UK Borders Agency Quilting Bee plus prize winners

And the winner of the scraps and bits and pieces is…

Nadia/TCN!

And the Twitter bonus prize winner is…

@gholmes724

Well done, I’ll be in touch later 🙂

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Right, onto new business! I’m starting my first quilting bee! I couldn’t find one with spaces and wanted to take part in another borders one but it was US only because of the postage, so I give you the UK Borders Agency Quilting Bee! We are currently looking for 6 5  4 2 1 more members!

A group of seven patchworkers will be adding borders to each others quilts over the course of a year. Want to join? Here’s the info you need, all you need to do is comment here (making sure there’s a way for me to contact you) or you can Flickrmail or e-mail me and I will e-mail you with a few questions based on your reliability. You will also need a Flickr account as this is crucial for communication (if you haven’t got one, they are free!) and then that’s pretty much it, you’re in!

Flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/ukbordersagencybee/

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This is a UK only borders quilting bee, taking place over a year from July 2012 to 2013. There are only seven people in this bee to make it a little bit more time relaxed than other bees, so we should know each other really well by the end of the project.

This is not a secret swap and you are encouraged to see what your partner likes from their blogs and Flickrstream and also from their wish list on the discussion board. Each participant will make a centre block- anything you fancy- for their medallion quilt measuring 12.5″ (unfinished) and post it on to a specified bee member to add the first round. This will then be posted to another member to add the second round and so on.

Each round is allocated 2 months to complete and you will receive a quilt top posted on from another bee member. At the end of the sixth round, the last person working on your quilt top will post it back directly to you for you to quilt and finish yourself.

If you find you can’t take place in a round and need to drop out of the bee, you will get your medallion top back in its current state instead of the next round and your space on the bee will be taken by a reserve member (or by me if we’re almost at the end!), so it’s almost flake proof, as long as you keep your queen bee- that’s me BTW- informed of any possible delays or issues.

Everything will be run from the Flickr group, so your next address to post to, etc will be communicated through Flickr Mail and you are encouraged to come and chat on the boards often if you can, which will help fellow bee members make something you will love. Please post images regularly and check with your partner if they like the idea. Feel free to talk about a funny thing that happened that day or pretty much anything you like, it doesn’t need to be quilting related. It would be great if we all became friends by the end of it!

There is no size restriction to your borders so the quilts are likely to be different sizes but the aim is for a lap quilt size or a wall hanging. You can make your borders modern or traditional, pieced or appliqued, anything goes as long as you are working on something the recipient will like.

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My requirement for my quilt is that each border must feature animals somewhere, whether pieced, appliqued or simply in the fabric, so you can specify what you like. There’s a thread on the group visible when you join where you can state all your likes and dislikes and anything your quilt just must have.

Any questions fire away and I’ll answer them 🙂 I’ll leave you with a couple of inspiring medallion quilts I just love (these are not my quilts, click the photos to link back to the original source)!

(it’s incidental that they both have the same starting block!)

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Statement necklaces

I want to design some statement necklaces (and some wall art, but I reckon take things one step at a time) in line with the trends at the moment, and maybe some more multi-stranded chain ones for the same reason- my deadline being the 4 day fair I am doing in June. I’m not sure exactly *what* yet, but I am leaning towards a felt and acrylic base bib style with some of my roses and resin buttons for decoration. I’m wondering if I have time what with the chessboard I am seemingly lazy about. Here’s some of my inspiration anyway, so when I lose focus I can come back here and admire these I found over on Flickr…

Sod it, I’m inspired to start work on it now!

UK Etsy Challenge

Every month, a craft challenge is run on Flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/uketsychallenge/ with a theme for each month. The idea is simple, you make something (anything!) as long as it fits that month’s theme, upload it to the Flickr group and then a poll is run on Etsy to decide the winner.

My entry for "Childhood Memories" earlier in the year

Rather appallingly, no one enterred last month, so hopefully there will be a surge of entries this month to make up for it, it would be a great shame to lose the group as it has been running for a couple of years now. The only condition for entry is that it’s for UK crafters with an Etsy shop.

