Down To Margate....

Last week me and The Other Half visited Margate. One of my favourite artists Alex Katz has an exhibition of work showing there at the Turner Contemporary up until January 2013.

(Turner Contemporary)

It's a great show and well worth going out of your way for. The show incorporates a collection of Alex Katz's paintings from the 1950's to the present day. Within the show are a collection of films, one of them 20 minutes long and is of Alex painting on quite a large scale, this is accompanied by a soundtrack by his friend Meredith Monk. We sat mesmerised watching the maestro at work, he made it look so fluid, so simple, it was beautiful to see!

We also walked around the old town where we found a nice vintage clothing shop called 'Madam Popoff Vintage', I bought the above fabric - a pair of curtains from the 1970's. I think I might run up a few dachshund draft excluders from it....

Rewind Wool

I knitted up this jumper using 'vintage' wool. Judging by the colour and the Woolworth's Winfield logo of yore, I guess this yarn dates back to the 1970's........?

Manchester News

A while back we went up to Manchester (the other half taking part in a group show - see here). As always I looked out for haberdashery/wool shops and he looked out for vinyl record shops, which we found, incredibly on the same street only a few doors apart from each other!

 My find is on two exciting levels, the place is crammed with all types of fabrics, buttons, trimmings, patterns wool you name it.

In one section the fabric was sold by the kilo as you can see above in a rainbow of colours...

  and in my favourites denim and.....

and corduroy..... a seamstresses delight!

Daddy Long Legs

Here's another photo for The Rouges Gallery. Meet Daddy Long Legs, the new feline addition to my friend Bev's family.

Emily Found A Thing

If you live in the East Midlands why not pop around to Rachel and Jim Grevatte's 'Emily Found A Thing' a new gallery showcasing ......'hand made one-off treasures for the home. Find an inspiring mix of unique and playful pieces designed and crafted from repurposed materials by the most ingenious British makers and creative recyclers.'

Thursday 4th October - celebratory opening between 6-9pm.

At:

Wymondham Windmill

Butt Lane

Wymondham

Leicestershire

LE14 2BU

You might spot some of my creations!

Edging Towards The Finish

The last step to finishing was to edge the quilt, wasn't sure at first what to use but then of course realised that it had to be denim!

OMG!!! I've finished it....YAY!!!!

Nearly There!

      
        I stitched all the blocks together....

then added the borders..............

Just a few buttons to sew on......

Patch It Up

I'm determined to finish the quilt that I've been working on all year this week! I over-estimated how many logcabin blocks I'd need to piece together, mainly because I used a narrower seam than I'd planned thus making the blocks much bigger, so instead of 100 blocks, I've made up 80 blocks and will have striped borders at the top and bottom edges to add a little bit of extra length.

These pictures show the border that I'll be using...

New York, New York!!!

Just back from a week long visit to New York. As always we packed in loads of sight seeing, art exhibitions and caught up with friends. The main reason for the trip was for the other half's show at the Sohotel Art Space which as always was fabulous - well done that man! I will be posting more photos of our adventures in the very near future as I gradually get back into my routine, which is going to involve more walking! We walked across two bridges this visit, the Williamsburgh and the Manhattan added to the Brooklyn Bridge we moseyed across a few years back. Wherever I go on my travels I always try to seek out haberdashery/ wool shops. This time I made a beeline for a shop called Purl Soho which satisfied all of my fabric and wool stroking tendencies as well as bombarding my eyes with a multitude of gorgeous colours and prints - ahhh bliss! I think I better go and lie down now, feeling woosey.......

I'm Nowt Without My Snout!

I was quite happy with my latest long legged bear design but thought that maybe a snout might give it more of a 'bear' look. It took a few attempts, but I think I'm nearly there now....have a lovely weekend!!!

Stamp Happy!

I had such a good time this morning. I was playing like a child with this great printing set! I re-cut my old bear head out of a rubber and arranged some tiny little rubber letters to create a new stamp for my goods.....

Happy in Hastings!

