Iceland and Horizons

I am slowly working my way through all the holiday pics and in between have actually managed to finish the Horizons piece which missed the deadline for Festival of Quilts.  More of that in a bit.

Our cruise in July took us via Dublin Bay to Reykjavik, Isafjordur,and Akureyri in Iceland and on to Alesund, Olden and Satavanger in Norway.  The whole cruise was full of new experiences ansd scens only perviously glimpsed in wildlife programmes on the telly.  We left the Uk in boiling hot weather and travelled through two days of fog after leaving Ireland to arrive in another world in Reykjavik.

We saw little of Reykjavik other then the drive through the city to begin our tour of volcanic landscapes, waterfall, geysirs and techtonic plates!

Steam pouring out of the earth in the distance.

Strokkur Geysir spouting forth with much noise and spraying of water.  It gathers force and erupts every few minutes when it's advisable not to be standing down wind.

The people are all waiting for the next eruption.  It was amazing to be standing in this steaming landscape with water erupting from the earth.  The rock underfoot was an amazing colour.

From the geysir we were driven to Gulfoss waterfall which was a deafening cataract, 31 metres high.  Its name means The Golden Waterfall so-called because of its appearance when the sun shines on it.

 We walked down the long path to reach this rock platform in front of the main fall and needless to say we got a good soaking.

The sun did come out briefly and there is a hint of a rainbow in the photo above.

From waterfalls and geysirs we drove further to enter a strange and fascinating landscape.  Thingvellir which lies in a beautiful valley and was the venue of Iceland's open-air Parliament long before 1066.  This is where Iceland is literally being torn in two as the North American and the Eurasian techtonic plates pull themselves apart.  The rate of split is about the same as the rate that your fingernails grow.  Here you can walk through a rift valley.

That cliff in the distance is where the plates are pulling apart.

Here the group were walking down to the valley floor and on the right there had been a recent fall of rock.   You can see the cliff disappearing into the distance.

There is evidence of continuous volcanic activity over long periods of the past all around here. 

Iceland gets much of its energy from the land it sits on and we visited a power station close to Reykjavik.  

The power plants harness the steam that comes out of the earth to provide power and the station we visited had a very futuristic feel about it.  Icelanders do not need to clear snow from their paths in winter as heat is run under the paths to keep them free of snow and ice!

I made several short videos on my camera but I am not sure if they will work here so I'll try and post one and if it doesn't work I'll take it off and have a go at Youtube.

More of Iceland next time but I have my finished Horizons 'quilt' to show you.  

Not quite the complete quilt as I couldn't photograph it properly but this is how it would look hung against a wall as it would have if it had made it to Festival of Quilts next week.

And this is a section of it against a window.  When I can get a proper hanger for it and decent light I'll post it again in its entirety.

Happiness

Today is my birthday and I quite often go out for the day but this year I am at home as DH had a cataract operation yesterday so we are keeping things relaxed for a change.  I am pleased to report that the op went well and DH reports some improvement so all is good so far.

Yesterday after the op

This morning

I keep nagging him not to overwork the eye but it's falling on deaf ears!  Actually he has the ability to only use one eye at a time as his left eye is lazy so he is actually resting it while he looks at the screen with the other eye (hope that doesn't sound too gross!).  We have had fun in the past when with friends as he can be apparently looking at one person and actually talking to another.  Bless!

I have never been particulalry religious, especially in more recent years but today the postman brought a letter that may have converted me in an instant.  When my Mum lived in Essex she was a regular churchgoer and supported her church in all their fundraising efforts over the years.  She was part of a great community of friends there.  Last year the church had decided to replace part of an outside wall with a magnificent stained glass window and invited the congregation to make donations to have their names included on the glass.  Sadly I found out way to late about this and Mum was very disappointed that she could not be included alongside all her friends.  Fast forward to today and I received this photograph from the Minister:

My Mum's name is on the purple shard.  The minister had included Mum right at the start and promptly forgotten all about it!  (In the meantime we had sent a donation for the organ restoration instead).  I cannot tell you  how moved I have been by the arrival of this amazing letter and photograph!  My mum always told me it was unlucky to cry on your birthday but there have been happy tears here today.  God or the Cosmos does indeed move in mysterious ways and I can't wait to show Mum the photograph!  Happy Birthday to me :-)

I'm back but not quite here yet....

We've just come back from a wonderful two week cruise visiting Iceland and Norway.  We escaped the current steaming heat in the UK and enjoyed the cooler, cloudier climes and amazing experiences that a cruise brings with it.  We took hundreds and hundreds of photos and so far I have loaded mine onto the computer but havn't adjusted them so I will be a bit longer before I can show you them here.

As a preamble to Iceland we stopped off in Dublin Bay and DH had his fix of the black stuff.  

Yes!!!  I think he enjoyed that!

