Florence's Attic

Janet Bolton Workshop WIP

If you have children or pets, I hope the clocks changing went as smoothly for you as it did us.  The smaller members of the house are creatures of routine, and at this time of year we can be faced with 5am starts.  Thankfully having half term last week means the bedtime routine got very relaxed so they were going to bed later, but also waking up later - hurrah!

Oh my, I can so see why people get so enthusiastic over Janet Bolton's workshops.  I wasn't sure what to expect as I all I knew about her was through her website and books.  She was a really lovely lady, so unassuming, and so talented.  She introduced herself and gave us a quick story of her background, and then we got straight down to work.  She suggested we copy one of her pictures if we were lacking inspiration for our own, but I had already decided to do a scene from the rock pooling we did last week.  Here is is so far, a bit creased from being in my bag!  I am quite happy with it, but it needs quite a bit of stitching to make it work better and break it up a bit.  I have decided to have it framed for my dad for Christmas as he took us rock pooling.

During the workshop Janet walked round helping each of us with fabric choices and composition.  I was in awe of the way she could look at your picture and suggest what was needed to take it further.  For example I didn't like the rocks I had sewn and she suggested the stitching through them and it immediately made them look better.  I really liked the hand stitching, and found the gradual way you compose a picture very pleasing (can't think of another word for it!).  I'll post further pictures when it is done, but if you have a chance to go on one of her workshops go for it.

I am sure the latest issue of Quilting Arts magazine yet, and am getting worried it has gone astray (ok, getting worried, but also desperate to get my hands on it!).  Thankfully some good post did come today.  The new Persephone books catalogue and magazine came today, along with a gorgeous bookmark which you can just see peeking out of the catalogue.  Also check out the painting on the front cover of the magazine - I looked like that crocheting last week on the intercity, only I had a toddler asleep on me as well! 

 

Our visit to Yorkshire

Sorry, sorry, sorry, I meant to post before going away, but didn't get time.  We have been up to see my brothers family in Yorkshire. 
I so love it up there, fab shopping in Leeds and we stopped for tea in this tiled room (check out the hexagon tiles on the ceiling) in the Leeds City Art Gallery.

and then escaped to the beautiful countryside. 

It never fails to amaze me how different the countyside and houses are up there.  My brother and I both live in Victorian houses, yet they are so different as they were built in local materials, for different types of people (countryside workers vs industrial town workers).  The children were well behaved, which was great as I get the train up there and did have a rather hideous journey one time!

I have been making up some bits for the Zine.  One thing I am working on is the quarter log cabin.  Here is a cushion I made for Mister J.  He did the drawing on the panel in the corner of Doctor Who, Daleks and Slitheens.  Not really being into that myself I prettied it up with some thrities print fabrics and we both love it!

Apoligies for the dark photo.  We are supposed to be going rock pool hunting later today, and I think I may have to take a torch - it is so dark here.

On Saturday I am fortunate enough to be doing a workshop with Janet Bolton.   One of the new students on the diploma part of my course asked me if I made the Janet bolton inspired box at the exhibition.  She then went on to tell me she is visiting their quilt group and there were 2 free spaces at the workshop.  It is about an hours drive, but another friend from college took the other place so we are car sharing.

I am really starting to think about Christmas pressies at the moment, and also my assessments for collge.  I am after some photos of 1930's lingerie to work from.  If anyone has any ideas, can they let me know...

x

Strippy Baby Quilt, Postal Strikes and College

I have started a baby quilt for a little sweetie due into the world on Sunday.  I don't think the friend who it is for reads my blog so I can chat about it here.  This baby is a surprise, but she already has two boys so I am making it blue.  I may well be surprised and running it up in pink next week, so will have something a blue quilt to sell...  I have been messing around with strippy ideas from the Strip Patchwork book by Valerie Campbell-Harding, - here are the fabrics on the ironing board ready to go:

I know it's not crafty, but I wanted to mention on here about the postal strikes.  A few people have been complaining, but please please support your postman.  We are living without nearly a weeks pay this week so that a point can be put across.  I could write quite a lot about this, but I think the whole thing is summed up by the fact the Chairman of Royal Mail, who is government appointed and paid over a million a year, hasn't even turned up to the latest talks with the union.   

Still, it has sorted out my childcare for college tomorow!  We are doing strip piecing (so the book should come in handy) and looking at seminole, which I have done before.  We are also doing Fibnacci which I have never done before so should be interesting.

