Taking Things Further

Remember the rust dyed fabrics? I got them out last night and decided they looked a bit plain and I needed to add some colour to them.



A little while ago I bought some lovely wooden stamps that I hadn't yet used so I got them out along with the fabric paint and this is what happened.







I'm not exactly pleased with the results but I haven't finished so I'm trying not to be too critical of the mess I have made. I am hoping to get some stitching done on the fabrics today. Our homework for the new group is to make an Artist Trading Card and I'm going to use this fabric for it.

This is my favourite stamp so I thought I would share a close up of it with you. So pretty.

Surprises In The Post

Last week I received a little parcel from Gina . It was a welcome surprise in a very hectic week. Sometimes something small can make a big difference and this was one of those occasions. It may be only a coaster but we have been so busy that when it arrived it made both Pam and I stop what we were doing (obviously not important) and share a few jokes - mainly about my cooking!


I have never understood why people spend thousands and thousands on a room where you go to make a mess somebody eats it and then leaves a mess to clear up, it's a bit like going back to playschool!





Then Saturday evening Neil gave me a little parcel containing two of Gina's brooches. The labels are as nice as the brooches.

Thomas Is Finished

I managed to get the Thomas bag finished. Neil put the grommets in for me. I'm very pleased with it.







And in keeping with tradition here is Barbara modelling the latest model.

Barbara really is a good sport.

I hope Neil's nephew likes it. He had no idea what sort of a bag I was going to make or the fabric I used.

Very Important

The very important news is that tomorrow we are taking part in the Macmillan World's Biggest Coffee Morning. So if you are in Peterborough tomorrow morning pop into the shop and have a cuppa and a slice of cake with us. We are also having a raffle with lots of lovely prizes including fabric.


I did manage to make a start on the Thomas bag hopefully I will get a bit further with it today.






As yesterday evening was so lovely Neil and I went for a drive and ended up at the pub (don't know how that happened) we had a lovely meal. I also made a small purchase, just a few more vintage buttons. Well you can never have enough can you?


Don't forget to pop in and see us tomorrow.

Plans For Today

I didn't get any work done in my sketchbook at the weekend. We have been very busy in the shop and family life has been also been busy. The days just aren't long enough.



Some time ago I was asked to make a bag for Neil's great-nephew and so far I haven't got around to it. I'm hoping that's going to change today.



I'm planning to use these lovely Thomas fabrics. The photo doesn't do the fabrics justice; the red is such a lovely red it looks like velvet.







On Saturday we have a workshop making a Victorian Sewing Box. I think it would make a great gift box if you didn't do the middle bits and you stitched the sides up.

It is very pretty and we do have a couple of spaces left if you fancy making one.

More Progress

Well I managed to get the rows sewn together and the borders on and I think it's looking very nice. All I have to do now is layer it up and decide how to quilt it. Originally I was going to quilt in straight lines then I thought about wavy lines and now I'm thinking flowers would be nice,time consuming though.





Here are a few shots of the blocks.






Such pretty colours and patterns.

I'm hoping to do some more work in my sketchbook this weekend.

The weather is promising to be nice for tomorrow. I hope you all enjoy your weekend.

Yesterday's Progress

Yesterday I managed to get all the blocks pieced and the blocks joined together in rows. Today's aim is to join all the rows and if I'm really lucky get the borders on.



I only managed to get this far because Barbara helped me for which I am very grateful. She passed me the blocks as I was sewing them into rows and she kept them all in order.



I'm of now to join the rows, here's hoping for a productive day.

The Final

I have re-dyed the calico and printed cotton fabrics with the rusty bits and some copper. I'm very pleased with results.





I have got some very definitive marks.



And I've also got some lovely turqouise ones. Having three plumbers in the family means I'll never be short of copper and I'm definitely going to do this again.

Now I have these lovely dyed pieces of fabric I'm not sure what we are going to be doing with them. I vaguely remember Gina saying something about ATCs.

A couple of weeks ago Pam and I signed up for a 'quilt-along' with Fat Quarterly (see link on the right). Neither of us know why we signed up for it as we have both got so many things on the go already. I think it just sounded like fun. We should both know better really.

I'm using a jelly roll called Verna. I managed to get the cutting done last week as you can see. Monday we received the piecing instructions and yesterday I started to put them together.

Halftime Results

Don't panic there's no football results here just the halfway results of my rust dyeing.

From left to right, Calico, nasty cheap Polyester (which I didn't think would work), Silk Dupion.


Printed cotton fabric, Silk Scrim and Evenweave fabric.




Last but not least some Tapestry wool just because I had it.

Now you ask why halfway, well I'm re-dying the calico and printed cotton pieces. I re soaked them last night and I've wrapped Malcolm's rusty bits up in them and held them in place with elastic bands. I'm hoping to get some definitive marks. I've also wrapped in some copper piping , hoping that I'll get the nice green colour.

I will confess that I couldn't wait and I had a sneak peek this morning and there was some green colour on the fabric. So I quickly wrapped it up again and I'm going to leave until Thursday evening.

Finished Bag

I've finished the bag and I'm very pleased with it. It took 5hrs to do each beaded ball but it was worth the effort. I think they finish the bag off nicely.




Remember Barbara and the picture of her with my 3D piece on her head, well she's been at it again with the bag this time. It's a good job she has a sense of humour as she doesn't know I'm putting this on my blog.



Yesterday was the first meeting of our new group, the group with no name as yet. This term we are looking at Goldwork, but not in the traditional way.

We did some rust dyeing which by the time I had got home yesterday had already started to work. You can just see it through the bag. I'm going to leave it until tomorrow evening (if my patience lasts) to rinse out the fabric.

This is the start of a goldwork sampler except it's not gold thread it's a coppery colour but teacher says that's okay.

We have been looking at different stitches - from left to right Straight Stitch, Zig Zag, Satin Stitch, Vermicelli, the squiggle is meant to be Feather Stitch but it wouldn't go right. I'm going to have another go.

In the evening I went round to Barbara's to take a picture of her passion flower, it's a very good specimen.

And it has fruit which when it's ripe Barbara is going to pick for me so that I can grow my own.