Wednesday 1 October 2014

Sewing Stories ~ Baby Sleeping Bag

My best friend had her second baby earlier this year. For her first child, I made a patchwork cot quilt. After having my son six months later, and being given a cot quilt which we didn't really use, I wondered how much she'd used hers.

We found the baby sleeping bags really useful so I decided to make one for her second baby. After looking on the internet for ideas and patterns, I decided to just use a sleeping bag that I'd kept, as a template.

My son helped me choose the fabric - slightly tricky as we didn't know if the baby was going to be a boy or a girl. The patterned fabric is cotton and the lining is a lovely soft brushed cotton. I was going to use some quilting batting in between but I didn't want the baby to overheat.

I laid the sleeping bag I had onto paper and traced the shape out. I used binding all the way round to join the front and back of each piece, then machine stitched on the binding join to join the front of the bag to the back, with a zip inserted in the side and poppers on the shoulders to get baby in and out.

With the left over material I made a simple square blanket for big sister to use with her dolls. The baby is a boy :-)

Baby Sleeping Bag

Wednesday 24 September 2014

Knitting Notes ~ Re-knitted Top

I knitted this top last year for summer and wore it once but wasn't quite happy with it. I used the same yarn as the pattern and I always do a tension square but somehow it didn't sit on me properly. So I put it in a cupboard and, typical of me, started on another project.

This year I fished it out of the cupboard to decide what I wanted to do with it. I thought that it may have been the lacy pattern at the back - should I just do stocking stitch for the back? The only trouble is that I didn't have much spare yarn left and didn't want to run out.

Should I substitute the lacy stitch for another that wasn't as open? In the end I decided to do the pattern the same just in smaller size needles.

Eh voila! It worked. The top isn't as baggy and sits much more nicely. Worth undoing and trying again.


The pattern is by Sirdar and the yarn is Summer Stripes.

Tuesday 16 September 2014

Watercolour ~ Mount Rundle, Alberta, Canada

Yeah yeah, I know that my challenge to myself this year was paint one watercolour each month of a North East scene but when we got back from our trip to the Canadian Rockies I was just itching to paint the mountains!

This is one of my favourite views in the world. I have been fortunate enough to have visited it twice now. I have also painted it twice. The first watercolour I did was many years ago for my dad as a present. Here is my latest one.

Mount Rundle from Vermillion Lakes

Mount Rundle is actually a range of peaks numbered from 1 - 7 that stretch from Banff to Canmore. This distinctive peak is number 1 at Banff, seen from Vermillion Lakes.

I used Cerulean Blue Hue, Prussian Blue, Cadmium Yellow Hue, Burnt Umber and Payne's Grey.

Mount Rundle painting

Mount Rundle painting

Mount Rundle painting

Mount Rundle painting

I am really happy with the way this has turned out. I may even frame this original and hang it on our wall...although perhaps I should wait until I have done my other mountain paintings!

You can find cards and giclee prints of Mount Rundle, Alberta, Canada to purchase on my Fine Art website.

Thank you for looking!

Gillian.

Wednesday 10 September 2014

Red Admiral Butterfly

While eating my lunch today, looking out on the garden, I spotted not one but two red admiral butterflies on the second flush of buddlea flowers. They always seem to visit later than the tortoiseshell and peacock butterflies.

Not only are they stunning when their wings are open, but I love the patterns on the underside with the light shining through.

Here's a photo I took a couple of years ago which is available as cards and prints on my website. Click the photo for the link.

Red Admiral Butterfly

Thank you for looking!
Gillian.

Tuesday 22 July 2014

Watercolour ~ Wallington Griffin Head

The Griffin's heads at Wallington are well known around the area and I wanted to focus on just one for this painting. I have left the hall very soft and hazy in the background as the griffin was the focus. I sprayed paint on last using my finger on the brush to achieve the mottled stone effect.

I did draw out the main features on the head first, measuring out with my pencil as I wanted to get the proportions correct. What do you think of him?

Wallington Hall painting

Here are the progress steps :-)

Wallington Hall paintingWallington Hall painting

Wallington Hall paintingWallington Hall painting
  If you like this painting, you could own a card or print by buying one from my website.

Thanks for looking, Gillian.

Tuesday 15 July 2014

Changing Your Art Around

Do you really stop and look at the pictures on your walls? Or are they so much part of the furniture that you pass them by every day without a glance?

A few years ago, I saw an art collector on TV who had a great idea! He had the paintings and works of art in his house changed for different pieces every six months. He put half of his collection into storage and half of it on his walls.

Now, he was talking big canvases, filling holes and re-positioning every work of art - and had someone to do it for him but I thought you could do it on a smaller scale in your own home. Changing the artwork every now and again keeps it fresh and makes you look at the pieces more.

We were due to move house after that and due to the layout in our new house, not all of our pictures would go up again. So I decided to make a plan to swap them after six months.

Unfortunately, we moved two weeks before I gave birth, so life was a little hectic after that and I never got to change any artwork. We have been in the house for 7 years now and I have finally been through the picture box and changed some!

ArtworkArtwork

The poppies were cross stitched by my Auntie for a wedding present and have been replaced by the print of Edmund Leighton's "God Speed!". On our landing I had an oil canvas of Paris that I bought round the corner from artist square in Montmartre. Now there is a montage of postcards that I also got on the same trip which has been hanging at my mum's house.

Artwork 

The little paintings on the left were bought for me from New Zealand when my brother spent a year living there. The cross stitches on the right have replaced them and were stitched by my mum.

So I've used the same hooks and tried to use similar sized pictures to avoid making more holes in the walls!

Mind you, my husband never noticed the change at the top of the stairs...

