A feast for the eyes!!

I forgot to mention in my recent blogs about my trip to London that while at the Tate Modern, with my daughter & son-in-law, I saw this painting by Kandinsky. 

"Swinging" by Kandinsky

As anyone who knows me will confirm, since embarking on the City & Guilds course a few years ago, I have become a firm fan of Kandinsky, so it was an absolute delight to see 'Swinging' in real life! 

 I love his use of shape, line and colour and I an regularly inspired to use his influence in my own work.

"Varied Rectangles" by Kandinsky

Most recently his "Varied Rectangles" was the inspiration for my "Seeds" piece for Textile Maids.  

"Seeds"

Thanks for reading.

Carolyn

London Trip

Before I chat about my trip to London to see my daughter and family, on board their houseboat, I would like to show off the stash of 'lovelies' from our time at the NEC this year.  We had a brilliant couple of days and I am really happy with my new additions.

NEC Stash

I have already used some of the bits in my collage but the rest I am looking forward to playing with!!  

The quilts on show were quite inspirational and we both came home with fingers itching to get stitching!!  I have to say since then I have been trying to finish off a few of my UFO's; mainly in time for the Trelyn Qulters Exhibition next week but also in readiness for our own Open Day in December.

Now to my London visit.......... our daughter and family have recently moved to London, so that our son-in-law can finish his architecture degree.  They decided that a houseboat was the way forward and found a perfect little one for themselves.  Rebecca is doing a blog, (The Mercury Unit) recording the making on their new Murphy Bed which Simon has designed and they are both involved in making.

So much to see!!

Anyway it has not been all work and the 3 of us have had a couple days out to explore London.  We took the clipper and tube on our way to the Natural History Museum.  Eli loved the Clipper but was not so sure of the tube.  I can understand that!  The museum had a lovely display of gem stones and minerals and this Roman marble table top, which was rather beautiful.  

Roman Marble Table Top

Our next stop was coffee at the V&A, a must for anyone!!  

It is now time for our next adventure........... Carolyn

"5m of Hemp"

We had a very lovely day at our Manipulated Workshop and it was great to see Lynne again, who we last met at the South West Quilters workshop we ran earlier in the year.

Lynne & Pam

This is a photo of two of the pieces made, all that is missing is a few beads, seed stitches or whatever else takes Lynne and Pams' fancy.  I think you will agree they both look very good.

I have now finished two wall-hangings for the Fabric Collage workshop that we are running on October 24 at Fraddon Village hall.  "5m of Hemp" was started a few months (maybe about 24!!) ago and has been on my 'to-do' list.

"5m of Hemp"

It has been needing a little extra and I very pleased with how it has turned out.  It is surprising how working on one items helps to finish another!  This is what has happened with "5m of Hemp" and "Two Fishes". 

"Two Fishes"

We still have a few spaces left on this workshop, which is a very lovely and free way to use found or treasured items and scraps of fabric.  On "Two Fishes" I have used pieces of clay pipe that I found on the beach at St Mawes, a wooded button made by my brother-in-law and a piece of twisted wire made by my daughter Rebecca, amongst other things on a background of rusted fabric, paper and tea bags!

Thank you for reading, I am off to look through the latest photos that I have taken while in London at my daughter Rebecca's.  I may be back soon!!

Carolyn

No passion for ironing...

I must start this evening with a mention to Carolyn's grandson Thomas and his outstanding achievement at making such a wonderful picture to remember his summer holiday. I've seen it in real life and it's so neat and tidy, I'm sure they are all very proud of him. Well done Thomas, a designer in the making!

As my title suggests I'm not a big fan of ironing, but there are always exceptions. Carolyn and I had a little dyeing session this afternoon, now everything is rinsed, washed and ironed you'll see that this type of ironing is a feast for the eyes and no hardship.

We dyed cotton fabrics, a variety of silks, scrim (of course) and threads.
After we've done the obligatory stroking, we'll be using these beauties in various projects and some will be turned into sale items for our Open Day in December.

Hope this gives you sweet dreams
Sue

Missing Photos

As promised here are some photos from the Strip Cushion Workshop we held in August. 

Ali's First Cushion

We had a lovely day, during which we introduced my Daughter-in-Law Ali, to patchwork.

I am now in trouble at home for starting something , as Ali went out and got the necessary equipment and is busy doing more, which I am looking forward to seeing in October when we catch up again!

Crys - complete with Prairie Points

Salli - Lovely warm palette

 It was a great to see some old friends on the day and we all had a relaxing, fun day.  

We are hope that you will be able to see these for real at our Open Day on 5 December.

Jan - with added Ric Rac and Lace

Since then we have been busy working on a few new projects, as you saw in Sue's last blog!  My Fabric Collage is almost finished and I will show you that very shortly!  We also have been working on our Turtle Challenge and they are coming along very nicely now. 

Before being quilted

They have both been quilted and are having the finishing touches added!  

Again they will be on display at our Open Day!

Thank you for reading.

Carolyn

Following the family footsteps!

Well, that was a rather lovely summer, and sunshine too, marvellous!!  We had all the family down at various times over the 'silly 6 weeks' and are now rattling around on our own again and not too impressed that Autumn seems to have arrived. 

My plans to do lots of hand-stitching went out of the window, as we were far to busy catching up on all the latest news and the odd drop of red wine, but I did have an order for 2 large strip cushions for my daughter to take into her new school for the quiet corner.  

While doing this our eldest Grandson Thomas stood quietly watching me.......so once  my task was finished he was sent out to find some bits and pieces during a walk on the cliffs.   He came home armed with some lovely stones, pebbles and drift wood, and asked Grandad show him how to drill holes in them so they could be stitched onto the piece.  Together we sat down and planned his picture, although I have to say I had very little in-put. 

Artist at work!

With the plan at his side he work beautifully and carefully until the picture was finished.  It was a delight to watch him and I am very proud of him and the work that he produced.

Proud I think!

You will be able to see his work at our Open Day, as Thomas has kindly allowed me to display it then, on the strict instructions I return as soon as it is over!  We are now planning a cushion to be made during the next summer holiday!

Thank you for reading

Carolyn

New workshop piece...

Hello all,

I'd like to show you a piece I've completed for one of our new workshops Fabric Collage. In this workshop we want to encourage students to rummage through saved ephemera - from holidays, inherited scraps of fabric and lace etc....or like me music sheets.
Auntie Rosa taught music and it was her passion to play the piano. So in this piece I used her sheet music and it just so happened the title appeared on one of the teasels.....meant to be!

detail

As with that generation and the same with us today, buttons were stashed away, mending wool saved for darning. I chose a few of her buttons and attached them with her mending wool.

flow'rs blooming round her

We are running our Fabric Collage Workshop on 24th October at Fraddon Village Hall 10am - 4pm

If you haven't tried collage yet come along and give it go, it's a liberating method and suitable for any skill level, patchwork and embroidery.

In the mean time, if you fancy a little Fabric Manipulation (one of my favourite techniques) then this workshop will give you all the skills to transform any future projects into something special.
It's an A4 size wall-hanging, you will be shown all the processes with guidance from us and method sheets for future reference.

Fabric Manipulation Wall Hanging

There's still time to book and it takes very little fabric, all the information can be found on our website, you will also find photos of past workshops.

Hope this has wetted your appetite to try something new, we look forward to hearing from you.
Back soon
Sue