London Trip and Sale Time

Today is the last day of my holiday, two and a half weeks of bliss have near enough come to an end. The time was spent relaxing, hibernating in my flat and getting covered in fabric. Many a cup of tea was drunk and I ate my weight in sugar. 

In order to prepare myself for the return to work tomorrow, the last few days of the holiday have seen me venture out into the beautiful weather (yeah right) on Monday I spent several hours in London with my Mum, mainly at the Victoria and Albert Museum and I have to say like most museums doesn't matter how many times you go, there is always something new to see. Or a new little nook you haven't been in. In this case it was the whole Medieval area and the mezzanine level that holds the ironwork/ironmongery. 

Sensing a return to the VAM to check out the Ironmongery again, as it's got me thinking about potential future project ideas...

One of my favourite pictures I took, rather impressed with the camera on the iPod Touch

Yesterday and today as well I've been getting myself prepared for going to back to work  (admittedly don't think I am ever fully ready for that) hair cut and digging out the work wear that's been banished to the far reaches of draws and cupboards. I envisage that the weekend will mostly be about recovering from the shock of being at work. 

Actually not entirely true I'll be in theory working on a project for Crafty magazine if the fabric ever turns up. My Etsy store will be reopened on Saturday and I will be having a sale, mainly on the clocks, as I have made the decision not to make any more for the foreseeable future. Time for a break..no pun intended. Sort of.

I need to move on from them, likewise I'll be taking a step back from hoop framed embroidery. Whilst I find it a very effective way of hanging work, and no doubt I will be doing that with a few pieces of my own for the flat, I find myself going back to the traditional way of framing. With the typography work and other such pieces they can be a bit too delicate for being open to elements. 

Oh on Sunday I'll be nipping over to the Farnham Maltings as there is a Quilting Exhibition and supplies sale, and my favourite thread supplier will be there, Mulberry Silks. Patricia who runs it has very kindly agreed to take some particular coloured thread packs I want to match to fabric to the show for me to look at.

New Project for the New Year: Every Cloud has a Silver Lining

Last year I mentioned I wanted to do more typography / quote based embroideries as I loved working on the last three; Tea Solves Everything, Today is a Good Day, Life is a Big Puddle Jump In. I've had a design in my notebook for a while now but wasn't quite ready to work on it, until now that is. 

The new quote is Every Cloud has a Silver Lining, and whilst I have one design in mind and doodled, I have an inkling another version of it might just follow.

As you can see I've started to gather the materials, I love the hunting and sourcing aspect of any new project and especially if it means trawling through my stash. As it means the more I use up the more reason I have to buy new materials.

I pulled out the metal threads, silk threads and silk dupion and a few other odds and sods that I have stashed away. I think I need a few more silk threads to add to the mix as a few of the colours I have aren't quite right. So this is an excuse to make the most of the Mulberry Silk sale. Not that I really needed an excuse. Beads and maybe a few discreet crystals (special bit of bling) will also be added too. 

Now normally I like to work and play around with threads and stitches as I go a long on the main piece, it can be a scary doing this but I tend to work well doing it this way. However, last night I whipped a small sample as I wanted to see what the pale grey linen would work on the cream dupion, and I like it and I've kept the sample so that I can use it to try out stitches etc on it. this time I knocked up a sample mainly to see if I like the linen on the cream silk but I'll also be using it to play on.

I can't stop poking it...squidgy.

Hey look I am drinking tea...

I'm really looking forward to getting cracking with this but I first have to see if I can't get the project for Crafty magazine completed first, though I am still waiting on the fabric to arrive.

More information on this as it progresses.

2014 - Welcome and Winter Projects

*Gives the blog a good dust down*

Hello folks and a very Happy New Year to you all! 

I hope you all made it in good health and spirits. Owing to my extended winter holiday I am very much still in high spirits and I find myself at long last in the mood to get cracking on with things again, whilst at the same time taking it easy. Part of this comes in the form of working on things that are for the flat. Projects that allow me to play with absolutely no pressure to get them done quickly. Perfecto.

So what have I been making whilst curled up on the sofa over Christmas whilst ignoring the bad weather, watching old flicks and generally eating my body weight in chocolate (still eating it now)....

I didn't actually make the Deer head over Christmas it was for a gift, but I couldn't show it off because it was for my mum and she reads my blog posts... She had her eye on the one I made for myself for quite sometime, and has had to be prevented from walking off with it on more than one occasion. So I finally got round to making one for her, and I have another to make now for my sister. You might recognise it to be a Tilda design for a deer version of a hobby horse, you can find it in Sew Pretty Christmas Homestyle book. 

I also made this sleepy mouse over a course of three evenings, for my best friends first baby, I've called it Sweet Little William Mouse and it's yes another Tilda creation. 

Projects I have been working on whilst on holiday are as follows, the patchwork quilt for the bedroom, using Petite Street fabric and the Ruby, Opal and Pearl pattern. I've machined two of the twenty blocks I need to make, and I have two more pending. Currently awaiting another stash of the fabric before I start cutting out the rest (underestimated...typical). It comes together quite quickly, which is great as I really want to get on with the hand quilting the layers together.

It's not by any means the only quilting project I have on the go. I've started to make up the design I doodled in my sketchbook for a little while now, a small paper piecing art quilt. I even did samples for it, which for me isn't something I normally do for projects for myself but I wanted to try out the new thread and work out how I was going to quilt it. I eventually settled on the version below, which uses small running stitching and a thin wadding layer. The thread if your wondering is a rather snazzy Aurifil quilting thread, 100% cotton and made in Italy, colour number 4648. It's so lovely to use. It's prompted me to call this the Sunrise Quilt.

The pieces are 1-2" in size. So was a little fiddly!

I did have to unpick some of my stitching as I found I was going a little wobbly.

I will of course be posting little updates on the two projects over the coming weeks and months (in case of the large quilt). Quilting really is becoming very much my hobby of choice. Its both practical as I get to make things for the flat and keeps me stitching when I don't feel like embroidery. I also like it because it gives me a chance to learn new techniques. Techniques I am sure I will start to use in projects for Mason Bee a bit more, though don't expect to see a full blown bed spread any time soon. It took a long time to finish the last one and that was a hand-me down from my Aunt!  

Plus it gives me even more of an excuse to buy more fabric....*whistles*

Aside from the stitching and the quilting, I have also started working on Mason Bee related bits and pieces too, such as updating the website and even tided up the blog as I am sure you've noticed. I've gone for a much simpler design and deleted a lot of unnecessary pages and content. On the website I updated my about me page, removed quite a lot of the gallery and did a bit of tweeking. Main reasons behind this was that I realised how quickly everything was getting out of date because I either forgot to update or it was time consuming to do it. Sometimes pretty designs and layouts can be a headache.

Now enough about what I've been up too, what about you guys? Did you get a chance to work on any projects for you? Purchased or been given any lovely new craft related items? 

I've been spending most of my money on new clothes a necessary evil (hate clothes shopping!), but I did buy a new lamp for the workroom/guest room and as I said more fabric for the quilt and I've heard that Mulberry Silks has a sale on...