September.

It has been a very busy Summer holidays which started with my Summer School.

A few weeks later was Festival of Quilts and below is DS's prize winning quilt.

I really enjoy teaching at Festival and  having the opportunity to meet up with many friends. I took lots of photos of quilts but do not have any permission to share any on this blog. The bird house's below is one of the children's workshops designed by Karen.

After being back a day we travelled down to Devon for a week at the cottage. At this point the weather changed a little but we still managed some beach days.

 DS took lots of photos in preparation for his GCSE photography course,

 I did still have time for a little dyeing with some weld.

Yesterday there was a very successful landscape workshop using transfer dyes at the studio. Today the sun shone as we played with indigo vats. I will post more on that tomorrow.

Concours d'elegance

Well I didn't want to keep you guessing for long! I was making a concours d'elegance costume for a friends daughter. I would be the first to say that I do not really work in 3D nor dress make but I was really happy with how it turned out.

This is Archie who was going to be ridden for the first time in this competition. Archie is a bit of a pro though as he has won lots of rosettes when ridden by Jake (Bryony's brother)

The pink fabric became a skirt, the table became a "pretend horse" when I checked for measurements.

Nothing like the real thing though. Archie was very patient as we tried on the skirt as it had to fit under Bryony's feet and over his tail. On this picture I hadn't sewn on the grey trim. The grey and pink were chosen to match a riding hat.

This is the completed costume. There is grey trim along the edge of the skirt and some lead curtain weights just to make sure that it didn't blow up and spook a pony.

She is wearing a grey military style jacket which was "doctored" I added grey trim along the collar and at the cuffs and neck a blouse was cut up for extra ruffs. To top it off she had a pink cravat made from the skirt fabric and wore my cream leather driving gloves . She  looked very elegant.

I even managed to teach her mum, and my friend Fliss how to make a corsage. I made one for Bryony's hair and Fliss is making one to be attached to Archie's bridle.

This is Bryony at the show today. She came 5th in her first ridden show.

An idea

You know how an idea starts? That first thought, the what if? Could it be achieved? Well I started something new which involved -

 Six metres of pink fabric, pink and grey trims, seven metres of  lead curtain weights and a pony!

Can you guess? Just off to complete this project and then I will share.

Jubilee Picnic Burghley House

Yesterday I was asked to demonstrate at The Queen's Jubilee picnic which was held at Burghley House in Stamford. I was based in the Lincolnshire tent with Gillian of Strawberry Glass, Carol Parker was yarnbombing and their were lots of other creative people and food people.

I think that 10,00 people had been invited to enjoy the picnic.

 After Her Majesty arrived by helicopter she was filmed onto all the large screens so everyone could see her.

 If you look just behind the corsages I was next to some very nice men from a local brewery. I did get a bottle of beer for DH.

 The Red Arrows did a fly by and there was an acrobatic display.

 This is an image of everyone gathering by the side of the road before The Queen left.

Finally, an in the car photo (no I sadly didn't take this one)

It was a fantastic day but very tiring. I have a Cake and Make tomorrow and a Stitch for Texture workshop at the studio on Saturday. Off to bed now (well after sewing some binding on first)

New Books

In December I had a birthday and Christmas so I become the proud owner of the following new reading matter.

I have read The Artist's Way some time ago which I borrowed from my local library but I have never owned a copy. I am loving India Flint's second book, Second Skin and have started reading Twyla Tharp. I have seen this book as a recommended read on many blogs and so far (two chapters in!) haven't been disappointed.

Just wondering what everyone else is reading?

Sunset and Sadness

This was the sun setting at about 3.45 today outside my house, looking over the fields. The fantastic colours couldn't stop my sadness though as I heard about the untimely and sudden death of Sarah Lawrence of Crafty Notions.

She was such a very talented lady who produced stunning work. It only seems like a few days ago that we were chatting at Festival of Quilts. I am sending her family my sincere condolences and am sure that the many of you who knew Sarah personally will wish the same.

Godspeed Sarah x 

Grand Day Out

Waring - this blog post contains no stitched images.

