A quiltilicious week!

March 20, 2011 stitchesoftime5 Comments

I have been doing lots of quilty things this week. Yesterday was International Quilting Day so it is very fitting that lots of my week should have been spent doing these activities.

The first thing that I completed was this block to give to one of the members of my quilt group. She is making a charity block quilt and last month gave me a piece of cat fabric which I then added to make a crazy patchwork block. I was pleased with the way this turned out in the end as I has to do the join with the dark turquoise triangle in it several times as I could not get the points right. I have done crazy patchwork before when I have made bags but never with so many different angles so it was a bit of a challenge. It has helped improved my machine work which I wanted to get better at.

cat block — You will recognise this fabric from my current quilt WIP - more of this later!

Yesterday I sent the whole day at the quilt group sewing day where I finally managed to get the rest of the pieces cut out and the whole of the top put together except for the borders which are cut. It was very helpful to have advice from the others as I am very spatially challenged so had a bit of difficulty working out which pieces to sew together first but got there in the end and I am very pleased with the end result. Consensus of opinion among the group was that it looks very nice as it is but I did still want to put the rabbit applique on then one of the group suggested making it double-sided with a fleecy backing and putting the rabbit on that side. I thought that was an excellent idea so am now going to source some pale pink fleece to do that.

Bunny Quilt 3 — A bit crumpled but looking good

One of the women from the group Christine, runs her own quilting business – she has a long arm quilting machine and also sells fabric and runs workshops and she had brought her wares with her so I had to have a little indulge. I bought this very cute cat fabric and co-ordinates which I thought would be a good children’s quilt – probably be an Xmas pressie at the rate I am going though!

cat fabric 1 — A close up of the pretty cats

I also bought two different white on white prints to use as contrasts and this cute vintage bunny print. I now have quite a lot of fat quarters and feel the need to have a nice box to put them all in like Crazy Mom has rather than them be in random drawers all over the lounge as I lose track of what I have bought. I want have them all together so that I can see all the different colours which I hope will help me plan more effectively what I want to make.Will have to buy a box and get sorting!

Kerry and Tracey from my medieval group came for a sewing day today – we haven’t seen each other for a long time so it was great to have a catch up. I didn’t get much done but did sew up the JBW stocking but they both finished little ornaments , Tracey’s was a lavender filled one for her kitchen which made my conservatory smell really nice and Kerry made a lovely Xmas heart ornie for her tree. They bought loads of Xmas fabric stash when we went to Harrogate last Nov so are starting to use that up.

Also managed to make three knitting sessions this week which was bit of a miracle so am making very good progress with the red chunky wool hat. The weather was extremely good at the start and the end of the week – though dull and misty in the middle – so I may finish it just in time for it to go into a drawer for next Winter but at least I will be prepared!

I have been out in the garden twice doing some tidying up after the long soggy cold season but thankfully there is less frost and snow damage than last year so it won’t take so long to get the garden restored. It does gladden my little heart to see all the signs of Spring, my clematis are looking very good so far and the rhododendron are just about to bloom. I have lost a couple of azaleas and a pireus due to frost but will probably just get some nice bright primulas or similar to put in pots as I have a lot of empty ones at present. I have all of next week off work in order to do lots of house stuff so hopefully the weather will be kind and I can get a lot done outside.

Then we are off to Worcester for next weekend to see Ellie as it is her birthday the week after and we have a little history field trip to Stratford-on-Avon planned. I am hoping to come back with some Shakespearean inspired textile pics for you.

I hope you have a lovely week ahead and thank you very much for visiting.

The right tools for the job

February 13, 2011March 11, 2011 stitchesoftime4 Comments

Hello there hope that you are having a nice weekend. I am despite the pouring rain! I am nice and snug and warm – have been having boiler fettling again today due to a radiator issue and a broken fan but all is well now (fingers crossed!) so I have been enjoying being inside doing a little bit of crafting. Only a little bit as most of this weekend has been taken up with work but that is ok as it has been fun stuff.

Just after Xmas I treated myself to some proper cutting tools for quilting. I had already bought a rotary cutter which is fab but now have a large A2 cutting mat and two rulers, an 18 inch long one and a 6 inch square which make life a lot easier. I have been cutting out the pieces for this project –

Sorry the pic is a bit pale – that is a photo of the pattern, I have had it in my file for long time and actually bought the fabric last year but I am only just getting around to it now.It is called Bunny Hugs and I got it as a freebie download from the Free Quilting website .

