Work in Progress

I'm working on a child's  quilt. I hope it will be finished by the time she is ready to move into her first real bed.As she is only three weeks old at the moment I have a good chance of finishing it in time. The appliqued central panel is quite straight forward and just a long slog of blanket stitch but all the white area is going to be very intensely free motion quilted - that will slow me down quite a bit.

I'm starting to count down the days to my son going back to Shanghai for another year. I am consoling myself with the knowledge that the first year went by so quickly. The weekends are busy with relatives and friends coming to say goodbye. I know one part of him is sad to go  but I can see that he is missing Kate badly (who went back two weeks ago for the start of the new term). So I will put a brave face on when we say goodbye and think about the fun and happiness we have had over the last three months.

I'm starting to get that Ullapool craving again, only a few more weeks and John and I will be walking on empty beaches and recharging our batteries after the most hectic summer ever.    

Happy Birthday Beecrafty

Jackie and I bimbled down the A1 this morning to a social stitching day at Beecrafty. It was extra busy today as they are celebrating their first year of business. Amid huge amounts of laughter, classes, special offers and general hilarity, Sarah and Jules were presented with  a beautiful cake and a fantastic quilt made by two talented staff members. Lot's of interesting people to talk to and great fun being part of it all.

Amongst all this celebration I managed to finish the last one of my 'Timepiece' series. I'm quietly pleased to be moving on to something new - six months is a long time for me to work on a project.

My instinct was to cover it with stitch but in the interest of 'less is more'

I'm letting the background speak for itself.

Now what can I get up to next? - actually I've got a couple of new pieces on the tables. I will do a post when I know where they are going.

 A really lovely day spent with excellent company all round.



Last Timepiece

I've had this backing ready for the last of my  'time pieces' for several months now but looking at it almost daily on my design wall was not filling me with inspiration on how to complete it. Yesterday I decided to add some script to it - just the words we use to measure time. Still no inspiration. So I armed myself with lots of threads in pinks, reds and white and took myself off to a social stitching day at Beecrafty.

  It was full of customers, activity and distraction when I arrived. I got myself  tucked into a seat at the back of the shop so that I could see everything that was going on, threaded up my needle with a slatey, purple coloured perle cotton and started stitching. That first glance at all the fabrics lined up on the shelves had shifted my colour palette that I had in mind for this piece and helped me see where it needed to go.  A simple matter of hours and hours of stitching and the end will be in sight.

 I just need the motivation to keep at it - perhaps another session or two of  stitching with like minded people might provide it.

That will be the last of my work completed for The Guild exhibition coming up in October. Usually I am 'mistress of the last minute' when it comes to finishing my work, perhaps having everything finished with time to spare is a sign of maturity at last, (it's been a long wait).