Appliqué Tutorials

How are you all copying as we enter our third week of lockdown?

Like many people I'm up and down. There are busy days and slow days, but mostly very long days. I relish my daily dog walks and I'm grateful that we live where we do and that it's possible to walk for miles and hardly see a soul. And when we do see others it's a chance to wave and have a chat from a distance. But like many others I'm also struggling with the fact that I no longer have work, which has not only meant no structure to my days but being self employed, also means no income.

To fill my time, I'm teaching myself new skills and have been posting regular mini video art tutorials on Instagram and Facebook, as well as putting them on my YouTube channel. It all feels very scary and I'm learning as I go but it's also good fun. But I'm also starting to think about how I might find ways to fill the shortfall in my earnings

I thought that one way might be to share share some of my old tutorials and so have decided to make my seasonal appliqué hoop PDFs available here with a Pay What You Can system for as long as we are in lockdown. Each one is a fully illustrated guide to creating your own seasonal hoop, complete with traceable patterns. The patterns could also be printed out and coloured in if you have children at home.

At the bottom of this post you will find a PayPal button and all I ask is that if you are able to make a small payment in return for downloading any of the tutorials, then please do. Of course I appreciate that times are hard for everyone right now and if you can't afford to pay anything at the moment, then you may download the patterns for free with my blessing and I hope it gives you something creative to fill your days. We could all do with more creativity!

The spring hoop is perfect for this time of year, especially Easter and I think I will probably hang mine in the window this coming weekend.

Click on the link below for your download.

Spring Hoop PDF

The summer hoop features beach huts and hazy summer days.

You can find the download for the summer hoop here:

Summer Hoop PDF

The Autumn hoop features berries and seeds as well as a little fox

You can find the download for the autumn hoop by clicking here:

Autumn Hoop PDF

And finally the winter hoop features a suitably snowy scene.

Although each design is intended to be displayed as a hoop to hang on the wall, they could be adapted to fit in a regular picture frame or possibly made to decorate a cushion or a bag too.

You can find the winter hoop download here

Winter Hoop PDF

I have been selling these patterns in my Etsy shop but I have deactivated them while I have the downloads available here. You can find my PayPal button below and thank you for your support.

If you have any questions, just leave a comment below... and of course if you make up any of the patterns I would love to see them!

Wishing you all a happy lock downed Easter... We are attempting a family zoom call  on Sunday with fourteen of us!

Gina x

Upcycling

About three years ago I picked up three old kitchen chairs in a charity shop. The intention at the time was to do wonderful things with them but then three years went past... and I didn't do anything with them!

So, last week in the midst of sorting out and packing (even though we still don't have an actual moving date) I decided it was time to tackle my little upcycling project and the chairs were given a couple of coats of chalk paint, waxed and then rubbed down to give a distressed look. You've got to love paint that doesn't require any rubbing down or preparation first.

While I was about it I also got the first coat on an old pine blanket box. There is method in my madness as the intention is that this will hold my stash of knitting yarn in our new living room so it does almost come into my sorting out regime. And I couldn't live with that aged yellow varnish.

I then recovered the seat with some appliqued and embroidered fabric...

And hey presto... my new upcycled chair (other two still to finish!)

I was wondering whether to make a set of six but at the rate I'm going it will be another fifteen years before I finish them all!

I was spurred on to get at least one finished though as I am away teaching at Misssenden Abbey this weekend where we are making collaged fabric to turn into bags.

And I thought it would be fun to show how the fabric can be used in different ways

 

Almost too nice to sit on!

Sorry I haven't been replying to comments again... for some reason Google lets me type out a comment, I hit publish and then nothing appears... so frustrating! But I do read them all and enjoy hearing from you.

I'm Fine - Here and Now in October!

We were out on Saturday night to another fabulous village event - a fund raiser for the local branch of the NSPCC where my friend Sarah was performing with her stage partner Ros as the totally brilliant Pulsatillas. On arrival Sarah greeted me and asked how I was. "I'm fine" was my reply and Sarah laughed... "Really? We've got a song about that tonight". And it's true isn't it. How often do we say we are fine when actually we are struggling with something or another. To be honest it has been a long time since I've been absolutely fine. Some of the things that are going on I have written about here over the year, other things not and if you ask me I'll say I'm fine. Because that is what we do. But I heard something else on Saturday. One of the customers in the cafe left us with a little quotation:
"Always be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle" attributed to Plato
And I thought that is true too... so be kind because behind the words "I'm fine" there might be all sorts of struggles going on.

Which is by way of an introduction to a post about finding some mindfulness and meditation in our day to day life which came about from reading a lovely blog called Dolly Henry from where I found a  "Here and Now" link up from Say! Little Hen. I'm not sure I'll manage to join in every month but it seemed a good way to stop and reflect on what is good now and then!

Loving// this new little book from Beth Kempton. Last year everything was about Hygge but I suspect it won't be long before we are all talking about Wabi Sabi, a Japanese concept that is about appreciating simple beauty in the world around us, appreciating the passage of time and imperfection as well appreciating the here and now. Or at least that is my interpretation which is rather apt  for this post. I'm certainly appreciating the feel of this beautiful little book in my hand.

