Does Not Equal

Sunday in the Snow

2012-02-06T21:31:00.001Z

My Circle Garden in the snow..
I walked home last night at dusk, in a breathless and sacred silence broken only by the drumming take-off of a partridge. I saw two tawny owls fly from the oak trees. Utter perfection.

End of the Week of Colours, Conclusion, and Stars

2012-01-30T21:21:00.001Z

Only one image today - this experiment with interlocking stars. I didn't invent this, and I did it very slowly while thinking about my Week Of Colours. And my conclusions? The week was pretty hard compared with last year's Week Of Trees (see label/link at the bottom of this post to find the entries for that) - it was hard to put stuff down because it wasn't today's colour, and although I have got lots done, I have not finished enough to make a display, which I would have liked to do. There is a big pile by my chair waiting for hand-finishing on the bindings, and a further huge pile layered and ready to quilt. And a huge mess in the workshop. I spent a while today sorting out the Blue Box which had exploded on Saturday and would not go back on the shelf. So I sorted out all the stuff I no longer want from it and I'm cutting it up to make charm packs and the like. I think I should do more of this, as the stash has got silly. I was amazed just how many unlikeable fabrice were in the box, and how glad I was to be able to get the lid back on.
So, tomorrow I have to teach and rehang the shop, sort out the rent, and wash up..
And think about the next "Week Of..."

Thanks for reading

Oh, and the stars come from Here

Sunday is Indigo and Aching Legs

2012-01-29T21:03:00.002Z

So, Indigo. I have a box of Japanese fabrics with quite a lot of indigo-dyed stuff, and this delicious lacquerish red which goes with it so well. The bottom panel is a wierd fabric which I suspect is either silk or horsehair, and has a most beautiful delicate print. The dragonflies seemed to go with it, and the green panel will have some hand-stitch. Pins, as it is layered but not quilted yet.
I layered a lot of half-made pieces from earlier parts of the week.

Then I made this one, with more indigo and rust. After I had sewn down the right-hand tree, I found this little bird perched perfectly in the branches

Then this one. This is the first piece I have made all week that I really don't like. Might get scrapped, but I'll wait awhile in case inspiration, or a rotary cutter, strikes. The central fabric is Names of Fishes in Japanese. It actually looks better on screen than in life..

And this one, which is Not Indigo, but was hanging around making me feel faintly guilty. Screen-prints on a piece of fabric which I had used to clean out a paint-jar. I'm not sure the inner border is defined enough, but it may be OK when quilted. The outer border I really like.

I'm really tired and I hurt a lot.. Slow evening, maybe a quiet week

Saturday, Day six: Blue and Boats

2012-01-28T20:39:00.000Z

This is more like it! I have been trying for ages to make a version of this boat image that would be teachable. My original ideas, part of a series that I made for the Sea and Sky exhibition a couple of years ago, was too complex to teach, and too long-winded. I was pleased with some aspects of the original, not least the time I spent choosing the quilting colours and matching each segment, so that the details were never obscured by the stitching, just added to in texture without any overlay. The quilt (below) is big, about 3 by 4 feet, and I do not expect it to sell quickly. The smaller pieces I made for the same exhibition are long gone.

The technique I used to make this I call MAP piecing (Modified American Piecing), and starts by taking a piece of paper as big as the finished item and drawing all the segments on it. I then cut this up and used it to mark out all the pieces, sewed them together on the marked lines and re-assembled the whole. Laborious, accurate, and very satisfying. But not for a Class. Even a very small piece is more than a day's work and you need extreme accuracy (sadly lacking in most sewists, and not part of my Teaching Practice)
Anyway, I made four boats today, in two pairs. I had all manner of thoughts about variations, and I have three nice pieces, two quilted and blocked, and one ready to layer.

Detail of the quilting

This one is called Two Boats, and here's a detail

Tomorrow is Indigo...

Oh, sorry, no lunch image.. No blue food and I didn't want to fake it...or perhaps I can...
Bless Photoshop!

Week Of Colours, Frustration

2012-01-28T10:22:00.000Z

I've been struggling with muscle weakness. Losing the "pinch grip" in your thumb and forefinger makes making hard, and not being able to ride my bike is driving me crazy.. So I went to see the rheumatologist, and he referred me to the physiotherapist, and I went to see the latter yesterday morning.. Now, you can't park at the surgery, because they are digging up the car park, so I walked, up, back to the library, down to the Post Office, back to the supermarket. On the way I saw this glorious pink-against-blue, but I must have covered about 3 miles in total. So the rest of the day was blasted by exhaustion. And I couldn't blog last night as I was too tired to go and find the camera..
Now I have some exercises for my neck, and a possible 13-week wait to be seen again. Then I went looking for my blood-test results, only to be told that the 146 tests taken last time did not include the relevant one.. So, more needles on Monday.