Since we've been home I've made the finishing touches to my quilt for Festival of Quilts and got it into the post today just in time for the deadline.  

The eagle eyed among you may be able to see that my original design got turned on its head, literally and I am pleased with the final result.  

All rolled up and waiting for packaging.  I'm looking forward to seeing it hanging at the NEC in Birmingham, although I think it may be a bit wavy along the vertical edges which is frustrating.  

I'll be back when it's cooled off a bit with some pics of our holiday and the beauty of Iceland and Norway.

.........Will You Still Feed me.........When I'm Sixty-----Five!

Slight paraphrase there of The Beatles.  My DH reached the grand young age of 65 at the weekend and we had a big shindig to celebrate.  Stewart organised most of it himself as he enjoys doing it and we had a great night along with about 80 family and friends.  Entertainment was provided by Steve Carlisle, who was originally a member of Mike Pender's Searchers and by Seabirds, the group DH's son belongs to. 

Instead of accepting presents we requested donations to Alzheimer's Society and we also ran a raffle to raise funds.  In total, together with JustGiving donations online, we have raised £811.39!  I feel very proud of my hubby for all the energy he put into setting up this special evening.

Making some shapes on the dance floor. (Photo courtesy of an internet friend Tom Wigley).

A good crowd and buffet time.

I managed to keep the cake secret from my hubby until he saw it at the party.  No, I didn't become Jane Asher overnight, I had this cake made.  The photo of St Ives is one of DH's and Sharon made the figure from one of my pics of him in action.  

It was lovely to see some internet friends who we had never met in real life until now.  Tom, who lives near Manchester, had been promising to make DH a little knitted something for the last 3 years and we finally met 'Little Stewart' on Saturday night.  Isn't he fabulous?  Needless to say Little Stewart took pride of place all evening.

Funnily enough, when Mum came to spend the day with us today I had left the doll on her chair and when I came in the room Little Stewart had a new admirer!

(Pardon the state of mum's handbag, she is very attached to it and won't let me replace it).


The highlight of the evening for me, apart from seeing my lovely husband enjoying himself, was to have my stepdaughter and her husband come all the way from West Sussex for the party.  

It was wonderful to see them again and to see them both so happy together.  I was doubly delighted that they had come because they had to get up early on Sunday to go straight back home as my stepdaughter's husband had to prepare for an important exam.

My two handsome stepsons completed a great evening and it was lovely to see them both.  If you'd like to see more photos of the evening you can click here to see J's Flickr album.  

We have another birthday coming up at the weekend, Mum will be 88, but I don't think it will be quite such a hectic affair.  Phew!  I'm still recovering!

Progress

I am still battling with my two projects but had a good afternoon on Friday with the Horizons piece and have got about a third of it stitched together.  The hardest part, filling in some of the gaps, is still to come.  I had hoped to have a day at Stichcraft tomorrow but they are fully booked so I am going to have to work from home and use the bed as a design wall as I don't have anywhere else with enough drop to work on it.

Yesterday we had Mum here, which was lovely and, as she chooses to sit on a dining chair at the care home, I thought it was high time I made her a cushion for her back.  Of course, the home have given her a cushion but everytime I go to see her, said cushion has walked to someone else's chair.  I thought it would be best if I could make a cushion with ties on so that there is less chance of it being whipped off.

Isn't this fabric gorgeous?  I just love it!  I've got just enough left to make myself a bag :-)  The bows are the ties that I hope will deter any cushion-lifters!

And just to be sure I've appliqued Mum's name on the reverse so there won't be any doubt whose cushion it is.  Here's hoping it will work.

If you look closely you will see that the lovely flowery fabric makes several appearances in my quilt for Festival of Quilts, masquerading as the sea.  I've spent some time today joining some of the blocks together and after many changes I am on the way to finalising the design.

Every time I see the quilt in a photo and think I have finished rearranging I notice something else that jars slightly.  Naturally it changes each time I sew block or a row together and adding quilting will change it yet again but I am happy :-)  In fact, I want to make it bigger!  

Wish me luck for the rest of the week.  Deadlines are rapidly approaching!  (Not to mention a big birthday for someone at the end of the week - not me I hasten to add). 

The Ones That (nearly) Got Away!

I've managed to catch up with the two ladies who hadn't resolved their curved piecing samples last week and can now show you how they did.  But first of all Lindsey has finished hers off and added some embroidery.

The stitching has really set it off.

Carol is the least experienced of the group in terms of machine stitching but has made a wonderful effort with her piece inspired by a Yorkshire garden.  She has added a satin stitch border and some hand stitching too and may add a little more.  She is now raring to start working on her interpretation of a favourite view in the Yorkshire Dales.  

I'm hoping I've put this piece the right way up.  Jane is primarily an embroiderer and her piece is very much a work in progress.  She has used some wonderful textured fabrics to describe the light on the water in her garden pond and I know this will be beautifully finished with embroidery and beads.  I can't wait to see how it progresses.

