Where do I start?

I've been up to so much, I don't know where to start.

So - first of all I'll start with the Open Studios at Bramble Patch with Edwina MacKinnon and Catherine Nicholls.  I didn't time my arrival too well as a coach party had just arrived.  But I bided my time and waited so I could have a chat with them both.  So here's a photo of a more relaxed open studio.

And just an aside about The Bramble Patch - they now have a weekly newsletter, so just subscribe on their website.

And then I went onto The Splendour of Stitch at Wycliffe Memorial Methodist Church in Lutterworth. This is an annual exhibition by the Lutterworth Embroiderer's Guild and it's a great opportunity to see all the members work. They also had lovely tea and cake on offer.  here are some photos from here too:

 These are from our Carol Naylor class.

These are our aprons from our class with Jamie Maldon from Colouricious. A great way to display them 

I love these elephants and will be asking for a workshop to make one - they are so cute.

And these are some of the pieces made at our Janet Bolton class.

And then yesterday I had a very exciting day with some friends - at the Battle of Bosworth re-enactment.  It was great.  Here are a couple of the banners, beautifully made.

Here is the Battle of Nations.  

They were fab - no holds barred, full on fighting.

  And then there was the re-enactment.  It was very well done and a great spectacle. 

If you do get the opportunity to go - please do.  

There was so much to see we didn't fit it all in.

Anyway - hope you're still making the most of the fine weather.

Best wishes.

FoQ 2013

Well - what a show.

I hope that those of you who managed to get there had as good a time as I did.  It was great to travel to and meet up with lovely people.

Here are a few highlights.

Here is the lovely Jo Lovelock demonstrating how to get fantastic results with tray dying. You can see how it started with soda soaked fabric and developed into this amazing try of beautifully dyed fabric. 

  

 I also bought the most beautiful threads from her too.  Do have a look.

 I have taken quite a few more photos but need a little time to recover and sort out who make which quilt, so I'll post these over the next few weeks.  

Hello - Embroiderers Guild and Festival of Quilts

Hello all.

I hope you're enjoying the changeable weather we're having.  It seems to go from bright sunshine to a torrential downpour in seconds.  Well, it does give us something to talk about.

I was visiting the Handmade Boutique in the Western Arcade in Birmingham and was chatting to Tiger Lilly, we were chatting about the Embroiderers Guild. It reminded me of the preconceptions people have about the Guild - that you have to be an amazing embroiderer and if you aren't you can't join.  I really can't emphasize enough that all you need is an interest in textiles and or sewing.  You can literally just come along to the talks and not go to any workshops. 

It's worth researching the branches websites to see what they do, when they meet etc to see if it fits in for you.  And you can always test any group by popping along as a visitor.  Don't worry about going on your own, many groups now have a buddy system, so the way the groups work can be explained.  But the most important thing is to enjoy yourself.  Look on the Embroiderers Guild website and see where your local group meet.

And now - it's that time of year again, actually it's a bit earlier than normal. 

It's FESTIVAL OF QUILTS.  

And having pre-ordered I've already got my show catalogue.

I'm going for a couple of days and I have a few talks booked, I'm hoping to meet friends,  have a chat and see what they have bought.

Take care all and I'll be back soon with photos of my purchases.

Walk I - Sketchbook development

Hello all.

Hope you're well and are enjoying your weekend.

As promised you can see below some photos of how 'Walk I' are developing.  I'm now at the point of almost having the material stitched together - so it's almost ready for sandwiching and then sewing.

I'm really pleased wit the samples I've produced - well worth the effort as some of my initial ideas really didn't work at all.  

I promise to keep you up to date with how this work progresses.

Walk II

I've kept on walking across the fields recently - in spite of the scorching weather.  And I've noticed how much it's changed since I started work on Walk I.  I've made good progress with this piece and I promise to show you the sketchbook development very soon.

But in the meantime here are some photos from my walk this evening.

I hope you're are all coping with the heat.

Warwickshire Open Studios and Lynda Monk

Yes. It's that time of year again. Warwickshire Open Studios

If you're able to visit any of the artists please do, I'm sure you'll have as great a time as I did today.

My first visit was to Sew Arty. A great shop, with lots of classes and lots of things to buy too. I managed to limit myself to 4 reels of thread.

And then off to see Jo Roberts.

I know when I go to visit I will see something 'mappy and lifey', but I'm never sure quite how she'll bring the elements together.

This project was Jo's record of 70 days.  It's really interesting and funny. 

The next photo is her current project with David Southwell.  Do look at her blog to see how each of them interpret a word. Another beautiful project.

Jo was very welcoming and made a great cup of tea in a beautiful china cup and saucer.

I then popped over to Charkha Yarns.

And here are my purchases - rather restrained I thought.

 I should also let you all know I attended a talk by Lynda Monk last week at the Lutterworth Embroiderers Guild. 

She produces some amazing work - and I could hardly keep up with her description of techniques.  Here are a few photos.

Back to work...

Well, after a lovely week off, work was a real shock to the system.  It was lovely to see the team again, I'm so lucky to work with such lovely people.  But the getting up early was a killer.  It's also meant my run of creativity came to a bit of a halt.  But having met Bee Designs (see a photos of her work below) again today on her stall at the Market Bosworth Festival I realised if I want to do it I need to make time if I want to do it, so this coming week I'm going to see what and how I can fit creativity into the week.

So, hopefully I will be able to show you some progress next week.

A week off...

Well, I treated myself to week off last week. 

 I had a lovely time and thought I would share a few photos with you all.

One afternoon we went to open gardens at Weston under Wetherly. Twelve very different size gardens, but all worth looking at.  The weather was perfect, slightly cool so great for walking around.  

part of the fundraising for this went to the local church, St Michael's, which was a really beautiful old building.  As you know I enjoy looking at buildings that show deterioration, and this church was great.

I also treated myself to a day out in London.

I started off with an exhibition at the V & A, Treasure of the Royal Courts.  As you would expect a well curated exhibition. It was a shame you couldn't sketch, but I can understand they don't want the area clogged up or blocking the view of others for long periods of time.

As you would expect, you couldn't take photos, but there were very similar items in other areas of the museum that you could take photo's of, here are a few:

 I love the idea of looking in a pattern book to select your armour.

I also met up with some friends who I attended classes with at Bramble Patch.  It was great to see them all again.

Make sure you make the most of the good weather today.