Catch up!

31st August 2014

Can't believe it is the last day of August, this year is flying by.

I came down to London on Thursday and I am pleased to say the weather has been very pleasant...

....walked over the bridge in Richmond to St Margaret's to look for a good wool and haberdashery shop....

....view towards Kew...

...view towards Kingston....

.....after about a mile I arrived at the shop....

....only to find it was being refurbished!!!!

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On saturday I caught the train to Waterloo and walked to the South Bank to meet my lovely daughter....

...fountain and bikes for hire...

...there was a Festival of Love in and around theRoyal Festival Hall....

.....met my daughter and ordered a hot chocolate, frothy milk in a bowl with melted Belgian chocolate in a little jug, had to play! It was delicious...

....Cate had raspberries and seeds on a yoghurt/banana base, also delicious...

...we were now ready for our walk over the river to The National Gallery....

...so many people, street artists and a young man playing the bagpipes!

We saw this....

....the paintings were amazing....

...this won 1st prize, a portrait of a homeless man.

After the exhibition we went to a great little fish restaurant for lunch, such a lovely way to spend a Saturday!

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I have started to knit socks, never used 4 needles before....

....more work in progress, embellished fleece/ fabrics on a pre felt base

....hand stitching and a Dorset Button I made on the train journey to London!

Cushion, Book Cover and Journal Pages....

25th August 2014

I made a cushion using coloured threads and running stitch...

.....finished cushion.

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Also made a removable cover for a spiral bound notebook using my own felt, dorset button and braid...

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Completed a couple of journal pages....

.....I used cellophane bags to store info collected at shows.

Think I might try some weaving tomorrow!

Another Finished Wall Hanging

23rd August 2014

Had a lovely two days working in my loft space, did I tell you I LOVE IT!!!

I started a wall hanging at Oxford Summer School using a piece of indigo dyed hessian......

I have continued to work on this piece adding threads, shells, seaweed (washed)....

.....driftwood, seaweed, suffolk Puff using embroidered stencil fabric and a pebble with a hole in it....

.....placed on hessian...

.....and mounted on a canvas frame...

...this is now on my bedroom wall to remind me of my week in Oxford!

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Decided to make cushions with fabric from my stash...

......I made reversible cushions as I liked both sides of the fabric....

.....I quilted around the tree shapes but isn't obvious!!

My next project is a Kantha stitched cushion....

My Finished Indigo Fabric Wall Hanging

21st August 2014

Greetings from a very wet and windy Blackpool.

 I have been working in my loft space listening to the rain pounding on the roof and it reminded me of caravan holidays in North Wales!!

I spent a couple of hours finishing my wall hanging that I prepared at my course with Anne Griffiths at Oxford Summer School.....

I used a driftwood stick to thread through the attached loops....

....and a variety of joining stitches on the raw frayed edges, I wanted this effect!

I used my dyed bamboo yarn for these joining stitches....

...cross stitch for loops...

...and a variety of stitches for the rest, some I made up!!

These stitches are made by tacking/pinning the two fabrics onto paper with an equal space between them then making the stitches on the fabric only...

....I am quite pleased with the result. 

A good way to record my brilliant week in Oxford.

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My meal last night cooked by my son came from this book....

......Sean enjoyed choosing the recipe....

......and it was DELICIOUS!!

There are about 10 post it notes attached to pages so am looking forward to more treats!!

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Have been doing some yarn bomb knitting.....

...I can imagine this decorating a branch or even a bench.

Free Machining and Dorset Buttons

19th August 2014

Just realised I forgot to publish this post-senior moment!!!!


LOVE working in my loft space.......

......finished my Dorset Buttons using my indigo dyed cotton thread....

....decided to make one centre in white with tiny blue beads.

This is a prepared Suffolk Puff.....

.....three puffs completed....

......also played with free machining.....

....my machine played up which was frustrating!!!

Not quite sure yet how I am going to assemble these pieces in my wall hanging!

Free Machining and Attaching Suffolk Puffs and Dorset Buttons

20th August 2014

After torrential rain at 6.30 am the sun came out and I enjoyed a walk on the beach in my wellies, unfortunately I forgot my camera which was a shame as the clouds were amazing!

Went to the park to edge the Sensory Beds and do a little dead heading of Marigolds. My gardening friend brought me an Allium seed head, so beautiful.....

.....the wind blew my Agapanthus over so I cut them and put in a small vase with some sweet peas, love these colours.

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Did I mention how much I loved my loft space??

The light is great and I spent a very pleasant couple of hours free machining my indigo fabric wall hanging......

......I decorated my Suffolk Puffs and attached to a piece of Kantha stitched Shibori indigo dyed fabric...

....three pieces of indigo fabric backed with fine cotton wadding....

......free machined and then attached Dorset Buttons.

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My son is cooking tonight and the aromas are WONDERFUL!!!!

More info about this meal tomorrow....

My Loft Work Space!!

18th August 2014

Almost sorted in the loft....

...this area is for card making, journaling etc.....

....some of my work....

......my machines fit perfectly under the window...

......this is actually a bed with my cushions,  knitting wools and fleece for felting in the baskets...

....book shelves full of goodies....

.....magazines, knitting patterns, flower press, book sculpture and all large papers on the shelf under the desk...

...just need to sort my big box of buttons!

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This is part of my wall hanging prepared at Oxford Summer School....

(second from top)

....I have backed with wadding and couched some of my dyed threads for texture adding french knots feather and chain stitch.

Today I took a break from sorting and did some free machining on my screw dyed fabric.....

...think I will make Suffolk Puffs with these!

I so enjoyed working in my new space and am feeling very lucky.......