Gina's Challenge

On Wednesday I went to the monthly meeting of Spectrum. I nearly didn't go after everything that's been going on as I really wasn't looking forward to the drive, but I'm glad I made the effort.

Gina has decided to set us a monthly challenge.

First mark out a 4" square.

Then paint it red and wait for it to dry, but where do you put it when you don't want anyone else to go near it?

Problem solved, put it on a piece of baking paper (well what else do you use baking paper for) and just dump it on your sewing table along with the rest of your stuff!

Here's a piccie of the cards we have received and a beautiful orchid.

We're In !!!!!

At last. We had a very busy weekend moving the shop. A lot of very kind people gave up their Sunday to help us and we wouldn't have managed without them. So thank you all we are very grateful.

Here are a few pictures of the new place, there will be more to follow. Ladies were queing outside on opening day which was exciting. We have had a lot of kind wishes, cards and pressies from customers It's been lovely to have so many people popping in.

These are the goody bags we gave out, all the ladies loved the little bags.

This is the first wonky log cabin block and I'm very pleased with it. It wasn't as easy to do as I thought it would be it takes a lot of concentration. Anyway must get on with some more and a challenge set by Gina which I will tell you more about in another post.

Let Them Eat Cake

Apple cake for social stitching today, very nice with a cup of tea.

Iv'e finished the necklace and I'm very pleased with it. I'm not sure whether I should put some sort of backing on it, maybe felt, it just feels a little scratchy.

Our new sign is up and looking good.

As for the rest of it.........well lets just say it's work in progress.

Lots Of Pictures

We had a great time in Wales last week and really didn't want to come back. I don't think we realised how tired we were, the rest was very welcome and we slept a lot.

Don't the Lambs look cute. I didn't take any mint sauce.

The lovely scenery even on a cloudy day.

Pictures of the resevoir, the water was so still like a large mirror.

A disused lead mine.

This picture should have been further up before the pictures of the resevoir but it's got jumbled up and I'm not even going to attempt to move it.

This picture was just because, it looks interesting and full of texture, Neil wasn't convinced but never mind.

More paper play, not the best picture though. This is roughly how the blocks will be but I haven't decided how they are going to hang. I can't decided whether I should sew them together so they hang in three rows or have them hanging in three rows but join the blocks with tabs. Something to ponder.

We've got a very busy week and even busier weekend ahead of us moving the shop but so far everything is going well. I will update you later in the week.

Paper Play

This is why I spent an evening colouring in paper. I have been wanting to make a quilt in purple and lime for some time now but who wants a quilt in those colours? Log Cabin is my favourite block so I'm going to combine the two and make a Liberated or Wonky log cabin hanging.

This has been a very useful exercise to do. It has given me a clear indication of how the colours work together and I've already decided I don't like the pale green inner border the brighter green is much better and the block has come out far too square. So it's back to paper play today.

This is the book that I'm following/using for guidance. It's a lovely book and Janice is a very nice lady who produces beautiful work.

On Wednesday Steph had her hospital appointment. She has been diagnosed with chronic migraine and prescribed some tablets that so far seem to be making things worse. It's odd really, she says her head hurts more and she looks very pale and is being sick. She has to take one tablet every evening for two weeks and then increase to two tablets every evening so she has got to stick with them for a while before any conclusion can be drawn.

We are going to Wales on Monday for a few days so she is coming to stay with Anthony-not sure who will be looking after who but at least they will have each other and I won't worry quite so much.

Enjoy your weekend.

Progress In All Things

What did you do yesterday evening? I spent some time colouring in paper (well there wasn't anything on telly) I do have a reason for this it wasn't just boredom! I'm going to make a purple and lime quilted hanging and as I hate drawing but like making I thought I could make a paper block first to make sure it's going to work. I'm sure I've said before that there's method in my madness or is it madness in my method? It all seems logical to me. More on this soon.

I have made good progress with the necklace and bracelet. I'm very pleased with these. 

Here's a sneak peek at the new shop. More work in progress and so much more to do, but exciting.

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.

Quilt Festival

I didn't get much time to sew last week. I had hoped to have the necklace finished by now but best laid plans and all that mean it isn't. I'm going to try and get all the flowers done today.

They do look very pretty on the blue background.

On Sunday I went to Chilford for the quilt festival. I went with Pam and Steph, we had a great day, a lovely lunch and spent lots of money. I came away with five books - not sure how that happened but it's Pams fault!. Steph bought quite a lot of fabric, she obviously thinks she hasn't got enough but I know different and so will Nick when he gets home. 

 I will leave you with some photos of some of the quilts. The quilts were lovely it was a great exhibiton.

The Last Project

This is my last project for my City and Guilds. It's going to be a necklace made from sheer fabric. It has taken a long time to get the right flower shape and in the end it all came down to a 50p piece.

Here you can see the relevance of the 50p. I ended up with a very nice shape and size I was a little worried how the flower would look as the flower shape had no detail on it. The detail was stitched in and it's worked very well I can already see other uses for these flowers.



Here's a close up of the stitched flowers.

Now all I need to do is decide on the shape of the necklace, how many flowers I will need and how to join it all together and of course make the flowers.