Hawaiian Applique and Jersey Landscapes

Welcome back!  First of all, I hope that all my blogging friends had a lovely and relaxed Christmas and that Father Christmas was good to you all.  I was lucky enough to receive a  beautiful, inspiring book called Material Obsession, (I also have the follow-up, Material Obesssion 2) Kirstie's Craft book and a glue gun, which was just what I wanted.  I also used some of my Christmas money to get other bits such as a new quilting ruler, some gorgeous fabrics for my current module (should be plenty left over) and some threads.  Oh I am easily pleased!  I am now thinking I want to make quilts from my Material Obsession book immediately, but I have the task of completing module 4 first, and then perhaps I will allow myself a small amount of time out to complete a mini quilt using one of the wonderful, original patterns.  As always I like to put myself under pressure! 

But just because it has been Christmas, it does not mean that I haven't been working in between all the eating, socialising and opening presents.  After all, I don't really consider my C and G coursework to be work, and it has been great to have a bit of extra time to focus and get things done while my lovely husband Pete takes Freya to the beach and little trips out.  The first thing I am working on is my Hawaiian applique sample.  Below is a picture of the applique part of it, the whole design hand appliqued by turning the edges under with the point of the needle.   I was pleased with the spotty effect, it looks a bit like a modern snowflake I think, so quite festive and appropriate. 

I am now doing the time consuming business of quilting it, Hawaiian style, but to be honest, it won't look a lot different when it's finished so I thought I would share it with you now. 

I have also been out and about with Pete and Freya in tow, taking photos of the Jersey landscape and coastline, for this module.  Fortunately for me, the theme is natural landscapes, so I really couldn't ask for more with Jersey's dramatic and breathtaking coastline.  I am so lucky to live so close to such beautiful places; it's the perfect backdrop and here is a small selection of some of my favourite pictures:

Greve de Leque

Plemont Bay

Plemont up close (it's where they did the sand art)

Grosnez

Corbiere Lighthouse

Beauport Bay (I think!  We discovered it on our 'tour' of the island)

I am pretty chuffed with my pictures, some of which were taken from the comfort of the car with the window down!  And the bleakness of winter creates a lovely atmosphere in the photos which goes perfectly with the black and white theme that is set for this portfolio. 

Changing topics completely, I have one final photo I would like to share, it's Freya with her new giant caterpillar puzzle and other smaller, yet challenging caterpillar puzzles.  She didn't have any help, she is our resident puzzle expert. 

Ta da!

Right, I must get back to it, before the New Year Celebrations begin.  Happy New Year everyone, I hope it brings you all you wish for. x

Claire and Evie come to stay

I haven't posted for a couple of weeks, but that doesn't mean to say I haven't been busy.  I am still making good progress with my portfolio and I am now thinking about the layout for each page and also tackling the dreaded paperwork, including health and safety and bibliography, which never fills me with inspiration!  But all an essential part of the course so it has to be done. 

The more exciting news is that I had some visitors this weekend; my lovely friend Claire, and her daughter Evie, who is the same age as Freya. They have been here for 5 days, and here are a few of our holiday snaps, out and about around the Island...

A quick trip to the local swings

Before heading to the beach

And admiring the stunning scenery

And when it's bedtime for the girls

It's dinner out for us

Before heading to the Lion Park the next day...among other things!

And Claire and Evie's stay was not without creative pursuit. When the girls were tucked up in bed, we decided to start making preparations for Christmas, and what could be more fun than making some salt dough tree decorations!  After initially thinking, yes we have everything we need in the cupboard (plain flour, salt) we were halted in our tracks when we discovered that we had rock salt, not table salt. So it was not until 24 hours later that we were able to commence, and what fun we had! First we made the dough, cut out different shapes and put them in the oven for 4 hours. And the following evening came the fun bit - the painting! We used a combination of acrylic, metallic and glitter paint, and decorated with buttons and ribbon. Here is our work in progress...

And we were pleased with the results considering it was our first ever attempt...

Claire's Masterpieces

And Mine

So this week, after recovering from having two 2 year olds in the house, (it was a pleasure really -  honestly!) I am going to carry on making Christmas preparations and work on my never-ending colour portfolio.  I can't wait to post some photos of some of the finished pages soon.  

Birthday Bits and Bobs

The one good thing about not living near your friends (and the only good thing) is that on special occasions such as birthdays,  exciting parcels turn up in the post (if you have been a good friend that year).  One particularly special gift that arrived was from my very dear and lovely friend Sarah, and I have to say, this is just the perfect present for me!  So here is my lovely surprise...

Hand painted tray, quilitng book, fat quarters, buttons, ribbon and a bookmark

And a special message and hand made heart - lilac, to match my living room

I thought I would also take this opportunity to post a few more pictures of my birthday day, and some of the lovely gifts that I received.

Anyone would think it was Freya's birthday with that cheeky smile!

Cakes from my lovely friend Gemma -  so thoughtful and a lovely surprise

A beautiful bracelet from Freya (with some help from Pete, my wondeful husband)

All my special gifts from my wonderful friends - I thank you all xx

Relaxing at the Howard Davis Park in St Helier

This sums up the day!!

I will post more about my coursework next week, I am feeling really motivated at the moment, and determined to finish the design work and start on some applique samples soon. :-)

Moving to Jersey and back in the swing of things

I can hardly believe it, a month or more has passed by and I haven't posted a single thing.  But this time I really do have a good excuse, as my family and I have re-located to Jersey.  Permanently.  And we LOVE it.  Here are a few pictures of some of the fun we have been having so far: 

Freya being buried in the sand

St Ouen's Bay - and yes it's as beautiful as it looks

Back home for a BBQ

Pete and Freya getting stuck in!

So as you can see, there are a lot of distractions, (so many beautiful places to visit and explore) but I am pleased to report that I have resumed working on my coursework and have put in a fair few hours this week.  I am currently working on a little file all about the techniques of applique, as part of module 3, and I thought it would be fun and slightly different to do the whole file by hand.  I have really enjoyed doing the research, and I am even a member of St Helier Library, and they have a wonderful selection of books on all different crafts, which is very exciting.    Anyway, here are a few pictures, in no particular order, of some of my work:



And even Freya has found time to tear herself away from the beach and get creative;

So the next few days are going to be carrying on with my applique techniques file and making the most of the bank holiday!