I am making it with a selection of lovely paisley fabrics in pink and turquoise. The pattern has lots of different sized pieces so I have come up with a nifty idea to keep check of what I am cutting out. I have made a list and as I cut each one I tick it off and label it on the reverse with a little peel off sticker.

Bunny quilt 1 — My new tools and lovely fabrics!

It will be a while till I get chance to sew it all together as I have another packed week and then I am off to sunny Spain but I am pleased with the cutting out so far – the proper rulers make all the difference and mean I don’t risk cutting my hands!

I had a very lovely evening yesterday – we were invited to go and watch a presentation by the Project Nepal 2 team who went to do their build last Oct. You may be aware that I went to Nepal two years ago to do a similar thing – check out my pages on Project Nepal and My Time in Nepal if you want more details of my adventures.

It was lovely to meet up with old freinds – many who went out to Nepal again this trip and they had a very interesting time. It made me really nostalgic for the time I spent there, I absolutely loved it and really want to go again (just checked out prices for flights and it’s not that expensive – but can’t go for a few years yet!)

The pictures they showed of the mountains were again amazing – they went after the build in the village to stay at Pokhara in a beautiful hotel on an island – check out these views.

fishtail lodge gardens — The view from Fishtail Lodge gardens

View from Fishtail Lodge Pohkara — The view of Machapuchare - Fishtail Mountain - from Pokhara

Heaven, heaven, heaven. I think Pokhara is one of the most beautiful places on earth and I am very priviliged to have been there. A wonderful evening and it made me quite emotional.

Anyway on to other very, very exciting news! Fingers crossed and all being well I am going to teach in China later on this year! I am really thrilled as I have wanted to go out to work in China for a long time – the University runs lots of joint courses with a Polytechnic there and there are always offers of work but they have always been longer term and I have not been able to go. Well this is for just over 2 weeks and I will be going in September and hopefully then again in March 2012. We are going to be doing workshops on teaching creatively with groups of Chinese teacher trainers and using a translator as most of them don’t speak English so that will be a very interesting experience for me.

The place I will be going to is called Guangzhou and it looks incredible – it is the third largest city in China and I got some pics from Google to show you what it looks like.

guangzhou 1 — The city was host to the 16th Asian games last year

guangzhou 3 — I really want to go and visit this tower

Incredible isn’t it – I am very lucky! We will get about 5 days off while we are there so time for a bit of sightseeing, and there may well be textiles! I wonder what the luggage allowance is and whether I can persuade any of my colleagues to share their space with me?

I do hope you have all had a lovely week – I will not be posting next week as will not be in the country so shall update you all on my return. Am planning a black hat finish and at least one Xmas ornie completion while in Spain – just wish they would let me stitch on the plane!

Thanks again for visiting.

Nearly there!

December 19, 2010December 19, 2010 stitchesoftime1 Comment

Well have just finished and uploaded the Xmas newsletter, was great fun deciding which of our many pics to put up. Have been making spiced pear pickle this afternoon to give as a homemade Xmas gift so the house smells very lovely. We had our Xmas party last night which was great fun, Ellie got home just in time before Birmingham station was closed due to snow.

I finished the tree skirt off on Friday so thought I would show you some pics of that.

I cut round a circular mat I have to give me the pattern – I used some red cotton that I had in my stash – then folded this into 16 to give me the template for each piece. I cut a slit in the backing fabric so that I could put it round the tree.I used eight different Xmas fabrics, cutting two segments from each and ironed bondaweb on to the backing fabric then ironed all sixteen pieces on evenly spaced. I then cut a small hole in the centre and zigzagged over all the joins. I didn’t put any wadding between the layers though you could if you wanted it thicker.

Tree skirt WIP — The tree skirt with the centre hole cut out

I then hemmed it all and added a ribbon and voila here it is under the tree!

Tree skirt finished — It looks very pretty - just waiting for the pressies now!

I have taken a couple more pics of the tree just to show you a couple more of my unique ornies. Here is one that I did show you last year – an exchange that I got from the USA, it got delayed due to bad weather so never made it to the tree but here it is this year.

