Decisions -some good and some undecided!

( sorry about the poor colour quality of the photo)

I am very pleased with the new walking foot for my sewing machine, it made very light work of quilting in the ditch on the William Morris quilt, as well as easily stitching the binding into place. A good buy.

 I hemmed the binding to the back by hand. Took me quite a long time, but I really like the finish it gives to the quilt. A good decision. 

 The hanging sleeve is made, but it needs to be attached to the back of the quilt... more hand stitching. The hands are aching too much today from all the hard work.... another good decision.

 

My cross stitch Cotswold sheep is also well under way, but I am having problems deciding how to present it for the exhibition. Maybe a frame... but with glass or maybe not. Or maybe mounted onto foam board..... decisions..... decisions. What would be best?

All the snow has now disappeared, and we have grey days of rain and wind. Not very pleasant at all. I have been staying at home stitching and have ordered the groceries online to be delivered tomorrow. Another good decision.

Quilting ... at last!

It finally arrived today.. 12 days late. The walking foot I ordered for my machine. The company were very good and sent me another, we are presuming the original was lost in the post.
 As a consequence I have spent the day machine quilting. The new walking foot worked wonderfully well and I'm really pleased. All the quilting is complete and now its time to put the binding on. It might actually be ready for the exhibition.

Even more snow!

  

Well the weather forecasters did not tell us we were going to have another 5 hours of light snow today.  All the snow was to fall in the East of England... not here! It was very icy as they did forecast. I thought with all the clever satellites and stuff they have nowadays the weather forecast could be more accurate.

 

Some of my UK Internet buddies are busy photographing footprints in the snow, and as you can see from the 1st photo, our snow is a bit deep for that. Herr Schnauzer has left lots of foot prints....and so has tried to help me... but the snow is too deep.

 

So instead I have taken this strange 2nd photo of the snow starting to melt on the garden chair and then freezing in this strange curve. It is solid and icy. Very odd.

 

However lots of stitching was done on the Cotswold cross stitch sheep. The light was particulary good today despite the snow.

A bit of snow and working in the studio

 

 It snowed most of the day today and caused a great deal of disruption to town and surrounding countryside where I live. We stayed at home in the warm and admired the views of the garden.

 

I spent the day working in my studio, on my pieces for the forthcoming exhibition by Great Western Embroiderers in Malmesbury next month. 

I used the  cross stitch software from Jane Greenoff to design a Cotswold sheep, Using 28 count linen and 2 strands of embroidery thread ( floss)  and am going to have to work extremely hard to get it finished in time. Nothing like a deadline to get me motivated.

  



Following the Cotswold theme, I have also been making a study of  the Arts and Crafts Movement and William Morris. Kelmscott Manor which is only a few miles up the road has been very inspiring. My sketchbook is developing the ideas on this theme and I have more ideas than time to bring them to fruition

 I have found this theme really fascinating to study... and to this end I have also made a large ( for me) patchwork sampler quilt, using modern fabrics influenced by William Morris. Here is one block.. there are 12 different ones all together. Suspect you will recognise the Strawberry thief fabric.

 

Just waiting for the arrival through the post of a walking foot for my sewing machine to help with the straight quilting I would like to do. If the walking foot does not turn up in the post soon, then I will have to resort to free machine quilting the quilt. I really want to keep the quilting plain and simple and know that If I resort to free machining it will become very fancy, I can never resist . 

Swindon Open Studios

 

My studio is nearly ready for visitors to Open Studios this Saturday and Sunday...... its looking very colourful. I have lots of my work on the walls, and I shall be working in the studio all weekend and look forward to chatting to visitors about my work and what I do.

 

Do have a look at the Open Studios website here all the participating artists are listed, there is a map too so you will be able to find everyone. Let me know if you can make it.

 

 

Empowerment Exhibition - Private view

The Empowerment Exhibition - Private View was an inspiring and not to be missed event. 180 people attended this creative experience, curated by Shanta Ranee.

The presentation was multi media.... using computers , MP3 files, headphones and movie/still visuals on the digital projector.... as well as traditional reading and live music and singing. The static visual work decorated the walls... poems were presented to be read personally on the walls... but they were also " performed".

A couple of comfy seats and a table on a carpet were in the centre of the gallery, for people to sit and listen or read. 50 shades of grey was also available to read on the table.... this exhibition focused on female empowerment..... the next exhibition features male empowerment. They have a hard act to follow!!!!

 

 

 

  

 

Detail photo of my submission - called -Tick the box-.

Media: Hand dyed fabric and threads.

 

Vesey room, Bampton

 

We chose a lovely sunny day to go and visit  the Exhibition at Bampton Gallery. Beverley and I both have work in the members Exhibition, and we wanted to spend some more time looking at every one's work. We also wanted to have a closer look at the Vesey room which is also part of West Ox Arts exhibition space.

You may recognise this building as it features as the hospital in Downton Abbey. it is actually the old grammar school of the village of Bampton.

Classrooms in those days were small, but  the room is a wonderful exhibition space. Erin Singleton has an exhibition called Bohemian Pearl there at the moment. Very thought provoking, but fun.

This wonderful gate/door is the entrance to the building.

 

Was really taken by the gated entrance to the church, which seemed to be a short cut for taking the village dogs for a walk.

Empowerment Exhibition

 

Hope you can make it to the Private View next Friday evening. I have a piece of work called "tick the box" that has been accepted. See you there?

National Gallery and Tate Britain, London

 

I decided to take the grandchildren to London by coach to view the paintings and art in the  two galleries. On arriving in the Cromwell Road we were greeted by lots of Union Jacks and Olympic banners. It was a very festive sight, and the children loved it

Building sites were hidden by these hoardings.

