By Stephie, on Friday 20th November, 2009 at 00:33 am
I’m a wee bit annoyed. Nothing major, just gone up the wrong alley as it were. I started a new quilt project. I hate it. It’s hideous. Nothing like I want it to be. So, from tomorrow I’m going to start again. Here’s a bit of what I’ve done so far – the bit that’s about to go in the bin.
 Inspiration  Assembling fabrics in my sketchbook (bad picture - especially the colours).  Enlarged design - the colours are really awful in this picture! (That green is actually blue...) I started making the top and I suddenly realised that really, it’s not what I want. It’s too literal an interpretation of the original image. It’s too complicated (design wise). It looks like it could be a rug. It’s ugly. Meh. No, what I need to do is to pare it right down, just look at the colours and maybe ONE simple shape. But, this is what creativity is about isn’t it? Trying things out, making decisions, changing your mind, working and reworking until you’re satisfied. I love the process. And the one thing I know I want this quilt to have is a gorgeous hum of colour. The above is nowhere near the mark. Nowhere near.
By Stephie, on Sunday 25th October, 2009 at 21:54 pm
You’ll be pleased to know that last week had some good points as well as some bad. That’s the trouble with me: my moods go up and down like a yo yo – only less predictable! To strike a balance here’s a couple of things I was more than happy with!
 A finished knitting project!  I think it's gorgeous, don't you?  It was my first pullover  I'm rather pleased with it!  Just look at the lovely colours of the Kaffe Fasset yarn. Mmmm, I could eat it!  And just look at this! An almost finished quilt top...  It's Kim's coverlet (shh - don't forget, it's a secret!)  It's very starry  a bit hearty  not pointy perfect, but made with lots of love!
By Stephie, on Tuesday 13th October, 2009 at 09:16 am
 Chapel Porth, near St Agnes, Cornwall, UK Morning everyone! Remember I said I was trying to think of a way of photographing my hearty nine-patch for you? Well, it was such a glorious day yesterday I decided to take it on a walk with me. I drove the 3 miles or so to Chapel Porth, then went for a clamber over the rocks with the quilt stuffed in my rucksack. The scenery and colours here are like nowhere else I know, and this view (left) takes my breath away every time I come around the sharp bend and down the steep hill of the valley towards it.
After I’d sat and watched the waves for a while, I made a start on up the high cliffs looking for what I hoped would be the perfect spot for a little photography. And a cup of tea and a snooze. I would surely need it after all that climbing and photography, deserve it even, don’t you think?
 Ochres and pinks, a fabulous combination I think.  I could sleep on here for hours, daydreaming  A patchwork carpet up to Wheal Coates? Now that would be something.  You could count the hand stitched hearts  and wonder at the not so perfect ones!
By Stephie, on Sunday 11th October, 2009 at 22:44 pm
 Hearty little nine patch Little stitched hearts grew in number as I sat under a blue sky with needle and thread last week. I felt the late afternoon sun wash over my face and imagined my freckles growing in number too. I made tiny running stitches, not always even, and let my mind wander.
Friends struggling, far away in an unfamiliar place, were occupying my thoughts and I wondered how I could capture this moment for them; this moment, and thousands more like it. If I could I’d scoop them up in a butterfly net, bottle them and post them to them, I surely would.
I finished this, my hearty nine-patch, over the weekend. I sewed around 60 little hearts into this quilt, then bound it to hold them all together. This afternoon it’s been tumbling in the washing machine, washing away the blood stains from the finger pricks, the cat’s muddy footprints, the pencil marks; all the residue of my work. It hangs limply over the back of a chair now, drying.
I sit here this evening, wondering how I can photograph it for you; how can a photograph possibly capture all the thoughts and feelings you have when you stitch, slowly, deliberately over time?
By Stephie, on Thursday 17th September, 2009 at 14:16 pm
 Drying off This is a quilt top I was planning to make as part of a Quilt Along over at Crazy Mom Quilts , except that I went a bit crazy myself! Whilst I’ve been trying to get some energy back after a full-on summer, I decided to get on with this simple 9-patch. Eventually it’ll be a lap quilt – made from new and used shirtings, with the odd patterned scrap used for the centre of the blocks. I’ve made a randomly pieced back from the leftovers and plan to quilt it ‘in-the-ditch’, by hand. I think the simple quilting will add to the overall simplicity of the design. I chose light colours because I have someone specific in mind to give this quilt to and I think that’s what they’ll like. I hope so anyway!
It looks just great in the sunshine of a wonderful autumn day, don’t you think? Now to get on with the quilting…
 The front - ready to get the quilting underway  The randomly patched back
By Stephie, on Tuesday 4th August, 2009 at 16:07 pm
There hasn’t been much activity ’round here for a while and I apologise most profusely for that. It’s not my fault though, honest. Our laptop died, completely, dead as a dodo. And now we’re on holiday. Yes, far away. Not far, far away, but away far enough to be having a lovely time. We’ve been camping in changeable weather at Lyme Regis and fossil hunting on the Jurassic Coast, eating ice cream on the beach and chips on the harbour wall. In fact, we’ve been behaving just like the tourists we moan about when we’re at home in Cornwall!
After getting wet and windblown we drove further east along the coast to stay with family near Brighton. We’re in beautiful rural surroundings not far from the sea and are looking forward to trips into Brighton and London over the next couple of days. At the moment though, we’re just veggin round the house!
That is, Kim’s veggin in front of the tv and I’m using the opportunity to get on and finish the quilt top for the first quilt along project I’m oh so far behind with… It’s coming along well though and hopefully I’ll have some pictures to show you when I get back home. The quilt top for the second quilt is well underway, but I haven’t posted any photos yet because of said lack of computer…grrrrr.
It’s a miserable day today, overcast with spots of rain and showers, but sitting here at the desk I can see lavender flowers nodding in the breeze and bumble bees buzzing around them and it reminds me that it is still summer and I am on holiday! So, on that note lovely reader, I’m off for a while! Be back soon. x
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Narrative Self in pictures
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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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