The thursday sewing group and their cloth dolls.

  As the  photographs show everyone who comes to the sewing group is lovely.We all chat and share most things and help each other. Most people have finished their first doll,some completly by hand others using the sewing machine.  The faces and hair caused most problems but I did point out that after making so many dolls those two things are still my biggest problem. I have a shoe box in my workroom full of heads I'm not happy with.   I did show them how to get the proportions right and suggested doing quite a few practise drawings were a good idea.

   No bought patterns were used. I took in a selection of arms, legs and body shape drawings and they choose whatever they wanted  to put together  . Sometimes not quite making choices I might have made   but they all were delighted with their first results .I have nearly finished my doll and hope to post her wednesday.                                                               

One of my favourite quilts.

When I first finished this quilt I thought it was too bright so I folded it up and put it on a shelf.
The other day I took it out and found I liked it after all. One of my favourite passtimes is embroidering insects and flowers,though I did add other things to this one.I made it using mostly silk,I love silk, and 
made all the squares then spent alot of time arranging them. The first plan didn't work at all so I had to make a few more squares until I felt it was reasonable.
I shall take it to the thursday sewing group along with my journal which is almost finished.

                                                                                 

I'm also in the middle of a new doll but don't think it will be finished   on time.


Today I spent the morning making backgrounds and trying to get somethings I could use in my journal
The mess I made was amazing butI I had some fun.

Well I am off to my exercise class now, I have to make myself go,partlybecause the teacher speaks so quickly and I often have no idear what she has said.If there is another English speaking person there its not to bad. We can muddle along together.I know its good for me!!
                                                                              

Fabric pens and a journal page

                                             

I recently bought some fabric pens called Fabrico dual markers and I found they didn't bleed when i drew on fabric.So I became a little carried away and drew some flowers and insects with one end and then used the brush end to paint in colour. I didn't stop to think at all and straight away used my sewing machine to add embroidery.Then because the drawings were random I decided to paint the back with Golden's matt gel so I could cut them out.I still wasn't sure what I could do with them and tentively cut out just one and made a journal page.

I then found a small quilt I made a few years ago and have been thinking how I could make another using this same way of  creating the insects and whatever.
       

  This is just part of the quilt,I used what I had because at that time i was able to buy lots of second   hand silk sari  materials.I have very little left now which is sad because the colours were always so 
fibrant                                                                      

Cloth dolls and anything with yellow

As the weather was pretty grim over Easter we knew we couldn't have our teaparty in the wood as we had planned. So on monday morning I rushed around and tried to make the house have a springtime look. Tony brought home some yellow tulips and and I cut some yellow flowers from the garden.I found my favourite table cloth which is decorated with embroidered yellow flowers and grouped together every cloth doll I still have and perched them on what I think was meant to hold candles.

I made some lemony cupcakes and cheesey scones,a.fruit cake and sandwiches.Kind friends brought more,even a gift of a yellow teapot. Then I couldn't resist throwing my just (almost finished quilt) over the sofa  though the colours didn't fit . I now have to finish the other quilt. All the pieces were meant to be one huge quilt but two the same size, if different happened. Next I want to make a crazy quilt covered in lace etc,I have so much it would use some of it up.The photo of the quilt is too pink,the background to most of the materials is cream.

Getting on with just one or two interruptions

I write about these two masks further on in this blog I seem unable to put photos in the right place

                                 Florrie joined me as I was trying to work out the final colour for the border
                                 I made the quilt with crazy patches as I wanted to use up some of my odd
                                 bits of material.I have another one in progress, not quite the same but it is
                                 again  fairly simply made and will be the same size.

I have managed to make a journal page every day.It really pleases me that I can't wait to make a page first thing in the morning,and it is getting easier to draw ,paint or whatever my thoughts dictate at that moment. I then began a search for some purple material to put the edges on one of my quilts. While doing this I came across a bag of several swallow masks. I'd had them a long time and alawys thought one day I would use one of them at a fancy dress party. That day hasn't arrived yet. I showed them to Tony who immediately said "if you don't want them I will put them on my auction site" I suddenly became very possesive about them,but in the end conceeded he could have 4 and I would keep the two in the photo.I bought them over here in Paris long before we lived here. I also have a huge bag of brooches made in a similar way,smaller and with out the black swallow mask of course.I have no idea what I will do with them.