Spring Blooms swap

The warm spring weather may have disappeared for now but on Friday I received my Spring Blooms swap from Sue in Australia and it is absolutely beautiful, I am so lucky. It has a wonderful array of Sweet Peas and is so beautifully embellished with machine embroidery and quilting. It took her 26 hours to complete and I am not surprised as the stippling is so tiny. I will treasure it and at the moment I am trying to decide where to hang it. I suspect it will go into my work room as I spend most of my time there and so will be able to see it on a daily basis. Thank you Sue, this was certainly a swap worth joining.  

I have finally decided to enter a quilt for the Festival of Quilts in August. I had been uncertain about this as the entry form required exact measurements by the 29th of May and although I knew what I wanted to do I hadn't even started it so was thinking I wouldn't bother. It was Angela who persuaded me by telling me to send in the form and then make the quilt to fit the measurements that I had given. Thanks Angela. Here is just a little peek for now. It doesn't have to be there until 31st July so I do know that I can get it finished, unless of course there are any major disasters.



Nothing more for today as I have to go to work shortly. I only have today in the office and then tomorrow I am going out on an attachment with one of our dog units which should be fun. I'm then off until 25th June with only the Neil Young concert in Nottingham to distract me from sewing.

Until next time, thanks for dropping by and happy sewing.

Maggi

PS. Thanks to those of you who told me to be patient and that the birds would come to the bath, so far I have had one blackbird who landed on it and flew straight off again - I live in hope.

A quick update

In my rush to get the blog done last night I completely forgot that I had not included the postcard that I had received from Angela as a 'prize' for helping her to name her Rhapsody quilt. Many apologies Angela but it is here now. It has beautiful colours and the flower in the bottom corner is made of Tyvek with a beaded centre. Thank you so much.



I have also just been out taking advantage of the glorious weather to take flower photos. This chap was not invited! I didn't realise that he was arriving until I had taken the photo and as it was hard enough getting the flowers to remain still in the wind, there he will remain.

Sunny sewing

Maggi

I won a quilt!

I had a wonderful surprise last week when I received a telephone call from Ros telling me that I had won the Jacob's Ladder raffle quilt that had been made to raise funds for Viva a Vida, a charity that helps the street children in Brazil. I came over quite emotional as so many people worked on the quilt and it was made by hand and machine quilted. It will certainly be treasured. Although it arrived at my door on Wednesday I had to wait until Thursday to see it as I was out and so the postie took it back to the sorting office where I went post-haste (no pun intended) on Thursday morning. The next two photographs are of some of the ladies who made the blocks (from Ros's blog with her permission) and me with the quilt. Not a brilliant picture of the quilt I am afraid as I had to get the computer to take it for me and I couldn't get far enough away to hold it out fully!



I have managed to get my Spring Blooms quilt finished that I showed in the last post and it is now packaged up waiting to be posted tomorrow. I can't say where it is going to as unlike some swaps we only get the name of the person to whom we are sending our quilt.

Also packaged up are two small bags that I made up this week having seen Patsy Thompson's tutorial on her blog. One is for a friend who is now living in France and whose birthday was on Friday - she's used to me being late. I made is slightly shorter and added a lining but was really pleased with how easily it goes together. I may even make one for myself at some stage.



A couple of years ago I decided to risk putting up some bird feeders (those of you who share your homes with cats know why I considered this to be a risk) and as the last few days have been so hot I thought it was time that I gave the poor things something to drink so I went out and bought a bird bath. Were they grateful - not at all, they haven't been anywhere near it yet. Here it is looking very lonely. I will just have to wait and see how long it takes for them to find it.



Now it just so happens that the route to the garden centre goes past my local quilting shop Quiltessential. Fortunately they were closed when I went but of course when I came back they were open so I couldn't just drive past could I?



Happy sewing

Maggi

Sew busy

I can't believe that it has been almost three weeks since my last post. I have spent so much time working, sewing, gardening and reading what everyone else has been doing that time has run out before I could sit down and compose anything. I had hoped to be able to take some photos of the bluebells at Calke but when we went they were almost over so we just enjoyed a good walk and took some photos of the lovely old trees they have there and also one I particularly liked of one of the lakes. As you can see, it was a beautiful day.



These are photos of an amazingly textured ancient tree.




I have been working on a piece for my Spring Blooms swap partner. I had an idea of what I was going to do for this swap but then discovered that the one thing she did not want was raw edge applique - back to the drawing board! I decided to try my hand at a paper pieced pattern, not something that I usually do and either the instructions were not clear or I didn't follow them properly. Either way I lost some of the points ( I think I needed Micki here!) and although I can live with it I didn't feel that I could send it as a swap to someone else so back to the drawing board again. This time I drafted a crazy log cabin and appliqued a flower into the centre of each block. Finally finished and ready to go once I have attached the label. It's OK to show it here because we do not know who we will be receiving our quilt from.



