Liniecat @ Large

What not to do with a lottery ticket.....

2012-01-19T20:04:00.001Z

Sometimes I have to just knit.......but seem to avoid starting big items lol so yet another head hugger.

Another successful trip to scrapstore.......torn in places but made of lovely old cotton, a nightdress....great for dyeing at some point.

Now a warning...........any idea what this below is?

I scrunched up the wrong lottery ticket, one I hadnt checked....
so thought Id iron it so it would go through the stores lottery machine for checking .............
DONT DO IT!
Though I ironed on the back side of the ticket, the printed numbers side...........turned black with the heat! How or why Ive no idea lol
I just hope it wasnt a winning ticket! lol

Cute Ethiopian jumpers and books Im thrilled with

2012-01-07T22:09:00.000Z

Well I made another two jumpers with the lovely blue marl wool on the left here. And two folks at work knitted the other three. It is such a nice little pattern.

Ive been meaning to mention some books I bought a while back.... Laura Wasilowski has an interesting fun blog and her applique pieces are beautiful, colourful and show her lively look at life.
The Fuse and Tell Journal Quilts book is choc full of hints and how to's. Im hoping it will help me achieve some fun effects of my own for my grandson. I love her vibrant hangings.
Fanciful Stitches Colorful Quilts is a rich and informative book with lots of ideas to use as inspiration...............its just yummy.
-- http://www.artfabrik.com
http://artfabrik.blogspot.com

The lush Sew Wild by Alisa Burke which has a dvd with it........which I've yet to watch....is a great book for inspiring you to trial out techniques. Its joy is that Alisa uses simple, everyday things..........rather than buying in shed loads of named this, that or the other fancy stuff.
http://alisaburke.blogspot.com/
http://www.alisaburke.com/
Its a nicely laid out, no fuss book which covers all manner of ideas.

I couldn't resist the Steampunk Softies book............I doubt Ill make any for me but Im SO hoping someone else needs some, so I get to make them anyway lolol Mini art dolls with attitude.........fabulous !
The Love Stitching book by Jan Constantine was a christmas gift, along with pieces of felt and a feather cushion pad.
Her style is very English and some of it quite retro...........Id never heard of her before, but her website shows her style of work which Im sure some of you may find interesting to look at. It is a pageant of British identity.
eg.............cool eh!
http://www.janconstantine.com/

Then the Fabulous Surfaces book by Lynda Monk...........which covers all manner of ways to use various tissue papers to achieve scrumptious turquoise, copper and rusty looks.
This is published by d4daisy Books Ltd and there are additional workshops online at their website which you can access as a bonus.
http://purplemissus.blogspot.com/

Then I popped into the central library and found these .......which are now on my wish list lol

Layered Textiles by Kim Thittichai is a must have book, I must have it ! Again all about techniques and encouraging us to experiment and understand the techniques so we can use them successfully.

Now this book is delicious 'folk quilt applique' by Clare Kingslake. Her style is exquisitely pretty without being frothy....I need this book too now....sigh
http://www.clarespatterns.co.uk/
http://clarespatterns.wordpress.com/

I lifted the pic below off her blog - naughty of me - but its distinctly her style so please go and have a look for yourself at her site and blog.......I love her use of light, fresh colours and the books' cover hangings are simply delightful.

And this last book above by Helene Martin is sheer joy with pencil drawn animals and patterns for the stylised applique animals and people.
Its very reminiscent of Janet Bolton but with an individual twist.
I havent managed to find a website for her as a stitcher, though there is a french journalist and it appears it may be her.

Gosh there are such gifted folks out there and how great we get to read books about them and what they do!
Enjoyyyyy :)

fish and chip baby jacket and books to read

2011-12-28T00:00:00.000Z

The small jacket from the first 'fish and chip baby' jumper pattern is finished. Ive shown both sides here because it fascinates me how some wools you buy now, are sort of self fair aisle like!
This is King Coles 'splash' double knitting in case anyone wants to know. I must check back, am sure I was asked what wool type Id used, sorry if I havent replied yet!
Its shade 811, sold in 100g balls and I believe I paid either £3.40 or £2.75. I bought two balls for the jumpers and am sure one was a little cheaper but cant recall which was which now.
Its 100% acrylic/ 320 yards/290 metres.

Ive just finished the Kathryn Stockett book 'The Help' which has been made into a film I understand and it is well worth reading.

Set in the racial times of Mississippi's past ( I hope..) its centred on what life was like for both the white families who had coloured help in their homes and for those men and women of colour who were the hired help.

Its shameful to look back on those times and yet full of love and a great deal of humour. It was hard reading in places but I've really enjoyed it and felt I understood alot that Id known so little about.

Ive started on The Tin Ticket now and am transfixed already by its historical, family history centred approach.

Its about the lives of real women who were banished to Van Demans Land as criminals in an age when stealing food to eat, meant you could be sent to far flung places to start up a new colony for the bloody commercially centred british empire of old.

Little changes you realise really as you read it.

(I cant recall who mentioned it on their blog and set me off looking for it, but thankyou whoever it was! )

Ive gotten nowhere sorting out the Giveaway package Id mentioned in a previous post but I havent forgotten lol

It will be in the new year now though, at this rate!

This year its hit me harder than ever how silly all this commercial christmas excess really is.

I reckon its hardest of all on the kids too and its unfair of us laying it all on them.

I mean my son and his ex girlfriend had my scrumptious grandson.

So he had 2 'real' nannies, and one set of a 'real' great grandma and granddad.

So gifts, hugs and visits to those direct relatives already right?

This year, hes had his mums and dads new partners, parents as additional grandparents.............and had visits to them, to unwrap all manner of gifts from them too.

Yes thats kind of them and nice for the child youd think.

But one set of 'new grandparents' spent shed loads, making a huge effort to get my grandson to accept them too as grandparents. Thankfully he did seem to show them warmth and am sure it thrilled them. I was kindly invited along for a meal on xmas day and that was lovely of them, so I too would see my grandson on xmas day, at theirs. Where theyd been the year before too mind you.

I guess Im being a bit silly but he has two nannies right?

My 3 year old grandson was beside himself on Boxing day when he got trailed to mine to open gifts left at mine, because hed have so much at his stepmoms parents house on xmas day anyway.

I dont object that folks want to buy him gifts.

I dont really see it as them muscling in on the 'real' nannies places either lol

But the poor guy was completely overwhelmed by Boxing day. More gifts and too little time at anyones home since xmas eve, to really play with what hed been given you know?

What kind of message that is to him, is what worries me really.

Its as if we are all buying him off with gifts and at the point where Id got him happily sat on my lap, reading a book with and to me, counting away, how many mice, butterflies etc........they whisked him up and took him ( back) to stepmoms parents house again.

