About Time!!

Can hardly believe that it was early August when I posted on this blog, where does the time go??

Anyway, a lot seems to have gone on....

My close friend, Joan Brailsford, is wired a bit like I am, in that she loves all fabrics, threads, paints and indeed anything remotely connected to textiles.

We have exhibited our work together many times and we thought it would be a good idea to have a shared blog.  Joan, more computer savvy than I, has been working on this and she has created......
https://stitch2inspire.wordpress.com

So, I will try to make regular postings over in that blog.  I won't cancel this one as a lot of my photos are here.

Hope to see you over on the new blog


https://stitch2inspire.wordpress.com


Bye for now
Margaret

Spice of Life

Variety is the spice of life, so it's said and I certainly have had plenty of that lately.  I must say at this point that not all of it has been good.

The long awaited Microsoft Windows 10 has recently been launched and I stupidly downloaded it, only to find that the easy access page for my email and calendar no longer worked and no attachments would come through either. I was informed that I had a month to go back to Windows 8 and so I did, hoping that all my problems would be sorted.  You can guess ............... they weren't.  Oh well, I can still access my email via another route and I still have my trusty desk diary.

We went to Wales towards the end of July and the weather was good to us, raining only 2 days out of 5 - not bad really considering and we were travelling home on one of those wet days anyway.  I have taken loads of photos because I thought the landscape was lovely, here are just a few.

I'm sure you'll agree that it does look stunning.

I have wanted an easel for some time now and managed to get one on holiday, which was being sold at half the usual retail price.  How could I resist and so once home I started to make use of it.  It's really useful to be able to stand back and view your efforts, which I must say do need improvement, but it's early days and I do intend to practise as much as I can.

I wanted a lot of texture, the sort we can achieve in quilting and machine embroidery, but whilst I like the bottom of the picture, the grooves at the top I've made with gel medium just don't work.  I think it would look better cropped.

I've used real hydrangea leaves on this one.  This method has potential I think and I love the colourway.

More variety in the form of a recycled wooden bowl, which I've painted with indigo dye I found in my shed, which has to be over 12 months' old.  Once dry, I've given it a coat of acrylic wax.  I'm not sure my mum would have approved, it was her sewing 'basket', where I found all sorts of bits and pieces, including a suspender!  She never did take to wearing tights.

More variety in this last week was in the form of Festival of Quilts.  I went with my friend Joan, who is no more restrained than I am when it comes to buying fabric.  We now have enough to sink a ship, but our excuse is that it is only once a year, which believe me is just as well.  We rounded the day with joining some of our 15 x 15 quilting group members in Weatherspoons bar.  We both thoroughly enjoyed meeting up with them, finally putting faces to the email addresses we know so well, that being the means of our communications throughout the year.  Lovely ladies who share the same passion and we discussed our upcoming exhibitions in Maastricht, Taiwan and now Beaujolais again. We have exhibited there once before and have been asked to exhibit again next spring.

Just one more photo which beautifully captures the vibrant poppies in our garden.  I am hoping to feature them in my next quilt for our 15 x 15 group, that has the theme of 'happy'.  We'll see.

Enjoy whatever you are up to, bye for now.

Margaret

More Light Relief

Last week the fields behind our house were cut for silage.  I love to see the farmer do this, which takes quite a few farm people about two days.  They always seem to get the weather forecast right, unlike some!

As they work backwards and forwards across the fields, there is always a following of seagulls.  I have tried to capture some, but not too successfully.  Perhaps if you look really closely you may see them in the background.  The first photo is a shot through our hedge, which needs cutting, but head gardener has a list of jobs and this one doesn't feature for some time.  Never mind, I do like the view of the landscape through the hedgerow.

 This is the tree I keep trying to paint, with Mow Cop Castle (in ruin) in the distance

I saw a planter in M&S, which I wanted but thought too expensive.  It was in a grey wooden crate and the plants were grouped, much as they would be in a garden, so I thought I would copy the idea with flowers, grouping them by type.  The black pot is a plant pot cover and I have put small vases within it and filled it with water.  Whilst I like the arrangement, it wasn't what I had in mind.