Not sure what was happening at Harrods.. it looked quite odd. The green awnings had been taken down and very few windows were dressed. Quite disappointing.

 The Dorchester in Park Lane made us give out some Oooohs and Ahhhs. The cars parked outside were incredibly expensive!

 We finally managed to get to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery... which was.our first stop. We had to stop and look at the Bronze sculpture on the Fourth Plinth.. more details here

 

The National Gallery Looked ready for the Paralympic Games ... and we heard the next day that David Cameron and Boris Johnson were at Trafalgar Square.. so we missed them by a day. All the preparations had been done though. Inside we followed the children's trail.See Here It was just right for us. We then also viewed the modern galleries and the firm favourite was - the tiger- Henri Rousseau. After refreshments and a visit to the shop. We then went out into the sunshine.

Of course we had to sit by the fountains. .and because it was breezy ... we got wet!

Then it was back on the coach for the trip to Tate Britain on the embankment.

 We passed Westminster Abbey on the way.... that's were THE wedding took place last year,and before we knew it we were at Tate Britain. Long walk round to the  Manton Road entrance as some building work is going on at the front entrance.
.

 Tate Modern had a wonderful interactive sculpture space for the children.. see Here and the children were soon engrossed. The Howard Hodgkin Exhibition on the walls kept me amused as well!

Usain Bolt on his podium!

After a great time looking round the gallery we headed for the Embankment to have a look at the Thames.. so much wider than where we live.

Needless to say the children could not wait to get back on the coach for a rest.. and we thought this an appropriate painting.

Then we saw this wonderful sculpture

Isn't this amazing? Its over the front entrance to the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington.

Festival of Quilts 2012

Had a really great time at Festival of Quilts this year, not only did my daughter come with me, but granddaughter as well. I booked my granddaughter into the children's workshop in the afternoon, and despite lots of nerves to start with she really enjoyed herself. So many thanks to all the helpers at her workshop. She is very inspired and her "curly whirley " is hanging in her room.

To celebrate them agreeing to come with me this year, I entered a quilt into the contemporary quilting section. They had both watched the progress of the making, so obviously were thrilled to see it hanging at the Festival. I had hoped to inspire them to both enter a quilt next year... and watch this space, I think I have succeeded.

Not may photos I am afraid, too busy talking and lots of the booths said " no photography".... why? I never understand that. We all bought lots of goodies and came away very inspired by some wonderful work.

Resist dyeing

Whilst on the Embroiderer's guild trip to Redditch, on of the members approached me about dyeing as she was having a lot of trouble getting her recipes to work for her.

 

 Her interest was resist dyeing in black, using tying techniques. I invited her over to my studio and we spent a couple of hours playing and experimenting with my recipes. She phoned me the next day to say how pleased she was with the results. Here are mine all washed and ironed. I was rather pleased with mine too. My black dye is quite old and I just love the blueish hue.

Visiting the local art galleries.

This amazing sculpture of hands threading a needle is at West Ox Arts Gallery in Bampton. It was the Private View of the current members exhibition..... and it was very well attended. The gallery looked superb and such a good range of work. What a skilled membership of this fantastic gallery.

A view across the gallery which shows the wonderful creative buzz that was in the room.

This wall shows my 2 pieces of work and also a fellow member of my- Losing the Thread- Exhibiting group - Jane O'Brien

Another member of -Losing the Thread- Margaret Charlton has work on this wall, as does my new art friend..... Beverley Greig.

The refreshments were very welcome as well, it was a warm day, and there was a lot of talking amongst those that attended.

Day trip to Redditch

Every year the Marlborough Branch of the Embroiderers Guild organise an outing, which I love to take part in. This year we were destined to go to Redditch to the Forge Mill needle museum. Its only about an hour away by coach and the journey was very pleasant. On arrival we were greeted with a piece of cake and tea..... and I warmed to the adventure immediately.

We were split into different groups and each group escorted by a gentleman guide. We were destined for the Scouring house! The strange smell of old oil and soot greeted us as we went into a very dingy workshop and the process of scouring the metal was explained to us. This is usually an end process, after the needles have been made.

 Above a photo for the hessian and equipment used for scouring.

We then went for a most enlightening talk in another section of the museum and given a talk about Bordesley Abbey.. I was hooked.... absolutely fascinating. I just wished we had time to explore this Abbey more fully. Certainly justifies another visit.

 The final part of the official tour took us to another workshop.. this is the start of the process, where the wire  is made into needles, the dummy above is doing the pointing of the needles, and the only health and safety precautions are a scarf around his mouth. Apparently this was a highly paid part of the process as the men rarely survived beyond 35 years of age due to lung disease.

Unfortunately the talks had taken so long that we had little time to do justice to the Small Samurai Exhibition or the fantastic needle exhibition on the top floor. I did manage to purchase a postcard and some special needles. Time was short .... and before we knew it we were back on the coach ( travelling through some beautiful countryside) and at our 2nd  destination..

We quickly arrived at the Jinny Ring Craft Centre.. the photos of glass baubles hanging from an artificial tree... very apt colours this year

After some lunch - we were not allowed to picnic in the grounds I sauntered into the garden and the views were magnificent.. enlarge the photo below and see if you can see the church.

 

I then had a wander around the craft studios, and chatted to a few of the crafts folk. My only purchase was some chocolates for himself. Hand made... they look wonderful, but I have not been offered any .....yet!

I really enjoyed my day out and would love to spend a lot more time at the needle Museum, I do not feel the same about the Jinny Ring... although the restaurant and grounds are really lovely, I think my expectations were higher for the crafts. These were very commercial units on the whole, and I know they are expensive to rent and so have to make money. I had hoped for more .... but enjoyed myself anyway. Would love to hear what others think.