Cookies

I know it's not normal for me to do two posts on consecutive days but these cookies are lovely so I thought I'd share them with you. I followed a link on Dotty Cookie's blog after she had made some sheep with her children and found the recipe on The Pink Whisk blog . Dotty Cookie found The Pink Whisk courtesy of this lady who made the most perfect looking macaroons. I may have to have a go at making some.

I saw the heron this morning while I was out walking and could have taken a great picture except I didn't have my camera with me - I bet if I take it tomorrow I won't see him. That's what's known as sod's law or just typical of my luck.

At Last

I must have a happy computer today, if that's at all possible because it has let me load pictures from last Saturday's class. The class was taught by Gina, the ladies had a great day and produced some fabulous work.

I can't remember who did what but you can enjoy looking at their work.

I'm feeling much better this week I have a doctors appointment on Wednesday for the results of the x-ray but I've been able to focus on things much better and have done some sewing. Firstly I finished hand sewing the binding on the baby quilt, and made a matching height chart then I made a cover up.

Now you see it.

  

Now you don't.

I'm really pleased with how this cover up finished I had my doubts as I was making it but now I'm going to make some more.

Enjoy your weekend.

Little Books

Three little packages containing little books.

The first one I opened is a sewing related book.

With a little bit of patchwork.

 

A very small needlecase, isn't it cute.

The second one is all about poppies, beautiful.

The attention to detail is wonderful.

Even on the back.

The third book is for Steph so at the time of taking these pictures Steph hadn't opened hers but there will be pictures to follow. The books are so lovely and in case you don't know they are made by this talented  lady.

Neil hasn't been very well, he finally went to the doctors yesterday and came away with antibiotics and steroids. I jokingly made a comment to the girls at work that he would be at home hyper-tidying (because of the steroids) and I was a little anxious about what I would find upon my return.

As you can see my concerns weren't unfounded this is our shoe and coat cupboard. 

It never looks like this, we just open the door, take off shoes, shove them in and shut the door. Not any more they are all paired up and in neat little rows. This was only one cupboard. Conclusion- steroids and OCD create mega tidiness.

Today I managed to finish putting this table runner together.

 Wonky Scrappy Stars. Not to Neil's liking but I'm really happy with it. All it needs now is quilting and I'm hoping to make a start on it tomorrow but right now I've got the hem on a pair of trousers to mend and some eyes to sew on.

Trouble

I may have got myself into more trouble -but that's nothing new and I'm not going to worry about it.

But it really had to be done, I've been playing with my designs and added some colour.

At first the top one was my favourite but now I've had a chance to look at them on the computer I think it may now be the last one.

However I am now ready to make my stamp and do some printing which is part of the homework that we were set. I'm hoping that will keep me out of too much hot water with teacher . 

Neil and I went to Yorkshire for the weekend, Oakworth to be exact. We had a great weekend, the highlight for me was going to Salts Mill at Saltaire. Such a fabulous place and a dedicated Hockney gallery. Even if you don't like Hockney I recommend it for a visit but be prepared for your visit to take up most of the day there is so much to see and buy! I can recommend the restaurant the food is very nice. I did take some pictures which I will show you when I load them onto the computer.

Spectrum

Spectrum had its monthly meeting today. The first thing on the agenda was a discussion about our exhibition which had gone very well. So well in fact that Art Van Go have said that they would welcome us back and it seems that teacher has already got us working towards our next exhibition, but it won't be this year.

Then we got on with some work and it turned out that we had all been excellent pupils and had done our homework.

This is my stitched piece, the original design is based on a section of my journey. I'm not at all happy with it and after Neil said that it looked like a pair of embroidered breasts (if you fold it in half) that was that. However the ladies of Spectrum had other ideas and commented that it looked like parts of the male anatomy!

So whilst the others got on with making printing blocks and doing some printing I took some more sections from my original drawing and played around with them to try and find a design I did like. 

This is what I came up with but when I started to fill in certain areas I wasn't happy with it.

So this evening I have been playing around a little more and with a few alterations I ended up with this and I rather like it.

I have re-drawn it and filled in some areas, I'm very happy with it but I want to play a little more before I finally make up my mind.

It really is crying out for some colour though, I just may have to indulge. Teacher is going away at the end of the month for three weeks and she has admitted that she doesn't have a portable device to blog herself. So that means she won't be checking up on me so I can get away with it, for a while.

Take Two

Take two pumpkins, cut open and scrape.

Then chop.

Turn to pulp, allow to cool and freeze ready to make muffins for the all nighter that we are having at the shop. It will be a long night but lots of fun and then off for a cooked breakfast in the morning.

Last Saturday Gina came to teach Diva Dolls. Lots of heads were made and lots of rolling around with laughter. The ladies had a great time and discusions were going on about boob sizes, clothes, shoes and colours. Gina is back this Saturday for the second part of the workshop to finish the dolls. Unfortunately I will be in Germany so I won't get to see them finished. I'm relying on Pam for lots of pictures.

Yesterday I made this. A table runner for Steph, I thought it might cheer her up. It did, she likes it very much.

