Guess who's come to stay?

Meet Monty my new microwaveable pal, Sy and Julie gave him to me because I'd complained I was cold.

Isn't he cute, far too lovely to put in the microwave, he just sits on the radiator or beside my sewing machine and keeps me company.



 I've decided to give Rug Mugs to my friends this Christmas instead of cards.  These six are going to a group I sew with so I wanted them to be very similar.  They took me longer to make than I had anticipated and by the time I'd sewn all the bindings on my finger was sore.

 More Black and White cards from the BQLPC group, these two are from Pauline C (top) and Michelle (bottom).

 The next four are again from the BQLPC group but the theme this time is 'windows'.  At the top are Helen Pearson's cathedral windows and Lesley's Office Lights card.

The bottom two are 'Let us Out' windows from Pauline C and Boutique window from Janet B.

I think that's almost it for fabric postcards for this year, just one to get made in time for a deadline of early January so I've not got any excuse for not getting on with the lap quilts I'm trying to get finished.



We were supposed to be going to the K&S show in Harrogate this weekend, first it we were going to go Saturday then we changed our minds thinking it would be less crowded on Sunday.  Then we woke up to snow and a forecast of doom and gloom getting worse on Sunday so we finally set off this morning.  We got as far as the outskirts of the town when we heard the link road to the A1 was closed.  As we'd had to fight our way to the edge of town, the gritters hadn't been out last night and the ice under the fresh snow made it difficult driving, we decided it was too risky to try so we returned home. It was just as well because we've had some really harsh weather today and unless you need to go out the police are advising that you stay indoors.  I'll look forward to going next year now. 

I went to the opticians yesterday for a pair of close work glasses and got a bit of a shock.  It appears that I've developed some sort of cyst at the bottom of my retina that has loosened one of the layers of the retina.  Something called a retinoschisis.  Apparently its fairly common, does no real damage unless it grows too big but there  I was expecting to buy some sexy new glasses and ended up with a referral to the hospital.  Life sometimes sucks.  On the positive side I've nearly got all my Christmas present sorted out, just a couple to go.

Block 5 of Kate North's Stay at Home Round Robin done

It took me a while to decided what blocks I wanted to do for the SAHRR I wanted to try out some of the Go Cutter dies.  In the end I used one, the small triange that comes with Go to make windmill blocks then added left over stripes from another project to the sides, top and bottom.

Caught up with Journal Pages

My October JP shows Juliette's balcony in Verona where she was supposedly wooed by Romeo.  We've been here a couple of times and there are always crowds of people, many of whom desecrate the walls and doors with graffiti.  This year there was a barrier round Juliette's house which meant people couldn't easily get to the walls and doors. 

In November the town council always put on a big fireworks display in the South Park.  The houses in the streets around the park are lucky in that they get a great view of the fireworks without having to stand outside in the cold.  Mind they miss all the atmosphere.  Sadly because of all the cutbacks this will be the last year for the firework display.

Something Black and White, one of two swaps this month with the BQLPC group.  Mine once again use up scraps of leftover fabrics sewn together with decorative stitches and embellished with a few bugle beads.

Windows was the second postcard theme put up by BQLPC for November.   There is a passage in the Bible, I think in   Matthew that quotes the eyes as being windows to the soul, or something like that.  So eyes are my Windows.  I downloaded some free clipart of eyes (there are lots out there) and changed them slightly in Photoshop by giving my 'eyemate' coloured eye liner.   I saw David Hockney at the weekend showing how he was creating a painting a day in a paint program for a show in one of London's galleries.   I thought I'd add some blue hair to go with the eyeliner.  The I was stuck as how to finish the card so I added windowsills top and bottom and curtains.  I think it looks more like a cinema screen though, what do you think?

We've been dashing here and there for the past couple of weeks visiting woodworking shops for Keith.  I thought it only fair that I go to his favourite shops as he never complains about taking me to mine.   One place we went to last weekend, no not a woodwork shop, was the Crafts for Christmas show in Harrogate.  I thought it would be all cardmaking and stuff like that that but it was an Aladdin's cave of artisans from all over the country.   There was also a food market which we indulged in greatly and have already eaten most of the stuff that didn't get put into the freezer and we wonder why we put on weight!!

Finished my September JP

All I have to do now is finish Octobers!!  I'm way behind with my challenges and I don't really have an excuse, just seem to have lost the will to sew but my mojo will come back soon I'm sure.  In the meantime I've decided to make a Mug Rug like one of these.  I have quite a few scraps and playing with these should revive the muse.  Actually I know what the problem is, I'm just plain ole tired, too much running around lately.   Now to show you my September CQJP.

The photo is where I started from, one of Marc and Alix's wedding in September.  I wanted to create something pretty but different so made a fabric background of snippets of sheers in shades of pink to magenta.  These were the colours in Alix's bouquet.  Next I covered the whole lot with net and free machine quilted it in flowers, feathers, scribbled my way through a whole lot of motifs.  It was my intention to reproduce the photo on extravaganza as an overlay which I would leave loose.  However, it got lost in the background, the image on the sheer organza was a bit pale and insipid so I carefully cut out the background and appliqued it onto the background.   I added a bit of lace, what wedding picture is complete without a bit of lace, and put a few french knots into the bouquet to add a bit of depth.  I was going to bind the edges with a thin magenta ribbon but decided I liked the satin stitch.  

I've also been creating some lino cuttings, one of which was based on the Bridge of  Sighs in Venice.  I thought I'd use this for my October JP but its ended up as a cover for a plastic folder as I wasn't too keen on the colours I'd used to print the block in.

Well it looks like the photos will have to wait until another day Blogger has stopped playing nice and won't let me upload another one.  Wonder what I did to upset Blogger but will try again later.

Lino cut folder

I got round Blogger by posting the photo of my lino cut Bridge of Sighs (yes I know its the wrong way round I forgot to reverse the cutting) via Picasa.  The print was originally printed onto white cotton one in blue and the other in green and overprinted with the opposite colour (ie green got a blue overprint and blue got a green one).  It looked a bit stark so I had the brilliant idea of spray dyeing it with magenta, blue and green Colourwash sprays but overdid the magenta a bit.   The cloth was bonded to pelmet vilene and stitched round the image my machine.   I didn't like it when I finished it so its now become a file cover.