I went down to the Textile Group at Unique Cottage Farm studios today and the first thing I saw was the amazing grapes on the vines growing outside. It was great to catch up with everyone and share work.

It was also DH's birthday today and he had the day off work. This meant that we could actually get to have a meal together. He was very embarrassed when I got the camera out to take photos of the food. As it was his birthday I did a sneaky shot without the flash! Above was the started of goats cheese on a bed of Mediterranean vegetables and below the main course of tempura mixed vegetables with dipping sauces and a side salad. 

Once both boys were home we could light the birthday candles (ssh he is 44 today)

On a Thursday I drop DS off at Scouts and often pop round to see a friend. I was able to leave my log burner to go and sit by Jackie's log burner.

I am off again to York tomorrow for a YQ workshop on Saturday (oh yes and a tiny bit of shopping).

Back soon

Reflections

Sorry no stitching today BUT DH and I had a very rare chance to spend an hour together without the boys. We walked down by Surfleet reservoir which is a kind of small inlet for boats. The weather was so hot and the water so still. I loved all the reflections and took lots of photos for possible design ideas.

I'm the shadow on the right taking the photo.

Not all the boats looked beautiful but there was so much texture that I photographed.

I'm planning a little change to this blog so come back soon and see the new look.

Stolen Quilt

I have just heard that this A4 sized quilt was stolen along with a number of other items from the quilt show I visited last week. Please spread this image round your blog, especially if you are a Lincolnshire blogger.

If you do have any news just contact me and I will pass on your message.

In The Bleak Mid Winter

I was going to start this blog post on a positive note but I'm cold and fed up with being cold. Today the fog hasn't lifted and the temperature hasn't been above -7. When I was young my favourite books were The Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls. I remember my favorite one was The Long Winter (sound familiar?).  

All my recent energy/sewing has been on completing paperwork and making Christmas presents which I can't share photos of. DS has also spent time making presents and has just about mastered how to put a zip into a bag. Instead here are some frosty images of my garden taken this morning.

This was the frozen washing line.

 This robin was a little photo shy but you can still see his/her red breast.

I was looking for colour amongst all the white and found this red onion skin in the compost heap.

The fields are still full of Brussel sprouts that haven't been harvested

I found this on Emma's blog A little Bit of Everything. Despite the weather I went to two carol services and this carol was sung at both. This Enya version is really beautiful that I thought I would share it with you.



I found some sock knitting today from last year, my first attempt at toe up socks knitted on a circular needle. I love hand made socks but am a slow knitter. I'm off to spend the rest of this evening curled up in front of my log burner. I hope you are all keeping safe and warm.

Help...

Does anyone know how to make these woven, folded paper necklaces? My recycled craft group wants to make them next Friday and although I've made them before I can't find my notes. I've also had an unsuccessful trawl through the Internet and can't find any instructions unless I subscribe to a site.

I've fingers and toes crossed...

Its cold outside

I forgot to add these to my last post. This was a frozen puddle in the back garden. I have no idea what made these fantastic lines but my mind is starting to work overtime with design ideas.

Advent Sunday

This weekend with DS2 off with his respite carer I have had a fairly chilled weekend, even with two teenagers (well very nearly in the house). I just can't believe how much they eat. Also shopping for trousers for DS for the first time yesterday we had to buy men's sizes, my baby is getting too tall and grown up, how do I turn the clock back or slow it down?? 

Having time to stand back and take stock is important to help me see the bigger picture of my life and where I am heading. In my normal pace of life I hadn't realised that today is the first Sunday in Advent, dare I say that four weeks today will be Boxing Day? It led me to think about the lists we all make, a gifts to buy list, gifts to make list, gifts to wrap list, food to buy list, people to see list, but sometimes these can distract from the true meaning of Christmas to most Christians.

