Wednesday 25 September 2013

Busy...busy....busy.....

The title describes perfectly this weeks meeting of twenty five members of Viñuela Sew and Sews.  It seemed to be a "heads down" session with quite varied projects on the go with some nearing completion.


Linda spent the morning hemming the binding on her very large quilt made from recycled men's shirt fabrics, using blocks in the cathedral window technique.  There are a lot of shirts in there Linda!
Ann showed us her finished wall hanging, (seen below)  made after being inspired by a similar hanging made by fellow member Helen Hulme

Jenny is working on a technique quite different from her usual digitized embroidery or felting.  These Japanese technique "temari" balls are made by winding yarn around a polystyrene shape and then weaving more coloured yarns through strategically placed threads to make attractive designs.



Above,  Rozanne is working on her hand stitched drunkards-path design quilt,  and below is an industrious group of Margaret on her sewing machine, with Shirley, Sheila and Louise all knitting. 

                                     

It was good to see Margaret and Gladys back after their trips to the UK and Australia to visit with families. Gladys showed us this clever knitted doll which she is donating to Pam's daughter's forthcoming charity event.  Cinderella can be seen here with her sad face, ragged clothes and duster in hand, 


then transformed into a princess complete with her dance card, below.


I believe Gladys and Margaret are working on another of these knitted dolls which are cleverly made as one doll, as shown below and would make a lovely gift for any little girl.


Vanessa I'm pleased to report, has received her piece of fabric to replace the trimming error in her quilt which you may remember I wrote about in a previous blog, has the quilt top "repaired" good as new, and ready to layer up with wadding and backing.  Vanessa brought in two completed cross stitch picturesto show u, which are ready for framing, depicting two of her favourite places, Venice and Paris.




Here Ann is working on a new project, a small Christmas-themed wall hanging.

We are very fortunate to have regular access to a supply of wonderful mulberry papers, brought over from Thailand by Jenny's husband on his regular trips.  Below are Yvonne and Ann with Jenny in the centre, having to make a difficult decision on which papers to choose not to buy!



And finally this week, it was good to see Penny (left) again, on one of her regular visits to Spain.  Penny enjoys visiting the group to see what we are all doing and is here having a catch-up with Tricia, before a group of eight of us left a little early today to have lunch with her. Penny belongs to a thriving patchwork group in the UK and enjoys often returning with ideas she has seen in our group. 
Thanks for reading our blog, hope to see you again next time.  Happy stitching,
                                                                                                                    Rachel














Thursday 19 September 2013

Worlds biggest coffee morning.....

The worlds biggest coffee morning is being held as some of you may know, on Friday 27 September, in aid of the Macmillan Cancer Support Charity.  Viñuela Sew and Sews group member Sue Payne, will be visiting one of these coffee mornings in Birmingham, and taking along a donation from our group.
Sadly, Sue Stead, who joined our Group last year, recently lost her battle with cancer, and very generously requested that all her craft materials and books were to be given to Viñuela Sew and Sews as she had enjoyed the meetings she attended.  Group members who have found homes for Sue Stead's collection of papers, yarns and books have donated an amount which the Group doubled, and Sue (Payne) who used to sit with Sue at our meetings has volunteered to take the donation on the Group's behalf.
If you would like to read more about this event please follow this link  http://coffee.macmillan.org.uk
                                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                     Rachel

Wednesday 18 September 2013

Another busy session......

While our friends and families back in the UK are having wet and very cold weather while reading this week's blog, here we have had a rise in temperature again, but this didn't prevent twenty five members from coming to our Tuesday meeting.
The cakes left over from our stall at Saturday's Fiesta de la Pasa in the village, were quickly snapped up with donations swelling the takings from Saturday to over €75 which along with donations we already have from sales of fabric etc, means we can present our favourite local charity Anne-Axarquia with just over €100. So a big thank you to everyone who came along and supported our stall by buying the cakes, and thank you to all the members who made and donated cakes and biscuits.

Margaret and Jan manning the tables at Saturday's Fiesta

As always there was lots of activity in the hall this week, with members continuing to work on existing projects and discussing ideas for new ones, and it was good to welcome Shirley back after an extended visit to family in the UK.  Shirley has been working on a knitted  layette set for a Spanish friend and is now knitting a bright jumper for the same friend's daughter.


