Class work

It's been a few days since I have been able to do much in the way of stitching. Very busy time at work, and then had friends for the long weekend. Then it was 35 degrees, and today it is 15, but that's Canterbury weather for you!

On Wednesday I was able to collect my sewing machine from the dealer, where it was having a service. I also got the guy to wind back the top tension so that I wasn't always trying to FMQ on 1 or less. I have never had the tension over its normal place, which is 4, so it seemed a waste of adjustment.

On the way back from town I stopped at a cheap stationery warehouse to look for some washable glue gel, so I could try the technique outlined by Cynthia St Charles in QA magazine. The store was having a 2 days 25% off sale, so I got a whole bunch of stuff. Some, like printer ink and recordable CDs and DVDs, were utilitarian. I also bought some textile ink suitable for screen printing, which I want to try. Some oil pastels, some foam board (for printing onto), a sketchpad and some paintbushes. All in all it came to $247 but at least I got the glue gel I went for! I tried the resist technique, and think it would work fine with a bit of practice to get the lines even.

Yesterday two quilt artist friends came for a playdate. Shirley Goodwin wanted to play with a burning tool and organza. Lyn Winter had brought a big stash of organza bits and acrylic felt for us to raid. Both of them are tutors at Wellington this Easter. Lyn is working on a fabulous quilt for a NANZ competition. It uses illuminated letters and an aged paper look. Shirley is working on a political quilt. I am still gestating my current two ideas, but meanwhile I am doing classwork.

I did another piece for the embellisher class with coiled roving on Kunin felt. This was then zapped with a heat gun. I did a bit of knitting in a variegated mohair and felted that under the first piece onto a second piece of felt. I don't like the melted plastic feel of the zapped kunin, but I like the other two techniques.

In the evening I did a bit of work for the Colour and Composition study group that I am part of, through Studio Quilts. Got a bit confused about left brain/right brain and which should be the one to start. Of the 4 pieces I quickly fused, there is one I really like and the other 3 are OK.

This was a week for parcels arriving - wool roving, silk noil and copper knitting from Texere yarns, and my beads from Craft4me that was going out of beads. Now I really must start using some this new stuff while I can remember what I got and where I put it!