Two More Squares!

9th April 2014

Just a very quick post.....

Before....

....after...

....before..

...after stitching...

.....only 5 to go!!

I have an umbrella but not sure about the last four squares, any ideas??

Three More Squares

8th April 2014

Had a lovely couple of hours at the machine....

..ready for stitching...

.....I free machined in a silver thread after I had appliquéd with satin stitch....

...the fish is actually purple!

Before stitching...

....I couched some twisted tea dyed scrim for texture on the ridges of the shell....

Tyres are free machined in grey satin stitch.

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Ironed my letters on the hessian triangles for the bunting....

...just need to buy the wide bias to finish and I thought I might make some small white  pom-poms to dangle in-between.....

What do you think??

Enjoyable Two Days

6th April 2014

Busy on Friday .......

...the blanket is growing...

.....the bunting letters are cut out and ready to iron on the hessian.....

...and I finished my book!

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Yesterday we went to Chelsea (not Chiswick ) as there was a Craft Fair at the Old Town Hall.

I was going to take a photo of the lovely building but it was a busy day for weddings!

The fair had some really beautiful items including printed fabrics by young designers who were happy to explain their craft. Some lovely hand woven silk/wool pashminas which were then handprinted, just beautiful but way out of my price range!

I bought a small weaving loom....

....and will enjoy using some of my lovely yarns to be creative!!

After a delicious coffee we wandered along the King's Road and came to this shop...

 ....which is packed with art materials, beautiful papers and quirky objects!

I bought....

......handmade indian rag paper, great for printing and stitching, linen threads, a small stencil brush and a grey ink double ended calligraphy felt pen! 

As we wandered back in the sunshine towards the tube we called in at Peter Jones and I bought this knitting book at half price.....

... because I loved this pattern...

....will really have to concentrate when I make this!!

Home tomorrow and back to my Unit 6 work.....

Textile Show at the ExCel in London

4th April 2014

Had a really enjoyable day yesterday at the ExCel, a very impressive venue.....

....new buildings on the far side of the river ....

....on the right is the Dome and if you look closely just behind the big cranes is the Emirates Cable Car  crossing over the river, poor visibility due to smog!

We arrived at 10am and it was quiet so I was able to wander and chat to people about their work.....

Met Bobby Britnell...

.....and admired all the shoes made for her 'Hands Up For Uganda' project.....

....Bark Cloth has been decorated by many volunteers including leading textile artists and prisoners....

...the 'feathers' decorating these shoes were made by textile students-so beautiful.

Wish I could show all the shoes, so much variety in the decoration, machine stitching, hand stitching, printing, appliqué and beads etc.... 

...more info here..

https://www.facebook.com/barkcloth2artcloth

Some of Bobby Britnell's work on Bark Cloth....

...the baskets are made by people from the village of Kisaabwa and all money generated from the sale  of goods helps to improve conditions in the village. For more information and more detailed photos of the shoes go to...

 www.handsupforuganda.org

www.bobbybritnell.co.uk

...oh yes, I bought some barkcloth!

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Some wonderful work by various quilters....

I loved this one and my photo doesn't do it justice, lots of texture with stitching and printing and painting on hand dyed fabric...

...the colours in this were fabulous, hand dyed fabrics minimal appliqué stitching but so effective!

.....

I chatted to Christine Plummer for a while...

...she is a mixed media artist and her little handmade books were lovely, made from recycled paper and decorated with scraps of hand dyed fabric and threads and buttons. She explained how she backs the paper for the cover with Decovil -a Vilene product- the paper can then be stitched and decorated......

so I bought some Decovil to use on silk paper and perhaps my own hand made paper for a truly unique gift!

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Some work by Dionne Swift....

....I loved the simplicity of the shapes using industrial felt and basic shapes.

Dionne Swift was working on a free stitched machine picture and had a great variety of work displayed.

www.dionneswift.co.uk

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Exotic costumes from the Broadway My Fair Lady..

...head dress of feathers and dress embroidered and beaded..

...the red/yellow cape was made from layers of feathers

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Giant Knitted Book corner...

..a page about 8ft high with everything knitted in a variety of yarns....

....life size knitted display..

...another 'page'...

...this dragon was enormous, the front body was fabric but all the details, scales, teeth etc were knitted.

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Last few inspirational pieces....

..lots of simple hand stitches used to great effect...

...appliqued, quilted and hand stitched....

..and finally my other purchases....

...a Colouricious DVD on Transfer Painting and three beautiful blocks that I can't wait to try!!

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Today I am catching up on knitting, sewing and bunting letters and tomorrow a Craft Fair in Chiswick.

LIFE IS GREAT!!!

Rouleau

1st April 2014

Happy April and it has been a lovely sunny day here so did a little tidy in the garden then had the urge to try out Rouleau!

I had never heard the word Rouleau before this course.

A strip of fabric is stitched then turned inside out, sounds quite easy but in fact was quite fiddly!!

I used some of my dyed muslin and should have made a wider 'channel' for turning.....

  ...chosen fabric...

...strips cut....

....stitched....

...turning inside out proved quite tricky with this fabric as the knitting needle I used kept poking through the fabric.....

...there should be a photo of the Rouleau here but I forgot to take it!

Rouleau is often used for a button/toggle loop but Anne suggested we think of another way to use it....

....I should have spaced the 'petals' more evenly, this might look good in the centre of a cushion but for the moment it is going in my Unit 6 book, actually I might put it on the cover!

Another learning curve, next time I will make the channel wider and use a cotton fabric with a close weave.