Work in progress A studio visit

I have had a delightful afternoon surrounded by lovely things, quite inspiring.
I have been to visit Lizzie today and she was in the midst of her journal quilts to reach her end of year deadline.
I was fascinated with the many techniques and processes she uses to build up her work resulting in some wonderful textures but more than that, real depth.
I know she will show you the finished results before they go on tour or whatever they are destined for.
Her chief "timewaster " Archie is a charmer and stole my heart! he had to help of course

Help !!

I need some 60 inch wide tweed to back this throw..... all mine is 5 inches too small have you girls got anything ??

All stitched up !

Phew ! finally stitched up and the tedious bit ! all the raw edges over locked.
Must say I am quite pleased with the colours and the frame effect,rather than just a random patchwork. Just need to find the right backing now , these throws are 60 inches square so it can be a challenge

First Christmas at Stour Provost

My Blogs are usually textile orientated , however I felt the first Christmas spent with David's younger sister Diana and husband Graham who have just moved to Dorset , warranted a mention.
We had a very traditional day Lunch broken by a lovely walk into the village Stour Provost and back for pudding and other sweets.
Hope your day was peaceful and merry

While Shepherds watch....Muckleford style

Country Christmas Capers !

I have been out into the countryside today to visit friends and ex neighbours , firstly to Muckleford to deliver my iced cake and truffles for June and Les ( Christmas tree ) and my lovely ex neighbour Sue, who I have traditionally for years help decorate and do her special table piece in time for visitors.
The steep drive was an ice rink so I had to settle for leaving Freidathree parked cross ways across the entrance facing the right way to go after some rather hairy slidy 6 point turns!
My next port of call was a friend who lives in an idyllic period lodge half way down the drive of a country Estate.
It did not look too bad but is on a hill and I got thoroughly stuck trying to get large Volvo through her gate in reverse so as to be able to get out without having to turn on grass. After some fraught moments I managed to regain traction and get on terra firma so drove to the bottom turned and made a run for it which was fine until I stopped outside the lodge. I reversed again right to the bottom and set off again and this time did not stop until I was over the cattle grid and on the level again at the road where I left the car and walked the 1/4 mile back to Della's I had my snow boots , think Freidathree needs snow tyres, we always did change tyres in Canada with the seasons.
Anyway tippytoed along the backroads to join the A37 and made it home safe and sound. Glorious sunshine made the countryside look crisp and wonderful , so nice to get out of town

Happy Christmas from my Dorchester Studio

Happy Christmas to all my friends who follow me xxxxx
My lovely tree is a Christmas present from my special Muckleford neighbours June and Les freshly cut.
I am working on my traditional gifts chocolate truffles and Christmas cakes.
Do drop in for a drink and mincepie just call to make sure we are home 01305264914

No 10 is on the cutting board

Finally last week I found the " Missing Link " the right sweater to pull it all together.
I waved the family off after our Christmas weekend and headed for the studio, I have been cutting squares all afternoon and just laid out my frame. I will probably fiddle with it a bit but am quite pleased with the balance , it is giving me no visual tension up to now.
Perhaps the centre square could be more definite as in a medallion quilt ?
what do you think girls ??

Theatre at the V&A

I was fascinated by the miniature Theatres , when I was a child I used to make them out of shoe boxes and if you put a hole in one end and looked through you could imagine you were there


The Theatrical Gallery was like being in " wonderland " It was so much fun and very entertaining with video snips and all sorts of pro active things to do naturally we were drawn to the uniforms in the dressing up pile !
The wardrobe department was so interesting. There were costumes from famous shows in the display cases and it was some time before we dragged ourselves away.
The lighting gave you the feeling you had stepped back in time , memories of pantomime came flooding back, a crowd of us always went with the children Christmas time in Richmond and it was followed by a special tea.

Vicky and Albert

Thats what our cab driver calls the V&A and we found it a really up beat place to be , much more lively than I remember although always was full of wonders.
Fridays it opens late and once a month they have all manner of special events, we were there until gone 7pm and people were pouring in , meeting friends having a drink enjoying the food and there was even music in the main foyer

Ticket to ride!

The Quilt above is trapunto,made from very early linen with a historical story and just wonderful




Some good friends of mine told me about the " megatrain" which is an intercity service where if you book ahead you can get incredible bargains. I did some fishing and eventually managed to book a return trip to London for 2 for £31.00!! you can apparently do even better .
So Lizzie and I decided an afternoon and early evening at the V&A would suit us .
It was all so easy and we treated ourselves to a cab to enjoy the views from Waterloo over the River to Westminster through Belgavia past the Palace to Kensington . We had a real Cockney driver who held forth on his political views.
From the moment we set foot through the door there was an air of anticipation and a buzz about the place. The new Gallery of Medieval and Renaissance has just opened and that was our first stop. We were really impressed with the layout.

Haberdashery Junkie

I have had a large fix today for my haberdashery obsession! this is just the start. My favourite " hunter gatherer " called me to say she had rather a big consignment and she was not exaggerating ! so I have many happy hours of playing ahead and rather more rug tools than I ever could imagine so lets hope rug making is hot news!
I love all the packaging and strange items and funny gadgets .
A few more bits for our collection of things we can't bear to part with I will need a special set of drawers soon Lizzie.

