Textile Addict

Tag Tuesday - Hearts

2012-02-11T21:47:00.000Z

This week's theme is hearts and I have used a heart from a collagraphy session at college a few years ago. I made some hearts - some were patterned and others were in the negative with a pattern surround. I've already used several of them on greetings cards but have a few left and thought this one would be ideal as a tag.

To add some extra interest I have sewn beads onto the plain heart.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge - more green

2012-02-09T19:43:00.000Z

I had thought that I would throw the scraps left over fromthe last piece away – some were just slithers and I couldn't imagine them being useful.

However, before they went in the bin, I decided to use them with myembellisher machine. When lookingthrough my felt to attach to I saw that I had odd bits of felt too and insteadof having to use a complete sheet I was able to join my felt scraps with myembellisher.

front and back, the khaki is showing a bit brownish on these photos

The next task was to embellish the cotton scraps on.

Then I softened it with some merino fibres and a couple of strands of scrap yarn

Realising I couldn't see much of the cotton fabrics, I picked some of the merino fibres off to reveal the fabrics again

close ups

Here's what it may look like, cut up and mixed with pieces created in different colours

I'll keep it as it is until I have made some more pieces in future months, then decide what to use it for.

This has been a great opportunity to use all of those scraps to create a new fabric.

Apologies for the difference in quality of the photos - some were taken in daylight and others in artificial light.

TAG Tuesday - Lace

2012-02-06T21:00:00.000Z

This week's tag is a reminder of one of my pieces I made for my City and Guild Embroidery Course. It was called A Metre of Mushrooms as it was a metre wide and the design came from one of my paintings of some mushrooms - hence the words on the tag. The photos on the tag are of the design (top photo) and the finished piece. The background of the tag uses leftover lace, other leftovers from the project used for the tag are beads for the tassel and top, and wool for the 'string'.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge - Green

2012-02-05T18:25:00.000Z

This month's colour for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is green.

Here are my green fat quarters to choose from.

I enjoy a variety of textile crafts but haven't done any patchwork and quilting for quite a while. These fat quarters (or should I say partial fat quarters) are leftovers from various small patchwork and applique projects. When I got them out I found this

It's a wonky flying geese pattern. I don't remember doing it but I must have done. My intial reaction was great - I can continue this and make it into a large block to go with the red one I made last month. I don't want to make all of the blocks the same so auditioned the pieces next to each other and was happy.

I merrily cut squares from my fat quarters for the base but couldn't quite work out how to cut the pieces to form the sky as they wouldn't be proper squares. Then I thought - hang on a minute. The reason I joined this challenge was to use the odd bits of the fat quarters where squares, strips and other shapes had previously been cut. By cutting fabric for the flying geese this would create more odd bits not use the ones I already had!

I changed tack, and went back to the fat quarters, opened them out and cut the odd bits off. Over the last couple of weeks I've come across new terms such as crumbs. I don't have any boxes of crumbs or scraps, at least my take on these words. My cut up fat quarters may be scraps to others but they are still fat quarters to me. The tiny pieces I would think of as crumbs have either been thrown away or are still attached to the main piece by thin strands of fabric. These are the crumbs I cut from my red fat quarters last month but struggled to use them.

There are lots of curved shapes in there from a flower making project. I'd like to thank Cathy Tomm for pointing me towards Bonnie Hunters crumb tutorial. Unfortunately, I've not had time to have a go with my red crumbs as we're now onto green and I've been making tags for Tag Tuesday as well as other projects I'm in the middle of. I still want to make something from these red bits though.

With my green fat quarters I didn't have a crumb problem. They'd been cut but most had what I would call tails which I could cut off and use as scraps.

Looking at my greens I wondered how they would look together - there are dark ones, light ones, yellowy ones, bluey ones, greyey ones, grids, circles, pea green. Some I liked, some I didn't. To me, they don't go together. I wondered about putting them into groups for likeness and make several small blocks but decided to use them randomly. It seemed easier to do it that way and other scrappy quilts I've seen have a mix of fabrics I wouldn't necessarily have chosen to put together but they seem to work well. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, as the saying goes. If it looked a mess when it was finished I could put it down to experience. They were only small bits of fabric I'd had for ages after all so I wouldn't have wasted any money. Surely being in my stash for that long could be seen as a waste by some.

