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Keep on stitching retreat

It’s been a LOVLEY few days teaching at Hillscourt conference centre for the keep on stitching group organised by Pam Neave. Pam does an excellent job organising teachers to teach patchwork, creative machine embroidery, computer machine embroidery and dress making. This session was badly hampered by a major English dumping of a large amount of snow but those ladies who had booked on to the courses bravely ventured out and a steady trickle of snow wrecked but determined ladies arrived under terrible weather conditions to attend their classes The tutors of which I was one had dropped everything the day before and packed our cars travelling up the motorways prior to the course to avoid the incoming weather . ( so glad I did because I wouldn’t of attempted it like those brave ladies on the day)
Once everyone was settled we just shut out the continuous snow fall and got stuck into our classes. My class made machine embroidered flower vases and bowls and with wonderful food and a good supply of coffee the girls produced some wonderful vases which i thought were superb

Antique Flora Bunda

I have been finding it hard to gear up again and get going on all my work samples needed for this springs workshops. I so enjoyed just switching off and not lifting a finger to sew all over the festive period that I’m now not focused and finding it hard to find my inner sewing goddess.
To get me in the swing I spent a pleasant couple of hours drawing humming birds for my gold work embroidery, and I did manage to get a final design which I quickly marked on to my fabric and hooped it up ready for sewing when I’m sat in my comfy armchair over the next couple of weeks.
Tudor rose patchwork shop is high on my list of things that need to be done NOW so I took a trip over and purchased my palette of fabrics to make the hanging that was buzzing round my head.
Antique flora bunda is the title I came up with all those months ago when I sat in my cozy bed one Sunday morning and made up my titles for my up coming workshops.  Great fun when your creatively making them up. Not so good several months down the line when you have to make the project fit the brief but it does make me focus, many of them giving me a challenge and thankfully coming together each time.
I would like to show you my latest workshop where my students will learn how to free machine embroider these lovely flowers with their simple out lined leaves. The flowers look very controlled but believe me they are quite free and it is the choice of several colours of thread worked from the background to the forefront which give tone, texture and form to them.
I  then pieced some together in a patchwork manor adding cream lace and gold and cream ribbon to create a background witch I then wadded and free motion quilted . Once I had a background I then worked more free motion stitched flowers which I carefully cut out and reapplied at random on to the background to give a raised and dimensional look to the panel.
By the time I had this project under my belt my inner sewing goddess was up and yelling ” Machine Embroidered Appliqué and Patchwork”.
She is now raring to go, yelling ideas and creative encouragement at me by the ton.
IM BACK ON FORM AND READY TO CREATE FOR 2013.
THANKS TO MY INNER SEWING GODDESS who slacks off for a rest at times but is never to far away when I need her.

So that was Christmas

Thanks to my whole family I have had a wonderful time over the festive week.
It kicked off on xmas eve with baking sausage rolls and mince pies with my mum and sister while at the same time I knocked up what is fast becoming my Christmas eve signature dish of carrot and chestnut soup with Stilton and ham puff pastry swirls to dip in it.
We all went to my daughters for festive nibbles in the evening and after several hours of pleasant chit chat we came home to find Father Christmas had visited us early and left lots of interesting parcels round our tree.
I set the lounge table ready for breakfast as I knew my Julia would be arriving at some unearthly hour on xmas morning and finally flung myself into bed around midnight. Julia arrived honking her horn and shouting merry xmas at 7am on said morning and I was ready for her .
Stockings were opened, cooked breakfast arrived on the table and then the serious task of opening all those presents began. I coincided myself spoilt Rotten and I enjoyed every item I received. Xmas lunch was very quite as Julia went to her future in lawsuit for lunch but tomorrow is panto time so I will need my ear muffs when I’m sat next to Julia.

Christmas is fast approaching

It’s official
My Christmas has started
No more work commitments until middle of Jan 2013
The Christmas earrings are out of the jewellery box and ready to wear over the festive holiday and I have finished the final touches to the cream wreath I made Dec last year.
The tree is still standing and the two dogs have not had it on the floor yet so I’m happy and looking forward to this weekend at home doing festive cooking and making decorations to decorate my daughters new house
What more could a creative mum ask for!!!!!
Finally
I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas break and here’s to a new and challenging 2013
MERRY CHRISTMAS

Lutradur play day

I have just spent a very pleasent day with eight ladies who wanted to know what Lutradur was all about.

We looked at what paints could be applied to it and then heat stressed some of them to give a lovley lacey effect. We used a soldering iron to solder out motifs from the lutradur and also to bond pieces together. We looked at sewing grids on first and then heat stressing it along with building up a collarged picture. The ladies really relaxed into it and were very open minded about the product.

 

Gold Work Snowflakes Workshop

Next Tuesday isn’t that far away now and I have a full class of lovely ladies eager to get started on their gold work snowflakes for this fast-approaching festive season.
Thanks to Sandra at Tudor Rose Patchwork shop I don’t need to worry as she has got all the goldwork supplies sorted and is kindly giving me a basket of goodies to sell, meaning I don’t need to worry and my ladies will have what they need if they don’t own any supplies already.
I have worked my snowflakes as a panel which hangs in a specific place each year in my home. My ladies may have some different ideas as to where or what they are going to turn theirs into. One snowflake would make a stunning special greetings card and one inserted into a box top would look glorious especially with hand made Xmas decorations made and contained inside.
If you have never had a go at this technique before its time you had a go. Find a local teacher to get you going or put a gold workbook on your Christmas wish list.
Must fly now as I need to sort the Stitch diagrams and patterns.

Tidying Up Before I Can Get Creative

Yesterday I couldn’t even see my desk to even think about getting creative so there was nothing for it but to get stuck in and clear it up. After a hour or so trying to push it all back against the walls I managed to find the desk, immediately stopping and sitting down to get creative. It would of been easier to go down the studio but the weather was horrid and wet and I couldn’t be asked to weatherproof up to go down there.

I then spent the rest of the afternoon drawing and trying to iron out the logistics of my next sample for Tudor Rose shop (a flower obelisk).

It’s going in the right direction but like most things I need to get going on it to iron out the things that inevitably won’t work.

Felt lazy in the evening so plonked myself in the chair and finished my gold work sample of snowdrops while watching something on the telly that I didn’t need to concentrate on a lot

All in all I achieved quite a bit today.