: A beautiful hand stitched ornie from Marlene

The pic below is one of my new crop of baubles for this season – I love making these!

green bauble — A new addition for this year

As I mentioned in my last post I want to stitch more ornies next year so I have ordered these three below from Sew and So – I still have another two that I ordered previously that I have not made yet, a tree and an Xmas pudding and am also going to make myself versions of the lovely ornies I have given away over the last few years. My aim is to complete one a month during 2011 so I will be posting details of how I get on over the year. Once I have finished sorting out the house for Xmas I will snuggle down on the sofa with some mulled wine and make a start!

Well I do hope you have nearly finished your preparations for the festive season. We have got a packed week planned, with visits to the cinema and to an exhibition at the Trafford centre of replicas from Tutankhamun’s tomb, then all the relatives arrive Weds and Thurs for the duration. In between I have a whole lot of marking to do!

Hope you have a very, very lovely Xmas with lots of time for relaxing and crafting. Ellie and I plan to do nothing in between Xmas and New Year except sit, knit and watch girlie movies – heaven!

Thanks for visiting.

Giveaway winner and a few more Xmas finishes

December 13, 2010 stitchesoftime1 Comment

Apologies for not posting about the giveaway sooner, I have had a very hectic weekend and have been working lots and very little time for the fun things in life. Thankfully term is nearly at its end and we now get the bliss that is Christmas holidays with lots of crafting. I do intend to spend an awful lot of this holiday knitting and I have just signed up to do a charity quilt through the Quilt Guild for a local children’s hospice. Don’t have much (or anything really) in the way of kids’ fabric so will have to treat myself to some stash.

Anyway the winner of the 3 year blogaversary giveaway is Elmsley Rose! Please mail me at alison.gorf@yahoo.co.uk with your address and I can send you your goodies. I am going to the post office on Thurs so if you see this before then I can post them then, they may not get to you before Xmas but they will keep!

I have been enjoying the warmer weather here – no snow and spent a very lovely time yesterday decorating the house for Xmas. It took me ages as I just pottered around moving things here and there and trying to decide where best to put everything. I have some new ornies this year as I have made myself some new pine cones and baubles to keep and some little Xmas tree pots. I have also finished the Xmas hanging so that will go up in the hallway later in the week (just need the curtain rod to hang it from.) I machine pieced this then hand quilted it with metallic thread (not a good idea it breaks way too much) them added some of my little brass charms.

Xmas quilt hanging — Jacob very kindly held it up for me!

Xmas quilt hanging 2 — Detail of one of the brass charms on the quilt

Some of the tree pots are in the dining room which has gold and silver colour scheme. These two will be used on the table on Xmas day – they are the same size it is just the perspective!

The others are on the mantelpiece in the lounge along with the mini poinsettia which started it all (the surplus gold pots that I have acquired over the years). Apologies for the quality of the pics – the light was not good as it is a north facing room.I made one of these last year but the matching one took a year to get finished!

Xmas tree pots - multi — The festive mantel

I have also finished some cross stitched ornies- have only done two of these this year due to getting sidetracked by the delights of patchwork! These are from JBW designs and I have added a little charm I bought last Feb in a bead shop in Leeds. I have just been to the web site at Sew and So to add the link for JBW and have seen that they have some new stocking designs. I do love their designs so much, I still have a tree and a plum pudding that I have not done yet but am going to set myself a goal of doing one Xmas ornie a month next year so that I can have another 12 for my tree, as I was decorating it yesterday I was wishing that everything on it was handmade rather than mass-produced baubles so will add to my stock.

Reindeer ornie 1 — Reindeer ornie showing back and front

Reindeer ornies 2 — Detail of ornie showing the charm

My camera is behaving very well at the moment (if the light is ok ) and the pictures are very clear. It must know it’s on its on way out as I have ordered a new one (though will keep it as a spare as am very accident prone with cameras).

Have also started a new project that needs to be done for Xmas (because of course I have loads of time!). I have lost the skirt for the Xmas tree – not that I liked it anyway as it was very polyester and shed glitter everywhere, I may well have thrown it out last year meaning to make another one before this Xmas (oops!)

