Lynton and Lynmouth

Sunday we had really hoped to visit Clovelly but it was very windy and cold with the possiblity of rain so set off in the opposite direction for Lynton and Lynmouth connected by the cliff railway.  We weren't disappointed, the choppy seas at Lynmouth were an absolute delight battering against the shoreline.

Disembarking from the cliff railway at Lynton we headed for the Greenhouse for hot drinks ........... overpriced and not very nice.  Husband says the coffee was warm and horrible whilst my hot chocolate was warm and lacking depth ......... you can't get it right every time!  Some lovely little shops there and, whilst we didn't venture into this one, love the nostalgic essence of the sign

Back into Ilfracombe for a last look around.

Zooming in from 20-30 ft above I had a feeling a grouping of white dots on the rocks would be limpets.

Which reminds me that I had intended to take my "Limpet" piece with me to stitch in the evenings but with a last minute turn of events at home it was all rush and I forgot.  In fact all of our accomodation was facing north with not very good lighting so I probably wouldn't have got much done anyway.  I so want to finish it, just not sure where it's going next ........

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A Week Away

We've just returned from a week in Devon and Cornwall.  Not long enough to do all that we'd have liked again but a lovely week with lots of inspiration for future pieces should I get round to them eventually.

The first full day found a little curtain shop just outside the Pannier Market in Barnstaple with some ex display samples 4 for a £1.  Who could resist picking a few out?

Still in Barnstaple, on to Heathcoat Fabrics  where they had a nice selection of mid range fabrics of many types.  I was particularly looking for bag and/or quilting fabrics but didn't see anything I really wanted to buy.

Wonderful textures on the seafront at Ilfracombe ..............

An evening stroll looking for somewhere to eat didn't see many particularly inspiring menus - well not for those looking for a treat on a sensible budget and it was rather offputting to see the restaurants empty until we came to the Smugglers on the quay.  It was full and we had to wait about 20 minutes for a table.  Most starters were about £5 with mains starting at £7.95 and coffee £1.20.  We were happy with our choices.

The camel did start to get a bit of decoration before we went ...........

We'll see where the stuffing of the object leads.  Last time I tried a necked animal with head insert the head tilted to one side.  The seam allowances are a bit scant to allow for smoothe curves so will be interesting to see what happens!
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Upcycling Progress ...........

............ or not but we'll come to that!  Remember these?  They look much better pressed
  

 
Foundation piecing in preparation for some crazy quilting.  Hand or machine I'm not quite sure.  My new glasses should be ready on Friday ............. perfect eyesight to 4.5 in about 8 years is frightening but I won't dwell and I'm quite excited that, for the first time, somebody understood exactly what I wanted/needed ......... something with a largish vision area but not "Deirdre Barlow" and now I know why I complained about being able to see too much of the inside of some spectacles when my husband said they were fine............ because my eyes are wider apart and I have a wider face then him.  Perhaps that will sound better if I say that he has a narrower face with eyes closer together lol!  Just how come it's taken 5 eye tests over 8 years to have things explained properly?  Asked if my sewing/needlework was a hobby, I was just about to reply that it was more a way of life when my husband replied "obsession"!  Don't think I can argue with that!


The fabrics are very tightly woven hence hand embroidery, even with the new glasses, is going to be hard work!  Maybe a mixture of both and perhaps some beads.

I had no inclination whatsoever at this time to make twin creatures but even one needs a left AND a right side.  Another day to spend making the corresponding sides then!!!!!!!
 
Thankyou for your lovely comments on the quilt .......... I'm kind of impressed that I made something that big too!  Looking at Dana's suggestion of an edge stitch foot, I tried out the Juki blind stitch foot with a central guide ............ why on earth didn't I think of that?  I did press the seams open on the quilt and I'll still need to play around with the tension a little but at least it's now going to be in the ditch or equally parallel to according to the needle position - the edge stitch foot is going on the Christmas list along with the open free motion quilting foot!
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I Spy Quilt Finished ..............

The last stitch on the binding finished literally just seconds before Kate arrived at the abbey.  My first quilt and no matter where it ends up I'm always going to remember when I made it or else what I was doing when William and Kate married.

