Tuesday 31 December 2013

A Happy New Year to everyone!

Thanks for reading my blog. Thanks for the encouragement you give. and thanks especially to those of you who comment now and then. I like to show my work and it is especially lovely when you want to say something about what I have shown.

And here is something to make you smile as you begin your year!


We didn't think about how we would get tea (shops being shut) when we went up to York on Christmas Day. We stopped to see my mother-in-law and then did a bit of a wander round the estates til we found a shop open and grabbed some cheese and bread. When I opened the cheese at the hotel, this is what I saw!

"And the Bead Goes On..." 29-31 Dec

2013 - Final 3 Days of Daily Beads

The constant is a deep red bead combined with one each of the metallic beads used in the other weeks.

no.363


no.364


no.365


and one to grow on!
Extra bead for December 2013


All the December beads. You can see why I thought they looked like raspberries!
Edit:
Oops! Didn't get the photo of all the beads done. But still time before it is 2014.

The post was set in advance in case we were busy today. In fact I was staying off the computer to get the last Journal Quilt map done!

And here is another photo to remind you of the size of these! The poppers the beads were stitched to and a ruler.


And now to determine how to start the New Year! Watch this space. I am positively doing beads again, but may mix things up a bit.

Monday 30 December 2013

ALAW - Fun in the Sun Letters

The final letters for Fun in the Sun which I have been doing with A Letter A Week.

The same letters with hand stitching.


and two squares in the style I have been developing for the Ramshackle series.

and with stitching

These will help to give an easier layout. 26 doesn't divide up into much!

Sunday 29 December 2013

"And the Bead Goes On..." 22-28 Dec

2013 - Week 52 Daily Beads
(still 3 days left to the end... 29-31!)

the constant is pink metallic beads

no.356


no.357


no.358


no.359


no.360


no.361


no.362

Tuesday 24 December 2013

Recipe cards

Several of my friends asked me for recipes for the various things I made from pumpkin.

I didn't get to writing them down til yesterday. The weekend has been busy. Mince pies for shoppers on Saturday (I made biscuits again, but simplified the shapes.) and Candlelight Carol service on Sunday.

Since these recipes are from American sources, I needed to 'translate' them. Americans use the volume method of baking - measuring with cups. The Brits use the weight method of baking - weighing the ingredients with a scale.

Anyway, I decided to use the idea of the post cards and make them a bit special. I had some scraps of novelty fabrics which seemed just right.

There were actually ten altogether. I also did the cornbread recipe for one of the ladies but forgot to add it into the photo.

I think I am mostly ready for the Holiday now. We are going up to see my husband's mother and sister for a couple days. Leaving after the Christmas morning service. Then A Certain Young Man comes back from America for a couple weeks. He gets in on the morning of the 28th. I have been baking and freezing things for then as well. I probably won't post much this week. So I hope you and your family enjoys the Holiday Season!

Sunday 22 December 2013

"And the Bead Goes On..." 15-21 Dec

2013 - Week 51 Daily Beads

Not long now!
more "raspberries" - beads onto small poppers.
The constant is light copper metallic beads.

no.349


no.350


no.351


no.352


no.353


no.354


no.355

Saturday 21 December 2013

Something on Saturday

The other day, I showed you the Jackdaw I met in the Autumn. Well, here is another bird I met in Yorkshire, but this was several years ago when we were on a self-catering holiday in the woods.

He and his friend were hanging out around the cabin.

Strutting their stuff

Until you tried to get a close up of the feathers. I just managed this one because he was facing the other way and didn't notice me with the camera.

Unnerving to look out the window in the morning to see him peering in to see what was on offer for breakfast
...worse than pigeons in the town centre!
But much more amazing!

I love that colour blue!

Thursday 19 December 2013

Another Ramshackle : Proximity - Closer

These posts on the Ramshackle neighbourhoods are now linked to Off the Wall Friday at Nina-Marie's. Go on over there and see what the others have been up to!
If you have come from there, you should be able to see the 3 posts from this week. Scroll down to the first one to see the whys and wherefores.

Another slightly different colourway. I got a bit distracted yesterday, so finished it today.

Exploring neighbourhood, looking at the landscape around the houses, discovering if the background colour choice affects the mood, and considering Proximity. Does being close together develop community?

Up to the point after fusing and before stitching.

Then stitched, trimmed and binding added. The colour in this photo is more accurate.
The fabric was a pale peachy brown. I think it still works, even though it is a bit unusual, in that the original sketches had more of a colour contrast.

Because I wanted this to be about community, I put fabric in the middle path to keep it from having a strong visual separation. Instead of going along one side and back down the other with the stitching on that path, I did more of a wiggly line which I think works well.



Wednesday 18 December 2013

Another Ramshackle : Distance - Beyond

Another slightly different colourway.

