Long Time No Post

Hadn't meant to leave it this long, but its amazing how time runs away, so a bit of a catch up.  First of all thank you to those who commented on my last post and thoughts on my blogging anniversary.

Friday before last I went to sewing class where we made some silk paper for a landscape which will be worked on in further classes.  I had found a photo to work from and had that photocopied enlarged from A4 to A3 size, which was one I took from our Cornwall holiday back in September.

As you can see a lot of green and blue and hiding just to the left of the dark blue is some grey which will give me the basis of the landscape.  Lets see how it goes....

Saturday saw my Mum and I going to Cherry Tree Fabrics (local Quilt shop) for sale bargains in which we both bought quite a bit of fabric (not that I needed it of course).  Low key stuff for me, tone-on-tone black and also white fabric, some yellows (haven't got much yellow in my stash) and some plain aqua fabrics.

This last Friday was my first 'free' Friday off, nothing planned, so went into Poole and saw this in Primark

Rather liked this postcard tea towel and at just a £1 it was asking to be bought.  I thought it was appropriate with my postcard making.  Back home in the afternoon I did some sewing and made this

Not quite a postcard but a holder for coupons. They usually get hidden in my purse and by the time they are found are usually expired.  Made like a postcard, i.e. front and back fabrics are bonded onto pelmet Vilene and another smaller piece in front made in the same way and stitched together to form a pocket. Above is the front,

 The back

And with coupons

I made another for a Mug Rug swap that I've joined. This will go to the recipient as a little something extra.

This is the swap I'll be taking part in.  I've made one already!

 

So I've not been idle!

Blog 7th Anniversary

No pictures, just words.

Today is the 7th anniversary of writing my blog.  I first started this blog to write my weekly entries for Take a Stitch Tuesday, which was (and I think still is) run by Sharon Boggon on her blog, PIn Tangle.  I learnt quite a few embroidery stitches, using my collection of variegated threads and was able to use some of the samples in postcards.  As you will have seen from my blog posts I have made a lot of postcards over the years!

I didn't think I would keep this going, seeing as I would have a diary at the beginning of the year and it would still be empty at the end of the year.  What I do like about keeping a blog is some of the feedback that I get to posts and also following other blogs getting inspiration to try different quilting techniques.

Over the years its followed me from Poole to Yorkshire and back again, seen my family expand from one grandchild to four, various excursions home and abroad.  The blog had bought about contact with Janet and Barnsley Creative Embroiderers when I was Up North, which was so helpful in trying to get to know the area.  I've also made friends with fellow bloggers Lis, Bente, Quilt Sue, Julie and all my followers not only on Google but now on Bloglovin too.

I've enjoyed taking part of challenges and swaps through blogging too.  Another Little Qiilt swap run by Kate is one, and this Christmas took part in the Christmas stocking swap.  A mug rug swap has just started on Quilting bloggers which I'll take part in. The beginning of last year along with other bloggers I made quite a few scrappy Trip Around the Worl blocks.

I may not be as prolific a sewer as some, as I've always had to fit sewing around husband, family, work, but I am lucky that I do have a sewing space.  I enjoy writing a blog as an extension of my sewing experience and hope to continue to do so.

Ain't Misbehavin', (unlike the weather)

This weekend is American Football Wildcard Weekend playoffs so Saturday and Sunday evenings David has been glued to the TV. So last nights late game was recorded and watched this morning and probably tonight's late game will be watched tomorrow. The weather is dire, there are floods in a lot of towns locally as the River Stour has burst its banks and the wind and rain shows no signs of getting any better, but luckily we are not effected by flooding (touch wood).

So it's been the perfect weekend for sewing. Carrying on from the blocks I first started on New Years Day I now have a tally of 13 blocks plus my first one where I thought I should swap blocks and colours around and looks as though I lost it. All the blocks are 8.5" square.

My apologies for the colour choices I was grabbing anything I had complete fat quarters for. It's amazing how in my stash I cut into fabrics so I don't have complete fat quarters

This is the first block



A bit bonkers isn't it

Got a bit better as I went along














I still have quite a few triangles left, though wish the cutting plan had more small squares which would have been useful so I cut some more from spare fabric. This project has kept me busy on New Years Day, yesterday's sewing afternoon at Wimborne and today.

I read a few blogs last night and came across Sarah from Sew Me -
http://sewmeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/bee-blessed-january-2014.html
who wrote about the Blessed Bee and clear instructions for making a Greek Cross block, 12.5" square. So I had to have a go at that.