This is yesterday's effort, but sadly the poppies (well most of them) only lasted overnight.  I found out later, courtesy of google, that it helps to burn the bottom of the stems with a match, which supposedly stops them from taking up too much water.  I'll try that next time.

Meanwhile, this is the bed where my poppies came from.  First thing in the morning they are swarming with bees harvesting the new day's nectar.

 Also in abundance in our garden are strawberries, which head gardener gathered yesterday.  Couldn't let this bounty go to waste, so I made some Strawberry Balsamic Jam.  An acquired taste I must admit and it doesn't fall into a savoury or sweet slot, but it is delicious over vanilla ice cream, well any ice cream really!

Just three jars from 500g of strawberries, but well worth it.  Took a jar to my mother in law today, but sadly she didn't like it, so I had to bring it back home.  What a result!

I've made progress on my 15x15 quilt but can't show photos yet before it is the 'reveal' date at the end of July, so if it turns out OK, I'll post photos then.

Have a good week everyone and keep smiling.
Margaret

Light Relief

I have been working on my 15x15" quilt, which is due for the end of July, not that big a challenge really is it, but I am now on my third attempt, which isn't going well either.  So............. I changed tack and went for some light relief.

 This quilted bag is from a pattern by Monkey Buttons, it's ok but if I made another one, I would do it differently.  Enjoyable diversion though. Above photo is the front, the one below is the back.

The monster pin cushion, which looks more like a cake!

 Our lovely weather here in the UK has brought out the poppies (see below), don't they look lovely?  We used to have plum trees in this area but they got too big so we chopped them down and revamped the area. So glad we did.

Must get back to working on my 15x15" quilt, but I'll need to think a bit as just at the moment, I haven't a clue how to start, I'll post my progress as and when.

Enjoy, whatever you are doing, bye for now.
Margaret

Life's hiccups

I last posted to this blog in October last year, life's little hiccups just got in the way of adding posts,still, here I am again and I have a few photos to share

The head gardener, the one in the wheelbarrow

I have been doing a little bit of painting, having enjoyed a couple of weekend workshops with Laura Kemshall, who, although putting us through our paces, made the workshops exciting and very enjoyable.  I had been a little nervous, but needn't have worried at all.  Laura gives loads of demos throughout the day and willingly helped us with any problems.  We also enjoyed lovely lunches, catered for by her mum Linda.  So, wanting to continue with my painting, the photos below show my limited success.

I have been trying to capture the view that extends beyond our garden, the painting on the left (see above) is my first attempt, acrylic on canvas, bottom right is second attempt, molding paste for foreground, with acrylic, top right a fabric version

Vibrant sari silks, perhaps for a background

Sair silks laid out as a background

Sampling and moving on from landscape to seascape

Perhaps I can use these lovely silks, we'll see.

Hope you've enjoyed the photos, I know the formatting is awful, but I'll try to do better.  All the time I'm typing this sentence the photo up above keeps moving!!

See you soon,

Margaret

Bird Mobile

I have finally found a photo of my bird mobile made using a kit from Gillian Travis, a quilter who visits India for inspiration.

Anyway, here it is.  I have hung it in the hall and scented it with lavender oil.

I intend to do another one and I've added to the long list .............

Have a good weekend,
Bye for now
Margaret

The Colours of India

I don't normally buy any kits, preferring to use my own imagination to produce work, but following an article in Stitch Magazine, I was tempted to buy Gillian Travis's kit featuring her Indian ladies when I visited the Festival of Quilts in August.  Sometimes, it nice just to sew and not have to think too much.  I thoroughly enjoyed doing it and thought you may like to see it.

I have put the embroidery onto a painted canvas and have used the same stamp block (which came with the kit) to link it altogether.

I also bought a bird mobile kit from Gillian, but can't find a photo of the finished work, so I will keep looking and post it when I find it.

Thanks for visiting
Margaret