Monday 24 August 2015

Linen and Lace

This is the draft of the piece I have just written for Create and Craft Blog in the USA.



Hi, my name is Sue, I live in a lovely little, rural village in the East of England, we have only 60 houses in the village and we are surrounded by green rolling hills with sheep and fields of crops.
I have always been "crafty" and spent most of my childhood drawing and painting, if there is a hands on craft I have probably had a go at it! From macramé, knitting, woodwork, scraper board in my teenage years to hardanger, watercolour, quilting and embroidery latterly. I have also spent many, many hours dress making - well costume making, as Wardrobe Mistress for a well known Shakespeare Company - so no stranger to a sewing machine!!!
I am fairly self taught as an embroiderer and I am a member of the Embroiderers Guild. I took up quilting a few years ago, having loved the pictures in books and magazines and thought "how hard can it be" that sort of thinking has got me into all sorts of trouble, including producing items for Linen and Lace!!!
My daughter works for Create and Craft TV in the UK, and happened to mention to Stephanie that I quilted. So when the Crossover Machine with deep dish dies was being launched here in Britain, Stephanie asked if I could manage to do two small quilts, using the number dies and the small maple leaf dies, very quickly before the deadline, to be shown on the launch show.
My work seems to have gone down well, as I was then asked to do a quilt using the heart dies, a wreath using the large maple leaf dies and a pincushion using the square dies for the magazine. I had lots of fun thinking up projects that could be made by beginners, but would inspire the more experienced and really show off the versatility of the Crossover Machine, when using fabric.  
 My house is full to bursting with my work, it hangs on walls, covers beds, fills draws and clutters my Craft Room - but I love doing it. I even made another autumnal batik, maple leaf wreath, it hangs on my kitchen wall and glows in the evening light!


My Craft Room.


http://blog.createandcraft.com/

Tuesday 18 August 2015

Still playing with pressed flowers and leaves

I have been having more fun dyeing calico (to embroider later) with different flowers - the current crop being pressed onto damp fabric between 2 bits of clingfilm, is some black Hollyhocks, which is coming out a lovely deep purple. The blue Hibiscus came out too pale to really use.


I have started to embroider the Maple Leaf, done with the bashing with a hammer on dry fabric, with a Anchor Bronze Metallic thread, starting with 2 strands chain stitch down to 1 strand and  then back stitch. Looking good but very tiny stitches!!!!

Saturday 8 August 2015

First Week of August aready gone!!!

Been a bitty week sewing wise - knocked up the exhibition postcard on local History for the Museum on the wedding dress factory and handed it in on Tuesday at the Embroiders Guild meeting.



Also loaned Christine lot of old sewing stuff and some work done over the last year at Guild Workshops. It will be interesting to see what gets displayed.

Knocked up 10 bags for WI with appliqued hearts or flowers, but none sold - still if I still do not sell them next month I will have a few Xmas presents sorted!

Did a little embroidery for the travelling books, dark blue perle on a piece of the Onion Skin dyed fabric I did at a friends house, which is already mounted and in the book, and got lots done on Camel no 2, not much more and I will be on the last one.

I have been playing with dyeing fabric with pressed petals - it started with a red Amaryllis, but I have also used a Day Lily in orange that came out with purple tips and deep purple Gladiolas that have come out really strangely in blues and lime greens. It remains to be seen if they fade away - but I have embroidered the first one and still after about 3 months it is OK so I intend to put it in a travelling book.