Jo's Rucksack

Jo is a keen cyclist and wanted a comfortable rucksack that she could

use while on holiday. She saw a pattern and then adapted it to 

suit her fabric and put the pockets where she wanted too.

Jo put in her button straps which she can alter depending on what 

she is carrying.

She uses this technique on a few bags now and it is 

such a good idea. 

it just means putting an extra couple of buttonholes into your

strap so that it can be altered.

Textile Tuesday

Textile Tuesday always have wonderful 'Show and Tell'.

We do this as a start to the session so that people can share 

what they have made and also so I can add the tips and extended ideas.

Carol and Pat had both made cushions out of 

upholstery fabric and charm packs.

Beryl made yet another lovely bag and also the flower

looked wonderful as an embellishment.

See more by clicking the tags below.

Coven Quilters

I do love going to meet up with the girls of  Coven Quilters.

We have so much to catch up on each month and so much to share.

We laugh, cry, put the world to rights

and stitch or knit.

Well, Joan is crocheting at the moment!

Kate has been making a cat quilt for her grand daughter.

Jane has been making lots of baby quilts and 

Barbara brought along a quilt that had been donated for

the MS Trust. We had a real discussion on how much a quilt

would sell if it was auctioned and where it could go to

get the best result for the lady who donated it and the trust who 

would receive the funds.

It is so hard to predict at the moment due to the times.

I feel now, that you make a quilt for donation and give it.

You know the people you give it to try their best 

for their charity and that is all you can do.

Make and give with love and care.

Our best wishes

to Barbara and Mike who are needing TLC at this time and

Thank you to the Coven Girls!

Metal Embossed Tag

Continuing the metal theme I made a tag to put on the side

of the metal sketchbook.

It is a piece of tomatoe puree copper tube.

I embossed a pattern by drawing with an embossing tool

on the shiny side. 

Put some scraps of fabric on the back and sandwiched

this with a piece of water soluble dissolvable plastic, 

longer than the tag so I could stitch all round several

times and then made the frill by continually stitching up and down.

The plastic was dissolved with warm water and then

allowed to dry.

The frill will be a bit stiff until it has been in use for a while.

Metal Sampler

This is a Metal Sample of techniques.

I coloured the metal drinks can with a blow torch.

Embossed a design with a ball point pen,

drawing the design on the label side.

I then punched out the circles with a craft punch.

These I put onto small pieces of felt and stitched.

The dyed felt background, I ironed on fusible webbing 

and then sprinkled on Rose Gold Flakes. 

Ironing them between parchment paper.

I then put the main metal piece onto

the felt background with the metal knitted net trapped underneath.

This was then machine stitched into place.

The circles were trimmed and then fee machine stitched into place.

Lots of techniques and lots of fun!

Some of the ideas come from 

Sarah Lawrence's book,

'Shimmer and Shine'.
I recommend her book to really get inspiration on
using metal and metallics.

Metal and Sequins

OO I just love this piece of sequinned trim and wanted to 

use it in my sketchbook so added the circle and scalloped metal

sample to it. It has given a great continuation and of course

sequins are foiled so continues the theme of my sketchbook.

See Sarah Lawrences book for more inspiration.

"Stitch, Cloth Shimmer and Shine"

See her blog HERE

Sweet Foil Sample

I love using recycled items to make glorious textures. this one on the right 

is made up of a piece of felt,

 Bondaweb and then sweet foils and Christmas party hats applied

making sure I use parchment or baking paper to protect my iron.

You can then stitch all over it.

Use an open machine embroidery stitch as the close ones

will perforate the foil.

To seal the surface so that it can be used as a book cover

or have durability paint on acrylic wax or

soft beeswax or soft boot polish.

Allow it to harden before you buff!

See more metal samples by clicking the written labels below.

Metal Samples

With teaching workshops and City and Guilds 

I have had many metal samples over the years and this was the time

to put them all together in a sketchbook.

I have enjoyed putting them in some sort of order so I can

use them to demonstrate techniques and inspire 

metal creativity. 

All the metal comes from recycled drinks can and some

tubes.

I like to burn metal with a blow lamp or Creme' Brulee' Torch.

Health and Safety needs to be considered here remember! 

See my previous post HERE

If you go to far the metal will burn through.

I have also used cat food tins in the past for exhibition artwork.

See "Rabbit Armour" HERE

Lifeline 4 Chernobyl

On the last Sunday of every month Stewart and I volunteer ourselves

to The Lifeline 4 Chernobyl Charity. 

They hold an auction and auction off all the donated items that

have been collected.

We collect all month too from many different sources and deliver on that day to.