And he didnt want to go, wanted to stay with this nannie.

I remember feeling obliged to trail my kids here and there up a motorway at xmas and in the end had my own parents come stay with us for xmas for afew days.

Then when hubby took off, the kids would go stay at his girlfriends parents home too on alternate xmasses.

When he died, those alternate xmasses stopped cos girlfriend didnt want them and they didnt want to see her anyway.

None of his family stepped in asking to have them either which I would have allowed, so they had a link to their dad.

Guess I didnt have the extended family/grandparent thing to contend with, so its new for me, seeing this sharing the poor chap round all and sundry.

Dyeing....now Id forgotten that Id made up a dye bath of the mushrooms that had grown out back............but using Deanna's pics on her blog, I had a go with tin cans, like she had done. Thanks Deanna!

Of course had I taken note of which was soya milk, salt, vinegar or alum dipped - the pics hereafter might have been more use to you! Sorry... but a couple were in a cranberry bath too and Im blowed if I can tell the blummin difference tween any of them now!

this one had been folded over and round rusty metal an d was vinegar dipped, I do remember that one...

The one above was a double layer of white fabric wrapped round a tin, wasnt sure it would work but it does give 2 circles...fancy that!

Oh yes and have you seen Mister Finches blog.......the guy that makes the old textiles butterflies and insects...........well he makes ace foxes and Zorrow masked rabbits and the most lovely 'sleeping' birds....... just amazing!

mynameisfinch.blogspot.com/

do go take a look...........!

Only a week to go....and knitting for preterm and 'fish and chip babies'

2011-12-18T16:15:00.000Z

Christmas creeps up on you doesnt it. You start early enough, you think ~ but then its a week to go already and not half of what you intended is done!
Maybe though thats just me and thank goodness I dont have to plan a big sit down meal for lots of family...just a smorgasbord like brunch and a buffet.
I have so little to do youd think Id be on top of it....but er no...
(I've got lots of liquer-ed gin and vodka to drink though..sloe and blackberry remember lol)

I have written and posted off all but one xmas card...must make up this last one today though.
I have all but packed gifts but still have one to post.
Bad news that, since it may not get there in time now....and all my own fault.
Its a huge spool of aran wool Im sending to an ex work colleague who is in a secure health unit after much illness. I havent used it and shes allowed to knit as therapy, so I know she can make use of it...........but what a perishing unwealdy thing to wrap up!
Its taken a week and almost 2 rolls of grey 'gaffa tape' lol she will be lucky if she gets it unwrapped by next year!

My xmas tree snowy owls have been pinched by my 3 yr old grandson. He would count them at each visit and take them in and out of the 'for sale' bag, then on and off the tree, then finally today, after staying overnight and sleeping with them....too funny that .....his mum came for him and he began taking them off the tree and stuffing them in his bag.
'jack's owls mummy' says he lolol
So I gifted them to him for his tree at home and will now and sit and make afew more to replace those lol
I may as well make up to 20, so we can get further with his
counting, theyve worked a treat for that!
its a compliment really isnt it, his taking them, not a sign he's going to be a thief right????? lol

At last club meet we were asked to knit small jumpers for what they called 'fish and chip' babies in Ethiopia.
So called because the medical teams who go out to remote villages to help mums....have only old newsprint to wrap the newborns in, before handing them to their mums, who then might have to trudge to who knows where ever they live .

Please nip over and look at Kates blog who is a midwife working with maternity worldwide over in Ethiopia. It makes hard reading yes, but your heart goes out to these women, about 7 out of 10 of whom, do not survive childbirth.
I have nothing but respect for folk like Kate.....just a pity Im now too old to be of any use as a volunteer in a third world environ. All I can do is pledge a little cash and knit a bit, and maybe spread the word too.
http://www.katethorman.blogspot.com/

www.maternityworldwide.org

- and in case any of you might like to use the pattern to help them out here it is.
maybe contact kate though for a secure postal address?

Knitting pattern for the fish and chip babies

Please use 100grm ball double knit. You could possibly get 2 tops from 1 ball.

Use only double knitting wool. No baby pastel colours as they may never be washed

Bright and mixed colours or stripes are best.

This pattern knitted all in one piece.

Size 7 (4.5mm) needles (loose knitters)

Size 6 (5mm) needles (tight knitters)

Cast on 44 stitches

Work 18 rows K2 p2 rib

Work 30 rows stocking stitch (K1 row P1 row)

Cast on 12 stitches at start of next 2 rows

K2 P2 rib for 22 rows

Next Row: Rib 21 stitches, cast off 26t stitches rib to end

Next row: rib 21 stitches, cast on 26 stitches, rib to end

Rib 22 rows

Cast off 12 stitches at beginning of next 2 rows

Work 30 rows stocking stitch

Work 18 rows K2 P2 rib

Cast off. Fold in half and stitch up sides ands under arms.

Theres no pic with it, but it is straight forward with a ribbed shoulder area.

Below is one I've started, in probably not dark enough colours and the sleeves do seem short, but this is the pattern they have sent round so it must be right!

Now I also read about the most beautiful little preterm 'pods' needed in an Australian hospital too...

so please shoot over to Kaite's ( smashing blog ) and read her lovely post and see the priceless little wrap 'pods' as she calls them, for wrapping 'sleeping' preterm babies in.

Id never heard of these being asked for before, but what a thoughtful gift to pass onto a grieving parent, a little knitted hug for their dearest.

Kaite has devised the pattern herself and its the most delightful snuggle wrap for a 'little angel', as she calls them. Do take a look.

Kaite does warn you the post may be upsetting for some, but photos show only a tiny doll wrapped, fear not.

http://kaiteyarngarden.blogspot.com

And since I know how blessed I am with my own two children and one grandson........here's the boy getting into the swing of throwing fake snow about, at a local Christmas Wonderland I took him to.

Would he hell as like sit on Santas lap though.....

But I dont blame him, I wouldnt have done either.........his nose was quite dark blue and it wasnt from the cold!

(And trust me, in former years, Ive sat on a variety of laps worldwide ... so have worked out which are worthy...)

This boy is proving to be very astute already lol

and these below were his interpretation of ducks........he got fed up making faces with the felt pieces, saw a duck 'shape', then went off on a tangent making ducks................but interestingly he placed eyes and wings on both sides of the ducks before he lay them down.
So he was playing with a 2D activity but obviously viewing them as 3D creatures..........now I found that fascinating and proof of his sharp perception for his age....naturally!

