BLOG BREAK

HI - I have been having a little break from blogging whilst trying to sort out my studio, have not got very far, due to F1 - fabo Jensen, the swimming - wonderful Rebecca & Sun Yi; I was screaming at the TV fantastic, then the athletics, which were a bit lack lustre, but Michael Johnson was on & I love listening to him - huge respect!!
The image is the final piece from the July Chair Challenge between Dale & myself  HERE
Stitched admist boxes, bags etc, I should have been a hurdler!!
Normal blogging will resume soon, along with the Newsletter, which I have not forgotten!!
Tuesday is my day for stitching quilts for Quilts for Valour & Help for Heros using Margarets stash & the Accuquilt Go machine at Bee Inspired studio.  On Saturday Bee Inspired held a thank you tea & the lovely people there raised 25 quid for wadding by donating for old British patchwork magazines
I wonder how many people will be able to come to help?

disappeared & Important news

Hi, sorry I seem to have disappeared for a while.  I am having a huge sort out of my studio & storage room, everything is upside down! literally!
I have posted a doddle to the brain edges blog, done hastily this evening. Had a trip out today to an exhibition which was a huge disappointment in that the work looked mostly like samples mounted in some odd colours.  One set of pieces was very poorly mounted for an exhibition and all the textile prices were really quite astonishing.  I guess that they didnt really want to sell the pieces so put inflated prices on them.  It is always hard to judge what price our textile work is worth.  Too cheap & no sell; too expensive and still no sell. Very difficult to get it just right, there really is not an exact formula. Lovely day with great company

Back soon with some pictures, the newsletter will appear as soon as I can get to the relevent pieces

My important news is for anyone in distance of Kettering, Northamptonshire. 

The very kind lady who bought the Accuquilt Go for all the quilters in the area sadly passed away a few weeks ago.  In her honour & to honour our very brave troops, I am organising the construction of a QUILT OF VALOUR on TUESDAY 2nd AUGUST 2011 at the Bee Inpired studio, Market St mews, Kettering from 10am to 4pm
I just need people for as short or as long as you can spare.
There are strict rules for making this quilt.  I shall use as much of Margarets stash as is appropriate as I can, including cutting the patches with the GO machine & sewing with her machines, all donated by ther husband. In this way I feel there will be a lastly patchwork legacy
If you can spare the time to hand or machine sew or iron or cut pieces or make tea please just turn up
If this is successful then I may hold another day later in the summer to help those who are on holiday
Thanks go to David & Jemma at the studio for donating the day free of charge.  There is no cost
If anyone wants further details then please contact me via email: shelaghfolgate@aol.com

GIFTS

Over the past couple of weeks I have been so very fortunate to receive fabulous gifts from my students.  Thank you all for the cards & gifts, it has been a real pleasure teaching & cajoling (!?) you this past year.  I am indeed a very fortunate teacher to have such wonderful students, the work produced has been  'amazing' in the true sense of this overworked word.  I teach such a wide variety of classes from hand embroidery & patchwork through machine piecing & quilting to creative embroidery & needle felting, along the way comes art & design with the elements & principles, sometimes appearing so difficult but so rewarding to see the exiting portfolios produced.  Some of my students are completing a two year course, some a one year & some a term.  To all of you a huge THANK YOU for making my 'job' seem so worthwhile & exciting (and tiring lol)
Here are a few images of some of the lovely gifts
Flowers:

ORCHID

I was waffling on one day about never having received an Orchid & how wonderful they are & Fran remembered & bought me this beautiful two stemmed wonder flower with purple spots (the purple zoom car)  It is so beautiful & has a really good spot right in the sitting room window out of the direct sun.  Every day I look at it when I open & close the curtains & I can see it where I sit in the evenings to watch TV or to sew.  Simply beautiful. x

BOUQUET

A delightful bouquet of roses, carnations, iris & lots of other flowers, beautiful colours & these are in my Mums cut glass vase, kept for special flowers as its 65 years old.  These are from my Wednesday teachers group, who take on board everything that I throw at them with such good heart & excellent results.  They have all become Grandmothers for the first time this term, all with Grandsons - I am very envious.  We decided that it was OK as I am a little bit younger so have to wait longer.  Thank you ladies for such lovely Wednesday mornings full of laughter x

