Abnormal Behaviour

Neil is always saying I'm not normal and he could be right. At 7.30 this morning I found myself in the kitchen making a rhubarb crumble and that is definitely not normal behaviour for me.


The baby quilt for the raffle is finished and has been delivered. Barbara is holding it up for me, I did manage to get a photo of her after a lot of persuading.

I am very grateful for her help, between us we have made a lovely quilt.

The move went okay (for house moves) it would appear that nothing got broken. There are some things missing but I'm sure it's just a case of finding the right box. I think the removal men got bored half way through, even though the boxes were labelled according to the rooms they were to be delivered to most of them have ended up in the conservatory in no particular order. Still that's what bank holidays are for - sorting through boxes.

I Forgot

In my rush to show you the lovely cakes yesterday I forgot to show you these gorgeous little books. They were very kindly made for me by Gina. The covers are made from a carrier bag which had been used to carry home some purchases from Easton Walled Gardens. Think I need to go back and get another bag.

I love books especially handmade ones.

The pages in the one that ties up are removable, very practical.

If you are like me and love handmade books or would just like to attend a workshop with Gina she will be at Art and Stitch on 24th April for a book making workshop.

Blog Swap

This swap was inspired by silver pebble . Silver pebble has been swapping skills and I arranged to swap one of my little bags for some of Gina's lovely cakes. Three pieces have already disappeared and it wasn't me.

Gina did bring some of this to class today for us all to try a piece and I can tell you it tastes as lovely as it looks. Thank you Gina.

Pretty Things

Now I'm sure by now you all know that I don't like to cook so you may be wondering why I've taken a photo of two mixing bowls. They were yesterdays purchase from Tescos, no they weren't on my shopping list they just looked pretty so I bought them. I'm sure I'll use them some time if only to make some Rice Krispie chocolate cakes.

Here's something else that wasn't on my shopping list. I bought it for Steph, it's a Tea Caddy.

Steph has come to stay for the week because Nick has gone away on a course. It couldn't have worked out better for me because we are moving house on Friday and she has been a great help with the packing, which isn't finished.

Okay I know I said I wouldn't but I have. I've started another quilt, it's Attic Window and is a christmas present. The fabrics are very pretty, not ones I'd use in a quilt for myself but perfect for Neil's mum. She is a very keen gardener.

This is another two bags in the making which I am hoping to finish today.

Tomorrow I have got a meeting of my City and Guild's course. Iv'e had an email from teacher requesting a tutorial ohhh!

I haven't got time to move house.

Hard At Work

I've been as busy as a bee so far this week.

On Friday I was asked to donate a raffle prize for the maternity hospital and it was one of those conversations when you hear the words come out of your mouth but can't quite get them back in quick enough and there it is, too late you've said it. Oh yes of course was my reply, I'll make you a baby quilt.

And this is it, the picture doesn't do it justice but I'm very pleased with it. I used a charm pack and it went together so quickly that I managed to get the quilt top made on Tuesday. It's going to be a joint effort with my good friend Barbara. Yesterday we got it layered up and basted and Barbara has very kindly taken it home to quilt and then I will finish it off with the binding.

I also managed to make the fourth bag from the Honey Bun strips on Tuesday. I love these bags they are so pretty.

I haven't been sleeping too well lately so I have taken up bedtime reading, I can't remember the last time I actually read a book I'm always looking at them.
This is the book I'm reading. I love William Morris, if I could go back in time it would be to see him. He's my all time hero next to Neil of course who is the most important man in my life.

It's a great book, not so much about William but more about the house as the tittle suggests but there are some glimpses into family life.

I have been given two lovely pictures by my niece Willow. I promised to bring them to work and put them on the wall and I thought I would share them with you as well.

Thank you to you all for your kind wishes I am feeling better now.

HoneyBun Bag

I'm back and on steroids. A couple of weeks ago I went down with sinusitus which was really bad. I had a course of antibiotics but it didn't get better but worse. So bad in fact that I got lost on my way to work one day. I had real trouble concentrating, even struggling to put a sentence together. I have had to have a second course of antibiotics and a course of steroids, it had got so bad it was causing problems with my asthma. Thankfully I can now say I am starting to get better.

I have managed to get some sewing done.

These little bags are lovely to make. They are made from a Honey Bun and you get four bags from one roll so they aren't expensive either. I've just got one more to make.

Because I was poorly I missed a meeting of my City and Guilds group (not good) but I have still done some work on my hanging and progress has been made.

This is the first of the three panels, also the largest and it's finally finished.

This is the second one and I have made good progress with it not long and this one will be finished with one more to go.

This is how they look together. It's such a relief to see it starting to come together I was getting very despondent- even thinking about giving up. Anyway I shall plod on.

I have got a lot of catching up to do, emails and blogposts I have missed. I have been informed that one blogger has been doing a lot of cooking.