Eating// far too many of these little raspberry Friands. Similar to a French Financier, they are a little cake popular in Australia and New Zealand made from almonds, egg whites, butter and icing sugar. They are easy to make and easy to eat with lovely light fruity centres and slightly crispy edges. And they are rather delicious!

Feeling// cosy indoors on a second day of continuous rain. We didn't get a weekend walk yesterday, only the usual dog walks but made the most of being indoors, catching up with jobs around the house

Making// a scarf. Having a day at home meant I was able to finish this scarf which I have been making for far too long. It was meant as a birthday present for my daughter-in-law except her birthday was in September... the beginning of September! Fortunately she is lovely and pointed out it had been far too warm for wearing a scarf yet so it would be perfect timing for when it was finished. Despite looking very complicated it is just a simple repeating pattern of decreases and increases in garter stitch but using two different colour balls of variegated yarn. You can find the free pattern here. I'm on the look out for something else to knit now that evenings are drawing in.

Thinking// of new ways to generate income from my creative work, which doesn't actually feel very mindful or "here and now" just stressful. I seem to have totally bombed with the patterns for my embroidery hoops and have only made two sales. Maybe they are too expensive... but I did a lot of price comparison beforehand... or maybe they are not what people want or like, who knows? But they haven't been a success story. Megan from Dolly Henry made the point that the pressure from trying to generate an income from creative work and constantly coming up with new ideas is actually enormous.

Dreaming// about a holiday and being able to generate enough income to go away next year... either that or hope the house finally sells! I'm not complaining - we had a glorious couple days in Elafonisos for my Son's wedding this summer but it has been three years since our last proper holiday together. It would be good just to get away for a break.

But do you know what... I'm fine!

Linking up with Sarah for October's Here and Now

Embroidery Hoop Pictures

In my last post I mentioned that during the week when I'm not actually teaching I'm concentrating on doing other art type business related activities and in particular writing tutorials for my Etsy shop. Lately I have been working on the instructions for four seasonal embroidery hoops. I've been drawing out patterns, stitching and photographing each stage as I go. Then it's a case of putting it all together and writing step by step instructions. I do actually enjoy the process but it is rather painstakingly laborious... and I find myself getting impatient to get them finished!

This little fox was finished a couple of weeks ago but I wanted to have all four ready before putting him in the shop. But now after several weeks I have finally finished all four of my seasonal embroidery hoops. Four little applique pictures that look equally at home sitting on a shelf as they do hanging on the wall.

I've listed them as individual tutorials that come as downloadable PDFs complete with full size patterns but they are also available as a set of all four at 25% discount on the individual pattern prices.

And if stitching your own pictures isn't your thing I will also be selling the original artworks.So far only Mr Fox is listed but the others will follow in due course.

Do you have a favourite? I thought mine was the spring bunnies but I'm rather taken with Mr. Fox lately...  maybe it's due to the change in seasons. Of course, Winter would make a lovely Christmas decoration too!

You can find them all here in my Etsy shop!

Tomorrow it will be a different sort of work as I will be at the Knitting and Stitching show at Alexandra Palace sitting on the Missenden School of Creative Arts stand. Come and say hello if you are passing!

Seasonal Stitching

Well I'm back from a lovely weekend away at The Festival of Quilts. I enjoyed the challenge of teaching a couple of machine embroidery workshops in the space of just one hour which seemed to go down well despite some hiccups with threads on the first day...and one particularly rude lady who could do with brushing up on her manners but the less said about her the better. Thankfully most people are absolutely lovely. I met up with old friends and new, may have made a couple of small purchases of some beautiful fabrics and mostly felt overwhelmed by all of the quilts. I can admire the all the work and effort (some were absolutely spectacular) but they aren't really my thing. And there were so many of them! Best of all was spending a couple of days with my friend Gill... we are on the same wavelength as far as quilts... and people are concerned!

This week I have a day class teaching "Seasonal Hoops" - little free machined applique pictures representing the four seasons mounted in embroidery hoops. I designed and made the one with two little rabbits ages ago... during the spring in fact when I was inspired by all the blossom on the trees. It was used to advertise the class

But I never quite got around to designing the remaining three until last week.

But they are now all done and ready for my class.

So a few questions you can help me out with... do you have a favourite? Do you think they would make good cards?

Is it the sort of thing you would buy a pattern/tutorial for? And if so what sort of price would you be prepared to pay? Happy to hear your thoughts on these questions and anything else you might think...  well specific to these embroideries I mean... not that I'm not happy to hear your thoughts on other subjects of course... and saying that you would be willing to pay is of course in no way an obligation to buy anything from me at all... sorry, it's late and I'm wittering

But it's just that I'm pondering some different ideas which may or may not amount to something... and may or may not even be good ideas at all.

Thank you!

Get a Grip!

