Lucy's Cushion

 

It's easy to get lost in a pursuit of producing creative textiles and to forget the simple pleasure of producing what I would call domestic sewing. This covers household textiles, repairing and altering garments and such like. There is an enjoyment to be gained from this type of sewing probably because we no longer have to do it.  

I was inspired to make this cushion cover for a certain glamour-puss in my family when I was last at Beecrafty.The elegant 1950's models and the vintage sewing ephemera fabrics seemed tailor made for someone who is in love with that era. I finished it off with some faded 1940's rubber buttons.

 

Talking of buttons -

 

 

I'm teaching these at Beecrafty on  Friday November 9th.  

  

Four days of Bliss with Bobby

 

 

What  a brilliant course with Bobby Britnell. I'm never disappointed in her classes, she always makes me surprise myself and feel that anything is possible if I push that little bit harder.

It invariably starts with drawing in her classes and this one really taxed my brain. Being able to carry on working each evening meant I could put more effort into it. It's not perfect by any means but I can chart the the learning process taking place when I study it.

 

Lots of little quiet moments in my work book were produced over the four days and printing blocks were made from our drawings and again worked back into our journals.

 

 

We kept to our individual colour palettes throughout to provide a cohesive body of work.

 

Gradually the pages filled up with ideas.

 

The third day we moved on to printing fabrics and learning about design techniques to create pattern and contrast.

 



 

 

Finally, samples were stitched, refined and critiqued. I then set my own objectives that I will take forward from this course to produce further work.

 

Great tutor and a great bunch of like minded colleagues (especially Rose who I know if we lived closer could become a good friend) and really great to be on a course that everyone took seriously and buckled down to get the most out of. I was inspired by the beautiful work produced and will think about the imagery produced by everyone for a long time to come. 



 

 



  

The Good and the Bad

 

 

The good things first - at last my four day late summer workshop with Bobby Britnell at Artvango has come round. For the first time I have actually booked a b&b for the duration rather than drive all that way twice a day, that way I'm sure I will have the energy to do the course justice. I'm a teensy bit excited. My requirements list is all ticked off - my case is packed and I'll start out at about 7.30 tomorrow morning.

Today was another good event - a meeting of the Trident group I'm part of. It was my turn to host the day and choose what we would be doing. I was inspired by the appliqued quilt I've been working on and based the day on producing a small version of the design on the big quilt. We each choose our own preferences for colour and will each stitch in our own style. It will be interesting to compare the end result as we each work in a different way.

 

We choose from a palette of fresh colours and really enjoyed handling the fabrics and auditioning dozens of combinations. Of course copious amounts of coffee and biscuits helped the process along and we all three declared that there was nothing we would rather be doing!

 

 

The sun shone into the workroom and made the colours so vibrant, It made us quite elated (on the other hand it could have been all the coffee we guzzled) 

 

 





  

This piece of applique that Jean did is so typical of the elegance that she brings to all her work - I loved the way she altered some of the shapes to make the work less stylised.

 

 

Jackie's piece was the bravest, going for a lovely selection of silk fabrics that are going to be a joy to embroider.

 

My piece is a little more chunky looking because I want to add a lot of handstitch to it. We have agreed to be finished by Christmas on this project so I must find a bit more time to devote to it.

 So - Bobby for the next four days, then a few days to myself (most of which I've commited to one thing or another) and then the Embroiders Guild Exhibition and then Scotland. What a lovely Summer I've had!

 

I did say there was a bad bit as well - my son finally leaves for China on Thursday, I'm glad I have the distraction of Bobby's class to take my mind off it. These things have to be endured with a cheerful smile and the realisation that he will be home again in a year, unlike some mother's sons that we read about on an almost daily basis that never return. I count my blessings. 



 



Almost There

This is a snippet from a large piece of work that is just about ready for the upcoming Guild exhibition. I have lived with this piece for almost two years and I think I'm ready to give it an outing. It took three months in the making and is a very personal piece of work, conceived as my reaction to receiving a friend's workbox after she had died.

 

 

My applique quilt that I am currently working on is getting closer to that awful stage of being quilted on a domestic sewing machine - let battle commence! I don't really pine for a long arm machine, it would not get enough use but the occasional use of one would lighten the load somewhat for the odd quilt or two.



 

 

 

 

 

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).