Remember that silk quilt---?

Well I have just heard that it has won Third Prize ! What a great start to the year.
:o)

Now the judging is over I can show the full quilt. Unfortunately the crystals aren't showing up too well. I think when it comes home I might add more beading to it?

I made it to enter into a Machine Embroidered Quilt competition that was run by Flair magazine. My prize is Madeira threads which is great as I am a self confessed thread junkie.

I particularly enjoyed making this quilt. I think the combination of working with silk,favourite colours and patterns may have had something to do with it


I called it Crazy Paisley!

Rosie seems to be tuned in to when the Bernina stops purring along and it is time for pinning and handstitching! She comes straight through , jumps up and then curls up on my knee.

She loves to be on your knees or your shoulder. As she is so small that sometimes it is the safest place for her to be.
We swore we weren't going to let her become a lap dog too.
Guess we have failed miserably there then! :o)

Yorkies are notorious for getting their own way I have since been told !

Once I used to have the bad habit of pulling the top thread backwards through the tension discs on my sewing machine when I wanted to remove the spool of thread. When I realised that that could cause tension problems with the buildup of lint I started to change threads properly by cutting the thread before the tension discs and then pulling the thread through. This obviously results in tailends of thread about a foot(30 cm )long.

If you save them eventually you find a use for them .

This is the third 300gram coffee jar that I have filled!!! That is one heck of a lot of thread :o)

Can you tell that I like metallic threads?

It ended up in being titivated with beads and free motion embroidery. I am not sure whether it reminds me more of a pastel Paisley or a psychedelic 60's bedroom wallpaper I once had!

Playing again!

I thought that I was never going to get going again! This is just a little bit of doodling around with stuff I unearthed in my tidying up session. The colours are a combination of Derwent Inktense pencils, Caran D'Ache soluble wax crayons and Fabrico pens .




Not sure yet what it will turn into ---------but hey do I ever plan anything? :o))

Home town.

I was just surfing around and came across this video of my home town of Cockermouth. Hope the link works!

I know that people are beginning to plan their visit to Woolfest for this year. Perhaps this will give them a taste of what else there is of interest in town.

Wordsworth House (birthplace of William Wordsworth) has really come to life with the recent overhaul by the National Trust. The town will be bright with daffodils everywhere soon!

My sewing room is still tidy :o(

Over a week into the New Year and although I have done many sketches, and scribbled down some ideas no creative stitching has happened yet and it is making me twitchy!!!!

My sewing room/studio is immaculate!

I have turned out my drawers and tidied all my threads. My stash has been tidied and stroked and my machines are serviced and ready to go but still I have not got started. I even have a list pinned up on my noticeboard of what is to be done!!!

Could it be the deadlines for getting things done is too far away and the pressure isn't there yet? Has everyone out there started creating again as soon as Twelfth Night was over?

On a more positive note I now have a Bernina dealer within 25 miles of me. Not only does he see to my machines within a few days but he also collects them and then brings them home again!

I find that very reassuring!

Goodbye 2007 and Hello 2008!

2007 was a packed year one way and another :o)

The family has a new member with the arrival of a grandson in March.
DH is relieved that the family name lives on. :o)



Quilt wise it was a good year culminating in that day in Harrogate, when I kept pinching myself to check if I was dreaming. Of course I now see it as a challenge to try harder in 2008!

My sewing room is tidy, my noticeboard ,diary and sketchbook are laid out ready to start again tomorrow. Apart from the competitions to enter 2008/9 promises a couple of new challenges that I am looking forward too. I will of course blog them as the year goes on.

Resolutions?
The usual-----lose some weight/walk more/get the garden tidy and use up fabric quicker than I buy it!

A big thank you to anyone who reads my blog. I find it absolutely fascinating to look at the map and see that people scattered around the world find my scribblings of any interest at all.

I love it when I see that a comment has come in. Thank you, I really appreciate them.

I hope that 2008 will be a happy, healthy, peaceful year for you and yours wherever you are.