Back again...

Hmm.

It was halfterm lastweek - so I should have had plenty of time to get things done.

Including updating my blog.

But in fact I spent most of the week out and about, catching up with friends and family.

And sewing (a bit...).

First up - a visit to Marsden, near Huddersfield, to catch up with an school friend. Hard to believe that we first met in 1980 - because it actually feels like only a few years ago...




The weather was still bad - walking along the canal was great fun though, and it was VERY tempting to see whether the ice would bear my weight (but I did manage to resist) -

probably because I was hoping to eat this -

a scoop of chocolate ice-cream, a scoop of lemon curd ice-cream - oh yes, and a scoop of 'creme-egg' ice-cream.

Interesting.

That's all I can say about that last one.

And then down to the Cotswolds to to see Grannie - still going strong at 93. She's having a birthday party next month - it used to be one every 5 years or so - but now she feels that she may as well have one every year - and why not??

She's still sewing away, but she says that she doesn't like her work anymore - because her stitches are too big (and believe me, I'd LOVE to be able to sew with such fairy stitches as she still churns out).

She's been cross stitching this winter - mum gave her a pile of kits from her stash, as grannie can't get to the shops easily to buy embroidery supplies to do what she really likes to do - but grannie is steaming ahead, and at this rate mum 's stash will no longer be in existence.

This was something that she managed to get done in a couple of weeks...just in time for the latest great-grandchild.

Then the labradoodles came to call, along with mum:

I'm not too sure what they made of the animals at the local park....

Last of all, I managed to get some sewing in. I signed up for the Thimbleberries BOM, and the first package arrived last week (and the next arrved today - so much for one a month :-) ).

Last year's is still incomplete - but this one looks much more achievable - it's one 12" block and 3 6" blocks each month - so doesn't take too long.

And then it was almost a relief to get back to work on Monday morning .....

Home again

Well, I finally got going.

Note the essentials for a weekend in a large city - spade - in case of snow, small suitcase with minimal amount of clothing in - and plenty of fabric (green box, blue bag etc)!!! However, you'll also be able to see a brown bag in the middle. Guess what's in there?

Hmm.

It's Jim's Christmas presents for his family. Let me check.

Its February - and I'm just about to deliver his presents to his sister.....

Whenever I think that I'm too disorganised, I remember what sort of man I'm married to....

Guess what? The UK being a relatively small area, there was snow in Milton Keynes as well!!!
Here's all my lovely luggage, waiting to be wheeeled - oops, no, dragged into the hotel. Note (a) the small amount of clothing needed and (b) excessive amount of fabric required......

I was a little bit worried in case I didn't have as good a time as I did last year - I needn't have worried!!! After a welcome drink (or two, or three), and supper, the first task was to make a name badge.

And this is what I (apparently) look like:

Saturday started with an early morning class at 7am. The project - a pincushion, made on the machine.

But hey, why make your life easy??? Why not hand sew the central motif on??

And so that's why I didn't finish mine. That's it on the right...

And on to the main event on Saturday. Now, I already had Barbara Chainey's book, but hadn't even attempted anything from it - it looked too daunting - but I forced myself to read it before class actually started - and suddenly it all became clear!! It was as though a lightbulb had switched on inside my head!!

So the way it works is this - you stack up your fat quarters - any amount, it seems to me, but I think you need at least 6, and cut them according to a strict pattern.
You end up with a variety of squares, triangles and rectangles - and then you play around with them, mixing and matching shapes until you get a block that you're happy with.

But what was also explained to us was that if you were unadventurous (yep, that's me!!), you could lay out a design that you like, and switch some of the fabrics about. So, for example, you'd have your design laid out, and with one stack, you'd take the top fabric, and put it to the bottom of the pile. With another stack, you might take the top two and put them to the bottom of the stack - and so on.

The key appears to be to not disturb or try to interfere with the order in which the fabrics come up.

Believe me on this.

I tried to rearrange them - and then had to go back to the original arrangement -which is why my stacks look very messy....

I had several 'wobbles' about whether it would work or not - but you know what - even with the same block, it looked absolutely fine. It's easy to forget that what seems very intense in one small 8" block disappears and fades away when there are several laid out.

The variety was enormous - and the possibilities are immense (you'll have to look in Barbara's book for the exact details).

At the end of the day, from 8 fat quarters, I'd made 16 8" blocks and had another 8 laid out ready to sew - so if I hadn't stopped at this point for supper, I'd have had 24 blocks completed - and wasted only about 1" strip of fabric (which has gone into the scrap bag).

I'm definitely going to use this technique on some of those delicious bundles of fat quarters that I've bought in the past and then have done nothing with. At present, they're sitting in my sewing room, only seeing the light of day once in a while - better to get them used and on their way (ready for more stuff...).

Other people had completely different looking blocks - just look at them all above here.

Everyone who had taken part was asked to put 2 blocks out on the floor - you can see what's been achieved and how different the blocks look with the different fabrics.


How big can you go with triangles???

In the evening, we had a talk about the tentmakers of Egypt - a tradition that's dying out very quickly. It dates back over 4000 years, and is only done by men, with designs handed down from father to son.

