Some metal and stitch samples

I've been spending quite a lot of time recently trying to prepare for the Metal and Stitch workshop I'd doing for our local EG group.   I've decided to use only recycled metal, old lager and soft drink cans to me and you.  Here are a couple of the latest batch.




Backgrounds are hand dyed or transfer painted paper ironed onto fabric.  Recycled metal has been both hand and die cut and embellished with machine stitches, embroidery stitches and beads.

I've become quite addicted to these little pieces.  I love Angie Lewins work and have used her  idea of simplified shapes in my work.

Rain Rain go away

Wow and didn't it rain...... We were lucky and caught only the tail end of the storm but it was bad enough.  Our street flooded in minutes, the water came right up to both front and back doors and the garden looked more like a swimming pool.  I thought I'd better get Keith to build an Ark.  However it lasted less than further up the county and once the rain stopped it receeded very quickly.  There are still puddles but nothing as devastating as a few miles further North.   We didn't take any photos of the storm, it came quickly and despite the warnings surprised up by its ferocity.   We were so concerned with working out what we needed to move to a higher room we forgot about photos.  Still the tv has lots of them.

Our postman still managed to get through and I have three more swaps to show you.

Fabric manipulation from (top) Chris and (bottom) Sue.

Baa Baa Blacksheep from Lesley, love the bag of wool...

I've been busy making more samples for my workshop on metal stitch and will show them soon.

More swaps

Chunky Book Page - June - Birds front

Chunky Book Page - June - Birds back

I love this Surface Design book page from Cathy Vigor the feathers and bird are shaded with paint which hasn't shown up well on the photo.  I just love both sides.

Last of the BQLPC 'Fabric Manipulation' swap postcards.



Top card is from Jan who has sewn a seam along striped fabric and then sewn across the fabric pushing the seam in opposite directions.

The bottom card is from Irene who has enclosed two prairy points into a fold and added a fabric origami motif.  My first thoughts on seeing this card was "Red Sails in the Sunset" and I couldn't get rid of the tune all day.

I've not been too well over the past week so haven't seen anything of our new great grandson but as soon as we do I'll post a picture of him not yelling.



More swaps received

I should have posted these earlier but have spent most of the past couple of days sleeping.

Fabric manipulation from Alice and Janet

Mine -  I forgot to take photos of the finished pieces but did take one before I added the borders.

Nursery rhyme swap from Heather and Janet

Mine, at least one of them, the other two were "rain, rain go away" and "Old Mother Hubbard".

Introducing Flynn

Well here he is at two days old, doing what all babies do - yelling.  I only have this photo, which was sent to me.  I've been not feeling too well over the last couple of days so told them not to come near me.  However I'm almost back to normal so should have some lovely new ones soon.

He does not like his car seat at all.

Newsflash

New great grandson Flynn arrived at 7:22am this morning weighing 8lbs 4ozs.  Mother, baby and Father all tired but well.  Photos later.

Chunky Page Swap

A while ago I decided to start swapping again with the Surface Design group and joined in with their Chunky Book page swap.   My first page was May's and the theme was flowers, this went to Inge in Germany.  The background is handmade fabric paper with ribbon, lace and rickrack and flower sequines.  I stamped the background also with leave stamps I'd made mayself, they aren't very good but were an addition I wanted.  My funky flower was a double layer of fabric (different on each side) bonded together and with a smaller version in the centre.

My second swap is with Cathy in the States and the theme for June was Birds.   This again was on handmade paper fabric.  I cut out a swallow shape out of painted transfer paper and ironed it onto the background.  I then stitched the outlines in a blending tone of thread. I then couched threads onto the background to represent reeds.   My tree, bird and flower head are all made from recycled metal (drink cans).  This was also one of my experimental metal and stitch samples.  The eye of the bird appeared when I heated the aluminium.

I've been making several samples of metal with stitch for a workshop I'm taking next month.  I've rather got carried away with collecting the empty drink cans.  My dh, sons, his friends are all struggling valliantly drinking the contents so I can have the empties.

I've only just managed to photograph some of the samples so will upload them tomorrow.

June Journal Page



June's JP was the result of testing metal and stitch.  I've been asked to take a workshop booked for July based on Metal and Stitch as the tutor is ill.  So I've been playing and will show you some of the things I've tested tomorrow.