The hair shapes were water he told me, so just after this piccy, I went and cut several wavy strips of blue felt and more yellow duck shapes for him. He sat for ages engrossed in finding matching bits for eyes and wings lol

These 'duck' shapes above I assume are bits of hair to sit above the ears, Friar Tuck style, either side of where the comb-over would be lol oh for that naive eye in which to look at things.

Ducks they are, of course they are!

Gosh Ive been busy and lucky!

2011-12-13T22:51:00.001Z

My dear friend from Australia Mary was over and managed to stay with me, for respite (and vodka lol) twice, slotting trips to east yorkshire in between visits with family here and there.
It was good to catch up, next time she's over is for my daughters wedding next August.
This time I avoided drinking too much or poisoning us with food ....

I have done a few fairs so am feeling weary now, silly really because they were hardly exhausting events and I had everything made ahead of time.
But Im run down I think, with the nasal polyps ( theyve now decided thats what Ive had/got, in my ears, sinuses and on my chin?! bloody Drs!) ...
and a chest infection that is clinging onto me and wont leave.
There are alot saying that they cant rid themselves of the chest infections, so guess they have been nasty strains of lurgies this year.

But now I also seem to have pains in my back lung and central chest, so Im taking bets that its the weight of my blummin breasts, rather than pleuracy or angina! lol
If you dont hear from me again, I may have been wrong ...........

So Ive been lucky having Mary stay twice, but also lucky having entered giveaways!
Amazing!
All be it Im ashamed to have won more than one............

I entered on the spur of the moment and now wonder why I hadnt bought lots of lottery tickets too!
I follow Riel Nielson's fabulous blog The Q and U of Quilting, its she who makes the most wonderful quilts and hangings, some using only selvedges! What most of us wlojuld throw aside no doubt.

I just love her unravelling 'selvage mummy' best of all!
Havent we all felt like that from time to time?!
But her 'mutant I Spy' and hexi I spy are also great fun and stunning to look at. Do go see them at..
http://quispamsisquilter.blogspot.com/p/2011-quilts.html

But Riel also recently had her first book published and I have won a signed copy!
Which is doubly great because Id already mentioned it to friends over here in Uk, so hope they will be inclined to go buy it themselves once they see it for real!
http://quispamsisquilter.blogspot.com/p/my-upcoming-novel-town-that-drowned.html

Now not only is that on its way for my Christmas stocking, which I have to tell you these past years is never usually filled with anything much at all.... guess you get to an age ( if your lucky!) and age related invisibility sets in lolol -Good job I get pleasure out of giving to others!

Not having been able to go to the Harrogate show this last month, I asked my pal Jean ( jeansmuse.blogspot.com ) if she could get me one particular daisy4you book and one specific magazine.
I got the new fabby book, more of that later.....but there was not a single copy of the Quilting Arts Christmas Gifts magazine, to be seen she told me.
Art Van Go no longer sell it because US to UK postage, is too pricey to make it worthwhile for us crafters, buying it ad hoc, theyd said. They would have to pass on the full postage costs with no subsidisation in that cost. Now how sad is that.
So I figured Id have to wait till next year in the hope theyd bring it out as an emag over time.

But again, on that same whim, I'd entered the Giveaway on Susans blog, another creatively stimulating blog I follow,
http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/2011/11/susans-so-thankful-give-away-9-quilting.html
and it could be said that I was gobsmacked to know Id been lucky there too.
Now being not too quick witted and not feeling too well, I should have said.......no give someone else a chance please. But the brain was not working as normal.

I mean whats the chance of that! Two wins and me under the
weather anyway!
I did go buy a lottery ticket next and no it didnt win..............so much for everything happens in threes thought I.....

But, then................ and here I am ashamed to admit it.............a third email arrived later, for another blog giveaway.............
another fabulously interesting and informative blog I follow
http://www.sewhappy.me/quilt-blogs/sewing-room-update-giveaway-result/
and I have since received a smashing little Tilda Book with yummy, yummy wee folks and long legged ladies within !

Thats when my common sense kicked in at last and I read it thoroughly ( naturally) but carefully through, and then took it and donated it to our December Embroidery Groups meeting raffle along with another item I was taking anyway. Some how it seemed only right that I pass at least one of the goodies on.

The book was the pride of place in the raffle and there were 3 ladies vying to be the first to pick it out! it was the very first selected prize so Lesley a double thank you!

Now as pay back I too will be having a giveaway so keep your eyes open. Yes it will have some transfoil if the winner wants it, but other bits and bobs too, which will be of use Im sure. Eco dyed fabrics for one. I will be gathering a bundle together shortly....I have quite alot!!

And it will be just for the fun of it, not for a specific number of page views or to gain followers, simply as a pay it forward to someone, so they too get a goodie package. Though it will arrive probably in the New Year now, so it doesnt go astray in the Christmas post.

I hope to post the Giveaway next week though and most likley will draw it, on or about the 1st of January.
I have pictures from the embroidery meet talk but Im sitting here frozen and my back/chest is killing me, so best take some pain relief
and get warm and horizontal in bed. Only weds and thursday to work then friday off again thank goodness.
And Ive booked to take 3 yr old grandson to see his first father christmas on friday.
This could be interesting. They are trained in escape and avoidance tactics surely, for dealing with the more contrary kids...right?
Next post I will show you what felty bits we saw at the club meet, tell you about the fab book I bought via Jean and the otnher on e she gvifted me since she already had it!
And then show you the old dressing up costumes I picked up at Sc rapstore for our Topic boxes.
Oh yes, and did I mention just how Very successful the home made sloe and blackberry gin and vodka is? lol

Almost forgot the fab lampshades!

2011-12-04T23:56:00.001Z

These were also on display at the Scrapstore craft fair. I meant to post these with the previous post but my brain gave out on me..

You gotta love these even if you never do use them as lampshades!!
(remember those awful 50s bras? pin points at east and west!)
AND many of us do have one breast bigger than the other lol

These are the work of Liz Dorton who also makes simply amazing puppets, see her website for examples, such fun!
Now this is the website Liz gave me but I cant get it to work, very odd. Maybe you will get more success...but if not, see the next link and scroll to the photos at bottom of the page and see the kind of puppets Liz makes.
www.wakeywakeypuppets.

http://www.karoo.co.uk/Search.aspx?q=liz%2bdorton%2bhull&cx=partner-pub-2931752974530039%3Axh7d1hr7zfs&cof=FORID%3A11&ie=UTF-8

These above though interested me, not least because, she too uses lampshade 'skeletons'.
I use them for my wall hung fabric trees and here they are used in their skeleton glory with 'skin'....very clever of her and such a nice lady.

Scrapstore and what were they answer...