I've used the general technique from the crumb tutorial matching pieces by size to put together. I didn't want to be worried by scale and tonal values but I think instinct kicked in so there aren't clumps of similar pieces together. In the beginning, I had several little blocks and I wondered if they would have sides the same length to make one piece. I busily kept stitching and quite soon I realised that a couple of my blocks had grown to 9 inches along so decided that this would be my final block size. In the end I'd made four blocks and have very few bits left over so I'm pleased with what I have created - all from the odd bits. Today I saw the term poverty piecing. I thought it was something to do with making quilts for charity but it comes from the idea of not being wasteful and putting all good fabric to a good use. I think my blocks qualify for this term - well, once they have been made into an item they will.

I haven't decided what to make from the blocks yet, ideas kept floating round my head and I've been inspired by lots of blogs I've been reading. For the moment I'll keep the blocks separate whilst I create more in different colours and create an ideas file.

I'm going to work on other projects now but am looking forward to see what next month's colour is.

TAG Tuesday

2012-01-30T20:30:00.001Z

With a different theme each week it’s going to be difficult to create them in the same style but I would like to use photos I’ve taken in the past and old family photos, together with words for as many of the tags as possible.

When I first saw the vintage theme I immediately thought of a photo of my grandmother taken in 1967 as I have a piece of fabric from the dress she was wearing. Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember where it was so my next thought was a photo of my grandparents with their three wheeled car. I don’t know when it was taken but it would have been at least 40 years ago. However, I couldn’t find it but I came across one of my dad in a toy car with his mother and grandmother. This one was taken over 70 years ago. The tag actually came from my grandparents house so is quite old itself, at least 30 years. The buttons are old cloth covered ones which I think came from my other grandparents’ house. I tried several arrangements with the buttons but wasn’t happy until I decided to use name tabs.

I’ve since found the dress fabric and will be making that tag as well. Here it is in progress.

I started this challenge during the third week and wanted to complete the set by making tags for the first two themes – snow and snow sports and games.

For snow, I have used a photo taken in my garden showing footprints in the snowfall. Ribbon, beads and words are used as embellishments.

I also have some photos of frosted spiders webs that I took to use as a design source which I’ll use for another tag. Here it is in progress.

The second week’s theme was snow sports and games. For this one I have used a photo of my youngest son playing with snowballs. We don’t usually get much snow where we live but in 2008 it snowed over the Easter holidays in the April. My son is wearing a scarf that I knitted for him. I don’t have any of the main wool left but used the same wool at the ends of the scarf for the tassels on the tag. It’s embellished with some words, beads and hand embroidery.

I’m also in the middle of making one with photos of my other son taken in 2009 sliding down a hill on a skateboard without its wheels.

I’m having fun making these tags and will certainly make some relating to lace – the next theme.

I hope you like them.

Red and White - Rainbow Scrap Challenge and TAG Tuesday

2012-01-22T19:59:00.002Z

This weekend has been a red and white one. Yesterday was red as I was working on a piece for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I tried using some crumbs but didn't get on very well and have put that idea on hold for the moment. Instead I cut strips from the fat quarters where they'd had odd bits already cut from them. Matching the same width sized strips I sewed them together and produced this, finishing it this morning.

I'm going to see how I get on in the next few months to see how many 12x12 squares I make before I decide what to turn them all into - bag, wallhanging, small quilt, bed quilt?

This afternoon has been white. Another challenge I've found is making tags at TAG Tuesday. There are lots of inspirational tags from other crafters. Unfortunately, the group is full but Carolyn, the host, has suggested that I play along on my own blog. Others are in the same situation and Carolyn has created a list on the side of the blog with links to ours so that everyone can have a look at the tags we have created. Each week a new theme starts on Tuesday and this week's theme is white. I cut a tag from pelmet vilene and bonded three white fabrics to it. The white label has been made from tyvek onto which I soldered the word 'white'. Embellished with some hand stitching, buttons, ribbon and beads I finished the edges with a machine buttonhole stitch. I'm really pleased with my first tag and looking forward to making another one next week.

Challenges

2012-01-19T18:24:00.000Z

I’ve been looking at lots of blogs in the last couple of weeks seeing what people are up to and what other challenges are out there to join. A lot are quilting based but I don’t seem to do much patchwork or quilting any more. The last time I bought a fat quarter (or larger pieces for patchworking) was several years ago. Don’t despair; I’ve bought lots of other textile goodies like silk fibres, embroidery threads, yarns, mixed media bits and pieces since. Some things are allocated for projects I’d like to make, others are leftovers from things I have made. I’ve enjoyed making things for the FAMM and 3 Creative Studio challenges from my stash but these have stopped. I’d like to join more challenges – ones where I can make things quite quickly as I will have other main projects on the go.

