Star Pattern Table Runner Video 2

I am continuing the series of videos for the Star Pattern Table runner.

Video 2 concentrates on making the star pattern block using a four patch block method of construction.

Star Pattern Table Runner Video 2

I also received a photo from Cherry of her finished Parrot panel. She chose some lovely batik fabrics and they have worked beautifully for this project.

Thank you Cherry for sharing your lovely panel with us

Bev

A Mixed Bag

I have been meaning to write my blog for what seems like days now. Apologies if you have been waiting for the new post.

We are still travelling up and down the country when I am not teaching. I am pleased to say that my mother is recovering well from the subarachnoid aneurysm and is now back home. The fabric I ordered for her had arrived and we couldn't resist in auditioning it against the pieced top she had done before going into hospital. It is going to be a wonderful quilt.

My parrot patchwork is nearly finished and with a few tweaks to the design it will be ready for display at Tudor Rose Patchwork. If you would like to have a go at stained glass patchwork and make this fun pair of parrots please get in touch with them. The day school is on Monday September 28th.

Tudor Rose Patchwork

I have also been busy with a new beginners project for next Wednesday. Using the half square triangle block I have made this lovely Star table runner. A great project for anyone wanting to perfect the half square triangle block

 

 Using the half square triangles I was playing around with in the last post, I have made a simple bag. It is proving to be an easy way to take small projects and quilts to class and back.

As part of our '30 events for our 30th year' ( for our wedding anniversary this year) Alan and I pottered along to the BBC to watch a recording of the Radio 4 programme - The Museum of Curiosities. It was very interesting to see how these things are made. We also got a glimpse of the BBC news area and saw the weather reporter Tomasz Schafernaker presenting his report. However I have to say that I still fancy myself as the Doctors next companion. An older companion for an older Doctor????

I could do with a tardis for all the projects I have in my head.

Bev

A Sketchbook Day

 Yesterday we had great fun in the studio. Two of my level 2 students, Julie and Tracey are finishing their Patchwork and Quilting course. We decided that it would be fun to start a new sketchbook so that they have a starting point for their own work.

You may have seen this photo from my Seville post a few weeks ago, Taken in the Real Alcazar palace. I love the textures and pattern in this tile and it was the focus for a sketchbook day.

We started by preparing pages by painting, adding scrunched tissue paper, salt and cling film to give different textures. This is a page which has tissue paper a paint wash and then highlighted with wax crayon.

When the pages were dry we made printing blocks using polystyrene pizza bases ( nothing gets thrown away in my house ) These are a great way of making a quick printing block. Using a sharp pencil you can carve lines and marks very easily. Don't forget to add a masking tape handle on the back. I have printed twice on this page which I think gives a depth to the print.

 The print had such a depth after printing that when I rubbed over the reverse side with wax crayons I got this lovely textured page.

This page was very uninspiring when it started. I had excess paint on a roller so I just painted a page with it. Over printing though has made it into a more interesting page. I really like the faded edges. Don't you love serendipity.

I have made this page the front cover of my sketchbook.. It has a line of tissue paper painted with a blue ink wash. The rest or the page was painted with an acrylic paint wash, printed and then wax crayon added

 

Here is a selection of my pages

And some of Julie's pages

And some of Tracey's pages

 We now have an exciting start to some new sketchbooks.

Bev 

A Parrot Post

Thanks for dropping by. Post will be a little sporadic at the moment as my mother was taken into hospital last week.

I did manage to get a sample for a new workshop started this week though.

It is based on a picture I took at the Real Alcazar in Seville just before Easter. One of my students came for a catch up day in my studio and it gave me the impetus to get started, thank you Mark.

This faded tapestry with colourful parrots and cockatoo's is the inspiration for a parrot panel. I have to also thank my husband for the wonderful camera he gave me for Christmas. The trip to Seville will be inspiration for many projects over the coming months.

A playful pair of parrots are for a workshop on Monday 28th September at Tudor Rose Patchwork. As you can see it is a work in progress at the moment.

Work that has been put on hold is my quilt for the Festival of Quilts this year. It will just have to be for 2016. It will be called Bluebells and blossom and is inspired by the walks into and around Ferry Meadows in Peterborough. And this year the cherry blossom and bluebells are putting on a wonderful show.

I have done a full working drawing and have started piecing the fabric but I know that I will not manage now to get it completed in time for this years deadline.

I also want to share with you this lovely book given to us for our Wedding Anniversary. Sue has spent many hours folding the pages of a book into a heart and I now want to give it a go. There are just not enough hours in the day for everything I want to do. Do you have the same problem?

See you soon

Bev

Studio Weekend

This weekend some of my students came to my home studio to have a bit of a messy time. Graded dyeing, silk painting and batik were among some of the techniques we explored.

My husband had bought me a wax pot for my birthday and this was the perfect opportunity to try it out

Lots of wonderful experimenting going on

Transfer paints with a stitched resist. I love the mottled background.

Bleach effects on hand dyed fabric and velvet.

Silk painting and salt effects

Folded and pegged fabric it looks like a tiled floor. I am very pleased with this one.

Tray dyeing before rinsing out.  The colours will be paler when it is dried.

Stacks of dyed fabric to take home.

Jenny's silk painting

Sarah's 

And Jan's

I am looking forward to our next lesson to see how the dyed fabric has turned 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 Doodle Day

Sometimes you just need a doodle day and today was mine.

 I started by playing with patterns on paper

And finished with a doodle block

The trouble with this is that more ideas keep flowing and I need more doodle days than I have time for. 

If you fancy having a go at machine embroidery doodling I am running a work shop on June 3rd at Rutland Sewing Centre, near Oakham. Please contact the shop to book a place. 

Bev 

Butterflies and Stitch Samples

 Yesterday, one of my Machine Embroidery students, Barbara, brought in her folder of samples from the first two lessons. 

She has taken to machine embroidery so well and has given me permission to share her work here. 

From her first free motion embroidery sample, and through using colour and stitch she has made wonderful start to her machine embroidery. 

Her applique samples show good use of colour and stitch, and will be an invaluable resource for her future work.  

She also inspired me to get on and start cataloguing the stitches of my Brother Innovis sewing machine.

This is a job I have intended to do for ages and have now made a start. I encourage my students to do this but hadn't done it myself, now is the time to remedy this failing. 

I find that once I have started something there is a chance it will get done. These are the first two samplers and I haven't started on the decorative stitch setting yet. What I have learnt is that the stitches are not exactly like the diagrams. Much more variation is possible with by altering the stitch width and length and that will be yet another sampler. 

I now need to move away from the computer and get back to my machine. 

I hope you have enjoyed Barbara's work too

Bev