Creative Stitching and Hobbycrafts Show, Exeter

Having worked from home virtually all week David was wanting to get out at the weekend.  In fact we hardly had any time at home last weekend.  On Saturday we ventured over to Exeter to the Creative Stiching and Hobbycrafts show.  This has been a regular event for some years but never got around to visiting so this show was a first time for us.  Besides quilting, embroidery and knitting there were yarn spinning groups, sugarcraft and even an egg-decorating group represented there.  There were quite a few papercrafting traders too, so an interesting selection of things to see.

There were displays to see as well as traders, but although I took my camera I didn't replace my memory card from the last time I uploaded photo's (because I use a card reader to load my photos onto the computer).  So David and I took pics from our mobile phones instead.  Here's one from a display of costumes from the five main characters on Downton Abbey.  I think there may be more photos, but this is the only one that I've got at present.

Further along we saw a large display of postcards by members of the West Country Embroiders and although I took a few photos here the light around there wasn't brilliant but here's a selection.

David liked the embroidered Mini - said it looked like a car from an Ikea advert! He also said with the number of cards that I've got I could rival their display!

I did manage to shop as well and bought some fabric, even some to make a couple of skirts. I've also bought some yarn, a pattern and more unusually, so cutting dies to go with my Big Shot machine which will go towards some card making for Christmas (that's not long now, rather scary thought).

I saw some mask templates, thought it would make interesting effects on fabric as well as card.

The top two fabrics I'll probably make skirts with.  I couldn't resist the Christmas fabrics either. Plenty to keep me busy then.

Postcards and Knitting

As it will be Autumnal Equinox tomorrow I'm sharing with you some of the leaves cards that I've received recently.  These were my offerings which I sent at the beginning of the month here

And below are the ones that I've received from swappers Alice (with the coppery foiled leaves), Lesley (leaves on a hessian background) and Jacquie (the shaded leaf skeleton) and what a gorgeous selection of cards they are.

As a surprise I also got a card from Benta, who wasn't in the swap, but she won one of my postcards, this is just lovely.  I've taken this photo in artificial light (the nights have drawn in) so the photo doesn't do this justice.

Recently, it might be to do with the weather getting colder, I've taken to doing some knitting.  I bought the wool way back in the New Year, when we visited Whitby and found this wool shop in an old Wesley chapel called Bobbins (I've found they have a website here).  I later found a pattern in a wool shop in Wareham, started enthusiastically knitting the back, then left it.  Now picked the knitting up last week and completed two fronts (they now have to have the border knitted on) and finished a sleeve yesterday and now on the second sleeve.  The yarn I've used is called Riot by King Cole, pattern by Sirdar.  I have found since that this yarn is sold in a local wool shop (but was not as interesting as the one in Whitby!)

Another Busy Sunday Sewing

I've progressed the quilt that I started last Sunday with some free motion quilting on Wednesday and adding borders today.  I wasn't quite sure whether to do some straight binding across the width of the fabrics that I chose or to "wonky cut" the fabric and add 1.5" on the width of the binding.  I tried one strip just to see and the give in the fabric was enough that I could just cut straight binding.  The end product is that I had a wonky quilt that drapes OK so that's good.  The size of this is 15" long and 11.5" wide (at the longest and widest points). 

I thought about whether I needed something more on the coloured strips, but no I'm going to leave that all I've got to do now is the label.

The inspiration for this is this quilt here, I called this one Branksome Chine and I made the blocks at a workshop called Chop and Go years ago in 2001 and the teacher was Janice Gunner.  I think that we were asked to bring fabrics based on a photograph.  Branksome Chine has cliffs that were in various orangey-sandy shades with dark green for the pine trees.  I not only completed the quilt but that had a label too (at a time when I didn't think of putting labels on my quilts!)

There we go, without that label I wouldn't have known when I made the quilt!

