I think I may have mentioned just once or twice *LOL* that I have an article appearing in the June issue of Workshop on the Web due out midnight tomorrow.
These are some close ups of images which appear in the article.If you want to read all about it then you will have to subscribe :)
Take a look here at who else is in this issue.

Shirley has had big problems with blogger so has had to move here.If you're not already a reader of Shirleys blog then take a look. The techniques she uses are explained in great detail and she has put a link back to her old blog so you can catch up with what you have missed. A very good blog.


I had intended to show my Calendar Girls postcard swap for May on this post - trouble is I am way behind and haven't finsihed yet and its the last day tomorrow! Sorry Debs. :)
Take a look here at the Calendar Girls blog and you will see the brilliant cards the other girls have produced yet again.

What a wonderful day I have had today - and to think that yesterday I was feeling really sorry for myself :)
I have had this week off work as its really the last chance I get before we go into our busiest time of the year and its all worked out really well as today I met up with the lovely Carol McFee.
Carol has been visiting relatives in the town near me so we took this opportunity to get together. Its the first time we have met although we have been good friends through blogging for over 18 months now. I spotted her straight away as I have seen photos of her but she looked a bit suspicious when she saw this woman waving madly - until she realised it was me waving at her :)I also met her really nice husband Derek, and her amazing mum who is still stunning at 81!
We had a great time catching up and of course, managed a detour into the local art shop for supplies.
No photos though :)

And in the post today I received two parcels from a couple of other lovely blogging friends.Pippa (Hippopip) showed these on her blog recently and I commented on how I thought they were adorable - I have a 'thing' about fairies for some strange reason - and Pippa asked if I would like them. She only had to ask once!
They came in a beautiful box tied with a gorgeous bronzy coloured ribbon with a couple of acorn cups attached.
Unfortunately, our postman decided to muller the parcel when he put it through the letter box so I have photographed them on a piece of walnut dyed Tyvek that I had. I intend to frame them. Its a great shame about the box though, because they did look splendid nestled inside. And the next parcel was from the ever generous Doreen G. Some gorgeous panne velvet in colours I haven't seen before. Doreen is another really good blogging friend whom I would love to meet one day.
And if that wasn't enough, I came home from meeting Carol this afternoon to a really exciting email which I will share with you later.

On Saturday I am off to meet up with yet two more blogging friends. Pat (Altering Thoughts) and I are off to have a nosy at Sharons exhibition.
Its on at the Rural Life Centre near Farnham from May 24th - 25th 10am - 5 pm and will give us a chance to see some of Sharons beautiful textile work close up. Also in the exhibition will be work from the other two members of the Alice Holt Artists, Shirley Stephens and Mike Young. Well worth seeing.

Pat and I are meeting at around 11 am - we plan to be 'Ladies that Lunch' so if anyone else is down that way please come along and join us.

And that will make 3 of the Calendar Girls that I have met, only 9 more to go :)

Finished - well, all apart from the binding and the labels - another contender for the ALQS.
This one started off really well, but now I'm not quite so sure.
Its actually a reversible quilt, thought I would let my partner decide which way they wanted to hang it - hence the double whammy incorrect phrase from the last post. The photos of the finished piece really are poor quality on this one.
This is the first side.
And this is the reverse.
I started off in the usual way by marking out my design and stitching it.
Then came a coat of white acrylic paint.
This is the first layer of Quinacridone Nickle Azo Gold on the front side.
And this is the second layer of Paynes Grey.
First layer of Quin. NAG on reverse side.
Followed by second layer of Paynes Grey which I then put a further layer of Transparent Red Iron Oxide over the top as you can see in the finished photo. I used these pieces on the front side. They are handmade paper, torn into shape, covered with Golden Coarse Pumice medium and the same combination of paint on the top as in the quilt. Before stitching them to the background I lightly rubbed Treasure Gold around the edges. I tore some medium weight calico just slightly bigger than the space I had left on the surface of the quilt. I tore rather than cut so I would have rough edges. Scrim was laid on top and once again the same combination of paints was used. Once the rusty handmade paper shapes were stitched on top I stitched down a square of copper shim that I had lightly heat treated. Several strands of gold coloured aluminium were stitched over on two sides at the same time. These next photos show the embellishments on the reverse side of the quilt.
Once again a torn calico painted base was used. I then painted heavy Tyvek paper firstly with Walnut Ink then acrylic paint over the top. The shapes were cut out roughly with a soldering iron and Treasure Gold rubbed around the edges before stitching down.
Through the centres of the Tyvek you can see the copper gauze that I heat treated.

I think that what has put me off this one is the trouble I had sewing with a metallic thread through all the layers to fix the top pieces in place.
Metallic machine thread and I don't get on too well at the best times and I found this really difficult to do.
I've got so many other ideas on how to make a quilt using this basic method but have decided to limit myself to three so the third one is on the go as I write.
So far though, I think I still prefer the finished first one although the reversible aspect of this second one does appeal to me.
Kate is showing the finished quilts on the ALQS blog, they are all very good. Plus you can link on the blogs of the other members of this swap.

I haven’t been around for a bit because of migraine, hay fever & an ear infection (all par for the course at this time of year thanks to Rape Seed) but also because my modem finally died on me so I had to buy and set up a new one.
It had been playing up for a while and I thought that could have been the reason why emails have not been getting through and I keep being disconnected but evidently not as this has been happening to a few other AOL members.
Therefore I didn’t get the notification emails from everyone that commented on my previous blog so if I haven’t responded to you then that is the reason why, apart from the ‘no-reply’ comments. I do click on your blogs to see if there is a contact address in your profile and if there isn’t then I’m stymied. I’m wondering if this is the reason why the comments come through as ‘no reply’?
Thought I would explain all that as I just wanted you to know that I very much appreciate all your comments, that’s why I blog, and I do like to respond where possible.

Anyway, moving on, remember this?
Which turned into this?
Well, it has finished up as this.Now don’t panic, members of the ALQS it’s not a contender for the swap, just thought I would show how it turned out. :)

This was the first layer but it didn’t really do anything for me, too shiny - Quin. Nickel Azo Gold and Quin. Burnt Orange.So I put on another layer of Transparent Red Iron Oxide.I then decided to create a few ‘rust’ spots. Metal Effects Iron paint was applied and when this dried a layer of Rust Activator went over the top.
I decided to use the heat gun to speed up the drying process but it doesn’t work I’m afraid. The rust didn’t really happen as it should, so there's a lesson for the future.
And this was the result. The bubbles in the acrylic paint were intentional by the way.I then added a layer of Satin Polymer Varnish and the most amazing thing happened.
As you can see in the close ups, the metallic paint layer bubbled up and flaked and the Rust Activator layer that went over the edges of the metallic paint turned into a verdigris colour.
You can see better what I mean if you click on the photos to enlarge them.
This next photo is a close up of a small part of a second quilt. I was going to say it’s a double whammy one but looked up the definition of this phrase and it actually means ‘a double blow or set back’ which isn’t what I was trying to say at all!
I was really pleased with this rust effect. More about this when I have finished the quilt.