Meanwhile, the coffee at Baileys is as good as ever, and the flowers on the table are charming.

So, I did make a couple of small pieces, and I finished quilting yesterday's gree and red tree, did all the machine quilting on the big hedge piece and took it home to hand-stitch, and made a really good attempt at classifying a huge box of odd sewing-machine needles for my Old Sewing Machine Parts website

Green / Best-laid Plans

2012-01-26T22:19:00.001Z

Of mice and men..

Got up very late, as not feeling well, and had bad dreams.. Nothing to do with the colour thing, which is proving pretty satisfying so far. Not quite as good as my Week Of Trees last year, but still worthwhile.
Went shopping, and found these lovely plants in Morrison's car-park. Note the touches of red, which are inspiring, and thought-provoking.

Someone's tastes have changed

So, two more postcards of a recycled persuasion (green!). Painted patchwork which I note has old pink blanket as batting..

By this time it was lunchtime, and I had my usual salad (note the red bits again, a theme emerges).
(I have much the same salad every day, but the cunning arrangement of the camera and the cropping of the image leads to an exposition of the colour theme. Blue is going to be tricky) Note the 60s plate, rescued from the dump (green!)

Over lunch I finished reading this book, by Janet Twinn, which arrived on Monday from the Library in utterly timely fashion. It's an interesting book, and like all good books, much too short. There are the usual "colour wheel" parts which I skim, and quite nice explanations of various printing, dyeing, and painting techniques, but the most interesting parts for me are the images of the work and the close-ups of technique and stitch. The book itself is nice, too, having a solid feel, a rather nice cloth cover and good print quality. I may actually buy it..

Back to the Best-Laid Plans.. I was intending to make small pieces of a saleable quality, several, green, maybe with a touch of red.. But when I got in to the workshop, the chaos was unfeasibly bad, so I had to tidy up, answer the phone a lot (sales, though..) and find a space to work in. This took half the afternoon, so by the time I started I'd lost the thread, so to speak.. And I'd found this piece of printed fabric that is everything I had in mind except it's not small. So I layered it anyway and started quilting it with lines in a smudgy green thread.. I have some ideas for more detail on this, more later. I have decided that I'm not done with Green, so I'm extending it to tomorrow.

Quilting in progress

This small piece of screen-printed fabric qualified as a failure the first time around. Interesting technique, which unfortunately isn't terribly nice when it's done.. Then over-printed with the moon and sky, which is better, but not quite...

Definitely improved by the addition of some sewing. It will have more quilting and a red binding tomorrow. It does have the merit of being small.. The little red tabs are a new idea.. I like them a lot.

Last of the day, some City Lights blocks

And a perfect beetroot leaf.
Oh, and John fixed the gas struts on the car, so no more stick-to-prop the boot.. Yippee!
Sleep well, more tomorrow

Yellow is Difficult..

2012-01-25T21:41:00.000Z

Here's the Yellow Box.. As you can see it's not very yellow. It's quite hard to find good yellow fabrics and monochrome is not always succesful in this part of the spectrum.. So I started the day with a couple of cushions that I started last week, in seriously Provencal blue-and-yellow

So far, so good. I packed some patterns that I made yesterday, with yellow covers, as it happens

One of my best sellers. Note the strapping-tape packed with the pattern.. Small things like this make a big difference - this stuff is easy to find but impossible to describe.. Given a sample everyone goes "Oh, that stuff!.."

Then today's lunch had Eggs (and salmon, but that's the Wrong Colour, so Not Shown)

I made this tree from a Screen-printed piece and this delightful stripey yellow-and-white that has been in the box for years. As an aside, I notice that some of my fabrics have been with me for a long time. It's an interesting game, working out the quilts that have a Long Stash Accumulation Period, and those which have obviously been "bought for" all in one go. Many of my younger students have no working stash, so they buy each project as a complete entity, make it, and have little in the way of leftovers. I have been buying fabrics for almost 50 years, and I have a huge amount. This makes weeks like this one possible without too much forward planning, as I can just get the boxes out. I haven't used anything that wasn't in the workshop this week.

Anyway, I have taken a whole series of process photographs for this and plan to put up a proper How To in a couple of days on my website.. Watch this space..

Then I worked on this piece for most of the afternoon. I don't usually do Work In Progress photos, because I find them less than useful, but this one was a useful lesson in poverty of contrast. At the stage above, I hung it up, took one look, and dived back into the box for some Darks, as it was Boooring..

Much better... Detail below, showing the last tree, which is translucent hand-dyed gridded fabric. I haven't decided whether to trim out the ground fabric under this tree yet.. The effect of the underneath fabrics is quite nice, but the overall effect may be better without..