Exploring neighbourhood, looking at the landscape around the houses, discovering if the background colour choice affects the mood, and considering Distance. The houses are apart. But how far away is still a 'neighbour'?

This is Distance: Neighbours Beyond
Up to the point after fusing and before stitching.

Then stitched, trimmed and binding added. The colour in this photo is more accurate.

I tried to concentrate on the path going from the near house to the farther house. There are things I would do differently if I tried to do a pathway like this again. I also think the nearest lollipop tree could have done with a larger top.

Tuesday 17 December 2013

More Ramshackles - Distance: Beside

Killing 2 birds with one stone - or something.

I wanted to try to develop the Ramshackle series a bit more. I had bought fabrics to explore what different small prints might work. But there it sat. I was encouraged earlier in the summer to produce something along this line to a rather prestigious exhibition.

 Very Exciting...

Very scary.

So, that is why I was 'stuck'. So, in order to give myself momentum, I decided to sign up for entering 4 (2 groups of 2) of these for the Journal Quilts 2014 that will travel with the Grosvenor shows. Last year I made some to the theme Black and White. The theme this time was Little Landscapes. So, that would fit with the Ramshackle Houses. It would help me to be more accountable/motivated/productive.

So, I decided to explore more of the idea of Neighbourhood, which has been on my mind for a while. I did a few simple sketches to get an idea of placement for the houses and trees.(these basically are just that...very simple sketches reproduced in fabric). The idea being that these really are just trying out ideas and not for winning prizes - though I wouldn't turn one down.

And suddenly the fear is gone and I could get on with learning more about what works and what doesn't work with the processes and the designs. After all, they are 'ramshackle' to begin with in order to reduce the fear that someone will pronounce to the world that my houses aren't architecturally correct, the perspective is wrong and so on. If they are intentionally flat 2D houses and lollipop trees, no one is the wiser about what an actual house sketched by me might look like!

Anyway, so, Last Week while I was 'Not Overdoing It' for a change, I drew my houses with fabric. This week, in between baking, I am stitching them and putting the bindings on. And hopefully will have them all ready to send by the end of the week or at least the beginning of January so they arrive before the deadline which is my usual habit!

Without Further Ado...

The first one:
Exploring neighbourhood, looking at the landscape around the houses, discovering if the background colour choice affects the mood, and considering Distance. The houses are close, but there are still differences.

This is Distance: Neighbours Beside
Up to the point after fusing and before stitching. The colour in this first photo is more accurate.

Then stitched, trimmed and binding added. The photo should enlarge some if you click it, and you can see the differences of houses that look the same.

Unintentionally, the houses look like they are hugging! I wanted to know if I could depict terraced housing using my ramshackle method. Okay, I think it works. But even more, I think there is more character possible with these than I thought I could show. Thoughts to keep in mind for the future.

Monday 16 December 2013

Postcard 31

Sorry I forgot to photograph number 30. And it was unique. hmm. Perhaps I can ask to photograph it when I see my family member after Christmas.

Anyway, This is no. 31 which should be arriving there, today.

Simple, but it goes with some of what we were discussing lately and so what I have written on the back.

The fabric was a scrap from a recent blouse I made.

Sunday 15 December 2013

"And the Bead Goes On..." 8-14 Dec

2013 - Week 50 Daily Beads

Wow! 1/2 a month left.

more "raspberries" - beads onto small poppers.
The constant is golden metallic beads.

no.342


no.343


no.344


no.345


no.346


no.347


no.348


Sorry for the random sizes. These are hard to photograph because the bling makes the camera do funny things. So some of these I had to take 3 different photos to find one that isn't fuzzy.



Saturday 14 December 2013

Something on Saturday

In the post yesterday!

In the days following Thanksgiving, Deepika of Pattern Review opened up the forum blog for comments of thanks to members of the forum. I had several people I was grateful to, so each day I added a thank you comment.

And I was surprised to find that my name was drawn for a prize! This prize was from Gwen at Gwyn Hug - measurement cards - a tool that helps with getting a realistic idea of how much fabric you might need for a garment you want to make.

I asked Gwen how it would work for someone who drafts their own patterns, as the number crunching was developed by recording yardage requirements from 1000's of patterns. I have a pretty good understanding of how much I'd need and how much I can get away with just from years of experience. Gwen explained the numbers side of it a bit more.

So, I think it they will be helpful for drafting for a different size and unusual garments like my wearable art. I think, too, it can give me a better idea of how much yardage I need to produce if I am going to make something with fabric I have screen printed or have done all over embroidery or quilting. So, I chose the set for women's clothing. And it arrived in the post yesterday.

Thanks Deepika and Thanks Gwen!

Friday 13 December 2013

Map no.11 - finished

Things have calmed down a bit so I was able to finish the November map which was about Reading. I placed beads for the 3 different learning centres where I taught for New Directions.

The quilting has really made the roads stand out.

This post is now linked to Off the Wall Friday at Nina-Marie's.