Absolutely nothing doing

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book, book review

in terms of sewing at least. I havent lifted a needle in over a month (not even to sew two buttons onto a shirt – both the button box and the shirt are out and glaring at me, but still – nothing!).

There are several reasons, including the fact that there is nothing on the tv that I care to waste some time watching whilst sewing. By the time I’ve had my evening meal and done some tidying up, it’s often 7:30 or even later, at which point it’s either repeats or programmes i’m not interested in. I dont think I’ve watched evening tv in about 2 weeks.

I have however, got my book reading mojo back on. This often happens as I either sew or read, and rarely can do both. I have loads of paper and ebooks to get through which means the sewing is off limits. I do have several audiobooks, which I could make use of whilst sewing but I’m not just there yet.

Some of the ebooks I’m reading at the moment I have received from http://www.netgalley.com. They do have “craft” books to give to people in exchange for a review. I’ve not gone for one of these, as I dont think I’m good enough to complete enough of the items included in order to write a decent review. I’m also concerned about how any images will translate into an ebook. Has anyone had an craft ebook? Which ones? Any you care to share a review of?

Guthrie & Ghani – New sewing shop in Birmingham

Tags

crafting, crafts, embroidery, Fabric, knitting, patchwork, Quilt

Ok, as regular readers know from previous posts, I didnt always watch The Great British Sewing Bee.

However that’s not to say I wont try and support a new sewing shop that’s opened today in Moseley, Birmingham, which happens to be run by Lauren, one of the finalists from TGBSB.  Their shop Guthrie & Ghani opened today (27 April 2013) and whilst I didn’t manage to get there on opening day, I know some people who did.  Apparently the place was packed for at least several hours, which would have done me no good, as I wouldnt have been able to look at anything and would have come away with having brought nothing and ending up in a bad mood!

Anyway, note to self that I should do my best to support local businesses – I am the first to complain when they dont exist, so should be one of those who puts my money where my mouth is and support them when they do!

 

The Great British Sewing Bee

Tags

crafts, embroidery, sewing, sewing machine

After the several years watching the popularity of “the Great British Bake Off” increasing, the BBC have another show in “the Great British Sewing Bee”. I watched the first episode, but didnt watch the second last night and I’m not sure that I’ll watch many more. The non-sewing presenter (Claudia Wilkeman) does a reasonable job, and the two expert judges are a Saville Row tailor and a sewing tutor. Unfortunately these two experts have neither the public persona or “middle aged totty appeal” of the experts on TGBBO in Mary Berry (national treasure who has been on the telly possibly longer than I’ve been alive) and Paul Hollywood, an older, slightly chunky, silver fox.

Anyway, the GBSB has some positive points: two men remain in the competition, neither of them old, and several women ranging in ages from 20s to 80s.

However the downsides, and why I’m not sure I’m interested in continuing: it perhaps should have been renamed “the great British sewing machine bee” or “the great British dressmaking bee”. I’ve had a quick rifle through the matching book, and apart from 4 challenges covering curtains, cushion and a small quilt every other challenge is around clothing. Nothing seems to be done by hand. 2 to 3 challenges a week, 6 weeks…..that’s an awful lot of clothes to make up! Where are the kids toys, the blinds, the bags, more of the quilts, the hand sewing and finishing?

Anyway, I wont get the book (I do have a growing collection of Mary Berry books however), and I’m not sure I’ll continue with the show itself

Stash Busting and increasing

Tags

crafts, Cross-Stitch, embroidery, hand embroidery, knitting

Well I went to the ICHF Hobbycraft/Stitching for pleasure show up at the NEC in Birmingham on Friday, with a very short shopping list. I brought nothing on the list (which was only 4 different shades of threads) mainly because I didnt find anyone who sold DMC. I do have a sneaking feeling I “lost” one of the Halls and therefore some of the stalls – previous years, the show has been in Halls 10, 11 and 12, this year I only found them in Halls 11 and 12 – but to be honest no great loss to me.

In the end I brought:
2 Daylight Simulation bulbs (I have loads of these but stock up whenever I can cos they will run out at some point)
3 ink pads for stamping
2 acrylic blocks
3 cross stitch patters.

That was it. Wasnt I good?!

However, I’ve just been tidying my stash cupboard. Whilst I’ve got rid of a large amount of cross stitch gear I will never get through, I am ashamed at the amount of wool stash I have managed to build up. I never knew I had that much! I better get some knitting done eh?!

Review: The Master Quilter by Jennifer Chiaverini

Tags

book, book review, Quilt, quilting, quilts

The Master Quilter by Jennifer Chiaverini
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After two books focussing almost exclusively on Sylvia, this book turns back to the other Elm Creek Quilts members, with a chapter dedicated to individual members.

Covering roughly the same period of time, we get to see how the start of the new season affects each person. Sylvia and Andrew are now married, but without a wedding quilt, so the group band together to make one for them in secret.

Bonny, whose husband almost had an affair 5 years previously, finds out that her marriage – and the quilt shop – is coming to an end.

Mary Beth, the “arch nemesis” president of the Waterford Quilting Guild – and Diane’s next door neighbour has some shocking home truths to learn about her children and the Guild.

Summer moves in with her boyfriend, and confronts the fact that she is stagnating in Waterford, in no small part because her mother has manipulated her to remain.