Tomorrow is Green and should be easier all round

Day Two - Orange

2012-01-24T21:26:00.000Z

In no particular order - Kitemaking is Messy, Carrot Salad for lunch, small delta kite with bat,
octopus and flook kites, eight Tiger Blocks , (click for tutorial), and five recycled postcards. Now I'm exhausted and I'm going to sit in front of a nice Orange fire...

Week of Colours - Day One; Red

2012-01-23T21:54:00.000Z

Start small - a postcard and two nice handkerchiefs for himself..

Argue with Blogger.. 41 four-patches in reds..

Make these Disappearing 9-patch blocks

Quilt number one was a dragon with Laquer-reds in Japanese fabrics, details below

Quilt two - I had an odd tree sitting in a box

Later, quilted (all on the table blocking overnight, so nothing is finished yet

This one was layered and awaiting spiralling

This screen-print had been in a think mode for a while. Needs more borders, I think

Lunch, in keeping.. Beetroot salad!

And the Scraps.. Note the thread bunnies

Goodnight, more tomorrow....

Gung Hey Fat Choy, and Red

2012-01-23T13:01:00.000Z

Pictures later
Happy New Year to all, Year of the Dragon starts today. In honour of this, and because Red is auspicious, I am starting a Week Of Colours by working with Red today. Images later tonight and tomorrow, Orange!

Hedge 4

2012-01-22T23:38:00.000Z

Saturday Morning In Kent

2012-01-21T23:04:00.000Z

I came out of my bedroom to find this.. Now, how did I miss that last night..

Thursday night - packing to go away

2012-01-21T23:00:00.001Z

Some People!

How Dare You!
Shakes Head In Disbelief..

Red Crane

2012-01-18T17:53:00.003Z

Cat In Wisteria on a Winter's day

2012-01-17T17:46:00.003Z

Chain on Quay

2012-01-16T11:43:00.003Z

Saturday, sewing machines

2012-01-14T22:20:00.000Z

This old beauty was sold today, a Gaffer badged Jones CS that I was quite fond of...

Friday, people all day

2012-01-13T22:42:00.002Z

Dublin Pub Floor...

Walkabout..

2012-01-12T22:50:00.000Z

Taken in Dublin, by the hotel..
Went out today, got new glasses, had lunch, looked at the sunset, saw 2 herons, nice day off...

Wednesday 11th January

2012-01-11T11:56:00.000Z

Gloriously sunny.. Now all I need is Motivation...

Tuesday, Backache

2012-01-10T23:07:00.001Z

Perhaps, too many sewing machines..

I went to the doctor's and on the way home...

2012-01-09T18:32:00.000Z

My car passed a milestone.. That's miles, and my old red girl has done quite a lot of them with me this past year.. Too many, probably..

And I'll be doing more. I'm in Scotland in June and have spaces for teaching if you're at all interested.

Saturday, and Sunday, Time To Say No

2012-01-08T14:57:00.001Z

I feel a bit mushroomy. In the dark and covered in brown stuff...

Long conversation this week and last on the Quiltart list about "Words for the Year", with a lot of serious and frivolous suggestions on all sorts of lines. I like the idea, but one word may not be enough?

Anyway, last night I was working alone at about 5 pm, and it came to me very strongly, that my word for the year is going to be No.

No, I don't want to do that boring and unprofitable job.

No, I don't want to be bullied by your preferences in food or fabric, or any other damned thing, thanks all the same.

No, I won't run after you if you forget to contact me about your "important" job/part/project/whatever.

No, I won't be sorry to say No, more often.

So that I then have time to say Yes to the things I really want to do..

Happy New Year and Blessings All

Friday, sun comes out again

2012-01-06T12:18:00.002Z

and the sky is the most heavenly blue...

Thursday, wind and rain

2012-01-05T19:22:00.000Z

An astoundingly wet and windy night last night.. One of the lilacs in the garden blew over and demolished the bird-feeders, and the leaves are almost all gone.. Spats of the same all day, interspersed with glorious, intense sunlight against black skies.. All of which I missed with the camera. So here's an image that captures the colour. The fern is about 1 inch high in total

Wednesday 4th January

2012-01-04T18:22:00.000Z

Note the toe (for scale, don't you know..)
Church porch at Catfield in North Norfolk, possibly a quilt design.

I have been invited to join this blog http://ideas-of-inspiration.blogspot.com/
which has various contributors and a new theme every two weeks. The current one is Time. Very interesting...

Getting Tuesday in early

2012-01-02T23:01:00.003Z

And the Cat Sprawled on the Mat...

Sunday and Monday

2012-01-02T15:11:00.002Z

Kizuna - Bonds of Love

Love those stone leaves..

Saturday, behind the Co-operative

2011-12-31T23:00:00.002Z

Such colours...

Friday 30th December

2011-12-30T15:00:00.003Z

Thursday

2011-12-29T18:13:00.001Z

Square daisy - whatever next?

