Halloween Tribute

I made these bowls last week to put in Knit Wits window

to advertise the fun fabric in store.

They are made by drawing round a dinner plate,

twice and cutting it out. Lay one of your circles

on some cotton fusible batting and cut out.

Lay your base fabric, wrong side looking

at you. Then the batting and then the top fabric

good side looking at you. Pin together.

Sew a gather stitch all the way round

the top of your circle edge.

and pull together to form your bowl.

Pin your wide ribbon in place and zig zag stitch

in place, (like a bias binding edging)

neaten off the join.

Vola' a bowl!

The Pumpkins are from our garden.

:-/

See my Monster mash tribute on my

tech site

www.art2inspiretech.blogspot.com

Lace Folded Purse

Monday 31st October!!!!!! :-\

I am always looking out for folded bag patterns

and I came across a beaded and decorated one on You tube.

So I decided to make this and decorate mine with lace

and machine embroidery.

I think I will make several of these as gifts.

See more of my Lace and Vintage art pieces

on my portfolio site

HERE

The you tube video put on by a lovely

Australian lady is on my tech site

www.art2inspiretech.blogspot.com

Green Lantern DVD

On Saturday night, Stewart and I had Movie Night

watching 'The Green Lantern'.

I watch, read and am inspired by many sources

and love watching the new DVD releases.

This one is very comic book!

See a clip on my Tech Site

www.art2inspiretech.blogspot.com

Studio Day with Maggie and Kim

As you may know I open my studio throughout

the Summer for Students to come and work.

Most want to use the large table to finish and

bast their quilts.

I usually close my doors in September but

Kim asked me if I would do a special day

for her daughter Maggie to come along and

make something for a Birthday Treat.

(Kim is the Card and Scrapbooking Tutor

@The Gallery).

Maggie is 15 years old and is inspired to

have a career working in textiles.

Kim came along as the taxi driver and to

make some cards in my space!

It was a lovely day and Maggie brought along

Mum's sewing machine and learnt all about it

and got to play on my embroidery machine too!

She will be a fantastic designer you can see that

by her 'Folded Bag' above and visit her

Blog at

www.magsfashionsavy.blogspot.com

also Kims Card Making Blog

www.kimcrop.blogspot.com

On Friday, I got a call from Jill at

'Jill's Crafting Studio', to say there was a

space in her afternoon class and

would I like to come along.

I jumped at the chance and off I went.

Jill's Card Studio Shop is so light and airy and

inspirational.

We were soon making a Tri Folded Christmas Card.

(See mine above). Two hours went so quick and

it was lovely meeting other card enthusiasts.

I am still at the beginner stage!!!!

Learnt lots and enjoyed the time.

Thank you to Jill and the ladies.

Thursday 27th Quilting Class at Knit Wits

The last Thursday of every month is

Quilts and Quilt Making at Knit Wits in Dereham.

Its really getting lovely now as students are bringing

in lots of finished work and showing

and sharing.

As you can see by the photos above there are

cushions. Christmas runners,

(love the Robin fabric in this one,

well done Irene)

and quilts at there start.

See more by clicking the written labels below

or see a workshop list above.

Embroidery Guild Felt Making

On Wednesday 26th of October Bridget

came to speak to our local Branch of The Embroiderers Guild,

in Kings Lynn. Bridget spoke to us about the history

in general of felting and then also about East Anglian

Felting History, especially Norwich which was

really interesting.

She then got us down to work making, Felt Flowers.

She had brought all the equipment with her

and it wasn't long before we were

'Faffing', a technical term picked up by Sandra!

and tufting our wool tops into circle shapes,

on bubble wrap, as you can see above.

It was then sponging them down with soapy water

and rolling and rolling out a couple of hundred times.

This was fun watching as I went around the room

taking photographs.

Even though I have made lots of felt myself

it is wonderful taking part in a group activity

and I had not made these type of flower before.

We then soaked our little bits of damp fluff in

clean water and worked into them, pulling and

stretching them tighter and into flower shapes as they

began to shrink.

These we then shaped around or fingers or pens to form a

centre of the flower and secured with elastic bands.

We all had a lovely time and all went home with

extra pieces of wool top to make stamens or centres

and a lovely sturdy brooch pin to sew on the back.

My flower is the top purple flower,

looking a bit wild! with its unusual petals!

Visit our Guild Site

www.kingslynnembguild.wordpress.com

or visit Bridget's site

www.feltbybridget.blogspot.com

Textile Painting

Both Ann and Sue came into the Textile Tuesday

sessions over the last few weeks, just wanting

to paint fabric!

So in my usual fashion set them to work

with all the equipment and some tips

and hints and set them to play and explore

the medium!

He! He!

I love it when people play!

I get them to have an inspiration

first, either with a physical object in front

of them or a memory that they want to capture.

Sue wanted to express the fields of

anemones she had seen next to a wood in France.

She had also made an Embellished piece

inspired by this.

See this

HERE

The start is there and she had a wonderful time!

I am sure he is singing in the bottom photo!

So, so, happy to be creating!

Ann's piece based on a Blue Poppy is really

coming on, it has been painted, shadows and textures

added, the petals cut out with a soldering iron and also

added holes for texture and depth.

The background is now coming together

with added paint,rubbings, printing and threads.

As you can see it will be a stunning piece.

See how Ann started this piece

HERE

There are so many possibilities and I love sharing

the techniques of textiles and art.

There will be more opportunity soon

with the move to the new Art Centre at

The Memorial Hall Dereham in December.

See

HERE

Dove Cushion

Pat has finished embroidering The Dove Cushion front

and is now putting the borders on.

If you notice she has matched up the leaves and flowers

around the border to give it

continuity and flow. Takes a lot of fabric

but well worth it.