So far I’ve joined the UFO challenge and Colour PaletteChallenge. I’ve already completed this month’s UFO challenge and have started preparing for the Colour Palette one.

Two other challenges which caught my eye whilst exploring blogland are the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and Crumb-Along. Not sure if I officially have enough ‘scraps’ (how small is a scrap?) but I have lots of fat quarters which have been partially used, some with odd shapes cut out and this challenge would be a good way to slash that stash. As I enjoy a range of textile crafts, I also have lots of yarns, silk fibres, merino fibres, buttons, handmade papers. Some haven’t been used yet but others are leftovers from other projects. Perhaps it can be my leftover challenge! I have been thinking of what I could make with the fabrics – fabric book? book covers? bags? wallhanging? even a quilt! This month’s colour is red and I’ve got quite a few different red partial fat quarters so it will be a good starting colour.

Reading about the crumb along I’ve decided I don’t have any crumbs to use, or only very few, so I won’t be joining. However, it has given me some ideas for the rainbow scrap challenge. Remember those odd shapes already cut out from my fabrics? I thought I could square off the fabrics, then I’d have some crumbs which I could make into small squares. These could be used in conjunction with some of the rest of the fat quarter to make a block or two. Nothing would go to waste.

I need to go and get my boxes of fabrics out and have a play. I’ll let you know how I get on.

First UFO finished

2012-01-15T20:27:00.000Z

I've finished my first UFO from the UFO Challenge. It didn't take long and I got it finished in an afternoon. Makes me wonder I didn't find time to do it before now. Perhaps it was not having asked my son what colours he would like, combined with always being busy with other bits and pieces.

To dye the Tshirt I first soaked it in a mix of soda and salt solutions, then I squeezed the excess liquid out. Using a syringe I squirted three colours of dylon dye all over the shirt. Next it was into the casserole pot and micowaved for 4 mins. I've got a separate microwave for my crafting to the one we use for cooking.

When it was done, I undid the stitching and rinsed it first by hand to get the excess dye out, then used the rinse cycle on the washing machine to get rid of the rest.

One happy son who now has his Tshirt at long last and one happy mother who has one less UFO

UFO Challenge 2012

2012-01-05T09:00:00.001Z

After following the link from Vicki's blog to Judy's blog I found that she is also hosting a UFO challenge. She did this last year and is continuing it this year. The idea is to complete one UFO each month and share with the rest of the participants.

I’m quite good at starting things and then putting them aside when either I have new ideas or a problem crops up. However, I could only think of a few things that I’d put aside. I have some WIPs (works in progress) which I thought I could include together with a couple of things I am actively working on at the moment and need finishing in the next couple of months. That still wouldn’t make 12. However, I had a look in my craft room and found some more. Counting them up I have 14 without the WIPs or newer projects. I thought about including the WIPs as otherwise they are likely to become UFOs but I’ll go for 12 actual UFOs. Some should be quite quick to finish so the WIPs can be worked on as well during the month.

My UFOs are an eclectic mix as I enjoy a variety of textile related crafts.

1. 1 - Small pink weaving – I started this ages ago but as it wasn’t for anything specific I didn’t get it finished before starting something else and it’s been sitting in my basket ever since.

2. 2 - Hugs and Kisses wall hanging – I made this about 10-11 years ago. It spends the night-time as a curtain for my hall window and the day-time hangs just round the corner on the wall at the bottom of the stairs. The original design was made up in plaids but I prefer brighter colours. For some reason I didn’t hem the bottom binding to the backing – there was a reason but it is long forgotten. I also started hand-quilting the sky but the whole area hasn’t been completed. I’m not bothered about the quilting as there is only a small area which has been done but I aim to finish the hemming.

3. 3 - Advent calendar – this is from the Quilting Arts special winter edition back in Winter 08 which was the first gift edition. The reason I didn’t finish it was that I didn’t start it until the last week in November! I thought of using photos I’d taken at Christmas over the years to put behind the windows and doors and have even printed miniature versions and worked out which go where. We already have another advent calendar with pockets to hold sweets and nativity characters to put onto the felt centre so we didn’t really need it but I’d started it as I like the photo of it in the magazine.

4. 4 - Christmas ATCs – I made two or three a couple of years ago and started another two but didn’t get them finished. I only found them the other day so didn’t get chance to finish them off for this Christmas.

