A Celebration and Dog Sitting Part 2

Although this post is called dog sitting part 2 there will be little mention of the lovable Toby from the last post.

We spent a lovely couple of weeks in the Lake District and I am still catching up with things. Funny how a holiday can really throw things. So this is a quick round up of the holiday and then I will get back to all things textile related.

One of the things we did was to visit the new Lakes Distillery. As you can see it has not been open long so it will be a few years for their own whisky to be produced ( for those who like whisky I have to say I am not fond )

However I was taken with the wonderful iron gates and the Victorian model farm buildings. 

They also had llamas but I couldn't see the connection (but they were cute)

 We had wonderful weather and took the opportunity practice with the panoramic setting on the camera. Unfortunately I was wearing my sunglasses and didn't quite match it up. I added in more mountains on most of them.

This is a better photo my husband took from Whinlatter looking down at Bassenthwaite Lake

And of Derwentwater

I also said in the last post that I was expecting a new sewing machine. Unfortunately it has been delayed and is still in America. This is not the totally bad news you might expect, as we fell behind with the new quilting room. We managed to complete the new floor this weekend so the quilt table still needs to be reassembled. Hope fully it won't be too long before everything is done as I am itching to get going.

My new floor

On another happy note, three of my students came to my studio for a coffee and cake celebration. 

Congratulations to them all.

And now with new courses starting this month it is back to work.

Level 1 Patchwork & Quilting will be starting at Tudor Rose Patchwork, Oakley on Tuesday 22nd September.

Bev

A Snapshot of Seville

Hello and thanks for dropping by. For my regular readers I apologise for the lack of blogging over the last couple of weeks. I have to say I did have an excuse. It was my 30th Wedding Anniversary and the week before Easter my wonderful husband whisked me off to Seville.

It was wonderful. The smell of orange blossom was everywhere. The weather was great (40 degrees). and Seville was in party mood.

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy week and it is taken very seriously. Thousands of people came to see the processions. Huge floats are carried by teams through the streets preceeded and followed by hundreds of penitents and bands. Some of the processions leave their Churches at 11am and don't get back to them until 3am the following day. 

We also saw some flamenco dancing 

And spent a wonderful morning in the Real Alcazar. Looking through over 900 photos though, I find that as usual I have focused in on the patterns and textures

If I was a fortune teller I would say that I can see a new sketchbook in my future.

And even when we popped into a small back street bar for refreshment we couldn't get away from sewing machines. 

Hope you have enjoyed my little snapshot of Seville

Bev

Goldwork and Felt - A day out in Ely

We have just had a lovely day in Ely, Cambridgeshire. 

Firstly we stumbled upon a wonderful little restaurant for lunch called The Old Fire Engine House , which serves very tasty food using local produce. Fantastic.

I don't know if I should be recommending it or just keeping this hidden gem to myself. What made it even better was the exhibition of art by Lyz Gardner and Katrina Wilkie. Beautiful vibrant pieces evoking the spirit of the landscape.

From there we walked down to the Cathedral, which has the most spectacular octogon tower.

This month there is a beautiful exhibition of Ecclesiastical embroidery by the Royal School of Needlework. There are wonderful Goldwork embroideries on display and also a small piece of stumpwork and whitework. The half finished samplers are very interesting as you can see how the embroidery was stitched in more detail.

(These pictures have been taken of the catalogue.)

Student work from Kings Ely was also on display in the Cathedral, and it showed a high level of skill in the garments they had produced. 

We decided to save going to the Stained Glass Museum for another trip to this wonderful Cathedral and went in search of the Craft and Collectables Market. Here my husband spotted Mary Gostelow's fabulous book of Embroidery for the bargain price of £6.50  - lots of wonderful embroidery techniques from around the world for me to peruse.

Finally on the way back to the car my eye was caught by some vibrant handmade felt garments and bags in the window of The Handmade Hotspot   a shop and gallery selling work by local artists and designers. Just the place for a unique gift.

All in all a grand day out

Bev         

Kathleen Laurel Sage Workshop and more

It has been wonderful to be on the other side of the fence and be a student for a couple of days. I have had the most fantastic time with Kathleen Laurel Sage making a fairy doll

She is a great teacher and I had a lovely time doing something quite different to quilting. I have not stitched and burnt organzas for several years or done so much embellishment so had great fun letting go.