Wednesday

2011-12-28T18:58:00.000Z

Picture for Tuesday

2011-12-27T09:30:00.001Z

Hello again...

2011-12-26T20:23:00.001Z

Orphaned plant in need of a bigger dining room..
If you live in South Norfolk or North Suffolk and would like to adopt me, please email my human on helen at raindropkites dot co dot uk
or leave a comment..

I don't want to be compost!

I have nice manners and a lovely pot...

Came home with a cold..

2011-11-21T23:17:00.001Z

..and still a bit slow. Four days of teaching this week, and lots of stuff to prepare for the Harrogate Knitting and Stitching Show at the weekend.. I'm off to Yorkshire tomorrow, so if you are there do come and say hello. I'll be on the Oakshott Fabrics stand again.. (Hall B)
I can't speak too highly of the Beryl Dean exhibit - the work is astounding. Sorry, no images of that as it was "No photography", but here's a leaf

and three silk and Lipari crown pincushions..

Pattern later

Going Home..

2011-11-15T08:51:00.001Z

From the Ferrycat

2011-11-14T19:48:00.001Z

More tomorrow

Saturday, this flower bloomed..

2011-11-13T07:53:00.001Z

Friday, it rained..

2011-11-13T07:51:00.001Z

More from Bewleys Hotel

2011-11-10T21:41:00.001Z

Floor in the lobby.. Lovely tiles and symbology

And this magnificent steed awaits a rider in the front garden

Day One of the Knitting and Stitching Show was pretty good. We met quite a lot of new and old friends and sold a fair bit of stuff. My new items are getting a good reaction, so I'm happy. And the restaurant is good...

Dublin, day 2..

2011-11-09T20:41:00.000Z

Bewley's Hotel. A Victorian freemasonic fantastical castle, with turrets and stuff

and this absolutely Andy-Goldsworthyesqe arrangements of leaves in the river..

More images tomorrow

At the Holyhead Ferry Terminal..

2011-11-08T21:57:00.001Z

..I spotted this astounding house with rusty iron windows.. I love the colour of the stone.

I'm in Dublin, with Mike Oakshott, for the Knitting and Stitching Show.. Do come along and say hello..

Oh, life, and stuff!

2011-11-07T19:17:00.002Z

Because it's obligatory to have a Cat Picture at least once a month...

...and because I tidied my little workroom (as opposed to my 1000-square-feet-of-chaos-at-work)

and found these lurking in a corner.. Left is Copper Leaf, right is Paper Stripes, both postcards..

Off to Ireland tomorrow, for the Dublin Knitting and Stitching Show, for the first time, with Oakshott Fabrics. Tonight, peace, hotel, and supper...

...and here's today's...

2011-11-02T22:45:00.000Z

Detail of Burning Bright, a quilt in five movements...

Tuesday's post; late, but double the value..

2011-11-02T12:19:00.004Z

This came in my door yesterday, with a student close behind
And then one of them brought these utterly unsuitable cookies (from Alaska, alas)

Autumn...

Paris Pavement

2011-10-31T13:11:00.003Z

Reflective

2011-10-30T18:27:00.001Z

in Paris..

Silk Sunflower

2011-10-29T20:56:00.001Z

Blatant Plug..

2011-10-27T09:06:00.001Z

for Oakshott Fabrics Air (from the Elements range) and Longshott Snowy White. Little chenille squares...
Cushion is about 18 by 12 inches and the pattern will be online soon...

Yorkshire Beach

2011-10-26T12:37:00.000Z

Persian Rug..

2011-10-25T09:29:00.001Z

Money Makes The World Go Around..

2011-10-24T22:07:00.001Z

and this postcard could go anywhere.. Could be yours, leave a message and I'll email you for your snail address...

Normal Service has been Resumed..

2011-10-23T21:29:00.001Z

..after a short break caused by Lack of Broadband...

On the road view, Wednesday

Wounded Tree, Thursday

Lichen in Tree, Thursday

Winter Trees, minature silk quilt (11 inches square), shown at festival of Quilts 2011 and now in the collection of Hannelore Nunn...

Spiral Class, Scotland, Tuesday

2011-10-19T09:07:00.000Z

Helensburgh Quilters, Clydeside, Scotland.
Norma made this delicious spiral...
Apologies for no image yesterday, no broadband last night..

My Oakshott Colourbox Quilt

2011-10-17T16:34:00.000Z

100 little stars..
shown at the Festival of Quilts 2011, Traditional category

Hops, in the outside light, through the window

2011-10-16T15:05:00.001Z

Cat, On Stairs, With Spiral Quilt

2011-10-15T09:55:00.002Z

Beech Hedge

2011-10-14T18:17:00.003Z

Stack of Drawers

2011-10-13T22:32:00.003Z

Blogger was sulking yesterday..