2011-12-04T14:10:00.000Z

Okay having been inundated by the one reader ( thanks Peggy lol ) wanting to know what the nobbly little 'brains' are.....

...........these are nasturtion seeds that dropped to the garden floor when I hauled up the last of the rampant plants whilst clearing some raised beds.
Some I dried up indoors for next year and they are just shrivelled up as normal, like sultanas.
But these had been weathered outside and struck me as quite beautiful.
The centres have wafted away so you can squish most of them between your fingers, but they would stitch down I reckon and look different.
Not that exciting your right, but they also look interesting ( to me lol) just sat in a small dish... I know, Im sad..
Okay I have mentioned Scrapstore before so here are some pics to give you an idea.
I had a stall at a xmas craft fair there yesterday and there are some bits off other stalls here too.

So there you are, its in an old victorian school building and its always chilly in there, schooling in the days before the (inefficient here) radiators, must have been bloody cold!
We had stalls in the other half of the building, only about 15 stalls there but this is the first such event they have done, so a prover for spring and the next xmas fair.

I couldnt resist these made by one of the stores freelance artists. Made from pallet wood, time consuming he said and hard on the fingers to make.

I had made some owls for my stall..........and like the white ones so much I am making lots more to sell and for my own tree.
I tried the scandinavian design in books of late, bottom right below, but dont find them as cute.
So thought I would incorporate some old lace and net edgings on the eyes and wings and use a more rounded shape.
Snowy owls seem more christmassy anyway lol.
Oh and since arctic reindeer are not just brown, I made afew grey and light brown Rudolfs lol
The antlers are the seams from a jumble sale leather gored skirt. Cutting the antlers out around the seams gave them strength and they stay upright, fancy that!

Another scrapstore volunteer paints and her women paintings were bright and vibrant. Must find out her name next visit, sorry!!

And this one below has trapped patches of fabrics laid on the dresses and is heavily decorated with cerne relief 'lead' which gives it a textured and tactile quality to it too.

UK Freegle site request..

2011-12-01T23:37:00.000Z

In Hull the Freecycle site is called Freegle, not sure why but there you are...
the below post was on it this evening......
It tickled my sense of humour....

I will be getting married in 2012 and thought it best if I started getting some bits sooner rather than later. So for now I'm after button holes. If anyone has some about that they no longer need I would love to take them off your hands. Can collect

Thanks

Dan
Bless him...............lol

What do you think these are then?

2011-11-29T22:47:00.000Z

Small brains?

I fancy stitching them onto collages..........any idea what they are ?
I know - but do you?

I took a picture of all three of those foam cubes, mentioned in the last post....

One has already been tested with a child, small items were placed inside and one at a time taken out, handled by the VI child and then described to the adult. Stimulating both conversation and tactile recognition skills.

Today I was finishing off this activity.......with carrots to post in a rabbits mouth.
In the education catalogues they sell for £25 each.
I was asked to make a rabbit with carrots to post into his mouth, a dog with bones and a cat with mice.

I used a shoe box to make him.
The lid for the head, the base cut down, for the tray that sits flat behind the head, to catch the carrots.
I made it so that the tray can be lifted up, as it is here and fitted into the back for carriage.
That sounds skew whiff, only took one photo of this but will take more of the dog and cat, so you can see how it was done.
Here is a dog with the tray lifted up at the back.

The dog outline is cut out from the lid of a wide shoe box.

I cut almost the same shape out of mountcard and stuck it behind this red side, for added strength.

I will cover the front with fur fabric next.

What you see here is the foreshortened base of the shoe box, shortened (left to right here) in its length, so it will seat into the lid front 'head' for the activity of posting the bones through dogs mouth.
Velcro attachments will help keep the base stable and I will take pics of that too, in case you want to see how it is made.
After playing with it, the base can be lifted ( right side upwards) so it fits together like a box for easy carriage, as in the first picture above. Obviously the head will be higher at the front but it means the bones can be carried in the box container.
I'll be finishing it at work tomorrow, so will take more pics of ther process then.

One of our deaf members of staff had bought a huge Rudolf head off Ebay, to use at the deaf childrens xmas party on saturday.

But she had wanted a more vibrant red nose and also hearing aides fitted....lol
So after abit of altering.............

They are not good photos of the hearing aides he now has in sadly.
But I cut foam shapes for the hearing aides behind the ears, ( stitched into place) and used plastic tubing from them which led into each ear.
I pushed the tubing into the backs of bright pink and purple covered buttons to represent the ear insert themselves.
These too were stitched into place, so Rudolf will be able to bop about at the party and they wont fall out!
And to think they call this work......!

Whose bag? Work stuff and the Phillip Larkin statue in Hull

2011-11-28T22:49:00.000Z

Hilly caught in the act of settling down for a snooze!

and mid yawn......... lol

My daughter had to jazz up some alphabet letters for her store

( she's Manager for a clothing store )

so asked if she could bring them over and use my paints etc.

See! CL-arty mums are useful for some things...lol

The stores had to each jazz up old letters, then put them up on display walls, to highlight attention to the new items in the

Paul's Boutique range.

Lime green 50cm-ish high letters - what fun we had altering them!

We copper painted front and sides on some, stuck fabric on one ( because one of the new range of bags has zebra markings on it...just as well I hadnt gotten round to patchworking with that half metre!)

We used braid from former items in the range which bore the logo and (naff!) badges that had broken off bags.

(....they were much improved by cutting back this and that)

Old cork 4" alphabet letters I'd picked up once in scrapstore, were painted blue and given a new lease of life. Some fake flower petals were stuck liberally on the P, nicely hiding the fact that it had formerly been a B ... so had needed to be cut up abit.

The S got abit of foil, a few butterflyish shapes and was coated in a fine clear, silver flecked varnish layer.

I'm told they look the business up on the alcove wall in store.

And the ideas were Tylah's, I simply helped and

provided the materials.

It was good fun and we even managed a trip out to do shopping whilst some letters were drying.

One of our Peri teachers found a £47.50 'Whats in the box' activity in a catalogue to use with early years, visually impaired children.

Its a 20cm foam cube with a central 'opening' that a child can put a hand in and take out..whatever you had put in it.

It was covered in bright primary colours...........and she wanted 3 of them for teachers aides to use ...so almost £150 for 3 resources!

So I made 3 for less than £10...........and £6 of that was for 2 x foam upholstery seat pads from Scrapstore! The textured fabrics I had at work already and were more interesting, than simply bright coloured fabric that was the same 'feel' all round.

I cadged an old electric meat carver and set to on the upholstery foam pads, carving a central square 'lift shaft' like space that would become the hidden pouch.

(I'm heaps better with a big foam block than I ever was

carving meat with an electric knife!)

