A bit more fusing:

I have had a lovely morning, playing with the soldering Iron, the Viole's, the felts and my fancy stitches on my beloved Bernina. As you can see I have made another two postcards and a note book cover. Whilst it has been good fun I must now tidied the terrible mess I have made. Viole's, felt and bits and pieces are scattered across the sewing room. Tabitha has had a field day with the Viole's rolling around the floor amongst them. Bless, it must have wore her out look, she is having a rest in the scrap basket.

Fusing Viole and Felt the Margret Beal way:

I adore Margret Beals work. i have met her every year at the NEC. The first year I bought the starter Kit, the next year I purchased her book and each year now I buy more felt, Viole's and any new templates she has. Her work always fills me with inspiration and I come away from her stand thinking of all the things I am going to create when I get home. however it never seems to go quite as I plan. The first time I used the soldering Iron the smell made me feel very nauseous I had to buy a mask. I was also to heavy handed and kept burning through all the layers so I just produce lots of holes in my work. It is life everything in life practise and patience and perseverance gets you there in the end. Here is my F is for(fusing flowers)postcard for fabric cards alphabet series. I think it turned out pretty good.

Work in progress:

I took this photo the other day from my sewing room window. the block of flats you see is Chestnut House were I live on the top floor. I was very excited because as you can see from the picture the scaffold is being assembled on the outside of the flats. Also the compound for the equipment is being constructed in the car park. according to the power that be it is a month a head of schedule so far. I can not wait to go home it will be so fantastic a pristine new flat with my fabulous view. Mmmmmm how lucky am I.

Mother to be:

This my friends, is my beautiful daughter Michaela. Colin took these photographs yesterday. I know I am bias but I think she is simple stunning. Also I have to say hats of to Colin, he is bloody good at photography. I was considering asking him to take a photo of me and my bump but I have to many bumps to chose from lol.

Amy Buttler and Shoes:

Saturday evening I attended Amy Buttlers presentation. What another great night, although it did not start off as such because I was feeling quite nauseous before the meal. I was blessed to be in the company of a few of my Liverbird friends Sue C, Hilary G and Hillary H. As you can imagine our introduction was received with laughter from the other ladies who were sharing the table with us. Amy's presentation was so enjoyable. She shared her experiences of a recent trip to Bali and a trip to India, the sites, the colours and the culture of these two places that have been a huge influence on her most recent designs. Amy also showed us her latest range of fabrics, bags and her rugs. She was a lovely person to meet, but best of all she is a shoe girl like myself. I was pleasantly surprised when she admired my shoes. Hilary G took these two photos for me.

Work shop delight:

I was very very very lucky to be one of about 12 ladies who got tickets for Ferrets master class on the Saturday. I attended the class with my Friend Sue C, and we were lucky because after 3 hours and 20 minutes all the tickets were sold. I think Ferret's work is amazing, my friend Janet knew this and it was through her that I was able to get a ticket. I was thrilled to be learning one of the techniques she used in her quilt, "Nude Tryptict". you could either make a Rose or a swan. As you can see from the picture I chose to make the rose. It was a great day and I loved every minute of it. The ladies in the class were a great bunch and there was plenty of laughs along the way. Ferret herself was lovely. A truely talanted person and she was extremely generous in sharing her knowledge and advice. I was really pleased with the piece of work I produced on the day.

Off to the NEC:

I have recently returned from a fantastic trip to the Festival of Quilts at the Nec. I had a great time, this photo is of me getting on the bus to take us to the exhibition. The quilts were amazing, as were the side exhibitions and although I was there for the full four days I am sure I did not manage to see everything.