World Wide Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to my blog.

Last week I was nominated by Sheila to take part in the World Wide Blog Hop. Sheila has become a good blogging friend over the last eighteen months and produces some beautiful work. She also hosts a couple of postcard swaps every year and it has been lovely to meet some new friends this way.

I am a quilter and embroiderer - neither take priority - and spend most of my spare time making and creating. I have been sewing for as long as I can remember and in 1980 I joined a City & Guilds embroidery class and around the same time I also became a member (founder member) of The Quilters Guild of the British Isles. At that time there was no City and Guilds for patchwork and quilting - it was part of the embroidery course. So nine years ago after we had moved to France, I took a distance learning course and completed the City and Guilds part one course.

1.What am I working on now?

My main project at the moment is a four seasons wall hanging in crazy quilting. This is the first time that I have done any crazy work and so I am learning a lot as I go along. So far I have completed 3 of the 4 panels.

Winter

Spring

Summer

Now that I am learning more I shall go back to the first two blocks to add more stitch as I feel that they are looking a little sparse!

I have recently returned to hexagons - my first quilt was a hexagon quilt, I had no idea there was any other kind of patchwork! The hexagons I am working on are 1/2" which are tiny but lovely and I am using a pack of samples from Strawberry Fayre so feel very virtuous making something out of nothing.

As usual there are many other works in progress! A quilt that I am hand quilting, a Dear Jane (doesn't everyone have one of those) a handbag, some Christmas presents, a mystery quilt and there are always postcards either in progress or waiting to be made.

2.How does my work differ from others of it's genre?

Not all of it does! But I do like to take a traditional technique and see how I can turn it around or use it to make something unusual. For instance, having seen a lot of hexagons around in the blogging world I got the itch to do some myself but wanted my work to be different and to use up some of the fabrics that I dye myself. And so I made this cover for my sewing machine which combines hexagons with handstitch, another favourite technique.

Again, looking for a way to use a variety of hand dyed fabrics I made these two panels 'in the style of crazy patchwork'

3.Why do I create what I do?

Because it's out there to be done and I love the doing!

4.How does my creative process work?

I like to work from photographs of which I have many! I am more interested in colour and interpreting that in any way I can. For instance my recent series of pomegranate postcards

and this 'Pink' wall hanging which was based on a pink, mop headed poppy that we have in the garden.

Sometimes I make sketches or designs but more often than not my work evolves as it goes along.

A few more pictures of past projects. First a book wrap for a project about part of my garden.

A clutch bag that I made for a competition.

Two small quilts - Peace River I and II

And so the blog hop continues - I have to nominate two bloggers who will post next Monday. My nominees are

Susan of Sew Susan blog

is a brilliant artist and produces some amazing, and sometimes quirky, work

Do go and see what she is up to.

Jennie of Jennies Threads blog

is a prolific patchworker and quilter who has a gorgeous 7 month old baby, Mia.

Her work is colourful and fun - I hope you will visit her.

Also nominated for the blog hop by Sheila is

Annette In Stitches and Seams blog

She is posting today so I hope you will go and visit her too.

Thank you so much for coming to visit - I hope you will drop in again.