Monday 30 January 2017

A little adventure

I have long been an admirer of Marg Sampson George from Australia and this week I am going to meet this talented lady who is teaching all week at Cowslip Workshops in Cornwall. It is a wonderful opportunity.

This book is a great read and another hit from the Quiltmania team. It is full of hints and tips to help you organise your stash and how to use it and it is full of wonderful quilts to make.

 

My stash has been plundered, arranged, rearranged, added to and bits taken out and packed into a box big enough to make 10 quilts. Still I keep asking myself if I have enough. There is certainly colour but this is also about pattern and scale. Hopefully there will be something in there that will interest Marg to have a play. I am told she likes to play with other people's stashes.

 

Stay tuned for progress reports. There is still time to come and join in the fun.

Cowslip Workshops

Happy Stitching

Shirley.

Monday 23 January 2017

Stina's Hearts

A few years ago my lovely friend Stina made me this surprise gift of a mug rug for Valentine's Day. It is far too pretty to use so sits very nicely on my dresser along with my other treasures.


Stina has generously shared the instructions for making  these gorgeous hearts and so I thought I would give it a go. 

First there was one....

Now there are two.....
 

They sit nicely together......

 
If you fancy making one or two yourself then click on Stina and head over to Sweden. The instructions are well written and with good photographic content so you know exactly what it all should look like at each stage.
 
Thank you Stina. I treasure my gift and I think there may be a few more of these little blocks to be made.
 
Happy Stitching.
 
Shirley.x


Monday 16 January 2017

Anticipation

This little quilt named Anticipation has been on my wish list for some time now. It is from a Quiltmania Summer Special magazine. Designed by Kay Harmon and quilted by Darlene Szabo.

One of my promises to myself was to join in a wool applique group at Cowslip Workshops in Cornwall run by Sue Maddox. It seemed the ideal opportunity to give this little quilt a try out.

 
Having tried out several fabrics I decided on a scrappy background in my favourite pinks. There is a lot more cutting out to do yet and things are only placed but it is forming. The light in my sewing room is appalling and I need to do something about it. It also looks like a dirty mark on the fabric but is just a shadow from below.
 

This could be the start of a whole new addiction just in fabric buying, let alone threads and any stitching.

In class all I managed to do was to cut out the flowers but I learned a whole lot from seeing what everyone else was making and they were patient with my questions. Hoping I can manage the next months meeting and with something to show.

Happy Stitching.

Shirley.x


Tuesday 10 January 2017

Promises

In the New Year I promised to set some goals. In previous years I have used words and sayings to help keep me on track but failed miserably. Like most Resolutions. This year I just plan to be more determined.

Last years blogging efforts were really dire so hopefully there is still someone out there interested and not given up on me.

Here goes....
 
A few months ago at my Wednesday Sewing Group I rescued a small pack of roughly cut hexagons from a bin liner full of scraps and challenged myself to do something with them. Not my usual colours but they looked so inviting.
 
They were trimmed to size and I just so happened to have a pack of 7/8" paper pieces from Lina Patchwork.


I played around with quite a few settings and came up with this.
 

Once all the hexagons were stitched it was time to audition background fabrics and it seemed right to only use what I could find in the stash.

 
I eventually settled on the dark blue as it made all the colours appear brighter.
 

Also in my stash was a bundle of Worn and Washed plaids and it fitted in with the recycling ethos that this top was becoming. Strips were added around the borders and it is now a nice size for a small person to snuggle under.
 

Now all I need to do is quilt as desired.

Happy new year if you have got this far. It would be lovely to hear from you.

Shirley.