Patchwork Quilt

Returning to the Sewing Machine has encouraged me to finish off this quilt. I only had one corner to finish quilting but had somehow lost interest. Anyway here it is and it is now hanging in the hall.

Back to Sewing - 'Creative Challenges' with Shelagh Folgate

I have had a change this last couple of months

and have turned back to sewing. I have joined Shelagh Folgate's creative challenges' 'Smashies' and 'Tantalising Techniques' groups which are great for anyone like me who is interested in textile art but hasn't a clue where to start they are really informative and fun to do.

The photographs are from the 'Smashies' projects.

Weaving

I have been very poor at blogging and it is ages since I took any photographs of my spinning and weaving - so this is just a small sample of what I have been doing over the past few months.

I used my own home spun yarn for both the warp and weft for both the blanket and the scarf. The blanket was woven 'double width', the wool used is mostly BFL and was dyed using 'natural' dyes.

The scarf is natural Shetland. I have really appreciated both of them this winter - they are lovely and warm.

Erddig Hall

Today we went to Erddig Hall and Gardens and the weather has been absolutely beautiful. These are just a few of the many photographs I took.

Spinning, Dyeing and Weaving

The shawl in the background was spun using Shetland and BFL. The colours are natural and the shawl is beautifully soft.

The cushions were spun using Shetland which I dyed using Ashford Acid Dyes however the colours became a bit murky and diluted because I used too much water in the pot and so I am not particularly over the moon with the results but I am pleased that I have seen it through the whole process - spinning, dying, weaving and sewing.

Dunham Massey

Back to Weaving

The cold winter has kept me out of the shed but I am back again and have started to weave a wrap. I am using my own hand-spun Shetland/BFL wool for both the warp and the weft. I was concerned about using hand-spun in the warp but it hasn't shown any signs of breaking and I am really pleased with the results.

I have also changed the heddles from cotton to texsolv which I think are a little easier to thread but it still took me an age to warp the loom and I had a number of errors to correct - but I suppose it could be described as a learning process : )