The good news this week is that my mother is being discharged from hospital. Although totally reliant on oxygen, her mobility has improved slightly after her broken hip and she is being allowed home. I’m sure that mentally this will do her the world of good, but we are naturally apprehensive about the situation. To that end, I am going there on Sunday for a few days to settle her in and to make sure that the systems put in place for her safety and well being, actually run smoothly.
Another pleasure for me this week was spending my Meerkat quilt prize money. I have to admit that I hate shopping but I enjoy spending money, if that makes any sense. The fact that I don’t hit the shops often means that I’m not in a position to spend! Anyway, after much pondering I have purchased an embellishing machine.
Embellishing machine
The germ of an idea was planted when I did a bit of needle felting with Suzette at the embroidery class so I am aware of the effects produced by (wo)manually blending fibres with needles. It was love at first sight and now I have one!
Needles
No thread is used at all. All it really consists of is a cluster of needles that go up and down to blend fabrics and fibres. The more open-weave the fabrics, the better it blends …. and that’s all I knew in advance of getting the machine. After a trip to Hobbycraft for fibres, here is my first attempt onto wadding. I can’t wait to experiment with it.
Fibres and flower
My fourth wall hanging has been quilted and bound. This was the first one I made in the series and it was by far the most spontaneous as you can probably tell from the joyful colours. I think I got a bit more careful and controlled by the time I made the following three. Anyway, all four will be sent off with other ‘Fabric Palette’ quilts to Grosvenor exhibitions this week to feature in their Autumn and Spring quilt shows.
Landscape with setting sun
I am continuing to work on my flower vase wall hanging and I am starting to make flowers
It’s as easy as this:-
1 Cut a slightly larger centre and random sized squares for the petals.
Prepare the squares
2 Hold onto one corner of each petal and round off the remaining 3 with pinking shears.
Round off the corners
3 Working on baking parchment, overlap the petals around the centre, fusing them in place with an iron.
Fuse the petals
4 Complete the flower and press well. What could be easier?!
Finished flowers
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