Class with Pauline Barke

Hi,

Thought you might like to see my work in progress from a class I attended recently.

It's my own dyed fabric torn and reassembled. I'm not sure if this will end up as a picture or a cushion.

It needs some more machining - but my little machine is in for a service with the fab Supreme Sewing Machines.

So hopefully I'll have it finished very soon.

Hope you're all looking forward to the Festival of Quilts. Might see a few of you there.
If you want to see the catalogue early - here it is

New month, new course

Hello all.

Hope you're all well and enjoying August.  I can't believe it's August already.

Anyway I'm very excited as I've enrolled on a new course - Sketchbooks with Design Matters.

I'd really like to hear from any of you who have already completed courses with the Kemshalls or have signed up for this course.

Hope to hear from you all soon.

Busy busy

Hello all.

Hope you've had a nice weekends.  It's been rather wet - but luckily when DH and I went away for a few days in Ludlow it was beautiful sunshine.  Managed to top my tan up.  Yes - I meant I got a little pink - perfect when you're wearing a skirt and socks with trainers - very attractive.

And was told I looked like Miranda. Friends have now suggested I make a living signing autographs or act as a double.  I may well write and offer my services.

I thought you might like to see a few photos of our time in Ludlow.

 This is a photo I took at the top of the tower of St Laurence Church in Ludlow. And below is the view from the tower. It was a fantastic view on a bright clear day. Well worth the 200 tiny steps - not good if you have big feet like me and DH.

 And the flowers for sale on the market were really beautiful.

 The War Memorial was rather interesting too.  No information about it which is a shame as it was beautiful.

And this is the hotel we stayed in, The Feathers.  It's a really interesting building.  We had a room on the front, second floor with a very wonky floor and a four poster bed.

And on Saturday we went to a lovely wedding - my cousin Louise (who was bridesmaid at our wedding) got married.  It was a really great day - the bride looked stunning and we all had a great time.

I promise to do some art work soon.

And for those of you who are interested the Kemshall's will be opening their disatnce learning sketchbook course at the end of this month.  I can't wait.

See you all soon.

Another walk

 Hello all.

Thought you might like to see where I went for a walk with DH on Sunday. Very nice. 

Although it was overcast the whole time I still managed to end up rather pink, well red to be honest. Will I never learn.

And here is some lace and thread that I've tea dyed.  I'll show you what I do with it later.

I've also made really good progress with my altered book project. I can't wait to show you all - but it's hush hush until the end of the project.

Take care all and hope to hear from you soon.

Hello

Hello all.

Hope you're enjoying this weekend.

Thought you might like to see what can happen when a tape measure and a rotary cuttter meet. Not good - but at least it wasn't my finger.

 And here is a cushion I've made for my cousin as a wedding present. 

I hope she'll like it.

I'm hoping to get a few more things finished this week - I'll let you know how I get on.

Frances Pickering

Hello all.

Just a few photos to show you the work our group completed on Frances' class.

 Mine are the in the photo above, on the right - the rather psychedelic pages...

I promise to show you the book when it's finished.

See you all soon.

Apologies

Hello all.

Apologies for lack of posts this month - thought I'd just sneak one in before the new month.  I can't believe it's going to be July tomorrow.  

Thought I'd share the completed work from my class with Linda Miller.

She was a great teacher and managed to get quite a large class of differing abilities to complete a piece of work on the day and inspired me to attempt a larger piece.

As you can see from the picture - both are finished.  I'm rather pleased with them.

She also came to deliver a talk to the Lutterworth Guild.  Very interesting to see lots of her work and to hear her approach.  A very smart cookie with an eye on the commercial side of things without compromising the quality of the art she produces.

I'm very excited about the next class I have -Francis Pickering.

See you all soon.

Talk at Leamington

Hello all.

Hope you're all well.

On Friday I went to the Leamington Embroiderers Guild talk given by Lesley Alexander.

Her work was really interesting and the description of her degree course at Manchester in Embroidery was interesting too. I really enjoyed looking at her sample books and finished pieces of work. It's made me realise that making up a sample book is vital - its shows what your machine can do and what results can be achieved with different threads and material. So I'm now going to try to start a sample book. I promise to show you how I get on.

What are you all up to?

Hello all

Hi,

I've just not been getting much sewing or anything else much done. Very disappointing. But I did manage to get to Compton Verney to see the Alfred Wallis and Ben Nicholson Exhibition. It was well worth the trip - great work and well displayed. I really like his naive style and seeing the work (rather than reproductions) you can see all the texture and appreciate the use of material - cardboard, ply wood, paper - and you could see how he made use of their properties.

But this week I intend to crack on and actually make some progress.

So I'm struggling to add an image this week - so I've 'borrowed' one of Alfred Wallis' work. I hope you like it.

Out and about

Hello all.

Hope you're well and that your gardens are appreciating the rain - mine has perked up no end.

I had a great class yesterday with Linda Miller - what a lovely lady. And I hope to be able to show you the items I'll complete over the next few weeks.

And I've also been walking a few times recently and thought you might like to see the photos I took en route.

And in a few weeks time its the Embroiderers Guild Day in Lutterworth - 21st May 2011. It would be great if you could come along - sounds like it'll be a great day.

See you all soon.

UFO Progress

Hello all. Another Bank Holiday weekend YAY.

Well I'm going to start off with a Royal link that I'm sure, if you haven't seen it already, it'll make you laugh. It makes me laugh every time.

Another I'm very pleased to say I've made progress with a UFO. It was the Mystery Quilt we started on one of the last classes with Bren last year. And here we are with the top made. I'm still thinking about what borders to add - or not.

I also wanted to let you know about an article in the latest issue of Embroidery. It features an article on Michala Gyetvai who's a member of the Leamington Emboierers' Guild. She has a great blog too that you might want to have a look at.

So - I'll leave you to enjoy the rest of thye Bank Holiday weekend and yet more glorious weather.