Pam has been on holiday for the week, some where nice and warm but I will let her tell you all about it. She will be back tomorrow and I'll be so glad, I've really missed her.

I'm Back

This picture is my work that I did at the last workshop I went to in Jersey. The workshop was with Fiona Kearns, I think she does have a website but I can't remember what it is called (I can - NLW!) and I haven't found her business card that she gave me. That could have something to do with the fact that I haven't unpacked yet.

This was really enjoyable to do. The idea is that you use just two stitches and embroider onto hessian freeform. It was very quick and fun to do, you didn't have to think too much - it suited me.

The next two photos were taken from the ferry as we left.

This is where we stayed. It's right next to the airport, we stayed here last year and didn't hear the planes landing and taking off but we did this year, although it wasn't overly intrusive.

One advantage of going self catering is the washing machine, this meant I didn't bring back a huge pile of washing. It did mean that Neil (after being shown how to use it) washed everything in sight. He became quite the little house-husband. One morning when I was running a little late to get to a workshop and therefore was in a hurry, so you would assume that any action I took would be pardoned wouldn't you. Well you can imagine my surprise when during the workshop my phone vibrated, I checked it and it told me I had a text message. I opened the message and this is what it said "You naughty girl I have just been into the bedroom". All I had done was empty the contents of my bag onto the bed so I could load it up with the things I needed for that day. Honestly you would have thought the world had ended. Well now he knows what it's like for all of us, except that we have to cope with things like that on a daily basis all I can say is welcome to the club.

Local Wildlife

On Thursday I had two workshops booked. In the morning I was with Jean Littlejohn using the embellisher.

This is meant to be a field of daffodils but I got a bit carried away embellishing.



In the afternoon I made a book cover with Carol Coleman. We were expected to finish these including adding decoration to the cover and putting in the pages. This was a little ambitious especially for me as my machine wasn't working properly and I nearly gave up. Luckily though another machine was found and I did manage to get the edging completed.

Say hello to some local animals. The Jersey cows are so pretty and just look at this one with her spikey haircut. They don't all have hair like that she must be extra special.

These two ducks are very friendly.

They stayed with us for about 15 minutes, obviously long enough to realise they weren't going to be fed or they may have sensed that I had duck for lunch.

They didn't attempt to cross the threshold.

I have got one workshop left tomorrow afternoon and then we leave for home on Monday.

Jersey Workshops

We are having a lovely time here in Jersey. The sun has been shining ever since we arrived but the wind has been blowing as well and it's a cold wind. Out of the wind it's positively tropical.

This is where we have breakfast. A very nice cafe called Colleens and it's right on the beach.

Here are some photos of the view you get whilst eating your breakfast.

Yesterday I was at a workshop with Louise Gardiner . We started with line drawings (I hate drawing) for the first one we had to put our pen on the paper and draw a line whilst listening to music. The line had to have curves, zig zags, swirls, texture (created by dense and loose areas of marks) and anything else you chose to draw. We were not allowed to look at the paper though.

The second drawing had to be of the person opposite you. It had to be a continual line and again we couldn't look at the paper.

The third was again of the person sitting opposite and had to be drawn with the same rules but we had to concentrate on detail.

Then we took the third drawing and taped it to a piece of artist's canvas and using just black thread stitched over the lines and again this had to be a continual line. There was a lot of laughter and 'oh no's and 'oh dear's.

Next we used fabric paints to apply colour and then we could go back and do some more stitching using coloured threads.

Here are some of the results.

This is my picture of the lady opposite me, and she really doesn't look like this. She is a lovely lady with a sense of humour- how lucky am I.

Today I did a workshop with Jan Beaney and Jean Littlejohn

The first sample was made whilst working with Jean. We used sheer fabrics on the embellisher to make another fabric.

The whole workshop was about making another fabric from threads and other fabrics,the samples we made were all exercises from their new book Fragile Fabrics.



After embellishing we then added some hand stitches and were supposed to embellish them but I have decided to leave mine as it is and add some beads.


This next piece was made under Jan's supervision. Using thread and wool we made a grid by laying the threads on Aqua Bond and the covering with water soluble fabric. Next we had to make sure that all the threads were connected by stitching them. I chose to hand stitch mine but we could use the machine.

This is the front of my work. I made two grids one using thick thread and another one using a thin thread. I worked backstitch on my thick threads and where the thin ones crossed I tied them. I am now going to sew beads onto the thick threads where they cross before I dissolve away the soluble fabrics.

This is the back of my work which shows the grid.



Tomorrow I am doing workshops with Jean Littlejohn in the morning and Carol Coleman in the afternoon.

Naughty Chair AGAIN (but this time for Neil.....)

We arrived in Jersey yesterday evening after a somewhat adventurous trip.

