Saturday, March 28, 2015

A final few stitches ... and April's poetry task

My small seaside piece is done ...


 Week Five's rules were to finish in whatever way we chose so I took the opportunity to try out the finish with bought bias binding. I'm pleased, the picture has a frame and is ready for a wall.

Now I'm wondering what April's Stitch Along Sunday project will be. Just in case it does not appeal I've dug out an embroidery project which is so unfinished its not really started at all.

The plan for this was to use up my stash of embroidery threads and to have some hand sewing to do in my Monday afternoon sewing class. I really enjoy the company there but don't do to well with anything that needs a sewing machine as there's always so much stuff to take!!




As you can see I got as far as one block on the light box and half the pattern stencilled. More watch this space but hopefully there will be some sunny days on my terrace in France when this starts to take shape.




And, some poetry news - I've decided to take part in National Write Poetry Month!  This means a poem a day in April inspired by a prompt, posted on this blog and shared with lots of other poets doing the same task.   If your interested go to http://www.napowrimo.net and join in.

Of course, once the poems are on my blog they will be published and not wanted by editors, even if they had been wanted anyway!! But, hey ho, the challenge will be good for my writing muscles which need to be kept in good shape like any other muscle.



Friday, March 27, 2015

These things happen ...

I'm in John Lewis, still finding my way around after they changed the layout. That was probably two years ago but I'm a reluctant shopper, only going when very pushed and even then I can't sustain the trip too long. 

Deep in haberdashery I'm having a daft conversation about an ironing board cover.  It's patterned with rulers. I can't quite see myself measuring and ironing at the same time even though I'm pretty good at other multitasking combinations but you never know,  and it's about time I replaced the present cover which is actually an old curtain. The talk is all about whether the sales assistant can remove the packaging so I can see the shape of the cover. It’s unclear from the label that it is ironing board shaped and the instructions, in six languages but not in English, are not helping. 

Long wait over, sales assistant initiative taken, I'm at the pay point, hands full of bias binding, pair of small scissors, packaging, ironing board cover and I have no money. Well, that's not strictly true, I have all my cards but no cash. That's not strictly true either. When I manage to open my purse I can see about twenty five pence plus whatever the coin is that rolls onto the floor because it didn't make it to the purse proper but lurked in the opening, probably waiting for this moment in my day.  I don't bother to look for it, I'm trying to imagine where the notes I'd had in my hand before I left home might be.

I carry on through the shop, down the list I made at breakfast, paying for items with my cards even when they cost tuppence, including a bowl of soup which I balance on a tray beside several bags of shopping. My receipt is handed to me with an offer to carry my tray.  This makes me feel ten years older than the age I felt in front of a changing room mirror. There I'd decided I looked at least five years older than yesterday. So when the car park pay machine refuses to acknowledge my ticket and a man trying to fix the adjacent machine has to tell me three times that I've put it in the credit card slot I drive home contemplating my 97th birthday.

I've just had a third try at getting the ironing board cover to fit. In case you're wondering, the money was in my glove drawer and, you guessed it, I’ve no idea why. 




Wednesday, March 25, 2015

SAS week four ... stitches and threads ...

Another Wednesday and week four's instructions was to add some stitching which meant playing with some threads and the huge number of stitch types on  my Pfaff machine ... most of which I've not used so far. 



As you can see there are now a few wispy clouds in the sky, and some seaweed, you've guessed it, in the sea,

Perhaps rather harder to see are the glittery outlines to some of the stones ... posh beach this!


and now to the seagulls  -well, one is making its mark in the sky and I think I'll outline quilt the one that's about to catch a fish. I rather like the 'waves' in this section created by all the quilting either side of it but they need to be less rigid so hopefully the outline pattern will do this. Only one  way to find out.

On the basis that less is usually more and how much time I have left to do this before I go back to France and my straight stitching sewing machines, I think I'm done with week four.

I've been looking at how to hang this little project, and my long sunrise piece, and several other small pieces that are presently just propped up somewhere! Good use maybe for wire coat hangers ... or perhaps you've hung small pieces before and have some suggestions. Remember,  I love to upcycle so ideas with that in mind please.

See you here next week... should be over the finishing line with this and looking forward to April's project.

