finished the cushion at last!

It took me ages to finish this because of getting used to the new machine.  I must say it wasn't easy because I find it hard to control the speed with the foot pedal (must get some bigger feet), so I'm trying to do intricate patterns going at 100mph or zero mph, I can't seem to get anything in between.

I enjoyed squashing the feather cushion into the finished thing and at last seeing the result....

Machine embroidery workshop with Lara Sparks

On Saturday I went to a freehand embroidery workshop.  It was run by Lara Sparks who makes lovely cushions and lampshades and sells them at the Shoreham Gallery.  I learnt lots and enjoyed having a go at techniques I'd never tried before but was held up by lots of problems with my machine.

Here are a couple of photo's of the other lady's at work and one of Lara's designs - it's hard to believe that this is all sewn on a machine.  On her web site you can see how she adds applique and colours to embellish the pictures.  www.larasparks-embroidery.co.uk
I'll add some photo's of my wobbly efforts soon.

Just finished

Another wall hanging just finished.

This is 56cm square and includes some lovely big scallop shells I found washed up on the beach after a big storm.  The colours weren't very nice so I used some metallic paint to brighten them up.
The glass is irridescent sky blue and the swirls in the middle representing waves started out as wooden coasters!

New Mirror

It's been going well in the Gallery,  I've sold more than I expected and have lots of ideas for more to make.  I've also enjoyed working in the shop and meeting the customers.

Here is a mirror I've just finished which I'll put on display next.  It is made with black and red iridescent glass which is lovely but hard to do justice to in a photo.  It looks a bit wonky  here but that's only because I've photographed it at a slight angle to avoid my reflection and then cropped it - I wasn't drunk when making it!