So I've done some sewing

And embellishing too. Just to show that I haven't been out and about I have been doing things. At the Knitting & Stitching show last month I bought a n old issue of Cloth , Paper , Scissors and saw a needlefelted hanging by Beryl Taylor and decided to have a go and this is the result below.I used a piece of lilac velvet as a base with pink/purple scrim. Circles of purple felt were needled on top then painted bondaweb over that. Pieces of foil were ironed in place and felted. I edged this with strips of organza. Bit of stitching and a few buttons to finish off.
For those who like to look at the back (like I do) here it is in the pic above.
On Saturday I stayed in and pottered around because it was pouring with rain. I made a little flip and sew (or is it sew and flip?) purse for my camera (below). They look like a matching pair .

What I've made and what I've received

Last week I received the West Country Quilter from Region 4 of the Quilter's Guild as my new address appeared on their mailing list. Jenny, who organises the mailing of this, sent me a lovely postcard made from a workshop day last month. I've now contacted the Guild and they've now put me in the right region.
I made two of these cards below as a challenge appeared on Arts In the Mail Yahoo group for this month called the night sky - with the fabric that I received from Penny it just spoke to me. So one for Penny and one for the challenge. I used mottled blue fabric, a thin layer of Angelina fibre and the starry organza on top. Although it can't be seen well in this pic I quilted this with some metallic thread stars.
The November bag for BQL is in progress, must get on with that, it's nearly there. Off to the Knitting and Stitching show at Harrogate tomorrow. Wonder what I'll get there.

On the move (part 2)

With less than one month before DH starts his new job in Sheffield, everyday has consisted of one "sort out" or another. Our house in Poole is being rented from November and we have to find a house to rent in South Yorkshire. I'm resigning from my job and leave mid October so we're hoping to be moving the end of October. So if anyone out there knows of any payroll jobs going in and around Sheffield let me know!

A discovery that I made while sorting out was some knitting. Some months ago when visiting my daughter in Bristol I visited a shop there called "Get Knitted". I bought some German sock wool the colourway is meant to be Neon, but it's difficult to see from this pic. One sock nearly finished and I've just started on the other, which is not bad considering I started knitting and left the first sock for months before picking up again. It's surprising what discoveries are made when sorting out.

As a follow on from my last post about the pincushion I received mine from Jenny in Wales, a gorgeously coloured pink and dark red pre-felt shapes embellished on top of each other. It was really soft and squishy, it feels too good to be a pincushion. Here it is resting on my keyboard.

Needlefelt pincushion

I sent off a pincushion for the swap on the Yahoo UK Embellisher Group and this went to Jean in Devon, known as Genie. I was given some blue roving which I needlefelted into one large piece and cut out the shapes. On the long piece that forms the side of the pincushion I needled some organza ribbon as I like the effect of organza being scrunched into felt. After some hand embroidery I added a couple of circles of yellow felt and added a rainbow button.

This design was loosely based on the pretty little pincushions on Big Jen's Flickr site (she also has a blog link from this, though I have to admit this pincushion didn't seem little, but I was quite pleased with it.

I've now taken a pic of my painted postcard from my last posting on it's own. I've now added this to the "try something new"challenge on the Arts in the Mail Yahoo group, for August. This should be winging its way somewhere soon. I think this looks very pretty in spite of not having much embellishment on it. I know now what to do with my stitching samples as it turned out very well.

Getting better

That is me and my sewing machine. I've had that back for about a week now and it's good to have it back. And today I feel as though I am getting over this flu, which has been around for over 2 weeks. I returned to work last week but it was a struggle and even this week has been a bit difficult, but can now feel it is going and looking forward to a long weekend this weekend.

While I was sick I couldn't go the the local Quilter's Guild Area Day on the 10th May, so armed with a bag of scraps, needle, thread and other bits and bobs I made a crazy quilted scissor case for my large scissors using an 8" square of calico as a foundation for the scraps. Above is the front...
and this pic is the back. In the middle I've used a long strip of selvedge that had a variety of colour spots. As you can see I've used small rectangles of fabric rather than crazy shapes. Still can't quite get my head around sewing crazy shapes, it's just not my style.
I took part in an Embellisher Swap making a tag. Looking at tag art sites they look nothing like luggage labels, so this is mine using pieces of hand dyed scrim which I fashioned into circles before punching into a base of black felt. Also used some silk roving and dark pink organza ribbon. After adding beads and sequins, the punched hole was threaded with fancy yarns. This is going to Liz in Stockport. I'd like to make this design again later as a picture, I had fun making this and it didn't take long at all.