5. 5 - T-shirt – my son asked me to dye him a shibori t-shirt after he saw the one I had done for myself. I’ve got as far as stitching it but it has never seen the dye. Luckily he’s a teenager who wears adult sized clothes so the t-shirt will still fit!

6. 6 - Books – I took part in a workshop at my local Embroiders Guild with Frances Pickering who creates wonderful books. I did finish the book in as much as I finished the construction. We’d just had a lovely holiday on a Greek island and I printed some photos to put in it. A couple have been added and a few of the pages have been stamped but that’s as far as it got. I also created some pages for another book which I think I was planning to use for some more Greek photos.

7. 7 - Felt bag – I had a period of making bags from woollen felt which I embellished and then put in the washing machine. This one was for me, but didn’t get sewn up. I think I was waiting until I’d found the right handles to go with it. I’d better make a concerted effort to either find some or design some.

8. 8 - Knitted Jacket – I made this by knitting rows and judging the sizing by laying it on one I already had. The original one has a large collar and this one still needs a collar. When I last tried it on, the sleeves were far too long, the back neck was too wide and open and the front didn’t overlap as much as the original. I’ve lost about 2 stones in weight since, (not sure exactly how much I weighed when I made it) so hopefully it will be a better fit. I need to sort out the back neck and then make the collar. I don’t know what I can do about the sleeves. It’s quite heavy as I’m using three strands of wool so it would be ideal to wear outside when it’s chilly but I don’t want to wear a coat.

9. 9 - Entrelac knitting – about two or three winters ago I had knitting fest, mostly making bags with wool and then felting them. I found a pattern on ravelry for a bag made from entrelac knitting. I started making it but I’m not sure if my choice of yarn wasn’t right. The needle size was the same as on the ball of yarn but it was very loose and the stitches kept slipping on the needles. I persevered for a while, but then I cheated and made another version of the bag by knitting whole rows in wool to the shape the entrelac knitted version. When felted and moulded it looked great. The original is still on the needles. I’m not sure if I will finish knitting it or use the piece as part of something else. I made a fabric version but the sewn up shape is a bit weird and felting knitting wool is better. As this piece isn't wool I'm tempted to turn it into something else. We'll see what happens when it's number comes up.

10 10 - Silk fibre stole – I went on a workshop with Christine Benson at Art Van Go and using the embellisher machine we made a stole from silk fibres. My design included some freemachining on chiffon to be appliquéd. I only had a wooden embroidery hoop which wasn’t suitable so Christine lent me her hoop for the day. It’s taken me a couple of years to buy a similar hoop but I’ve not used it yet. Hopefully this challenge will get me on the road again with it.

11. 11 - Brown felted piece – this may have come immediately after my session of making felted bags. This time I used my embellisher to needlefelt with merino and silk fibres. I have stitched some wool in wavy lines across the piece and wet felted it slightly. It was going to be a bag, but I may make it into something else. Brown is not a colour I wear so it would not be any good as a bag for me. Perhaps it will be a gift for a friend.

12. 12 - Straps – I made these after buying Maggie Grey’s book entitled Stitches, Straps and Layers. However, I didn’t get any further with them. I think they need some more embellishments or stitching on them before being made into a vessel.

I am looking forward to getting them all finished by the end of the year.

2011

2012-01-03T21:05:00.000Z

Last year I enjoyed taking part in the FAMM Challenges but they stopped for the summer vacation and didn't resume as the site is being revamped. 3 Creative Studios also hosted a colour challenge, journal quilts and technique of the month. I joined in and occasionally won a prize. You can see my entries on my Flickr photostream. The hosts, Vicki Welsh and Terri Stegmiller, both felt that with their other ventures that they couldn't devote the time needed to continue with the site, and so it closed at the end of the year. I've always got something on the go, but I have enjoyed these extra challenges and was a little disappointed that I wouldn't have them anymore. However, when having a look at Vicki's blog the other day, I saw that Judy Laquidara of Patchwork Times is hosting a Color Palette Challenge in 2012 and Vicki is providing the palettes and prizes. The first colour pallete has been published. I'm not sure what to make yet, but I have plenty of fabrics, yarns and threads in these colours.

Masked Ball

2010-03-14T22:27:00.000Z

Here are some photo's of the mask I made from silk paper for the ball I went to last Saturday. I did a small amount of machine embroidery on it and beaded it.

I wore it for a while and it was admired but although most people had masks they were token gestures. Here's me modelling the mask but not in the dress I wore.

I think I look a bit scary.