I should really have been working on this. It's going to be a hanging/picture to be shown in the Spectrum exhibition next year. I'm sure teacher   will understand, I know she has been distracted from degree work.

I have enjoyed working on this piece - making the eyelets can be quite therapeutic to work although sometimes it can be monotonous. I'm going to do some hand stitching and beading as well.

Steph is finding things a little difficult without painkillers, she spent all day yesterday in bed but she does look a little bit better. A lot of very kind people have sent get well wishes for Steph and she is grateful to you all. Sometimes I think that no one reads my blog as I don't get many comments but over the last few weeks it has become very clear that actually there are a lot of people that do read it so I will carry on blogging. I would like to thank you all for the the kind wishes for Steph and all the congratulations on becoming grandparents. Ellie is doing very well putting on weight and sleeping a lot. I think she's got flat batteries. We baby sat on Saturday evening the first time she had been left with any one we felt very honoured she was as good as gold and we enjoyed every minute. Except for some reason Neil felt it necessary to complain that he didn't get many cuddles-I really don't understand how that could have happened.

Finished

I finished the quilt last night and I'm very happy with it. Can't imagine why I didn't finish it sooner!

Here's a close up of the binding and quilting. 

So pretty.

I have at last made a decision about how to finish the edges of my Wonky Log Cabin. You can see on this sample that I've tried binding in both colourways. I did consider the orange-but not for long,  I'm going to bind them in the accent colour used in the block. I think this helps to give each block a strong and positive finish. It feels as though the hanging is really starting to come together now and I may have decided how to join the blocks together, just need to do another sample to try out my idea.

Today I'm hoping to do a little more quilting on this.

I'm hoping to get to Gina's on Sunday for the Open Artists Studios . Hope you all enjoy your weekend.

Big News

Art and Stitch is moving. Not very far (just 15 yards or so!) only to Unit  33 but to much much bigger premises. This mean a bigger work room (and in the near future a second workroom), a quilting frame that will be available to hire and more importantly much more fabric.

The new shop will open on Tuesday 12 th April and there will be goody bags for the first 50 customers!

Yesterday I went to the monthly meeting of the group that I belong to, the group name was Tension but nobody really liked the name so we have changed it to Spectrum, much nicer. We are going to be an exhibiting group and our first exhibtion has been arranged for February next year at Art Van Go. A big thank you goes to Gina  our mentor for arranging this for us.

I had intended to work on my necklace yesterday but instead I made a bracelet to match and so now I have to make some more flowers for the necklace. The bracelet isn't finished yet I need to add some beads but it is looking very nice.

This is the back of the bracelet and you can see the grid that the flowers are stitched onto. The grid was worked onto water soluble fabric using flat braids. 

For those of you that have been asking about Gina's class in May here are a couple of pictures of some of the things that Gina will be going through on the day.

A very pretty bag with a gorgeous flower. The flower has lots of possibilities, imagine it on a fancy cushion or as a brooch.

These Ivy leaves are just as beautiful and would make a great picture or wall hanging. Once you learn the technique all you need to do is follow your creative spirit and you will be creating textile treasures in no time.

Time Please!

Where does all the time go? I can't believe it's over a week since I last posted, I really could do with an extra day in my week. Home life has been busy and the shop has been hectic - but that's good! We have seen lots of lovely people, old friends and new. Some have been kind enough to bring in WIPs and finished projects. It's so nice to see what other people are doing and discuss ideas.

Last Wednesday was the second meeting of the stitching group I belong to and at last we have a name - 'Tension'. We had some homework which I have done but forgotten to photograph so I can't show you just now. We are still working on Goldwork, not my favourite subject but Gina is teaching us some useful techniques.

I did manage to get the attic window quilt top put together. I wasn't very happy with it but now I have seen it on here it looks much better than I thought it did. I obviously just needed to take a step back and look at it.

Yesterday this arrived at the shop. I have to say I was doubtful about this gadget but I've been having fun. I am about halfway through putting together a quilt top, all the pieces were cut on the cutter. I got the rep to cut them last week as a demo and I have noticed how much more accurately they have been cut. The pieces have gone together so easily and I haven't used anywhere near as many pins as I usually do trying to make the seams meet accurately. I have had to eat my words and admit I am impressed.

It also makes cutting so much quicker. Last night I spent an hour cutting 2 1/2" squares - it was so quick. I don't know how many I cut because there was too many to count . There are lots of different quilt blocks I would like to make but wouldn't have attempted to in the past just because of cutting, now I will.

Please please can I have some more time?

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.

Another Project Started

This is my summer project as set by Gina . I hate drawing, I'm really going to struggle with this but I will give it a go. You never know one day I might draw something recognisable.


Gina suggested we put this comment on the first page.





Why is it that an image can look perfect in your head and then when it gets on the paper it doesn't look how it's meant to!





Sorry about this picture blogger has turned it round. Didn't ask me if it could just did it, how rude.



I was experimenting with bleach, another of Gina's suggestions. I hadn't done this technique before, I'd have another go but with a better brush. I have done a bit more to this attempt since taking this picture.




This is just two pages that I coloured in using Koh-I- Noor paints. The blue was meant to be purple but never mind.


It does suggest a field though.