winding up the weekend

it was a nice evening Sunday night for a fire...... camp fire that is....

what better way to wind down for the evening and weekend.
I did get a little sewing done. I am in a post card swap for Canada Day.

just a peak    ;0)

 I made a sample that may be for a fall class and did a little laundry.

It was also a nice weekend for a little yard work .... and look the flowers are starting to bloom.

and now to start a new week........ in stitches
Annette

Surprises and making a gelli plate / plates

What a surprise when Elaine called Friday night to say that I had won a prized for one of my blocks that I had in the block challenge for this years Saskatchewan's Stitches Conference.
For the challenge we were given a fat quarter of the challenge fabric and asked to make a 10 1/2 in unfinished block and these blocks will be used in making some charity quilts for the Prairie Women on Snowmobiles.
  Here are the blocks that I have made for this challenge .......

Thank you Haus of Stitches and the Sask. Stitches Conference for the lovely gift. I can see more play time ahead with these goodies.

And now for a little play time...... of a different sort.... I was wanting to try a larger gelli plate and found that they are hard ti find locally sew what's a girl to do.... I started looking on line and found a couple recipes for making a permanent  gelli plate. The ingredients are simple and found almost anywhere.  I tried out a couple of them and this is what I ended up with....

a round gelli plate about 3/4 inch thick

one of my new gelli plates
8 x 11 inches

I did find some useful tips in the info I had read and watched..... using simple tissue paper to clean up the wet surface of the plate before it sets works wonderfully.

before .... with foam and bubbles

After ... nice and clean

Sew now there will be a little more play time coming and creating some one of a kind fabric samples :0)
Thanks for stopping by
In stitches

 Annette

Playing with Gelli

that's Gelli Plates and paint,

Jackie's class sample of printing with gelli plates

This is the class that I was able to take this year. (other bits of unexpected life happened,nothing bad , more later on)  I was a class full of learning and a little bit of playing ... maybe a little more than just a little. As we printed on paper and then fabrics we would share what we where doing with each other and come up with some interesting ideas for doing our gelli prints.
First we printed on paper..... then we played with fabric

my prints

organizing which prints to use in my wall hanging 

one of my class mates choices for her project

and our wall hanging  quilt tops to the point that they got to at the end of the class on the second day.

ready to quilt and add accents

gelli printing on a canvas....... with grandma's dunker's recipe

on of my class mates projects

 making choices as we each put our projects together

I want to say thank you to Jackie van Fossen  for the inspiration  and guidance while learning to use this new to use product and something I have had my eye on for a few years. Check out her site at cloth n paper
and stop by from time to time to see what classes she will be teaching next year.

I have a few ideas to expand what I have learned and will share those as I work them out.
This is also my WIP for this week and I will be linking up with Monika

In stitches until next time
Annette

signing off

Just for a couple of days while I am at the conference.
I am sure there will be a lot of fun had and lots to learn
in stitches
Annette

one more sleep

 Well it's that time of year..... time for stitching and learning from some great teachers. To check out what's happening stop by www.saskstitches.ca
I'll be taking only one class this year as I have some other commitments to attend to. There is always next year and a new line up of classes.
The class I will be taking is with Jackie, on painting with gelli plates. I always learn a lot with her and have a bit of fun doing it. We will be creating our own fabric, after learning about the gelli plates and then creating with it on the second day.
Sew stop in and see what classes are happening in the next little while and also check out Haus of Stitches either online or with Facebook. I will also try to get some pictures posted while I am there.
I hope to see some of the past years gals again.
Take care and stay
                            ...... in stitches
                                               Annette

May's long weekend

The first long weekend of the summer :0)
The leaves are starting to come out today with the nice and gentle rain. It is sew nice to see all the little signs of the season even if they feel like they are slow in arriving. We have hauled the camper out to our campsite for the season and have started to get things set up. We did get to enjoy a campfire on Saturday night....... no bugs ..... just yet.
We have the potatoes planted, as of yesterday, so the sewing in the garden has begun as well.
I have some busy weeks coming up so I have taken the time to get my bags of supplies packed for the Saskatchewan Stitches Conference. I am taking one class for sure and we will see what is going on and if it works out to take any others.  The class that I am taking is the Gelli Plate printing class with Jackie.

Still working on a few of past years projects ..... just got to get them done so that I will have more time for this years projects.
What have you been up to this long week end?
in stitches
Annette

Spring.... I think it has sprung

I think spring has finally arrived. At least s few days with out any moisture of any kind. I was able to hang out the wash the other day .... nothing like that fresh smell of laundry that has hung in the sunshine. I had to remake my clothespin holder.

I did manage to get a little sewing done. I finished one quilt top from last years stitches conference This one I was designing the boarder and had to remember what  I was doing and how I was cutting my strips. The one thing I should have remembered first was which ruler I was using.. lol , Sew many rulers and sew many different techniques

Next I got a start on another quilt for Victoria's quilts.To me it is looking like a rock climbing wall, sew I might call it Rock Climbing.

I just have to figure out some boarders ...... might be a shopping trip..... aw shucks ;0)      Any suggestions???

close up of the blocks

  Well that' all for now, I want to go for a walk and some of that fresh air.
                 Take care and stay
                                  In stitches
                                       Annette