Louise, below, has finished the knitted baby blanket she has been working on for the past few weeks and has started a new knitting project




and Maureen is putting the finishing stitches in this warm crochet and woven blanket, while Cath and her friend Jill, who visits the group occasionally, were doing some hand sewing.  Cath is making heart shaped pincushions and donating them to the charity that Pam is collecting for.



Sue on the right, brought along her friend who is visiting from the UK for a week.  Sue's friend enjoyed the day with us, and showed us the cross stitch banner she is working on for her local brass band.

Annie only has one more week with us before she travels back to her home on a boat off the coast of New Zealand, where she spends much of the year.  I wonder if there are any other groups who can boast a member who travels quite so far to stitch with their friends!!


It was good to see Helen again , seen here working on her latest gold work embroidery, and it's unusual to see Carole, below without her sewing machine.  This week Carole is working on another padded etui box.



Above, Margaret is working on a fabric shoe caddy this week, which will hang behind a bedroom door and below are Carol, who is adding embroidery stitch to a piece using silk paper made in a previous Diversity group "play-day" and Yvonne, who I'm sorry but I don't know what she's working on, but looks as though she's having fun!





At the end of the room which seems to have been adopted by the sewing machinists, there were only four members this week, Linda and Pam above, with Ann below



and Eloise who is seen here with Vanessa who is working on a cross stitch project. Vanessa told me a sad tale which will be familiar to many fellow quilters the world over.  At last weeks meeting, Vanessa was at the stage of squaring up her quilt top ready to add the binding.  She trimmed it and intended going home to add the binding, but when she opened up the quilt it was horribly lopsided and she promptly burst into tears.  Vanessa says she should never  have attempted it as she knew she wasn't feeling well that day, and she wasn't concentrating properly.  After little sympathy from her husband, she went to bed feeling low about the situation, and woke at 3am still thinking about what she could do to rectify the problem.  She had no more of the same fabric which she had bought a while ago, but she did know the maker and name of the fabric line, so in the early hours she searched the internet for a supplier for the smallest piece she could find.  I'm pleased to say Vanessa was successful, though it's a bit of an expensive solution, as the postage is costing more than the small piece of fabric needed!  But Vanessa says she would never be able to live with the quilt if she just finished it as it is, so it will be worth it in the end.  I did reassure her that she is not alone in learning the hard way, many many of us, me included, have been down this road before and we hopefully rarely make the same mistake twice!  We look forward to seeing the finished project soon Vanessa.


I too am learning by my "mistakes".  I have a new pieced and applique project in mind, and decided I would dye my own fabric for the background  and use up some of the smaller pieces of fabric which I had previously dyed as part of the Diversity group play-days, for the applique motifs.  I decided to dye a large 2 metre piece and tray-dye it so that it would have lots of scrunched textures in it.  But it seems after discussions with other group members sitting at the table below, that I used  too small  a tray which resulted in the fabric having too much white left in it where the dye couldn't penetrate as it was scrunched too tightly.  So now I have a choice of whether to over-dye it, or dye a new piece of fabric in a larger bucket to try and get a more overall scrunched effect but in a solid colour.  In my case, it was a happy mistake, as I love the textures and colours in this fabric, and I'm sure I will find a use for it in another project.  So one way or another it's back to the dye bucket for me!


During the early part of the meeting I received a text from Helen Pegman, who was delighted to have just received a parcel from the Diversity group members, containing postcards made by members to show her we are thinking of her.  Now that Helen has received these cards, next week I'll be able to show them to you, so make sure to come back and have a look at them and more work from the thriving Viñuela Sew and Sews group.
For members who are waiting for the link to be able to subscribe to this blog by email...... I'm sorry but after spending another couple of hours last night trying unsuccessfully to fathom out Feedburner, despite what I thought were very clear instructions from Carol, I gave up!  So Carol I'll be ringing you for your help in the next day or so I'm afraid.
                         Rachel



















Thursday 12 September 2013

New Term, Part 2........

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, there was such a lot going on at this week's Tuesday  meeting, I thought it best to divided up the blog, so here is part 2........

We welcome new member Rachel, who traveled from Almuñecar to join us.  Apparently Rachel has been following us on our website www.Vinuelasewandsews.eu for some time and discovered that she knows long standing member Jenny Hart from her time living in Ireland, where both worked on their City and Guilds Patchwork and Quilting courses.  Rachel originally lived in Granada, but now that she has moved down to the coast, decided she would be able to travel to our meetings and join the Group so she could meet with like minded people.