At the weekend DH and I took ourselves off to Patchings Art Festival which was celebrating its 20th anniversary.  I can remember going to the very first event which was exciting in itself but on a much smaller scale.  These days it's a big affair with around 200 crafts and art producers taking part.   Temptation was on all sides but I did manage to resist buying any art materials.  However, I was unable to resist buying this handsome chap.

I have been wanting a Green Man for the garden for a long time but have never found one that I really liked.  This gentleman really appealled to me and the oak leaves up his nose reminded me of my late husband and a trick he had with dandelions (don't ask!).  It made me smile so I had to bring him home.   Looking at the photo he looks a bit stary eyed but I don't get that feeling in reality.  We bought him from Caroline Lee Ceramics and I was quite tempted by their Green Ladies too.  My DH has fixed him on the front of my studio so he can look after it for me while I'm out.  

We also bought a bird for the garden from Gavin Darby who makes new work from recycled metal.  

 
Birdie stands about a foot tall and I can't wait to wrap some silk round all that rustiness!  I'm going to look out some metal pieces that I've got in my studio to pass on to Gavin as they have been languishing in there for a couple of years and aren't suitable to use for rust dyeing.  *Note to self - get out there and find the stuff!!!


I've been busy with my Horizons piece this week and have managed to start stitching some of the blocks together.

This is it laid out at Stitchcraft on Wednesday and I still need to fill in some of the gaps.  I am planning to have a day at Stitchcraft again next week when I hope to get the bulk of it stitched together.  I still have to make  20cm square sample (yes, I should have made that first but I made some mistakes so parts of the sample are now in the main piece), write an artist's statement, add a hanging sleeve and label and get it sent off to arrive by the deadline.  No pressure then!

My quilt for the main Festival of Quilts competition is coming along and is currently resting on my improvised design wall waiting to be stitched together.  Fingers crossed I will get there.  It has gone through several incarnations but I think I am nearly there. 

I just need to piece it all together, layer and quilt, add a binding, add the sleeve and a label, parcel it all up and send it off to arrive by 26 July.  That wouldn't be so bad if we weren't going on holiday before then.  Eeek!

First Time for Everything!

I have been a bit on edge this week as I watched Friday slowly, or should I say, rapidly, approaching.  The reason for my angst was that the lovely ladies who run Stitchcraft Studio had encouraged me to teach (!) a 'Fun Friday' session.  Gulp! 

The subject of the session was 'Topstitched Curved Piecing' which you'll know I have used regularly in my seascaped themed pieces.  I spent a lot of time preparing and making both samples and finished pieces and I'm pleased to say my little group understood my instructions and made some great little samples.  Sadly I only managed to get photos of 4 of the completed pieces but I will be seeing the other girls soon so I'll photograph their work next time I see them.

This beautiful muted sample is Annette's work.  She has made lovely use of the fabrics she had chosen and used both the right and reverse sides of the fabrics to give her a wider range of tones.   Annette's planning to make some table runners now she has learned the technique.

Christine, one of the owners of Stitchcraft Studio, worked with the beautiful batiks above and took a leaf out of Lindsay's book (below, the last piece) and inserted part curves.

Isn't Kathryn's impression of Mallorca above fabulous?  She wants to make a larger piece to remind herself of all the beautiful colours in the landscape and the sea of her favourite holiday destination.
Lindsay inspired her too to make part curves and they add interest to the piece.  Kathryn is the other owner of Stitchcraft.

Last, but not least, Lindsay completed the piece above with its lovely calm colour scheme.  As you can see Lindsay was keen to include a partial curve to suggest a distant hill. 

Despite being nervous about doing the class I had a lovely time and enjoyed the feedback from everyone which thankfully was positive.  Phew!  I've even volunteered to do 'Curved Piecing Part Deux'!

Beautiful Cumbria

The days seem to be whizzing by, not least because I have now committed myself to making two quilts for Festival of Quilts.  I am obviously bonkers and need my bumps felt but, hey ho, a challenge is a challenge, right?

My original piece for the Horizon 'challenge' is simmering.  I made a start on a sampler piece last week at Sit & Stitch and made some mistakes so that was useful.  I think it's going to be a bit of a slow job deciding where all the pieces should fit so fingers are still crossed for completion by the end of the month.  In the meantime I  signed up online for the actual competition part of Festival of Quilts even though I hadn't at that point decided on a design, title, method or materials (all of which have to be put on the entry form).  Anyway, realising that the Horizon quilt is an option and the Festival quilt is now a requirement I've diverted into making a start on that.

When I posted this photo on Facebook this afternoon a friend said it looked very organised but it feels more like chaos to me.  Surprisingly, though, I do have a clearish idea of where I am going with this and unsurprisingly it will be about the sea.  I have had Rayna Gillman's book, "Create Your Own Free Form Quilts" for some time and have been wanting to have a go so I have spent yesterday and part of today making strippy blocks.  