Happy Friday (new series of Ugly Betty tonight for those of you like us who don't actually go out on a Friday night!) x 

Crochet Ruffle Scarf

I followed the pattern and have ended up with this:

this is a close up, and it does ruffle when it hangs but I feel it is a bit thin.  The design is good as you leave an opening mear the bottom on one side to thread the other side through so it wraps round perfectly.  I have one ball of the Tapestry left which is a bit strange, but have put in as many rows as the pattern asked so an thinking about buying some more of the kidsilk to go round the edge one more time to make it fatter.  I need to practice doing some photos like the great ones at Some Girls Wander (check out the fabulous clothes, I love the style but one can only pray to get legs thin enough to wear knee high socks...), so you can see what it looks like on.

I was also really pleased to find the new issue of Crochet Today in WHSmiths.  I have been trying not to shop there due to my personal ethical issues about the post office in Brighton closing, making all their staff redundant, and then reopening in WHSmiths which already has horrendous queues, but crocheting obviously comes between a girl and her ethics!  They are celebrating magazine week and so are stocking some new magazines.  This one cost £3.00 which is on a par with the UK knitting magazines and has proved a good buy.  Here is a photo of it looking dog eared from being in my bag for the past week :

mmm, don't know if I would make the yellow cape on the cover, but the patterns inside are great.  Check out these little Converse style baby boots

sorry about the glare on the photo, but the weather seems to have plunged us into darkness at the mo!

Happy Tuesday x

 

Quilting Bargains

Time is flying by and I feel we are most definitely in autumn.  I am loving the cosy evenings in and desperate to finish a quilt top to sit under and sew in the evenings.  Unfortunately my plans for my college quilt have stalled.  It is foundation piecing, to my original block pattern, and I cannot get all my grains sorted.  To those of you who don't do patchwork, I have probably lost you, but to those of you who do, you will know what I mean!  I need to work out fabric quantities to get on with dyeing and printing, but cannot do this until I have worked out exactly how much of each I need through my samples.  Grrr, I had great ideas when I broke up for the summer of having the top pieced by now.  It has however freed me up to get on with the Zine (after years of seeing them collecting dust under friends computer tabels, no one now has one) and other bits such as crocheting (more on this tomorrow).

I had a bit of luck in the charity shop last week.  Everyone I know seems to get great finds, but I rarely do.  Wel, meet my knew fabricsI  I don't really go in for ditsy prints, or even blue, but they were such a bargain and I liked these, I even left quite a few in the shop of prints I really didn't like and weren't Laura Ashley.  Each piece is at least a metre, some as much as three and there are two Laura Ashley cottons in there - one from 1976 so it is even older than I am!  I have decided that when I use it I will try to incorporate the selvedge so there is a bit of history in the quilt.  I also love the dark blue colour and print.  The other blue ones are big enough to back quilts with so I'll save them for that.  The cream and blue one at the top is in a upholstery weight, as is the stiff linen - these will be turned into bags.  I paid 50p for each piece, apart from the linen which was £1 - not bad eh?

I have also had a bit of a result with books.  I find you don't get many patchwork books in charity shops, so always snap them up when I do.  I love to see photos of seventies patchwork clothes (a dressing gown is my favourite, I must post it one day), and can always find projects to inspire me.  These are no exception, with projects going from the sublime to the ridiculous.  On the right is a booklet from the needlework development scheme, (more here).  It is tatty and not even all intact so the shop owner gave it to me for free, but I read about the sceme in a copy of Embroidery magazine and am really intrigued to find out more.  I love the style of needlework from the first half of the Twentieth Century.

 

Here are another two books, real finds.  The one on the right is a book of quilts from the American Museum in Bath.  It is a good book, full of colour photographs and short descriptions, and was a bargain for a quid.  The one on the left is by Valerie Campbell - Harding and is called simply Strip Patchwork.  If you are into strippy quilts I cannot recommend this enough.  I get frustrated at books which are just pattern after pattern, and this one is not like that.  She takes you through so many different ways of strip patchwork and curves.  Despite having black and white photography, it is so inspirational.  The link I have put in is to a later edition, which if you buy I hope has been left just as it was. 

 

and here is a peek inside at a picture for inspiration and diagrams.  The book is full of these diagrams for putting a quilt together.

So there we are, not much money spent and loads of information.  I still have a gap in my collection though.  I am about to Google to see how big a cot quilt should be.  I always make them really big so they fill a cot, or really small so they last for about a year in the buggy.  i am intrigued to see what size it should be and unbelievably I don't have that information on my shelf!

Happy Monday x