I'm a Winner and What's Next

2010-03-04T08:47:00.001Z

My Hearts and Roses shown in the post was picked at random to win the last month's prize - a free online course and some fat quarters. I'm chuffed to have won and although it wasn't judged competition so that I can say mine was the best I've had some lovely comments. Why not have a look at the FAMM Challenge Flickr Group to see what other people have created. They are all wonderful pieces and it's nice to see how others have interpreted Tradition with a Twist. This month's challenge is Lost and Found - Embellishing with Found Objects. I've had a few ideas of things I can use and am playing with some designs in my mind.

The other new challenge I have is for "Passage" - the new theme for the Three Creative Studios Quilt Challenge. I haven't had any ideas for this one yet but the deadline isn't until the end of April so I have two months to come up with something and make it. Last time I had only three weeks as I joined in part way through and I finished before the deadline so I'm sure I'll be ok this time.

A more pressing deadline is Saturday when I'm going to a masked ball. As yet no mask but I made a protype in silk paper yesterday so today is all go for the real piece. Must go and get on with it as I won't have time tomorrow.

Fiber Arts / Mixed Media - another challenge for me

2010-02-28T17:10:00.000Z

Whilst reading other textile blogs I came across the Fiber Arts / Mixed Media group which includes a monthly challenge. Although only two days to the end of the February challenge I joined up and spent some time working how I could put a twist on a tradtional quilt block. Out came my patchwork and quilting books and wondered what non-tradtional materials I could use. The rusted fabric and tyvek I had made on an online course last year came to mind and I was away. Yesterday I spent some time creating my rusted piece and also another one to submit.

Here's how I made the first - Hearts and Roses: rusted tyvek squares with rusted fabric slashing (apologies if this is not the correct term and also for the seams not lining up accurately); backed with a purple fabric I free machine embroidered some hearts and realising I probably wouldn't be able to work out how to make all 9 different I created some swirls. The swirls reminded me of roses and hence the title. To stabilise the fabric before zapping with my heat gun I sewed it to some pelmet vilene. Whilst zapping I reaslised that I perhaps shouldn't have used the same colour thread and fabric. Never mind - it's all a learning curve, experimenting.

In all truthfullness I'm not sure whether I prefer the piece before or after it was zapped.

For the second piece I flicked through my book again and came across the triple rail fence which looked nice and easy to twist with non-conventional fabrics. Rummaging through my stash I came across some dried roses and decided to use these with some used teabags and an english-dutch dictionary. These are all very neutral and I wanted something to give it some zing. Another rummage and I found some turquoise silk noils I had already incorporated with some silk cocoon strippings - bingo. Now for some more turquoise and I found a lovely turquoise thick paper in my paper chest. The teabags and rose petals were bonded together with bond-a-web to create a 'fabric' and I also bonded the other materials to it as well for ease of use. After cutting the pieces they were bonded to some calico. This piece I feel needs some stitching - obviously the embroiderer in me coming out but I'm not sure how yet.

Tomorrow's going to be an exciting day for me as the new issue of Workshop on the Web is out, the next challenge for the Three Creative Studio Quilt Challenge will be announced as will the new Fiber Art / Mixed Media monthly challenge.

Puzzle Challenges - What's for lunch?

2010-02-26T14:39:00.002Z

Last year I took some online courses which I enjoyed. This year I plan to take part in various challenges and will show my creations on my blog.

The first one I'm taking part in is the Quilt Challenge run by Three Creative Studios. Every two months a theme is announced and everyone has two months to create a quilt based on that theme. The first one is Puzzle and although it started on 1 January, I didn't find out about it until the beginning of February and decided to join in. Quilting is not my main area of textiles but I have enjoyed creating my puzzle which I finished last night, three days before the deadline.

Here's a picutre of what I started with (all from my stash)

All this I planned to use to create a design in the manner of a sliding tile puzzle based on a photo I'd taken of my son's lunch three summers ago! I just knew it had potential to be more than food for the stomach.

The background fabric was made by felting the merino fibres using my embellisher machine. The ham is a blend of pink, blue and green merino and throwster's waste - not mould I hasten to add and I used the orange blend for the background. Although there's only one cheese in the lunch I used several different packs of silk fibres so that each slice of cheese was slightly different. Wensleydale curls have been transformed into ketchup!

Here's work in progress

After felting the fibres lightly I cut them up, rearranged them into the correct position, and embellished again using some fibres going across the joins underneath to hold the squares in place. The silk paper was bonded onto the merino an then I attached the wensleydale curls with a herringbone stitch.

