Final JQ for 2015

My final Journal Quilt for this year is Christmassy in design and came about through a need to make the best use of my limited time and combine the quilt with making Christmas cards!

My cards this year include a monoprinted gift tag which has been foiled and embellished  peel off stickers so I have also included a smaller version of these tags on the quilt.

The background of Christmassy fabric was first machine quilted in a simple star shape using a twin needle and metallic threads.  The tags were then stitched on with a bow to finish.   As in previous months, I stitched matching beads around the seam of the bound edge.

Simple, quick but I think effective!

 

 



October and November JQs

Just a little bit behind on my Journal Quilts but managed to catch up so I now only have December to get done.

October was inspired by the colours of Autumn, always my favourite time of year as I just love the reds, rusts and golden brown colours that appear around us.   I used my own dyed fabric and strip-pieced the background, simple but effective!   The leaf stitched on top has the words of John Keat's Ode to Autumn, a favourite poem of mine since school days.  The machine quilting echoes the shape of the leaf.

As with previous quilts, I have bound the edges with the same fabric and stitched beads on the seam.  I bought some beads at Ally Pally this year to use on this quilt and they were stitched on the top and bottom edges.

 

  

 

 

For November it had to be fireworks - not that I'm a huge fan but it seems everyone who lives around us is!

I started by foiling a piece of my own dyed blue fabric.   I used some powdered glue that I have had for years and only just started to use.  As the foil only adheres to the particles, the result is much more speckled than be achieved using something like bondaweb.    I used some different colours to represent stars and sparks from the fireworks.

I then free machine embroidered firework bursts, adding some 'firework' words to finish.

Yet again I bound the quilt and stitched beads on the seam.

 

 

    

 

Glacier River

For each Thread and Shutter exhibition I always like to create some pieces of work that are directly inspired by Brian's photographs.  Luckily he travels to some exotic places and as one of his more recent holidays was to Iceland, I used two photos on Jokulsarlon, a glacial river he visited.

 

The first piece was a felted panel for which I used wool and silk fibres, Angelina fibres, silk and cotton scrim.   I needlefelted the various materials together into a sheet of felt and hand stitches were then added, along with beads an sequins.

The panel was then stitched to a hand dyed cotton background which had been machine quilted with icicle shards.

 

 

    

 

The second creation is a quilted wall hanging  which uses the actual photos.   These were printed on to cotton fabric to form two larger panels within the quilt as well as smaller patches throughout alongside my own dyed and printed cotton fabric.  

Icicle crystals were then machine quilted and further ice shards were also quilted before finishing with foil, beads and sequins.

 

     

 

Chichester Harbour

Now our exhibition is up and running I can catch up on the things I had to let slip as I was hard at work getting work finished.

Chichester Harbour is a place we visit on a regular basis so I became very aware of the variety of activities and landscapes that can be seen, depending on where you are.

 I started by creating panels to depict sailing, the birdlife, oysters which were once harvested at Emsworth, the dunes of East Head, the quay at Bosham, yachts at the Marina, feathers from birds, and of course the water.  

 

I used a variety of techniques for each panel including a photo printed on fabric, gelli plate printing, printing with stencils and machine embroidery and quilting.

 

These panels were then collaged with plain dyed fabric to form a hanging that was machine quilted.  Hand stitching, beads and shells were added to finish

 

   

 

 

   

 

   

 

 

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Thread and Shutter Exhibition

Once again Thread and Shutter are holding an exhibition at our local theatre, The Hawth.   We would love to see as many people as possible at our Meet the Artists days so hopefully you can make it.

Thread and Shutter

We return to The Hawth for our third exhibition of new and exciting textiles and photos.

There will be hand and machine embroidery, quilts, felt, mixed media and collage together with inspirational photos.

  22nd November – 11th December 2015

at The Hawth, Hawth Avenue, Crawley,

West Sussex, RH10 6YZ

  Monday - Saturday 10:00 - 20:00

 

Meet the artists:

Wednesday 25^th November 10:00 - 13:00

Saturday 28th November 10:00 - 16:00

Wednesday 9^th December 10:00 – 13:00

 

Admission Free.   Free car parking.  Disabled access.  

Further details:  Lynn Collison  email - lynncollison@threadandshutter.co.uk

www.threadandshutter.co.uk

Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace

Once again I made my way to Alexandra Palace for the Knitting and Stitching Show which really is one of the best shows and a must for anyone interested in any textile art.   This year I was once again joined by my daughter Karen and for the first time Granddaughter Eloise joined us.

I spent the morning looking at the Galleries with my Thread and Shutter friend Jacquie and what a treat we had.   There is always a great variety of textiles from the 'normal' to the 'bizarre' and everything in between.

My favourite had to be Kate Jenkins and her Kates Plaice, The Stitchmongers, a creation of fishy food in knitting, crochet and stitch.  If you missed the fishmongers counter it was probably because there were crowds in front of it!  I managed to get a few photos just to give you an idea.

Another of my favourites was Sue Dove whose had hand stitched creations made me really envious.  She also had her sketchbooks to look at and to say a loved them is a bit of an understatement!

Her work had a freedom I strive to achieve myself but rarely succeed.  I spent some time talking to her and her words of wisdom just about convinced me that I should accept that I have my style and maybe I will not be able to change it.   I was left feeling that I will spend more time working on sketchbooks for a while and see where it takes me.

Unfortunately photos were not allowed but you can find examples of her work on Pinterest.

There was of course many other exhibits that took my eye and of course many suppliers that took my money, but these two had the greatest impact on me.

September JQ

Earlier this month, I was lucky enough to have Afternoon Tea at Fortnum and Mason with my daughter Clare and  her mother-in-law, Anne.   For my 60th birthday a few years ago, my two daughters took me there and we've promised ourselves a return visit ever since!  Needless to say it was delightful and something I would recommend.

As this was my inspiration for this month's Journal Quilt, I started by dyeing the background fabric with tea!   As I have been using text on all my quilts this year, I have used the Fortnum and Mason logo together with the menu.   I decided to keep it quite simple by having just a teapot and cup and saucer which I bonded to the background and free machined around the edges.

After binding, I added beads in toning colours.