Cushions and Blocks

The last Textile Tuesday and Thursday of the month

I teach a block pattern. How to cut, put together and

the variations it can be used in.

The 'Block of The Month' is Star Blocks.

As you can see above they have been used by Muriel

to make a selection of cushions and these have been 

given as gifts.

The Star Blocks below were made by Carol and Sandra.

To see more cushions click the written labels below.

Janets Fan Quilt

It was so lovely laying out Jane's Fan Quilt she is making

for her grand daughter. To see the pattern and full 

effect of the Fairy Border was lovely.

Just the binding to add and the addition fan quilting.

Well Done Janet.

I get to walk an Alpaca

"Smile we are having our photo taken.

 Do you have to keep eating your breakfast?"

"Now you and me are having a little chat!

You will behave and walk nice and finish your breakfast!"

"See everyone else? they are starting to walk, are you ready?"

"Come on, you me, an afternoon walk!"

"Come on, Ohh not more food!"

Alpaca Day

Every year Stewart and I give a Sunday to fundraising at 

"Azsu, Alpacas of Norfolk"for Cancer Care.

It's normally the last Sunday in July.

We set up a mini exhibition and demonstrate

carding and embellishing (dry felting).

It's a great day, we arrive early to see all the Alpacas being divided up 

into their different fields and the babies are so cute!

This year Jenn came to see what it was all about and went for

a walk with one of the one year olds.

She loved it!

To see more about Alpacas visit

HERE

Gathered and Pleated Cushion

Caroline is my PA and she started with me in January and 

has got hooked on creating textiles!

She brought in this gathered , pleated cushion she had made

and everyone wanted to know how it was made.

So I said,"How about teaching it to the class?"

"Ok" she said and on Textile Thursday she did.

She did fantastic and you can see it was a very busy morning.
 She said she preferred doing her job though not mine!
I have asked her if she would teach it again in December
when I am away in India as everyone enjoyed it so much.

The main task is marking everything out before you

gather stitch it all up.

The gathering stitch is called Canadian Smocking.
See a great You Tube video how to do the smocked cushion
HERE

Thank You

Thank you to so much to my City and Guilds Students for presenting me with 

cards, a beautiful basket 

of flowers and an Amazon Gift Card.

It means alot.

Both groups went out to lunch and we had a lovely meal and caught up.

We all worked so hard on Creating Textiles,

Well done and Thank You!

Small Purses and Rotary Cutter Holders

Along with the small purses I showed how you

could make a quick rotary cutter or scissor holder.

Keeping scissors and rotary cutters safe in your bag is so 

important so having a nice holder is great. 

It often becomes a talking point too as they are all different.

Small Stitched Purses

Each week at Textile Tuesday and Thursday

I teach a new item or technique and these are some of the

completed purses by some of the students.

What I love is that everyone starts with the same pattern

and then because of the fabric and trimmings choice

they all turn out individual.

The pattern can be enlarged to any size.

Those that have just started, I show how easy it is to put a zip in.

Sylvia's purse (the top one) has a necklace brought from

a charity shop.

See how the purse was put together 

HERE

City and Guilds Creative Textiles

The above embroidered pictures are made by Bev as part of her

Level Two City and Guilds for Machine Embroidery in

Creative Textiles.

Nineteen Level Two students have passed with me this year.

So, Congratulations to them for a year of fun, hard work and

experimenting.

See more of the students work by visiting 

HERE

I teach City and Guilds Creative Textiles in 

Machine Embroidery and Patchwork and Quilting from Level One 

through to Degree.

Courses are available throughout the year, so if you are interested

please contact me.

I now teach the courses at The Old Art Room Swaffham

in my fully equipt Art Studio at The Art, Craft, Antiques and Cultural Centre

in Swaffham.

The centre was once the old Sixth Form College.

Kings Lynn Embroiderers Guild Exhibition 2013

The Kings Lynn Embroiderers Guild Exhibition this year 

was lucky enough to exhibit the Guild Members collection 

of Olympic Postcards. 

The postcards were on display at The Olympics and

they are now part of the Guilds permanent collection.

Each Guild Group was given a country and then members had to depict

it, in stitch within the postcard format.

There were so many it was hard to choose a favourite.

The Members work was diverse and individual as always.

I had submitted pieces for the table. 

A Lace Book, a Sketchbook exploring Metal Work Textiles

and a Contemporary Suffolk Puff and Embroidered Panel.

The cakes were delicious and sparkly, 

I just had to have one with my tea!

What an inspirational exhibition! 

Samphire Quilters Exhibition 2013

Samphire Quilters Exhibition is held in St Nicholas's Church in

Kings Lynn, every year and is always spectacular.

The amount of quilts and the standard is breathtaking and 

the special areas of interest. This year, 'Children's Corner'.

I think we all fell in love with Humpty Dumpty.

There is the Chairman's Challenge, Daphne and her daughter

with their amazing art work and embroidery. 

Sian's Fabric and The Members Sales Table.

There are several raffles and Jo was buying a ticket 

for The Osteoporosis Quilt, a worthy cause.

To see more about Samphire Quilters and their exhibitions

click HERE