I bagged it:

In April I visited Dot (Quilters Needs) to buy fabric for my spring flower quilt and whilst I was there I saw a bag Dot had made. I instantly fell in love with it. Now this surprised me as I am not a bag person. It was just before our area day and as you may remember, we asked visitors to bring a bag to exhibit. I asked Dot for the pattern thinking it was the ideal bag to make to exhibit. Unfortunately she could not find the pattern and I forgot all about it. I made my own funky bird bag for the area day and I won a lovey prize from Amanda Hall. On Sunday I visited Dot again to buy fabric for my second Spring flower quilt. (Which I have made and it is absolutely fab but you will have to wait a little longer before it will be revealed). What a lovely surprise I got when I arrived, Dot had the bag pattern for me. I couldn't wait to get stuck in and make it and here is my first attempt. It took me the best part of three days to make and its not even for me. I can't say who its for as she sometimes reads my blog and I don't wont to spoil the surprise. I loved every minute of making it and I fully intend to make one for myself. I have decided to do mine in reds and creams. (Info: Pattern by Angel Buttons and is called Garden Tote bag)

All the fun of the fair:

Yesterday was another glorious sunny day and I was invited to spend the day with Michaela and Cole. We went to Southport, Michaela took us for a fish and chips lunch (mmm scrummy yummy). My little man is growing up so fast, I can not believe he will be two in October. He recently developed a taste for the little fun rides and he is so funny, when the little cars stop he presses every button he can find, in order to make it go. Once he realises that hasn't worked he asks for money and say in there, pointing to the money slot. (No hes not soft is he!!) But it is so funny to watch. We had a fab day, I love spending time with both of them. On our way back to the car Michaela treated us all to an ice cream. As you can see I think Cole wore most of his.

Then there where none;

I have completed all 13 book covers for Addy. Hurray! I can now concentrate on making a few for myself, to show as examples on the 20th August, when I will be teaching how to make the book covers. Today I made three using old jeans and clothing labels. I love them, especially the denim ones. They have turned out a real treat. I have been itching to make something from denin for quite sometime now. Well ever since hubby became a bit chubby and cast a side several pairs of jeans. Rather than give them to a charity shop I kept them for such an occasion as today, transforming them into these hip and trendy book covers. I have to confess I did cut one of the labels from a pair that are still in use but I am sure he will not notice.

Exhibition, exhibition, exhibition:

Over the last few days I have been to Liverpool Community College Foundation exhibition, Manchester Mets Degree exhibition and Hughbaird Art and Design exhibitions. I have seen some amazing pieces of work. These exhibitions have filled me with such confidence for September and given me a general guide as to what will be expected to pass the course. The pictures are from Manchester Mets Exhibition Fine Art, Interior and Jewelery. I took lots of photos until one student asked me not to. I apologised and said there was no sign stating not photos and she said they forgot to put it up so unfortunately I did not take any more pictures. 

I am really looking forward to September and attending LCC.  I am ready to get stuck in and experiment with different types of textiles. Whilst I love fine art I think the road I hope to travel will be interior design. I loved this section at Manchester Met.

Meet Petal:

At Gresford on Thursday one of the exhibits was called Postcard challenge, we all thought this was a fab idea. Participants put a postcard of their choice into an envelope, then all the envelope went into a bag and it became the luck of the draw. You then made an item depicting the postcard you got. I am hoping that the Liverbirds will participate in such a challenge and my lovely friend Janet is going to ask them on Wednesday when we all meet up. In the meantime I have had a little go at making something from a postcard and here is the result. I have named her petal.

Chole by Jennifer Young:

This is the fabric I purchased yesterday from Dot at Quilters Needs.

Window display:

I was really excited when I went to Southport yesterday and discovered that one of my cushions and a little rabbit in the window display of vintage home. I love this little shop it sells fantastic bits and pieces from the past. The proprietor, Jill, is just lovely and she kindly allowed me to take a photo of the shop front.  I had a very enjoyable afternoon in Southport just strolling along Lord Street mainly window shopping. Early evening I nipped over to Dots and got the lush fabric I had fondled at Grestford, its called Chole by Jennifer Young.  I adore going to Dots all those gorgeous fabrics its like being in fabric heaven you are so spoilt for choice. I  confess I also purchased  a couple of fat quarters as well as the  2 1/2 yards of Chole fabric. NAUGHTY GIRL SUSAN! :)

All four one:

Let me tell you about the fantastic day I had at Grestford Exhibition on Thursday. The sun shone, the quilts where fab and the lunch was delicious. However, the best part of the the whole day was the company. They say two is company and three is a crowd, well there where four of us, all members of Liverbirds (Sue, Janet, Shirely and I) and it was a party. We descended on Grestford full of passion and excitement for our love of all things craft related. We ooooed, we arrred and we wowed at the exhibits. Then we oggled and stroked the fabric before making out purchases from Dot and it was time to go home. The day was full of laughter and friendship and I throughly enjoyed every minute. Whilst writting this post I am giggling to myself as the memories of that day replay themselves in my mind. I am so proud and extremly blessed to be a Liverbird.

Lemon Tree quilts:

I am so excited, my amazing friend Janet has finally got her website up and running and it was well worth the wait(.http://lemontreequilts.com/page2.htm) Her quilts are beautiful and her patterns are fantastic and will be available to purchase via Janets web site. I have made several of her patterns over the years and I highly recomend them. Janet i wish you lots of luck and success in your new venture. :) x

A taste of Asia:

For a long time now I have been itching to make something with a few pieces of silks I bought quite some time ago. My charming friend Hilary gave me some pieces of ribbon yesterday that she thought I might be able to use and I imediately knew they would work really well with the silk fabric. Today i dug deep into the pot luck draw of felt, silks and viols and found a lovely lush red and a subtle piece of gold silk. Here is the end the result a lovely journal cover.