This is the Amish Garden that will not be posted out although I can find a place to hang it in my house. It is still a WIP.



Another piece that I have just finished is a hanging that was inspired by the class I did with Beth Wheeler a little while back. It is going to hang over my bed but is also going to Sutton Hoo for their exhibition in October. The photo makes it seem quite a small piece and does not show the scale of it, it is actually 4' x 2'



And finally I have at last made a hanging from some Secret Garden squares that I made some time ago - like several years ago. I wanted some hand work to do in the evening and during my breaks at work so dug them out and sewed them together. The flash has made the colours a bit more washed out than they should be, they have a kind of glow in real life.



Finally Andrea gave me this award recently. I am not going to nominate any one person because it really does belong to all of you who drop by to support my blog. I thank you for all your comments and please accept this award from me.






Thank you for stopping by and reading. I will try not to be so long next time.

Maggi

I've been missing you

It is over two weeks since my last post and apart from work I have been really missing catching up with everyone's blogs. My internet connection has been very temperamental recently, kept timing me out or refusing to connect. Very frustrating, especially when I had tried to access something. I tried it out each morning to see if it was going to play ball but in the end I gave up and concentrated on sewing. Today it seems to have remembered its manners so let's hope this post actually makes it.

I have been doing another online class with Ellen Lindner. It is called Instant Art Quilts. This is a very different way of working for me and has been quite challenging but I am almost there. I have just got to complete the hand quilting around the accent pieces and then bind it and it will be done. I did some of the quilting earlier but have had to take a break as it is quite tough going as there are several layers in places, fortunately the use of pliers has made it easier.



This month's Popular Patchwork Journal Quilt Challenge was to use a twin needle. I had actually used this technique on my January one but only quilting with straight lines using straight stitch and zig zag. I decided to use this month to try out the stainless steel fabric in a more quilty setting and have to admit that it behaves beautifully. I definitely have ideas about how to use this fabric in another project. As far as I can tell the only downside is that it is not easy to photograph.



Uploading that last pic took two attempts so Broadband is still not entirely recovered. Apologies to those blogger friends that I usually visit regularly but at least I got caught up today.

Happy stitching

Maggi

Limits and Resistance

As promised last night I have managed to get some reasonable pictures of the piece that I bought. They are not the best I have ever taken as it is mounted on very dark grey perspex so difficult to photograph. It is actually darker than it appears in the pictures. The title of the piece is Limits and Resistance.



This close up shows the detail of some of the stitching.



This is a close up of one of the square on the left hand side. They all have images of a figure stitched on them. A bit blurred I'm afraid.



It is hanging above my new fireplace and is likely to be the last thing I buy for a while as I got the car back today and now it is me that is broke!

Happy stitching

Maggi

Sculpted Surprises

I had a wonderful day at the Beetroot Tree on Sunday at the workshop. We were working with metal fabric which can be used in so many different ways. There are different weights and types such as copper, pewter and bronze, all of which can be used as they are or burnished with heat to create beautiful surfaces. I decided to use the medium fine stainless steel fabric. As you can see from this photo it doesn't look like anything special.



Until you hold it over a camping gas stove and then the magic starts.



This next picture shows the same fabric with Lutrador, added, stitched and burnt back and with the beginning of the stitching. It will eventually be a small three-petalled vessel but has quite a way to go yet.



The day was mainly spent making samples of different ways the fabrics can be used and then in the afternoon we started on the vessel, hence it did not get finished.

If ever you get the chance to take a workshop at The Beetroot Tree I can recommend it. It is in the heart of the old village of Draycott, converted from an old barn. The surroundings are beautiful and it is a very relaxing place to go - even if you just want to browse, have a coffee or visit one of the many exhibitions that are held there. The lunches, which are included in the workshop fee are excellent, vegetarian which is great for me and other dietary requirements can be catered for. The sun was shining all day and at lunchtime we wandered in the garden which now boasts three chickens who come up to say hello and talk to you - or at least it seemed to me like they were talking!

I was able to pick up the piece of Alysn's work that I had bought from the current exhibition and had said I would show you a photo of it. Unfortunately I have just gone down to do it and it is too dark and the flash does it no favours. I will try again tomorrow in the daylight.

On the downside, my car failed its MOT today so I had to leave it at the garage and get the bus back home. I was really annoyed as the things it has failed on are all related to the many potholes that have appeared in our roads over here since we had the severe weather earlier in the year. I don't think my bank manager is going to be too impressed when he sees how much it is going to cost. I would love to be able to do without a car but it is just not practical so I will just have to cough up when I pick it up tomorrow. Until then I will just enjoy stitching - good job I don't need to buy any new supplies.

Enjoy your creative time.

