2017 Wk 25 - Corking good fun

Yippee!!!  Jackie is here for a weekend of fun!  We went to the National Quilt Championships at Sandown Park yesterday -which may have involved some shopping!

One of our goodies was a sheet of cork 'fabric' - which resulted in these two using Noodlehead's design.

 We've made these before so felt confident in adding slip pockets and zip pockets too

We also had a go at scissor pouches

And then we wrapped some cotton and leaves up together and boiled them in water with rusty nails for . . . well, the bucket didn't reach boiling point after being on the stove for an hour

This was as a result of having met Caroline Bell at Richmond and Kew - she creates amazing fabrics this way - I'm not so sure ours will be as successful - we'll find out tomorrow!

Whilst in the kitchen on a hot sweaty day watching a bucket full of water, nails and fabric - as if that wasn't hot enough, we decided to do some baking!

This means Jackie baking and me fetching and washing up!!!

Lemon drizzle cake . . . 

and the world's strangest shapes muffins (so it turns out you really do need a muffin tin - who knew!)

And finally: my favourites from Sandown Park yesterday

2017 Wk 7 - mostly Crafty Church

We decided to offer a jewellery special Crafty Church on Saturday.  

Stephanie and Julie having a go at Infinity Button necklaces

 

I only got a blurred pic of their creations, but here are some from a previous session:

Janet had made a completed Crafty Church Crocheted Hug which has today been delivered - and I got an email from the lady who delivered it "I told her the blanket was from the church and was our way of wrapping her in love and prayers.  She was really greatly touched and overwhelmed. . . . I know when tears well up we have touched a heart. Crafty church is showing our caring hearts too.  "

And we have 16 squares towards our 3rd Crafty Church Hug!!!!

I got a chance to play and to spray baste a bonus quilt!  This used the excess from the Lotus Selvedge  quilt, and the two packs of charm squares from Amo: It really grew quickly!

Since then I have (shock horror) actually quilted it!

Free Motion Quilting at that!!!!

Not fab, but it's OK!!!

And I have another cunning plan!

Tara wore this fabulously simple poncho which she'd bought from a craft fair.  I borrowed it and got her to take a pic:

I also took a few how-it's-made and what-it-measures pics - and hopefully soon see you'll see a here-is-my-version pic too!

Holiday Happiness

Once you're back from a holiday, and unpacked and put away, and gone back to work, it can seem as though you never went away.

Thank goodness for photos and achievements!

We spent hours and hours on this beach, soaking up the sun, and enjoying the solitude

I saw patchwork and quilting inspiration at every turn - a quilted cushion cover in the museum

A ticker tape quilt in the jetty:

A real log cabin:

A scrappy quilt in the walls of the monastery:

and free range quilting lines in the rocks:

One of the hand sewing projects I took along was this which will eventually become a note book cover 

To begin with,

this idea plus this

    

plus this idea that I Pinned ages ago, saw this stitching happening for the front

But the more I went to the beach and saw this and this . . .
 

. . . the more I wanted to introduce curves . . .  and the back is now starting to look like this

  and all together . . .

And on a more somber note: goodbye to an old friend