May Bank Holiday weekend

Another bank holiday weekend, so brace yourself for lots of scenic photos. Jenny is swotting for her A levels so DH and I have been out and about by ourselves for a couple of days.
Yesterday we had a picnic at Tynemouth overlooking the mouth of the river, it was very windy but a lovely sunny day.
The historic priory was silhouetted against a beautiful blue sky.
The sand in the bay looked lovely but the sea was very cold - no swimmers today.
Today we have been out into the North Pennines in search of family history at the Nenthead Mines Heritage centre
Another image from the family history album shows miners coming out of the lead mine at the end of their shift. As my dad's great grandfather lived nearby in the 1870s, I was hoping they would be able to identify my photograph.
As you can see the buildings look very similar and there were photos of the same sort of trucks in the museum but unfortunately no one was able to identify the mine on my photograph. It was quite interesting however, I thought lead mines just produced lead but no they produced other things such as silver, zinc, flurspar and quartz. Worth a visit and good scones in the tea shop.
And scenic too!!!


A little bit of sewing over the weekend - I made Snickerdoodles - a rabbit for a baby from a pattern by Bunny Hill Designs. Spot the real rabbit.She obviously felt threatened with another lady rabbit in her territory and attacked!
And I have done a bit more knitting too. Square no 2 of my Debbie Abrahams design blanket. This one is called GRID. Only 115 to go!!

Thanks to Mandy for the Happy Quilter Label in the post. Wish my machine could do that!!

Thank you all for visiting my blog - Today I reached my goal of 1000 hits in a month- hope you all enjoy it.

Happy Quilting xx

Precious memories

Precious memories was the title of the class I enjoyed at MAKE recycled craft workshop last weekend. We spent a wonderful day with textile artist Mandy Pattullo creating a personal piece of textile art. It was an ideal opportunity to use one of the family photos I had taken from my family history book and transferred onto fabric. Here you can see my piece of work just laid out ready to be assembled. The picture shows my grandparents on their wedding day in 1932. The surrounding text is just a passage from the bible to show how important her religion was in her life. As was music - she enjoyed playing the piano. I could tell you the pieces of lace and trimmings came from her wedding dress but actually they came from an antique shop and some from Katie's stash but the overall effect is good. I have got some embroidery to put on then I will show you the finished work.
Mandy showed us a quick and easy way of transferring an image onto fabric using household emulsion paint. She showed us some wonderful examples of her work to which you can see if you visit her at The Hearth at Horsley on The Art Tour.An added bonus of the classes at MAKE is the wonderful lunch and afternoon tea provided by The Allendale bakery next door. My afternoon tea was brought to the table so I didn't even have to stop work to enjoy it. The fruit scone with butter jam and cream was absolutely fabulous - probably in my top 3 of all time best scones I have eaten - and I have sampled a lot.
And more treats were in store when my DH celebrated a big birthday too.

Happy Quilting xx

Postcard cushions

Normal service has been resumed - back to old style blogger
I hope you like the cushion I made from the printed fabric on last weeks post. thank you for all your comments
The product I used is called Miracle fabric sheets from C.Jenkins www.cjenkinscompany.com.
I have also been doing some knitting this week. I bought some Amy Butler Rowan wool and cotton yarn to start on a blanket from this Debbie Abrahams book.All the squares are the same colour but different textures based on floor coverings - this is sisal. It is quite relaxing to knit.I can never resist a craft magazine when I see a new one on the shelves- this 1935 magazine in RE yesterday was no exception. There are some great images inside which I might scan and turn into more cushions - look out.

Happy Quilting xx

A week of contrasts

This week has been a week of contrasts ........from the busy streets of Manchester where we saw this wonderful fountain...............

to the rolling hills of Northumberland.............................

The weird colours are due to the dark thunder clouds  scudding across the sky

 

 And sewing .........From traditional foundation piecing of a square in a square block.

. This project has been resurrected from my stash when I nearly bought the same fabric again because I loved it so much.........

.................To experimenting with new techniques.......................................................................................... I have been trying out printing onto fabric.  I bought the Miracle Fabric Sheets at the Edinburgh Quilt show and with a little help from my dear son, I was able to scan these photos of my grand parents and great grand parents and then print them onto fabric. The printed fabric looks like calico and is still soft to touch,
  A couple of weeks ago I bought these Vintage French postcards from Julie at The Cloth Shed. They too were scanned and printed onto the fabric.

I am not quite sure what I am going to do with it now I have mastered the process but I hope to get some ideas from Mandy Patullo when I go on her Precious memories workshop at Make in Allendale at the end of the month. Pop in and see Katie at Make or check out the other workshops here as she is doing four over the next couple of months. I do like her textile designs and hope I can branch out from using patterns to being a bit more creative.
Watch this space.


Happy Quilting xx

Royal Bunting Day

The Royal Wedding - an excuse for a day off work, an excuse for having too much to drink or an excuse to make bunting? Yes!! I just love bunting and although I had not planned to celebrate the Royal Wedding I realised it was an excuse to indulge myself - and make bunting!!

Off to The Fat Quarters where I bought just three 20cm strips of fabric, a red and white spot, a white and blue spot and a blue with a ditsy white print. I found a piece of blue stripe fabric in my stash and when it was all assembled I was able to make 10 metres of bunting all for about £6.20.
Unfortunately it started to rain so the bunting had to come inside but provided a fitting back drop for Kate Moss and Big Ben when they set off for a Best of British school party.

I finished off the little jacket I made with these buttons ...
.....cute ladybirds.....
I have been knitting with the lovely Adriafil yarn I bought from Louise at Woolfish last weekend. It is 50% wool and 50% cotton and so soft. I do like variegated wool as I am always wanting to know what colour comes next.

Happy quilting xx