Happy Birthday to me !

Just thought you'd like to see my birthday Quilt from my DH - obviously it wasn't bought entirely independently but am delighted with it all the same. It is a 2009 Annabel Rainbow piece called Chinese Lattice #2 (Womens' Work) - although you can't see the lettering in the picture, it is machined with the words 'womens work, domesticity and structure' . It may look a little lumpy, but that is because it is hung over existing pictures - I'm having to have a move around to find a good space for it . I don't want to hang it in my living room as we have a multifuel stove which produces some smell and dust when refuelling and cleaning out, then I couldn't put it on the other wall in the garden room as it would be in direct sunlight ( well, for a couple of months a year) so have hung it over existing pics to try out this space. I like it there and think it will stay.
ps the two bits hanging from the bottom are nothing to do with it - it is my hula hoop (fairly unused !) which is parked behind the sofa.

Sewing at Spofforth

For the first time in several months I managed to get to the Spofforth patchwork class. We made fabric by painting dressmakers vilene and bondaweb with Brusho colours then fusing them and adding angelina and printer's foil. The resulting fabric was used to made secret garden squares . Annie had made a lovely bookcover and a lined zipped bag, but I'm afraid my patience and enthusiasm ran out after 4 squares so I used it, with samples of the 'fabric' at different stages in my 'other' travelling journal - it always feels good to make use of samples.

I used silver lame type fabric ( an old scarf ) for the underlay and added starry sequins and small beads - the inspiration for the  fabric was hoar frost in the garden but I don't think I was very successful  in evoking the feel - perhaps it should have been silver and green. Ah well - another time perhaps.

Green Man

Almost ten years ago, for our 35th wedding anniversary, I bought a weekend  stonecarving course in the Welsh Marches as a surprise for my husband (and me ! well obviously not a surprise for me ). As you can imagine, said husband was thrilled (not).
Anyway,  we did have a jolly time, though I enjoyed it more than he did and over the weekend I did two pieces one of which was lettering on a piece of Portland stone and the other a Green Man in Bath stone. Portland is very hard and will last forever but the Bath stone is soft and subject to erosion by wind and weather so when I got home, the Portland went out in the garden and the Bath stone carving sat inside and remained there until last summer when I decided that however weathered it got, it would last me !
Now, my Green  Man really is green ! There is a sharp frost this morning and when I looked out of the window, there was my carving really standing out, so 10 years on I thought you might like to take a look at it !

 

Inspiration pack

Before Christmas, my sewing group made inspiration packs which were wrapped up and placed in a bag so everyone could choose one without being able to see colours, fabric etc. The one I got was not a colour combination I would ever have chosen to work with but needs must ! We also had a range of inspirational photos to choose from - I chose a fabulous close up of a weathered stone building with excrescences between the gaps between the stones in a range of colours closely matching my inspiration pack. I naively thought this would be perfect for a fairly 'photographic' interpretation !
In fact, the pack was a real mishmash of mostly small - even tiny - pieces of fabric widely different in weight, texture and finish and I spent ages working out how I could achieve my plan. In the end I abandoned the photo and decide that I would use as my inspiration some Banjara work that I had seen on a Kemshall video.

It is hard to see the Banjara detail without zooming in (must get a new camera) and the format of the bag rather flatters the tension I managed to achieve between the furnishing fabric in the middle and the dyed scrim then ribbon that I used to surround it. The pink bag fabric was the only large piece in the pack, but all the threads except the off-white running stitches that are the basis of the pattern were in the pack too. We are meeting on Friday so it will be interesting to see what everyone else did with their pack.
Have found a closer view of the Banjara work -

I found the actual stitching of the pattern a really soothing thing to do and liked the feel of it in the hand. I might start a piece in colours that I like rather better - always good to have a piece of hand embroidery on the go.
 

Hello again

Well it's been a long time but New Year and all that , to say nothing of blackmail (!) has pushed me out of inertia.
 I could say I've had a very busy year (true) and have been so busy being creative (not so true) that I've had no time for blogging but in actuality I'm just a lazy blogger who would rather read what others have been doing than do something myself. I am reformed - honestly!
This piece of work I did at Alston last October with Sandra Coleridge. The start was ribbons machined at 45 degrees onto felt then overlaid with more ribbon and overstitched by machine .

After stitching, a  grid of 2"x2" squares was drawn on the back of the piece, cut out and reassembled to form a chevron pattern then stitched together and used as a panel on a pink pig book.

All a bit blingy for me but I had a jolly day with my friends.
Most of my stitching last year was for travelling journals so not for posting, but I will make more effort this year.
 

The Fat Lady

You

Do you remember these?

Your friend

Me!

Travelling Journal

This is the inspiration page from my latest TJ input for Worcester.  I am not very happy with it as the supporting piece of work is not in keeping with the colour of this page.  Not much I can do about it now though.  I rubbed a wax candle over a piece of typing paper laid on a rubbing mat to get the washed out image on the right.  I am putting this on your blog as hopefully none of the Worcester group will look at it.

Bird with a broken wing