Sequins

Love sequins, but never sewn with them. 
Worried about how to machine sew them
In the end just used a new sharp needle and sewed straight down the middle of the strand
Hopefully they will be secure enough to cope with washing
Any other advice re sewing sequins on ? some mentioned zigzag stitch...would that make them more secure and less likely to catch?

finally finished nephews quilt, decided to bind it in grey, sash it in black to make it a little bit more boyish....

christmas quilt time

Here we go...........
planning to sash this with scarlet, and back with hunter green flannel for daughters bed. Not decided on binding, maybe a turquoise blender with a pearlescent overprint for a frosty finish 
( as opposed to a frosty reception when I give it to her and she thinks its her only present )
she's very  excited about Christmas
have to order the flannel from USA, hope it arrives soon.

Maybe a few tasteful jingle bells at the corners..........or maybe not?

I just can't do a little bit of quilting, I have to go on and on until the top is done. Then I get a really sore neck from overdoing it. What I need is a sewing studio, fed up of pinning on top of my bed as the only space in the flat....well, if I win the lottery, a bijou residence with a sewing studio is on the cards.

Time now for a sit down with a glass of wine and leave the quilt alone.

Rag Quilt try out

Thought I'd have a go at a rag quilt as looked quick!
Ha!
Took a lot longer than planned, and got RSI from snipping edges
And I still think I like the wrong side more than the raggy side
But I don't have a tumble drier to fluff the raggy bits up, so maybe  thats what it needs?
I know  accuquilt does a rag die, anyone tried it?

passed my first module of design and patchwork course ( whoo hoo )

just another day...........

we enjoyed making this little film, hope you like

http://youtu.be/UmoF4EV1kYg

Tate Modern

finally dragged 12 yo daughter away from TV to visit Tate Modern, this Jenny Holzer caught her interest ( hurrah)


loved the Mitch Epstein +

Bridget Riley

daughter outside Tate Modern

now for something completely different as monty python used to say..................

first peg loom sample weave using liberty print fabric strips

( or a blanket for a gerbil as one of my work colleagues labelled it )

knitting and stitching show

went for a second time  as daughter fancied a big wooden button  that her school friend had purchased there

R bought 3 merino tops
 and  plaited into a scarf


Oh,  and here's the button.........

I bought some smaller tops for weaving

got very excited about these African prints, 

whoo hoo!

Happy days!

Have a good week all.

log cabin samples day

have to hand piece as well as machine piece for my design course
oh dear, hand piecing very hard going
have shredded my right middle finger with needle ends

metal thimble just kept falling off
need to find a better one...any recommendations?
also made a complete hash of josephine knot as could not find a pattern and tried to copy from picture...disaster
ah well, if it was all easy there would be no point in studying would there?

artists impression of josephine knot

machined onto sheeting foundation

 hand pieced with the aid of my favourite .....paper foundation, yeah!

peg loom

visited the knitting  and stitching show today at Alexandra Palace
ordered a peg loom which seems to be the perfect way to use up scrap strips of fabric as well as lovely wools etc
Oh, and purchased a  few other items , ahem............................

old maid's ramble etc

now making designs and  blocks for module 1 of my  textile course
not used to traditional blocks at all, but quite enjoyed the hand piecing I had to do as I found that the block is much more malleable when hand pieced.

these sketches had to be  based on my  photos

the second is my daughters hair which has a life of its own

at least  I have an excuse to go and buy lovely art materials !

this is my first hand pieced block

'fifty-four forty or fight'

this took me a very long time as all I had was a picture and no idiot instructions of how to piece the blocks, needless to say a lot of unpicking needed...next time I need to PLAN and work it out first.As they say in the army....PERFECT PREPARATION PREVENTS P***  POOR PERFORMANCE  or words to that effect. 

Origin Craft show inspirations

I visited the Origin Craft show at London Spitalfields market recently

Highly recommend this annual show as an opportunity to buy pieces by makers at the start of their careers

Bit of a to do on arrival as all of us who had prebooked tickets had to wait in a HUGE queue whilst those wandering in on the day just paid and went straight in......lots of British tut tutting and huffing  as a result.

Above are tiny salt/caviar dishes made from recycled steel by Finnish duo LATIMERIA

This by Bristol enameller Janine Partington who works with copper