A crochet day

Did you know anyone can crochet? As you can see someone cannot wait to get started on the task in hand, having already run off with the wool!
When I mentioned to my son in law that his wife was becoming a very expert hooker, he looked at me with a dubious expression. I also mentioned his young daughter was also showing talent.... at that point he was looking very concerned.

It was a little while before the penny dropped and he realised I was talking about crochet.

With a lot of concentration and practice, we have now mastered ch,dc,and tr as well as ss. Just left the girls practising granny squares.... quite apt really.

Then it was back to the painting.

Evening sky

Wonderful colours... wondering how to catch those colours in dyed cloth?

What can I say?

Lydiard House and Park

The sunshine this morning when I arrived at Lydiard park for a meeting about our next exhibition, really was a pleasant surprise. So I could not resist taking this shot across the fields to Swindon in the distance. The temperature was +1 C.... almost a heatwave these days!

The meeting was very inspiring and the exhibition is due to open at Lydiard house on the 22nd March 2010.

By the time the meeting had finished, the sun had diappeared... but this is a photo taken from the front of the house. Would love a front garden like that wouldn't you?

Marlborough Branch of the Embroiderers Guild and Swindon GWE

Had a very productive time at the Marlborough EG today. A special workshop had been organised for any members who subscribe to Maggie Greys WOW.

Most stitchers were working on the re-cycled project, but I decided to try something different.

I took along my new portable sewing table - a Christmas Present.

It was wonderful and made the stitching so easy.

My plan is to use pfd calico, seamed together in strips, and then made into a finished quilt. Using the design in my sketchbook for the next Lydiard exhibition with the GWE. I propose to paint the picture onto the quilt with dye. I just hope the idea works.

I now have to decide what sort of quilting I will do. It will be FME, but I shall use the book that Dijanne kindly sent me before she left Australia. This will be my reference for the stitching which I shall probably do on my Pfaff. I will then bind it, and it will be ready to paint.

Then after all that excitement went along to the first official meeting of the Great Western Embroiderers evening group. Lovely, creative evening playing with cocoon strippings.

Its gone at last!

It has at last gone.. this photo was taken 36 hours ago, before the rain came. The weathermen are threatening us with some more snow in the middle of next week. They are quite good at getting their forecasts wrong though. ( fingers crossed)



Herr Schnauzer has spent a great deal of his time snoozing in the bosses' chair, during this snowy weather. He is not keen on snow at all.

Whereas some of us have been a little more diligent, especially now that it has warmed up... almost tropical today with temperatures of +8 C, and much more comfortable. Sooooo.. time to sort out the mess that is my workroom .

Mr Siamese is quite excited and ready to start work and helping me to get the machine out of the case.

Then the impatient wait, whilst I clear some space on the table for the machine. What a mess in the workroom. Not a lot of work has been going on in there over the Christmas holidays.

Some one is getting very impatient! What a "look"

Once the machine was up and working. A lot of machining later and this is one of the samples of our hard labour --------can you guess what I was doing? Which presser foot was I using to play with?

Mr Siamese is very fond of my Tina Turner CD... or maybe today, he is just keeping his feet warm whilst watching me play on the sewing machine.

Working in white

All this snow has made me get on with some samples. I saw this on Angela's blog and when dh went shopping he bought me a copy.

I have been doing quite a bit of crochet this past year. A scarf at Dodger Summer school in July and a few sessions teaching at WI classes. They were great fun.

Then my mate Sue told me about a crochet challenge. click here and so being stuck indoors a lot thought I would do a few in the evenings. It is so easy to do crochet while watching the TV or talking.

I decided to use white acrylic yarn. Its actually baby DK that I had laying around. Thought it was a good idea as everything is white outside and it will remind me of the snow. I am going to add them to my teaching file. They are very simple to do. I intend to use some of the magazine ideas as samples too... of how to crochet using simple patterns.

sample 2

Sample 3

Back to crocheting......!

Still here and bitterly cold!

(all photos will enlarge if you click on them)

Well its still here...all that snow....... here is the terrace with lots of Herr Schnauzer paw prints. He is not that keen on having cold paws.... and does not go beyond the terrace. This photo across part of the garden shows pristine snow --- no paws have ventured that far..




We have cleared the path to the back gate.. so he can safely get there to bark at any unsuspecting passerby who is braving the elements on foot or on their sledges.

As for Mr Siamese... he is enjoying extra duvet days...no sign of him at all!

I have been tidying away all the pieces that have not sold at the recent exhibitions and finally managed to get all the Christmas decorations into the loft ready for next year. Phew!

Now I am contemplating getting into my studio ( thankfully it is in the house and is warm) I have a lot of tidying up to do in there. I might then have the space to be able to start some more new work.

I really feel for a friend whose studio roof has collapsed.... such a lot of tidying up to do, just wish I could go and help.

A bit of snow!

Well, woke up this morning and a bit of snow had fallen. Herr Schnauzer refused to go out until lunchtime, when the snow temporarily had stopped.

