Saturday 24 December 2011

Merry Christmas To All

A very Merry Christmas to everyone!
Best Wishes from here at
Quilters Cottage.

Lace Christmas Cornucopias


Still busy making and finishing gifts for close friends.
Above are some lace Victorian inspired cornucopias.
They each contain little gifts and a Christmas flower arrangement.
Christmas is all about family, friends and an open heart.
I just love the Christmas Season but there is never enough time.
It doesn't matter when you start!
I start in August making Christmas items for classes
so I have inspiration for my students!
Hope everyone has a lovely time!
See more of my Vintage Lace collection on my
portfolio site

Jeanetta Sculpiturio







On Thursday 22nd Jenn and I went to Dereham as she
wanted to see, 'Jeanetta Sculpiturio' @ The Gallery.
I decided to do some photography in situ of the
different sections which you can see in the photos above.
I just the love the colours and textures now.
Working on with all the different medias this time
was a challenge and I thank Stewart for his wood working
technical skill of putting the picture moulding around
the column.
I will be putting a detailed description and techniques on
my portfolio site
in the new year and also making a link picture
from Quilters Cottage for you to see the details.

Kims Striped Cushions

On Monday 19th I put the finishing touches to
Kim's cushions. She wanted ones to match her
newly decorated Living Room and using the
off cuts from her cream textured curtains.
I delivered these on the Wednesday when I went to
the last Card Making session of the year
@The Gallery.
Kim was very pleased with them.

New Office


Ohh! some times you get an idea in your head and it
goes too far!
With Jenn moving out we decided as we were both off
work from the 14th until the 18th we would decorate and
re-shelve Jennifer's room and make it into an Office!
Still keeping a bed in there as an option but making
it into sofa one for comfort.
Great!
After removing all the things Jennifer didn't take with her
which seemed an awful lot, we painted it 'WHITE'!
The room has never been all white before and it's
very bright so I hope over the holidays with all the
office type stuff that gets moved in there it will
gather some colour.
Stewart made the wonderful shelves!
I am so lucky!
I hope now I can get even more organised!
The thing is we didn't just stop here,
when you decorate one room the others shout,
so we ended up painting the office, hall way, bathroom and
living room all in the 5 days.
So so tired now!
but they all look good for Christmas!

Jeanetta Sculpiturio

I put on exhibit @The Gallery my new mixed media sculpture,
'Jeanetta Sculpiturio'.
It is a column 6ft tall and 16' wide.
Inspired by architecture, Venice,
intricate surfaces, jewellery and
Jeanette, one of my students!
Jeanette makes wonderful mixed media textile pieces
such as 'Bolliwood' and 'Leaves'.
See HERE
She also makes
intricate textile boxes.
Jeanette starts in a similar way to I do, with the inspiration.
Then collects lots of medias together and then compiles
ideas and sections together.
Where we differ and what makes me chuckle is,
Jeanette hates painting and getting messy!
I love paint,inks and getting stuck in with gooeyness!
I will work on this with her as she has expressed
that she wants to make a section of the sculpture
which has painted lace arches on, so we shall see!
See more of her work by clicking on the written label below.


New Gallery Work Space



On Tuesday the 13th it was an Open Day
for my 'Textile Tuesday', sessions @The Gallery,
in it's new workshop area.
It's a lovely bright modern and inspirational space.
I welcomed everyone and showed them round
and then they could make one of the origami stars
if they could stay or I gave them a star as a Christmas gift.
As you can see by the picture above everyone was happy.
My new Sculpture 'Jeanetta Sculpitori' went on exhibit.
See the origami stars
To see how to make the Christmas Origami Stars
visit my tech site

Tuesday 20 December 2011

New Gallery Open




On Friday the 9th of December the new Gallery
opened to the public in The War Memorial Hall in Dereham.
I was very excited to see where I would be working.
WOW! is all I can say.
What an amazing transformation of the hall!
As soon as you walk through the door you
are met by a light airy contemporary and friendly space.
The Celebration Quilt made by members and
groups within Dereham and which I assembled
looks fantastic in it's alcove.
I was especially interested in going through the archway
at the end of the main Gallery space as this is the
workshop area.
Judy and Hadyn are running The Gallery, Workshops
and are also going to be great custodians of
The War Memorial Hall,
keeping it open to the public.
Thank you, to all who have made this transformation
possible.
Visit the Gallery
and

Norfolk Open Studios


The deadline for applications for Norfolk Open Studios
was looming and I had collected all my information together ready.
I now had to fill in the online application!
I have participated in Open Studios several times before and
really enjoyed the experience.
Application, now done and sent the two images above
went with my it along with a short paragraph about my studio space.
One of these images will be chosen for the brochure.
I have chosen images that people recognise as my profile
picture or my business cards so there is some
recognition to the studio.
The Open Studios are from the 26th May through to the
10th June 2012.
I will be working the full two weeks in my studio
through out the event.
To see more visit
or to see more about the images click on the
written labels below.