Our summer holiday finally came to an end at the weekend. Me and the other half spent an afternoon in Hastings looking at shops old and new. I always like to pop into 'Made In Hastings' where I couldn't resist taking a photo of this cute kitten on a tambourine by artist Claire Fletcher. I also bought a lovely pair of soft and warm socks in preparation for cooler days in my studio!

We'd been looking forward to a very special treat of lunch at 'Hendy's Home Store' and we were not in the least bit disappointed! We both tucked into this delicious sea bass cooked by supremo chef Alastair Hendy. The whole experience was delightful - from wandering through the home store which is full of useful but pleasing to the eye utilitarian household items all arranged beautifully in a setting that takes you back to another time to sharing delicious freshly cooked food .....tucked away at the back of the shop. We're hoping to go back in winter time when they'll have open peat burning fires!

And much later that evening our youngest daughter cooked  - a scrumptious Thai green curry for us! (we had to have a small plates because we were still full from our lunch!). What a great day!

Attack on the Quilt in the Attic!

Big apologies for the very poor quality of my mobile phone photographs of late............

Progress Report: I'm already swearing that I'll never make a quilt again!!! But I've gone past the half way point - I've sewn 70 blocks so far leaving 30 to go! I better get in front of that Bernina and get down to some serious stitching ....... Thank goodness for BBC Radio 6 and snacks!!!!!

On Offer Today

On offer from a door step near you!

Alan Again

I think Grayson Perry's latest exhibition of tapestries is over now, but if ever you get a chance, do go along to see his work. Along with his fabric pieces were his ceramics, I couldn't resist taking a pic of his 'Alan Measles' bear on top of one of his vases. Which reminds me - I must finish the Alan Measles tapestry that I picked up at his last show!........

Lost in Challock

We trundled around Kent in search of a certain village church. After a few wrong turns and false trails we managed to find it, well hidden but worth the effort. Inside were 3 murals from the last century that my other half was very interested in. While he looked at those I searched out the embroideries and found some tapestry kneelers including the above - meeow!!!!!

Up in the Garret

We're in Rye once again for a summer break. I've found a quiet spot up in the attic where I've set up my sewing machine. I'm working on a log cabin quilt for this very room, so I'm in the ideal place!

Olympic Rings

I love the Olympics - the opening and closing ceremonies, the world getting together, everyone trying their best, the handmade posters and flags, I find it all very uplifting. But I hate the way that the Olympic Rings have become 'untouchable', our natural desire to do our own versions of the world famous flag have been stamped on by the authorities and the 'official sponsors'. Schools, small business and individuals have been deprived of the chance to take part, if only in a small way, in an event that surely is meant for one and all. But here and there if you look closely you see signs of rebellion like this display in a haberdashery shop - Yay! That's the spirit, you can't take those rings away from us!

All Dressed Up With Nowhere To Go

Finds

Today we wandered around Rye. I bought a few small things including the above - a beautiful pair of hand knitted booties made by the wife of the owner of the smallest bookshop I've ever been to! A glass paperweight and a hand turned wooden bowl from a vintage shop, all pleasing to the eye and very soothing to hold in your hands.

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Mr and Miss Ted

This week I've been tinkering on my knitting machine, unfortunately I managed to ruin it by getting a part stuck in the needle bed - ahg! So today I dragged out my old machine which has thankfully turned out to do the trick. I've also taught myself how to work a picot hem as you can see in Miss Ted's dress. Have a great weekend!X

Green Scene

Here's one of my latest bears named Mr Ted after the original(knitted) Mr Ted owned by my daughter. His jumper colour reminds me of the scout jumpers my mum used to knit for my brother...

Cushy Number

The lovely Ellie came to visit at the studio the other day bearing a wondrous gift that she knitted herself, it's so colourful and has a great texture that makes it very difficult to put down once you've picked it up! Thank you! X X X

Hello There!

Yup, I'm a little bit lopsided, but hey - nobody's perfect!

Hey You!

I just wanted to say thank you to all the lovely people out there for being wonderful and for cushioning the shock of turning 50 years old! x Lorna