Next - the quilting. I wanted to blend the squares together so I used the ketchup swirl from the original photo. I planned to quilt with some french knots in silk thread but was worried the silk would wear thin to quickly so I embroidered them before adding the middle and bottom layers. The running stitch and fly stitches go through all three layers providing the quilting aspect of the challenge. More silk paper, this time in green/purple was added to the border and here is the finished piece.

I promise that if you cut my puzzle and slide the tiles like the child's toy you'd get back to a ham and cheese roll!

I'm looking forward to the next theme which will be announced on 1 March and I promise I will blog as I go although only sneak peeks are allowed until the reveal week at the end of April.

Chelsea Pinks

2010-02-22T20:06:00.006Z

As promised here is the piece I made for my local Embroiderers Guild branch competition "In the Garden". It is a mixed media piece with photos of pink flowers, some/most/all (not sure now) taken at the Chelsea Flower Show - hence the title. The background started with woven yarns in pinks and greens which were then covered with various sheers, scrims, small pieces of knitting on large needles. These, together with the photos, were stitched with automatic machine embroidery stitches followed by some hand stitching and buttons.

I'm pleased with the design and although it didn't win a prize I still like it two years on.

I can't believe it's 18 months since my last post

2010-02-19T22:05:00.002Z

I found it difficult maintaining my blog but now have a laptop so hopefully will be able to post whilst being 'sociable' with my family ie in the same room as opposed to hiding in another room. I missed my first year anniversay - opps. Perhaps I'll be able to celebrate another milestone in the future.

Sorry, I don't have time tonight to show my competition entry for my local Embroiderer's Guild I mentioned on my last post but promise to show it to you together with last year's entry. I didn't create anything for this year which was held last night.

Kickstart Workshop

2008-05-25T08:52:00.007+01:00

As part of the Kickstart programme the East Midlands Region of the Embroiderers Guild provides an inspirational day and two workshops. I went on the first one which was mixed-media. We were to take some photos of Snibston with us along with papers, sheers, threads and anything else we wanted within the colour scheme. People who had been on the inspirational day had been given instructions on how to make fabric paper and were to take any they had made with them. Although I hadn't been on that day, I had made some fabric paper beforehand albeit just one layer of paper (a patchwork of several different papers) on scrim, so I took that with me. I'm glad I did as there wasn't the facilities or time for paper made in the morning to dry to work on. I cut my fabric paper in half and covered one piece with tissue paper and metallic acrylic paint and left it to dry. The other half I covered with small pieces of sheers, as an alternative to tissue paper, to soften the colours of my fabric paper. I also made some silk paper from gummy waste and fused some angelina fibres. Instead of taking 4x6 sized photos with me I had put about 12 photos into a collage which was A4 size. This gave me different sized photos to choose from which were a better size for this project. I tore out several that I liked out and arranged them with the silk paper, angelina fibres and small pieces of paper until I was happy. Next step was to sew using the automatic stitches on my sewing machine. I added some buttons and was pleased with my design. However, the tutor suggested adding some handstitiching in brighter colours to pick out the red in one of the photos. I had only taken browns, browny yellows and browny oranges with me so I waited until I went home to add the handstitching. I agree with the tutor that the red has given it a bit of life.

I'm so pleased with it that I had it framed (thanks Dad) and have put it in the exhibtion at Snibston which is on now.

It was while I was at the workshop that I saw a copy of Beryl Taylor's book Mixed Media Explorations. The pictures in it are just so lovely to look at but I resisted temptation to go out and buy a copy. I enjoyed the workshop, using papers, fabrics, photos and buttons and Beryl's book expands on what we learnt, introducing more products to make embellishments, but I wasn't sure if it was really for me. However, I used the mixed media technique for my local Guild's competition (more on that another time) and again enjoyed it. I recently saw Beryl's book again and just had to have it this time.

Life after college

2008-05-14T11:55:00.014+01:00

After four years at college studying for City and Guilds what do you do? None of us wanted to go into business immediately so our tutor suggested joining Kickstart which is the tutored development programme of the East Midlands Region of The Embroiderers' Guild. This year the inspiration has come from the Snibston Discovery Centre which is set on the site of a former colliery and includes an interactive museum and old colliery buildings - lots of variery for inspiration. I took over 200 photos from the different galleries, the playground and the colliery tour. Within the fashion gallery the corsets hanging from the ceiling caught my eye but I didn't want to discard everything else that I had already seen. While I was playing with designs in my head I came up with the idea of using my favourite photos as the design for the corset so I would have the corset shape but still utilise the other things Snibston has to offer. My piece is called Snibston Corsetry.