Friday, March 20, 2015

Friday's sewing ...

I was very aware that once I was back in France I had little chance of finishing the Auspicious Symbol wall hanging I started at Pat Archibald's workshop.

Lots of decisions to make about where to put the windows, how many, what colour foil ... and how to quilt .. but these turned out to be the least of my problems as I struggled to remember all the ways to use foil on fabric!!


I reverted to the simplest technique (cutting a stencil) and the useful rule of less is usually better then more and now its waiting for the binding, a hanging sleeve and a wall it can call home.


Shame about the wonky building ... maybe I'll do nighttime with the moon and have a second go at not moving the buildings once they are in place!!!

Have a good weekend all. I'm about to leave for supper out to celebrate a 60th birthday and i'm meeting friends in London tomorrow. There'll be lots of baby pictures on show (I hope) so I might just take a photo of the puppies.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

More stitching ... and a puppy photo

Another Wednesday, some time to continue my Stitch Along Sunday where this week's instruction was to add some verticals and do some sewing.

Here it is  .......


I used invisible thread and a zip zag stitch to anchor the sand and sea which has given the background some texture - dare I say, some waves!!  The seagulls went on better than I thought ... thanks to sticky stuff and the slow button on my machine.







And now for the addition ... not very well shown on the photo, but looks OK on the real thing, So pleased to have found a use for a few (actually very few) of the pieces of string that keep the lids on organic fruit and veg boxes I have delivered. So now there are some fenceposts on the beach and a smaller bunch of string having on the wall. Ideas for other uses very welcome.

Can't leave today without showing you a photo of one of our six new puppies..  born at home in France to Ali and Macca. I think this is Lily, but she is very like her sister Libby! They were born at home in France to Ali and Macca and are now 6 weeks old, full of fun, playing very well together and making it clear they can't wait to roam further than their toy filled puppy pen.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Stitching news

Spent a few minutes this morning finding an 'object'  to add to my sky-seascape for this weeks  work on the Stitch-along-Sunday project ... I know its Weds but ...




As instructed, I've cut the backing and wadding and broken the rules by adding not one but three fussy cut seagulls - after all that's what makes a good rule, the fact it can be broken without too much pain. I hope they won't be too much trouble to deal with further along -they are very small seagulls!


Looking forward to next week's instructions.


Meanwhile, I'm going to do some more machine couching this afternoon, a technique I learnt on Monday from Pat Archibald (http://www.patarchibald.com) along with lots of other useful stuff like adding foil to fabric and the easiest way to peel bonding paper from the back of fabric. 






At one point my wall hanging looked like this and the trick as to make sure those pieces did not move as you moved the whole thing to the iron. 















and after some stitching like this only better as this is a dreadful photo!

More next week. 

Belatedly, a poem for International Women's Day ...


Rather late but its been a busy few days ... 

I'm delighted to be in The Camel Saloon's special International Women's Day issue. Here's the link 

 http://theeyeoftheneedle7.blogspot.com/ and then on my name on the list of contributors 

More later on my choices for Stitch Along Sunday appliqué piece and how I got on putting foil on fabric at Monday's workshop  ....  

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Poetry news ... better late than never

A quick catch up so you can link over to some of my poems published recently a few days ago by Clear Poetry at https://clearpoetry.wordpress.com and in London Grip's Spring 2015 edition http://londongrip.co.uk/category/poetry/.

Its worth digging deeply into these webzines ... Clear Poetry publishes poems in which the topic is acutely observed and London Grip has a lot more than poetry ... almost something for everyone interested in culture and arts.

I've been reading Sharon Olds and Robert Lowell this week after a discussion at Tuesday Poetry School course ... really heavy reading, and of course deeply confessional. Our task was to write something that starts with the words  I go back to  ...  I have a very crafty poem to workshop next week so I'l try to remember to post something here about the feedback.

Using up my stash ... again

Hi folks
Just a quick post about a Stitch along Sunday project I've just joined, see more at http://quiltsbyjen.ca.

This is just perfect for projects that use up my stash and hopefully will involve more getting to know my sewing machine better.

Here's the fabric and threads I've chosen




no idea what next week's instructions will be   ...  I'll post a photo when I get that far.