On a more creative note I have finally finished this book jacket. There was a talent auction at church and as well as making some Xmas decorations I said that I would make a cover for an A5 notebook in the colour of the successful bidders choosing. Well, I was given the complete works of Shakespeare. Not wanting to make a fuss I just started the book jacket in the said colours.  I have not had any feedback yet so I hope she likes it. One thing I do need to finish this week is an alien costume as my friends son is an alien in his schools Nativity play. Remember the scene in Love Actually when I think the children come home and say they are an octopus in the Nativity? When I was a teacher we just had the basic characters, one year I do remember was when I had the kings entering on scooters to Crazy Frog!!

Light at the end of the tunnel

Thank you for all your messages of support over this difficult few weeks. A very sensible man did a risk assessment on DS2 and the current journey he has to take to school. As a result of this DS2 now has his own taxi and escort again (after a year of fighting on our part), happy boy, happy mummy, happy everyone. Behaviour is settling down at school and at the end of our dark tunnel we have light!! 

More good news is that I have finished my C&G bag and pieced my half square triangles. I'll share photos in my next post.

Life and chocolate

Well, it has been a long, hard difficult week. Monday morning breakfast time we had no idea of just how the week would pan out nor how terrible things would get. I tend not to make much of DS2's needs on this blog but although ten he has an emotional age of 4. Basically (and I need to be careful how I phrase this) he has been let down by several professionals this week which led to an aggressive outburst resulting in the County Council banning him from home school transport until a meeting on the 11th October. We don't know what will happen after this. Obviously there are details and extremely strong feelings I can't share in case anyone from the Council Council or who is directly involved reads this blog. Because of all the extra pressures no sewing has been done at all, no City and Guilds, nothing. If I have cried on your shoulder this week I want to say thank you, this seems such a small word to say for your support and comfort.

The other word in the title was chocolate, this is essential in times of stress. Rather than eat my bar of chocolate I made it into this -

And the secret ingredient was beetroot, although neither DS's knew about this. This is the recipe I followed.

Chocolate Beetroot Brownies



250g/10oz good, dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken into pieces
250g/10oz unsalted butter, cut into cubes, plus more for greasing
250g/10oz caster sugar
3 free-range eggs
150g self-raising flour
250g beetroot, boiled until tender, peeled and grated
 
1. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Grease a baking tin of approximately 20 x 30 x 3cm and line the bottom with baking parchment.
2. Break up the chocolate into pieces, cut the butter into cubes then mix them up a bit in a heatproof bowl. As the oven begins to warm up, put the bowl onto one of the shelves for a few minutes until the chocolate and butter starts to melt. Stir, and put back into the oven for a few more minutes to melt completely.
3. Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a bowl until combined, then beat in the melted chocolate and butter until smooth. Gently fold in the flour then the beetroot – be careful not to overmix or it will make the brownies tough.
4. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth over the top with a spatula. Bake for about 20 minutes. A knife or skewer pushed into the middle should come out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Don't be tempted to overcook them! Remove the tin from the oven and leave on wire rack to cool before cutting into squares.

This recipe was a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe which can be found here.

Off to do some C&G so there should be some proress to report soon.

Frustrating Friday

Friday was a potential supply teaching day. I'm available and I wait for the call, by 8.30am I am fairly sure that the day is my own and I will not have to go into school. As I have a large "TO DO" list I prioritised and made another list which included -

• Washing some clothes (or throw clothes into the machine and leave)
• Sewing my half square units together into blocks
• Sewing samples into my sketchbook
• Sewing some binding onto class samples
• Continue updating my website
• Replay to about 12 e-mails
• Send out some workshop requirement lists

Think what all these things have in common, have you guessed?? Try electricity and I'm sure you will figure out what happened next. 

Feeling very smug and organised I set to not expecting the electricity to go off at 9.30am (didn't plan for this). By lunchtime still no electricity, by 2pm still no electricity. I can access e-mails via my phone but can't open attachments nor send e-mails with attachments. Feeling very frustrated I dug out the singer hand machine to at least sew the bindings on. The electricity finally came on at 5pm. I was taking DS over to see his cousin so then a mad rush to eat, leaving DH and DS2 at home. This blog post was all planned so I leave you with a collage of my C&G bag.