2011-10-12T09:36:00.000Z

So here are two images for today. Above Ordinary Everyday Magic, below, Old and New

Crab Apples...

2011-10-10T21:39:00.000Z

...and stones...

Two into one again

2011-10-08T11:05:00.002Z

I have been photographing and cataloguing my Tree postcards, and some other new ones
Shown above, Tree 1, and Pinkle Crinkle...

Cucumber..

2011-10-06T15:36:00.000Z

..from my greenhouse..

Wednesday morning in Kent

2011-10-05T06:42:00.000Z

and the colours are like this. Quilt by Ada, in Oakshott fabrics plus batiks, and made in my Tiger Class

Delicious..

2011-10-04T15:53:00.000Z

...probably chocolate...

Work in progress

2011-10-03T14:52:00.001Z

Textures of Summer

My class on Wednesday at Thanet Quilters in Kent..
Talk tomorrow night
I may not get to post tomorrow, sorry, but I will do two images today for Sunday and Monday

Six Small Tree Pieces...

Purple Cow Parsley

2011-10-01T11:37:00.002Z

...what more can I say...

Diagonal line

2011-09-30T11:27:00.000Z

..more Autumn colour...

Autumn Colour

2011-09-29T10:56:00.001Z

..at the Hospital...

Two as one

2011-09-28T21:59:00.001Z

I have been reading my new book, Handmade Bindings, 100+ Bindings Structures and Forms by Alisa Golden (link is to Amazon) - I have had a passion for small book forms for ages, but this book is simply terrific. She writes so well and explains so nicely that I am all inspired...
Image is of a particularly papery poppy against the autumnal sky...
All photos on this blog are from my own camera unless otherwise noted...

Rusty Vessel

2011-09-28T16:16:00.001Z

in North Yorkshire..

Feather, nest

2011-09-27T19:28:00.001Z

Feather, Nest.

Bees make holes in my wall, bees make nests in my wall, bees make their homes in my wall, and they buzz...

Boston Ivy

2011-09-26T09:59:00.001Z

..who needs New England. The old one still shines...

Birdshadow..

2011-09-25T10:06:00.000Z

..on the gazebo roof..

Beech Hedge

2011-09-24T13:00:00.003Z

..in the Autumn sunlight

Things arrived yesterday

2011-09-23T12:09:00.003Z

and were put on the scanner

Burning Bright

2011-09-22T12:32:00.000Z

Burning Bright

2011-09-21T06:35:00.002Z

Bobbin drawer

2011-09-20T21:51:00.002Z

Paris View

New project..

2011-09-19T13:16:00.002Z

..see if you can work it out..

Students Cooked My Board..

2011-09-18T21:36:00.000Z

...not once, but twice...

...while making Trees

The smell was delicious...

(Added 2nd November - I made a new cover in black, very dramatic. First student to use it got Bondaweb right in the middle, despite me asking her not to, and then complained bitterly because I ripped the new cover off and threw it in the corner in disgust.. "Oh, does it matter?" If you had just spent 5 years making a quilt, came to press it for layering (as had happened in the morning) and got Bondaweb bits on the face, would you think it mattered?)

Home Again, Home, and the Cat Still Loves Me

2011-09-14T19:58:00.001Z

As you can see....

Back from Paris, with all my senses intact, my languages confused, and my black jacket lost, but my Humbug is still happy to see me...
I think John is pleased, too...

And I have been offered an Expo at the Aiguille En Fete retail show in February...with my kites...

And here's another iron thing...

Paris, City of Wrought Iron and Overwrought traders...

2011-09-11T20:18:00.001Z

Actually, it's pretty much OK, apart from my French falling over after about 6:30 pm as I get tired..
I'm at the Aiguille En Fete Version Pro in Paris, with Mike from Oakshott Fabrics.

We are having a reasonably good time, and the Aparthotel is fab, with a little kitchen and a huge bathroom in my apartment; big French windows onto a small balcony, and wonderfully grumpy staff..

View from my window...

Joined today by Ann-Carol Lemaire, from L'Atelier Du Patchwork in Sens, France. A fount of good sense and bearer of Macarons Sans Calories (see above). I would not have learned all my new vocabulary without her estimable help and good sense. Blog linked, but be warned - it's in French!

Then we met again with Ada Honders - from the OEQC show in Holland - quite the best show I have been to. Highly recommended... And Ada gave me a Green Treat

Twenty Fat Quarters... I smell a Tree Piece approaching..
Here's what I've been fiddling with - small crochet pieces to make Spool Pin Cosies

More images tomorrow, but here are some Wrought Irons, as promised

Bonne Nuit...

