Painting with Stitches

Wow!  What a day!

This workshop was a while ago now but I would like to share it with you as the technique used for creating stitched pictures is a wonderful way for those of us who cannot draw to create our own unique pieces.

First let me introduce you to Sue Dove author of Painting with Stitches.  A very talented lady with a passion for painting and embroidery, Sue creates colourful, quirky textile pictures by creating a collage in paper and oil pastels first, before turning this into a hand stitched embroidery.

Sue came up from her studio in St Ives to do a one day 'Collage and Stitch' workshop. To provide the inspiration for the final piece we began the day by tearing up magazines (very therapeutic!) to create a collage. To keep things simple, the theme was flowers.

This is how mine looked in it's first stage of construction.

The next stage was using oil pastels to fill in the background.

Having completed our 'drawing' it was now time to create the fabric version.  We began rummaging through loads of scrap fabric that Sue had brought along, chosing pieces to replicate our 'drawing'. We started by laying out the background fabrics and then adding the detail.  Once this was done we could then begin tacking the pieces in place before beginning the embroidery.

Time was running out fast and unfortunately I only managed a little embroidery on the day. Below you can see the comparison between my original 'drawing' and the stitched piece.

Sue's work is mainly embroidered by hand and I know she always has a piece in her bag to work on when she has a spare minute.  I found it quite hard on the fingers, to sew through all the layers of fabric so I'm afraid I cheated and did most of mine by machine.

You can see though, I got there in the end!  To keep all the large background pieces in place I added stitching creating the illusion of a jigsaw puzzle and to finish it all off I added a crocheted border.

I had no idea how this was going to turn out when I started although I was rather pleased with the result. It's not my usual kind of work but the process used was interesting and I would definitely use this technique again as it is a wonderfully free way of creating a picture.

We will be spending the weekend with friends when this post goes out so I shall look forward to seeing what everyone has got up to this week on Handmade Monday when I get home.

Better late than never!

Have you ever stopped to think how reliant we have become on computers and in particular the internet?  Back 20 years ago, I can remember saying to my husband "What on earth do we want a computer for?". Last weekend we had a few days in Chepstow at a    B & B in the middle of the countryside.

I got prepared beforehand writing a post ready to publish in time for Handmade Monday only to realise the internet connection was virtually non existent!  I really don't like to say this but I was completely lost without it (Shhh! Don't tell anyone I just admitted to that!) and equally disappointed not to be able to join in with Handmade Monday!! So, I know none of you will be able to resist the temptation to find out what you missed out on (cough, cough!) and also, the 'ta dah' moment at the end of this post wont make much sense unless you read it, so pleeeaaase, humour me, just pop back and have a quick shifty at what should've been last week!

We arrived in Chepstow in beautiful autumn sunshine and after stopping for a bite to eat, had a stroll along the river .......

and up onto the bridge .....

with a view of Chepstow Castle

This was Taffy's first outing for a while and he was eager to explore the castle and his welsh connections!

Be careful Taffy, it's a long way down .....

Question: What are you up to Taffy?
Answer: Climbing the oldest castle door in Europe!

Time for a little Morris Dancing and a well earned pint!

And just enough time at the end of the day for a short visit to Tintern Abbey.

Taffy and his friend Chester have got up to quite a bit of mischief in the past.  You can read all about their escapades in these previous posts.

Chester and Taffy help with the hedge trimming!

Chester and Taffy bake a cake

Taffy helps with the household chores

Taffy at the Dentist

Taffy's day out at the Eden Project

And to the final part of this post, the finished mandala ... my ta-dah moment! This was a very cheerful project with plenty of variation on each round, just enough to keep you interested but not too difficult.  You can read all about the inspiration for this mandala and find the links to the free pattern in my previous post.

 I need a new crochet project now - any ideas? 

Thanks for reading peeps. 

x

Yarndale inspired Mandala

I expect those yarn addicted blog followers amongst you can not have failed to notice that Yarndale took place last weekend, up in Skipton, North Yorkshire.

The first ever Yarndale was held in 2013 and from what I have read, was a tremendous success.  It is described as a "creative festival celebrating all things woolly and wonderful" and from pictures I've seen, it certainly lives up to it's claim.  One of the people involved is Lucy over at Attic 24 a wonderfully colourful, yarny blog which I always enjoy visiting.  Recently she posted about the Starflower Mandala made from a free pattern

found over at Zooty Owl's Blog.  It was perfect for a visual display she was organising for this year's Yarndale and a few other friendly bloggers offered to help her out by making one or two themselves.

I came across this event too late this year to be able to get myself up to North Yorkshire, as it is quite a trek from down here in South Devon! But, I have already put it in my diary for next year when I hope to rectify the situation. Anyway, I am telling you all this so you understand where the inspiration for my mandala came from!  I instantly fell in love with the colours and the size so decided I would make myself a bit of Yarndale!!

I have some gorgeous Planet Penny Cotton which is so easy to work with and comes in a range of cheerful, bright colours (Planet Penny - another wonderfully colourful, yarny blog!). There are about 18 rounds to the pattern so I chose just 9 colours, deciding to start with red through to blue and back to red again.

I made a start .... the first 4 rounds

Now up to round 9!

and I'm afraid that is as far as I have got!  So far it is about 10" wide from point to point.  I am aiming to work on this over the next few days but if I had taken time to finish it before I wrote this post I wouldn't have had time to write the post. To finish or to post? Catch 22 I think!!  I should be able to show you the finished article next week. Watch this space.