Not a bad weekends bit of sewing.


Sue W- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

New Year Sewing

How did your Christmas holiday go? Ours was quite busy with travel (and Christmas dinner) in Bristol with Sarah, bought her with us back to Poole.  On Boxing Day joining our sons with their families for a get together.  The few days after my brother in law and sister in law stayed.  Then back to work on Tuesday, so a busy few days.  We managed to visit Corfe Castle on Saturday and not surprisingly it rained.

From the castle a good view down to the village and a steam train from Swanage.

And after lunch a ride on the train down to Swanage.  In spite of the weather there were quite a few people on the beach and the promenade, though the sea looked really choppy.

This was in Swanage station, it's called Manston, one of the Battle of Britain class locos.

This diesel loco was at Corfe Castle station, a narrower than normal engine as it was used on the Hastings line. It was a good day out.

So for New Year


The weather remained grim, so as it was a day off there was only one thing to do - sew!

I intend to look forward so a new project for me is to make a fat quarter quilt.  In the summer I won this book in a raffle and at the time said that I kept picking it up to read. It has a grid system for cutting out different sized squares from layers of fat quarters, some of which are re-cut into half or quarter square triangles. I used 7 fat quarters and so far I've made 6 x 8.5" blocks. Please excuse the picture which was taken this evening, though bad light all day wouldn't have been conducive for good photos.  It was fun putting the various combinations together and happily sewing away while listening to the radio.

I still have plenty of pieces to make more blocks and have put the different sizes into bags ready for a sewing afternoon on Saturday.

I haven't posted these before, so here are the Christmas postcards that I received before they get taken down when the decorations are dismantled this weekend.

As ever a wonderful selection of cards and so varied in techniques.  This may have been the last swap for a while as I want to give postcard making a rest for a while and change to doing other things.

As its the first of the month, though a little late in the day I'm linking up with Lily's Quilts Fresh Sewing Day here

Happy New Year

A bit grim for a holiday day. Things can only get better.


Have a good one, whatever you do.


          Happy New Year


Sue W- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

Wishing everyone a Happy Christmas


Best wishes from Sue. x

Sue W- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Getting There

Not much made, but getting ready for Christmas.  Getting food, shopping for presents.  I did do a workshop day last Friday but haven't yet uploaded photos to show what I've made.  What I can show is the Secret Santa for a colleague at work for whom I bought a mug with sachet of hot chocolate and marshmallows in a set which I thought needed something else....

I actually made this before I made the one for Merrill (in my last post) in red and white which went really well with the mug.  She was pleased with her pressie and I quite enjoyed both the little mug rugs that I made, quite quick and easy.

I can now show the last postcard that I made for the birthday girl of the year, Rosemary, which I made way back in September, her birthday due very soon.

Looking back in the album of birthday swaps in the Yahoo group it appears I have a thing for birds as I've made several bird themed cards this year.

1st week of Christmas

This last week has found birthday merging into Christmas as I was receiving both birthday postcards as well as Christmas ones from the Big Christmas Swap (well it was called that but in the end there were 12 participants in this swap)  so here they are:

 The last of the birthday cards, top left clockwise, from Jane, Marian, and Jan

The first of the Christmas cards from top left clockwise again, Jane, Jacquie, Diana and Pascale.

A lovely package I received on Monday came from Merrill, my swap partner for the Christmas Stocking swap

As well as the gorgeous little stockings a desk calendar of Australian flowers and a little ceramic Scottie dog.

So here's what I sent Merrill.  To my amazement it only took a week from the local post office to get all the way to Melbourne!  Some of the post in this country takes a while to get anywhere so I was staggered when I got her email that she'd received it.

A spotty mug rug (was going to make a Christmassy one, but at least this can be used all year round)

I had a chance to use the Christmas lights fabrics that I couldn't cut into before

I'd also popped in a baking liner which is used as an applique mat, which always comes in handy for helping to stop the iron being marked with Bondaweb sticking to it.

I also joined the facebook page for the quilting swaps and there were some really lovely stockings to see there, but it is a closed group.

Better Get Ready for Christmas......

I'm sure that I'll get in the Christmas spirit soon, but not just yet.  I've got some Christmassy things done - I've finished the postcards to send out for the big Christmas swap, done and sent the Christmas stockings in the swap with Merrill on Australia (can't show that just yet, not until she's received them) and I've done the Secret Santa swap present for a work colleague for the Christmas lunch next week. December birthday presents are almost sorted (yes, people have birthdays in December!) so maybe I'm more prepared for Christmas than I thought.