To smock, or not to smock

2011-08-07T13:20:00.000Z

Workshop at Salthouse "Ad Limina" exhibition with Heather yesterday. About smocks, in theory. We were given a few ideas and some nice plain fabrics and thrown back into the water. Nice morning working with Heather. I suspect we scare teachers, having so much experience of teaching between us...

I made 3 samples. The first,
where I started from the suggested "crayon rubbing" from a block was not working, so I made another.

This has tendencies to Treeness, I wonder why. I also wonder why Blogger has rejected the image...

Then, because I found a couple of irresistable scraps in the threads box, I made a third piece with a spiral, as the smocks seem to have lots of spirals

So then I came back to the first piece and added more stitch, coming in the process away from the traditional feather and chains, into herringbone. Immediately much more corsety..

I added more scrim and bundled it under more herringbone.. Much more satisfactory...

The Exhibition, on the whole was utterly unlikeable.. Slight work and nothing outside.. Such a pity

Eggceptional

2011-03-28T20:09:00.001Z

I'm eggstatic.
One goose, four ducks, four bantams, and eight chicken eggs
Beautifully arranged in eggsquisite fashion

What a splendid present...

Week of Trees, Conclusions, Lessons Learned, and Summation

2011-03-14T18:59:00.001Z

Well, I have learned a lot this week. I have learned that just having One Thing To Do is infinitely precious and productive and a lot of fun. I have learned that Blogger has improved beyond all bounds since I last did much here (the New Editor works!) I have learned (although I already knew it perfectly well) that not everything that gets started gets finished right away. But that's a Quilter Thing..

So, today's work was mostly not very photogenic. I quilted a few blocks on my Forest Of dreams piece - it seems to have settled to Leaves In All Directions. Matching threads is quite time-consuming - I want minimal input from the thread colour to make the most of the texture. As I do each block I am making two postcards, so I now have a nice little pile of these

and I sorted and cut and pinned together the bits for all the rest, so that was half an afternoon's worth of messing about which will make life easier for later. Last of all I made this pocket to put on this nice little hessian bag (I have 10 of these to decorate, in different colours)

Tomorrow I have to clean up, make space for my Teapot Quilt group, and maybe not make any trees at all.

In summary - I will do this again, it's been a really good exercise in concentrating the mind, in focusing the Creative Urge, and in getting things done...

Many thanks to those who have commented on and off the blog. See you again soon....

Week Of Trees Day 7

2011-03-13T18:30:00.000Z

Hello again..

Still limping, but better than yesterday (been practicing)

Still working on the Green Tiger thing (now almost certainly going to be called Burning Bright)

I have made the sun, sewn on several trees, then hung it up again to audition more. The very dark ones will be thinner and will be OK, and I think the translucent ones will work OK too. Must resist the urge to add too many new fabrics.. So far I'm quite pleased with this one

I've started quilting the 25 Trees thing (now called Forest of Dreams) - here's a detail.

A friend, looking at this piece online today, said "oh, the small tree pieces" - each of the blocks on this are 12 to 14 inches high. I have started to use the leftovers constructively, though -

This is the basket they have been living in - I added 50 postcard stiffeners and backs, and have been making 2 cards from each of the leftover background pieces like so

First pair are finished, second pair not quite. I plan to show them together and sell all the cards separately

Incidentally, one of the things I have been doing this week as well as all the Tree stuff, is updating my Postcards pages on my website - I realised that there was absolutely nothing left that was for sale (all sold or posted) so I moved all the old ones back a page and made a new page with all the rest. I shall add this one (made last night after the blog entry) in a few minutes..

It's called Square Tree. Painted needlepoint canvas, quilt offcut, odd block, screen-printed offcut, hand-made cord, stitch... £9.50...
Then I quilted this one at least the middle - need to stand away from it to decide what to do with the edges

And then John came to collect me, and as I walked out of the door I saw this wonderful grey rainy light and my Local (Oak) Trees against the sky

And so to Home, Curry With Prawns, and an early night, perhaps...

Week Of Trees Day 6 and a slight setback

2011-03-12T17:50:00.007Z

...being a painfully damaged muscle in my left calf, caused by getting off a chair too precipitately.. Sometimes I forget that I am no longer 24 and superfit. Must work on that.

Anyhow, I got the sun onto my Green Tiger piece and started adding trees (see image) (I think this may be called "Burning Bright"). Digressing a little, I find I have no problem naming work - it sometimes happens that I have a name and make the piece, more often I reach a point somewhere in the process of making where I am Suddenly Certain of the name. Only once or twice have I named things and then changed my mind (one piece from my last exhibition was hung as "See where it gets you" but has become Lime-kiln Country). I'll try to post an image tomorrow....