Pat also works other similar pieces at the same time

so, is working on another cushion which as

an Indian Lady in her garden.

Another 1930's image but transferred

with Lazertram Print Paper,

(similar to photo print on t-shirts).

I always try and expand students comfort zone

with creating and Pat is a very willing student,

excelling in her work.

See how this cushion started

HERE

and

HERE

See more by clicking the labels below.

Gallery Tuesday 25th October 2011

As you may know Textile Tuesdays @The Gallery

are always busy with creating and everyone has

a good time too! as you can see

by some of these next photos.

At the top, Sara is covering fabric with

old dressmaking patterns and then making a new piece

of art to sew all over and transform.

Lots of patchwork,

lots of chat and catch up with other students

with Jeanette modelling Pat's new bag

and telling them all about,

her trip to Emmerdale!

Yes,Emmerdale!

See more of what goes on by visiting the

written posts and @The Gallery

www.thegallerydereham.co.uk

and Je

Caves of The Forgotten Dreams, Chavet.

On the Friday evening I was so tired after a busy week

so Stewart and I watched the new film out on

'The Caves of Chavet',

'Caves of Forgotten Dreams'.

These caves in France were found accidentally by walkers

and contain the oldest artwork known to man.

The film shows the documentation of the caves by

scientists,archeologists and artists.

It is a very interesting film and the

artwork made by charcoal and pigments

is beautiful!

See a video clip on my tech site

www.art2inspiretech.blogspot.com

have been

Patchwork Drawstring Bag

After doing some household chores on Friday morning

I went in the studio

and made a patchwork and quilted bag.

Joy had show us her one that she brings her cup in

to meetings and I thought what a good idea.

It took a bit of fiddling out and it's turned out o.k.

The piece of patchwork underneath the bag at

the top is for another

sketchbook cover. I have also been using it as

a demo piece on how to build up your strips of

fabric to make a larger piece.

See some of my Students Drawstring Bags by

clicking HERE

See more of bag making by clicking on the written

labels below or by visiting my

website

www.art2inspire.co.uk

Strip Cushion Session

During the classes, especially the 'Striped Crazywork Cushion',

I have been teaching all the students how to do

Machine Quilting and Embroidery.

Above, is Gloria busy on the machine, she has

really taken to it as you can see by her cushion

in the making.

See my cushions on my website

www.art2inspire.co.uk

Quilts in School

Heatherann teaches at school and has been

making symmetrical patterns with the

children. They designed the pattern and

then they arranged the colours.

Heatherann then made up the quilt to show the children

that designs make finished objects, this is so

important these days to show by example.

It is wonderful that there are teachers like

Heatherann teaching children many aspects of life.

See more of what goes on at the workshops at Knit Wits by clicking

HERE

Visit Knit Wits site

www.knitwitsofdereham.co.uk

Knit Wits Class 20th October 2011

Folded Bag and Covered Notebook.

Sewing Tidy.

Sewing Machine Mat.

Teacosy.

Quilting Classes at Knit Wits are just great!

Everyone is really happy with what they are creating

and finishing as you can see by the projects above.

Some have even brought their first machine and are loving it!

I feel very lucky to be sharing in their making.

Thank you, Bill and Fiona for making the day

go so smoothly too, with the bookings, stocking the shop, greeting and

making teas! it all makes for lovely happy classes.

See more of what has been created by clicking on the

written labels below or see what type

of workshops are available by clicking

HERE

Alveva Quilters Meeting 19th October 2011

Wednesday night was Alveva Quilters monthly meeting.

John from the charity Lifeline 4 Chernobyl came

to the meeting to give us a talk on the charity

and advise us on the different ways we can help.

Our group takes on several charities a year to support.

We tend to do local charities so it helps our local

community. Even though this is a local charity

that supports 'The Forgotten People Of Chernobyl",

there are lots of ways we can help other than money.

We are making quilts, knitted teddy bears,

so that every child that need one has one,

collecting warm clothes and other items for the auctions

that are held once a month at Salters Lode.

We are supporting other charities too,

The Brain Tumour Trust, The Litcham Hospice

and The Quilters Guild of Great Britain by

donating £100 towards conservation of a quilt.

(We did this last year too!).

It's nice to know we are enjoying

our hobby and helping other too!

John spoke to us, showed us a video and

answered our questions and then we had

'Show and Tell'.

There were lots but I have showed two photos.

Louise showed us her first machine made quilt,

well done Louise and Barbara showed us her

quilt that is folded at the bottom of the bed.

It is very luxurious almost like something out of a Harem!

Barbara's words not mine.

It was beautiful

and has bells on! say no more!

See the charities website by clicking

www.lifeline4chernobyl.org.uk

Pat's New Work

(Click on the picture to enlarge the detail)

Pat is always working through new ideas and also keeps an

altered sketchbook. Here she is putting the

finishing touches to her bag.

Checking the handle length and width.

Her sewing machine decided it was going to stop dead!

This week, I think it was under protest because of the amount of

work she puts it through!

Only joking Pat!

Lucky enough it was a fuse so could be fixed quickly,

as Pat wants to continue with her Dove Cushion.

The Dove picture was scan transferred onto cotton lawn,

from a 1930's picture, using a computer printer.

We did this a couple of weeks ago on a demo

section of the sessions.

Pat has added appliqued lace and flowers cut out

from the 1930's silk fabric she is using for the

border and backing.

The fabric came to me in a bag of fabric scraps

which one of the students brought into class.

I recycle lots of fabrics, art materials and tools

to other students so they are able to try new

techniques or add to what they have to enhance

their projects.

Its fantastic to share and create this cycle of art

and re-creation.

See more work by clicking the written labels

or pictures below or visit

my portfolio on my website

www.art2inspire.co.uk