'Thread and Thrift'

One of the great things about going to shows like The Festival of Quilts is discovering new textile artists whose work you can admire. I 'found' Mandy Pattullo at this year's Festival and I'm so glad I did...her work is so inspiring. Mandy is a textile artist and teacher who bases her work on collage techniques and uses all sorts of vintage loveliness in the pieces she creates.

I loved every piece in Mandy's 'Thread and Thrift' exhibition at this year's Festival of Quilts. Here's a look at some of my favourites...

Mandy uses a lot of vintage quilt pieces in her work, which really appeals to me. There's such a lovely quality to a piece of well-worn and much-loved quilt.

Patch Work 2

Applique, buttons, an old Harris Tweed label...there's so much to look at.

Thinking About the Flowers

Detaching Hexagons

I'd never thought of sewing pieced patchwork on to something so the back is on show (what a great idea). I think it gives it a real sense of how it was made and makes me wonder about the person who created it in the first place. I bet they never thought it would be used in a piece of textile art!

My Deer

I love how Mandy has made a collaged background for her perfectly stitched deer to peep out from.

Mandy's work is so evocative of a time gone by. According to The Festival of Quilts show guide Mandy's work 'relates to the thrift and 'make-do-and-mend' culture of past times, in particular utility patchworks and quilts made by women in domestic settings'.

 

So much to be inspired by. I'll certainly be keeping my eyes open for more of Mandy's work (she's got a blog too so I can pop in and see what she's working on as well).

[With huge thanks to Mandy for allowing me to write about her and use the photos of her work that I took at The Festival of Quilts] 

Festival Fun

I had a fabulous day at the Festival of Quilts (at the NEC in Birmingham) last weekend. It's always a great show to go and this year was no exception...hundreds of amazing quilts to admire and lots of stalls selling tempting offerings (I had to ration myself or I'd have come home with a lorry load of fabrics and trimmings!)

One of the highlights of my day was meeting the very lovely Stuart from 'The Great British Sewing Bee'. We chatted about quilting and when I asked him how he was finding things since being on TV, he said he loved being able to talk to so many people about sewing. I think it's great that the the programme has inspired so many people to get stitching.

With so many wonderful quilts and quilt art on display, it was a job picking out which ones to share with you here...so here's a small selection of the pieces I loved the most...

Apple Tree Book
Sandra Fowler

Just to Make You Smile
Gillian Travis

The Mouse and the Cuckoo Clock
Sally Snushall

Quarter
Lucie Summers and Jenny Spencer

My Family
Stephanie Kirby

Gardener's Journal
Sue Whitby

Tracy's Reel Medallion
Tracy Aplin

Little Stars
Jean Ball

Book at Bedtime (detail)
Kate Crossley

Sorry - Not the Chelsea Flower Show!
Herti Estl

Three Spoons a Day (detail)
Maria Thomas

The Orchard
Jill Pargeter

Once Upon a Spoon (detail)
Sue Bibby

 

Transported - Full Circle

Terry Donaldson

Three cheers for Belle and Boo

Well, what a lot we've been up to since I last blogged! We've been on holiday to glorious St Ives in Cornwall and also to sunny Wales; we endured a week in when Little Treasure caught chicken pox (we did a lot of crafting!); we've read books, been on day trips and shouted "hooray" when the sun came out! Now that the weather's gone a little gloomy (I'm not down-hearted...just trying to remember where I stashed my raincoat!), my thoughts are once again turning to all things crafty and creative. I've got lots of projects waiting to be finished, not least because The Wednesday Group is having an exhibition in September and I have much to do before then.

There's another reason for wanting to get my sewing machine, threads and fabrics out...have you seen 'The Belle and Boo Book of Craft'? It's FABULOUS!

We're huge fans of Belle and Book in our house so I'm thrilled that I'll now be able to make lots of Belle and Boo-related things for Little Treasure. There are 25 to choose from...the only problem is knowing which one to start with!

In case you've not come across Belle and Boo before, they're the creation of Mandy Sutcliffe, an artist with an eye for the nostalgic and all the things that children love to do. Her illustrations are truly wonderful. Belle is 'a little girl with a brown bob, the odd scratch on her knee and an insistent curiosity about the natural world'. Her pet rabbit is a flopsy brown bunny called Boo and together they spend their days playing in pirate tree houses, riding fairground carousels and cloud-spotting.

The book has a lovely feel to it and has lots of Mandy's adorable illustrations dotted amongst its pages...

The little girl who models as Belle in the book looks exactly like Mandy's illustrations! The projects in this book are really lovely...there are genuinely so many that I want to try. This one's for a cuddly version of Boo that I think anybody (both big and small) would love to give a home to! Here are some more of the projects I've got on my 'to do' list...

Now here's an idea for making bathtime and hand washing time even more appealing for little people.

Oh, how I LOVE this pull along elephant!

I'm really into English pieced patchwork at the moment so I was really inspired by this project.

 

Perfect for little ballerinas!

Little Treasure is already showing signs of being a budding photographer and she also loves nothing more than a new bag (she's such a girly girl!), so I think the first project I tackle will be this brilliant little camera bag. Say cheese!

Besides the camera bag, this is my favourite project in the whole book. It's for a 'Quiet Book', made from fabric and with all sorts of things for little people to explore...

...there are flaps to lift, buttons to count, a tiny washing line with clothes to peg on to it and even a bunny finger puppet. 

The instructions for each project are laid out really well, with lots of step-by-step photos and diagrams to help you on your way. At the beginning of each project there's a handy list of everything you'll need and the instructions themselves are written in an easy -to-follow manner (which I know I'll find really useful as I sometimes get completely flummoxed by sewing instructions!)

There are even 4 pages of techniques in case there's anything you're not sure about...

 

 ...as well as all the templates you'll need for the projects.

I hope you'll love this book as much as I do! Now, where did I put my needle and thread?...

'The Belle and Boo Book of Craft'

Published by Quadrille (4th July 2013)

£14.99