Rachel with her pink-themed quilt

We wish Helen and Chris farewell, they eventually returned to England a few weeks ago, where Helen is busy organsising house renovations, in particular her new sewing room, fitting this in between daily visits to see Chris, and Helen reports that Chris is being very well looked after in hospital in Leeds.  Helen I know you will follow us on here, and we hope you join in with us on some of our projects; after all long-distance learning is very popular now with so much technology freely available . We look forward to updates from you when you have time.
Linda seems well settled back here after her extended stay in England, and here shows off a pretty cardigan and cotton lawn blouse she has made since returning.  Welcome back Linda!



Sheila was busy knitting baby cardigans for a charity in Africa, (I'll feature more on this next week), and was pleased to see lots of yarn remnants which had been donated to the group by former member Sue Stead, who sadly lost her battle with cancer a short while ago .  Although Sue had not been a member for very long, she so enjoyed her time in our group making new friends and enjoying being with like minded people that she expressed a wish that her stash of craft items, books and materials should be donated to the group.   


Many of Sue's materials have found new homes and will feature in future projects.  Amongst the yarns were two blankets, works in progress, which we intend finishing off and then raffling at our next exhibition to help raise funds for the local charity Anne-Axarquia, which we support whenever we can.

  
Maureen and Sandy were busy finishing off a crochet lap blanket and  tiny cardigan while chatting with Eleanor who was working  on a crochet stitch sampler, some of the stitches look remarkably like knitted stitches but are worked on a single crochet hook.


 Eleanor says it's her intention to crochet individual squares for each different stitch, and mount these on a display board to be displayed at group meetings.  Eleanor, who's knowledge and enthusiasm has already been responsible for quite a few members taking up knitting or crochet or reviving their old hobby, will then be happy to teach group members further stitches if they are interested..  
Apart from being busy making small projects along with Pam for charity, Ann has made these two little gift wrapped owls as wedding gifts.  


Helen is really enjoying her new Husqvarna Viking sewing machine and putting some the embroidery stitches to good use on her quilted work.  There is a bit of a story to this machine, Helen purchased it on the internet a couple of months back after deliberating for many weeks and months on which machine to buy.  She sought advice from group members too after narrowing her choice down to a couple of manufacturers.  Kath brought in her Husqvarna machine for Helen to try, and this settled Helen's mind.  The machine was delivered from the UK, and Helen eagerly began stitching with it.  She was very disappointed from the start with the stitch quality, one of the main things abut any sewing machine and knew things were not right.  After many phone calls with the seller, Helen eventually spoke to Husqvarna themselves who agreed without doubt the machine should go back, and arranged for a brand new one to be shipped from Sweden to she seller then on to Helen here in Spain.  The downside was that Helen had to pay for the shipping back to the UK, but after receiving her new machine and seeing how brilliantly it stitched, she feels this was worth it, even though she really shouldn't have had to pay the costs.  Helen wanted a machine that would enhance her quilts with embroidery stitches, particularly using metallic threads, and as you see from the photo below, she now has that machine and expects to spend many hours using it with much pleasure.



 Chris was thrilled with outcome of the unusual project she was commissioned to make for her grandson in the US.


 Chris who sent me the photos last week says, "this wigwam was a rushed job being a suggestion from my daughter for my grandson´s third birthday next week.  I wish she had mentioned it when we were over there in July!  Anyway, the wigwam was completed in record time and sent Fedex last week and she got it in three days - amazing! I put together my own pattern based on a friend´s advice and guidance  whose mother had made one each for her two boys. Patterns on the internet were four sided and looked more like ordinary tents so I had great fun with this plus expert help from my technical advisor at home!"  I bet your grandson is the envy of his playmates Chris!

Elle called in to see us too this week.  Since Elle moved back to Torrox from Viñuela she can't make meetings so often, but we always love to see her outstanding silk-ribbon work.  These panels are worked on painted backgrounds, the details are amazing and very lifelike, but unfortunately it's very difficult with my limited camera skills to show them well.


All the flowers are worked in silk ribbon and thread


Elle worked the shoes in delicate silk ribbon too


The hair and top of the ballerina's costume is all worked in silk thread too!

In the pictures below the detail is also amazing, from the diamonte embellishment on the jeans pockets,  the crocheted jumper and styled hair on the girl, to the 3-D fruit on the tree and in the fruit basket and of course all the silk flowers and leaves.