Anyway, I went shopping and for a coffee this morning at Baileys in Beccles - quite the best coffee in town, good service and a certain Spanish Something, did a little mooch and came in to work full of inspiration, only to have a totally interrupted day - customers (real ones!) and the phone, and visitors (not unwelcome) and what with one thing and another, I was just thinking nothing good would come of the day when I sold this piece (finished at 10:30 last night) (which hasn't been named and now probably won't be) to a nice passing Londoner.. So my tentative design of having all this week's work on the wall together has come to nothing, but hey, the money is much better...

Now I'm going to nurse my leg and skulk a bit in my boudoir (from the French "sulking room") which is where I compute, make indoor mess, and occasionally take in trousers for the man in my life (because I NEVER do alterations where anyone else can see)...

Sleep well, more tomorrow...

Week of Trees, Day 5

2011-03-11T18:12:00.008Z

Well, more progress.. many thanks to all of you for your kind and thoughtful comments on this exercise, by the way, I am touched by how many people have said that this has inspired and encouraged them in their work. I am full-time, professional, expect to be productive (or don't eat), but it can be hard some days to get out of the hoover-first-and-create-later handbag..
Anyway, today's efforts - I finished quilting the Orange piece (still without a name) and blocked it for binding and finishing tomorrow.

I pressed the Green Tiger background again and started to put trees on it.

Hmm, not quite, colours too nice together... (There will be a lot more trees on this, including some dark spotty batik ones), so I tried with a Sun. First attempt was too bright. This is dyed cotton organdie, so it will be a bit translucent when added, I may leave the blocks behind it or cut away for clearer colour.

Then I tried a duller orange, which I think is just about right. I didn't make circles - I think that size and placement is much more important when auditioning fabrics. I have several titles gently swirling towards this one..

I attacked the 25 trees which have been sitting in the box since last May. I rearranged them yesterday (see previous post) and today decided to sew them together in approximate fashion, that is, working with the size and shape they wanted to be. Hooray, it works!

My first instinct on this was to try to sew them together as raggedly as they hung on the design wall, as it was delightful. Technical considerations aside, I think the end product would have been unsaleable, so not this time

Now big enough to need photographing on the floor, and I will layer and start to quilt tomorrow, just need to decide how...

Day 4 continued

2011-03-10T21:05:00.005Z

Today has felt like swimming upstairs through treacle all day. I think my shoulders are about to pack up (too much quilting) and my back is complaining (too much everything)

However, things did consolidate somewhat. The Hedge piece and Red piece from the first post are now blocked, bound, and nearly done. The Red piece has a title (Hollow Ground). The cushion is finished and filled (sorry about the poor image). I made about 30 more cards last night so I have a basketful to put out for sale (not all trees, I confess, some boats crept in)

And I made this rather delicious piece of Faux Chenille to play with tomorrow, and got the Green Tiger blocks above sewn together to make a new background (quite a big one, it's 3ft 6ins by 4ft 6ins - I think this will have a lot of very skinny dark green batik trees and possibly a Sun.. It's interesting that this was my first idea for these blocks, and I have made several large and lots of small quilts with them, none of these the least bit like this one...

Probably the most important job was a decision on the 25 tree blocks that have been harrassing me. More on that tomorrow... I did rearrange them though...

Week of Trees, Day 4 and a Digression

2011-03-10T08:16:00.005Z

Recipe as promised

Nasty Fish Pie

In the bottom of your two-tier* steamer pan, put one thinly sliced new potato and a reasonable quantity of chopped cauliflower
In the top, put your Accompanying Vegetable (we had carrots)
In another pan, put water, and one or two onions chopped roughly, and a piece of haddock (oak-smoked or plain, not that yellow stuff)

Boil the fish and onions till done (about 5 mins max)
Steam the cauliflower etc till soft

You can use a parsley sauce in this (Sainsbury's instant suits both of us) or just a bit of butter

Drain the fish and put back in the pan. Break it up a bit, add sauce or butter, chuck the cauli on top and lots of grated cheese. Grill till crispy, serve with the other veg

Thoroughly nasty apart from the effects on the body
Pretty low-carb
Gluten free for himself
Spike-free for me
Cats love the plates....

Image is today's Tree Thing - Mike at Oakshott Fabrics sent me three packs of Sunrise - 25 eighths of cotton fabrics in yummy rainbow colours, with a note saying "Make something" So far this has been languishing a bit, but today I'm going to tackle it seriously, starting by rearranging the blocks..

See you later

*Don't have a two-tier steamer? Well you should (or you can boil stuff)

Day Three

2011-03-09T21:23:00.004Z

Well, today we wandered.. Went out to lunch and laughed about stuff. Went to see this wonderful gazebo, made from recycled Victorian iron posts and huge oak lumps, about 9 feet high, which I may make a lid for. Also at the site, this astonishing Owl sculpture by Rachael Long, which moves when the gate is opened and closed..And we drank coffee at Wroxham Barns and said hello to the people who have just taken over the quilt shop there (Sew Creative) and are expanding madly into shiny new premises on the other side of the same site.