Barbara had brought some of her (very) extensive collection to show us - and best of all, there was the chance to look at them AND handle them afterwards - it was SO great to actually have the chance to look closely at the stitching - and once again - what looks great from a distance, or even 6" away, starts to look a lot less impressive when viewed at very close quarters - so why oh why do we keep beating ourselve up about the quality of our stitches all the time? Barbara was very keen to stress that the Egyptian tradition was one of making work to display, not to impress - they are intended to be hung up in tents for ceremonial use.

And so to bed. Eventually. A lot of gossiping to be done...

Sunday - another early start, to make a small bag,. Once again, Mrs Faff here didn't get it completed - I've got the wrong size cord in, I think - I'm going to pull out the thick black cord and replace it with something finer.

On Sunday, it was our chance to mimic some of the classic designs. Barbara has published books with these patterns in - but I really really found it hard.

This is the end of 6 hours work.

Yes.

Honestly.

And it doesn't look much better close up....

How small can you go? This is Mong (I think) appliqué from South East Asia.


A selection of pincushions and small bags - look - there's my unfinished one!!! complete with needle still stuck in it.....

Barbara Chainey and Sally White (organiser of the quilting retreat).

Stash update

Tonight I'm packing for my weekend - I'm going on a quilt retreat with Threads and Patches, in Milton Keynes. Perhaps not the most glamourous or picturesque location in the world - but I plan to spend every minute stitching .....

The tutor this year is Barbara Chainey (last year it was Angela Madden), and we've been sent a list of provisions to get.

The workshop on Saturday is based on her latest book (which I just happen to have, after an Amazon spending spree...):

First up - 8 fat quarters, including 2 light and 2 dark, ideally on a similar theme. So here's my selection:

This is WAY out of my comfort zone - I don't think I've ever used that aqua colour before - so it will be a really useful learning experience. I chose one colour - and then the very kind people at Hannah's room sorted out the rest for me....

There's also a Japanese bag session - I need 2 fat quarters for this - so here are the three that I have (just in case....).

When I got in from my trudge home through the snow, look what was waiting for me:

I'm a member of the Beautiful Batik Club, run by Hannha's room - and every two months I get 6 fat quarters through the post. It's always a complete surprise as to what will arrive.

So no more posts until I get back.

Hopefully I will have some scrummy things to show you (or maybe not.....).

Back from Devon

Oh my.

I've just had the most incredible weekend break - in the most amzing location.

It was in the UK....

... and even with the subzero temperatures that we're getting, it was still unforgettable...

Are you ready??

Well, here's where I spent the last few nights:

Yes - a real castle - albeit a small one - but still a castle, built in the fifteenth century.

It's at Dartmouth (opposite Dartmouth castle..)

And this is where we slept...

and the view from the roof:

Sun set...

Jim took rather a shine to it and seemed to think that he had become master of all he surveyed...

It was for a friends 40th birthday party - he and his girlfiend had the 'luxury' room, and Jim and I shared the twin room - where you could open the windows at night and hear the waves crashing against the rocks (for a very short time, before it became too darn cold and the windows had to be shut...).

So no progress on WIPS to report (Dartmouth is a LONG way from Sheffield - the journey home took about 5 hours) - and as the only driver, I'm going to go and lie on the sofa for a while now...

I'm sure there will be more photos posted very soon..

chickens

This is what I worked on yesterday. It's called 'rennende Hühner' (running chickens), and I purchased the pattern in Heidelberg, Germany, earlier this year.

For some reason it appears to have come out with a very blue tinge - the background fabric is in fact light green (perhaps taking photos late at night isn't the way to go???).

I found it really tricky at first - the templates were in centimetres, and I'm too used to working in inches, so I had to redraft some bits of it.

It's now waiting for borders, and embellishments in the form of legs / beaks etc.

And what else has been going on?

Let's recap -

1) We have no bathroom to speak of - basic facilities, yes, but no more - and I'm getting fed up of wshing in a small basin. The plumber can't come back until the plasterer has been - he's due this weekend - and then it has to dry out for a few days.

2) Because the bathroom now needs plastering, we will be left with the large hole in the bedroom ceiling until the plasterer can fit us in again - I'm keeping my fingers crossed for sometime before Christmas

3) The sewing machine shop didn't send the carrier for my Bernina 440QE yesterday - so it's getting less and less likely that it will be sorted by the end of the week.

We are therefore throwing caution and frugality to the wind .......

.......and running away for a few nights!!!!

Yeah!!!

We're only going about an hour away, but I am so looking forward to being able to have a shower / sleep in a room that doesn't have a (very cold) hole in the middle of it. The only downside is that I've been told I can only take one piece of sewing with me.

Decisions, decisions.

What will it be???

Où exactement?

I'd like to claim that in fact I've been travelling to exotic climes, and so had no time to post anything - but alas, although I have been away, it was to Dieppe in France - but lovely nonetheless.

It was only a short visit for 4 days duration, but I struggled to find any places where I could exercise my credit card - just as well though, when the exchange rate sems to be worsening by the day.

I did find one mercerie in Etretat - the beautiful village on the coast, where the cliffs have eroded part of the cliff so now it looks as though an elephant is dipping its trunk in the water - but it was during the pause-déjeuner, and so was closed.

No major advances on the sewing front - but I'm now making a quilt for a nephew. It's an I-Spy quilt, and I bought it as a kit - but am now wishing that I'd taken my time to consider my options before hacking about with my rotary cutter. The patterns on the fabric just aren't small enough for the pieces that I'm cutting, and although I think it will look fun, it won't be as I had planned it.....