Fonthill Bishop

Yesterday we went walking at a place called Fonthill Bishop about 30 miles away from where we are in Chippenham. It was a brilliantly sunny day and all the photos I took came out really clearly as there was such good light. It was really cold though, especially in the wind. Here's Mark just as we were setiing off for the walk.

The walk went round a really pretty lake which I think is part of an estate park. We also went right up onto a ridge overlooking the park, the wind was deafening up there, but coming down from the ridge we found a wonderful sun trap and sat and ate lunch it was so warm I could have curled up and fallen asleep there. I had to put this photo in as it made my laugh the sign says 'Warning mole control in operation', judging by all the mole hills in the background I don't think it's having much affect!

There were plenty of birds on the lake including lots of pretty ornamental ducks but I really liked these swans sitting like bookends opposite each other on a small island by the edge of the lake. It was a really lovely walk and I'd definately go back again, I think it would be a great place for a picnic in the summer.

Quilt in progress

After a few days of not feeling like creating much I've got myself remotivated and have put my Kansas Dugout blocks together. I think they look great, everyone did a really good job making these. I haven't figured out how exactly I'm going to finish this yet but I'm thinking probably a plain white border which I'll applique some heart to to fit in with the valentine prints.

Krazy Kitties Postcard

Here is the postcard that I've made for a beginners swap on the FiberArtPostcards group. I've called it Krazy Kitties. I used the first piece of microwave dyed fabric that I ever did for the background and some scraps of beautiful Laurel Burch cat fabric. I hand stamped some paw prints down the side, with a wonderful stamp that I received from Linda Poole in the FGM yule bottle swap. Finally I added some of the beautiful eyelash yarn that Carmen kindly sent me around the cats :) It's quite a simple design and was easy to put together but I'm happy with the result.

Mended Hearts

The wonderful FGM group are making a lovely fairy quilt covered in appliqued hearts. The quilt is being sent round to any member of the group who wants to join in. It's my turn at the moment so added my heart today and of course it had to get the Angelcat touch :)

Amanda's Kansas Dugout Blocks

I had Amanda's wonderful Kansas dugout blocks in the mail today. These are the final blocks from my January lottery win so now I need to get busy and put a quilt together :)

I'm really excited I think these blocks are gonna look fantastic once they are all joined up, everyone did a great job. I'm so lucky to have won.

Door Charm

Here's what I made today. After finishing up all 10 of my Trevor postcards I decided to have a go at making a door charm for another swap that is running on the FAT group. It's turned out better than I expected.

The challenge was to make a door charm which jingled, had a charm and had some element of fabric in it. I made a circle with some jewellery wire and tied some fabric scraps to it. I then made a felt heart which I stuffed slightly and added a few simple embroidered embellishments to. To the bottom of the heart I added some small cat bells for the jingle and a cute little silver cat bead as the charm (I had to add the Angelcat touch somewhere!). I tied the heart to the wire with some ribbon which I threaded with a couple of flower beads to add a bit of interest.

Reybridge in the rain

We are lucky enough to have some pretty villages and hamlets not too far from where we live so we went walking today. It was a pretty grey day and it turned out that there wasn't that much wildlife to see. We found these pretty snowdrops growing at the side of the road though.

Our destination today was a little village called Reybridge, near Lacock. There are a few pretty thatched cottages and the river Avon runs through the village. We see a heron on the river sometimes in the summer months but he wasn't around today, he was probably being sensible and hiding from the wind and rain :)

Meet Trevor!

Today I've been working on a postcard for the FiberArtTraders group. The theme is In the Garden with fairies and Gnomes.

This will be my design for the swap and I've called home Trevor the tree stump gnome :).

For the background I've used some fabric that I dyed in the microwave using green and beige dyes, this means that although I'll be making 10 Trevors altogether they will all be unique.

I hand stamped 'explore, imagine, dream' in the corner but this doesn't show too well in the photo. To finish him off I added a couple of beads to his antenna, some googly eyes (I hope they survive the post I've used strong glue!) and a few randomly placed seed beads on the background. I'm pretty pleased with the way he's turned out, just 9 more Trevors to make and I'm done, lol!