This little fairy will be finding her way into someones stocking this year.

Making some Christmas gifts this year has made me think that this is the way to go and next year most of my gifts will be made (I will have to start in January I think as I want to make a few quillows)

Luckily I now have my new studio and no excuses for lack of productivity.

This weekend I am having my first students to have a dyeing, using resists and discharge pastes weekend. Should be messy and fun.

I have also been involved in a lovely group project making a lap quilt for a very special friend. We each made a block of blues and greens with a pop of orange.  You can see more of this on Pams Blog

Bev

A Box of Goodies

The Bank Holiday weekend has been lovely. A bit of gardening, a day trip to the coast, a 25th Wedding Anniversary party and a wonderful parcel in the post. All the above have been wonderful but I'm sure that it is the box of goodies in which you will be most interested.

Is is a box of 30 sewing machine feet which fit machines that use the snap on system.  Luckily all my machines use this system. There are feet here that I have not had cause to use - yet. I feel a day experimenting is called for, after I have finished my stitch samplers though. 

This wonderful box contains a walking foot, sprung darning foot, two types of 1/4" quilting feet, and an appliqué foot, along with many others ( see list at bottom of post) 

All these great feet with a retail value of over £300 for less than £60. A bargain I couldn't resist.

If you are interested in a set call Paul at sewingmachinediscount.co.uk and mention my blog ( 0800 567 7111 or 020 8236 1520 ) But please note that I'm not sure when the offer ends.

And here are a couple of pictures from historic Kings Lynn on a lovely sunny Sunday. 

The full list of feet:

Braiding foot
Fringe food
5 Hole cording foot
7 hole cording foot
Edge joining foot
1/4" Quilting foot 
Straight Stitch foot
Open toe embroidery foot
Round Bead foot
Zig zag foot
Cording foot
1.4" quilting foot with guide
9 groove pintuck foot
overcasting foot
Stitch guide foot
5 Groove pintuck foot
Satin stitch foot
Zigzag foot
Double welting foot
Invisible Zipper foot
Roller foot
Blind Stitch foot
Applique foot
Open toe foot
Darning foot
Shirring foot
1/8" round hemmer foot
Hemmer foot
Adjustable bias tape binder
Walking foot



Bev 

A Lovely Day Out

On Saturday I had the opportunity og being at the Rutland Sewing Center near Oakham to talk about the Patchwork & Quilting, City & Guilds course.  It was a lovely opportunity to meet other tutors too. Generally we never see each other so it was great to chat and exchange ideas. 

meet some of the wonderful tutors

Marilyn Murray 

Viv Tipper's projects

and Margaret Torrance 

 I am looking forward to being part of this new venture.

Bev

WOW where has the time gone?

The last few months have been super busy what with decorating, moving office and finishing projects before Christmas. 

Firstly I just want to say a huge CONGRATULATIONS to all my students for completing their City & Guilds level 1 courses, ( machine embroidery, hand embroidery and patchwork & quilting) We heard yesterday that they had all passed so it is a wonderful early Christmas present to everyone. 

I also heard today, that I can offer level 2 courses next year so I am over the moon. I will need to get back down to earth soon but will enjoy today.

Last night my friends popped round for a Christmas make - raggedy wreaths. A great make as there was no stitching or sticking involved.

To make one you will need a wire hoop and at least 2 different fabrics and some ribbon ( 1" wide)  or organza to add a touch of glitz

 The above finished hoop was made with a florist hoop which has 2 rings. 

The pictures below show a single hoop which is of the sort used to make dream catchers and lamp shades. I purchsed it from Fred Aldous and I have to say delivery was super quick.

Fabric - 2 fat quarters and some ribbon or organza to add a bit of glitz.

A double hoop will take more fabric and some of my friends used 5 fat 1/8ths which worked very well.

Cut the fabric, ribbon and organza into strips 1" by 5" (2.5cms by 12.5cms)

We found that knotting the fabric with the right side on next to the hoop made the knot lie better. 

Keep knotting the fabric round the hoop (randomly choosing the fabric strips, ribbon or organza) until it is covered.

Then fiddle and tweek to fluff up the fabric. The left side of the photo is before I fiddled and the right side shows some tweeking.

Bev x