Happy New Year

A good start - I've lost the text I like. Never mind, it won't
hurt. Had a camera for Christmas. Thought I'd show a
few pics taken since Christmas day, in no particular order!
This is a pond we walked past on Boxing day................

My mate on the way home, crashed out at my feet...................

A hat I made for a Christmas walk! ..............and I wore it!

Last year I made some Helen Cowan 'towers' but didn't

finish them properly because I wanted to be able to
flat pack them and put them away. I decided to finish
them off with a detachable crown. I think the crowns need

to be more flamboyant but I like them.........................

A wedding anniversary card for my parents for New Years
eve.........................

Ice in over some oyster shells in a bucket in the garden.........

Frosty grass..................

The other evening with family playing with a WII thing!

I t caused great hilarity....................By the way, he's skiing!Hope you've thought about your new years resolutions.

More about that later.

Happy New Year.................................

Merry Christmas

These trees have been decoratesd by children using
mostly natural things - popcorn, apples with cloves.
Aren't they lovely!

I have done a little stitching, just some quilting, and made a small

forest of christmas trees.......
.....and a couple of bigger trees for extra special cards.

I think a New Years resolution for me should be to learn

to take better photographs of my work.

This is my tree this year, put up rather quickly, no real

enthusiasm last weekend but it looks okay.

And finally ............Merry Christmas

and a Happy New Year to you all.

Problem, last post

The link to Dale's blog in the last post doesn't work.
I've made the correction as an edit but it doesn't seem
to want to change the actual post. To save time and
energy I decided to let you know this way. You can follow
the link at the side - I hope!

Sad news, Julia Caprara

Just learned some really sad news.

Julia Caprara died last week. She will be sadly missed.

Her influence and contribution to the world of Textiles was huge.

Read it on Dales blog 'Downunderdale', can't find a mention

of it anywhere else.

Bye.......................

Fish return, first stitching, kimono top

The fish have been away on holiday at Sutton Hoo. The packaging
was damaged but the quilt wasn't, thank goodness.
I've actually done some stitching. Two years ago at the Festival
of Quilts I bought some Japanese fabric with the intention of
making a kimono style top. Well, I drafted a pattern and started
making it in June/July and I've finally finished it. I only needed
to do the hemming. It only took about 20 minutes.

It's even got proper sleeves. I shall be using this pattern again

and adapting it.I can never do the same thing twice!

To top everything at the moment the washing machine died

last week, it wouldn't spin. It needed new brushes...........

sounds like I know what I'm talking about, I don't.

The engineer, a nice chap called Terry, came this morning and

fixed it.

Told you it'd be a long one ............... Bye!

Horseradish

It's bliss to get out in the garden unaided. Saw this ..........

..........something likes eating horseradish leaves. One day I'll

get round to using it myself!

Second outing

The following week my other half had a day off to have his car
serviced. To save messing about crossing town we went for a
walk in Darley Park. It's very close to the centre of town, in fact
if you keep going in this direction (below) you'll get there.

The River Derwent runs throught the park. There used to a school

in the park, many moons ago!

Saw this tasteful graffiti...................................................

Time well spent. Still not inspired to do any textiles!

First outing, Calke Abbey

It's been a while since I last posted, I've not really done much,

especially textiles. Be warned this is likely to be a long post.

About 3 or 4 weeks ago I decided I ought to start wearing shoes

other than crocs. We went to Calke Abbey one Sunday morning

and saw some wonderful things...........

a toadstool, never seen a real one like this before, only a picture...........

a dahlia border which had suffered with the overnight rain...........
pumpkins and gourds in all shapes and sizes...........................

this bloke in a funny hat is always around!..........................

mushrooms, quite rare ones I think, not sure though..............

It was bliss to be out in the fresh air at last.

Icicle doll/fairies, sunflowers

I was allowed out the other day. We went to the supermarket
for supplies and a visit to the opticians for him. Whilst he
had his eyes tested I did the shopping. I was worn out by the
time I'd finished and I only forgot one thing. I did find a good
bargain - it's good to know some things don't disappear.
These sunflowers were on offer, 2 for 1, so they ended up in
the trolley.
I also finished the other pieces I was making. The icicle doll/fairy
on the left is for another birthday card. The one on the right
was a trial one that ended up being too big.

The other half is off with the dog having a very wet walk, the

first in 2 months. It'll be fun when he gets back - soggy!!!

Bye ...................

Wild woman

As I have not been able to use my sewing machine I decided
I should do some hand stitching. A female relative has an
important birthday coming up - the big four oh!! She is having
a party and doesn't want any presents. So I decided to make her
a great birthday card. A wild woman was needed. This is the
result. I'm quite pleased with her and I'm still no good at faces.

Bye .....................

Change of scenery, thanks

Had a change of scenery today. Went out for Sunday lunch
at my mates house. He was very cautious with me but was
still pleased to see me. I still make a good look out post.