To finish off this week's blogs, I must mention that we will have a stand at the Viñuela "Dia de la Pasa" fiesta this coming Saturday 14 September, to be held in the heart of the village.  Last year we displayed many of our quilts and knitted and stitched projects, but as we were only asked about this on Friday last week, we haven´t got time to put together an exhibition again, but we have decided that many of us can bake cakes and cookies, which are always very popular at our exhibitions.  So this year we are selling some lovely home baked goodies to raise funds for our local favourite charity, Anne-Axarquia.  There may also be a few little stitched items  for sale too, along with a display of one or two small projects if we have space.  I hope if you are in the area, you may come along and support us.  There is always lots of live music at the fiesta, along with many stalls offering local produce and of course grapes, and the village is providing free snacks and drinks.  We will be there from 2pm, until all the cakes are sold!

  See you next week,  Rachel













Wednesday 11 September 2013

New Term starts.........

After a long summer break for many of us, our new term started with 30 enthusiastic members getting together for this first meeting.  So much went on at the meeting that I will post the blog in two parts.  Grab a cuppa and have a look!
There was a huge amount of work on display from our talented members, ten of whom had been meeting up all summer while the rest of us took a break.  Pam and Ann have been working tirelessly on small projects ranging from bookmarks to swimming bags, which are being  sent to England for sale at a charity event in the Autumn, at Pam's daughter´s place of work, in aid of raising funds for the Adult Social Care organisation she works for.  I will post more about this on the Group website in the near future.  Here is a sample of some of the things they've been making.




Christine Speller, who has also attended most of the summer, has been busy preparing for her forthcoming workshop.  This will be a Row-by-Row project, which is flexible enough for participants to make any size from a small lap quilt or wall hanging, to a larger bed quilt.  This workshop is expected to begin towards the end of October and will run monthly.  Here is part of one of the panels members will be making, and includes various patchwork techniques so the project is suitable for both beginners, who will learn new skills, and more accomplished members who can adapt the design to their own requirements.


Jan has been busy over the past few weeks and brought in a couple of the quilts she has made and finished to show us. Jan has always been interested in digitized-embroidery and quilting patterns, and has a  super Janome sewing/embroidery machine which she treated herself to not long after coming to Spain.  Jan says     " I'm really into scrap quilts at the moment, using up my fabric stash to make way for new fabrics" and  uses these digitized designs to embellish her quilt tops in place of regular hand or machine quilting.  Here are the quilts she recently completed.


This green and pink quilt features flower and butterfly motifs



Jan's scrappy brown and cream quilt features  feathers and heart digitized quilting designs



and Jan's blue and white quilt features butterfly and flower  digitized quilting designs


Kath is relieved to have  put her larger than king size bed quilt together, which took three people standing on chairs with their arms stretched out to display!  The quilt features various Celtic knot shapes which have been appliqued on to the background using fancy embroidery stitches in gold thread.  The quilt  was made in the quilt-as you-go method, so that Kath was able to manoeuvre it under her sewing machine to work on it more easily.  She says it was getting very warm stitching it over the summer months so she's pleased to see it at last on her bed!



Margaret Doyle, who also went to meetings all through the summer, has been working on a piece of fabric which has been languishing in a cupboard for a few decades!  Margaret taught embroidery at a girls school and made the batik sample to show the girls how it was done.  She found it recently and decided to finish the piece by adding stitch and embellishments, but before doing this she had to deal with the wax which was still on the fabric from the batik technique.  After so many years of neglect, the wax was well and truly stuck in the fabric and it took very many different, unconventional  products before Margaret finally tried a Spanish kitchen cleaning product, Mercadona's Quita Grasas, in desperation.  To her amazement it removed the wax and there doesn't appear to have been any loss of colour or deterioration in the cotton fabric, actually leaving it with  a lovely soft feel to it!


Here is the painted and stitched panel almost completed

Cath was inspired by a circles quilt design on a quilt made by fellow member Christine for her grandson, and decided to make her own version in different colours.  Cath too has been attending meetings during the summer, in between family visits.


With Cath's developing skills in free machine quilting, I'm keenly waiting to see the finished project!

I hope you've enjoyed catching up with some of what's been going on over the last few weeks.  I intend posting again in a day or so with other photos and news from this meeting, so do come back again in a day or so to see more.
                                                                                Rachel