BLOG 250

BLOG 250

I have now collected my quilts from the Ucheldre Centre at the end of my exhibition and I was very pleased with the sales. As well as a couple from the ‘Burning Issues’ series, I sold the following pieces:

 

                                                                    Horse in a wall

                              Gentiana Alpina and Flower Arrangement

                           Tree of Life

                      Poppies

                        Irises

                  Foxglove

 In between precious time spent in the garden, I have continued to get sale items ready for Gresford and the lampshades are mounting up. What I have found amazing is how the patterns are all coming back to me; it is as if they have been waiting at my finger-tips (I couldn’t find the pattern book I wrote!) I must have made so many of them over a 5 year period, thirty+ years ago, that the patterns are second nature to me! There are lots of happy memories surfacing from that phase in my life so many thanks to my sister for storing and then passing on the shades and the dishcloth cotton after all this time!!!  A potter in Dorset used to make ceramic bases, and beads to match, for me when I was selling at full tilt and I have found a bag of these beads which I am now using to add variety to my collection. Here is an over-view of how I do it: I make a square with a bead in the centre and create a flower around it, squaring it off to make it easier to join together.

                                                                 Square

I make 4 squares and join them together using double crochets. The final edges are then joined to make a circle.

                                                               4 squares

                                                           Double crochets

After adding a couple of rows of double crochets to the top and bottom edges, the cover is slipped over the lampshade and double crochets are used to attach it onto the frame. The ends are all sewn in and the result looks neat and tidy. These shades are all made from dishcloth cotton attached onto a plastic coated frame, so they are washable if necessary. I used to dunk mine into warm soapy water, swish it about a bit, rinse and hang on a line to dry in sunshine.

                                          Floral lampshade