Last drawer now finished.

Last big drawer cover finished. The block I used for this one was from a round robin I did a few years ago. The work is exquisite, I think it was the Pearls and lace one, Kathy Shaw was one of the participants, along with Nicki Lee, Susan Locke and Rita Cruz. This one is my favourite, mainly due to the block and the colours, just love it.

Thank you ladies for giving me such a wonderful keepsake.

And close ups:

I will followup in a few weeks once they are placed in the van.
Arlene

Bobbin lace - Did I score big.

Finally some posts, my computer died, the motherboard in fact, thankfully the hard drive is ok, but I back up all the time so I lost nothing, just had to reinstall programs.  So now all back to normal.

So over the next couple of weeks I'll be doing my catch up, but this post is one of the most important ones I needed to start with.

During our stay in Newcastle I had the pleasure of meeting a wonderful group of ladies creating amazing pieces from Bobbin Lace.  Our hostess Janis lives in an amazing big house with her husband and opens her home to these ladies weekly for their regular get together. Janis also has an amazing collection of Bobbin lace dating back to the 15th century. All the ladies were so lovely and happy to share their knowledge and skills.  One lady in particular Joan Cruise who has been bobbin lacing for 35-40 years or more, is moving house. Downsizing from her large home to a over 55's retirement village.  Doing the same craft for so long you accumulate a lot of stuff (I know and certainly not doing the same craft for so long).

Joan was selling off most of her stuff.  I said I would love to buy some of her bobbins. (Light weight for traveling).  So my friend Lorraine and I went to her place and she gave me (Yes - gave me, would not take an offer of money), all of these following items. Her only request was to put up this write up on my blog (which I would have done anyway).  I am so humble to be the receiver of all these wonderful craft items.  Thank you Joan from the bottom of my heart.

A bag to carry my round cushion, beautifully made.

 Joan made this some time ago, a bigger roll than mine, and more room for accessories.

 And closed.

 A bobbin holder, this I am already using regularly.

A bobbin winder, which Michael has oiled up and we have put this into storage, as it's really heavy.

 And several books, this one I have kept out as it had the best information i though for my travels. Even though it's a hard cover and a little heavy I think it is worth me having we me.

 These next books I have put into storage.

So who's the lucky ducky.......ME of course.

THANK YOU JOAN CRUISE.

Now we are in Coffs Harbour and I have found a small group here to do bobbin lace and Dot is very happy to pass on her knowledge. 

Learning something new - Bobbin Lace

You might ask why would I want to learn another craft when I already do so much.  Well the answer is two fold, I firstly was given a set of bobbins with a pillow and roll from a friend, secondly, Fibres and Fabrics have a bobbin lace group which is growing each week. I love watching these ladies work their bobbins in and out of their work creating such intricate designs that I was thinking this would look so nice in my crazy quilting, thus the eagerness to learn once I received this wonderful gift.

I had a personalised lesson with Veronica last week, who has won many firsts and champion prizes in the short time she has been doing it. I've been told I'm a natural, although I think I need far more practice. I eventually would like to design and create my own patterns and add them to my crazy quilting, never one to aim half-way.

Here is my first attempt at Bobbin Lace:

10 pairs of bobbins and the worker pair.  Glad I only started on this size as it was a bit mind boggling at first.

Veronica had a wonderful bag that she carried her work in and as I have decided to continue to do this whilst traveling the bag was just a natural progression.  So I borrowed Veronica's bag and copied it, adjusting it to suit my larger roll and more bobbins. The fabric is the same as the one in my FREE tutorial here on my blog or on the APP, I had excess and thought it would look wonderful as a bag.

Here are pictures of my completed bag.

Front:

I adjusted the handles to be longer as I prefer it this way.  The butterfly button is the same as another on a bag I am in the progress of making, so they will be a matching pair.

 Back:

There is a strap that is connected to the front and comes all the way around and secures with velcro on the back to hold in place.

Side-on View:

With the back open:

Now fully opened:

There is a skirt that covers your work in progress so that everything stays in place.  The butterfly pocket on the top is for work that has reached a length to long to stay on the roll.

The Skirt flipped over (this side sits on your work and is of soft cotton).

There was an Deceased Estate giveaway recently and Veronica managed to get 100+ pair of bobbins, and some other accessories so the group divided them evenly amongst us, so I needed somewhere to store those that I was not using, being in pairs also, as it was frustrating them all mixed together and getting tangled, so I made myself a bobbin roll. Matching the bag and skirt.

This photo is of the bag I keep the roll in with the roll tied up:

Unrolled:

I designed it to have a flap over the top of the heads of the bobbins, this is to help keep them in place and clean:

This shows the flaps open:

This last photo is my first sampler finished and sitting on my new bag with the skirt underneath (which is not how the skirt would be normally):

Well if you think you'd like to try, give it a go, but don't give up on the first lesson, give it a couple of goes first then decide.  If I had of given up on my first lesson I wouldn't have continued as I couldn't get the sequence right.

Arlene