Pink Quilt for Linus

Please to say my second project of the year is complete!

This time I have used the pink fabric from my stash, together with a couple of fat quarters I bought to match, to make a quilt for Project Linus.   It's a simple design of 6" squares but I appliqued some hearts on the plain fabric using some left over bits of the other fabric.   

I'm never sure how to quilt and usually end up quilting in the ditch.  This time I did some free hand random swirls, avoiding the squares with the hearts.  Can't say I'm ecstatic about the results and will no doubt resort to 'in the ditch' for the next quilt but it looks good and hopefully will eventually bring some joy and comfort for the child that receives it.

Apologies for the photo but I'm struggling to find a good place to photograph larger items in my new house.  Any suggestions would be welcome.

Canvaswork Seascape

First project of the new year is completed!

The first piece of canvas work I have done for many, many years.  When I was doing City and Guilds Creative Embroidery in the 1980s I often worked on canvas and while I was sorting out before our move, I discovered just how much I had done which inspired me to do some more.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I coloured the canvas with painted bondaweb before I started and I found this gave me some direction while still maintaining the "free" look I wanted.

I started by couching down the curved lines which were cotton tubing with thick threads through the centre.  I then pretty much made it up as I went, using stitches at first that I liked the look of and then those that fitted in with the rest.   I mainly used the threads that came with the pack but several of them were not suitable for this size of canvas (10 ct.) so I supplemented with cotton perle and stranded cotton.  I also added beads to come areas.

Really pleased with the result which now sits on the window ledge in my bedroom.

  

  

New Year - New Me?

I'm not even going to review the targets I made for 2016 as it will be far too negative!

My only target for 2017 will be to create more consistently, however small.

I have begun this by looking at what fabric I already have and how I can use it up.   I spent some productive time yesterday, ably assisted by my grand daughter Hope, cutting squares of some pink and blue fabric left from some quilts I made for some new arrivals.  I now have a list of a few extra FQs I need to turn these squares into quilts that will be destined for Project Linus.  I also found some log cabin blocks made from some Tim Holtz fabric I bought (I think in Hobbycraft) and which didn't get any further.  I will also get some more fabric to go with the blocks to create yet another quilt for Project Linus.

Last week I got myself organised to start a piece of canvaswork which had been buzzing around in my head for some time.   A birthday gift of a collection of different threads begged to be used for canvaswork, so I began by colouring a canvas with some painted bondaweb which I tore into shapes that were laid down in a sort of landscape. The pack was called Pastel Seas so I suppose it's more of a Seascape.  I added some additional perle cottons from my own thread stash.   Work is underway but here it what it looked like when ready to start.

I also have another pack called Moorland that I think will become Freeform Crochet.  But I must get all the above finished first!

Happy New Year to everyone.

Progress on Beach Inchies

The beach themed inchies are taking shape!   Having needlefelted the fabrics and fibres in my previous post, I have been busy hand stitching and embellishing the beach and sky inchies.   I've used a variety of threads, although my favourite is Perle no. 8 so I used this the most.  As well as beads I also embellished the beach inchies with fragments of shells.

The Sea still needs some work but the inchies are all cut ready for stitching.

I needed to dye some threads for these as I wanted some deeper turquoise blue so they are different from the sky so I had a dyeing session with the following results.

Ready to go now to get the sea finished and mount the results.

I'm on  roll with inchies!   I find they are handy little things to have to stitch in front of the tv or when my mind needs a rest.   I also find them handy to take away so this lovely pile of felt, fibres, silk, organza and threads will be needlefelted ready for me to cut up and take away.

Watch out for seaside theme inchies.

Hello Again!

I'm rather embarrassed about the length of time since my last post.  Started off with the excuse that we moved to Dorset but that was now over three months ago so I'll just move on.......

We have settled well in our new house and as it was brand new, we were able to move in without any further work.   We have had the garden to do so that has taken some time recently but as it is quite small, I can't use that as an excuse.   I got my workroom sorted quickly too and the best thing is I have my own room so no more having to clear away when the grandchildren come to stay.

It's not massive but I managed to get all my things in and with less space, I have to keep it tidy. So far, so good!

My only regret is that my large Perspex table that I used with my Bernina is too big for the desk so at the moment I have had to resort to the small extension table that came with the machine.  I have seen that Cotton Patch do a similar one (a lot cheaper than the Bernina one!) but I am having trouble deciding which size to get.

I have been busy with a few projects......

... the first one was a quilt for a friend's new baby boy.   We are caravan neighbours so I went for a seaside theme.   Baby Paul has now arrived and Mum and Dad loved the quilt.

 

 

I have also decided to have another go at selling online, this time giving Etsy a go.  I will start with some of the items I already have ready and will also include some of my framed textile art.  I've also planned to make some mounted arrangements of inchies, something I have done in the past as part of my themes on rust and maps.   For these new ones I am going to have colour themes but choose colours that can relate to occasions and anniversaries.  So far I've done purple (just because I like it!), red (Ruby Anniversary) and white/silver (Weddings and Silver Anniversary); will go on to gold next.

 

For each set I started by creating a felt base on my Embellisher, incorporating various fabrics and fibres including organza, scrim, netting and silk.  I then added beads, buttons, sequins, ribbon, lace or hand stitches before finishing the edge with buttonhole stitch.

 

 

 

I have also done some work in my sketchbook, but not as much as I wanted to.    The first two pages are based on some of the many photos I have taken of beach huts we've seen since we moved.  I've included photos, some gelli plate printed deli paper, some stitched applique and some hand stitching.   I found the colours particularly inspired these pages.

 

 

 

The second page uses car park tickets as the background which I printed with the gelli plate, adding some cut lettering to finish.

 



 



 

Hopefully there won't be a long wait until my next post.

 

 



Retrospective 3

My first experience of free machine embroidery came while I was taking City and Guilds Creative Embroidery during the 1980s.  It was also at this time I bought my first Bernina sewing machine so I could do the free embroidery.  It was second hand and worked like a dream for many years before I upgraded to a new Bernina.

Here are some of my early samples of free machine embroidery.