Note the shaggy fabric I used for the inside pouch......it feels great to thrust your hand in that. I teased a couple of tufts out on the top you'll notice too. Some blind children are what we call tactile defensive, they dont like odd feeling texctures. So they have to be coaxed into experiencing new and unusual textures and this might be a fun way of them doing that.

I forgot to take pictures of the other two but each cube had completely different textured fabrics, so TA's will be able to swap them with each other if necessary.

Oh and I hadnt realised we had smashing statue now in the central rail station here in Hull of Phillip Larkin!
I do now!

I sincerely hope no towrag goes and steals this statue for scrap metal.
We have had locally an increase in theft of statues, war memorial plaques, manhole covers and grave plaques, .............I ask you!!!

A 5' 9", 300kg, stunning bronze statue standing on a 5' plinth beside the River Humber was hauled away recently and believed to have been sold for £3000 as scrap metal. It had cost £40,000....
The bronze statue was one of a pair, with the other located in the Icelandic fishing town of Vik and had been presented to Hull by the visiting Icelandic Prime Minister.
Called 'Voyage' it was made by Icelandic sculptor Steinunn Thorarinsdottir and unveiled in 2006 to mark 1000 years of trading and seafaring history between the city and its Scandinavian neighbours.
The other statue stands in the Icelandic town of Vik.

(An archive picture of Hull's Voyage statue and not my photographic handiwork! Taken from the This is Hull website.)

Burton Agnes at Christmas with friends

2011-11-26T00:28:00.000Z

I have my pal Mary staying with me, she's over from Perth, Australia and she's squeezed a trip to east yorkshire into her schedule.
So today we went allecking about abit....
to Burton Agnes Hall which was all dressed up for Christmas.
http://www.burtonagnes.com/Home.html

The really nice thing about this elizabethan gem is that unlike National Trust houses (which are wonderful... yes), this is lived in and 'alive'. Windows do not have blinds half drawn to prevent light entering and maybe fading fabrics or walls.
It breathes lives being lived, rather than is historically mausaleum like.
There's an amazing collection of modern art work there, as well as the usual array of family portraits, by masters of oils from days long gone.
There are pointilist, impressionist and all manner of other art works, collected by the current and previous occupant.

Today I noticed new, modern atmospheric watercolours of soldiers in combat, hung above a collection box for the SSAFA organisation.
Touching to see that.

The fifteen generations of the same family who have owned this stately home have much to be proud of because its snowdrop festooned woodland in spring and its walled garden throughout the year, are a joy to walk through. The house is captivating since its a piece of living history, that is still 'alive' now.
Simon and Olivia Cunliffe-Lister have dressed the house with hand made decorations of used branches and boughs from the woodland, pine cones gathered from the grounds, hydrangea heads from the huge bushes surrounding the house and all manner of traditional, simple but effective decorations which hark back to how it might well have been dressed in years long gone.
There were christmas tree shapes made from old books and small lanterns made from book pages too, hung on branches in huge pots.
There were handmade origami rabbits in the chinese room to signify the year of the rabbit and all these decs were made by the master and his wife themselves it says in the literature.
The village school had a display in one room, of angels, all made by themselves with paper plates and tissue paper.
I forgot to take my camera so these are Mary's handiwork!
Take a look...

Above is looking from the main house to the gatehouse......
First picture at top is from the gatehouse to the house.
To one side of the main house is a C13th Norman Hall which has been renovated and is quite a sight to see.
You go into a low ceilinged, heavily vaulted ground floor where cattle would have been housed no doubt and maybe food cooked there too.
In one corner are truly narrow, twirly steps to the upper floor which has a cavernously high ceiling of ancient old beams.
Its incredible to stand in there and realise just how old the stonework and beams are!

Inside the house itself is a small main hall by stately home standards but its really homely and has amazing stone panelling at one end.
There were dried hydrangea heads, which had been spray painted with a pill box red paint and then had a light sparkly spray on them...........they were ever so effective and I wouldnt have thought to do that to the flower heads at all!

Now how about that for a wreath and

there were several this size!

Slim, no doubt coppiced branches, bound together in teepee shapes, sprayed white..........effectively grouped.
I loved the 'bubble' effect of the clear glass baubles on the branch above.

And these reindeer made out of red dogwood branches.....so simple but they looked so cute! And wouldnt they be good to make with kids?

I also took Mary to see the Halifax 158 Sqn memorial statues at Lissett nearby.
I've mentioned these before, evocative rusty metal figures of a returning aircrew, set beside the country road which was once the outskirts of the old wartime RAF Lissett.
A site that now has several elegant wind turbines on it, so "propellers" are once again turning on the old airfield.
Mary and I were both Air Load Masters in the RAF on 10 Sqn so as Aircrew, it seemed an appropriate place for us to go see.
http://www.helenforwordsandpictures.com/news/blog/
We topped the day off with red wine and watched my bargain of the week - the dvd 'How to make an American Quilt' which cost me only £1.50 in a 'reduced' basket, at Homebase!
I hadnt seen it for years....Winona Rider, Maya Angelou, Ann Bancroft etc...........shmaltsy but touching never the less!

Pricing too low, mushroom dye bath, xmas cards and a workshop

2011-11-21T20:18:00.002Z

I had two fairs this last weekend and I realised that Im pricing my stuff way too low.
And since Im not selling exclusively to live and pay bills ( yet...) Im not sure I should hike prices up and risk them not selling.
If they didnt sell I might be found in months to come, drowned in amongst my xmas robins, owls and Jude fantastical beasts collages lol

My makes are my therapy after all lol
Now my stuff isnt months of hard work to produce one master piece of course............no, mine are makes that spring to mind ad hoc and if they sell, great...
If they dont sell, they get donated to raffles, charity shops or cat rescue fund raising colleagues.

But having said that, I almost sold out of the knitted head huggers I made and several ladies bought 2 or more of them.
In fact at one time I looked round and saw 4 ladies and young lasses heads bobbing about, wearing the head huggers theyd bought off me a short while before!
I wished Id taken the camera and taken photos because I have to admit they looked smashing on real heads and not just on a wooden hat makers dummy block like at home!
So whilst I might have charged way more and really covered the costs and my time involved in making them...........I still wouldnt have felt any the more chuffed.
But logically I ought to raise prices, so in time I can prop my pension up abit when I do leave work.
And I do need to find another outlet or two to sell my makes in......since our lovely Art Box shop in Hull has closed....so thats a new year resolution.......to seek out new shops to sell in.
So Im back to knitting hats and head huggers for a couple of smaller craft fair stalls in december now.............and making more robins and owls since they too flew off the stall.

