This is another fabric I made at a Lesley George workshop. It is very basic leaf shapes cut out and laid on to a piece of calico and stitched down using the machine's inbuilt stitch patterns. Once I felt I had stitched into it enough I turned it over and did vermicelli bobbin work to create a bit of texture. I love this fabric and have used it several times. The item on the right of the picture is a folder I made to hold all the different type of machine needles. The inside is shown below. If I made it again I would modify the inside by adding elastic to the pockets to stop the needle packets falling out. They don't fall far because it has a zipper all the way round the outside but it can be a bit annoying when some of the packets fall out of their little pockets.

I used to go to evening classes at http://www.lesleygeorge.co.uk/ One of the projects I completed as a result of the fabric manipulation idea in the previous post was to create this cushion. I had no pattern for this it just evolved over several weeks. The velvet centre Fleur-de-lys was created using machine trapunto. The trim around the edge of the velvet is free machine embroidery stitched on stockings. The stripey trim is just a length of Kumihimo made on my hand loom. The tassels at each end took me forever to make because I really didn't know what I was doing I just knew what I wanted to achieve. I consulted Anna Crutchley's Tassel Making book extensively and I am quite pleased with the result. This cushion was displayed in our local Embroiderers' Guild exhibition a couple of years ago.

I was chatting via email with a friend from Australia (hi Elizabeth) and when I told her I had started a blog she wanted to take a look so I thought I had better start posting something for her to look at :-) A lot of work I have done has never been photographed. I haven't done city and guilds or had a need to record my work in any way so there didn't seem to be any point. Yesterday I had a bit of a photographing session and I discovered a curious thing about myself; I seem to have a passion for making fabric. Let me show you what I mean.
This piece was created by tearing strips of dyed calico and then stitching it together using the sewing machine's inbuilt stitch patterns. The leaves were a digitised pattern purchased from Birdhouse Cottage Crafts at http://www.secretsof.com/content/463