Missing in Action

Well I have been, I don't know about you but I really don't know where the weeks are going to.
A lot has been going on in my universe over the last couple of months and now I can share some of the details.
 
Some of you may have noticed that I have been allowed to Craft bomb the Quay Arts Centre again this year, my thanks go to Melanie Swan, Angela and Caroline for their help on the day. It will be coming down Tuesday 20th but it will be going back up to help celebrate Festival in June.
 
It is a bit of an international affair this year as the squares on the brick pillar and the sofa cushion come from around the world. They are contributions from a granny square swap group I belong to, there are some very talented people out there.

I have been busy teaching again and three lovely ladies had a great time making crochet flowers yesterday. Andrea turned her creations into a beautiful headband for her daughter, isn't it lovely?

 
While the sun was shining on Saturday I attended Melanie Swan's dyeing from the garden workshop at Jubilee Stores, it was very inspiring, I can honestly say that some of the ideas and techniques Melanie taught me will be turning up in my collage pieces. Thank you Melanie for the inspiration.


The images on the left were some of the processes that we learnt on Saturday, I will post more details from this later in the week. I need to be a good girl and carefully log which plants we used to dye with and which mordant and modifiers were used. It is something I need to become better at so that I can recreate things rather than just winging it!


But I have saved the best for last - we are going to be opening a shop in July! It will be selling knitting yarns and embroidery threads, I have been busy sourcing threads and yarns that are not currently available on the Island. Its like Christmas, this week I am waiting for sample books and reps to get in touch.
 
This is your opportunity to help us shape the stock we carry and workshops that we provide - so I am asking you to think about what you would like to be able to buy or learn, and let us know. If you let me know then I can explore the possibilities.
 
I think that is enough from me for now, I will be posting regularly to keep you up to date with developments.

Wishing you all happy crafting whatever your passion.

Best wishes

Tracy

=^.^=
 
Forthcoming workshops in May:
 
Sunday 25th - Crocheting Granny Squares, this workshop is suitable for beginners 1 - 4 pm at Quay Arts, Tel: Box Office on 01983 822490 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting  FREE  end_of_the_skype_highlightingCost £15

Tuesday 27th and Friday 30th - Children's beginners Crochet and Knitting at West Wight Alpacas, Wellow, Tel: 01983 760900 Email: enquiries@westwightalpacas.co.uk  Morning and Afternoon sessions Cost £15  (age 9+)


 

Ta Dah!

Hello Everyone,
I hope that you are all enjoying the change in the weather, as I write this the sun is shining and the birds are tweeting. Rain is forecast for later but we can't have everything can we.

On my last post I showed you a picture of a piece of fabric from Hillary's Blinds Country Retreat fabric range. They have been running a Country Craft Competition - to cut, stitch and blog. I have accepted their challenge to make something from it, it took me a while to work out what I wanted to make...
A bag? An owl? A doorstop? all these were good ideas but I wanted something that I could use afterwards, so what do I need?

A bowl to put the small balls of wool into when I am teaching - what a good idea.
 
Let me share how I did it -
 



Items required:
1m of fabric
Washing line
pins, scissors
Sewing machine
 
 


Firstly cut up the fabric into 1" strips.

                           
                                                            Wrap the fabric around the washing line as in the picture
 
 
 

 
 
Then start to twirl them round, securing with pins.
Place the twirl under your sewing machine foot, it should just about fit, then using a zigzag stitch sew over the curves, sewing the strips together. The settings on my machine were 4.5 width and 1.5 length, but experiment if unsure as you need the stitches to catch both parts of the wrapped line. 
Continue to wrap the fabric around the washing line - I found it helped to pin the joins between strips as it stops the fabric unravelling itself.
 

 

As you wrap it around continue to sew the strips together until it is the size you want the bowl base to be, I made mine 9.5" across.

 

When you are ready to come up the sides of the bowl, turn the base upright as you sew the next round on. The tighter the angle the steeper the bowl sides will be, I went for as near to 90 degrees as possible. It looks a bit funny at first, but will come together the further up the sides you go.