This month’s theme is “London” and I have an idea to make a cuff bracelet already! Come and join us!

Interview with… Pips Jewellery

 

Pippa’s work is really amazing. She uses polymer clay and can imitate other materials and create intricate designs, all with one simple ingredient and her imagination and skill. I want to have a custom order made, but there’s so much to choose from, I haven’t yet decided what I want!

 

Who are you and where do you come from?
My name is Pippa and I live in a beautiful little village not far from Bath in Wiltshire. I am a Mum to my two Children, Katie who is 12 and Logan who is 6.

What do you do in your spare time other than craft?
I don’t have any spare time! Every spare minute is taken up with making beads and jewellery! It makes for a busy life, but I love it! I do set aside time for the Children though, Sundays are our Family Days when we go out for walks or to the park or just stay in and play endless games of Frustration! I am very lucky to have a near perfect Husband who supports me so much and will do the washing or ironing and cooking when I am at Craft Fairs or working. I couldn’t do what I am doing without him, he is truely one in a million.

Please tell us a little bit about what you make.
I make Polymer Clay Beads which I then use in my own Jewellery Designs. I only use my own beads, which gives me great scope for design. I use seed beads and crystal for accent, but that is all.

What do you enjoy making most?
There are so many techniques you can use with polymer clay from Kaleidoscope Caning, to Mokume Gane to Mica Shift, that it is hard to chose a favourite. I do love Mica Shift because it gives such lovely results – it looks 3D but is actually only 2D – almost like a hologram!
Kaleidoscope Caning is also a great favourite. Polymer Clay Artists all over the world are pushing the limits of this fantastic medium and are creating the most wonderful things with it. It seems to me that there is no limit to what you can do with it. I also love doing Swirl beads – they are really addictive!

What part of jewellery making do you dislike the most?
I really hate sanding! I sand every bead with 4 different grits of sandpaper – it can take forever, but it is well worth it for the results!

What are your main inspirations for making a piece?
I find inspiration all over the place. Nature, of course, especially leaves – I love leaves! My daughter is great at coming up with unusual ideas, probably because she never thinks “oh you can’t put that with that, or that colour with that colour”, she just says what comes into her head like ” I think you should make something in Purple with some orange and green highlights” I would never come up with that, but often she is right and the results are fantastic!

Do you plan out your designs or do you get stuck in straight away when inspiration strikes?
Sometimes I plan, but not often! I find when I plan something to much it will not turn out the way I want it to. The clay has it’s own ideas about what it wants to do and sometimes you just have to let it! Often I will just sit at my desk and look at the colours of the clay and just start playing – some of my best pieces have come about that way!

What are you currently making?
I am making lots and lots of stock for all the craft fairs I have coming up before Christmas as well as several commissions. I have also got involved with some Secret Santas and Ornament Swaps online.

Do you make custom orders?
Yes I love making custom orders. That is the joy of making your own beads. I can match colours for outfits such as Mother of the Bride or Bridesmaids, or for a special dress. It is wonderful for the customer to be able to design their own piece too. I can advise on what will work technically speaking, but they can design the colour, pattern, shape and size of the beads we use in their necklace. That is a really empowering thing! I get great ideas from these collaborations too, things I might never have thought of.

Where can we buy your work?
I am a Member of the Craftsmans Market in Cirencester. This is a Craft Market that has been running for nearly 30 years and has some amazing Artists who show their work there, everything from Mosiacs, glass, pottery, textiles, ceramics, furniture to jewellery. It was nerve racking applying to become a member, because I was not sure my work would be good enough, but was thrilled to be accepted. I am also a member of the Cotswold Craft Market, also in Cirencester, which is another fantastic Craft Market. These two markets are open on consequtive Saturdays each month. So I do every Saturday! It is quite a challenge having to make enough stock, but it does keep me on my toes! I also have a shop on Etsy (http://pipsjewellery.etsy.com), although there is very little in it because of time constraints – I just don’t have enough time!!

See more of Pippa’s work on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pipsjewellery/

I am taking part in NaBloPoMo (National Blog Post Month), so I will be blogging every day in November. Today is post 29: http://www.nablopomo.com/