Some bobbin lace PHD's

 First of all, here is the next lace for a porcelain doll...slow progress, but a little every now and then...have to find/design another piece to complete the doll, so still a long way to go before a doll will be seen.  This is Bucks Point in Finca 80...wide design by Heather Billington, narrow one from Pamela Notingham's Intro to Bucks book I think.

 Here is the 2nd piece from the workshop I was participating in when Colin collapsed.  I completed the 1st repeat at the workshop and most of the rest of this one was done at Colin's hospital bedside during his 2nd stay in Hobart.  The thread is Lizbeth 80...have no idea why I would buy this colour in the first place, but love it in this piece.  The designer is Ethel Zuccolotto.

My 3rd piece was started yesterday.  The pattern is from the Ulrike Voelcker Torchon series, done in Thai silk from a supplier here in Tassie.  The scarf will be for Colin's daughter...maybe for Christmas...

 

up close...

 

Finally, after our recent trip to visit Colin's surgeon, we decided to stay over and visit Mona Museum...I found out about this cement truck from a friend in Estonia on Facebook...now I have seen it for real!!

 

The detail is simply amazing, and it smells much better than one of the artist's other instalments at the museum!!

 Hugs to all, may your pins never bend and your threads never break, so that you can make the most of every moment life has to offer!

What's on my pillow?

This was one of the past year's projects...I used Bokens Linen to make a length...maybe I will stitch it to a towel one day...

 This is a close up of the finished lace.

 I currently have 3 pillows in use.  Number 1 cannot be shared just yet.

This is the only piece of lace to ever grace my pillow for more than a year! 

It is not hard.

I love making Tallies and leaves.

There is simply not enough time in each day to get to this one :(

But I have made 3 flowers this week, so there is finally a little progress...and it is over half way now :)

The winter sun shining through the window also makes it the best spot in the house :)

 This is my take-with-me piece.

I am using my travel pillow, although there are really too many bobbins on the pillow.

I am using up scraps of cotton as the colour will make no difference in the finished lace.

 I made the purple piece several years ago, and had no idea what I was going to do with it.

One of my new students does lace drapped dolls, and told me she wanted to make her lace to burn.

At first I admit I was surprised, and after mentioning the amount of time spent making the lace, I decided each to their own...after all it was her time and her lace!

Then I saw her dolls!!

I thought the purple length would be perfect, but there is not enough of it.

I am looking forward to November, when I will be starting to construct my doll!

Check back later for progress reports :)

Just dropping in to say hi!

Life has certainly been very busy of late. I am trying to find a little time for catching up with friends, including my blog friends, but the clock just will not co-operate!

This weekend just gone, I was demonstrating lace at the Launceston Show, in between work. I won several awards for my lace, beads and sewing, as did a couple of my students.

I introduced this quilt top some time ago, but I have finally got to put the applique squares together. Now to add the posts, and edge panels to finish the top...have to get my stash out again!
This one has been on the go for even longer, but the top is finally sewn together. This one is paper piecing and all done by hand. Now I have to find a fabric I like for the backing and the hand sewing will start again!


I cannot share the lace I am working on at the moment...yet again, but rest assured there is plenty of it. I hope to have something to share after the weekend - workshop with Britt Fairchild but getting back to blog will be who knows when.



Thinking of my bloggy friends often, but cheers for now.

A little traveller.

Greetings one and all,

There is not a lot of lace I can show you, but I have been working hard :) I have 3 more centres made (2 rounds each) toward the 25 motif challenge...still awaiting thread for the outside. I only have 1 edge to go on the Oliver Twist hankie. Today I made the patterns for the A and the C for my L.A.C.E. letters...will show you once I get started on the lace. I am still working on the Porty Penguin lace...investigating an easy way out - who me?!?!? I made a pair of bobbins which are on their way to their new home as I type. There are 6 new ATCs drying in the porch - hand painting seems such a long time ago, but I think they will be passable. The tatting has included a gift for my secret pal - so of course I cannot share just yet, besides it is a W.I.P. still, some small bits for the ATCs and another motif or 2 on the doily....pheww...and I even managed a day at work and fitting in my lace students too on Friday. My seniors (14 year olds) are working on this bookmark and feeling a little lack of confidence....a classroom full of noisy 6 year olds and a furious thunderstorm just prior to class did not help!

Meanwhile I promised someone (Diane??) that I would post pics of my travel pillow, so here 'tis.

The roll is polystyrofoam cut to a diameter of 4" or 10 cm and 8" or 20 cm long. I have covered it with 1 layer of old blanket, then 1 layer of cotton drill. A 31 cm or 12 1/2" pricking will join up, but getting the pattern to match can be tricky to say the least...I was fortunate enough that this one did! Here is the box without the roll. First I made the outside box in seperate sections, each consisting of cardbaord from a TV box covered with a pocket made from the outside fabric (a rubber backed curtain) and the inside fabric (printed cotton). I made the 2 dividers and covered them in the inside fabric. This was all stitched together. To make the flaps, I cut the form from the TV box and made the pocket from an inside piece and an outside piece of fabric. Before I inserted the card, I used a repositionable spray glue to attach some quilting batting to the inside. This gives a padded surface to work on. After enclosing the card, these were stitched to the box section. I made a pin cusion from a hankie to put in one small section and spare bobbins, thread, rollers and tie down ribbons reside in the other small section. The box measures 35 cm or 14" end to end and 4 1/2" or 11 1/2 cm deep. It is 3" or 8 cm high. The flaps are 14" x 10" or 25 cm.
Rollers pined to the back flap keep the completed lace clean and out of the way. The ribbon on the front flap is used to secure the bobbins for travel. I thread it through the spangles and pin them close in, then fold the leftover ribbon across the bobbins and pin again. Not pretty, but it works well. Sometimes I put a piece of cloth against the completed lace to stop it being pulled by the pins in the pillow...not always necessary, it depends on the openess of the lace and the need to keep extra pins in.
Here you can see the ribbon that is glued to the outside, forming a loop on one flap and loose ends on the other. The loose ends can be tied around the loop piece to secure for travel. Here you can see the second one I made in action
These pillows are great for going to Lace Days - so why do I always seem to only have lace on my very large square or cookie pillows?? Lengths of lace are perfect because you just keep turning the roll. If your pattern does not join up perfectly, have 2 prickings and just pin the new one as the previous pricking runs out :)

Enough waffle and more than enough computer! Time to put my feet up.