I've made myself a makeshift design wall by covering two canvases with low-loft wadding and when DH finds some clamps he's put somewhere safe I will be able to make them a bit more robust.  So far I've been making up blocks of dark, midrange and light value but this evening I started the exciting part of cutting things up and inserting some contrasting colours.  I havn't a clue how this will turn out but so far I'm haing fun and i's even possible I might get it done in time.

So, why did I title this post 'Beautiful Cumbria'?  Over the Bank Holiday weekend DH and I had a little trip (another one?!) up to Cumbria to attend Ireby Festival again.  We were blessed with better weather than last year and had managed to get a Bed & Breakfast in the village so we were able to go back and have a rest when we wanted (being terrible light weights) and actually managed to see all of the Saturday evening performances.  

Ireby is in a beautiful part of the country and we had a lovely walk on the Sunday to the neighbouring village to listen to Luke Jackson do an acoustic set at Mae's Tearoom.

 This young man is only 18 years old and has been performing since the age of 14.  He writes all his own words and music and his music is individual and powerful.

Backtracking to the actual festival, we saw a great variety of acts throughout the weekend  and our favourites were The Paperboys, a Canadian group who stormed through a lively set on Friday night,

The young lady playing the violin in the clip had been replaced by another in the Ireby set.

Another favourite of the weekend was a young duo Gregg Russell & Ciaran Algar who played two sets, one in support of the headline act on Saturday, Seth Lakeman!

Did I say Seth Lakeman?  Oh yes, he was top of the bill on Saturday.  Ace photographer, DH, cornered the poor man at the coffee van and asked if he would mind him taking his photograph.  

As you can see he obliged.  If you havn't heard of Seth Lakeman you might recognise his piece 'Kitty Jay' that was on the tv quite a lot when it came out.

Seth is a Cornishman so we're almost related! ;-)  His set was loud and very lively and by the end he had everyone on their feet, including us and I was leaping about with the best of them.  Thank goodness though it was only for the last 3 or 4 numbers or I might not have been here to tell the tale!

 Not Seth Lakeman but a group called Ahab.

We were treated to a full moon while we were away and my failed shot through the bedroom window has actually given me a lovely texture image for future work. 

This beautiful church stands about a mile outside Ireby and has the most beautiful victorian gravestones. 

How beautiful is this?  The mountain in the background is Skiddaw.  Before you ask, no, we didn't climb it ;-) A three mile walk to Uldale and back on Sunday was more than enough for us!

Inspiration

A few days ago Dionne Swift had a pop up sale via Facebook and as I viewed the works on offer I was instantly drawn to one of the pieces. (Well, more than one of them, actually).

The piece is called 'Blue Arc' and is absolutely beautiful.  The base fabric has wonderful colours and textures and these set off the energetic stitching inside the arc.  The turquoise surrounding the stitching is particularly vibrant and pulses and vibrates as you catch sight of it.  I am going to keep it in my workroom where I am sure it will constantly inspire me and remind me my favourite place, St Ives.

I am continuing to work on my 'Horizon' piece but have hit that brick wall bit when nothing seems to be working.  I had a play with the pieces this morning but I still can't decide how I'm actually going to put them together.  Back to the drawing board, I think.

National Dementia Awareness Week

Today marks the start of National Dementia Awareness Week the aim of which is to get people talking about Dementia and Alzheimers which directly affects over 800,000 people in the country today, with many more people likely to develop it as the population ages.  As Beth Britton describes most eloquently on her blog, dementia casts a net throughout a network of everyone connected both currently and throughout their lives, of the person living with dementia.  

We all have our own fears about developing this condition and shy away from obtaining a diagnosis, especially early on when there may be help available.  You may be aware that my DH and I have direct experience of living with dementia as both our mothers' developed the condition.  In both cases I think it's safe to say that the condition was well advanced before we, as carers, joined all the dots and realised what was going on.  My mother's dementia seemed to hit us out of the blue when she suffered a stroke but when we had time to look back and think about things I realised that things had not been right for several years. Mum had been gamely coping with memory problems and difficulties in communicating and understanding and we had not recognised the signs.  Ironic since we had just gone through more than 5 years with my mother-in-law's experiences of Alzheimers.  You would think we would have noticed and helped mum ask the right questions at the doctor's but sadly distance prevented us making the connections that might have got her help sooner.  Our heads were in the sand.

Beth Britton's blog is excellent and she speaks with great candour and honesty about her experiences and also provides practical thoughts on living with dementia.  If you do nothing else check out my links and be aware.  Alzheimers is a frightening condition and we all shy away from facing it but there is hope for managing life with dementia and there is still room for smiles and laughter.