So this evening before Quilt Guild I cut out another one, I was a bit stuck what to use as a pattern until I remembered that I have a small circular rug so cut a circle a little bigger than that and divided it into 16 and cut out 16 triangles of Xmas fabric (lucky I have some you see for just this type of emergency!). Did not get chance to sew it together as I need more Bondaweb which I will get later this week.

Am aiming to get this made by Friday! I mean this Friday as we are having Xmas party on Sat – not that anyone will notice bare legs on the tree but if not will get it done Sunday as there is the little matter of party food to prepare, yes Mum is going to Iceland for some of it (the little mini fish and chip cones at Ellen’s request) but the rest will be all home-made so I shall have to get cracking!

Well have a lovely week and once again thanks for visiting.

Quilt Love

October 18, 2010 stitchesoftime2 Comments

Well I had a lovely time at the quilt group sewing day on Saturday. I went armed with my selection of lovely Xmas fabric and my brand new rotary cutter and came away with the pieces for an Xmas wall hanging which I put together yesterday and edged this evening. All that is left to do now if to buy some wadding so that I can layer it and quilt it at the weekend.I adapted a quilt pattern that I have had in my folder for a long time – it was originally meant to be made of 12 blocks but I only wanted a small hanging so just made 4. The pattern is based on two different nine patch quilt blocks with four of the nine patches being split in half.

Xmas Quilt 1 — My nine patch block and my new best friend - my rotary cutter

You then join the blocks and applique a tree where the four paler blocks join. I plan to sew brass Xmas charms in the pale blocks around the tree and to put some beads on the outline of the tree after it is quilted.This hanging will go in my hall on the wall opposite all my little baubles which are made of this fabric.

Xmas Quilt 2 — The completed four blocks with appliqued tree

Xmas Quilt 3 — Close up of the tree in contrasting Xmas pressie fabric

I love the bauble fabric from Makower which has been in my stash for a couple of years – I am hoping to get more of this at the Harrogate show.

I really enjoyed the day , everyone was very friendly and helpful , especially Jackie and Davina ,who I sat with, and they taught me how to use the rotary cutter properly and lent me a larger cutting mat and their rulers which made life so much easier. I am going to treat myself to these essentials tools – may wait till the Harrogate Knitting and Stitching Show in Nov and add them to my shopping list for that if I can wait that long!

I am amazed at how quickly the piece came together, being so used to hand stitching which takes me weeks sometimes. Davina cut out and made an entire quilt top for a child’s bed in one day. I think I will really enjoy this new crafting! I won’t stop hand stitching or knitting as I like to do that in the evenings in front of the TV but now I have got my new machine I will be doing much more with it. I have always been a bit nervous of sewing with a machine – I learnt to use a hand-operated machine so electric ones always seemed too fast and I have not really used them for anything apart from costume making.It has always been a bit of a love hate relationship as I seemed to spend half my time battling to get the thing to work! But the new machine is very lovely and I envisage many happy hours together over this winter!

In other exciting news I have won my first ever blog giveaway! I was looking at my blog with a friend earlier today who had come round to look at setting up a blog for our branch of the Embroiderers’ Guild and was showing her how you could see where people come from to get to your blog and noticed a lot of people clicking on my blog from Greedy for Colour , Kate from New Zealand’s fab blog, and then realised it was because I had won the pincushion giveaway that she ran for her recent birthday. I am very thrilled, especially as her work is amazing so thank you very much Kate! Do go and visit her blog and admire the loveliness.

Am getting on very well with the little Xmas tree patchwork ornaments for my craft fair – assembled another two tonight after adding the border to my hanging. Will be doing some more of those at the weekend as well as finishing my Xmas hanging and the next Monday we are off to lovely sunny Spain for a week during half term ! Can’t wait – especially as it is absolutely pouring down here at the minute and the weather forecast says we are in for a very cold spell at the end of the week.

Hope you have a nice weekend , see you when I return – thank you for visiting.

Wartime Quilts and knitting update

October 5, 2010 stitchesoftimeLeave a comment

Hello there

We have had a very lovely weekend here as my daughter Ellie has been up from Uni visiting – we have been for a bit of retail therapy, out for a couple of lovely meals and finally got to go to the Quilt Museum in York! I wanted to go to see the Wartime Quilts exhibition which is only on for a couple more weeks – Ellie really likes that period and since I like quilting particularly for the history side of it I thought that it would be really interesting to see this display and it was.

