Christmas Makes

Such a long gap between posts!  I am very ashamed.

However, I have been very busy making ready for Christmas and now various items have been delivered to different outlets, I finally have time  for blogging.

Started off with gift tags in three designs:

   

I particularly like the button ones and will be using this idea for my Christmas cards this year.

Felt decorations came next:

   

   

As Mug Rugs/Mats seem popular at the moment I made some of those too.   I also made some special Christmas ones to use when leaving a drink and snack for Santa!

   

   

 

 

The final Christmas make were table mats and runners:

 

   



 

Also made some cushions and covered diaries/notebooks.

 

 

 

 

Most of the items can now be found at Rose Green Art and Craft Gallery or Birdcage Barn Emporium.   Both can be found in or near Chichester and are both worth a visit as they are packed with crafty items.

Textile Art for craft fair

I have created some unframed textile art and felt art for selling at the craft fair I am doing this weekend.

The felt art is similar to work I have done in the past.  I first created a felt base using my embellisher and then added hand stitches in toning colours.   Buttons were added to finish.

        

         

I also tried out some new ideas for the textile art, with a mixture of patchwork, mixed media and fabric collage, all finished with hand stitching and some with buttons.

 

 

 

Both the felt art and the textile art are stitched to cream board and are sized to fit an 8" x 10" frame.  If any remain unsold after the craft fair, I will be putting them in my Folksy shop.

Journal Quilts Complete

Quilts for May, June, July and August are all complete!  Having struggled a bit for inspiration, once I started the ideas flowed quite freely and I got them finished in the little time I had available, with just the hand stitching of the binding to complete.

As I've already posted, this year my Journal Quilts show the course of the River Arun which gives the line that must pass through each quilt.

For the May quilt, I chose to feature the Toat Monument which is a structure that sits on top of a hill in this section of the journey.  The monument was applied and then machine embroidered with the detail.   I also free machine quilted the contours to show the landscape.

The next place the river runs through is Pulborough.   I wanted to try out a technique used by Valerie Goodwin in her map quilts so I randomly pieced a background, machining and then hand stitching raw edged with simple straight stitches.    The river and roads were applied and machine quilted.  I then printed shapes for the buildings using a piece of foam packaging which were also machine quilted.

 

 

Close to the river at this point is the RSPB Pulborough Brooks.   The whole area is very watery with many drainage ditches so I used a randomly dyed fabric in blue and green to reflect the landscape.  After bonding the river and machine quilting it, I free machine quilted a random design which included a bird's foot motif.

 

 

The River Arun runs through Amberley in the next section so I have included photos of various landmarks in the area - Amberley Castle, Amberley Church, South Downs Way and Amberley Museum.   The river was again applied and machine quilted and I also machine quilted in straight lines to reflect the drainage ditches that was me seen on the OS maps.



 

 

Onwards with the final four quilts.



 

 

Journal Quilt Update

This is definitely not the weather for quilting, sitting under bright lights and the iron to one side.  Far too hot.

However, when you are three Journal Quilts behind and a fourth one due soon, there was little choice.

We've been away and although I continue to work, mainly on items for the craft fair I am doing in a few weeks, I didn't have the right fabrics etc for the Journal Quilts.   Still haven't taken any photos of the items I am selling so will do so soon and post them.

Well, three Journal Quilts are nearly complete in a little over a day - just need to hand stitch the binding and they are done so I'll get the photos of them done too and post them.

Biggest sale so far

I've just heard that I have made my first sale at Green Tree Gallery - and it was the biggest piece!

My "Harbourside" quilted hanging has sold!  This is one of the first pieces I made in my "Corrosion" series, inspired by the rusted sea wall at Pagham Harbour.

I have to admit a tinge of sadness but as it has been tucked away in a drawer for the last few years, I am happy that it will now be hanging in someone's house and enjoyed.

I don't feel so much of a fraud now when I say I'm a Textile Artist!

What am I up to at the moment?

I've been busy recently creating lovely little things to sell at a craft fair I have booked in August.  Sadly that hasn't left me much time for creating my textile art.

However, I am very pleased with the things I have made which include several items using cover buttons using vintage and vintage-style fabrics.   There are buttons, hair clips and bookmarks.

 



There are also some brooches, some made from felt - both needle made and wet made - and some from fabric.

I've also made some heart hangings which incorporate a lightly stuffed heart mounted on a decopatch covered board and include a 'heart' saying such as "Home is where the heart is" and  "A heart that loves is always young".

I also have some textile art that I have previously made so I will also be including them.

 

 

Many of these items can be found on my Folksy shop, Created  by Lynn.   I also have a page on Facebook under the same name.

Dyeing Day Results

As promised, here are the photos of the fabric and threads I dyed yesterday.

First the three silk scarves ......

....... then the threads.......

.....then the scrim ......

....  and finally the fabric.