Chipping away:

I have almost covered all the note books Addy gave me, I only have three left to do and I am hoping to get them done today. Sometimes things just don't always go to plan so Im not going to loose sleep if I do not achieve this goal today. As well as doing the book covers for Adddy I made one for my own stock inbetween. I thought I had better get a few done incase Jill from Vintage Home rings and requires more to sell in her shop and I also need a varied range to show at the teaching day in August. This morning I wanted a little break for covering books so I started the applique on my country quilt. There is quite a bit of bias binding on the applique with little bits coming off here and there which is a bit time consuming but thats ok I am in no rush to finish. I am just want to enjoy making this quilt one step at a time.

Its all about balancing:

I have been busy with other things over the last few days, family, house work and shopping so today I thought I'd better get stuck into the journal covers for Addy. I have decided to keep them simple and let the fabric speak for its self without to much embelishment. The more embelishment the higher the cost and as its for charity addy needs to sell these book covers at a price that people are willing to pay. With that said I think they are still very pretty. Addy wanted some of the book covers to appeal to children so I have concentrated on childrens covers today. This afternoon I am hoping to start adding some of the applique to the final boarder of my country quilt. You see I won't feel quilty now sewing just for me as I have put several hours in sewing for a good cause lol.

Burning the midnight oil:

Last night I sewed into the wee small hours, thoroughly enjoying putting all the blocks together to make the inner part of my country quilt. I did not manage to completely sew all the rows together when I finally admitted it was time to get some shut eye. So this morning I joined the remaining two rows and here it is. So far so good and I love it. My mission today is the first border which comprises of alternative 1 1/2 inch squares. (a coloured square then a cream square followed by a coloured one etc...) Then a big search through the fabric stash to find a piece of fabric with enough yardage and appropriate to the style of the quilt, for the outer border. Fingers crossed that such a piece is waiting for me to discover, buried deep in one of the two draws full of checked fabric. So there we have it my day is all planned. I shall even throw in a few trips to the washing machine and the tumble dryer to balance it out but first a trip to kettle for a nice cuppa tea.

A good deed for a friend in need:

Several weeks ago I was asked by my lovely friend Addy would I be so kind and make some journal covers to help Southport Quilters raise money for the Southport life boat and rescue team. I really couldn't say no, one Addy is far to nice a lady for me to refuse and it is such a worthy cause. So today I went to Addy's house and collected 13 note books and a big bundle of fabric. I also received a lovely very unexpected gift from Addy's husband Jim. It is a little wooden fabric press and it is so beautiful. Jim does wood turning in his spare time and his work is simply stunning.My photo does not do the little presser justice. Later that afternoon I managed to make one journal cover so I only have 12 more to go!

Stash raid:

Every night before I go to sleep I either read or try to do a crossword, the latter of which I am not very good at, may I add. Sometimes when I am in between books I re-read my old patchwork magazines. Its amazing how you forget whats in them even though its been read once before. A couple of weeks ago was a prime example, I discovered a lovely simple country style quilt in an old magazine. The quilt required lots of checked and striped fabric and it really appealed to me. Seeing as I have a draw full of such fabric I decided to give it ago. Here is a picture of the blocks for the inner part of the quilt. I still have five of the blocks with little nine patches to make before I can assemble it. So far all the fabric has come from my stash which means there will be space for some lovely new fabric......

The Tent makers continued......

I had a fantastic day yesterday at Southport Quilters being taught needle turn applique by Barbara Chainey (www.barbarachainey.com). Who was a marvelous teacher and such a lovely person, I have to say. Barbara made needle turn applique look like a walk in the park and as she demonstrated the hows, the dos and the don'ts. we all began to relax a little and give it a go. You may look at my piece of work and think is that all she did? Those of you who know me may be forgiven in thinking that I was to busy chatting away, however this was far from the truth and the silence was sometimes deafening. I really got stuck in and the main objects of the day where to achieve a point, a bias and a curve. As you can see I did complete the work shop. Now the $64 dollar question is will I complete the whole block, will I ever do needle turn applique again? The answer is I might finish the block over a period of a longtime but I don't think I will starting any new projects with this method of applique. I came away from the class with lots of new skills and little tips that make things a lot more simplfied. The biggest thing I came away with was the design impact these panels had on me. My favorite piece is the picture at the top made by a man named Mohamed. It is art deco style vase of flowers and boy did it have the wow factor for me. My head is buzzing with possible designs of my own but alas mine will be done using my favorite raw edge applique. So watch this space in the future for my version of a Ciro tent panel. :)

Tent makers of Cairo:

A few weeks ago I was invited to join Southport quilters as a guest to hear Barbara Chainey talk about the amazing Tent makers of Cairo. I have not been to good this week and it took a lot for me to go today but boy was I glad I did. What an amazing display of colour and design. Barbara has been purchasing her collection of panels from Cairo for the last ten years so you can imagine that the oos and rrs where many. Sadly I only took a couple of photos when my batteries died. However I was lucky to get a place on her work shop tomorrow to have a go at needle turn applique. Hopefully Barbara will have a few samples which will enable me to take a few more photos. Before I go I have to thank my wonderful, amazing and very very generous friend Janet, who helped me complete the requirements list for tomorrows class.