There were about 15 quilts on display – mainly those that were made by the Canadian Red Cross to send to families who had been bombed out of their homes. All were very utilitarian being made of dress fabric, suit fabric and in one case pyjamas and all well-worn which obviously means they were well used and appreciated which was lovely to see. There were also comments with the quilts from those people who had received them – mostly when they were children and that was very moving reading their accounts.There was also a quilt made by German prisoners of war which again was very thought provoking.The patterns used were varied, Nine Patch, Dresden Plate, Fans, Hexagon Flowers and lots of Crazy Patchwork with some lovely embroidery. As usual no photos were allowed so am sharing this one from the web site.

Wartime Quilt — This quilt included a V for Victory fabric

I know I have said this before by I am constantly reminded how textile history is our history – it is not just about someone’s hobby, or an outdated craft – these carefully preserved artifacts tell stories about the reality of all sorts of very sad and in other cases very joyous occasions. We use the expression the ‘fabric of our lives’ and in these many pieces that I see in all sorts of exhibitions, historic houses and museums we see just that.

I have also been busy on other domestic fronts – Ellie and I made huge batches of veg chilli which is now in the freezer for the final supper at the end of the Marsden Jazz Festival which is this coming weekend. I volunteered to cater (I miss doing Scout Camps!) for our Sunday meal. I have got my rota of duties (mainly doing the office and band liaison) which is great as I will get to watch about 6 different bands over the weekend so am really looking forward to that. We went out to Marsden last night for a final meeting about the involvement of the local community radio station and them the kids joined me for a very lovely meal at Mozarella’s pizza and wine bar there.

I have also been busy on my knitting and stitching – I have made up more patchwork trees and tree kits and have finished the first of my Autumn exchange pieces – I have tried a new form of finish this time using my new sewing machine (which is still working wonderfully!) but cannot show pics till it has made its way to the USA – am posting on Fri.

Have finally made up the second version of the baby cardi using the Sublime wool (first version is here) – all it needs is a button and ribbon.For details of the pattern click here .

Anna - Mae's cardi — Knitted in gorgeous Sublime turquoise wool

I have also have started on a new set of wristwarmers as an Xmas pressie – these are the Frothy Gothy Wristwarmers from a freebie on Ravelry – a very easy and striking knit – I love all the little points and it is very easy to do.

Frothy Gothy wristwarmers 1 — A nearly completed wristwarmer

Frothy Gothy wristwarmers 2 — Detail of the points

Well I have a busy week ahead at work and will be in Marsden all weekend jazzing it up! Please pray for fine weather for us!

Thanks for visiting.

More pics from Harrogate Knitting and Stitching Show – Quilting

December 2, 2009 stitchesoftime4 Comments

I still have a lot more to post about the show from last week so thought I would share some more with you now. The theme for this post is quilting and some of these pics come from my good friend Anita who kindly downloaded all her pics onto my PC when we met up this last weekend. She has a much better camera than me with all sorts of settings – I have a very simple point and click one not being technologically minded and being very prone to drowning cameras!

These quilts were all winners in various categories – I forgot to note down what the competition was but there was some wonderful work in both traditional and contemporary styles.

Quilt 1 — This was my favourite piece the overall effect was amazing

Quilt 3 — A more traditional quilt with applique and patched sections

Quilt 4 — Detail of the applique section

Quilt 5 — Amazing quilting on one of the wholecloth background areas

Quilt 6 — One of the art quilts - a portrait

Quilt 7 — Detail of the quilting around the face

The level of workmanship in these quilts is amazing and I am sorry that I don’t have details of who made them to give these very talented people credit. If you recognise your work please leave me a comment so that I can credit you. I have only just started doing the most simple patchwork and quilting (you have seen my tree!) and am in awe of the level of skill and dedication in these pieces.

I also bought a lovely book at the show which I read within a week and have now passed on to Anita. It was called ‘The Quilt that Walked to Golden’ and had been on my Xmas wish list but I bought it as a treat for me. It was a wonderful book with the stories of women who made quilts in Colorado from the time of the pioneers up to the present-day with extracts from their life histories and diaries and lots of pictures of both historic and new quilts. I loved this book (Little House on the Prairie gone live!) and now want to follow it up and read some of the biographies of the women listed in the book and the other books about this topic .