Now the machine is back and back at work. I bought a pack of charm squares by Moda from Villavin Crafts, when I stayed there back in February. They made 4 nine patch sqaures which I've cut in the middle to make 16 split 9 patch squares (which I didn't take a photo of). At present they're sewn into rows and will update later with the completed top.

Exeter Exhibition and Another Bag

On Saturday I went with other quilters from Poole and Wimborne to the Spring Quilt Fair at Exeter. A nice clear area to view quilts and plenty of room around the traders, local as well as national it made a lovely day out. I've taken a photo of my purchases and you may wonder why I got a Christmas book when it's only March. There were some quirky items which could be adapted to any time of the year, not just Christmas so I think that this book would come in useful. I couldn't resist the "tape measure" tapes and thought they could come in useful on postcards and that fabric with quilters' sayings on, I just had to buy it but not sure how I'll use it just yet. And of course fabrics - I found some with calligraphy, and a dark pink batik. Also some quarters of Japanese fabric which was on special because the designs were discontinued. I've now found that Blogger doesn't want to upload photos, so I'll try again tomorrow.

This evening I've just finished the March bag, well ahead of schedule. Using black and white strips using the "flip and sew" method, with a narrow red band to separate that panel from the top of the bag which also makes the lining. I've enjoyed doing this one as I quite like the quickness of flip and sew.

This week will see me getting ready for the International Quilting Day which my friend Brenda and myself have organised for the past 3 years to celebrate quilting. This will take place on Saturday 15 March (gosh, halfway through March already!)at Sturminster Marshall near Wimborne, Dorset. Here's a link to the photo's from the previous IQD days.

Brooches to go

Here's a couple of brooches that I've made using my Embellisher for the UK Embellisher Swap Group. These will be going to Lorraine (on the left) and Lynne (on the right). I now found an opportunity to use some little silvery charms, which I'm quite pleased with.

Lorraine's brooch is using some slubby yellow/red yarn on a red felt base which was wound around the middle and then up and down around the circle, holding the yarn down with a hand needlefelt needle. It was then finished off with the embellisher and red fuzzy yarn was couched down behind.

Lynne's was from a pack of felt, scrim and fuzzy yarn which was needlefelted down and used more fuzzy yarn around the edge. Thought it looked like a birds nest so adding the charms it became a Magpie's nest. These are going out in the post and hopefully Lorraine, in the US should get hers before the end of this month!

Brooches received

Look at these lovely brooches I've received in a swap in the Embellisher Yahoo group that I belong to. I've almost finished them and will post later.

I received Amanda's (on the left) today, a padded felt flower with little purple beads surrounding the centre of the flower. The one on the right is from Lorraine, a gold coloured face on a poinsettia made with layers of felt, fabric and netting. The photos don't do justice to them being taken in artificial light, but such are the dark winter evenings.

Another Bowl

Not being able to resist doing another bowl as the first one was easy, this was even easier. I made a square drafted from a square ruler onto freezer paper marking out the position for the middle square and making darts from the points where the square's corners are. Making the bowl itself from bonding the fabric onto bondawebbed craft Vilene to finish took an hour and a half. Quite please with the result though uploading the photos taken with my phone I think the light was too bright coming from the patio window so it looks a little pale.

Fabric Bowls

Here's 2 pics of a fabric bowl that I've made. It was demonstrated by Jenny at Quarterjack Quilters last night. And yes, it is Christmas Fabric. I thought that I would use this filled with baubles and pine cones as a table centre during the Christmas holidays. One the fabrics were "sandwiched" together with fusible stabiliser in the middle and the template drawn it was quite easy to sew together which I did this afternoon. Nice to see something started and finished in such a short time! The first pic is looking into the bowl, the second is the outside.