Lino printing, Goodies

I re-discovered lino printing the other week. There are
some new lino products that are much easier to cut than
the traditional lino. This image was taken from a photo of
the tulips in my garden. Isn't modern technology wonderful!
I used acrylic paint and 'Ormaline' because I'd got it.
The resulting ink was a little looser than traditional lino inks
and didn't work as successfully on some of the prints.
After ironing I started quilting some of the pieces to see
what they'd look like. This one needs some ends finishing
off.
I layered this one with organza. A couple of greens torn
into strips and overlapped over the print then quilted.
Quite like this one!
Some of the goodies from Quilts in the Garden...........

This photo tickles me - my old cd player and a textile piece

of my old house.

Quilts in the Garden

Had a lovely day out yesterday. Arrived here, Uttoxeter
Racecourse, in glorious sunshine for the 'Quilts in the
Garden' show. I was immediately envious of the first
sight I saw - a full caravan site, in the middle of the track.
Parking was easy and free.
The entrance to the show......

You can only guess what this might be used

for at a quilt show......

Had to visit this show being so close to home. Glad I went.

Got some books that I'd been wanting a look at and had

to buy a bit of fabric of course. An interesting and very

varied collection of quilts on display. Arrived home tired

but contented (had a textile fix) and in desperate need

of a decent bucket of tea!

Snow dyeing

I remembered this last night - I missed a chance to do some
snow dyeing yesterday. It would have been perfect.
Never mind. It was more important to get the fibres.

Snow, fibres and othe extras

Well, what a day! Woke up to this today of all days,
totally unexpected. Had to go out to collect some fibres
for a felt making workshop on Tuesday. Couldn't rely on
the post to get them to me in time, only knew about it
10 days ago. The OH was tasked with taking me
today......
Just signs of birds and cats or foxes in the garden.

Not sure what these marks are but I think they are made

by bird wings.

The robins were the first of the feathered visitors to come

after I'd put out breakfast.

This was how it looked at the front of our house when we

left on our intrepid journey.

We went through the road widening road works on the M1.

Just 2 lanes ........

Due to snow problems on the motorway we had to leave

the M1 at the Meadowhall junction and go across Tinsley

Viaduct - that's what it used to be called!

Meadowhall, still loads of people going in despite the weather.

The sat.nav. took us on a pretty route but with lots of snow.

Thank goodness for four wheel drive.....

We ended up here, Wentworth village ......

We were heading for Wingham Wool Work.

I'd already ordered this......

but had to get some more coloured tops, a hat block and

some cotton gauze.

Needed to call at the local garden centre for a cuppa and loo stop.

Hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows is the thing for a

snow day.

The staff at the garden centre had been working very hard

to clear the car park and footpaths.

Back to the M1 and 3 lanes now but very wet.

The sun made an appearance......

And this is what we came home to. It didn't feel like the same day.

Our adventure is over! Time to download photos and get

tea started.

The latest pieces to be finished.

It's been a while......
This squirrel is a frequent visitor and sometimes brings a
friend a long. Only saw the one this time.
Obviously, not in my garden. I encountered these recently.
A family of swans, mum, dad and five one year olds. Also
the usual ducks. The swans were very used to humans.
The youngsters gave me a peck or two when they knew I'd
got food, they weren't nasty, it was more like a child tugging
on your sleeve for attention.
This character started appearing in the garden when we had
snow on the ground. It's a jay and is very skittish, so no good pics.
Sometimes he brings a mate with him who is even more nervous
of humans.

I finally finished these for Pennants for Patchworkers.

They only needed labels.

I also finished two more bonnets for the Roses from the Heart project

The hearts are fused to a fine calico then free machined stitched

all over.

Lastly, I have just finished this A6 journal cover.

It's all hand stitched with everything coming from my stash

of stuff.

I haven't finished the brick wall yet. I must get in the garage

to find my car spray paints to finish it off with some graffiti.

2010 so far

Isn't it interesting outside at the moment.
These two pied wagtails are tucking in.........
I heard an odd noise that turned out to be a duck being
chased by a cat. The duck decided to fly and the cat just
sat down in the snow. The ponies just carried on eating!
I didn't get my camera out in time to capture the duck -
on film.

It's good to be a kid occasionally......

Bread and butter pudding with a twist - made with mincemeat

leftover from Christmas. No need to butter the bread, there's

suet in the mincemeat. Made it to take out for lunch. It sink abit,

these sort of puddings always do.

Now for some Textiles.............

This piece is a response to 'Word for 2010' from the

Quiltart list. What is your word for 2010? - something

to inspire, motivate, keep you focused. It doesn't matter

as long as it works for you. I couldn't make my mind up -

what a surprise! The words other people chose seemed

so good and I could identify them with too. I remembered

an image used in a teaching excercise about relationships

with year 8 pupils in PSE(Personal and Social Education).

The image - a brick wall. Upto now, a negative image for me

but in this context , a positive one. It's to do with the

importance of foundations. I made a list of all the words

for my wall. Whilst doing this one word and a phrase

kept coming back to me repeatedly.

The fabric is hand-dyed, probably pleated in a tray.

I measured out the size and lines with a pencil and

stitched just to anchor the fabric.

I free machine quilted the words, not in any particular order.

Then the bricks were stitched.

The back of the piece.

It's curing at the moment as I've used Markal paintsticks on it.

BTW - there are one or two spelling mistakes. Does it matter??

Also I haven't forgotten to say what my 'word' is.

Happy New Year

Happy NewYear

Good health and Creativity in 2010

Resolutions???
Haven't decided yet.
Perhaps the first should be not to procrastinate!!!