By Stephie, on Saturday 22nd January, 2011 at 20:44 pm
I feel guilty: I realise I never did finish my 12 days of Christmas posts. Things got on top of me I guess, but the omission is all the more annoying because I’d planned to show you one of my favourite cushions. I’d been mulling ideas over for a while based on some pebbles I’d collected from a local beach. I played with the possibility of a simple 9 patch design in greys.
 9 patch grey and white stripes  Collecting grey and neutral fabrics  Adding some sand colours for contrast I wanted the cushion to have added textural interest and decided on raw edge strips for the patches; it reminded me of ripples in the sand, or the way the waves bleed into the sand. If that seems far-fetched to you, just think of it as the whimsical musings of a someone who’s probably not quite right in the head!
 Hand and machine quilting lines I quilted it with flowing lines that resemble the white quartz in the pebbles. I quilted it by hand and free-motion machine and the stitches are in different sizes and colours. I also included a metallic silver thread that glistens when the light catches it. It’s very subtle, but adds to the texture I was after.
 The finished cushion  It could almost have been washed up on the beach I made the back very plain, just a simple white with a few lines of top stitching and a chunky button.
 Simplicity  Top stitch and button detail on the reverse That’s it. What do you think? I really liked it – and it was hard to give it away!
love Stephie x
By Stephie, on Thursday 23rd December, 2010 at 10:55 am
Yes, we’re finally getting there. Well, that is, I’m finally getting there, Kim’s been in the mood for Christmas since last Christmas. He has his Christmas wish list sorted and lives in a state of hope and excitement every day. He’s looking forward to opening the box of Roses and stripping the tree bare of it’s chocolate decorations. He’s looking forward to seeing the look on his daddy’s face when he opens the present that he helped to make. He’s looking forward to lighting candles and making it look “really festive” – I’m worried he’s turning into a pyromaniac. Yes, two days to go and I’m finally getting there. Well, I think I’ll definitely be there when I finish making the Christmas presents…
 The tree's decorated at last! And that's Kim's half finished quilt from last Christmas...  Doing some Christmas baking  Oh my word these are tasty! The smells from the kitchen were wonderful! Kim found the recipe for the cookies on the BBC website. You can find it here. Be warned though, you won’t be able to help yourself and will certainly end up with half the amount of cookies that you actually baked!
 Stitching away on his daddy's Christmas present How about you, are you ready yet?
love Stephie x
By Stephie, on Sunday 29th August, 2010 at 13:02 pm
Hello my lovelies! Not been here for a while have I? Computer problems and a week in Norfolk are to blame – not me obviously! I’m still in Norfolk as it happens, and I happen to have found a computer that works, if you’re one of the few people that consider Windows Vista as something that works…
We’re here in the east of England visiting family. Heavy rain and blustering winds have been battering this part of the coastline for days now, so we’ve spent a lot of time inside (not having thought to bring a jaunty sou’wester and Norfolk gansey!). Kim’s been running around with his cousins, one’s the same age and has the same passion for Star Wars and Lego as Kim does. Two of them in the house? Not good for the sanity. I lost my train tickets before we came and had to buy new ones (I think I must have thrown them out with some old tickets to St Ives), but admist all the self-imposed stress I did manage to remember to bring some sewing and a sketchbook, so I’ve been happily keeping myself busy despite being stuck indoors for lack of warm and waterproof clothing.
 All piled up and ready to go I’ve been working on a quilt top I started some time ago now. I rashly decided to make it entirely by hand, but it turned out to be a good decision. It’s something I can easily carry around with me and get on with whenever the mood takes me, or I’m sitting in a waiting room somewhere. I’ve finished all the nine patch squares now and have started on the sashings with the fussy cut squares. Even though I’ve been doing this for a year or more, I still love the fabrics I chose and it surprises me how quickly it builds up when I get going. I think I’ll be doing a lot more sewing this afternoon; I’m sat in my mother’s conservatory and it sounds like I might need an ark by nightfall! I think I’ll forget about the 8 mile run I need to do and the walks I’d planned at Brancaster. You never know, I might have a finished quilt top by the time I get home.
If you’re one of my keen-eyed readers you may have noticed that my From The Loft shop images have disappeared from the column on the right. I haven’t closed it down, just shut it for the week I’m away. I’ve got some more items to list when I get back, so keep an eye out for them. ‘Til then I’ll love you and leave you and hope that where ever you are, you’re not getting too wet!
love Stephie x
By Stephie, on Monday 29th March, 2010 at 00:37 am
Well, yes, hello from me  I may have had the Mac back for a couple of days, but those couple of days have been a bit fraught; connecting to the internet has been at best intermittent. But after another trip to the Mac shop and a call to BT I think I’m finally sorted. Apart from putting everything back in place that’s disappeared since the demise of the unbacked-up hard-drive that is, *groans loudly*.