POT PLANT

Ohhhh look at this, look at the colour combinations of violet blue & lime green.  This is a fabulous exuberant plant full of flowers.  I have never had one this colour before.  I have a pinky - orange one that was a gift last year & we are going to buy 2 matching pots to put them alongside the steps leading from the patio to the lawn.  This is a gift from my Floribundi group.  We have had such a lovely year.  Wow the quilts produced from my original blocks are just simply stunning.  All the blocks have centres - hence Floribundi & all have flower names.  This group is now at an end & will become a projects class.  A truly lovely group who all get on so well together.  The plant is in a purple & cream hessian pot & when I do put it outside I shall use the pot for the Orchid to stand in.  It is atop my wooden sewing basket made by my husbands Grandfather for our wedding present, so it is a very special box, it is  placed on top of this:

TABLE RUNNER

Hand stitched from Uzbekistan  & a gift from Ruth, who has recently visited there.  She says that they use a special tool to stitch it & watched them doing the work.  Fabulous, gobsmacking gift, the colours match my sitting room, look at the pommegrante and the fish.  There will be designs from this arriving this summer, it is stitched on a base of heavy cream cotton with a lovely border & looks fabulous on top of the sewing box, out of direct sunlight, the colours work so well together, they are balanced & totally in proportion x

Not finished yet!

If you follow my blog you will know that Dale has just been to Broome in Western Australia & we have been talking about the Frangipani flowers.  I guess that I shall never smell them. well I did but shall not tell you how & was telling my Monday group about this longing to go to Broome - mad isnt it why some names & places hit the soul - Eileen remembered this & bought me this

Frangrant Oil

In a beautifully shaped bottle & stopper.  It says Frangipani Orchid!  I didnt know that they were Orchids, seems a full circle.

There are reeds to put in the oil & the frangrance is purely lovely.  In my hall it wafts through the house & I dream of the tropics

I must confess that I keep spying the reeds to stitch over but am resisting at the moment but I cant promise not to nick a couple as they bend beautifully x

Finally a totally unique present

Ornament

Milton Keynes concrete cow - look at his saddle!

Katy's son owns MK COWS.com

Milton Keynes is famous for its life sized croncrete cows, put in a field near the M1 many years ago.  Not by Kays son!

He runs the company making lots of things but especially these cows, in different sizes, they make wonderful gifts.  There are baby ones & THE QUEEN has one - though not with City & Guild on the side - this is a one off especially for me.  Each cow has a certificate - like a birth certificate & comes in a lovely box which is extremely well padded so would be fantastic for a gift anywhere in the world.  Please do look at his site.  I have wanted one of these for two years

Katy this is why!!

His new friends!  These were a gift from my daughter many years ago.  I love them & now this fantastic MK cow has joined them & the other funky animal ornaments that I have

In addition to these presents I have received a lovely card & postcard from Pat a previous student who has been to the Joan Miro exhibition in the Tate Modern in London & whilst walking around remembered me and the Mark making classes & has sent me one of his postcards & an article from the Observer newspaper which was facinating to read.  I cant wait to go now & when I do I will report back.  I have wanted to see a body of his painting since going to Barcelona & arriving too late to view the incredible exhibitio that they have there

I hope you have enjoyed seeing a part of my life, these thank yous make all the hard work seem to drift away

To all of you XX thanks

PATCHWORK BLOCKS

I have been asked about the patchwork side of me, a while ago I made a slide of blocks which did not seem to work for many people so here are the pictures again

Just a few blocks, which have now been quilted & are part of a 30 blocks sampler type quilt, all using the colour palette of red, green & cream,  The backgrounds are varied.  There are 3 different frames & 2 sets of sashing, the same fabric in the same colour but one is darker than the other.

They will be assembled using my Quilt as you go method, which is very popular and allows for each block or series of blocks to be quilted by hand or machine before being joined together.

I shall try to gather together some of my other patchwork, both traditional & innovative

I have not forgotten about the newsletter.  I shall stitch the brain edges post from last Sunday & send the FREE instructions in the next newsletter, make sure that you sign up to receive it.

Back on Brain edges tomorrow with another offering

Hope you enjoyed seeing the quilt blocks.

I have some lovely photos to show tomorrow, pictures need the daylight, maybe sun?????

Where?

Have I gone?  Back tomorrow

Summer time & the living is easy

I so love this song.  Today is a beautiful day, warm, breezy & I am getting demob happy with only a week of work to go!!