 

Though I loved it as it was, I had to wash and dry it if only to see for myself how it would behave should it find a new home.  A couple of colour catchers in the machine (half hour 30 degree cycle with a low spin) picked up quite a bit of dark blue and there was quite a bit of shrinkage.

Though I really, really like it there is still room for improvement.  Quilting "in the ditch" with one of the general feet I have was not as easy as I thought.  Some of the stitching isn't quite in the ditch and it shows more than I would like - particularly in the darker areas.  Maybe I should have used a different stitch length and/or perhaps tightened the tension a little more?  It's been a great learning curve and I still have much to learn.  Having chosen a beige thread, I feel I could have gone darker too.  Still, it's not exactly a showpiece so probably not that bad for a first effort!

I'll have to look out for a good patchwork/quilting book - one that explains/advises on the tensions/threads/stitching/feet etc..

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All Patched Up

A more positive day yesterday and I got lots done.  Finishing this morning ..............

It went together really easily though there was a hiccup with the machine (Juki) being the top tension had disengaged and for quite a few seams until I noticed whilst pressing!  Oh, and whilst mentioning the machine, another little gripe noticed when I went to clean it this morning - the "key" type screwdriver seems to have some kind of coating which is peeling off (after 3 months)!


A bag of scraps left are crying out to be played with but I must resist and, for now, save them in case they are needed for the smaller sister - already some of the fabrics I can't repeat.  Now lots of tidying away to do ............... only to get it all back out again soon.

None of the pics seem to be very clear these days.  I can't get the Olympus to work - it won't click to take a pic..
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At last!

The blue blocks for the kitchen window blind had been laying around for a while untouched ........... I really needed to get them out of the way so got back to them last week and then got ill.  Just a stressy thing and feel a bit better now ........... repeat after me "I must not worry so much".  I still will though cos that's "me" and isn't that what mums are for?

I struggled to get these done, finding the continual pressing and trimming monotonous but, hey, they're finished now and hope to have more fun putting them together.  I'm in no hurry to do the squares for the adjacent window just yet.

 

So I now have:

1) Pink and green patchwork ready to be made into a blind when I find the right backing/lining fabric (something blackoutish but not too heavy)

2) I Spy quilt top waiting for a border and quilting.

3) Blue and yellow blocks waiting to be pieced together and then made into a blind same as 1).  I shall be getting onto that next.

4) An Egyptian cotton cot sheet waiting to be dyed and stitched into a faux chenille cushion.  I have enough machine dye for two sheets so am waiting to find another one, hopefully before too long.  Think we'll get rid of the odd cushions in the living room and have a couple more co-ordinated ones instead.

5) Some fun stuff with the boxer shorts mentioned in the last post

6) Loads of other stuff that I hope to start being able to concentrate on.

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"Threads of Feeling"

At the beginning of March, just before the end of the exhibition, we were fortunate enough to be able to attend "Threads of Feeling" at the Foundling Museum.  Being interested in family history, I've read lots about Thomas Coram and the foundlings over the past few decades but had never actually visited the museum before.  The exhibition was mesmerising.  Delightful yet emotional - actually breathtaking.  Anyway, my comment was chosen (at random I think) to receive this delightful presentation box of threads, donated by Coats, which arrived this morning together with an exhibition book.  My visit being fired by the family historian as well as the textile artist, I didn't even mention stitch in the comment .............. I am delighted!

Invited to choose myself a Mothers' Day gift (I couldn't possibly say that it might have been a cop out by the other person) the handbag pattern I selected was out of stock.  There's quite a few handbag patterns here and have I ever used one of them?  Hmmmmm.  Anyway, I got this instead ...........

Why?  I actually really don't know.  It was cheap and cheerful and  I just liked it.  Perhaps imagining lots of little patchwork dinosaurs with wired organza bits somewhere down the line!


Back to reality.  Yet another pair of "no longer wearable" boxer shorts came into my possession this morning.  We have quite a little collection here - all M&S 100% cotton - and there's the remains of at least one other pair laying about somewhere which I mutilated for that blind

So, inspired by the textile tokens left by loved ones leaving their babies at the foundling hospital I have the threads and fabric set out before me.  My "token" won't be as such that it could be pinned into the pages of a ledger for hundreds of years to come but it will be something with meaning and I'd recognise that fabric (stuff that I've lived with day in day out over several  years) together anywhere.
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