Maggi

Living Threads Exhibition

Just a quick post today to remind anyone who is anywhere near to Long Eaton in Derbyshire that the latest Living Threads Exhibition is still going on at Trent College and is an event not to be missed. It is a textile exhibition that takes place every two years and the standard of work has to be seen to be believed. The group started in 1983 and now has around 70 members covering beading, embroidery, feltmaking, knitting, lacemaking, quilting, rugmaking and weaving. It is a stunning exhibition, the only downside being unable to take photos to share with you. It is on daily until Saturday 18th April from 10.00 am - 5.30 (5.00 pm on Saturday) and only costs £2.50 with free parking so do try and see it if you can, I can assure you that you will not be disappointed.

The new sewing table arrived from Bernina arrived today so tomorrow I intend to make a start on the piece that will hopefully be ready for the Festival of Quilts in August.

I also got my April Journal Quilt done for the Contemporary Group and am quite pleased with the way it has turned out. I decided to do reverse applique then added scrim and some beading. Quite labour intensive for a 12" x 6" piece.



I am also looking forward to Saturday as I have booked to attend a workshop at The Beetroot Tree with Alysn Midgelow-Marsden called Sculpted Surprises which involves creating something three dimensional using a combination of woven metals, machine applique techniques with sheer fabrics, Fibre DK and hand embellishments. Classes with Alysn are always entertaining and extremely enjoyable so hopefully I will have something to show you next week. It will be nice to do a workshop with human contact for a change after all the online classes.

I will now go and catch up with what all of you out there have been doing.

Enjoy your creativity

Maggi

Geta's giveaway received

I received my little quilt from Geta's giveaway yesterday and am thrilled with it. It is so pretty and it is really good to see her work in the flesh.



I also received a really cute postcard from Kim as part of the Popular Patchwork swap. The theme was 'Family' and the three figures are holding a little quilt which is actually separate from the main body of the card. Thank you Kim.



Popular Patchwork are also doing a monthly Journal Quilt project in which a different technique is used each month. I took out my subscription too late for the January one so had to order the back copy - don't want to end the year with only 11, that would seem like an unfinished project. January's was using Bondaweb.



Not much more done since the last post as I am back at work until Sunday morning and I now have to get on the phone to Bernina to try to sort out the order that they got wrong! I ordered one of the plexiglass sewtables so that I could have a bigger area on which to do my quilting and was thrilled when it also arrived yesterday. Can you imagine my disappointment when I opened it to find that they had sent one that did not fit my machine. It arrived really quickly as well so just hope that I can get it resolved as quickly.

Until next time, happy creativity.

Maggi

PS - have to give credit to Bernina, a three minute phone call and it was all sorted. They are delivering the correct one on Tuesday and collecting the wrong one. Lovely lady at the other end of the phone too.

Quilt show and new fire

I had a wonderful day out at Trentham visiting Quilts in the Garden on Sunday. It was well worth the visit as there were some wonderful quilts on display although sadly they were not really at their best as the lighting was not good. I did the best that I could with the photos but it was not easy, particularly as it was difficult to get into a good position for a shot as well. The winning bed quilt was by Gwenfai Rees Griffiths, another beautiful example of her hand work, including the Sea Lily blocks from Jenny Beyer's book which were hand pieced using the traditional English method.



I loved the colours that were in Maggie Relph's wall hanging which was made from her sunprint fabric.



This next one is another lovely wall hanging by Annabel Rainbow - it really stood out in the rather dim light.



There was also a small exhibition by a contemporary textile group called Eclectica who meet at the Forge Museum at Redditch which provided some excellent and varied pieces. I can't acknowledge who made the pieces I'm afraid.






I was extremely restrained amongst the traders for a change and only bought two wall hanging patterns from Anja Townrow. I have several others from her but have only ever made one of them - perhaps I will be inspired to do some more now. Having said I was restrained we did also visit the retail village after lunch and I discovered a shop called Weird Fish and treated myself to a new jacket which meant that I had just about spent up before going back to the quilt show. I did need a new jacket whereas I definitely did not need more fabric!

The fireplace is finished. relatively painless because the two young men who were with me for three days were so pleasant and left the place immaculate. Here is the 'before' picture with the old gas fire and the fake marble and MDF surround that I had always hated.



And this is what I have now - the slightly darker marks have now gone, it was just from where they had wiped down the stone and it was still damp. I love it as it makes the room seem warmer even when it is not lit.



I got a wonderful surprise when I was checking my emails on Sunday evening to find that a landscape hanging that I had been doing with the Learningfa Yahoo group was on the home page. First time I have done a landscape and I have to admit that I had to add the three-dimensional butterflies to help out the perspective but I am quite pleased with it.



I'm now back on shifts until Sunday morning so time spent sewing will be greatly reduced but I wish you all, happy stitching.

Maggi