The other thing I forgot to say yesterday was 'thankyou' to all
the makers at the FOQ and all those invloved for making the show
possible. I know there are a lot of volunteers who we never see that
do a great job, including a team of firemen who are a godsend
with their cordless drills/screwdrivers, stepladders, size,
strength and humour.
I spoke to lady from Austria who has been coming to the FOQ from
the start. She comes for all four days with a group of friends.
Apparently they love the choice of fabrics and threads we have here.
Of course they have mail order but it's good to see and touch.
She did say that buying books is off limits due to the extra weight
for the flight home!
We are lucky in the UK it seems.

Bye .............................

Ouch

Had a slight accident with a large heavy object at the
beginning of the week. I ended up in casualty and having
a temporary cast put on my foot.

Had to go back the next day. Had the cast removed and
a dressing put on. Still had to have crutches though.
It's really hard putting your underwear on with one hand
and standing on one leg.
Am fed up, can't even stand long enough to make a cuppa!
The other half is having to do everything and doing a good
job too.
I have to go up and down stairs on my bum, not elegant but
practical. It's hard getting upright at the top of the stairs and
frequently I end up collapsing in fits of giggles.

And - it's my sewing machine foot! Aagh!!!!!
Don't know how long I'll be out of action.
Ah well, accidents happen!

Bye .........................................

FOQ 2

More of those that catch the eye.

'Tea ceremony' by Jane Rowland. This did not immediately

stand out as being made from teabags.

'Flower Garden' byJenny O'Neill. This caught my because

of the subject matter but also the techniques. I'm wanting

to have a play with printing techniques but can't at the moment -

tell you why later.

'Sognare Venezia' (Venice Dreaming) by Pauline Barnes. The use of

thread and stitching the negative not the positve was so effective.

A piece from 'Colour FX' - yummy piece.
Janet Twinn - some varied and interesting work.

I could go on posting pics of pieces that caught my eye.

Of course there were pieces that could not be photographed

that I wish I could show you. For those I bought catalogues or

postcards.

Got to go, visitors just turned up!

FOQ 1

The Festival of Quilts - what a show! Lots to see and lots to buy!
It's hard to pick out an absolute favourite, so here are just a few
that stood out for me for various reasons.
'Five of the best!' by Erica Johnston - made me smile.
'Spring of Desire' by Ted Storm. A beautiful, striking quilt.
When I was stewarding on this category I was asked if this
was my quilt - I wish!

'Herd Mentality' by Ferret. Can't help but smile at the subject matter.
The Guild challenge 'Elemental' by Stephanie Redfern.
Dorothy Caldwell, a maker of great pieces. I shall have to do another post to finish off the FOQ.

Bye...................

Birthday teabag doll, holiday

I dug this out of the garden sometime ago and finally got
round to taking it to the tip. I rather liked it and was tempted
to keep it but I didn't!!!! I made this for a friends birthday. She's a teabag doll
with aspirations on becoming a 'wild woman'.
Happy Birthday - you know who you are!

We're off on holiday tomorrow. Will have loads of photos

and will share when I return.

Bye .....................................

Sun, shopping bags and sale

I put our big brolly up on Sunday morning with the intention of sitting
outside but it was too hot. I caught this sleek black thing catching
some shade under the bench which was under our brolly!
I wanted to contribute to the Bag Tombola at the FOQ at the NEC
in August but not being a patchworker was at a loss at what to do.
I eventually decided to make a shopping bag and make a pouch
for it. I hope it will be good enough. The shopping bag was made
from some poly/cotton and I made sure the seams were double
stitched and the handles strong. The pouch was made by layering
some furnishing fabric (left over from the doorstop), some orange
poly/cotton and some polyester voile for slippiness then free
motion stitching the layers together just following the design on
the fabric.

I saw this in the supermarket today when it was sweltering outside

at 9.30am and it tickled me. I wonder if they'll return to full price when

we get the showers that are forecast this week.

I've been doing abit of dressmaking at last, no photos yet. Soon......

Bye .......................

Skies, garden, making stuff

Made this last week - a door stop, it won't damage the back
door which is plastic! It's filled with sand and crushed oyster
shell - it's used for the bottom of bird cages!

Spent time an the M1 last weekend , the skies were fab.
Couldn't resist taking pics.

The garden - some stuff is looking great, though some are past

their best. I have 4 teazle plants this year, onw is at least 6 feet tall.

They are flowering at the moment and looking quite good.

I found some bird seed fat balls in the garage and decided the
birds should have them now. The starlings had quite a fight over
them. A lone sparrow was determined to get his share as did
a blue tit. I don't particularly like starlings but they were
entertaining.

This is the finished postcard, just needs posting now.
Bye ..........................

PS ...............remember the fish quilt. It's now at the depot ready to go to

the Festival of Quilts.