It feels like I’ve been away forever. It’s hard to actually remember what life was like before we had personal computers, but I know I had one (a life, that is). I wonder what it was I filled my days with? Probably that making art business, or maybe even reading. So, two weeks without a computer and what have I got to show for it? Well at least a few things worth sharing with you, I think! I thought I’d use this first post to show you the finished lap quilt I was working on, before every thing Mac went tits-up (what a wonderful phrase that is, it does make me smile). It’s in an exhibition at the moment at Art House 2 near Portsmouth, so if you’re in the area pop in and have a look!
 I called it Saffron Field because the colours have a warm spicy feel, but next to the daffodils I think Spring Field would have worked just as well!  Picnic anyone?!  Stringy detail! You can see some of the hand quilting too.  OMG - now what's going on?! It's upside down  Did I speak too soon or something? I thought all my internet/Mac problems were over. But as is obvious from the image above, I was wrong! Oh so wrong… Why oh why is WordPress uploading my images any which way IT likes and not the way I tell it to? All I want is for my pictures to be the RIGHT WAY UP – is this too much to ask? Apparently. I’m running out of ideas now – I’ve tried turning them up the other way in iPhoto and loading them, hoping they’ll come out the right way up, but no they still come out upside down. All I can suggest now is that you turn your monitor upside down. I may well be about to throw mine out of the window.
I’m so sorry; I’m sure you can detect my frustration and irritability. I wanted to come back here with a colourful, jolly post (well as jolly as I can be!) and here I am growling. Maybe I should head off to bed and hope that the world is the right way up when I wake up in the morning – do you think that might work? Pigs might fly I guess!
I hope your weekend has been a bit less frustrating? Have you been up to anything fun? I went for a lovely walk along the cliffs with Kim yesterday and I even had some photos to show you, but I think I’ll save that for now! I had planned to go for a run today, just three miles, and do a bit of gardening, but it’s been raining so heavily I couldn’t bear to go out. Deluge is an understatement. My wee bit of lawn will be a swamp; I expect to see alligators in the morning. I did manage a trip to the garden centre though and bought a few packets of annual seeds: pansies; violas; petunias; stock; godetia and some cupid’s dart (a perennial that apparently flowers in it’s first year). They should add some colour to my pots and flower beds this summer. I don’t know about you, but planting seeds always makes me think positive thoughts about the future, I guess it’s the anticipation of colour and warmth! Notice I didn’t say sun? This is Cornwall: we can’t guarantee sun here but we can definitely guarantee rain!
Well my lovelies, I think I really will head off now and leave the problems for tomorrow. I hope you had a good weekend and look forward to catching up with you soon.
love Stephie x
By Stephie, on Wednesday 10th March, 2010 at 13:28 pm
Something creative that is! Here’s just a few snaps, can’t stay long – should be getting on with it… Will be back later on though, I’ve got more running rambles to tell you about!
 This one's all about the squares  And a bit of colour  And is being basted ready for some hand quilting
By Stephie, on Monday 18th January, 2010 at 15:48 pm
You can probably tell that I’m a but excited by the completion of this belated Christmas present, I really love it! So, please forgive me if I’ve gone a bit overboard with the number of pictures; the quilt has gone now, so they’re all I have left! You might think I’d be a bit bereft or scratching around for something else to do, but no. Alongside finishing this quilt, I’ve also been knitting – trying to finish another belated Christmas present. And that’s what I’m going to focus on now, a beautiful lacy scarf. I’ll show you some pictures of that in a day or two, when that one’s also on it’s way to its new owner!
 Fresh against the white  A glimpse of my inspiration can be seen behind the quilt here  In all it's glory!  And here it is again!  Closer view  I LOVE the circles!  What do you know? It's a circle!  More details of my hand quilting  I'm just as happy with the reverse!  It's like roads over hills!  And it was gone... off for a new life with its new owner! Notes for quilters
- Quilt designed and made by Stephanie Boon (me!)
- Fabrics are 100% cotton, with a polyester wadding
- Fabrics include Kaffe Fassett and Amy Butler
- Machine pieced
- Hand quilted using Coates cotton perle
- Hand appliqued
- Overall size tbc
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I'm running a 28 mile marathon in memory of Josie this February. Come and find out why.
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