Last of my bookwrap gem covers

At last I've finally made my embroidery piece into a bookwrap.  I had difficulty with it as I had not measured twice and cut once....   Yep your right it wouldn't fit the book, the cover was just too tight a fit.   I ended up unpicking all the stitching, which then meant the edges were fraying a little.  In the end I bound the edges and now its okay to go.

 

I'm quite pleased with it and would actually like to keep it but I made it for a purpose so off it will go sometime this week, along with its friends.   I made 8 covers in all, there are three of them in the background to the photo.   I'm going to make another doodled cover for myself, well I might get round to it later.

 

I've also finished making 10 Owl coin purses from a pattern by Embroidery Garden which will be donated to a local quilt exhibition in aid of Help the Heros.

 

 

Only got one more 'promise of pieces' left to do, that's to make pincushions in time to sell at our local Embroiderers Guild AGM in May.   Keith has made me some wooden bowls to make into pincushions and I have one or two other ideas.  I'll post photos later when I've made them.

 

 

 

 

Fresh Inspiration

Went to the Quilt Festival at Farfield Mill just outside of Sedburgh in Cumbria. We left home in bright sunlight but by the time we hit the motorway the fog decended and as we approached Richmond (N.Yorks one) it was so thick we could hardly see the road ahead.  We were both getting a bit apprehensive as we knew the drive a head was along country roads, very windy in places and also quite narrow.  When suddenly we drove into bright sunlight again and it remained that way for the whole of the journey.

Farfield Mill is a small weaving mill now restored and used as a museum that holds various country craft festivals, workshops and demonstrations.  If you are in the area it is well worth a visit, even just to see the artifacts in the Museum shop.

There were several small quilt exhibitions on the four floors of the mill, each different from the last.  There was a video running showing Pauline Burbidge creating her Lindisfarne quilts and her method of working.  I found this video fascinating and very instructive.  Quilt Art where showing 'Voices' pieces and the Cumbrian members of the QGBI also had a small exhibition on "The Act of Layering". Outside the Cafe Effie Gallertly's quilted landscapes were hung and in various places in the mill were other exhibits.

Now for some of the photos, I couldn't take many as in several rooms they weren't allowed, but....

Lyn Anderson's piece on Cumbria was brilliant, I just loved everything about it pity the photo doesn't do it justice but you get the idea.   Lyn was one of the Cumbrian quilters and I hope she forgives me for showing her quilt here but its too good to hide.

Kathy Edgar's "After the Storm" was also one of my favourite pieces this lady too is one of the Cumbrian quilters.

Val Jackson (England) piece was called "Does he Waltz" and it has amazing detail on it.  This is from the Voices exhibition.

I also enjoyed Charlotte Yade (Denmark) piece Wrapped" there is so much texture in the printing on this pieces.  I would be happy if one day I could get any texture in my printed pieces let alone a whole wallhanging.

One of the exhibits on the 4th floor was a quilt made by Ann Bigland, a bedridden lady who lived in Burnside near Kendal in 1886.  The quilt is made from 5,760 hand pieced pieces.  The strips are small, approximately half/three quarter inch strips (just a guess).

There was plenty for Keith to see too as the Museum shop had lots of wooden bowls, which he inspected with relish.

Bookwraps

Over the past few weeks my 9 o'clock curfew project has been to make bookwraps for the QGBI Bookwrapgems project and this is my work so far:  You may remember from a previous posting that I intended to create something from the various stitches available on my machine.

 

 

The colours are a bit muddy in the photo, they are much brighter in real life.   This bookwrap was made as I said previously using the stitches available on my machine and just doodling with them.

 

The next one was done in a similar way but this time I mad the base fabric using a thick thread couched down randomly and then hand embroidered in the spaces.

 

 

This is the full piece and as yet I haven't made it into a cover but hope to do so shortly. 

 

 

Close ups of parts of the piece.  I had great fun doing this and it reminded me of how much I enjoy hand sewing if only the fingers didn't complain so much.

 

Now for a confession.  back in 2005 I did a wallhanging swap with a lady called Opi who lived in the Netherlands.  I loved the quilt which had big daisies appliqued onto a blue sky background.  After it lived on my wall for a while I took it down and stored it away.  A few days ago I came across it as I was clearing out bits and pieces.  It had creased and no longer suitable for hanging but I have recycled it and made two book covers for the Bookwrapgem swap.  I do hope Opi forgives me for recycling her quilt and that she approves of it going for a good cause.  Here they are.

 

 

 

Unfortunately Blogger has yet again put an angle on the photo that I did not want but you can see why I loved this wallhanging so much.

 

The Inside covers have daisies too.

 

 

Fabric Flowers

I saw a photo of a bride on the internet holding a bunch of fabric flowers.  I can't remember where I saw them but the photo struck a cord with me.   I have a Sizzix die cut of a tattered rose and thought it could be reproduced in fabric.  It is basically a long strip of fabric with one edge scalloped and the other side gathered up.  It is then rolled round to form the rose.  I left a small piece at one end to glue it to a stick.  I saw some dogwood whilst out walking the dog and thought the red colour would go well with the fabric.   I used left over jelly roll pieces to make the roses.   I used the scallop stitch on my machine sewn with stitch size 4 and length 9mm.   I then used the largest stitch possible and sewed along the bottom of the pieces and gathered the stitching very carefully. 

With the short piece of fabric I'd trimmed I formed a centre bud and glued it to the stem.   Next came the careful rolling of the fabric to make the actual rose.  It is possible to sew each layer to the next but remember you need to sew on top of the fabric, not round the stem otherwise you will end up with a stick wrapped with fabric.   I cheated and glued my rose together as I was too impatient to see if it would work.  Well here's the results.

As you can see I sewed slightly away from the edge as I wanted my roses to be a bit tatty but you could always sew the strips together and turn them so the edges were smooth.

And here they are in a bunch, I got a bit carried away.

I'm going to make a much smaller rose to take to my Aunty Joan who has just been diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer.  She is Mum's youngest sister and my last aunt.  Keith is going to make a very small bud vase from wood to put the rose in.