Sunday 30 September 2012

More sewing crafts

  Gwen's first patchwork project
 Crazy patchwork wall hanging.  It is beautifully embellished.









Bron's patchwork cushion.  A 'Monkey Wrench' block
Cushion for Stephanie.  My friend and daughter of my friend.
 Part of a wedding gift for her cottage in Cornwall






Cushions for my special friend, Eileen who lives up north.  we have been friends for more than 40 years.
These days we see each other about three to four times a year, but have long telephone conversations.
A work-in-progress by Gwen.  One of nine blocks to be made
 into a quilt.








  My first quilting project

Cute chicken  door stops

Bags by students

 Work in progress by Gwen.  Completed project below.
 Crazy patchwork cosmetic bag by Val
Back of  Gwen's quilting tools and supplies bag
 Front of bag
 Bron's bag - Back
 Bron' s Bag - Front
Crochet hook bag, by Val

Cloth Bags. All fully lined.

Add caption
 Patchwork girlie bag made from Laura Ashley fabrics

 Denim patchwork with denim flowers added using my embellishing (felting) machine.  Plus buttons.
 Made from a child's miniskirt. Lined and a denim pocket inside
Pattern from a book .  My friend, Eileen started this and I finished it off.  It has been sold, but I have made another in different colours.
 A Seminole design.  Originally designed by Seminole Indian Tribes in Florida.  They incorporated their original methods used in making clothes, blankets, etc., into patchwork designs.
 Serendipity block.  I copied this from a you tube video, by Missouri Star Quilting Company.  Their patchwork videos are well worth watching.

Another pattern from Eileen.  This was sold at a fund raising event for The Town's Women's Guild.  Each year they have a chosen charity.  This year it is the Heart Foundation.

Thursday 14 June 2012

Art Work

The Water's Edge



Winter Rocks

Attingham Park

The Boat

Chinese Fishing

Fisherman's Paradise

Saturday 4 February 2012

Decorative Boxes

        Top view of the drawers.
I was given a small set of 6 drawers, in bad condition.  I rubbed as much of the paint off and decided to cover it with some pages from a  1903 French magazine that  I was lucky to find on a market  stall in Brittany. It is full of beautiful pictures and adverts. I photographed some of the pages, then printed them.  Some had a natural sepia look and others I 'aged' a little. This is the top of the unit.

The ad which has amused and  intrigued me the most is bottom right, "A scientific discovery from America for anti - wrinkle cream"  There are a number of other ad's that you might expect to be modern products, i.e. antiseptic mouth wash and a variety of 'health pills'.  I had a lot of fun looking through it and then using copies of  it to cover my drawers.






This is a full page copy  from the magazine and is on the side of the drawers.



Side view of the drawers.


Another full page that I coloured after printing.  Such beautiful hats!













Front view of the drawers, with a little aging treatment.













 At a craft club that I attend, we decided to cover boxes in a variety of materials.  My choice was paper, so I found a use for lots of small, left over pieces.  I also had other paper materials to make use of.  The bottom left is covered entirely with postage stamps, British and foreign.  What a good and attractive way to recycle stamps.  It is a shame to throw them out.  I used to save them for the library for some charity, but they stopped taking them, so voila!  Another  use for them was found.




Another box, originally pine and for utensils .  I picked it up at a charity shop for a small amount.  It needed some attention, so I covered it with copied pictures from the above-mentioned magazine.  The red colour was copied from the back of the French magazine.  I coloured some of the other images, to give them more appeal.  Useful for brushes or pencils, etc

Sunday 29 January 2012

Lilly's crafts

Today is dedicated to my little friend Lilly.  She is 9 yrs old and loves learning crafts. I have been teaching Lilly to sew and cross-stitch because that is her passion right now, although she is beginning to take a big interest in paper crafting and together we have made some cards for her family and friends.  I didn't take any picture of those, but will do so in future.Lilly has only been learning to stitch for  4 months, so I am really proud of her progress.

 




Lilly's first flowers in cross-stitch



Lilly's hearts with running stitch frame.


So neat and pretty!




Lilly's first  sewing project.  Didn't she do well?



Lilly's first felt bag.  She made the flowers and the cord.  Well Done!



Lilly's practice sheet.  She learned so many new stitches.Good practice for dexterity and making small stitches. As you can tell by her other projects, Lilly's dedication has paid off.  Good girl!

Lilly's experiment.  She wanted to combine cross-stitch with hand-made flowers and the addition of a bit of a fabric that she liked. I am impressed. What do you think?


Saturday 28 January 2012

Greeting Cards




This was designed with a friend in mind, who was moving house, from a house lovingly built by her husband.  Although necessary in some ways difficult to leave.



This one covers several occasions, i.e. Valentine, Engagement, Wedding, Anniversary.



This could be for a birthday or Easter.


My first attempt at tea-bag folding.  Not followed by many because I found it too fiddly.



I used this one for a Sympathy card

The box was made with direction from my friend, Loraine, who is a Stampin' Up Demonstrator and makes beautiful cards..  I then made the card to match.  Another friend was so taken with it, she had to have them.