Holiday Snaps

I used to love the holidays when I was teaching as it was a much needed time to rest and recuperate, but I think I love them even more now as I get to spend loads of time with Sam during the school breaks.  We've just been at Kellah Farm near Hadrian's Wall for a week, Sam's choice of holiday destination.  We did all the things he wanted to do and had a great time.  Here are a few photos:

Sara and Sam riding on the swing boats at Beamish Open Air Museum.

With Connor (named after one of Sam's friends) the pet lamb.

Sara having her first ever ride on a horse and Sam very confidently showing her what to do!

Inspecting the bath house.

Organising the troops.

Having a not very disciplined moment for a Roman soldier.

Inspecting his flock after a day on duty on The Wall.

And I took a few "arty" shots but didn't manage much stitching - Sara and I were shattered at the end of each day, fit only for eating local fudge and watching DVDs!

  

 

I'm having a lazy weekend now as next week we're off to the Boro exhibition at Somerset House.  If you can't wait, Susan Briscoe blogged about it here.

Sewing, At Last

I have finally got sewing, after a long break.  My sewing room is tidy and I know where most things are (the drawer of "gadgets and accessories" still needs attention) and I have a running order.
So far this year I have made a second little bag for Beads of Courage, almost finished my Hadrian's Wall journal quilts and made them into a textile book and layered and machine quilted my birthday blocks from my Global Piecer friends.
I have some enjoyable hand stitching to do.

Firstly, the final page of the Hadrian's Wall book which is dyed with leaves, lichen and bark found in the area and needs embroidery.  Secondly, the birthday quilt needs some hand quilting and then binding and labelling.

I also have an additional project.  Before Christmas my sister and I sorted out a lot of Mummy's art and craft things.  She was a talented water-colourist, a knitter and did tapestry.  In addition to lovely examples of her work in these areas we found a partly worked quilt.  In typical Mummy fashion it is all recycled fabric, the plain is curtain lining, the patterns are from sample books, old clothes etc.  The papers are cut from Christmas cards which makes the work very heavy at the moment and quite rigid.  The weights of the fabrics vary and the colours represent the entire rainbow.

In with the quilt was a stock of fabric pieces, a supply of old Christmas cards, a reel of thread, a needle and Mummy's Singer scissors.  I agreed with my sister that I would finish the quilt.  I will be making hexagons and half-hexagons whenever I have time to spare, in front of the television, in the waiting room at the hospital etc etc, it will be my current portable project.  We haven't discussed what we will do with the finished quilt.
On Tuesday it will be the first meeting of Country Roads Quilters in 2014.  We have an exciting year ahead, with a busy programme of meetings, I'm looking forward to catching up with all the members, it seems a long time since we met for our Christmas event.

WIP - Wall In Progress

A short post from me today in wild, wet and windy Lincolnshire.

Firstly, I had a great workshop with Angela Daymond on Saturday, learning how to use the iPad for design. Lots of wonderful techniques and ideas. 

I'll be doing more of that so "watch this space"!

Secondly, today is definitely a stay in and sew today. I've been sitting in front of a lovely log fire and cutting up bits of fabric so that I can stitch them all together again. This is what I've done so far...

Lots to be done on this piece!!

Progress and Purchases

Here's a progress report on my Northumberland/Hadrian's Wall textile book. I think this page is finished (who knows for sure?) and it was inspired by the flowers we saw, predominantly heather and rosebay willow herb. I had a very relaxing time doing all the stitching on a piece of dyed linen (from Images of Egypt at FoQ).

The next page isn't finished, it will have more stitching and some words. I've never got on very well with transferring photographs to fabric, the surface/texture is always disappointing, but I had to include my little Roman soldier in the book :-) The background is fabric weaving, not pieced.

Today I went for a mooch and happened upon this book for the bargain price of £3. I did a weekend workshop with the author, Richard Box, many moons ago and hesitated to buy the book as it was expensive so I'm extra pleased with buying it today.  Sorry this photo is sideways (still getting to grips with posting from my iPhone).

I am going to save my other bargain for my next post, suffice to say it is a "project" and will need some thought. Now I must away, Sam will be home from school very soon and I promised to take him to the playground. It's such fun being a Nanny :-) 

Pony Trekking Video

I can't believe I didn't post a video of Sam on his first ever pony trekking experience while we were in Northumberland.  As you can see, I have remedied that :-)
Tomorrow Al and I are looking after the wonderful Sam for a few days.  I'm taking some sewing with me as Sam will be at school during the day.  I should have something to share soon.  I'll be continuing to work on The Wall (thanks for all your encouraging comments, here and on Facebook) and working on a piece based on the colours of the landscapes we enjoyed, especially the heather and the stunning rowan trees which were heavily laden with deep orange berries.

Home and Starting to Think in Stitches

We're back safely from our holiday on Hadrian's Wall and, after doing the washing, cleaning out the car and restocking the fridge/freezer which defrosted while we were away, my mind is turning to quilty thoughts.
I didn't do very much shopping while we were away but did get a few little treats.  We visited the Forge Studios in Allendale and discovered a real treasure.  Not only is there a collection of individual craftspeople based there but there are good quality exhibitions and a very nice café.

I bought a scraps bag and some lovely threads with a project based on the area in mind and I collected various bits and pieces on our travels.  I'm not sure how I'll be using them but I certainly had a lot of inspiration in the countryside.

I was also unable to resist this throw from one of the English Heritage sites we visited.  It's made in Britain, from recycled wool.

Here's some of that inspiration:

And finally, these Roman scissors ( below left) were found at one of the sites we visited and were exhibited with a modern pair alongside, good design never dates does it?