Patchwork Meadow - lovely idea!

 

Happy New Year, Folks!

Christmas decs are stashed, days are getting longer, bulbs are coming up - it’s time to celebrate SPRING with a little project, and this idea from

the wild flower conservation charity Plantlife could be just the thing.

Plantlife are creating a giant “Patchwork Meadow” of textile
 squares celebrating the role of our native wild plants in British Culture. 

It's open to anyone, and once completed, the “meadow” will
be shown at a series of exhibitions around the UK.
My craft group's really up for it - looking forward to seeing the results!
 They want 15cm squares created using any medium - sewing, knitting,
patchwork, felt, painting, printing, cross stitch - anything at all!
Here are a couple already submitted by Seona Anderson

Love the jacobean black work, and the glistening beads
 on the sundew just bring it to life

I'd love to try foundation piecing again.

It's a method of sewing fabric to a numbered paper or cloth grid
and can be almost like painting with fabric. - great fun!

  

I love Regina Grewe's foundation-pieced ‘Year of Flowers’ collection  

Winter aconite pattern by Regina Grewe
pieced by quiltexplorer 
Love  the fabrics & how the background fabric changes direction

Pansy pattern by Regina Grewe -
Lovely piecing and choice of fabrics by quiltexplorer

Do check out this link to Regina's website -
I just love her snowdrop wall hanging 

http://www.reginagrewe.de/04muster/0405blumenjahr_e.html#bom200801

Below is a free pattern from Regina's website
showing how a foundation pattern is numbered.

It looks complicated, but once you've got the principle,
everything drops into place.  There are loads
of tutorials on the net - try Crafty Gemini's
 paper piecing made easy tutorial on YouTube.


These are a couple of little squares I did when I first started patchwork.
The seams on the maple leaf aren't accurate and the points
 are cut off - but I did love doing it.  The bromeliad is a bit better...
 

First effort - 5" square -ish!
Wonky seams, poor points - ho hum - but I still like it

  



2nd try - a little bromeliad. Love the colours.

 

Fancy having a go?

 

Check out the Plantlife website for details
 

http://wildflowereurope.org

 





Constant change is here to stay

Typical!

  I finally get my head round Windows Vista and my laptop dies!

Once again I'm up to the eyes in muck and bullets,

grappling with Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2010.

 

They've got a fight on their hands.

I'm determined to make Windows and Office

do what I want and not the other way round!

This card from my 'New Man' card range sums it up.

 I do feel like booting the thing into space sometimes.

Life imitating art, or what!

 

Just an example --

Was a bit concerned about some emails that went AWOL in the transition

but decided to take a positive view and opened Outlook Express thinking 

'Ooh, goody - a fresh start!'

 

Then fourteen thousand old emails

 dropped into my inbox.

Fourteen THOUSAND!!! 

 

The whole shebang was due to the default email setting

being IMAP and not our former POP3.

If you're none the wiser, join the club!

 

For the same reason, they took absolutely ages to delete,

and I almost lost the will to live when I found them in the

'deleted items' box and realised they had

 to be turfed out of there too.....

 

That's when I decided to log off... 

 

Ee, by gum - there's nowt so queer as folk...

...but if you're not from Yorkshire, say -

'My goodness - people are strange!'

We celebrated Yorkshire Day in grand style this year!

Yorkshire legends!

From t' left: Hannah Hauxwell, Compo, Hardcastle, Norah Batty, an offcumden

from over t' border, and Reg Mellor, world champion ferret-legger.

Reg does a nice bit of dry-stone-walling for t' middle ot' table.
None o' this fancy flower-arranging lark...

That's reet grand, Reg!

We'll dig up a bit o' peat bog next year instead o' that green towel

Norah's not happy to have the ferret in the house,

even if it is sealed in Reg's trousers.

"But ah'm goin' for t' ferret-legging record!" says Reg.

"Ah've already done five hours 'n' twenty minutes!"

"I don't care," says Norah.  "It's not what we want to see when we're cooking!"

 

Yorkshire pudding! 

"Lovely wi' Bingley bangers, mushy peas and onion gravy,"

says Hardcastle, "an' some Old Peculier ter wash it dahn.

I'm vexed that some folk are supping wine. It just i'n't right."

Norah and Compo start to worry that the mushy peas are already fighting back...

A grand night!

Should've got a photo of the Yorkshire curd cheesecake

 we had in t' finish-up, but I forgot.

Bet you think I'm making all this up...

Wikipedia

Wonder if Reg'll be defending his title in Richmond, Virginia this year?