We do our bit by raising money making teas, coffee and sandwiches.

Pauline and John live the charity 24/7 and we really do admire their hard work.

It is a very difficult task as most have forgotten the nuclear incident that

happened 26 years ago. 

See their website by visiting HERE

Jills Craft Studio

If I get a Friday off I do like a bit of retail therapy and it

often leads me to Jill's Craft Studio in Kings Lynn.

She showed me some of her new stamps and treasures

and I picked up lots of different embellishing powders for

the metal section of the courses I am teaching.

I then went into town and brought some sparkly materials in 

The Fent Shop. One of my favourites for buying the

unusual and the traditional alike.

Visit The Fent Shop HERE

I grabbed some lunch and then went to see a friend, Jamila, in Snettisham,

for the afternoon. We do lots of catching up,with our work,

gardens Jamila is in the process of studying for Creative Textile Diploma.

See her blog about her work HERE

Kings Lynn Embroiderer's Guild

March Embroiderers Guild meeting was pretty busy

with plans for the Exhibition, getting to know new members

and making cards and embroidered items for the exhibition stall.

I met several new members, Daphne who makes

exquisite small embroidered pieces like the butterfly above.

They are so delicate and must take hours to make. 

She too has a log cabin studio in the garden.

I also met Avril that embroiders blackwork and

she had designed a new design with the skull and bones.

All in Blackwork stitches!

I sat, chatted and made the embroidered card.

See more of what the Guild does HERE

101 Quilts

I am catching up blogging so will fill you in with some more of 

my creative shared days.

I was invited to talk about my 101 Quilts at t Sewing Group at 

North Elham. 

A lovely group of ladies who really wanted to know how they 

were made and techniques.

As you can see by the pile of quilts on the table it was a small venue.

Janet's "Shed" as she calls it, a converted cottage in the garden.

A lovely space for creating textiles and sharing with friends.

I had a lovely afternoon and we finished with tea and cake!

Thank you so much for inviting me and the donation to 

my charities.

See more talk by clicking the labels below.

Hilary's Fabric Book

Hilary has made a fantastic fabric book which contains pages

which celebrate all the countries she has visited on holiday.

Keepsakes, photographs, postcards and memories are all

sewn together to make an amazing book. 

It caused quite a stir as you can see. 

Every page Hilary told us the stories of her trips and the memories

of the photo taken, the smells, the food and the places that

the family shared. 

I just love holiday books and I endorse anyone to do this,

a scrapbook/ sketchbook of your memories. 

I am often found on holiday in the cafe or lounge area,

sticking and gluing my trip of the day or keepsakes.

Often people stop and chat about, "What are you doing?",

I explain and they often say,

 "What a good idea, I have a plastic bag or box of holiday stuff and

never knew what to do with all the other stuff, you know? 

I put some of the photos in an album".

Some often join me the day after because they have found a book

while out for the day to start!

I share anywhere!!!

Thank you Hilary for sharing such a wonderful treasure and making 

many of us plan our next trip!

See some of my holiday sketchbooks HERE

I will be teaching a ten week course in September 2013 

on Creative Textiles which will be mounted in a fabric book.

This shows you different textile techniques and 

fabric book construction.

I will also be teaching two evening workshops 

with the Embroiderers Guild in 2014.

See a previous class that had the success of passing their 

City and Guilds Level One Creative Textiles HERE

Click the written and photo labels below to view more.

Embellished Flower Brooches

While we were having our textile session at Cancer Care

Beryl popped in with some of her Embellished Flower Brooches.

For the Centre to sell at their coffee morning which they hold once a 

month on the last Tuesday.

Beryl has been coming along to textiles for 18 months and her first 

session with me was on the Embellisher Machine,

she fell in love with the technique and got a machine immediately.

She is now a master and her Embellished Flower Brooches

 don't stay unsold for  long, 

as you can see by the hand coming into the photo!

See Beryl's first session with me HERE

See more Embellished Flowers HERE

See Embellished Flower Cards HERE

See Embellished work on my portfolio site HERE

Click the written labels under this post to see more embellishments.

Patchwork Chair Cover

Liz has been working on a cover for her chair at home

to make it more cosy and comfortable.

She loves colour and has enjoyed learning lots of

 Patchwork and Quilting techniques.

She demonstrated how it would work on one of the

chairs at Cancer Care.

We were all amazed when Liz did the reverse

show too!

She reckons it was the side when visitors are coming round

so the colours are not in their face!

Textile Sessions are every Thursday at Cancer Care Dereham.

10am-12.15 and 12.30-2.45.