I've been RAW'd

I've been RAW'd what fun! Raw means Random Act of Wierdness, just one of the fun activites we have going on FGM :)

I happened to mention my loathing of feet on the list one day (believe me there is a whole grusome story behind it!) and lovely Alikat has sent me some fiber and beads (in a container shaped like a foot, yuk!) to help me along in my postcard making journey.
As you can see the container was wrapped in some cute Tinkerbell fabric. The Piglet card is just cute, cute, cute! How did you know that before my collection of cat related items took over I used to collect pigs?!! This RAW made my day!

More Ohio Stars

Here is what I've been working on for the last couple of evenings, cutting and sewing some more Ohio Stars. I really like this block!

I am hosting a swap on Quilt-Europe the theme is stars on blue so I've made these blocks :)

Ohio Stars

I've been working on some Ohio Stars for a block swap today. I am really pleased with the way they have turned out though I don't think the picture has come out very well.

If I had more time I'd be tempted to make a whole quilt out of these as I think they look really pretty.

I am hosting a star swap on a european forum so I think I'll make some more of these for that swap too as I really enjoyed putting them together today.

A room with a view

The view from the bedroom window isn't usually that remarkable but we had a rain shower on an otherwise sunny day and I managed to get this shot of a rainbow. It's not a very good quality photo but I think it captures the contrast of colours.

Thanks Carmen

I has so much mail this morning the postman had to knock on the door as it wouldn't fit in the box (he he!).

Carmen sent me a wonderful package to help me along the way in my postcard making journey. Carmen sent some sheets of firm flex to help make my cards a bit stiffer which will help them survive the trip through the post and some beautiful eyelash yarns, I've not seen these before they are gorgeous, can't wait to get started on some more postcards :)

More Kansas Dugout blocks in the Mail!

I received two wonderful packages in the mail this morning, crammed full of Kansas Dugout blocks from my January lottery win. These are from Mary and Sandra. I am so excited about this quilt I think it's going to look great.

As you can see Pip has taken a shine to Sandra's blocks :)

Pretty Kitty Winter Swap

I received some lovely blocks in the mail today from the winter pretty kitty swap, I'm sure you will agree they are all fabulous.

Can't wait to start work on the blocks for the spring swap:)

The blocks I made for the winter swap can be found in the January archives.

Mini Elemental Swap

I didn't get time to take a picture before I left for the weekend but here are the blocks that I received in the mini elemental swap.

Unfortunately not many people participated in the end but thanks Judy and Grey Mere for your lovely blocks. I haven't included the blocks that I made in this picture as you can see these in other entries on this blog.

February Goddess

I took plenty of sewing with me to do at Dad's this weekend but ended up spending most of the time visiting family and watching the winter olympics on TV so didn't end up doing too much.

I did manage to get my FGM February challenge complete though. This month's theme was love and the things that you love.

I have an idea to make a wall-hanging from these blocks and they are all going to be kind of free standing so thought I'd do a bit of experimenting with background shapes. I cut a heart out of some fabric that I dyed in the microwave (giggle) using 2 shades of pink and a touch of purple dye. I then hand stamped some kitties in red using a rubber stamp that I usually use for card making, you all know by now that I love my kitties :)

Of course I had to include my love of this great hobby I've found, quilting, so I used some quilting print fabric that I found in my stash to make the fairy wings. I decided that I should have some element in each of the blocks that will remain the same so I've used the same fabric to make the goddess body that I used in the January block.

A Beautiful Day

I've been away this weekend staying at Dad's.

On Friday we had a short ceremony at the cemetary in Stevenage where I grew up and most of my family still live, and Mum's ashes were buried. Although it was a cold day the sun came out and we had a lovely short service with a few family members and a couple of friends.

A yellow rose has been planted near Mum which will hopefully look really pretty later in the year.

Microwave mishap

Ok so my second attempt at microwave dyeing didn't go so well and I blew up the microwave!

The picture shows what is left of the fabric and the supposedly microwave proof container that I was using, ooops. Not sure what went wrong. I was trying to dye a piece for the FGM february challenge. The first piece came out too dark for what I wanted so thought I'd have another go and this is the result, definately not the pinks and purples that I was expecting, sigh!

First lottery blocks received

I just received my first lot of beautiful Kansas dugout blocks from my lottery win, from Susan and they are wonderful.

Susan also sent me a lovely siggie block and some beautiful cats so I'm feeling thoroughly spoilt, thanks for making my day.