Wouldn't you know....

...that the sun would start shining  now that the summer holidays are officially over!
As you can see, from the shadows on my deck this morning, the sun is out!

I have just listed these Fabric Scrap Rolls in my shops (links in my side bar).
Next time I will explore some ways of using these to create some small landscape quilts.

The basket was made by my friend Clare.

fabric friday

fabric friday

A huge thank you to all those who came to say hello at the Festival of Quilts.
It was great to finally meet those I have "known" through the Internet.
It was great to see friends and familiar faces.
It was a lovely surprise to see some I didn't expect to see.
It was  great meeting new people.
To all of you, thank you for making my experience at the show so wonderful.

fabric friday

Haven't done one of these for a while!

Things have been quiet here while I prepare for the Festival of Quilts.
This time next week I will be into the second day of the show.
This is a first for me so it does come with a certain amount of trepidation. I really can't tell if I have enough to display in my 2 x 2 metre booth, or whether I have got far too much.
"How big do you think this booth is Mum?" was the question asked by my daughter when she saw my pile of boxes!
Better too much than not enough eh?
If you are at the show please come and say hello. You will find me at O14 :)

Fabulous Friday!!!

As I write this I am watching the BBC interview the lucky ones who have got tickets for tonight's Olympic Opening Ceremony. I am envious? You bet I am!

I apologise for not having something a bit more interesting to show you here, but I feel that I am having my own personal Olympics as I get ready for this years Festival of Quilts. I will have my own booth in the "Quilters in Action" section for the first time and it has been a lot of work since I found out at the end of May.
Swerving between great excitement and huge nerves here!
If you are going to the Festival please come along and say hello. I am in booth O14:)

In the mean time I am going to have to move my sewing machine from the shed and into the house in front of a T.V.!
Go Team G.B. !!

I did it My Way!

I don't know why that certain song is going through my head as I put this post together but these are the facts:

From one small bag of scraps (measuring approx. 8 x 12 inches) I have made 14 things!
Six art pieces
One journal cover
One coaster
One scrappy heart
One prayer flag
One tassle
One machine wrapped cord
Two questionable canvases (counted as one)
One 'Stitch Then Paint' sample ...there might be more of these, there might not :)

To see all the step by step posts that show the details click here.

1. the bag, 2. the scraps, 3. Teasel, 4. finished, 5. Embellished #2, 6. embellished background III, 7. Untitled, 8. Play, 9. making tassles, 10. making machine wrapped cords, 11. making coasters, 12. scrappy journal cover, 13. my scrappy heart, 14. Another scrap bag project, 15. covering canvas, 16. stitch and paint

I don't really know what compelled me to begin this but I have to say that I have got a lot more from it than I was expecting.
You are probably like me in that you have an idea in mind of what you want to make, and then set about it. You probably have to make a few purchases in order to do that too!

With this it was different. I looked at what I had FIRST, and before I had any idea what it would become, I set about creating a background or structure.

I then let what I had speak to me (Sorry for sounding a bit 'airy fairy'. That's not really me but I can't think of another way to put it:)
I also went to my sketchbooks and doodlings to give me ideas. Sometimes it was an object I had in the house. The wooden lizard that has been languishing in the attic for a while would probably still be there if the background I had made hadn't reminded be of the Red Centre of Australia.

I would probably never done a piece on a teasel, even though I had done a sketch of one at least three years ago.

I have added new quilting stitches and techniques to my repertoire.
I have reinforced the fact that I love my embellisher machine. I thought I was being extremely extravagant when I purchased it but I now realise that it is an important part of my Art Quilting arsenal. 

I enjoyed 'using' my sketchbooks again.
I have a few bits and pieces to use in future projects.
Doing this has left with me with lots of directions to go in, and lots of ideas for more projects.

PLUS... I HAVE BUSTED THIS PILE OF SCRAPS!!!!!

An added bonus is that I have also been asked to talk about this at a Quilter's Guild meeting in the Autumn.
I am thinking of calling it "Tales from the Scrap Bag" ...but I am open to any better suggestions!

Thank you everyone who has followed me with this over the last couple of months and special thank you to all those that left such lovely comments about the projects. I hope you have enjoyed it.

Now off you go and bust out one of your scrap bags/boxes/piles/mountains :)

To see all the step by step posts that show the details click here.

Are you ready for your close up?

The painting has been done, and you are getting close up angled shots.

Gloomy, wet conditions here mean that it is still wet. Plus the light is not good for photos.
I have tried to inject a bit of summer colour while we wait for the Jet Stream to move!

 Maybe this was a bit too much, but never fear.

A few more warm colours and a bit of toning down has resulted in this.

There might be few more light patches when it has completely dried!
I am not sure what I feel about this at the moment. I am fighting the urge to get a dark thread and stitch around the flower design.
I think I prefer the back!

I can see this working on a cushion or table runner maybe but as a piece of art I'd need something more. I have gone back to look at the work of June C Barnes and can see that I could achieve more contrast with the right choice of colours. More experiments with this technique are needed I think.

Well, that is it!!
I have reached the end of the scrap bag !!! Time to move on to other things.
I hope you will check back on Friday for an overview of the whole project, and and my thoughts on the experience.