Can show you now

Last weekend I was working on a present - now that I have given it to my daughter I can share it with you.  My daughter has a ginger kitten called Otis and I did another interpretation of a Sam Toft picture called Dancing with Stripes as it has a cat dancing !  So here is the picture I gave my daughter:

Christmas and New Year

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas - I had my son, daughter and her fiancée over for Christmas Eve - when we celebrate Wigilia - Unfortunately my parents and brother were not able to come over as they are all unwell.

My daughter knows I love Sam Toft's pictures so she gave me another 3 prints (and a calendar) - above I am holding 'The Pizza Run, below are 'Off for a breakfast' (which would not turn correctly) and 'Doris and the Birdies'.

I have had to move my other pictures around to accommodate the new ones... I now have 7 prints.

 As you know I have been sewing some of her work and I now have 7 of those too (one is not in the picture below).
Here is a close up of the newest ones. I  have put some of them up in the hall.

 

 Hope you all have a very Happy and Productive New Year.

More Free Machine Stitching

I have completed two more pieces are Free Machine Embroidery - another Sam Toft - called Power Nap 

 and I decided to try something a little different - so I have embroidered a Flower Fairy - Primrose Fairy.  She may be the first in a series??

Podley and stuff

Its been a while - having had my diagnosis I have been trying to come to terms with the eating thing  - anyway I have done a little work.

Firstly -  on 24 October I drove down to just outside Plymouth to stay with a great friend - Jan - as I was the guest speaker at the West Country Embroiders AGM on Saturday 25 October.  I had a brilliant time with Jan and was so glad she was with me at the event because that  was scary for me - I have not done a talk in front of so many people at once!! I was very nervous but I think they enjoyed it in the end -  I know my subject and could talk for ever once I am relaxed.  Below is a screen shot of the WCE Facebook page from the following day........

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Sheila Lampkin

26 October at 08:21

Inspirational talk by Anna Nowicki yesterday following the AGM .... showing just how far your craft might take you. For those of you who didn't come along - you missed a treat.

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  Maggie Grey Best talk I've heard in ages - she was great.

  27 October at 09:25 · Like · 2

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Such a lovely compliment -!! At Jan's I introduced her to Pinterest and we have both been happily collecting pins ever since.  Anyway on Sunday 26 Jan took me to a Quilters Guild Meeting - their guest speaker for the day was Tracy Chevalier !! (See her site here)  At first I did not connect who she was until she mentioned the book - The girl with the Pearl earring!!  She was a brilliant speaker and I had a great time.From Jan's I went on to the Kingcombe Centre in Dorset (see site here) where my friends in the group Txt21 meet - we were there from Monday until Thursday afternoon and it was also brilliant!  I did some machine stitching again and have a new plan for some more costumes. The machining I did was........ another Sam Toft picture - this was from just a pencil sketch of hers (with no background) - I added the scenery.
I did it twice - changing the scenery and one was smaller

Below are the two pictures together so you can see the size etc

 I also did another Podley picture - this one is called Podley Paints a Portrait (of the Girl with the Pearl Earring) - it just needs the background finishing off.  It was just a coincidence that I was working on that picture when I met Tracy!!

Then I went on to do some free machining on water soluble fabric to be added to my arches piece - see blog from Sunday July 13 - see I have not done much on it since then but am re inspired to continue

 

Below will be the third piece 

Forgot to show you the completed Sam Toft picture -  A chariot of Fishfinger Sandwiches - here it is...

Linda Miller Course and Sam Toft for inspiration

Just back from a fantastic weekend at West Dean College where I was on a course with the brilliant Linda Miller - click here for her Website. Linda is so inspirational, generous with her time and encouragement.  The ladies I met on the course too were brilliant and we hope to keep in touch, and maybe meet up again. Here we all are - the 'show and tell' at the end of the course...

On the course we were machine embroidering pictures - I chose Sam Toft, for my inspiration - click here for her website, as I just love all her work. Both ladies have inspired me to create my own character - Podley - He is still a work in progress so you will have to wait for more on Podley.
For the moment - here are the three pieces I stitched.....

This is called - A little tenderness - I added the background and Mr Mustard's hat came out more of a cap than it should, and I was too 'scared' to do the faces. It is small - measuring 7.5 cm x 11 cm.

Next is my favourite as I have the print in my living room - It's called 'Taking the Girls Home' - I just love it!  I also added the background - measures 6.5cm x 8.5cm (below it is the original)

Finally is the one I am still to finish - It is called  A chariot of Fishfinger Sandwiches - lovely title and lovely print - this one is a line drawing on Sam's site so I am colouring it in and giving it a background. This one is the biggest at 18.5cm square.