Monday 19 December 2011

Origami Paper Stars

As some of you know I love Origami and I couldn't resist
making these stars out of Christmas Wrapping Paper.
Stewart was a s patient as ever and helped me fold,
point after point and I put them together.
At Knit Wits I sold them for Charity.
I was also introducing the to see the response!
They were well received and I showed several
visitors how to make them.
I explain the measurements and
if you want to make them, visit the
You Tube video on my tech site

Knit Wits 8th December Q&A Day


At Knit Wits I gave my last session at Knit Wits for the year.
It was a Q&A Day. Students came along and brought their
projects that they wanted to know how to finish, what they
needed to start new projects and projects they wanted
to share that they had finished.
Also share goodwill and a few chocs!
It was a lovely day and it was lovely seeing everyone.
Thank you to all for making the classes such fun!
See more by clicking the label below or
see what workshops are available by clicking
the Workshop Tab above.

Christmas Decorations



On the 7th of December I got together my display
for Knit Wits Thursday Q&A Day, the last session
of the year for me.
While prepping I decided to make several of the
Ribbon Folded Catherine Wheel Decorations above.
I brought the kit when I was at Chilford Quilt Show
in November.
The kit contained all the bits you required to make one of the
Decorations and a really good set of instructions.
I brought four of the polystyrene inserts that you
pin the folded ribbon to, as I always like making
different colours.
You can buy the kits from

Friday 9 December 2011

Stars in the Making


Here are Stars being made @The Gallery sessions after
I showed mine as inspiration, shared the patterns and how to make
them. I love to see the individual interpretation of colours
and designs.
See my Christmas Lace Star

Students Victorian Favours

These are some of the lace Christmas, Victorian inspired
Favours.
They are just wonderful.
Well done everyone.
See my Victorian Lace Favour

One Students Work




Over the last few weeks Maurie has been finishing
lots of things off as well as being inspired
each week to make the things that
I bring along to inspire and make.
I love the mixture of items and they are so well made.
See more by clicking on the written labels below.
See my Candy Canes

Gallery Tuesday 6th December 2011




Lots of finishing off this week @ The Gallery Sessions as
it is the last ones before we move into the new Gallery.

Christmas Lace Star

(front)

(Back)
(click on photo to enlarge)
On Monday when I got back from town I put the
finishing touches to my Lace Textured Star.
It is made with lots of recycled lace and fabrics,
as well as some of the trimmings I brought on the
previous Saturday.
See more Christmas Items by clicking on the
written labels below.

Business Cards

Monday morning I had to pick up another 200
of my business cards from Pronto Print in
Kings Lynn. Jenny really does a good print job,
reproducing my artworks true to their colours.
There is always good fun going on in the office too.
Visit

Celebration Quilt Dedication


Here is The Celebration Quilt Finished!
All the blocks made by the wonderful people and groups of Dereham.
From my studio table putting all the blocks together,
to the finished Quilt and the Dedication of it on the Opening
of The War Memorial Hall on the
Sunday the 4th of December.
It is in the Foyer of The Gallery for all to see.
It makes you smile:)
Visit

Shopping With Jenn




Jenn moved out last week end to be a live in Personal Assistant
at a Bed and Breakfast, as well as keeping her day job!
Visit the Bed and Breakfast at Oxbrough.
We now make Saturday
mornings as our Shopping and time to catch up with one another.
Above, are some of the pieces that I brought to
continue my Architectural piece and work that I want to
start after Christmas.

Haul Arrives in the Post


On Saturday I received my Haul from the internet shopping
I had done earlier in the week from,
I am always thinking of new ideas and projects,
several months ahead.
These stamps and papers I want to use for first
draft ideas for art pieces based on Dress Forms and
The Circus.
I have just started reading the book written by
Erin Mergenstern,
'The Night Circus'.
See a clip and interviews on my tech site