I've used two different grades of metal in my June journal page.  The heavier one I hand embossed and coloured with alcohol inks.  The second lighter weight metal pieces I embossed using the Big Shot, much easier but I like both affects. 

Ask me how I know not to use a twisted metal thread to sew through metal.  If you look at the top right hand side you will see I used a Maderia F2/2 thread,normally a well behaved thread, but it shreaded badly when going through metal.  I then changed to a rather expensive Japanese metal thread, which sewed beautifully.  Later testing showed I could have got the same result with a matching cotton thread with less trouble.  Ah well we learn something new every day.

I used a very cheap Indian twisted metal thread, called appropriately enough "Coronation", to make machine cords and added this as an inner border.  I managed to use the same thread to fme stonework.
More bits and pieces to show tomorrow.

Swappers cards as promised

From Heather in Okehaven a mixed media card which looks much better in the flesh than my photo.

Two blue cards the top one is from Irene Turnbull who's quilting skills I envy.  Bottom card is from Alice in Glasglow, who has highlighted the marbling on the fabric by hand quilting.

Finally Red bands embellished with machine stitching from Sue Wild.

It always amazes me how we all have the same theme but come up with different ideas.

May Journal Page

Finally got down to some serious sewing and finished my May Journal Page for the Contemporary Quilters, its called May Flowers.  Not very original I know but I've decided that the Yellow block of work will be all flowers.



The centre is transfer dyed silk and the prairy points the same transfer dyes but on cotton sateen.  I only had a small bit of both so the silk had to become a panel.  The flowers are handmade felt which I made some time ago and forgot about with velvet centres.  Machine stitching created the flower shapes and I cut carefully round them.  I wanted to use my new Bernina foot number 39C which is the updated version of the clear embroidery foot.  The new version has a central hole in the plate so you can run a thread through and couch it down.  It works really well.  The thread I used is a Maderia Decora, a rather thick thread which I've only used in the bobbin before.

As well as May Flowers I've completed a set of postcards for the BQLPC group with the theme of "single colour - wholecloth, tints and tones".

I quilted the tops then coloured them using Derwent Inktense blocks, this time I actually made one to keep.  I'll post the other swappers' postcards tomorrow when I've finished scanning them into my PC.

Back from holiday

It was a very wet and windy holiday in Wales for the most part but we did get a couple of fine days when my son and dil joined us.

They are stood outside Harlech Castle, Wales is full of castles, all beautiful but by this time we'd worn our legs out walking up and down tower stairs so we didn't go in.

We did go to Bodnant Gardens where the Rhodadendrums were in full bloom but the Labernum arch was just coming into leaf.

All the rain had swelled the rivers and we made sure we didn't get too close - no paddling.

On the way home we called in to revisit the Pontsycyllte aquaduct.  My memories of going across this in a canal boat are still very strong.  I was chicken then and am still chicken, this is very high.

I was much happier underneath it with my feet on the floor.

What have I been doing allo this time?

Well this:

I really enjoyed making the stuffed white work piece and got a bit carried away.  It's a while since I did a largish piece of embroidery and once I'd started I found it difficult to stop.

Here are sections of the piece:

 Top boarder, lace, stuffed channels with whipped herringbone stitch.

 Second border, halfmoon shapes stuffed, threaded with 'wedding flowers', lazy daisy, stem stitch, bullion knots and beading.

 Third border, stuffed channel with cross stitch and detached chain stitch.  Triangles of felt overlaid with cotton, buttonhole round edges, cretan stitch in ovals with stem stitch round edges.

 Trapunto stuffed circles, some stitched down to create other shapes, french knots, buttonhole bars in several sizes, bullion knots, stab stitches.  Stuffed channel with buttonhole bars.  Botton channel (on right) is straight stitches interlaced with thread and french knot in centre over another stuffed channel.



Last border, these aren't in order or work.  Covered paper balls with bead son top, washers in differing sizes underneath fabric.  Each washer has a different pattern of stitches but all have their centres filled in.  Buttonhole wheels, french knots and stab stitches, raised woven wheels.

And I've also got the top of the table topper finished, it turned out larger than expected but that's okay.  Still got to quilt, back and bind it but that can wait until I get back from holiday.  We're off to Wales tomorrow for a few days.

Oh and I've almost finished May's Journal Page. 