...and who knows if I get round to swapping them around again in 6 months time!

Have fun if you swap your art around and don't forget to store the "resting" ones properly.

Thanks for reading!

Gillian.


Friday 9 May 2014

Watercolour ~ Dunstanburgh Castle

Dunstanburgh Castle
Dunstanburgh Castle

In my one watercolour a month challenge, I didn't get a chance to complete one in April because I was so busy with wedding photography. So I'm hoping to get two done in May. This is the first one. Dunstanburgh Castle seen from the walk from Craster.

I just wanted to do a simple landscape with a few washes and not get too fussy. It worked mostly but I ended up messing about too much with the grass in the foreground, although I am pleased with how it's worked out.

Available as cards and prints on my fine art website. Just click on the picture to get the link.

Here are a few progress photos.

Dunstanburgh Castle watercolour

Dunstanburgh Castle watercolour

Dunstanburgh Castle watercolour

Thanks for looking - I'd love to know if you like it :-)
Gillian.

Wednesday 19 March 2014

Watercolour ~ Tynemouth Priory

This is March's painting - although I've realised that I never blogged about February's painting! I did paint one in Feb but I love this one so much that I'll show it first.

A view of Tynemouth Priory from along the coast. I painted this from a photo I had previously taken but wasn't happy with the quality of the photo. I love the composition so decided to paint it instead of doing a re-shoot.

Tynemouth Priory painting
Tynemouth Priory

As usual, here are the progress paintings. I used different shades of paint in this painting, choosing Cerulean Blue Hue for the bright blue sky. I always have trouble with my greens, so I used Sap Green and Olive Green instead of mixing yellow and blue. Yellow Ochre and Burnt Umber were used for the stonework and some of the grasses and Payne's Grey was used to get some depth in the shadows.



Slightly paler as they were taken on a different camera.

I'd love to know what you think. As usual, giclee prints are available to purchase.
My Fine Art website will be coming soon!

Gillian.


Thursday 30 January 2014

Knitting Notes ~ Blocking

I have only blocked two knitting projects - a sewn up cardigan and the pieces for my Art Nouveau inspired jumper. Now I don't know why I only just discovered this technique recently!

I am not the best knitter at keeping my stranded colour work loose enough to not pucker so I decided to block the pieces before I sewed them up to get the pattern to lay nice and flat. It worked a treat.

I put a large bath towel on the floor under a radiator and pin the pieces onto it and the carpet. You can stretch the work to the correct size (if it contains wool). I then dampen another bath towel and put it flat over the pinned out work. Then wait until it's dry.

See the results below!

Unblocked knitting
Unblocked knitting

Blocked knitting
Blocked knitting
Amazing and almost professional looking!

Happy knitting :-)
Gillian x

Wednesday 29 January 2014

Watercolour ~ Hadrian's Wall, Northumberland

At the beginning of the year, I set myself a challenge to paint a watercolour every month. I decided to pick a theme of North East scenes.

Here's January's painting - a scene taken from Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland looking out from one of the Milecastles.

Hadrian's Wall, Northumberland

Here are the progress paintings (slightly paler as they were taken on a different camera). I washed the blue over the whole paper then washed some yellow ochre over the ground. I was going to put more detail into the wall as that was the focus of the scene, but after leaving it for a while and coming back to it, I decided to leave it where it was.




 

I hope you like it!
Gillian.

Thursday 23 January 2014

Knitting Notes ~ Art Nouveau Inspired Jumper

At last this weekend, the waiting was over - my blocked pieces were dry, I could sew together my Art Nouveau inspired Fair Isle style jumper and wear it.

I made this jumper from a combination of two patterns that I already had - the front and back were just rectangles and I used a sleeve pattern from a cardigan that I had already made and liked the sleeves.

The colourful pattern, I designed myself from an Art Nouveau book I have. I sketched a few motifs down and then transferred some ideas down onto knitting graph paper. I used this site where you can work out the graph size from your tension to make sure the design dimensions transfer from paper to knitting correctly.

Art Nouveau inspiration

I'm really pleased with how it's turned out. I love the soft colours. I had enough yarn left over to make a hat in a totally different design and I'm part way through a scarf, again in a different design. Oh, and below is a photo of me wearing the finished jumper!

Gillian Cross

Right, onto the next project!

Gillian x

Wednesday 15 January 2014

Knitting Notes ~ Waiting

My latest project is a Fair Isle style jumper which I've made up from two patterns I already had. I then designed the Fair Isle pattern from Art Nouveau patterns. I'm delighted with the colours - I wanted to use a few colours - and with the pattern.

I've decided to block the pieces before I sew them. This is the really hard part because I know it's so nearly finished but I can't do anything until the blocking process dries!

I have quite a bit of the wool left so I've now turned my attention to making a hat in a different pattern. At least I have something to do while I'm waiting! :-)

Gillian.

Sunday 5 January 2014

Gardening Gossip ~ Shredding the Christmas Tree

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you've all had a good Christmas.

Ever since getting a garden shredder last year for Christmas, my first gardening job of the year has been to shred the Christmas tree. It's a great way to work off the excesses of the festive season and gets me into the garden.

I put some of the shreddings into the compost bin and put some of them down as a mulch on top of soil around my son's swing.

I also made a few cuttings to try and grow my own Christmas tree. I'm not sure that they will take, as the branches are probably not fresh enough but they won't take up much space in the garden for now.

My next job is to look into some better containers to grow my veg in this year. Roll on Spring!

Gillian.

Thank You

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog. Why don't you leave me a message to let me know you stopped by?

If you have any questions about purchasing any of the images or prints, please email me.

gillian@gilliancrossphotography.co.uk