And then we came home and ate a Nasty Fish Pie (recipe later) and I made some more cards. As this is a Tree Week they mostly have trees on...

I've given up for tonight on trying to arrange these images.. see if you can work out which is which for yourselves..

And there was this wonderful sunset thing and my local trees in front of it. Looked at lots of trees today...

More tomorrow

Week Of Trees - Day Two

2011-03-08T20:41:00.005Z

Well, so far this has been fun and very productive. I had a nicely peaceful and very sunny day and got lots of quilting done. Yesterday's Pieced tree was made into a cushion (in progress on the machine here and finished above)

I find the preview window in Blogger almost unusable. Any hints about manipulating and arranging images would be gratefully received..

Images here of the quilting in progress on the Hedge piece shown yesterday. I tend to look at the back of the work to see where I have missed bits and to find out if the density is as I like it. (Frequent student question - "have I quilted this enough?" My invariable answer "No")

You will see that I have filled in the black border with an almost invisible quilting pattern (spirals) as I didn't want to detract from the colour. The rest is mostly long straightish lines (done free-motion to keep them loose and a bit wonky) around the Cow Parsley. None of the quilting follows the Hedge print. Quilt is now blocked on the table, as is the Red one from yesterday and my cushion. Very satisfactory.. I also made quite a lot of green tiger blocks for my background idea, photographed a lot of old sewing machine bits for my OSM site (see link) and drank lots of coffee. Tomorrow is a rest day, but I shall think, photograph, and lunch-in-the-pub...

This piece was my favourite from the first lot of hedge prints - the sunset was sort-of-accidental as I was demonstrating something else. I layered this ready to quilt - it will certainly lose a lot of the white edge..

Found 2 pieces of heavy Faux chenille in the box. Just looking...

Finally, the piece from yesterday blocked, trimmed, and ready to bind. It will be finished tomorrow...

A Week Of Trees

2011-03-07T19:04:00.010Z

Monday 7th March 2011. Hello world.
This week I am mostly (only) making Trees and Tree-related stuff
Today was very productive. First image is a piece that has been on the wall for a week or two awaiting the impetus to finish the quilting - now blocked out and on the table - should be bound tomorrow and finished in the evening..
Those are my toes (for scale)
Next image is a Pieced Tree that I made a couple of weeks ago, that has also been on the wall. No progress on this one today except to look at it...

This one has been in the box for ages. It's layered but I haven't started the quilting. decided this was not quite right but saleable, so I will finish it too...

Pink piece is on heavy hand-dyed cotton drill - a Screen-print from a recent batch which I was very pleased with.. This will be a bag, I think, quick and easy
Next one is a start on a new piece. Not quite sure about this yet. The little tree goes with it quite well

Then I made some Tiger blocks for a background for another piece for later in the week

Started this one and got it to the half-quilted stage - I am using imagery on top of the print which is unconnected - a theme I think needs much more work

Finally, did a bit of work on this red piece which has also been sitting around for a while. I like it, but for some reason it's seemed hard to stitch...

Found this last one in the box too. It needs additions, and is all fused on a screen-printed ground from almost 25 years ago. Work In Slow Progress... I am planning to teach Fusing this year so this will make a reasonable sample

More tomorrow

Free quilt pattern...

2010-04-26T19:15:00.003Z

Tiger Tiger...
Free step-by-step instructions here
and a link to a downloadable .pdf file here

Example shown is in Oakshott Autumn selection

More duckery

2010-04-24T19:16:00.003Z

And so we now have 13 little ducklets, turbo-charging round the pond...

Return of the Duck

2010-04-21T07:08:00.005Z

She has moved along to the next yard - perhaps next year she will come to mine...
Now in this delightful flowery pot, she sits patiently waiting for another small explosion of ducklings...

Hello again.

Picture from an Exhibition

2009-05-05T19:59:00.003Z

Mermaid Kite from my latest exhibition

£65

More soon...

More duck stuff

2009-04-23T18:21:00.001Z

Here she is, and here her eggs, and as fierce an eye as I've ever seen...

Cycled past a small pond this evening and was amazed by the number and energy of the ducklings. All brown except one yellow one, and a sideways avalanche of feet and cheeping and water...

Ah, spring is here...

Catching up and settling down...

2009-04-19T19:17:00.003Z

...to some work at last.. Not going to show them here yet, as they are for my next exhibition, but I am mightily relieved to have broken the back of the Creativity Monster...

Meanwhile:- a duck has nested in the next-yard but one - she has made a perfect nest from old string and feathers and is happily sitting on 6 beautiful blue eggs. You can just see the string in the picture. And the spring light is illuminating my carpets really nicely..