Sewing Sunday

At the beginning of the year, the BQL Challenge was a Skinny Quilt Challenge which involved various small skinny quilts according to the challenge set for 2 monthly periods or for this period 3 months. These quilts were then swapped with other BQL members who participated in this challenged.  I took part in the beginning with this quilt here, but since then working and time constraints meant that I didn't make any more.

So having got up to date with postcards I thought I would give this month's a bash and in an afternoon yesterday I made this quilt top below.  The challenge this time was making a quilt that wasn't rectangular or if it had 4 sides they had to be irregular.  So I went wiggly.

I started with a rectangle of blue fabric and cut that into 4

I joined some irregular strips of fabric

I cut the strip into 2 pieces lengthwise with the narrower of the two being used for the short strips in the quilt and the wider one used for the long strip along the quilt.  I then took the rotary cutter and wiggly cut the sides before layering up.

That's where I have left it for the afternoon.  Have to think about how I'll quilt it now. Quite pleased with how it's looking so far.

Meanwhile David has also been busy over the weekend, he had a shed to put together.  He had some help from Alex on Saturday to put the main body of the shed together and yesterday was making it watertight by putting in the windows and doors.  Its just as well as it's raining this morning.  Some parts of this have to be painted but the wood had been treated so there's not too much hurry. Here's how it looks.

Oriental Postcard Swap

So much has happened in July/August, what with holiday, change of jobs, Festival of Quilts and other things going on I never posted about the Oriental postcard swap due the end of July.

These are the cards that I sent out here

And these are the ones I had in return

From Lis, Michelle, Carole and Alice

From Jan

Our different interpretations of one theme are fantastic.  Michelle's is currently in a leaflet holder so I can bring a little postcard art to my work desk

Also to make myself at home at work I made a mug rug (or large coaster)

 Which goes really well with my Cath Kidston mug, which I use at work.

Have a good weekend

Wimborne Model Village

I had a day off today, instead of Wednesday, so it was an out and about day.  I was visiting Boscombe in the morning where my Mum had her eye check at the opticians, I had a look at the glasses and have now ordered a couple of pairs of glasses, which I needed.  I was pleased to have that job done.  I had lunch with my Mum and Dad and they have a new Cavalier King Charles puppy, now just over 13 weeks old called Shandy.  He's got to the stage in puppiness, where he has that leggy look, where his body has yet to catch up with his legs. He was quietish so decided to photograph him on my mobile (I'd left my camera at home, that was silly).

From Mum & Dad's I went off to Hobbycraft to have a look around, but nothing really appealed that much, so from there over to Wimborne.  At Wimborne's Model Town, not far from the Minster, there is currently a Quilt exhibition by Happy Patchers in some of the buildings and marquees in the gardens there.  Again, not having my camera I took photos with my phone and as the weather was sunny it became difficult to see what I was taking, so sorry for the quality of the pictures here.

The village shows Wimborne in the 1950's and it is amazing the number of various shops at the time that you just don't see today.  It is sad in a way that there are now mega stores out of towns which are sucking the life out of town centres and not being the lively places they once were.

Model Wimborne Minster

Through the window of the Kings Head Hotel (below)

Some of the shops

Looking from the Square down towards the Minster

Another street full of shops

Looking from the end of the garden towards the model town

 Now onto the quilt show.  It was spread over 2 marquees and 2 rooms on the site with two group quilts to celebrate 25 years of the group in the cafe.  Some lovely quilts there included group challenges, one of which was Strips and Stripes and this striking quilt by Brenda Franklin of a Hidden Wells pattern.

There were some lovely Japanese Folded Patchwork Bags.

Above is an Autumn quilt made a 10 ladies in the group.

I also recognised my friend Brenda Moore's quilt there. 

So there were lots of nice things to see and the exhibition goes on to Sunday 11 September.  There is a link to last year's exhibition here.

Postcard giveaway

Just a short posting that as 2 people commented that instead of drawing for a postcard in my last post, both Benta and the anonymous person (I hope she will contact me soon) will be sent a postcard.  Thank you for your comments ladies!