Quitting the Quilting.....

In my last blog post I said I'd show you how I was getting on with my little strip quilt....well it has transformed into a fabric weaving! :-) I think I'll leave the quilting to Maggi and all you other brilliant people out there and admit defeat. 

I am not a quilter.                                              

On the other hand I do love tearing strips of fabric and stitching onto them. The one below is a work in progress....I was intrigued to find the colours perfectly matched the dried honesty that Maggi gave to me. 

(Not Photoshopped...honesty!)

Most of those lovely fabrics were sent to me as second prize in a give-away from Plum Quilts. You can see the gorgeous piece she made with them here.

I've got lots left and have started another weaving (with the strips unpicked from my failed quilting attempt ;-)

That's 4 I have on the go now.......

Just over a week ago Maggi and I visited Staunton Harold Craft Centre in Leicestershire. We wanted to see the work of Michelle Homes (who had her work displayed in a recent exhibition at The Beetroot Tree). She shares a workshop and gallery with another artist, Carol Saunderson...its called the Archangel Studio. Michelle's work was on the front cover of Embroidery Magazine last month - you can see it here.

We spent a lovely half hour in the gallery chatting to the talented ladies and I bought one of Michelle's little machine-stitched ladies. As you can see, Carol's whippet likes to keep warm in the workshop!
After that it was lunch in the craft centre.......

....everywhere looked so beautiful it was hard to believe it was the last week of October!

I spent most of yesterday crocheting....I want to make a blanket but first I thought I'd experiment with different yarns and patterns....

...some are wool, some are cotton but still haven't quite decided yet. I'm going to Yarn in Beeston tomorrow with Mum, to get some advice and buy more supplies! I really like the African flower hexagons (pattern here ) but I think I'll probably go to go for the square top right (pattern here ).

And finally..... a Peachy pic (of course).
 I do yoga most days and I think the Boy has been watching. His spinal twist is amazing!!

(This is his favourite hiding spot on the landing)

And definitely finally..... have you discovered Pinterest yet? Sharon and I have - its amazing!!!!!
http://pinterest.com/     (My boards are here)
 I can lose whole days there!!!

Has it really been 7 weeks?

Oh gosh, that's my worst break yet.......but I have been very busy, honestly :-)

So what have I got to show for all that time away? 

Well......a couple of weeks ago DH and I decided to visit Mum's cousin Irene in Devon. We've never met before, so it was quite an emotional moment for us both and we spent a happy 3 hours together, chatting about the family and looking around her studio. Irene is currently painting for two exhibitions and there were pieces everywhere....I was totally in awe. I wanted to buy one but they were all needed for the exhibition, but I was stunned when she presented me with one of her original paintings that she did a few years back...and I absolutely love it! I reminds me a little of my mum when she was younger....

A treasured reminder of a special day......

(Update: For those of you who asked, you can see more of Irene's work here )

After that we spent two days in Padstow and Port Isaac.....

( I had a good look at Doc Martin's house, of course).

Then spent 2 days in St Ives ....where I fell in love with an amazing view

...and where I was ambushed by 2 of these and they took my WHOLE ice cream cornet!!!

 Bad, bad gulls :-(

We also visited The Lost Gardens of  Heligan

 and The Eden Project (climbed up to the new viewing platform at the top of the rainforest biome)

and finally ended up in Mevagissey, where we stayed an amazing b&b. It was the cheapest of all and the best  ......owned by the most delightful couple. It was a bit too nippy to use the pool...but maybe next time ;-)

Trennicks Guest House

We've also been to 2 weddings over the last fortnight and visited Knaresborough for the 3rd time this year. Plus I organised a workshop at my house for 6 lovely ladies last week.

So you see....I have been busy :-)

I finally completed the Stef Francis piece....its going in a frame.

I also completed a scrapbook of my photos from Cornwall...... this is page 2 out of 20.

Peachy helped of course...he loved watching the Cricut machine cutting out letters....

.......but then he got bored and fell asleep in my card drawer.

I've been photographing wildlife in the garden ....

...he'd just wrapped up a wasp for lunch.

And I've become rather obsessed with hydrangea flower skeletons......

 ....so very pretty.

Well I think that's about it..... I'll show you the quilt I'm attempting to make in my next post. Which will be very soon... ;-)
Now I need to start blog-visiting......

Making Progress.....

I've been working on my Stef Francis project this week.....above are a few details showing how far I've got. There's still lots to do......

This is how it started....

.....with a bit of help from Peachy :-)

Then it involved some maths...... :-/

...lots of cutting and bonding......

.......and choosing of threads and beads.

The final stage is hand-stitching and beading.....which I'm loving doing.

And there are enough pieces left over to make another 3 or 4!

I've decided to join in with Jude Hill's Magic Feather Project (see link in side bar).... if you visit her blog you'll see she's kindly giving free tutorials and lots of information regarding the project.
My first attempt was a bit too large and clumsy (I'm not good with satin stitch :-/ )

So I had another go and maybe this one will be sent to Jude...along with a couple of others hopefully.
She's aiming for 1000!! If you visit her blog you'll see the 143 she's already received. I think there's a Flickr group too (and Facebook).

And finally.......a lesson in how to relax from The Grand Master. He has it off to a fine art.......

Just wish I had his gift :-)

FOQ Part 2

As promised here are some more photos from the Festival of Quilts. Sorry there are no full sized ones....I prefer to record details. If you'd like to see some full-sized quilts, Julie has some fantastic photos and information on her blog and Maggi  has some great slide shows and photos ...I recommend you visit both! 

These are just a small selection pf my photos (thank you Maggi for the loan of your camera on the day - can you believe I forgot mine!!!!!)

Thank goodness I remembered my purse.......... :-)

 Beautiful, textured felt from C21st Yarns........

 A luscious kit from Stef Frances that I can't wait to start on.....

 A wonderful book from Ineke Berlyn.....

 And another from Maggie Grey......so many great ideas!

 Fat quarters......

And mulberry bark.
I think that's about it :-) Apart from loads of postcards, greetings cards and pretty business cards.
Roll on the Knitting and Stitching Show!!!! (Remind me to take my camera Maggi)

Last week we went to Knaresborough again for the arts festival.......that will have to wait for the next post. But before I go......a couple more photos. When I collected Peachy from the cattery at the end of our holiday......

 .......the owner took me to see one of the other 'guests' who had surprised her by giving birth to 6 kittens half way through her 2 week stay!!!! The owners didn't say anything about her being pregnant so they'll have a surprise when they get home :-) Wonder if they'll get charged extra!

Click on photo for full ahhhhh-factor :-)

Festival of Quilts

Had a fabulous day at the Festival of Quilts today with Maggi. Met up with the lovely Julie , drooled over the most amazing artwork, attended a brilliant lecture by Maggie Grey and spent quite a bit of money (more pics to come tomorrow). I'm off to bed now...... :-)

A sample of some of the delights on display.......

Macro Magic.....

Since discovering the macro setting on my camera I've become a little bit obsessed with the centres of flowers...

...and other things.....

Not forgetting the cordyline bark ;-) (This section is actually about 1cm in size).

Scary!!!!

Now I need to do something with them........

Please click on photos for more detail!!