I would just like to share one more little snippet with you.  I have been thinking of doing a bit of dressmaking for a while now, but it's not easy making things to fit when you have a few lumps and bumps in the wrong places!  Anyway, I thought I would start with something simple and have chosen to make a sleeveless top.  First hurdle - to find a pattern.  I came across this one Sorbetto by Colette Patterns which is free to download.

It prints out onto about 20 sheets of A4 and comes with really easy instructions on how to print it out to the right size and easily matches up using those little black diamonds you can see in the picture below.  Here it is all pieced up and ready to go.

It was easy to work out which size to follow, once I had measured my lumps and bumps, and there were also finished measurements so you could chose the perfect fit.  I'm going to try making it first using calico so I have the opportunity to make final tweaks if necessary before tackling the real thing!
I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.

Off to finish my Mandala now, thanks for reading :)

African Flower Square Crochet Bag

Having had a break for a while I'm sort of playing catch up.  I was able to do a little crafting from time to time so am sharing a crochet bag I made for the summer.

I came across this lovely pattern and tutorial for an African Flower Square and immediately fell in love with it.

I'm sure there are lots of uses for this pattern but I decided I would make a bag for the summer.  I began searching for a bag pattern and came across an interesting page showing 'plans' for arranging squares to make granny square bags.

I chose this 13 square pattern and set about making my squares.   I used Sirdar dk cotton, which was very easy to work with.  I just love these colours although the pink, I already had in my stash.

All squares completed and blocked I set about stitching them together as the template above.  I used mattress stitch as this produces neat invisible seams.

Lining this bag presented a few problems as I wanted a bright pink inside but didn't want it to show through the little holes in the squares.  I solved it by double lining, using a cream on the inside and a pink on the outside of the inside - if you see what I mean!

I then needed to work out how to add the handles.  They needed to be long enough to wear over my shoulder and I didn't want them to be stretchy as crochet could be.  I solved this problem by crocheting over window sash cord and am pleased to say having used the bag regularly it has worked really well.

And here is the finished result .....

I've had some really lovely comments on this bag, even my youngest daughter who isn't a crochet fan thought it was pretty!!  Trouble is now, it has been so well used it needs a wash!!

I am looking forward to seeing what has been going on over at Handmade Monday, see you soon :)

Blogland Tour

I have been nominated by my daughter Clare to take part in the Blogland Tour.  A tour of some of the fun and creative blogs across the internet and what a wonderful way to start back after my break. She rather put me on the spot actually and gave me a kick up the proverbial backside!!!

If you haven't been over to Clare's blog yet you are definitely in for a treat.  Her work is stunning. Drawing, painting, doodles, crochet, stitching and most recently very intricate paper cuts like the one below.

She can turn her hand to anything and always produces an amazing result.  Of course I may be just a tinsy winsy bit biased!! So why not take a look for yourself and make up your own mind, you wont be disappointed.  I'll leave you with a coloured pencil drawing Clare did recently of Molly our cat, who is sadly no longer with us.

Ok! To take part in the Blogland Tour I have to answer four questions and then nominate a blog to take part, in order for the tour to continue,  So here goes with the questions first.

What am I working on?

At this moment in time I am creating Dorset Buttons.  From time to time I teach crochet and craft workshops and during October I have two coming up, one at a really gorgeous wool shop called Spin A Yarn in a nearby village.  Usually Dorset Buttons are created using fairly thin thread but this time I am using dk cotton on a larger ring to enable them to be used as brooches or shawl clips.  This is proving far trickier than I first thought!  Here are a few of the smaller ones I have created in the past. They measure about 1.5" diameter but the one I'm working on at the moment is nearer 2.5" and the ring is fatter.  Which I think is the cause of my problems!

Later this year I will post a tutorial on how to make Dorset Buttons and you should then be able to see the outcome of the larger ones.

I am also returning to my patchwork and quilting workshop this week (not teaching this one, just learning!) but here are a few of the blocks I worked on last time.

How does my work differ from others of my genre?

Hmmm? this is a difficult one!  I'm not very good at 'playing' with creations.  I like to learn a new skill and achieve a finished article all in one, so I produce something useful.  I think I'm more of a practical crafter than a creative crafter!

Why do I write/create what I do?

I love the challenge and how each piece presents its own dilema!

How does my writing/creative process work?

I think we are back to the challenge again here!  I see something I like and think "I could make that". Then I start working out how to achieve it. If I need to learn something new in the process, even better!  For instance, I used to make jewellery and fancied crocheting with wire.  I couldn't crochet so I learnt how to do it, now I'm hooked on crochet!

You can find out more about the little elephant in the picture by visiting a previous post Maisy the Elephant.

Moving on now to the blog I would like to nominate to take part in The Blogland Tour.

I have recently come across Itsamistry Design Studio.  I was browsing through the blogs on Handmade Monday when this cheerful picture of an elephant caught my eye.

I was instantly drawn to Itsamistry's use of colour and after having a wonderful nose around her blog realised this was a major part of her work.  Why don't you pop over and pay her a visit too - go on, you know you want to!

Well thank you all for reading my first post in a while! I hope you enjoy the blogs I have introduced you to.  It's lovely to be back and I'm really looking forward to taking part in Handmade Monday and catching up with what everyone has been up to.

My Cancer Interlude

Well, it has been a little while since I added to my blog I'm afraid so I thought a short explanation was in order.

Unfortunately I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer just before Christmas.  As you can imagine this diagnosis turned life upside down, so Fiddly Fingers has taken a bit of a back seat.

I have undergone, chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy since January and have just last week come out the other side!! I am now on the long road to recovery and hopefully a cancer free life. Fingers crossed!

This journey would have been near impossible without my wonderful support network of family and friends who have helped me immensely and given me tremendous support along the way.  Thank you to all of you.