We had a BOAT meeting last night where I created this

After faffing with it today it now looks like this

Amazing what a few hours can do, interupted by having to go & do a rubbing - why? 'cause Dale said so!!! Then didnt do one herself at all!

Results on HERE

At the meeting Carolyn gave me my birthday pressie or rather pressies.  A lovely stencil that I had wanted for quite a while & the most fabulous BIRD BRADS, dont know where she got them as it was a secret but they are ACE & I am sure will fly to the piece of work above when it is totally finished.

Maybe it might end up the big box of scrummy bits!

Saturday course tomorrow teaching using the smashing machine, should be huge fun

Have a good weekend wherever you are X

FREE TUTORIAL

I have posted a FREE tutorial over on http://creativebrainedges.blogspot.com

This was our Sunday challenge.  Have a look & happy stitching

Where has the summer gone?

Chilly wind, dull & overcast, strange July weather.  So studio time is called for.
Tidying up, I found a box of 'bits' actually a huge box of bits, that I had totally forgotten about.  Something to do with a wasted life keeps popping into my head!!
Only problem that I have today is my brain disappeared last night in a nightmare.  Really shook me up, I guess it was based on a discussion at work yesterday, no wont tell don't want it to happen to you.

So some pictures of bits on a turquoise theme

Well this is not a bit, I had totally forgotten about this.  A workshop with Janet Bolton many years ago.  I am happy to find it as I no longer have my little birds
Remember the dog Carolyn!!!!!! & the I don't do pink!!!

Janet is an excellent tutor & at the forefront of the minimalist movement.

Using a brass stencil, puff paint & a myriad of other techniques, very effective

I am pleased to find this one as well, rusting powder & stitch, why do these pieces never get finished ?!

I must fall out of love with them pretty quick & where has this box been hiding?  Actually I thought it was a spare box of felt! So didn't bother looking in it

Now the studio is awash with 'bits'  Looks like I have had a really productive day & no you cant see it!!  I dont know if I could be creative in a sterile studio.  Whenever I have a really good tidy up, I really dont want to mess it up again.  As long as I can get my chair, have a 2 foot square on the desk & use my machines, I dont really care about being surrounded by hundreds of paintbrushes, old and new, sprays galore.  Textile hangings, pencils, paint, scissors (I think that they breed overnight, I am sure that I didnt leave 8 pairs of scissors on the desk yesterday & there are some large & some small ones, & the small ones vanish, yes I am breeding scissors, they tumble out of everywhere!  Oh dear I feel another nightmare coming on)

Lastly for now as there must be over 100 pieces in the box - yipeee

This piece is lovely very shabby chic or  very The Hamptons

I shall have fun with these this summer, but for now the Bolton Birdies is going on the wall

Don't forget to check out http://creativebrainedges.blogspot.com/  blog tomorrow as Dale & I are stitching.  We have a stitching time limit to be reveled

Well would you believe it the sun has popped its head out

Off to catch a few rays, hopefully get some proper sleep to do all the prep & stitch tomorrow x

MOVERS & SHAKERS

How exciting, it seems that DALE & I have started a new Internet revolution.

All over the net on lots of blogs DRAWING challenges are popping up

So nice to be at the START of a new sensation - MOVERS & SHAKERS - Dales wonderful term

Head over to http://creativebrainedges.blogspot.com and join in the FREE fun

AT IT AGAIN!

 

Hoggie baby is at it again, just turn our backs and whoosh it was there, in the bowl, poor Pusseo returned from ablutions to be greeted by this sight, the noise of the camera caused this

and its off!!  What a laugh!!

Hmmm nice bit of texture in this photo lol

STUDIO TALES

Very humid here today, waiting for the thunder!
I am very happy with my little self as I have cleared outstanding work & can have a days play with 'stuff' bought a while ago

I had a dig about in my bags & came up with this lot on a gold theme

This on a blue theme & a few others but it will get boring!

I possess quite a few soldering irons.  I have been playing with them since 1998, when I was so fortunate to book in a workshop with the late Daphne Glick.  I am sure that it is her to which we owe the soldering iron obsession, followed by Margaret Beales article in Embroidery magazine (then the world of embroidery) in the summer of 2000.

I have just bought a soldering alphabet & letters & this was todays agenda, to actually work with them

In a local sale a few weeks ago I bought a wooden set of dominoes in a wooden box & I also possess cardboard inchies.  These are what I practised with.

Then onto the fabrics after donning my huge face mask.  You know this is not something to do on a really hot day like today, silly me.