I have also added another one to the ‘places I want to visit’ on my ever-increasing list with Colorado and in particular the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum which is in Golden, Colorado. I have wanted to visit the Rockies for a long time ever since discovering Mary Kathryn’s brilliant blog – every week she posts her Rocky Mountain Wednesdays photos of where she lives – I love Yorkshire and think it is very beautiful but she has some amazing scenery (and lots of quilt shops!)

I have also been very busy working on my Xmas stitching, knitting and quilting – why is that however early you start you have never finished all those projects you wanted to do for people? Oh well at least I have lots of ideas for birthday gifts for next year!

Thanks for visiting – happy stitching!

A walk in the woods and some quilting

November 29, 2009January 12, 2010 stitchesoftimeLeave a comment

I have had a lovely weekend away at Centerparks in Sherwood Forest with my very special friends. There were 8 of us that went away – all women I originally met about 17 years ago at the local toddler group. We left behind 21 children between us (though technically 4 of those have already left us – being already at University!) and headed off for our now annual girlie weekend away.

We started this tradition about 13 years ago with a trip to Filey where we stayed in Belinda’s Auntie Brenda’s caravan. A couple of years later we graduated to Centerparks and have spent many a happy weekend at both the Cumbria and Sherwood ones. This weekend away was a very special one as it was Belinda’s 50th birthday celebration so we treated ourselves to a very nice luxury lodge complete with en-suite bathrooms, games room with pool table and private sauna! Here are a few pics of the luxury.

The lounge with one of the 6 TVs in the lodge - one in each room as well as widescreen with PS2 in the games room!

Lounge 2 — the other end of the lounge - private patio leading to sauna - this also had a fab bar-b-que which sadly we did not use

Bedroom — Mine and Maggie's luxury bedroom with complimentary towels and ensuite with power shower

Lodge — The lodge we stayed in is in the middle of this pic

Squirrel — We didn't actually watch any of the 6 tvs - watching these guys and the pigeons feeding on the sunflower seeds we put out was much more entertaining

We did not do loads of activities as we spent lots of time reading magazines. eating lovely food, drinking wine and laughing but we did manage a couple of saunas, walks in the woods, swims, visits to the jacuzzi , feeding the ducks and swans and a little (and quite muddy!) bike ride. The place was all decorated for Xmas and here are some of the girls visiting Santa’s reindeer.

Reindeer — Julie, Maggie, Val and Therese have all been very good this year so are hoping for lots of presents from these guys

We also had a little celebration of Belinda’s birthday – she also has a party with friends and family planned for next weekend which we will all be at – but here she is blowing out the candles on her cake . I made a chocolate fudge cake with pink icing – only to discover the she does not like chocolate cake! Jacob has kindly volunteered to eat what is left!

Belinda's cake — Happy 50th birthday Belinda!

I managed to get a bit of knitting and stitching done as well and spent quite a bit of time talking to Anita about quilting. She has recently set up her own business doing quilting of other people’s pieced work as she now owns a long armed quilting machine so we spent all of the journey to Centerparks discussing her flourishing business and ideas for my future one. She had also brought along a project – a very unusual applique tree. You really must go and have a look at the designer’s site – is is fab!

Quilt pattern — The pattern - a Lilley Pilley design

These women are very, very important to me – I met them all by chance as I knew few people with a baby when Ellie was little so rang the local council to ask about toddler groups in the area, walked up to the local one and met Belinda and Val. I met Maggie, Anita and Judith a couple of years later as they had babies and joined the group and Julie and Therese as they into moved to the area.

We have supported each other through pregnancy and birth, raising toddlers and teenagers, career breaks and career changes , major illnesses and operations of ourselves and loved ones and relationship woes. It was particularly special that Anita was there as 8 years ago she moved to Australia and we have only seen her a few times since. They are a fantastic bunch of people who enrich my life, make me laugh till I cry and will always be there for me – I am very proud to be able to call them my friends.

I will be back later this week with more pics from the Knitting and Stitching Show – thanks for visiting and happy stitching!

