A Productive Day

All stitched and covered with Gesso ...........

It's a long time since I've had some of my paints out and was disappointed to find that some of them have dried up but these fabric paints were just the type of colours I wanted so am going to have a play around with these ...............

The Plan!

Firstly, thankyou for your lovely comments everyone and I'm delighted to say that I received a phone call this morning from the recipient who was "thrilled" with her little surprise thank you gift to go with her elephant collection. Isn't that just the greatest reward when you know that somebody is so appreciative of something - I am delighted!



Most people who read this will have seen Angie Hughes' article in the current issue of Stitch or be familiar with her work. For a little while I have been thinking about a little book and this is just the inspiration I needed. Peering into my boxes of fabric this morning, I came across this curtain interlining that I bought some years ago but never put to any use - it frayed too easily and was too fluffy to be of much use for anything but, I hope, is just the thing for this.

I've used PVA on fabric before but never thought to use it on this. The texture as it is reminds me very much of mulberry bark (without the flexibility of course) and I imagine that it's going to feel like a very heavy silk paper when ironed - scrumptious!

My husband asked what it was for so I had to explain (in detail but all in one breath) that if anything ever happened to me then he might stress about the arrangements/details etc. being exactly to my taste so I was making a little ideas book! I got one of them grins and told I was a weirdo - a little contrary maybe but weirdo I think not lol! Mother in law died suddenly on Christmas Eve (Father in law was New Years Eve a few years ago so no forgetting them dates!) and it gets one thinking. I won't be revealing any of the contents but that's "The Plan"!

Catching up on the blogs is going to take a little time - I just wish there were more hours in the day - but I will get there.

A Scissor Keeper (or Hanging Elephant)!

It's been some time since I last made any of these (probably about 10 years ago!) and I remember being able to do one in a day - this little one took 3 (with new glasses and a daylight lamp!) and is going to be packed up ready for posting tomorrow.

I haven't been very creative for several months but now the days are getting a little brighter and longer, I hope to be able to see better as well as becoming more inspired - oh for the eyes of a few years ago - and I hope to catch up on all the usual blogs too!

The Cushions

I didn't realise it had been such a long time since I last blogged - I have heaps to catch up on. Anyway, here are some pics of finished cushions (I've no idea what went wrong with the lighting on this first one as they were all taken at the same time):



The reverse of the above cushion:

The Indian fabrics used were quite loosely woven but the use of folded patchwork and quilting has added some depth and, I hope, durability.

More Patchwork

I've finished the other patchwork piece so have started on another one but this time with a different variation of folded patchwork - bit like faux pas "Cathedral Window"

I know sewing machine parts are always expensive but I do think that £4.80 for two little plastic pegs to hold the extension table on is rather extortionate. I actually only need one so as I can return the pile of books to the shelf but thought it might be useful to have a spare. Looking at the red on tha machine, I had better warn the recipient of the patchwork pieces that they might not be colourfast!



Following my being tagged last week, I selected 6 blogs that I look at often. I haven't heard from all as to whether they would be happy to be tagged but from those that I have heard from, not everybody wishes to be tagged or has the time right now so I am just going to post the list of blogs that I chose and say go and take a look at what these people are doing if you don't already read them.

Carlseapatch
Chris Gray
Maggie's Textiles
Magsramsay
Maureen's Mixture
Sewing Rainbows

All About Me!

Well not quite but I've been tagged by Jackie to reveal 7 random facts about myself. At first it sounded a little daunting but before long I had too many facts so I've thought about what I want to share - there's stuff that I wouldn't mind sharing with regular visitors to my blog but not so sure about the whole of the www so .........................

1 - I have spent my entire life living in the same town in which I was born.

2 - I don't dislike meat but I just can't eat anything off the bone or with any sign of fat, sinew or gristle hence I don't eat much meat! I make a nice steak & kidney pie or pudding (even though I do say it myself) but when there's a remark like "I only had two bits of meat in my bit" I reply "well there was a whole pound of meat" without saying that there was probably only half of it left by the time I had finished dissecting! I ordered a sweet and sour chicken dish in a restaurant once - you can only imagine my "horror" when it came out as a whole poisson!

3 - I don't like alcohol - no religious or other reasons, I just don't like the taste.

4 - I am the resident spider catcher in the house and other creepy crawlies are no problem but I do not like rodents of/in any shape or form - even mention of or stiched pictures of little things in cornfields make me cringe, shiver and want to dance on the table or run outside! This has prevented me putting a catalogue outside like other readers of Maggie Grey's blog - the fear of what might touch it!

5 - Some of my favourite posessions - I like pigs and elephants (excusing the reflection of the doors in the first two photos!).

A painting that mum brought home from a holiday in China ...........

Cross Stitched pigs that I did years ago ...................

A little elephant which I originally bought for a great aunt when I was a child .................

6 - I love colour and am highly influenced by colour and texture rather than design. I don't like brown and don't very often stitch with it nor wear it apart from a couple of pairs of "brownish" colour shoes. I can remember well the kerfuffle in the outfitters when I discovered that the requisites for my secondary school was brown uniform. My parents somehow got me to agree to the school so of course I had to wear it!

7 - 30 to 40 years later, I finally confessed to my mum that it was me who cut the cuff(s) of my younger sister's anorak into a neat fringe only for her to say that she always knew who it was because nobody else would have cut that straight!

I now have to tag 6 people to reveal 7 random facts about themselves and think I might have a problem trying to find 6 who haven't been tagged already but I will do my best!


Back on topic - the patchwork now has some shisha............

Some Presents .............

It's ages since I blogged ................. not much to tell really. I haven't been doing much stitching but I don't seem to be have been doing much else either - the garden is crying out for attention but the weather being so warm for this time of year means the mining beas that have taken up residence in the flower bed are still a nuisance. I did add a little decoration to one of the bowls for mum's birthday .................



And I've been doing some folded patchwork which is quite fun but I won't show all of it as it's for Christmas and the intended recipient just might see it ............