Sunday 8 January 2012

Journal Quilts and New Year

Nearly a month ago now I said I would be back by the end of the week with an update on my Journal Quilts inspired by Cesar Manrique.  Where did the time go?  Where it always goes, it flew away!  Anyway the quilts are finished so without further ado.......






This is 'Herself'.  See any resemblence?  I took one of our holiday pics and printed it out on A4 paper and then traced the main shapes and used the drawing as a guide to the main fabric pieces.  I used my own hand dyes for the background and face and the shirt is an oil stick rubbing over the sole of my new sandals which then had a loose wash of lumiere fabric paint.  My dear friend Carolyn Saxby who we recently caught up with in St Ives (more of that later) suggested that I bead the background and I'm pleased she did.  The free machine embroidery is very very rough but I think it suits the style of the whole piece so I didn't worry how badly I was doing it!

Well, if you've got 'Herself' you should probably have 'Himself', so here  he is.....




Scary or what?!  I followed the same procedure as before and used my hand dyes for the face  and backgrounds.  DH likes to wear his silk tie waistcoats so I made up some fabric to resemble them.  Boy, was that hard!  I bonded the fabrics onto a base but it wasn't easy combining the shapes.  What do you think to the beard and moustache?  I butchered a crocheted doily to get the effect.  As the JQ had to include buttons I used them to describe DH's spotty bow tie.  For both quilts Kaffe Fassett's fabric came in very useful for the eyes.  


I had great fun making both of these and I'd really like to have a go at something similar on a larger scale.  

As you no doubt guessed we disappeared to St Ives for New Year and despite the best efforts of the weather to blow us away we had a lovely relaxed week with some beachy walks and full enjoyment of the beautiful views from the flat we rented.


This was the view in one direction towards the harbour and the Island.


And this is the view the other way across The Malakoff towards Godrevy Lighthouse and the coast beyond Hayle.


You would not expect to see such a  glorious sky at this time of year would you?

We had a real mixture of weather while we were away, from glorious sunshine to howling gales and lashing rain.







I've got lots of lovely photographs to play with and add textures to.

St Ives is the third most popular place to spend New Year's Eve and the place was jumping!  Sadly it threw it down with rain for the celebraitons but it did ease off in time for the fireworks.  We wimped out and watched the whole proceedings from our flat (apartment).

You should be able to see the crowds on this rather blurry photo.  










The fireworks were stupendous and very noisy!!  I don't think cannons going off would have been any louder! YouTube have several videos of the spectacle but I think we had the best view as we were high up and could see all levels of the display.  Sadly YouTube will not give me the code to embed the video here.  

As I said earlier I met up with Carolyn while we were in St Ives and I'll bring you more about that next time.

Meanwhile, thank you all for your lovely Happy New Year messages, I cherish them all.  We are already a week into the New Year and it will no doubt have all the high spots and low spots that every year brings but I do hope for all of us that there are more high spots than low.  Happy Creativity!



19 comments:

imac said...

What a hansom couple there, so smart, debonair, so was DW too,lol.

Anonymous said...

Wow the couple is quite spectacular Julie. I love the whimsical nature of herself and himself. One of these days I've got to get me to St. Ives.....What a place. xox Corrine

Gina said...

Those portraits are stunning Julie... love them (dare I say they are recognisable?)Lucky you having time in St. Ives.

Fenland Textile Studio said...

Wow, I love your two journal quilts. They are both fantastic. Lucky you spending New Year in St Ives. When I lived in London we would often go down to Mousehole. Will you be at Unique this month? Angela x

Heather said...

Even fun portraits are scary - well done with yours Julie, they're super.
Gorgeous photos - even in the very rainy one St.Ives still looks beautiful. Glad you had a lovely time.

mrsnesbitt said...

I am going to do more hand sewing this year!
Happy New Year.
Dxxx

ju-north said...

Love those quilts! Please do some more!

Clare Wassermann said...

Gorgeous. I got to Portscatho for New Year. Cornwall is my place xxxxxx

gilby said...

Portraits are great.

Peneller said...

Love the quilts Julie! Also the photos of St Ives which I'm sure will provide lots of inspiration.
Penny

sharon young said...

Wonderful quilts, Julie, they're really quirky.
You look as if you had a terrific time in St Ives, great pics.

Angela said...

Your potrait quilts are lovely and such fun.
How lucky you were to spend time in St Ives.

pam said...

Oh the portraits are great - well done - St Ives looks lovely and what a magical place to spend new Year. Happy New Year to you DH and your Mum

Lis Harwood said...

Interesting portraits, I'm looking forward to seeing what you do next in that line. Love St Ives, great selection of typical Cornish weather from the sound of it.

Linda Vincent said...

Julie, your portrait quilts are fantastic! I saw the pictures which inspired you further down your blog and I am so impressed - you did a great job!
So you spent the New Year in St Ives...I don't need to tell you how envious I am, do I? ;-)
Hope 2012 is an amazing year for you..
Love Linda x

Ro Bruhn said...

Fabulous portrait quilts, I love the character that you have given them, stunning pieces. Ah, St Ives one of my favourite places in England.

Emma said...

I've got to say your portrait quilts are amazing. It really is like the pic of you!

Wet here too for the fireworks but lovely watching them over the bay.

JP said...

Julie those quilts are AMAZING - glad you had agood break - link for your appartment please - you would love Pittenweem in Fife especially for the Art Festival in the summer

LOVE STITCHING RED said...

Lucky me to be able to admire the portraits IRL. I can vouch that they are good likenesses LOL :o)
Love DH's crochet beard ... but where's the cream cakes LOL

Looking forward to your next post with hopefully your bundle? I've just emailed you about mine. I forgot to say that I shall be putting a bit of the lace inside as the whole bundle will remind me of our time together at New Year

Lots of love
C xx