I started using different techniques to make the corsets but felt that there was no cohesion apart from the fact that they all came from Snibston. I was really pleased with my first corset which is taken from a piece of colliery machinery. I'd only had my embellisher for a few weeks and was having a play. I embellished small scraps of fabric onto a cotton base and incorporated some merino fibres and other yarns. I then added some hand embroidery. My sample has turned out to be the actual piece.

For my second corset of the plasma ball in the science gallery, I embellished a dark purple organza onto cotton and added a pale pink and green to finish the design I embroidered again by hand. However, I was not happy, I had been so pleased with my first corset and by comparison my second one looked so amateurish. I know I am not a professional embroiderer but there was such a stark contrast to the first that I was ashamed to put my name to it. I put it to one side whilst I decided what to do. After making the other corsets, I took the plunge and started again with purple and pink/red cottons, a multi-pink yarn for the cirle and green and black merino fibres, then added some hand embroidery. I was much happier this time round.

My third corset was originally tubes of material taken from my stash of fat quarters sewn onto the base fabric which were then embroidered. Although I liked it, a few weeks later I added a tiny amount of merino fibres and embellished them onto the corset to soften the look and to give all the corsets a similar look. The design for this one came from another old piece of colliery machinery.

As with the other corsets, I started the fourth one with a different technique. This time it was applique. The design for this one was taken from an old typewriter with white circles, embroidered around the edge, as the keys. Again when I was revamping the corsets, I embellished merino and other fleece fibres to soften the look and followed it by some hand stitching on the background.

The last design came from the children's interactive gallery where you had to put the cogs onto the correct pegs so that they would all turn when you turned the handle. The background is fleece embellished onto cotton and the cogs are commercial felt bonded on, then added some hand embroidery. However, once again it was too stark so I embellished some dark grey fleece fibres onto the black cogs.

Although I'd had ideas from the start for the background it wasn't until I'd finished all the corsets that the way I made it came to mind. My embellisher was used once more, with a base of calico followed by merino fibres in browns and black and words associated with Snibston on paper, covered by scrim.

I am happy with the end piece. It took a few months to complete as I put it to one side on several occasions whilst I worked out how to overcome the areas I wasn't happy with. It will shortly be on display at Snibston with the other pieces from all the Kickstart participants. Next year's inspiration will come from canals and I am sure I will take part again.

More Journals

2008-05-09T09:16:00.008+01:00

Our fourth lesson showed us how to make faux leather using a paper bag. I followed the instructions and painted mine brown but as I rarely make anything in brown I was unsure whether I would use a brown journal, even a 'leather' one, so I had another go and used blue paint - much more me. Inside I used wrapping paper to separate the sets of paper.

Back to fabric for the last lesson. I decided I wanted to create a design rather than using one piece of fabric. My design has wavy lines and I looked through my stash of fabrics and found one in a beigey colour and one with tight swirls in grey. I wouldn't have thought of putting these colours together but I was surprised that they work together and like the contrast of the open and tight swirls. The black stitching is freehand machine embroidery.

I have enjoyed this course and would recommend it to others. Sue Bleiweiss is running it again in June.

Journal Making

2008-05-05T20:18:00.020+01:00

I've just finished an online journal making course with Sue Bleiweiss . It has been an enjoyable course and as well as learning how to make different styles of journals you can join the online forum and interact with other students. We've posted photos of our journals for each other to see and you can see them on Flickr. I joined this course to give myself another way of using my embroideries and other textile pieces.

Here's the journal from lesson 1. The pages are sewn in and there are pockets to hold tags.

The second journal, a sketchbook, I made is my favourite as I made it for a special purpose. I want to make some textile art with the theme of Venice and so have created a Venice sketchbook. This time instead of using a piece of fabric from my stash I created my own by printing photos of Venice onto some calico and then added small pieces of scrim and organzas, stitching them on with the sewing machine followed by some hand stitching and then adding buttons.

The inside cover has pockets and I have created pages with pockets to hold my photos. Ring binders are used in this journal to hold the pages, I've also included plain pages for my design work.

After spending a lot of time making the second journal I wanted a quick hit for the third one, but instead of using fabric I already had I made some using three designs of napkins! In this one the pages are held together with a ribbon.

I'll share my other journals with you another day.