Robin above, obviously is confused about his colourings but I couldnt be bothered to leave the chair to find more brown wool fabric........so used what was to hand.
If Id gone off searching I would have missed the subtitles from the new 'The Killing 2' show on tv. And its another great, dark thriller from scandinavia so had to stay glued to the box!
Anyway confused robin above...........note his beak?
I dried some corn husks to tweek into beaks - and it seems to have worked, may do more like that but maybe abit smaller and tighter folded.
And I have finally found a use for all the blummin narrow ribbons inside tshirts, blouses and jumpers. They always end up poking out above my v or scoop necked tops so I cut them out and now have a pile of lengths to use up...........so am using them to hang xmas decs with.
waheyyyy recycling!

I made up some christmas cards for myself to use but instead of the blinds samples, here Ive used xmas fabrics.
Heres the first batch..

So okay....I LIKE trees!

And here are some of the dubious mushrooms that have sprouted in my raised beds.
Dye pots rather than soups.
One is a summer leftover dye bath with mushrooms added, one is fresh rainwater and the other was tap water.
Ive strained them out and have yet to immerse fabric in the dye baths. I may reheat them not sure yet.

And.............Ive signed up for Karen Ruane's

''buttons and more 2011'' 3 week online workshop.

http://karenruane.blogspot.com/

It starts this week so Im seeking out my whiter than white, old linens and lace, to try and recreate my own 'Ruane' treatment buttons.

Karens stitching is simply delicious.......

but I may not reach that standard!

AND Ive also signed up for Sharons take a stitch a week, free year long workshop which kicks off in january.

It may make me actually tackle some of the amazing embroidery stitches I saw folks do over this last year of her tutilage.

I may even make my own stitch sampler.

Did I say it was free?

So how could I resist!

Christmas makes - better late than never

2011-11-16T13:15:00.001Z

A short post in between high temps, shivering and throwing up.......oh the joys of viruses..
Hadnt posted these yet so heres a taster of what I was doing before the virus struck...and before I go back to bed to sweat it out.

I like less on a wreath, that they look more natural, no probably more naieve maybe. Anyway I think this one is done, dont think Id put anything else on this one. I should have bought more of the small trees, they were around last year in packs of 5 or 6 for not alot, in one of the cheapy stores.

Thought at the time I could use them this year for wreaths, despite them being different glitzy colours and glitz and new, not being my normal style.

I sat and made ALOT of wreaths in the summer so have

plenty yet to faff with lol

I used bits of felted woollies for the stars on this one.

I get regular digests from Craftside which highlights blogs worth looking at, tutorials etc. One recent blog post was interesting and Im sorry to say I hadnt taken down the blog name to be able to link to her...dam it.

But the lass had used fabric sample books, especially using the paper backed pieces of the sample pages you know?

Its virtually impossible to tease the fabric off the paper backing so you tend to throw them out and concentrate on onlyusing the central area of fabric to work with.

Anyway the lass had made up cards layering the paper backed fabric pieces, which made me think....

So I've used here the strips of blinds samples you get from time to time

and made up some cards to sell off in packs hopefully, or to use as stocking fillers if not!

Funny how one idea brain storms into another!

The fabric samples Id read about, were stuck down with a glue gun and lastly ironed flat to reactivate the glue and ensure a good 'stick'....I thought that was clever to iron and reactivate the glue!

Being lazy .... and having my double sided tape and pva to hand, along side the armchair.... I used tape on the thinner blind sample pieces, reinforced with pva on areas for the heavier and textured pieces.

And blimey.... you get alot of blind strips in just one sample book!

Am going to make up some christmas cards with them next,

for myself to use.

Gems I couldnt resist....

2011-11-13T15:44:00.000Z

Stitched in silks and still beautifully colourful..an old Penelope kit by the look of it.

The colour of this is a subtle jade like green though it looks duck egg blue in the picture! Stitched in wool, all intact if abit skew whiff now after surviving a machine wash lol

What will I do with them?
No idea... but both for £1.50.............so they came home with me....

Martin Waters Poppy Drift at Hull Trinity Church

2011-11-13T15:34:00.002Z

Just look............... http://poppydrift.blogspot.com
Martin was artist in residence a while back at Spurn Head here in East Yorkshire and has made all manner of amazing art works, using the detrious that washes up on our shores.
(An appalling comment about our culture and the waste of materials we leave behind us.... but Martins clever art from rubbish, highlights the issues wonderfully.)

A Poppy Drift, using the symbols of rememberance we use today, maybe also discarded after the 11th November but hopefully not discarded in quite the same manner we throw so much else aside.

... lovely to see the poppies made by school children laid amongst the commercially made varieties.

Martins poetry formed from rubbings taken from graves in a hull cemetary.

I laid my own poppy Id been wearing this past week, down amongst the many others and walked out into the town...........feeling that I should have had another to wear, to replace the one Id left on the floor.

I felt conspicuous that Id no longer got one pinned to my chest.

We'd need zillions more poppies wouldnt we, to justly represent all the lost lives so wasted in wars.

It was a touching sight to see, this one mans take,

on Rememberance Day.

Hull Trinity Church some 700 years of age and an Old Town street with its wonderful buildings.....Hull has some lovely old buildings.

The History Wardrobe talk - 'Titanic'

2011-11-13T15:09:00.000Z

At EYES our monthly embroidery club meet yesterday we had a cracking talk, well theatrical presentation hour or so, actually. This was delightfully informative and however much it cost the group, was absolutely worth it! (£250 plus expenses but worth it!)

Wish I'd taken more photos frankly!

www.historywardrobe.com

It is probably one of the very best and fun ways of teaching about a historical event with its individual slant on the social history and the individuals concerned.

If you have a Uk group......look out Lucy Adlington from York and the 10 various 'presentations' she performs for the The History Wardrobe.

And if your overseas..book her, you will love her!

She asked not to be introduced and for this presentation, appeared on stage in a full repro costume of the day she boards the Titanic for its maiden journey.

She plays the role of a real lady who had fashion salons in the UK and US and who survived the sinking.
Lucy has a great west yorkshire accent but assumes the role of the well spoken......... nay posh! first class lady passenger arrived to board the liner.
She talked us through the design of the ship, the steerage, first and second class rooms, foods and facilities on board. She goes on to talk us tyhrough the evernts of the night and all that happened thereafter.
She brought a wide selection of clothing, much original from the period and iwas very knowledgeable about the social history surrounding the events and of many of the characters involved.
She even stripped off the outer hobble skirt and matching jacket and stood in original design underwear and corset so you can see how blummin impractical it all was...............especially for clambouring into lifeboats!.........let alone walking and sitting down.
A cracking presentation and would love to see the others she does!

