Angel face

Working up some new ideas for forthcoming workshops.  Here is a little angel decoration, a cross between Folk Art and Opus Anglicanum (a bit of a strange mix).  The face is stitched with fine split stitch to create a raised and contoured surface.

Peace and piece

Patching and Place workshop with Hannah Lamb at Salts Mill

Prepared for another busy weekend, I suddenly found myself with a free morning!  All chores done I skipped off to Salts Mill to spend a wonderful, peaceful hour in the company of Hannah Lamb and fellow stitchers.  Hannah worked in conjunction with the Campaign for Wool to celebrate the manufacture of merino wool cloth in Yorkshire.  Using off-cuts of suiting we made a patchwork using the English paper piecing method.  Hannah was keen to show the beautiful woven selvedges and the paper pieces, which goes someway to explain my unconventional assembly.

Stolen Sunshine

Making the most of the last few days of October sunshine, sitting on my back steps with a mug of tea and a handful of threads, sampling for some new workshops.

King Harold's Dog

Bayeux stitch - The Battle of Stamford Bridge Project

Somewhere in the East Riding of Yorkshire you will find a dedicated group of stitchers who are creating their own prequel to the Bayeux Tapestry.  The good citizens of Stamford Bridge want the world to know that it was the battle fought in their little village that was the turning point for English history, not the later Battle of Hastings.  You can read all about it on their website The Tapestry Project.  

I picked up one of their little kits in order to learn more about Bayeux stitch.  It was great fun but I'm not sure I'll pass their rigorous standards.  Here is King Harold's Dog.

Beyond the sea

Oh, I know I said I wasn't going to do any more raised embroidery this year but my summer school group suggested an aquarium when they saw the cactus garden. 

So here goes:  a wire-work goldfish, needle woven picot seaweed or anemone (take your pick) and a needle lace coral.

Autumn Madness

Autumn is a really busy time for me:  preparing for a new batch of workshops, a new season of Embroiderers' Guild work and trying to finish projects started over the summer.

I started sampling ideas  for a new workshop.  I wanted to make an embroidered scarf and found some fine cotton cheesecloth in the wonderful emporium that is Bombay Stores.  I hand-dyed the cloth, before cutting bold flower shapes to applique to the main fabric. I soon learned that I needed some light-weight fusible fabric to help control the shapes and make it easier to embellish.

I'm quite pleased with the result but it has meant spending several days in my kitchen toiling over dye baths.

Other work included a day installing the Textilia 3 Dissolving Margins exhibition at Skipton Town Hall.  Exhibition closes on October 18th 2018.

New venue for Textilia 3 'Dissolving Margins'

Finally, I managed a couple of quite days away in North Yorkshire where I was blown away by the medieval tiles at Bylands Abbey

Medieval tiles at Bylands Abbey

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