Sanded in!

Well, admit it, it makes a change from snowed in! Kuwait, and quite a lot of the gulf region, has been having a sandstorm for the past 3 days. it is showing signs of clearing, but I remain unconvinced, as its done that once before and come back worse. it's not like a blizzard, with it blowing a gale in your face, but it just sort of hangs in the air. visiblity is not very far at all, sometimes down to feet rather than yards (or even metres!), and breathing becomes interesting! the sand is so fine, that even staying indoors is no guarantee that you will avoid it, as it comes in round the doors and windows, and through the ac vents, and everything is coated in a fine layer of the stuff - a bit like a middle eastern version of Miss Haversham's wedding feast!!!
One advantage of the sand storm has been not feeling guilty about staying in and sewing. The kuwait textile arts association is having their year end exhibition at the end of this month, and while I wasn't too fussed about having anything in it, now that I am to be their next president I felt guilty about my apathy, and decided I needed to get something done. So I have been slaving over a hot sewing machine, and made a self portrait, 18"x18", and a 30"x45" quilted wall hanging, and a bag, and will finish the secret garden piece that I made a few weeks ago for the Textile Challenges group monthly challenge, and about to start a pair of fairy shoes, and maybe a bracelet, if I have the time after I have put hanging sleeves and labels on the backs of all the quilts. I particularly wanted to do some non-quilted pieces, as I'd done the talk on my embroidery, and have had great fun running up the bag, and know I will enjoy the shoes. We are having a bit reveal at the quilt group meeting on Monday 28th, so no piccies til after then, in case anyone here decides to read this. the exhibition runs May 30th til June 2nd, and I will be practically living there! have forewarned dh about this, and he reminded me that we have a party here on the 31st to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. (actual date 27th May) I had not forgotten, it's written in my diary after all, but maybe it was a good thing he mentioned it!

travels, talks, courses and spending sprees

Well, I'm back from my travels and all set to go. I took my daughter back to England to spend the Easter holidays with her father, and took the time to catch up with my sons and friends, and to do a one day course at Art Van Go.
The travelling was pretty tedious as it usually is, 6 and a half hours on a plane is not my idea of fun, I would take sewing things with me, but the last time I did the combination of a metal daisy wheel cutter and a silver needle case brought the entire security team into play and held up the queue for far too long while I took everything out and showed them that it wasn't a bomb or the makings of one. and who needs that every time they travel? Sons and friends were all suitably pleased to see me, and we had the first of several boozy evenings together at the pub - what joy! well it is when there aren't any pubs out here at all.
I drove across country to get to Art Van Go, found it and then my B&B, which was excellent, so if any of you are planning to go to a course there, I will let you have the details. Comfy bed, delicious home made food, and hosts as chatty or not as you want them to be. and then the course. It was actually the first one I have done with them, living as I did in Herefordshire, it's not always so easy to get to Hertfordshire for the day, obviously it is much easier from Kuwait! anyway, I digress, as usual. the course was on dyeing and painting, and learning the differences between the two, devised and led by Viv because she reckons over the years the discussions about this subject alone would fill several books. She had about 3 different watching sessions with her doing the most talking and doing, interspersed with us doing the doing and some talking and several whoops moments and lots of ooh and ahh type moments. she put a gazillion bottles of stuff out and said help yourself. kids in sweety shops would not come close, but 12 women had pretty inane grins on their faces for most of the day!!! I wanted to do this course because I will have to do some dyeing/fabric colouring experiments for my C&G course, and having never done any before, wanted to get some sort of heads up first. not a bad decision.
Unfortunately, going on a course at AVG is a very dangerous thing. my credit card went into serious meltdown, and my luggage weight was in serious danger of being well over limit. however, I have reformed the plastic remains of my card, and just got away with a smile at check in. phew!! it was a brilliant day, and then the following morning I went back in to meet Sharon Osbourne, who was demonstrating techniques and chatting, and spent some more!! how useless am I. AVG loved me though!! maybe its just as well that I live in Kuwait and can't get there too often.
Since I've been back, I've finished a machine embroidered picture for Textile Challenges March challenge, which was the theme of doors and windows, using fabric, paper and a found object. I had finally had some inspiration the day before I left for England, typical! It's called secret garden. I have also been making quilt squares for various friends who are moving on over the next few weeks - looking forward to seeing the finished quilts. Can't say more in case any of them read this before we give them their quilts, but it'll be good. Am now finally making a start of a couple of quilts that need to be finished by May 25th - do I stand a chance? Not nearly, but I'll give it a go. We are having the KTAA annual exhibition at the end of May and then, gulp, they are going on to Birmingham for Quilts UK. I definitely don't stand a chance. And as if that is not enough to be going on with, I am repeating my C&G talk, with additions, to the whole KTAA next week, I also need to make some ATCs and some inchies for 2 different groups, AND (yes Sian I am still enrolled in your group) blooming well get on with my C&G stuff before I get the order of the boot. No pressure then! keep smiling everyone, I am, or is that insanity looming large?!!!

major displacement activity

I really must start practising my grovelling, as I can feel a mega session coming on with Sian! No more progress on the C&G front at all.
But, I have made some atc's for a swap I signed up for ages ago, and some postcards ditto. So, I haven't done nothing, but I still feel guilty that its not really what I should have been doing.

































these were fun, the theme was flower fabric and beads.












I must really get my stuff together and make something for the textile challenge group March challenge, which is a theme of doors/windows, using fibre, thread, paint and found objects. there are some lovely things already submitted. we decided as a group to give everyone the same theme and the same ingredients, and see how they worked out. like I say, very interesting so far.

finding the focus

First of all, I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has posted comments so far. It's really great to know that a) people are reading it, and b) they like my work. I have still been finding it really difficult to get my head around starting properly on my C&G work. Its not like I can't do a spider diagram and write an introduction, which has got to be the easiest get you in exercise known to man. Pleased to say I have now made a small start and done them in rough, and now just have to make the visual, rather than verbal, brainstorming sheet. It will be good to be able to get them to Sian at last.
In my defence, I have been busy building my business, and I've taken on running the membership for the British ladies society here in Kuwait, which are both ongoing works in progress. I have also been teaching a group of friends to make fairy shoes. I posted a picture of a pair I made on a day with Annette Emms, a lovely and talented lady. They all decided they wanted to have a go when they saw mine in the flesh.
I have made a pair for a friend to say well done for doing a presentation she is dreading doing. I made a mini patchwork fabric first, so that they are multi coloured, so I have done some textile related work.


Winging its way towards me as I write are a couple of packages of synthetic felt, which I cannot get in Kuwait. Proper wool felt by the mile, but no synthetic, which is strange as they want to sell me so many other synthetic fabrics you'd think they'd have the felt. I'm looking forward to this arriving so I can have a play for the Jan/Feb challenge in the Textile Challenges group. One of the packages will have some colours appropriate to my research project, so may be able to use it for samples. See, I am thinking about the course, even if not actually doing very much of it.

Kuwait is having its Spring at the moment. The temperature is now getting to a lovely 20 degrees or so, there are plants everywhere, and when you are surrounded by sand and sand coloured buildings all the time, the colour is great. I could not believe how cold it got over November, December and January, so this is really welcome. I don't do cold. Am I too hopeful that the Spring will get me going again? Hope not, but any suggestions for breaking the deadlock on starting and really getting going would be gratefully received.