Neck tie craft

Well at the last meeting of the EG they said we did not have long to turn our old neckties into snakes...  I have this striped one, blue and maroon, mainly because I was last to the bag and all the best ties had gone....


But I had an idea...

Snake stuffed with toy stuffing, ready to go

Stuffing the tie from both ends was the first move in the jigsaw, then I had to coax the inner fabric of the tie into the classic v shapes for the tail and the mouth.  Next I had a rummage through my bits and pieces and found some suitable items.

I wanted red leather for the tongue as I wanted it to match the red in the stripes. I also found an old tassle I had made many moons ago.

Finding the right 'eyes' was not difficult as I had some old buttons in my collection too, these came from a Marks and Sparks jumper I seem to recall, not mine, my mother in laws.

Lastly, I found a small piece of chequered ribbon which had been attached to a present I think.  I also needed a name but one kept nagging me and I stuck with it......

So may I introduce you to Melissa the Hissa ...... drum roll......

A snake with attitude!

Farfield Mill - Margaret Townsend quilt

Great minds think alike, I bought this material too.  The one with the hearts on it, except I thought it would make some great table mats, funny how different the two uses are and yet the hearts are very apt on the edge of this quilt.  I love the whimsical feel this work has and the way she has made the work come together with the use of narrow strips of fabric, a technique which I sometimes employ.  I began to think that sometimes when we go to a quilt show there is so much to see that we pass each quilt by far too quickly to move onto the next one instead of settling down for a really good look and think about the one infront of us.  So take your time and have a good look at this one just like Margaret did when she designed it.

I also like to make tabs on the top of smaller quilts for hanging them by and often use a stick or piece of bamboo as the pole. I chose to photograph a close up of the dog becaue I like dogs in quilts.  My own piece on show in the same room had several dogs on it too. But not like this one which appears to be a fox terrier or Jack Russell. I love the change in 'pace' which the night scene with the owl brings to the quilt and also the way the bars of fabric interact to give subtlety to the fowls and animals which might appear too crude if not sympathetically framed.  Yes I think this is a fun quilt.  Underneath I have reproduced the text from the card displayed with the quilt.

Margaret Townsend

Daisy’s Birthday Pieces

Margaret’s grand-daughter, Daisy, gave her a bag of small pieces of fabric for her birthday, which she brought from a local quilt sale. Shortly afterwards, Margaret came across the work of Janet Bolton, and then her book, My Grandmother’s Patchwork Quilt - so she felt she had to make the quilt! The wall-hanging is hand stitched using needle turned appliqué onto a background fabric, quilted onto a wool batting foundation, with surface embroidery, it falls into the category of Folk Art.

Farfield Mill, Sedbergh quilt exhibition

Two ladies admiring my Wainwright quilt I see

You may recall that last Sunday I went to Sedbergh to see some quilts which were being exhibited at Farfield Mill and that I was unable to post photos of them because of a problem with blogger.  Well they fixed it and so I thought I would make a start this evening. I don't have all of the photos ready yet so you will have to make do with these two.  The first photo gives a general view of the space allocated to the Quilter's Guild members and is at the very start of the event so more people were supping wine than actually viewing..... I quickly downed mine and put the glass back empty because wine and quilts don't mix in my opinion and when I saw that they had placed some of them really low on the floor I was pleased I had not wandered about glass in hand.....

A quilt by Nicola Howell our Quilter's guild Regional Coordinator

This second quilt was the largest in the exhibition and the colours were lovely and vivid, it was a shame I could not find a catalogue anywhere to bring away so that I could name each quilt and I resorted to taking a photo and then speaking into my camera's microphone to say who made each quilt. I did not have time to also say what they were all called, sorry. 

This exhibition runs for another 10 weeks and finishes on the 7th April so you have time to go and see for yourself.  Their are plenty of other exhibits and more quilts in other rooms by professionals.  You will find ample parking albeit a bit muddy and the outside of the mill does not impress, but inside is a different story. There is also a very good cafeteria which sold lunches and the usual snacks and home made baking.  We did not have long to spend there because the snow was starting to lay and we wanted to head back before dark, but we are planning a trip back for the day and you really could spend several hours at the mill, it's so interesting.

I will post more photos soon.

Farfield Mill, Sedbergh

Hi all,  sorry I have not posted for a bit, don't know where the time has gone. Anyway, I will try and make amends with the next couple of postings. This will be short tonight as time has flown again.  But sneak a peak at these......

Oops, blogger will not let me load my photos from my computer, so that's the end of that then.  I was going to post some quilts up....

Does anyone have the same problem, when I click on the photo link it does not come up with the option to upload files from my computer anymore.....and I don't use the picasa option its offering me, I don't like Picasa and I don't like being forced to use software I don't like....... annoyed.

Merry Christmas everyone

I just want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas from Bella and me. I have put up my artificial tree for the first time and am quite pleased with it. As I did not have a pine smell in the room which I missed I attached some home made gingerbread ornaments that smell divine. 

Hamadan Rug repaired

Finished repair

 It was a very satisfying moment when I stitched the last buttonhole knots into the edging of the fringe to make sure the new knots don't unravel. As you can see from this section of the repair it is still lighter than the rest, but time will make it the right colour.  The rug was not cleaned prior to the repair and professionals always clean the rugs first so that every piece of wool is the correct colour. 

This was my first rug repair and I am more than pleased with the results. Would I do it again? yes I think I would if it was not too large a hole and I could match the colours again.

Tools and wool used

This was the mess left at the end, you can see I used two tapestry wools for the edge and I also had some wonderful really thick luscious Alpaca wool which somebody gave to me for the side edges.  I am so lucky to have friends in the Embroiderers' Guild who have a network of other friends who share things out when they don't want them and this wool has been in my stash for about 3 years. I used two large needles one with a slight curve which I think I bought many years ago when I upholstered a Chesterfield settee. I also used some very strong cotton and beeswax produced by a friend called Melanie who kept her own bees. The string was bought at W H Smiths and was their fine parcel string but I also used some thicker string I had here too. Two pens were used to add a dot of colour to the knots to blend them in and I dyed the white Alpaca wool with tea as that is what is sometimes done to old rugs to give them a worn look. 

So there you have it, the tools of the job. I also used the internet to research how to do it. The following websites I bookmarked and read as and when I was stuck for ideas.

Rug structure and the Hamadan weave below:
http://www.persiancarpetguide.com/sw-asia/FAQ/FAQ9995.htm

Antique Hamadan rugs
http://www.spongobongo.com/0her9970.htm

Rug repair and restoration
http://www.rugart.biz/rug-repair.html

End finishes
http://www.marlamallett.com/end.htm

Classic Rug Care
http://www.rugcare.co.uk/rugrepairs.html

I also looked up cleaning but thought it best to leave this area alone as its specialised, however, using an upright vacuum cleaner with a beater is why most rug edges become torn and worn. You should use an upholstery attachment to clean your rug and get down on your hands and knees. Beaters on cleaners damage rugs, but they can be used on the back when you turn them over if you are careful.

Rugs should really be given a good beating on some sort of line outside and a broom handle works quite well if you don't have an old fashioned bamboo carpet beater. I used to have one but sadly it was in the days when I saw it as a novelty and not a useful home tool. So its back to the broom handle for me.......