For a bit of background, tidiness and organisation aren’t my strong points (although I get there in the end), but Neil’s life revolves around order, neatness and planning.

This explains why, at 9.15am on Friday, we set off with the car neatly packed (no magazines or sweeties strewn around the cabin) with a carefully planned itinerary that ended day 1 on the Eurotunnel car shuttle at 6.30pm before staying in France overnight. (An itinerary that was neatly typed and in a plastic wallet with all the relevant booking confirmations in chronological order behind).

Around 4pm (bang on schedule of course) we stopped on the M20 for a late lunch. Halfway through our meal Neil suddenly gasped, went pale, and announced that he had left our passports at home. After a frantic call to Eurotunnel who confirmed that, despite our supposed open-borders, we couldn’t travel on our driving licence, we hurriedly jumped back in the car for a 250 mile round trip back home.

The M25 and Dartford Tunnel had been congested on the way down, and on a Friday evening would only get worse, but fortunately Neil’s anorak-like knowledge of trains came to the rescue.

A quick drive to Ebbsfleet , fast train to St Pancras, across to Kings Cross for a train to Peterborough, pick-up passports from my dad, reverse the journey and we were back on the motorway in just over three hours and only a couple of hours behind schedule.

How can he be such an idiot and such a genius in the same crisis?!

Needless to say, he is going to pay for this…………………….

Naughty Chair Again

Yesterday we had another City and Guilds meeting. It was a lovely day and I learnt a lot.

We had to make three samples Buttonholes, Prairie Points and Eyelets. Not quite sure why we had to make Prairie Points but the syllabus said so, so we did. Maybe it had something to do with the title for the lesson Edgings and Finishes.

Any way these are my Prairie Points. I free machined the fabric for the points before I cut it up.
I think they look very neat and I have to say it does make a nice edging. It would look great around a cushion.



This is my Eyelets sample and my favourite.

Last but not least are the Buttonholes. This is what they look like folded if you pull the two ends of fabric they open slightly and you have small tabs of fabric. They would make a great edging on a bodice, very Cleopatra.

Here they are with the fabric opened out, just to prove they are Buttonholes and that you really can do something creative with something so ordinary.

I have to tell you that even though it was a nice day and I learnt a lot and did all my samples like a good girl I still got sent to the naughty chair! I wasn't the only one being cheeky (only a little) but the only one sent to the chair. If any of the ladies are reading this and they know who they are you should be feeling a little bit sorry for me :-) I didn't go though.

Tomorrow we are off to Jersey for the Textile Showcase. I am really looking forward to a break, we have worked for the last two weeks without a day off. It will be nice to spend some time with Neil and not have to worry about what needs doing etc.

We are driving this time, well Neil is I may fall asleep. But it means we can take more luggage meaning my sewing , ie homework, ie hanging. Teacher has given me three weeks to get it finished ahhh! Neil is taking the lap top so I will let you know how I get on.

City and Guilds

Yesterday we had a meeting for the course I am doing. I had a really good day and managed to get all five samples completed during the day. Shame it doesn't mean I haven't got any homework.

These two samples are free machined fringes. The one on the left I made using a cotton thread and the one on the right is made in cable stitch. I like both samples and can see myself using these methods some time in the future.

This one is made using one of the utility stitches on the machine. It was stitched onto water soluble fabric.

This one I'm not keen on. It was also stitched on water soluble fabric and is free machined.

This one is a piped finish. The cord is covered with a piece of fabric that I embroidered first. I'm reserving opinion on this one.

We all had a lovely time yesterday and there was a lot of frivolity and sillyness going on. I'm not quite sure how it happened but I got sent to the naughty step by teacher and when she realised there wasn't a step to send me to I got sent to the naughty chair. Then Gill (another student) said I should go and stand in the corner. I thought I had been a good girl - I did all my work, it is possible that I might have been a little cheeky but only in good humour.

Ruth's Workshop

Wow this is a picture-heavy post. Ruth Issett was at the shop for a two day workshop over the weekend and it was wonderful.

Ruth was very generous with her information she is such a calm matter-of-fact teacher.

Every one produced beautiful work, so colourful and vibrant.

I wouldn't be able to pick a favourite - I liked them all.

Just look at those trees!

Just thought I'd show you this. It's the carrier bag and paper bags that my goodies came home in from Easton Walled Gardens. The gardens are so beautiful you will definitely be seeing them again.

This is as far as I have got with my hanging - not very. There is a reason for that though, the first set of leaves I made looked awful when I laid them on the felt so I threw them in the bin and started again!

This time I used Lutradur, something of a conversion for me. You may remember I have a problem with this product I think it is the way it feels that puts me off. How ever I got stuck in and I'm glad I did because these leaves look so much better and as you can see that's what I'm going with. Slowly but surely.