.  I did minimal machine quilting around the square shapes but added hand stitching to reflect the spines of the cactus.

  

I think this is definitely going to be one of my favourites this year.

Last Dance squares all finished!

The last four sets of squares for my Last Dance on the Beach blanket are all finished and all I have to do now is put them together!  Sounds so easy but it's not a task I look forward to.

The ninth square was a particular favourite of mine.  It had a cable skip in it, something I've never done before so yet again I've learnt something new.

The next one was probably my least favourite mainly because I found it physically difficult to do as every other row had to be worked in the loop behind the back loop.   By the fourth square I was getting the hand of it but I don't think I made a particularly good job of it so I hope it looks okay once it is together with the other blocks.

Week 11 was one of my favourites too, probably because it worked up very quickly and I got them done quickly.   Another new stitch so another learning experience.

The final set also made up quite quickly - maybe I was just eager to get them finished!   Loved this one too although it took me a time to be able to know where I was in the pattern and had to resort to keeping count on paper!

To give me an idea of what the finished blanket will look like, I've laid the blocks out on our spare bed.  The photo is not brilliant but it does give an you an idea.

Little Boxes of Challenges

I mentioned last month that I've signed up for a Little Box of Crochet each month but I seem to have forgotten to post the results.

The first month saw the challenge of tapestry crochet - a bit like cross stitch but with crochet stitches and from my vast experience with cross stitch, it's much more difficult with crochet stitches.

The first piece was a small tag, just to get the hang of it.   My first mistake was not reading the instructions!   This resulted in me working back to front which brought challenges when reading the chart but I persevered and was pleased with the end result although it's not perfect.

The second piece was larger and had more colours so with this I cut smaller lengths of some colours as I felt this would help untangling the yarns which I found became very twisted in the first piece. This certainly helped.  I also read the pattern and instructions through first and this definitely helped!
The end result was certainly better that the first one but still not perfect.

They were both worked in cotton and this is the first time I have used it.  I did find it quite hard at times as there was not much give in it and I do tend to crochet a bit on the tight side.  I'm glad that I was challenged to do something new and probably not something I would have chosen to do.  However, I don't think I will be rushing to do anymore!

This month's box was again a new challenge for me - amigurami.   That's stuffed animals to any non-crocheters out there!   I've never been drawn to them so once again it meant I was challenged to do something that I wouldn't have chosen myself.

It was once again crocheted in cotton yarn which I found even more difficult when you got to the smaller bits.   It also included using magic rings which after watching a YouTube video several times I think I've now mastered.

You can't really see from the look on my grandson's face, but it was love at first sight!  As there is only one (and there will not be another one!) the duck is going to live at the caravan where it can be loved by all the grandchildren when they visit.

Quilt for Effy

I've had some projects on the go that are gifts so I have not been able to share them until the lucky people get them.

One was a quilt for a friend of mine for her third daughter.  I have made quilts for her sisters so I thought it only right that she should have one too.   I bought the fabric some months ago and chose a unicorn print not realising that the eldest two girls loved unicorns too.

Well Baby Effy has now arrived and received her quilt so I can share it with the world!

I wanted to use half square triangles and much against my usual 'everything must be straight and symmetrical' I decided to off set the centre.   Really enjoyed making this and will no doubt be doing similar again.

Last Dance Update

The next four sets of squares for my Last Dance on the Beach blanket are complete and these have been some of my favourites so far.

This one has little bird like footprints - love it!

This was my first time of working corner to corner and I will definitely be doing this again.

Love learning how to make bobbles.

This is also a favourite and so quick to do too.

My main reason for doing this blanket was to learn new stitches and it has certainly fulfilled that.

August Journal Quilt

Working ahead of myself on this year's Journal Quilts although I've nearly caught myself up so I'd better get working on the rest!

This month's quilt has once again been inspired by the Hibiscus flower.   This time I paper pieced the flower using a pentagon shape as Hibiscus have five petals.   The flowers were then applied and stitched to the background which was a piece of my own dyed fabric.   I machined stitched the centres of each flower and machine quilted the background with more pentagon shapes and stems of leaves.

 

      

   

Hopefully this will give a contemporary interpretation to English Paper Piecing.