 






If you want handles on the sides of the bowl, lift a length of wrapped line and stitch over this then re attach when your handle is long enough. I lifted a 4.5" strip and then left a space of 3" before reattaching it to the sides, see the picture below:



When your bowl is finished, cut the washing line, leaving a length of fabric to cove the end. Wrap the fabric to the end of the washing line and then back on itself, Sew to the bowl either by hand or by machine.







 
When you've finished just trim up any loose strands from the fabric, fill and use.

Ta Dah!

I quite like the way that the poppy design has splintered, but all the lovely colours still shine through.
 

 
 
 
 But of course none of this is possible without the very special supervisory skills of Scoobie who took up station in his box on my worktop. Bless. 

Happy Crafting everyone and watch out for the next post when I will be unveiling this year's Craftbomb event. Hope you are all excited, I can't wait its going to be epic...

=^.^=

Its been a while..

Well, where does the time go to? Has it really been a month since I last posted...
What have I been up to you ask? I have been teaching and to those who have been to class - hello, I hope you are all getting on well with your projects.
I have also been getting on well with my projects, my favourite has been the flower hearts

 

This was featured in a crochet magazine recently and is by the lovely Lucy of Attic24 fame, her blog can be found here I always find so much inspiration looking at the lovely images she posts, I hope you do to.



I have also been making more owls, they make a small appearance in the Style of Wight magazine this month, ah fame at last...
My next challenge is going to be to make something from this

It is a metre square of fabric from the new range at Hilary's blinds, they have some pretty fabrics, and to celebrate the launch they are running a competition. I opted for the wild poppies vermillion and have been trying to think of something to make that I could continue to use.
Drumroll please.... I have decided what to make - but I am not going to reveal all yet. A lady must have some secrets.

More in my next post, also look out for news of the next Craft Bomb event at Quay Arts they are letting me loose again this year, would you like to join me?

Until next time I hope that all your patterns are easy and that your yarn doesn't tangle.

Happy Crafting.

Tracy
=^.^=

Workshop Samples and new dates

Welcome to my crafting world. I have been busy these last few weeks creating samples to tempt you all to try different techniques. The workshop list has been updated to include a few new dates at the West Wight Alpaca Farm

My first effort was the African Flower Bag which is made using the African Flower motif hexagons and is gorgeous. The blog it is on has some lovely ideas and patterns and is well worth a quick look.

The African Flower Motif class is running on Saturday 8th February @ OliVen, Sunday 23rd February @ Quay Arts or Saturday 29th March @ OliVen

On a lighter note a friend of mine recently had a mammoth organisational task, so we dubbed her the official 'cat herder', its a little late but I made her a sign for her desk along with a little fluffy cat, Pink of course for our Jeni. She recently came to the crochet owl workshop and of course her owl is also pink, all we need to find now is a beautiful pea green boat pattern and she has the makings of a poem....
 
Until next time, make sure you stay warm, dry and most importantly keep crafting!

=^.^=

 

 

Settling in and looking forward

Hello I really thought that an update was very overdue, so here goes.

Well we are now beginning to settle into our new home, only the cat flap to put in and we will all be happy. This year is a new beginning for us in many ways, last year closed many chapters in our life and we can now start to plan for the future. How scary is that? Are you planning any changes this year? Any new craft projects on the horizon?

I have a year to see if I can make a living through my crafting and teaching, so please spread the word if you know anyone who would like to learn to knit or crochet. Workshops will be held at my usual places Quay Arts and OliVen in Newport, and - drum roll please.... there will be some new classes at West Wight Alpacas dates and topics to be announced soon. This will be potentially dangerous for me as they have some yummy yarns in their shop, if you don't believe me go and have a look, also they serve lovely tea, coffee and cakes too - what's not to like?

There are still spaces on the upcoming workshops if you would like to learn how to knit with wire and beads, Learn to crochet, or how to make the beautiful African Flower motif, check the dates and venues for booking details. I look forward to seeing you soon.

Happy crafting!

=^.^=

Happy ladies learning to crochet at Quay Arts



Happy Owls - everyone a character!

Sample in progress for the Patchwork/Domino knitting class