Hold The Front Page!

I was so excited when I saw this....

I knew that Popular Patchwork were going to put some images of the Ten Plus Textiles exhibition at the Knitting and Stitching Shows into the magazine, but I was positively giddy when I plucked a copy from the newsagent's shelf and realised that my fairy houses had made it onto the front page!!!

From Berlin To Dublin

BERLIN

Welcome to all of you that have just begun to follow my little blog and of course, those of you that have been following for a while are also very welcome. I really enjoy reading your comments and being part of this lovely blogland community!

I had a request from grrl + dog for more photos of Berlin, so here goes.....

I love the architecture and particularly the colour of this building.

This whole buliding was covered in grafitti. It looked as though it had once been a nightclub, but I think it was inhabited.

Tha Holocaust Memorial.

I may post a few more at a later date, but if you fancy a bigger "fix" of Berlin images have a look at Mr Dotty's flickr account as he has loads of them!

DUBLIN
I was away last week for a few days helping to steward the Ten Plus Textiles exhibition at the Knitting and Stitching Show in Dublin.

Val and I flew over on Wednesday, but unfortunately there was a problem with the plane engine so we were delayed by three hours and missed our sight seeing time, but we really enjoyed the exhibition. It went very well and the group have sold a lot of pieces. We met some wonderful people- the Dublin people are so warm and chatty- had some fabulous meals and of course, sampled the Guiness! We also had the very unexpected treat of complementary tickets to see John Barrowman!!!!!
 I loved spending time with the other members of the group and their husbands and getting to know them better. They are such beautiful, talented and interesting souls! Our group ranges in age from 40ish to 70ish (though one of our associate members has just turned 80) and I feel priveledged to have these ladies in my life.

"Scavengers" by Caroline Schofield as part of the Seascapes exhibition by members of the Crafts Council of Ireland.

             Winnie's Wool Wagon

I was also very excited to meet Mr X Stitch and the team (you may have seen him on Kirsty's Handmade Britain). He is a lovely man- I'm not just saying that because he gave me M&Ms!!!  Click on his name to take a look at their fabulous website full of cutting edge contemporary stitching.

We will be at the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate from 24th November to 27th November (I'll be stewarding on Saturday and Sunday) so if you are nearby, pop in and say "Hi"!

Miss You...

My lovely daughter has gone to Switzerland on a school trip and I miss her. I have spring(!) cleaned her bedroom, so it is nice for when she comes home, but it feels very strange that she is not there each night. The Geology teacher posted some photos on the school website, so we know that after an arduous coach journey of over 20 hours, they have arrived in a gorgeous part of the world in glorious sunshine!

Alfie has been very restless in the evenings- I think he is missing his very special cuddles!
Roll on Saturday when she will arrive home tired and full of exciting tales:)

I went to the AGM of Ten Plus Textiles this morning and we got feedback from the members who had stewarded our exhibition at the Knitting and Stitching Show last week. It went very well, lots of people gave very nice compliments and we sold 8 pieces. I am really looking forward to stewarding at Dublin!

Count Down to Ally Pally!

I didn't get chance to show you my new little house last week.

I really enjoy making these as they are a bit quirky!

Last week was a busy one with meetings at the children's schools, a couple of coffee dates with lovely friends, various appointments and a meeting with the Ten Plus Textile group to package 16000 postcards into 1000packs! Not to mention the mounds of laundry I seem to be wrestling my way through most days!

Tomorrow is an important meeting at the textile group as all of the work is being collected  in ready to be taken to Alexandra Palace for the first weekend of Knitting and Stitching Shows.

These are my quilted wallhangings rolled up and labelled, ready to go in their bubble wrap pockets.
It is really exciting and daunting in equal measure!

Sewing is Never A Bind

It has been a while since I blogged about anything crafty and I have been busy sewing as the Knitting and Stitching Shows are fast approaching. Yesterday I was at a meeting of the Ten Plus Textiles Group and we were selecting the work that each member of the group is going to exhibit there. It is going to be a beautiful and colourful display! We had a very busy day, but it was helped along by gorgeous cakes that Diana had baked.

This morning I have been busy binding one of my pieces, trying to get everything finished in time.

A sneak preview of one of the pieces, inspired by a letter from my Nan, our shared love of cottages and a sprinkling of fairy magic!

                                                                    Nan's Dream

I quite like how the quilting looks on the back of these pieces too!

                                                            Away With The Fairies

                                                                      Like A Flame

If any of you get chance to visit our stand at the Shows, I don't think you will be disappointed. I will be stewarding Thursday to Saturday at Dublin and over the weekend at Harrogate- I'd love it if you came to say "Hello",:D

Wibbly Wobbly Houses

On Monday I helped to take down the TenPlus Textiles exhibition (www.tenplustextiles.com) at Salford Art Gallery. The exhibition had gone very well with lots of visitors, positive feedback and sales. I was really pleased to find that I had sold 2 pieces.

This piece, called "Fairy Glen" is one that sold. The fabric is painted and printed with newspaper, the cottages and rocks are appliqued and all the detail is added by machine and hand stitching. I don't know who the buyer is, but I hope the picture brings them lots of joy!

I now have to busy myself making new pieces for our group exhibition at the Knitting and Stitching shows in the Autumn. I am developing the idea of cottages where fairies might live and continuing to use text. I have introduced lots of curved lines and moved away from black and white, by using lots of colour.

This is a sneak preview of the first piece, which I have just finished. There are 2 more in the pipe-line. You can just see some written text on the houses, which comes from a letter that my Nan sent me over 20years ago. In the letter she talks about her love of the countryside and her wish to stay in a cottage, which she didn't really get the opportunity to do. I really wanted to incorporate the letter, so I used Photoshop to remove the lines from the paper it was written on, then printed it, painted it and reprinted it onto fabric. Tomorrow I'll show you a little more of the letter.