I have no financial interest in her business but do urge you to sign her up for your group, school or event....it was afun, learning experience and of interest on so many levels, history, womens fashion, embroidery and textiles to name but afew!

Our sales table at club has been gifted shed loads of a members stash.......lol and of cousre I bought some bits lol ( you see, no self discipline at all!)
3 for a pound...........well you couldnt NOT buy could you..........there must still be two more in my handbag lol I bought 18 of them !
Yummyyyyyyyy

My justification is that since my lovely honourary sister is over from Australia and staying with me the wknd of the 25th Nov.........I wont be going to the Knitting & Stitching show in Harrogate..........so have saved myself pounds already...........by not going!

You recognise that logic dont you...........! Yeyyyyyyy!

I was wondering about the tea towels in the previous post, with the threads attached to them...thanks Deanna, Id not heard of Huck embroidery at all !
Some folks are really organised ( nope, not me .....) and I wondered if it might simply have been cloths to lay across a ladys ( or gents) lap, to lay (maybe a dark...) aida on, for easy working?
All the threads there at hand, a light background for the work to sit on and a wrapping for all the makings, easy to bundle and roll up when youve finished?
Interesting to see threads presented like that all the same.

Bits n Bobs

2011-11-13T01:12:00.000Z

I visited Scrapstore a week or so back and picked up 2 tea towels, tucking them into the bag of bits I had opted to take home with me, in exchange for a small amount of cash.
Odd I thought at the time, to see good tea towels in there, but I can always use more tea towels...
But when I took them out at home, to throw them in the washing machine, they both had embroidery threads attached to them!
Bonus!
But Ive never seen threads stitched to a tea towel in this way!
Any ideas anyone?

AND.........
any ideas if these are edible anyone?
They are growing magnificently in a raised bed out back but I darent taste them !
I filled the beds with B&Q bags of peat and soil and also some home made compost.......and they hadnt ever grown before...they are probably about 12cm across, maybe abit more and the edges have turned all wavy this past couple of days...very pretty!

...and they smell yummy!

Cant recall if Ive already posted these bits I made....made them this past week or so...but only now notice that Ive stitched an odd shaped petal on the orangey one lol ...it will need trimming back!

and afew odds and ends..wristlets of one shape or another, pins and plushie owls.

I made this velcro on/off, A3 sized torso resource last week at work, for a child with very little sight.

I had such fun shaping, making and putting it together, ferreting in my boxes of work fabrics for different textures for each of the organs, that it wasnt until Id completed the intestines and positioned them.....

that I realised - using the shag pile-like fabric for the lower intestine area... could give the wrong impression of what it was meant to be....

see what I mean?

shows how dumb I am at times lolol
mind you the teacher took it anyway...assurng me it would be fine!
............watch this space.
Me thinks I may hear more about this resource .... after its classroom use................lol

Searchlights and moths?

2011-10-28T21:02:00.000+01:00

Searchlight like, lights from the fair that takes place here in Hull each October. Its on common ground that lays beside the road that runs parallell to my own road. I didnt go for a wander this year, but no matter, the atmosphere is there to see in the sky, each time I let the dog out for a tiddle!

The beams, looking paler here than they actually are, skid across the sky and uplight the underside of the clouds. I could almost hear the wailing sirens that would have accompanied the old war time searchlights......even though I HONESTLY wasnt alive back then.....Ive seen it on the tele lol

And this is the third Mr Finch creation I have bought, but this one must go as a christmas gift.............I simply must not keep this for msyelf as well! But I love the use ofthe old textiles and here, the tapestry.

It works so well as wings!

The house is up for sale and not a soul has been to see it! So its hard not to think Fate is telling me stay ~ but its early days so I will give it another month or three, before I change my mind about moving....again!
Meanwhile I am decluttering bit by bit.............some stash to Scrapstore, some to the charity shop, some to a crafting colleague and alot still left to re-sort or keep.............
Work is having a shake up and the Service itself is undergoing a radical change, so we all wait with bated breath, to see if our jobs are going to be kept on, altered or downgraded in any way.
Not great for morale let's face it but not worth worrying about it yet. Time for that when I know if Im being made redundant and at the rate 'they' are making decisions, I could be waiting for a long time for news....
Okay best crack on with the sorting stuff out.

Hope all is well with you folks !

Time flies...

2011-10-11T19:31:00.000+01:00

Ive been a bit preoccupied and times flown by.......but Ive finally come to a decision and put my home on the market. Not that much is selling at the moment though!
Ive been worrying and wittering away, over whether I should try and sell my old 1903 home and - find a shed in the middle of a field somewhere lol

Im pretty much surrounded by rental properties here, the kind that have been divided into flats and tennants come and go, generally investing nothing at all in the street or community.

So Im testing the market I suppose in the hope ( I think..) that someone will waltz along and buy my house, hopefully quickly, so I havent time to think about what I've done!

I find myself swinging tween wanting to stop work and living more cheaply in a static mobile home ( trailer ) although by choice I'd prefer a roomy Lodge. Or buying a smaller place, in probably as rental an area hereabouts, but maybe with a small conservatory, loft conversion or parking.

Another bricks and mortar or a Lodge, means I have to have a small mortgage again and that means I have to stay at work for afew more years to pay it off. So no point moving at all, unless its to somewhere with more to offer me, in one way or another.

A static although maybe too small really, I could buy outright and then leave work, live pretty much in the country and take life easier altogether. Id find SO much to do though I know it lol

But statics and lodges devalue so, and I'm worried the kids won't be able to sell it and get anything much back off it, when I've gone. They offer a lifestyle change though and maybe thats the charm of them.

So thats why Ive not been blogging........and I still dont know if I'm doing the right thing, so have thrown it to Fate....to see what happens lol

The other day, I was driving round looking at areas, with houses in I'd seen online that might be worth a look at. I pulled in to look again at the map, looked up and saw............ this bird!

The fence was gnawed in so many places, I reckon he was well used to being there and this was maybe his evening constitutional. But it was abit of a surprise never the less!
I suppose they must have had his wing feathers clipped so he doesnt fly away.

He stopped briefly and stared at me to see what I was doing maybe, then carried on with his gnawing regardless...so funny!

Perle and Sloe Gin...hic!

2011-09-19T21:37:00.000+01:00

I began sorting my Perle threads, got this far and realised.....I need more hoops!
But dont they look yummy like this?
Like tresses of multi coloured hair. Ive another bag or two to go yet as well....
I was lucky enough to have been given almost all the self colours here by a colleague who went to a miniatures club I ran a while back.
Its the variegated threads that are my favourites though and you cant have enough of those!