Festive parcel from Sweden lucky me!

I was so full of anticipation when I found a padded envelope from Sweden on my doormat today!
Blogging friend Stina had promised me a little traditional Christmas treat in return for starting her bobbin collection.I love all things Scandinavian and all my friends know I favour red and white at most times , especially Christmas ,so from the very start the wrapping was the first pleasure!
look at the lovely selection of decorations, and a lovely touch was the card explaining why she chose each one, I am quite overwhelmed and so thrilled to add to my special collection of traditional decorations.
Thank you thank you and God Jul from Dorset to Sweden

Tavistock's ancient market

Lizzie and I have been promising ourselves a trip to Tavistock Pannier market for many a long time and today was the day.
We enjoyed the drive particularly when we reached the moors. We arrived at Tavistock and were delighted from the moment we crossed the river Tavy.It is such an attractive town and we saw our destination as soon as we arrived.
It is a most historic market and has been restored to a very high standard with lovely surrounding outbuildings converted into tasteful individual shops.
we soon found a few familiar faces, amazing is'nt it in our business! We made a few purchases but were drawn by delicious smells to " Bob's East End Cafe " in the corner where we sat down to a " proper " lunch home made steak and kidney puddings with marrow fat peas and chips washed down with the perfect cup of tea, more than we could eat for £6 and delicious.
I can see this being a destination for more occasions as there is so much to see, we only just started to get acquainted.

Franglaise visit Tavistock

Having made lots of friends in Devon and Cornwall on our visits to Cowslip Workshops we thought we would have a day out and explore Tavistock. We were delighted with what we found.
The whole town is so attractive with lots of individual shops and cafe. The architecture is wonderful and we were thrilled to find some really historic ruins right in the center. As soon as I got home I was looking things up and below is a piece written by the local authority, we did spot a tin mine on the road to Lydford and saw the name " stannary" used in a place name so it bits are starting to fit and build up a picture

Tavistock, an ancient stannary (tin-assaying and tin-marketing) town, lies on the south-west edge of Dartmoor National Park , about 24 km (15 miles) north of the maritime city of Plymouth. The name "Tavistock" derives from "Tavy", the River on which the town lies, and "stock" indicating that the town became a prominent agricultural market for the area, after its progressive development around a Benedictine Abbey, founded in AD974.

The importance of Tavistock's market was recognised by the granting of a Market Charter by King Henry I to the town in 1105. The 900th Anniversary of that Charter and also the 700th Anniversary of Tavistock as an official Stannary Town was celebrated in the town in 2005 by a programme of history, musical and artistic events running from the start of the year to the 30th August, the latter being the day of St Rumon, the patron saint of Tavistock.

A further part of Tavistock's history is that Britain's great seafarer hero, Sir Francis Drake , was born at Crowndale Farm, just south of Tavistock, in 1542. A fine statue of him can be seen not far from the town centre, on the road to Plymouth, the port from which he set sail to confront and beat the Spanish Armada.

Christmas with style !

Girls you really did yourselves proud yesterday! St Mary's Hall looked wonderful and I doubt has ever seen that much talent under one roof.
This was our first Textile Orientated Christmas Market but hopefully we will do more, let me know your thoughts and if you would be interested in doing it again.
It was a good happy atmosphere not as busy as the Rag Market but then there is a lot of Christmas things on this weekend, maybe people have to get to know that ours is different.
Anyway thank you all for your support from Caroline and myself and hope to hear from you all

Saturday Feb 20Th is our next event The Bridport Rag Market so please let Caroline or myself know if you want your name on the list.
These are Cally,s Santas made by her own fair hand

Meet " Freidathree" !!

Freidatoo has proved not only to be moody but unreliable so this time we went to a Volvo place and persuaded them to let us buy the car we had on loan...so meet Freidathree , well had to have one the roof rack would fit did'nt I !
So hope this will be a longer and happier partnership.

Strawberry madness !

I always come back from Cowslip Workshops with something new I have learnt.
I was shown how to make these strawberries by two ladies on the stall opposite us who produce an amazing amount of stuff.
I thought they would set off my cakestands, butterfly cakes were my other thought but I may run out of time!
I know they are a little mad but having caught a nasty cold it was something useful ?? to do in front of the fire.
See you at the Christmas Market St Mary's Hall Bridport on Sat 28th Nov.

Christmas At Cowslip Workshops

Despite the howling wind and rain on Thursday night and the stress of worrying about the marquee Jo and Stephen were out there cheerful and welcoming when the crowds arrived to enjoy the Christmas Market and quilt exhibition at Cowslip Workshops in Cornwall last weekend
Friday was bright and breezy and it was a very enthusiastic crowd who enjoyed their day , shopping and viewing the work of Jo's students. Cowslip boasts a fantastic shop for all things you could need for quilting and craft and a cafe with the most delicious home cooked food which was packed out with happy customers who know Andrew and Vicky will have made wondrous goodies.
There was a great variety of stalls with wonderful handcrafted items and a good sprinkling of vintage and brocant .
Saturday and Sunday the weather was wild and wet but it did not dampen the determination of Jo's many followers. There were a few moments of drama but in all the weekend was most successful. We love being there and the Welcome is warm as toast

Christmas at Cowslip