My Joggle Classes Revealed

G'day All,

Well yes they have finally been revealed.  I have 5, yes 5, classes this next quarter, and if you think I'm excited you are right.

The classes are (if you click on the title it will take you to the link of the class)

First up on 1st June is Spot's Walk.
This is a piece that was adapted from 'Rosey's Walk' which was an assessment piece that I made last year.

Next up on the 22nd June is the return of my Beetles class.
I know a lot of you have requested to do this class, Barbara heard your requests and has happily offered it again to you all.

Following up on the 24th July is a wonderful stumpwork piece, 'Twines of Nature'

This piece I blogged about a little while ago. It's adapted from the Tax Book. Of course your class will the embroidery part.

On the 1st of August, you can create a great addition to your accessories, a unique cover for that Kindle (of whatever else needs a cover) in Crazy patch. I will not be teaching the Crazy patchwork, only a few basics. I will be teaching the construction of the case.

And of course that long awaited Gold Beetle class. You will be using beautiful rich gold work products. Be introduced to some basic stitches used in this very decorative technique.

I look forward to seeing you join me in my classes.

Arlene

Preparing to stitch an Round Robin Block

I've recently been asked why do I have thumb tacks in the photo of my crazy quilting. Well the answer is that they are holding my CQ block to a wooden frame.  so I thought I'd let you in on how I prepare a CQ Round Robin block to work on.

I have two size frames now, one for the 6 inch blocks and one for the 12 inch blocks.  Our cheap shop had a sale on these picture frames that I use for this purpose, so I now have a few of them, and can have a few blocks ready to work on at any one time.

First of all, I need to cut a big hole out of the canvas, I leave the canvas around the edge as it's white and helps to protect the fabric.

I then add calico strips to the outside of the block, to make it large enough to put over the frame. I usually use little gold plated safety pins, as they don't rust and good for the fabric.

My next step is to add this to the frame. I tack the corners in first, then the centres of each side, and then the centre of each of these. I don't pull too tight, as you can see from the safety pins, they might pull out.

This is Nicki-lees Lace and Pearls block, it's stunning, and so my next task is to work out what I'm going to do. So I get out my stash and decide what I want to put where.

Others might say, oh dear no, but this is how I do it, and it works for me, and I haven't heard any complaints about my work on any ones blocks, and I've now been doing Round robins for 4 years now, wow, where has the time gone..... I love the colours that Nicki has, the soft pastel colours are georgous. Rose pinks are a favourite colour of mine and I like to use on blocks, and so have a fair amount to play with. 

So I've got the big bow motif on the bottom, the rose pink braid which I'll add pearl beads to, and do a seam of chevron stitch below this.  Up the top on the left I'll add a meandering bow.  That will leave room for Kathy Shaw to work her magic on the areas that are left. She'll tone down that braid strip I've added by adding something else on the block to draw the eye  away from it. If I do it now, there won't be enough room for Kathy to work.

As I sew I cover the work that's been done before, so that my thread doesn't catch and pull the work. the blue butterfly was painful, he did get covered eventually, so I could work without my thread catching the feather all the time. (which it did a couple of times until I got fed up with it).

So with pieces pinned in place, I find matching thread and stitch them down.

In a couple of days I'll post the finished block. I hope this helps shed light on what I do to prepare a block for a round robin.

Arlene

My up coming classes..... stay tuned

G'day All,

Do you want to learn how I make those beetles, or like the header photograph that I had a competition for recently to name 'Twines of Nature', then you need to jump on over to Barbara's Joggles.com site and create an account and sign up for her wonderfully informative newsletter (if of course you don't already).  Barbara will be announcing next seasons classes very shortly, so if you want to know what else is coming up, here's the link to the account creation page.

Barbara's Newsletter

Want a sneak peak of what's coming....

As soon as Barbara announces the classes, I will be able to post them here for more info.......

Arlene

Contest - and the winner is......

G'day all,

Comments now closed..... to win pin cushion ...

Well the winner is "Twines of Nature" by Kay. (you left no contact details for me).

Kay if you could contact me please, with your last name, address and colour choice I will get to work on your beetle cushion.

Thank you everyone who entered, my family had fun choosing a name, there were loads that they loved, but the final decision was unanimous, with 'crawl away with me' coming in second who's name was 'Anonymous'.

Arlene

Contest - Name the Embroidery

G'day All,

I'm in a dilemma, and was hoping you all could give me assistance. The Title header photo of this blog, The embroidery of the Tree, Gecko and beetle, are going to be an up coming class on Joggles.com soon and I need to name the class, I need your help for suggestions.

The winning name (not a random draw thingy) as I want the winning prize to go to the winning name, will received a very special gift from me. An embroidered Beetle pin cushion. (similar to this one), a different beetle, and you can choose the colour combination to suit your decor'. I will pay the postage anywhere in the world......

So leave a comment with your 'embroidery title', close of competition will be Easter Sunday 12 pm (noon)  (Australian Eastern standard time). My family will be judging the names after that time whilst they are here to celebrate Easter. I will go with there decision as I don't want to be bias.

Thanking you all in advance.
Arlene