I used all the fabrics above.

The letters are fab, I used 2 soldering irons that have screws on the side, one is much hotter than the other, giving darker letters - fab eh.  Dont too much trouble to change the tips along with my ceramic daisy paint tray, long nosed tweezers & a screwdriver

Was a bit of fun to keep swapping the leads around

So what did I do?  Well if you are following the fun in the creative brain edges HERE you will know that Dale & I are drawing chairs - both choosing widely different chairs, totally at random & not at all planned.  Chair in French is Chaise - I really lovely name I thought, so this piece of work is called CHAISE

This is the beginning, you can see the letters laid out on the middle and end sections, the first 2 are on the irons!

This is the part way result before a rumbling stomach dragged me away

There are a huge amount of processes to get to this

Needs a lot more work but is coming along nicely

I tried out other things, but no photos - forgot!

I am not so chipper about the words, they are ok on wood etc but too small for most fabrics.  The little flower is in one of the sets which has a pumpkin !  I know they are American, called a holiday set, with a tree, a star, a heart, the USA flag & a basket.  Wish there was a European set, maybe with the Eurostar, the Union flag, Morris dancers, a cup of tea & a weather forecast!!  Only kidding.  They work well.

I dug out the original wood burning nibs from way back, circles and triangles etc.  I know that I have more somewhere, but oh where???

So love the letters, ok with the novelties, disappointed with the words.  Wonder if there are any more out there?

The sun came out fleetingly whilst we were drinking tea in the garden

Just catching the edge of the Acer, thought it looked Ace!!

Pusseo has now discarded a big handful of fur via the brush, she is rolling around on the bench on her towel (spoilt) letting us groom her.  I am spying the fur wondering if to embellish it?  Hmm its a lovely shade of grey (hoover dust grey quote Richard Box), but it might have grimbles in it so am resisting

Back to work tomorrow, see you soon x

Don't forget the new workshop & more will be arriving & maybe I will take a leaf out of a certain persons book and actually get some stuff to sell in my Etsy shop eh? eh? eh?



COMPLETELY NEW pdf WORKSHOP FOR SALE

***NEW MACHINE NEEDLE FELTING WORKSHOP

http://shelaghfolgate.bigcartel.com/

PUSSEO & THE HOGGIES

Good morning from a bright & warm England
Last night Pusseo (aka cardboard box cat) was peering in the french windows, running away and running back and peering again, we thought this was very funny & unusual for her.  Eventually I went to see if she was still hungry, opened the back door & looked into her bowl & got a shock, tipped up in her bowl, completely in it was a baby Hedgehog.  I thought that it was dead, its was not moving and was wedged in the bowl.  My brave (hoho) husband carried it to the lawn, only to find another baby hedgehog!.  He tipped bowl hog out along with Pusseos food & the hog was OK.  They both continued to eat Pusseos food whilst she looked on disgusted!
So it was wash the bowl & provide her with more food, which she actually eat in the kitchen.

We bought a cat brush yesterday (remember this is not our cat) & ohhhh she loves it, her fur is so different now, she even lets me do it

Clean fur, I just love the way her tail curls over her feet

Here is one of the tiny hoggies

Always with an eye for texture, just look at these fabulous spines

When the hoggies had finished eating we watched them scampering around the edges of the garden, easily climbing up the logs that surround our lawn.  We have quite a few trees that my husband cuts down each year and he uses some of the branches to provide a wild habitat, the others go to a man up the street for his wood burner & the small ones get chipped and added to the soil below the trees. - re-cycling - talking of which - we are now on a water meter.  Well how to change life time habits.

PUT THE PLUG IN YOUR SHOWER, well if its over the bath that is, you will be amazed at how much water is used in a shower.  We are totally gobsmacked - nay astounded at what we have been wasting.

As its 'summer' here & there is a hosepipe ban, we are using any spare water, hohoho - no worries, buckets a plenty up and down the stairs.  One shower worth does a whole days watering for our baskets.  Ok I know it has soap in it but we don't use chemicals on our bodies & the flowers are glorious, lots of admiring remarks from visitors. I feel quite ashamed to think of all the water that I have used straight into the drains in my life.  I guess we wont 'buckets aplenty' in the winter!!  It remains to be seen if it is actually cheaper but we are enjoying a bit shinier halo at the moment.

Don't forget to follow what Dale & I are up to on the brain edges blog HERE