No joy in sitting out in the garden having morning coffee today! Definitely a day to stay indoors, all the schools are shut.... the buses are not running. So had better get the Christmas decorations up into the loft.... then what shall I do?

Time flies

It is still frosty underfoot and the forecast is for a lot of snow tonight and tomorrow - up to 40cm, I reckon that is about 16 inches in old money.
So I am pleased that I can hibernate for a little while. Had a wonderful day yesterday, the Exhibition of Great Western Embroiderers at Frameworks was taken down and was really successful, despite the recession.

In the afternoon I gave a talk to the Embroiderers Guild in Marlborough. As it was very icy, cold and slippery I thought not many people would venture out. I was very surprised that about 60 did come to the meeting. A lovely group of ladies, so enthusiastic about their stitching and a wonderful audience. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

On returning home, we unpacked the car, then had to venture out again to 9 year olds' birthday party. The roads were like an ice rink.. so we could not stay long. However just long enough to eat some cake and blow out the candles.

So maybe a day of stich and keeping warm tomorrow...... might be the best idea.

Its 2010 already

2010 sneaked in without me really realising ..... and I am frantically trying to think of New Years resolutions... but my mind is blank.

So I think I will go with " just do it and enjoy". That should be quite easy to maintain don't you think? Find it quite difficult to go with a resolution that beats you up and is difficult to stick to.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

and

a

Happy New Year

2010

Exhibition at Frameworks

Would be lovely to see you there.

2 days left for Chequer Mead exhibition

You have 2 days to get along to this exhibition before it closes. The last day is Wednesday Dec 2nd.click here to find out more .

These are some of my leaves from the Urchfont Art in the Garden, I really think this is a lovely setting for them.

This is part of my Roman series. All made with hand dyed fabrics, and manipulated to create this design. A good view of this work hanging in the gallery on the wall ( 1st photo) , its a wonderful space to exhibit.

Artists Studios - Compton Verney

Can you believe it? After a night of gale force winds and torrential rain, this morning the weather could not have been better for the trip to Compton Verney in the Cotswolds.

What a delight. Arrived at about 10.30am and as you can see the weather was perfect. Met Gill in the CarPark, and we wandered to the house together, as it does not open until 11.00am.

In the disabled parking area by the house we found Dorothy had arrived and it was not long before the doors opened and I think we were first into the cafe for refreshments. the cakes were wonderful.
It was not long before Sue joined us, and so the four dodgers were assembled.

We had decided to visit Compton Verney to see the latest exhibition on Artists Studios click here. We were enthralled by all we saw, and much chatter evolved in response to the exhibits. We had managed to get about half way around the exhibition, and with rumbling stomachs, went in search of lunch in the Cafe. We then resumed our tour, suitably refreshed......... wonderful .. great exhibition, fantastic company and good refreshments too.

In our final part of the tour, we were certainly very impressed by the use of day-glo paints by Sigrid Holmwood.

The exhibition is running until 13th December.... if you can get along there, then do go and see. Compton Verney is just off the old Roman Road called the Fosse Way in the district of Stratford on Avon.

Chequermead 20th November to 2nd December

This is our next exhibition and I have been working frantically for it.

National Needlework Centre

This is the Country wife mural, created for the Festival of Britain 1951 by Constance Howard. Until recently it was housed at Denman College ( the home of the WI), and that is where I was most fortunate to see it.
It has now been given to the National Needlework Archive to be cleaned and conserved. It is a massive mural 4.5 metre by 5 metres.
I went along the the NNA this afternoon to the open day at their new premises in Newbury. They need a lot of volunteers to help them move into the new premises.... so if you live nearby and have some time to spare.... have a look at the website here.. and offer to help..... it is a bit far for me..... but I would like to help. They are planning lots of exciting activities in the new year to, as well as having an on-site cafe.

Barnstable exhibition 12th September to 7th November 2009 and Cirencester

You just have time to catch this exhibition before it closes in 2 days time at Barnstable Musuem

Another exhbition closing on the 7th November is in Cirencester.. go along and have a look if you are in the area, some wonderful thought inspiring work by Laurie Plant... on at the Corinium Museum in Cirencester and entry is now free to the exhibiton area in the musuem... have a look here. Well worth the effort. I met Laurie when I visited the exhibition we had a long interesting chat, a wonderful and enthusiastic artist.

Chilling out

The rain is pelting down today, really dreary.

So no point in doing much, so may as well chill out............

and peruse the wonders of the universe

Autumnal EG meet in the Kennet Vally

(click on the photo for the full effect)

Promised Yvonne I would post this photo.. she caught me taking it in the car park today, before the meeting of the Marlborough Branch of the EG.
Saw some wonderful beaded work and carefully constructed fairies in the talk that Heather gave us,
If you would like to see some of her work.. have a look here under the menu "Garden" . You may also see her at the Harrowgate Knitting and Stitiching show, at the Beadworkers guild stall




Here is one of the other photos I took today, and had a play with it in Paint Shop Pro... also put it through displacement maps... great fun... gives a taste of Halloween!