Okay... I've loaded some photos but now what? I thought I'd write a blog post as it has been a few days but to be honest my mind is all over the place and I'm not sure what I'm writing about. Life feels like a challenge. To be fair it is calmer over the past few days when compared to the distress, self harming and night spent in A & E but we are still on a knife edge. We are getting help but the next appointment is on May 1st... that's nearly eight weeks away! When I called to ask why I was told that is just the way it is. Meanwhile the crisis helpline or emergency services are our options when things get tough. Sorry, I don't mean to offload but sometimes it feels too much to deal with.

I know I'm stressed because I drove through red lights in the middle of Cambridge yesterday. Someone hooted and everyone politely slowed down... it was Cambridge after all... so no harm was done. And I find myself randomly crying... although maybe crying at Pavarotti singing Nessun Dorma isn't so random. It is quite emotional after all. So when people ask, I say things are better and yes, we're okay and meanwhile I try to carry on as normal. I'm taking part in an Instagram challenge called "March Meet The Maker" which is fun and I've learned all about Flatlays (photo above). Who even knew that taking photos of randomly arranged objects from above was even a thing... not me obviously!

I've been making things and listing them in my Etsy shop. Bags and tea cosies, although I'm not convinced anyone except me uses a tea cosy anymore. And then this week I read that Etsy in the US actually list weapon accessories such as gun speed loaders... I kid you not. I innocently thought Etsy was all about hand crafted and hand made, so now I plan to close my shop because I don't want anything to do with an organisation that sells weapon accessories. Does anyone else have experience of Folksy or possibly having their own website shop? Although my long neglected website has been a victim of malware and is now temporarily closed... or is about to be closed. My email has also been having problems which may or may not be related, so trying to do anything technical with my website isn't going to be straightforward.

But as well as making stuff, I've been teaching and going out with friends (I'm lucky to have some lovely friends) and at home I'm reading or knitting and drinking tea. So I'm trying to maintain some semblance of normity

That was bit random and heavy for a Friday night wasn't it? I blame the Prosecco... I'm okay really...  as long as you don't start playing Pavarotti!

Beast from the East

So how have you coped with this "Beast from the East"? If you are not in the UK you probably haven't a clue what I'm taking about. It's not some sort of Abominable Snowman (which is how I quite like to imagine it) but a snowstorm that has swept the country and brought us to a standstill. There's nothing like a bit of weather to get us all talking and posting snowy pictures all over social media. We've not been hit too bad in south Cambridgeshire apart from the biting winds and sub zero temperatures but still we've not ventured out much except for a couple of essential doctors appointments... which reminds me, thank you for the kind wishes on my last post. Things are now a little calmer and we are finally getting some support. I missed the appointment for my hair cut though so I'll probably end up looking like some shaggy Beast from the East by the time my next appointment comes around.

Of course we have also had to go out for dog walks although even Hector wasn't convinced he wanted to go out this morning... he looked at me like I was crazy.

He enjoyed it once we were out and it was particularly beautiful and peaceful at 7.30 this morning... the only other tracks were rabbits, birds, deer and even a fox. Quite magical... except the bit where the rabbit tracks coincided with the fox, that wasn't magical. It looked like there might have been a scuffle.

We decided we ought to clear the driveway (not that we have taken the cars out today) but I got bored with shovelling snow so harnessed my inner child and built a snowman instead and I left the shovelling to Stewart. (I've just remembered... I must rescue my hat)

Other than that it has been a good excuse to stay home by the fire and keep warm with some new socks to knit. I've not decided whether I am keeping these or giving them away.

I've also spent time in the studio doing some sewing. I've been faffing about with not much of a plan but have ended up with another three little applique bags.

Potential Mother's Day gifts maybe?

They've gone into my Etsy shop anyway.

I also made some Brownies but I can't show you a photo of those because we've eaten them. I'm ready for some warmer springtime weather now though... are you?

Updating my Intentions

I don't know about you but I'm not really sorry that January is behind us. I always find it so long and cold and dreary with the promise of  twinkly fairy lights and never ending mince pies behind us. And let's not talk about the mud... I don't think I've ever known such a muddy January. I seem to spend my days cleaning the dog and washing towels.

But here I am on 1st February... such a lovely short month... looking out the window at a beautiful blue sky. It might still be cold but there were snowdrops and daffodils to be seen on my walk this morning, birds could be heard singing and even the dog came back clean. So reasons to be cheerful as Spring is in sight. Yes I know there are probably still weeks and weeks of rain and mud ahead but don't burst my bubble just yet.

So in a buoyant mood I've turned to one of my 'intentions' for 2018 which was to restock my Etsy shop with tangible items as well as PDF tutorials and as yesterday I managed to finish off another appliqued zipped pouch (finishing things is another 'intention') I spent an hour or so uploading things to the shop. It took a while... it terrifies me how quickly I forget how to do things related to technology when I haven't done them for a while... is it only me?

But once I managed to do one, the others were fairly straightforward.

And so I now have four little zipped pouched listed in my Etsy shop... and the problem of getting people to see and hopefully buy them. So I'm telling you first... and if they sell I might make some more.

You can find them here should you want to take a look and there is free shipping in the UK!

Gina's Etsy Shop