Catching up Again

I seem to be doing this a lot lately, cramming everything from the last couple of weeks into one post.  To be honest I'm finding it hard to get round to blogging.  Don't get me wrong, I'm spending loads of time on the computer (too much!) and keeping up with all the blogs I follow but I can't seem to find the interest to blog myself.  I shall have to get a grip!

Well, what can I tell you?  Last Saturday was Region 10 of the Quilter's Guild Area Day which involved a bit of a journey up to Ludford in the north of Lincolnshire.  Sadly (and probably an indicator of my current state of mind) I didn't take any photos but it was an excellent meeting.  The guest speaker, who also held a workshop on the Sunday, was Gail Lawther who was talking about the inspiration behind the 35 quilts she has completed after spending time in New Zealand.  

I treated myself to Gail's book which features all the quilts she talked about and also instructions for making your own version of some of them.  I was amazed that this beautiful book was only £10!

Happily Lis, who blogs as Piece n Peace, has blogged about the day here and it was lovely to meet up with her on the day.  We have only been cyber friends before.   Lis had the forethought to get a photo of both of us together unlike me!  Lis also attended the workshop on the Sunday and has blogged about it here.  Gail was a very enthusiastic speaker and kept us all entertained and I know her workshop was excellent on the Sunday.  I have a Practical Project booked with Gail at the Festival of Quilts in August so I will get my chance to experience her teaching expertise then.  Keep your fingers crossed that nothing crops up this year to stop me going.

What else can I share with you?  On Sunday we had a lovely day with my Mum.  5, yes5, of her friends, all of whom are over 70, travelled up from Essex to see her and what a party we had! 

Doesn't my Mum look happy?

These are my Mum's special friends and I am so grateful to them for making the journey on a terrible rainy day.  We had an afternoon of laughter, 8 of us squashed into our tiny lounge but it was a fantastic uplifting afternoon all topped off by a cream tea and strawberries and cream :-)   Mum is thinking quite clearly at the moment so we have been able to have some proper conversation which is lovely.  Everyone commented on how much better she is looking, that vague look is not there so much.

While I haven't been doing much practical stitching I have been working on my quilt for Festival of Quilts and have been preparing some digital images. 

 This is a blend of a road map of West Penwith and a previously altered image of St Ives harbour beach.

I really like this, if I do say so myself!  I layered an image of a flooded dinghy over a manipulated photo of The Sloop pub in St Ives.

 

I think I applied an 'ink outlines' filter to this image of seaweed.

This image combines a photo of the Island in St Ives with an image captured of text on panelling at the Eden Project on our recent visit.  It is quite a simple manipulation but I really like it.

I don't think I've shown here the start point for my entry to Festival.  I actually started this quilt last year but didn't finish it as I had other inspiration and abandoned it.  I have committed myself to working with the blocks I made at that time and have to work to a finished size of 45x45cms!  Gulp!  That's huge!  What possessed me?!   (Amendment added Friday 17 June: I meant 45 inches!!! Help!)

Here's a look at the raw material

This is the top laid out on the bed.  My plan is to include digital images from my photos printed on   Extravorganza and possible other fabrics and then somehow to unite the whole thing with stitch and maybe embellishment.  The whole thing has to be with the organisers by the end of July and I'm away for a week before then and I've got a weekend at Contemporary Quilt Group Summer School which I am very excited about but which will probably lay me low for a week getting over it!  Either that or I'll come home with a completely different idea for my entry ;-)

Well, I'm really tired so it's time I went.  I'm rapidly approaching my 4th blogging anniversary, where did the time go?  The tradition is to have a giveaway so I will have to get my thinking cap on as I don't have a stock of anything.