Stitching a Cushion

A cushion for myself - in progress.

Knitting & Stitching Show 2011 - My Hoard

So, this weekend was Ally Pally time again! Here is my hoard....

 Yes, I went a bit crazy, but it's only once a year! And some of these things you just cannot find anywhere else!

in this picture, from the top left: small scraps of silk laps & a roll of hand dyed cheesecloth from Oliver Twists; several  fat quarters of japanese patterned cottons, the owl design is so cute! to the right of that is some little 75p scraps of tie dyed cotton

the spiral dyed roving in this picture is from  The Thread Studio stall,  and the  cloth below that is some shot cotton, space dyed velvet and two skeins of hand dyed cotton embroidery thread all from Stef Francis' stall

At the top of this picture is my wonderful hoard of Oliver Twists cotton threads [I have been waiting all year to go back to their stall for these!], next to them are two beautiful skeins of wool yarn that I am giving to my sister so that she can make me a variation of this wonderful shawl for Christmas. The two small 50g balls of yarn are Shetland Aran. Below that are two skeins of fantastically coloured hemp yarn. Next to them are two bundles of Egyptian Cotton cloth (only £5 for the both) and atop them is a wonderfully moss coloured piece of pre-felt from Sue Pearl.

detail of the Oliver Twists cotton

detail of the hemp yarn from The House of Hemp

detail of the shawl yarn

detail of the 75p cotton scraps

detail of the shot cotton, velvet and threads from Stef Francis

detail of the fat quarters

Now I have this huge hoard to add to my stash of other bits. And wandering around the show has given me some inspiration. I just hope I can fit in time to follow some of the ideas alongside starting my Book Arts MA course.

Bookmarks

Now I tried posting this yesterday from my phone but it failed and wouldn't let me do it again! So here it is again; cannot quite remember what I said but basically these are two new stitched pieces, bookmarks to be precise. They will be for sale in my new (nearly ready) etsy shop very soon. Watch this space!

They are bits of the monoprinted textiles from a few weeks ago along with some other scraps and some hand stitching; designed to fit nicely in any book and also be a kind of soft comfort to hold while reading. A place keeper and a 'sense of place' holder? Either way, I want to make more.

Studio work

In my studio late, having dinner and (finally) doing some sewing work.
*in other news, the studio is almost ready for open studios this weekend* almost...

Welcome to Bournemouth gift cloth - finally given

Cloth goes with me on my Holidays

Just a note to say I am off on holiday for a week or so; off to the depths of Cornwall for a good rest, coastal walking, sea watching and not to forget Cornish Cream Teas of course.

Hopefully I can fit a bit of stitching in there too; my cloths in progress and needle and thread are packed in anticipation. The cloth above is finished and parcelled up to send to Heike of Gerdiary tomorrow, and the stones were collected when I went to the seaside last weekend; they look like natural mini Barbara Hepworth's. Happy stitching & felting while I'm gone. 

____________________________________________ 

Amazing how much you can get done during a day off work

Curious Drawers at Stroud International Textiles Festival

Went to Stroud last weekend to the Textile Festival with my sister and had a great time despite the awful weather! There were a series of open studios and exhibitions spread out around the town. One of the best was called 'Curious Drawers' which featured a group of textile artists who call themselves the Brunel Broderers.

It included an interactive piece where you were encouraged to take up a needle and thread to stitch into a chest of drawers. Here is my sister in stitch action:

There was also a great stall area where they were selling little pieces of work; I was so amazed at the fantastic work on display and I fell in love with several of Lizzie Weir's pieces that were for sale; in the end I only bought one but I am thrilled with it and I am sure you will agree its quite beautiful and the composition just sings to me:

Now all I need is a frame...

the feel of cloth between my fingers again

I have missed the feel of cloth in my hands - the slow meditative needle to cloth - hand to cloth motions of hand stitching.

After watching Jude so much ( and I hope she does another vlog soon) I just had to follow suit and checker with cloth. I have missed the feel of cotton and linen between my fingers and I need to practice my needle work - such a satisifying piece of cloth to work on for me - I know the stitching is far from perfect but I like it none the less; it is for me after all and that's all that matters right now.