David and I went to Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth Saturday afternoon/evening and saw the Christmas lights there, I took photos with my i-phone. I'm making no apologies for best bit about Christmas, the lights!

 The Spinnaker in its rainbow-y brightness

A rather lovely reindeer, but it turned out a bit fuzzy.  I also managed to get another present sorted which came in this lovely carrier bag.  Never mind the present, I'd just be happy with the carrier!!

Yesterday was a stay-at-home day.  Bit of tidying and sorting out. Bit of sewing, bit of baking (cake to take to work today). Having signed up to a Craftsy class "Traditional Blocks Made Easy" I had a go at making this, called "Anita's Arrowhead Block"

This block was trimmed to 8.5" square.  Although I'd not made up gallons of starch to soak all my fabric in I did spray the fabrics really well so that the square I started off with really stuck together well and made it easy to sew and cross cut.  Rather like the effect of this block, might keep that in mind to use up large scraps.

Before I forget, here are my Christmas postcards, one of which is on its way with the Christmas stockings to Australia

 Perhaps I am getting in the Christmas spirit after all!

Happy Birthday/Thanksgiving to Me!

Just a quickie today as this weekend will be a busy one! My birthday was on Thursday, which by chance was also American Thanksgivng, so I figured if other people were taking a holiday so can I. Below are some lovely cards and plants that I received




And being part of the birthday swap I also received some lovely postcards









Said it was a quick post!


Sue W- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Birthday Postcards

Not mine, as my birthday is at the end of the month, but for others in BQLPC who also have birthdays this month. What is it about November that there are 4 birthdays so close to each other?

In order of dates here they are:

 Diana's

 Avril's

Inge's

This year there was no theme set by the recipient, so it was our own choice of designs.  I'd made some earlier this year with a Japanese theme using some fabrics from a Japanese fabric charm pack which I used for Diana's card.  Avril's used some fabric with dressmaking motifs on and I managed to find some stamps on a sewing theme too.  One of my early samples of machine embroidery was used for Inge's card. 

There will be one more birthday at the end of December which is done and ready to post when to time comes.

Yesterday was spent making the Christmas postcards and now have made 14 cards with a Christmas collage theme, so lots of bits cut, fused and stitched.  Made quite a mess with working on these, but now they are done I can have a bit of a tidy up.  So that is all my postcard making done for the year.

Seriously Christmassy Post

Hard to believe that Christmas is just a few weeks away, but have to start getting ready.  I'm taking part in BQL Postcard Groups big Christmas swap, which so far has 12 participants so 11 cards to make (but will make a couple extra for contingencies).  I made 4 by Saturday but since I took the photo I have finished a couple more.

 These are completed ones

and more in progress

I wanted to make Christmas collages using my assortment of Christmas fabrics that I've accumulated over the years.  They are appliqued onto a background mounted onto felt to give the effect of a picture frame.  It kept me busy on a very wet Saturday.

The next thing I can't show just yet, but suffice to say that I am taking part in another swap this time organised by Quilting Bloggers called Christmas Stocking Swap and I've been informed that I'll be swapping with Merrill from Melbourne so I'm looking forward to finishing them and sending them all the way to Melbourne.

It doesn't happen very often, but I did a proper bit of embroidery for the stockings while I was watching Strictly Come Dancing on Saturday evening.

On Friday I went to the textile art course that I signed up to and this time we made some silk paper using gummy silk fibres, which are dampened and ironed to bring out the gumminess of the silk to create a sheet of silk.  This was coloured with spray paints.  I only decided to take a photo with my phone after I sewed some ribbon yarn onto the paper.

If you thought these colours looked lush, then wait until what I did after lunch

Using encaustic wax in blue, orange, copper and gold colours and working the iron into the fibres changed it completely.

I had a Google about gummy silk fibres and just had a go on Saturday morning with an assortment of fibres that I have in my stash to see what would stick together or not.

 Tussah silk works quite well and the orange and pink pieces worked and held together OK.  The yellow piece did to begin with but its beginning to come apart so not so good (I didn't know what type this was)

A couple of other indeterminate pieces in red and blue didn't work too well either.  What I may do is needlefelt these and the silk will hold together better, but I had a lot of fun find out what worked and what didn't. Seeing these photos, these pieces are a riot of colour; one way of brightening a rainy Saturday morning.