More postcards

We'll my Kindle has had good use recently, I'm still excited and have been downloading books for my holiday in Wales next month.   But it is now time to put it down and get on with some sewing and to show you the latest postcards from BQLPC April swap, themed "Winners".  This was a more difficult theme than I had originally thought and my fellow swappers have done it justice.

From Alice - the Winners envelope, how many of us have had one through out doors.

From Jacquie the winning raffle ticket.  Jacquie made her cards from a pack of fabrics and threads she won with a winning raffle ticket bought at an EG meeting.

Me, well I wanted to use my very limited digitizing skills to create a Star winner.  The photos seem to have a shadow on them, ah well.

It's time to get on with my table topper, I admit to getting bored doing the same block continuously but I want this table topper to be plainish and so its time to get started again.  It's 10 blocks down, 6 more to go.

I'm so excited!

Well, him indoors said it - "Oh Just go and buy one" so I have.  Tomorrow I take possession of a Kindle Touch.  I have the Kindle app on my phone and read books on that while I'm waiting in the car or for an appointment.  Can't wait for tomorrow all I have to do now is decided on a couple of new books, any suggestions?

I told myself I wouldn't feel guilt but I do

But I've talked sternly to myself and told myself its okay not to blog if you don't have anything to say.  However I do have something to show you today.   On Saturday our local EG organised a workshop with Maggie Smith, the title of which was "Get Stuffed", which is also the title of her new book.

Maggie was my tutor when I studied for my C&G Part 2 si I was looking forward to Getting Stuffed.  Everyone really enjoyed it, not that too much work got done we were so busy listening to Maggie explain the various techniques for stuffing shapes.  There wasn't really an 'end product' to the workshop so there wasn't any pressure to get the piece finished.

I've been feeling very unmotivated recently but Maggie's workshop has galvanised me into life.   My sample is a bit grubby and crumpled but I've had fun creating it and will use the techniques I think in one of the yellow journal pages.

Something else I'll be using in one of the yellow JP's is prairie points.  I made several using transfer painted sateen which was a nightmare to fold.  However I got over that by making myself a simple template to fold the fabric over and iron it into place.  Somewhere on the web I'd seen a metal template that you placed the fabric over and ironed it down.  I cut the corner off a piece of card at 45 degrees and used this in the same way, similar to a template for sewing mitres.  This worked a treat, I just had to make sure my fingers weren't too near the point when I placed the iron down.

I soon had quite a few prairie points, being sateen and slippy I had to put a single stitch in at the bottom of the fold to stop them springing apart.

Now all I have to do with them is decide how to use them.  I have several more pieces of transfer painted sateen if I want to make more but I think I might need to use asbestos gloves next time.

Happy Easter

Just a very quick hello and to show you the cute egg cosies.  I got the pattern from a blog tutorial from one of the blog hops.  I think its by Bronwyn Hayes of Red Brolly but not sure.  I made a few minor changes to make them more acceptable to 30+'s.  Here they are.

Keith made the egg cups and the egg inside is the chocolate covered plastic toy kind of egg.  Not all the recipients like eggs so boiling and decorating them was out.  Also two are on diets, so not much choccy with these eggs.  Keith and I decided we'd not bother with Easter eggs this year, I shouldn't eat them anyway as my blood sugar results are not too good.

However, Keith did go out and buy we one of the eggs and made another cup to put it in.  Now do I make myself a cosy or not.... hmm.

This was on my breakfast tray, ahh he does care.

March and April Journal Pages

The final two red journal pages are now ready to post.

 March following the dance theme as well as red, is called "Lambeth Walk"

The April one is called "Line Dancing" The swirly bling bit is a Sizzix die which I thought looked a bit like embroidery on a cowgirl shirt.

Oops... the photo has come in sideways, this happens occasionally with Blogger and I don't know how to turn them.  I know its the right orientation in my folder.  Anyway this is a photo of the four red months showing how I've tried to create  gradation from rich red to pale pink when they are all hung together.  All the backgrounds are created in the same way, strips of fabrics woven then sewn down but each page being different.  The next four months challenge colour is yellow.  I've already done one yellow JP but not sure whether to include it in the yellow set or not as strictly speaking I didn't do it for this one.

I've shown bits of this one before, which I started as my Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge but it appears to have got lost in translation somewhere.  I do have the first 8 or 9 stitches of the challenge in this piece however maybe I'll have to start another one to include the other stotcjes.   So far its not got a name maybe someone could suggest something.