Hi there .. sorry about neglecting the blog .. but I think my muse is on its way back. I have had a bit of a tough few weeks! One of my sisters has passed away, a very sad time indeed. A week or so later, my auntie passed away as well. It makes it hard living so far away in times like this.... We must celebrate their lives and keep all the memories of them close to our hearts. This will help us with the grieving process. I have been finding some inspiration on pinterest... wow you can really get stuck on there. Keep your eyes on my blog and you should be seeing some interesting work!! Here is a picture of my sister and her son David and daughter in law Laurie.

I'm back!! There has been some goings on at work and I will just leave it at that. I am still working there. Textile wise ,I have not had to much of a muse happening .. So thought hmmm what can I do ..... So I joined a online course with Dijanne Cevaal. Did you see she has been on the cover of Quilting Arts with the travellers blanket. The online course Dijanne is running is the travellers blanket ... so far I have gotten the pieces dyed and just need to sandwich them together. Promise to post pics as soon as I get the sandwich of these put together. I still have pics from Lanzarote that I wanted to share with you .. let me know what you think. Tonight I am making pizzo from bisquick base , carmelized balsamic onions and cheese pizza ...similar to Prezzos .. I will takes pics.

A Happy Belated New Year 2013

WOW, How did that happen? Time seems to be slipping by so quickly! Its already Jan 11! I have not really be doing to much Art wise, I moved and have not really been in the sewing room for days ... ok months except to do silly bits of things. I think quite a few blogs have gone a bit on the wayside since FACEBOOK really ... you can get quick and easy fixes visually and replys to things almost immediately. OK still no excuse for not posting on my blog. I promise I will post more often this year. As you know last year was a bit daunting with the cataract surgery and them not being right for a bit. I am back to normal now WHATEVER NORMAL IS. I have been to lanzarote. Pictures which I have not posted on here ok ok ! I will post a few (when blogger lets me)! I have been lucky before the holiday I did win OPEN THE BOX in the pub and had the winning ticket .... 6 keys were left to choose from and I choose the right key and won £250.00 how lucky was that :) Today I just checked Maggie Greys blog and low and behold I won a freebie from her. Some shrinky plastic. She has made the cutiest little books with them and currently has a tutorial. Do have a look. As well as Maggie does sell some fantastic books written on textile stuff on her work , Lynda Monks work ... and others. The best thing about that is not only do you get the great books but they also have online tutorials ... as an added bonus. If you have not been on her website please RUN there .. OK more pics when blogger lets me. reminder to self (this is so I dont forget what I still need to post) lanzarote pictures neat little iron Dijannes debut on Quilting arts Feb 28 some new works

Its raining its pouring!

Today it rained and rained and I was at Ickworth house taking the digital photography course Part 1 which did not make it ideal conditions for the course.

Danielle showed us how to set the apeture the F # controls this, the larger the F # the larger the depth of field that is for landscape photos. We also had to change the ISO by lowering it and raising it as well as what is the ideal exposure. She showed us how to move the focal point. Alot of camera talk, I am sure you just want to see the pictures .. in short we got off Auto mode.

Going Digital As some of you may remember I bought myself a wonderful camera Canon 550D. I am finally going to go on a course to learn to use it properly, without using auto mode, so I am really looking forward to this. EXPLORE YOUR DSLR CAMERA PART 1 This is going to take place at Ickworth House. Its a National Trust building. Ickworth's huge central Rotunda, flanked by two massive wings, dominates this eccentric house built by the equally eccentric 4th Earl of Bristol, who dreamed of creating an Italianate palace within an English landscape. So be on the lookout for quite a few photos tomorrow and in the coming days as I am practicing my new skills.

Until then, here is the quilt I made for European entry that traveled in the USA 2007 its called From the Heart. It is all hand dyed recycled fabrics. On the red part signifying the heart are peoples names embroideried that made deep lasting impressions, and the little tags are others that have been part of my life as well. Making this quilt was very touching as I now live in a different country from where I was born there are people that I dont see much and just have the great memories to remember them by.. From the Heart Throughout life people touch our lives and hearts, some make an impact. It’s those people who make the impression on our hearts that make us who we are. Sandy Marcoux 2007 From the Heart Toured with European Art Quilters 2007-2008 Special Exhibit for the Mancuso World Quilt and Textile on Tour XI National Quilt Festival, Harrisburg, PA Pacific International Quilt Festival, Santa Clara, CA Greater Chicago Quilt Festival, Chicago , IL Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival Quilt Fest of New Jersey Denver CO

Move over .. still not quite sorted out yet but its in the works. I know you want to see pictures of the flat .. they are coming. the other day I was on ebay and found exactly what I needed hahahha well ok wanted ! Little iron that did not do steam and had no holes in it for using this to iron paper onto fabric that I have used transfer paint on. Found this one and at a great price .. cool eh!

I finally found my sisters blog again as she had changed it to a new one Called Magpiedi-Magpiedi have a look she has been doing some great cards Promise to now get back to my blogging as its been far to long.

Has it really been that long since I blogged .. ok what I have been up to you ask. Since March till july I have been having my cataracts removed ... I had issues with the one eye with double vision horizontally and three months later I had the other eye done. In between that I had YAZ lazer surgery on the first eye then they waited and then the other eye so have been a bit of a long haul with that. Then after that recovery I have moved in the last 3 weeks.... not far mind you, just upstairs to the flat directly above me .. I have a wonderful view of the fields which I did not have before and all newly carpeted and painted. I have decided to try to declutter as well and got myself some new bits of furniture, which I will have to show in another post as that is still not here yet till friday. SO pictures to follow. I am rearranging my rooms again pics to follow once they are done and rearranging the sewing room ... Watch this space .. livingroom will have an african theme .. Meanwhile have you seen this book yet it has some wonderful work in there by Lynda Monk

Still recovering from cataract surgery, with complications of double vision horizontally called diplopia its a scarring of the tissue which eventually happens sometimes years later after cataract surgery but being younger they told me it happened rapidly as my eye it trying to heal itself faster.. about 20% of people get this after cataract surgery. I go thursday this week to have this corrected before they do the work on the other cataract on the right eye.. so its been a long haul having this double vision close up and I use the computer every day so its really difficult and its been like this for over a month. Hoping this all goes well this week. I have made some excellent foot jewelry for the summer with beads and jewels.

Have made quite a few now .. will post more as soon as I can ... I have been busy as well will take some other pictures .

Knitting a new Jumper

My sister is going to be going in the hospital and have some surgery .. she is not feeling so great at the moment and once she goes in they should be fixing whatever is wrong and she will be as good as new once she gets her strength back up ...
I thought I would do a jumper for her ! She will be able to wear this when she gets out..

I am taking the pattern that I knitted before and altering it as she would like one that will fit her and be an off the shoulder jumper so watch this space .

I only started knitting this yesterday , these needles knit up so quickly I love em.. In the meantime I have about 6 handbags on the go in various stages so watch this space.. next week .. felting.

On the cataract front my distance is great but still having issues with seeing blurry and double vision with text on the computer  ... oddly the double vision is not side to side its the text and you can then see the same word below like a shadow not quite half ... HOPEFULLY this is Normal and just the eye healing itself

Beginnings of a handbag

 Well what do you think ?