All members of the group end up making life changing decisions, which will have an effect not only on themselves but on the wider group

It’s good to see the author changes her writing style enough to keep things interesting for the reader and moving along. It will be good to see new characters come in (and possibly some of the other characters leave or fade into the background).

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Craft Fairs and updates

Tags

crafting, crafts, Cross-Stitch, embroidery

It’s Feburary, so the annual cycle of Fairs – trade and non trade alike – has started. I dont get to go to the trade fairs, so the first one on the scene is the “Sewing for Pleasure / Hobbycrafts / Fashion, Embroidery & Stitch” in late March.

Considering the destashing I’ve been doing recently and the slow progress I’m making on wips, I’ve been struggling to build up a shopping list. I think I may pick up some threads, but it will depend on the prices and availability. If the threads are more than 30p more than what I can get on the internet then I probably wont get. (I generally stitch large items so 30p extra on 10 or more skeins soon adds up).  I will be on the look out for some large pieces of Aida too, but once again, it depends on what’s available.  I have a lot of smaller pieces of Aida so dont need to add to that stash.

I’ve been working intermittently on a sampler from the French “Gigi” designer based around the letter S. Unfortunately I have been unable to find her website again, so cant find a link or image to share! I’m doing it in a different shade of red to recent pieces (DMC 221 for anyone taking notes).  There’s been a couple of times I’ve needed to do some frogging, but not as much as the recent “My Big Toe” design I’ve had to put aside.

 

Review: The Quilter’s Legacy by Jennifer Chiaverini

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book, book review, Quilt, quilting

The Quilter’s Legacy by Jennifer Chiaverini

Following on shortly after book #4 (the Runaway Quilt), this continues to focus on Sylvia and her investigating her family’s past. Sylvia and Andrew are now engaged, and Sylvia is shocked and disappointed to find that her estranged sister sold off all their mother’s quilts before she died. In a desire to have her mother’s wedding quilt for when she and Andrew get married, she starts searching for them to mixed success. The book interweaves chapters between Sylvia and her mother, a supposedly sickly woman who elopes with one of the Bergstrom men.

Once again this book combines a lot about Quilt history and the difficulty attributing quilts to specific people (especially when the pattern has been published in a magazine and the quilter doesn’t name and date the quilt). Family relations continue to run through the book, especially of those between mothers and daughters.

Some threads are left open for the subsequent books. One thing that I wasnt convinced by was Andrew’s children’s objections to the marriage – Amy in particular seemed to object to it over much on what seems to be a fairly flimsy excuse – Sylvia being 7 years older than their father and already having had an excuse, they object cos they dont “want her to be a burden when she gets sick again”.

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Book Review: The Runaway Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini

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book, book review, Quilt, quilting

I have a separate blog for book reviews, but since this one is part of the Elm Quilt series, I thought i’d post it here too

The Runaway Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini

Number 4 in the series and the Elm Creek Quilters is up and running as a business. This book focuses on Sylvia, who finds a diary written just before the Civil War, along with several old and partially damaged quilts.

It is written by Gerda, who came over from Germany with her brother to found the house and business that Sylvia and her siblings inherited. The Runaway Quilt takes us through Sylvia reading through this journal and finding out things about her family and the community she joined during a very difficult period in American history.

The book does deal with escaped slaves on the road away from the southern states, but avoids the more brutal facts of the business, rather addressing it from a rather genteel 21st century viewpoint reading a 19th century gentle-woman’s diary. I put “Beloved” by Toni Morrison on the back burner whilst reading this book, so it’s interesting to see the two different approaches to writing about the same time from two different perspectives.

It was a pleasant read that took me just a few days to get through and is a nice addition to the series. The addition of a few quilt styles, with their possible historical inspiration is also a nice touch (but does anyone else wish there were example completed items included in the book?)

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Review: Round Robin by Jennifer Chiaverini

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book, book review, Books, Quilt, quilting

Round Robin by Jennifer Chiaverini
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Second in the Elm Quilters series and set 2 years after The Quilters Apprentice.

The Quilt camp is up and running, and the group members all help out and give classes.

Each chapter gives focus on a different member of the group and the problems they have as they aim to make a round robin quilt for Slyvia. Bonnie finds her husband is about to meet a woman he knows from the internet in order to have an affair. Diane is having trouble with a neighbour when she builds a skateboard ramp in her back yard. Slyvia’s friend Andrew returns after a 50 year absence. Sarah’s relationship with her mother hasnt gotten any better after the constant criticism dircted towards her.

The book is short (approx 300 pages in paperback), and with only a chapter per person, the resolution of each problem can therefore seem trite and a little forced. Some people find Sarah an immature woman unwilling to move on, but they are clearly people who have not suffered from someone continually criticising everything they do.

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Review: The Quilters Apprentice by Jennifer Chiaverini

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book, book review, Quilt, quilting

Originally written back in 2011, this review just goes to show how I dont always write a decent review!

The Quilter’s Apprentice by Jennifer Chiaverini
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Given to me as a late Christmas present, this is the first of the “Elm Creek” series.[return][return]Slowly but surely it tells the story of the recently married Sarah, who has moved to near Elm Creek with her husband and whilst looking for a new job, helps the owner of Elm Creek to clear the place to make it ready for sale. Sarah manages to chip away Sylvia’s secret life, whilst learning how to quilt and introduce both of them into the local community.

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