A Lovely Day

March 22, 2009September 9, 2010 stitchesoftime2 Comments

Hope that you have all had a nice weekend – I have had a lovely one especially a lovely Mothers’ Day today. I spent two hours stitching this morning then we went to Bradford to the National Media Museum this afternoon and for tea at Nandos which was lovely.

Came home for another 3 hours stitching which was very nice. Am working on some gifts for people so do have loads of WIPs but cannot post any pics till end of April when all are finished and with the recipients.

I had a lovely card made by Ellie and my wonderful children are paying for me to go to the Embroiderers’ Guild Conference for the day in Sheffield in April as my Mothers’ Day present. The day I am attending includes two talks on ecclesiastical embroidery and a trip to see some items at Sheffield Cathedral so I am really looking forward to that. Thanks kids for being so fab!

Regular readers may remember my Mothers’ Day post (at bottom of this link) last year when I had just arranged to go part -time at work and was really looking forward to a more relaxed, stress free life with more time for family stuff and embroidery!

Well life didn’t quite turn out like that but the stress levels are not too bad despite the fact that I am trying to return to work full time now which hopefully may be sorted soon.

As I have no pics of my work that I can share I will post a couple of useful links with pics that I have found through someone who linked to my blog. She is called Jane and her blog is in my blogroll as Loopy Lou so please go and visit her blog as there some lovely things on there.

The first one is a site called free patterns which as the name suggests gives free patterns for knitting, stitching, crochet etc. There is not a huge selection but there is some very nice stuff – I particularly like these quilting patterns.

Another wonderful site is Pintangle which has loads on it – inspiration, stitch a longs and online classes. Fabulous stuff, this woman Sharon is a real textile guru with loads of useful info and advice on the site. As a taster just look at the pic below from one of her crazy quilts.

Though I can’t show you any of my WIPs I can tell you that one is a crazy patchwork piece inspired by Barbara from my local Embroiderers’ Guild and that it is coming along really well – I am very pleased with it.

Hope you are all well and happy – bye for now.

A lovely day

February 8, 2009November 24, 2009 stitchesoftimeLeave a comment

Today Ellie and I have been to the Stitch and Creative Crafts Show in Manchester. I have not been before to this one but missed my usual Harrogate Knitting and Stitching show fix in Nov as I was in Nepal.

It is much smaller than the Harrogate show with much more emphasis on card making and supplies for that but there were lots of lovely stalls and some of my favourite suppliers were there so we had a lovely time.

One of my all time must go and see stalls at any show is Golden Hinde – Sue does the most amazing goldwork and she was there stitching today and she showed me how to make chrysanthemums out of wire thread.

She has really taken modern goldwork to the next level and her work is wonderful as well as her stall selling some very practical (and very cheap!) goldwork supplies. The thing that I like about Golden Hinde is that you can buy little bags of all sorts of gold thread really cheaply – the things I got today were 8Op or £1.50 which means you can soon build up a great stash.

Go and visit their web site or better still see if you can get along to a show and meet them in person – well worth it!

Here are a few pics from the show – one of the quilting displays, a cross stitch stall and one of the crewel work pieces on display.

I have bought two new publications recently which I thought I would share with you – they are in the pic below.

Of course I know I don’t really need any new books, patterns etc as I have enough stitching to keep me going till 2087 as it is but I am going to start doing some quilting and patchwork. Some friends from Embroiderers’ Guild are also members of the Quilters’ Guild so am going to join them. Therefore I thought the book on quilting patterns would be useful. It is called The Essential Quilter by Barbara Chainey and was a huge bargain at nearly a third of the new price on Amazon.

The other purchase I bought last week from my local WH Smith. It is a stitching mag called Inspirations published in Australia by Country Bumpkin and has the most amazing work in it.One piece that I really want to make from it is this goldwork pomegranate below.

Pomegranate illustration from Inspirations magazine

A couple of years ago I did this Tudor Rose piece below from a magazine and thought that the pomegranate would be a good companion on the mantel shelf.

Have not set myself a timescale for completion as have loads of other projects on the go but would be lovely. Will post again soon – meanwhile happy stitching!

Stitches of Time

I have created this blog to share my interest in all forms of stitching, quilting, sewing, knitting, medieval re-enactment and costume making – particularly my love of historical embroidery. I also love travelling,especially when it also involves any of my other interests.

Tag: quilting