Taking inspiration from a child's painting

2008-05-04T12:00:00.010+01:00

I received this thank you card from two sisters, the oldest of whom is 3.

Their mum is a fellow crafter who is into felting and I thought it would be nice to make something for the youngest's 2nd birthday using the card design. What could I make? I decided on making a bag that she could play with at home, putting small toys or a book in.

I love using my embellisher and had some red felt in my stash that I could use for the base. I've bought so much stuff over the years that I don't feel guilty not paying out more money for new supplies for presents as I have already paid for the stuff in my cupboards. Included in my stash are lots of fat quarters from my patchwork/quilting/applique period and so I chose reds, blues and bright greens. After cutting small pieces of the chosen fabrics I laid them onto the base felt, added a few merino felt fibres to soften the edges and then used my embellisher to 'mesh' them together.
To help keep them in place I used various automatic stitches on my sewing machine in matching colours, sewing in lines. Next I freemachined circles and lines in an off-white to emulate the wax resist lines in the original picture.

Using some more red felt as a lining and for the handle I made the piece into a bag. Aware that this bag is for a child under 3 I was concerned that it may be possible to pick at the merino fibres and pull some off so I coated the bag with some acrylic wax which glued them in place and also it also makes the bag more durable. I was really chuffed with how the bag turned out and wondered if it was too good to give a two-year old. Possibly one of the youngest children to have a designer bag!

Comments

2008-05-04T11:52:00.002+01:00

I started my first blog in Wordpress but I can't get it to do what I want it to do so I have transferred over to Blogger and it seems to meet my needs. I tried importing everything across but have failed so now I'm copying and pasting.

It was really heartwarming to receive so many comments to my original first post and I don't want to lose any of them so I've pasted them into a new post here.

Great job for your first post, Fiona. You and I have so many things in common. The only things I haven’t tried that you have (I have some others you don’t) are soap making and lace (except knitted lace), so I’m looking forward to what you have coming up on your blog. I like the retro idea, I’m planning a retro show on my blog while I’m moving in June, since I won’t be able to work on anything.
I’ll eagerly anticipate your future posts.

Hi Fiona,welcome to bloggosphere! I think you will like the community of bloggers. Somehow blogging sometimes helps me to keep my artistic thing together. Plus I learnt a lot about computers - by now I am the computer whizkid at our practice, though I am the second eldest of the employees.Have fun!Angelika

Great start to your blogging, Fiona, and I love the banner!

Blogging is lots of fun, Fiona! And I look forward to keeping up with your artwork!

Welcome, Fiona. I hope you enjoy the new world of blogging. Sounds like you will have lots of pretty things to share with us. I’ll be checking back often.

Welcome to the wonderful circle of fiber art blogs! I think you’ll enjoy it.

Welcome to this wonderful blogging community Fiona. I can tell from your first post that you are going to be good!

Welcome to blogworld Fiona, I hope you enjoy your new journey

Welcome to the world of blogging. I have met so many wonderful people and have learned so much.

Welcome to blogland Fiona! I look forward to following your blog and seeing all the wonderful things you’ll create!

Hello World

2008-05-04T11:48:00.001+01:00

A whole new world has been opened up to me over the last few weeks - blog world. I subscribe to Quilting Arts magazine and whilst looking at their website I randomly clicked on the editor's blog, I'm not sure that I've ever looked at it before. From clicking on various links I came across Sue Bleiweiss - she runs online courses and I registered for journal making. Sue has a blog and quite a few of my fellow students have ones as well. I've enjoyed reading their blogs and have been inspired to write my own. We can interact with each other on the class forum and I've received many replies with lots of useful information in response to my queries on blogging.

Here's a bit about me and crafting- as a child I always liked making things and when I was 17 I decided I'd like to make lace so enrolled in classes at the local adult education centre. I made lace for many years whilst being introduced to new crafts. I haven't made any lace for about 3 or 4 years now as other things have taken over. I still go to lace days to meet my lace friends and they are always interested in what I am up to. I've had spells of cross stitch, patchwork, quilting and applique, general needlecrafts, stitcheries and have been on workshops and courses for silk painting, stained glass work, paper making, soap making. However, I seem to have settled with textiles and finished my City and Guilds Part 2 in Embroidery last summer. I took this course to learn about design so that I could design my own pieces instead of relying on patterns, magazines and books to make things from. Embroidery seems too narrow a word to define what I enjoy and I like to incorporate lots of different techniques in my work.

I aim to share what I am currently working on and perhaps throw a few retro pieces from previous years in during quiet moments.