Lost my Crafty Voice!

It has been so long since I last wrote anything that I feel slightly embarrassed!

It has been a long 7 weeks with many ups and downs to the point that I lost my crafting voice... it actually wandered off for a long walk without me!

A combination of a manic teaching schedule, 2 Scout groups, a family illness and an 11yo struggling to settle into secondary school left with only just enough energy to crawl into bed and sleep. When you have kids you think that first year is the toughest - I now know that it gets harder as they get older, so much so that it makes the first year feel like bliss!!!!

I have missed my voice here and I am hoping it will come back to full force soon - still not quite there...

Have you ever reached that point?

Any tips for getting it back?

I have also been working my way through module 2 of the City and Guilds. It is all about shape. I have been exploring dyes, drawing and working with paints! So much fun!

Here are some examples of my dyeing journey so far:

It is great fun mixing the colours and experimenting with different fabrics. Above is Linen/cotton mix, viscose wool felt and cotton organdie. They absorb the fabric at different rats so come out slightly differently.

Here I added black to some of the fabrics from the dye chart above.

These are my favourite so far. My dye recipe book is filling up fast with samples, colour washes and recipe details!

All of this is part of my skill development for my course. I have managed to get 4 samples done so far this week for the module. One more complex sample to do and then my finally experimentation piece...

Cable stitch on hand dyed cotton lawn.

Whip and feather stitch on calico with straight stitch embroider as the border.

Couching stitch with ribbon, embroidery threads and perle cotton no 8 on viscose wool felt painted with fabric dye.

It is an amazing journey to be on!

Have an amazing New Years Eve wherever you are and I  hope to see you in 2014 for more sewing/quilting adventures!