And here are the first few bottles of gin and vodka, liquers in the making!
The one on the left is the rich, dark elderberry and sloe gin mix, which having sipped it, is VERY promising!
Ive added abit more sugar to warm it a little.
The white bottle is vodka with 2 pkts of Werthers Toffees in it.....also an interesting taste and its still early days for that!
The other two are sloes alone in gin and still a little tart, but I have to say, that theyd be okay with tonic even now!

And the Turkish Hazlenuts are drying slowly, the nuts falling out, though these are small so may not hold nuts that worthy of eating. But the spikey surrounds are what I gathered them for anyway.
Once dried, they make interesting shapes to spray paint silver, copper or gold for Christmas wreaths or centre pieces.

The swallows have left our area.......so I guess the cold weather is about here ..... I wish them safe and well, on their long journey home.
They are what I measure our summer and winter by most of all.
They arrive and bring such pleasure in their whirling, squeeling aerobatics. Then the sky seems vacant when they leave us for warmer climates.
But who can blame them for flying away in search of warmth!

Paul Finch Moth and Swallow and sloe gin lol

2011-09-05T21:50:00.002+01:00

The two items I bought from Paul Finch off Etsy have arrived and one was supposed to be a gift for Christmas for an old school friend..... but.... well,

as you can see, the swallow has found a place to rest......

beneath the two silly prints I find funny..........

'Happy Dying by Chocolate' just in view there

and 'Fashion The Crowd can Understand'

and the moth, well look at her!

How can I give her away.......?
Im going to have to buy another for the Christmas gift!!

Oh yes, having been tidying up abit in my bedroom and talk of Judes Magic Feathers being in cyberworld of late........... did I mention I like feathers too?

The peacock feathers are from british peacocks that a friend gave us to sell on the cat rescue fund raising stall, each year when her birds moulted. One year I bought several of them, their splendor and colours are wonderful.
The lush black ones are victorian feathers ( about 14" long)I bought from an (antique) stall colleague and there are afew wonderful exotics in there that came off a victorian hat from the same seller, years ago.
The wierd cream-ish ones, front centre, are like fish back bones to feel, very odd those, but they are feathers never the less and also from an old ladies hat.

I went out foraging for sloes last friday and this is the haul I brought home...
sloes that squished nicely in the fingers when preparing them to make sloe gin..............

Brambles and elderberries , most of which were stewed together and eaten with greek natural yoghurt............yummy...though

some of the elderberries have gone in with some of the sloes to see if together, they make a quirkier liquer!
And cob nuts, hazel nuts basically.

Oh yes, and acorns and have saved the acorn cups to use on xmas wreaths. The tree had a blight and many of the nuts had the hard, mishapen fungal growths on them. Ive saved those because Im sure Ive read something about them being used to dye with...........but I may have imagined that bit.
And once the sloes were squished nicely into bottles, with a little brown sugar added...this was the colour first off....the centre one has the elderberry and sloes together in it.

A light discolouration of the gin, thats all here.
But I should show you a piccy of it now!
Already its lush with colour and the berries have ballooned in size.
I havent made sloe gin for afew years, certainly not since moving into this urban area.
But Id forgotten how right it feels to pick and use from the land, although I follow the pick only a little from one place path.
So the wildlife still has food for autumn too.
Mind you the birds dont much like sloes...so you can feel a little less guilty harvesting those !
The hard part is waiting till at least the end of October - ish, before I take a small taste to see if its ready or in need of more sugar adding
...... did I mention self disclipline isnt my thing? lol

The Hema store, eco bundles reveal and vintage fabrics

2011-09-01T23:54:00.000+01:00

http://producten.hema.nl/

Give yourself a break and go to the store site via the link above.
Open it up and just wait a second or two............lol but get ready to turn the sound down!

I unwrapped the bundles of eco stuffs and heres the results.
I used a bolster pillow case that I picked up at a jumble sale I think.
I just tore it into the two strips, front and back.
Alum mordant, simmered in a brew concoction for an hour or so, together in a steel pot. Then left them to cool. Once cooled I unwrapped them, let them hang on the line to dry, washed them through by hand to remove any small bits of debris and here they are drying again later.
The brew was if I recall right, odds and ends of other dye baths with abit of rainwater and had euc bark clippings in it, steeping for weeks and weeks.......abit pungent but once boiled then simmered the smell wafted away.
I bundled rusty nails in with the darker one and the lighter one is mostly an assortment of flowers like delphinium, black eyed suzie, nasturtion etc.
Interesting that the rust and euc bark darkness didnt bleed into the other one, except at the outer wrap area. I may overdye the lighter one to see what happens next.
You can see how they made the Turin Shroud I reckon lol

Spot the arrowhead! Or is it a
moth? Or a jet aircraft!

Two leaves stuck ont his to the bitter end! See half a wolfs head?

This is wierd! A chalice, wine glass or a bodice? lol

Oh and just put this vintage fabric on Ebay...............anyone know what kind of fabric 'Design Lulworth' is by any chance?
It feels like an old and thin chintz quality.

Ive another piece thats a similar weight and almost certainly the same maker, but a white background and more cottage floral, but may use that yet myself.
1930s or 1940s maybe?
I have listed several Art Doll Quarterly mags too so if your Uk and interested Im the liniecat seller!
Lots more going to be listed bit by bit too.

The loss of another great pal, car booties and WIP

2011-08-30T20:58:00.000+01:00

Im sorry, I know its something upsettingly personal, but I made a hard decision today, on behalf of my collie cross dog.
And as many of you know, it hurts like hell ~ that last act of love you make for them.
Not least because he was such a gentle, lovely dog and my close pal.
He'd been ill for a long time now with Cushings and he finally gave up last night, I could see it in his eyes.
He told me the time had come.
He'd been found in a neighbours garden 15 years ago and he was about 10-12 weeks of age I reckoned at the time.
The kennels we housed rescues in then, had a Parvo outbreak and he would surely have been at risk there, so he stayed with us, ostensibly until the outbreak was cleared.

Then a week later, we got news that the father of my children had died from a heart attack, aged only 40....
Although he had already left me, we all three, lost him all over again that day.
So the pup stayed with us and became a part of our family and helped us come to terms with things.
The children called him Rocky, although he never fulfilled his butch name, afraid of all manner of louds bangs and nosies. Whatever happend to him in his early weeks, left its mark on his courage bless him.

He fell in love with my adult orange roan Cocker Spaniel, and they became unseperable. It was a joy to witness.
When I lost the Cocker to old age, our Collie cross furry bear, became a gentle companion in his own right.

Now I have just one dog, who is going to need alot of attention, since he
feels the loss too....another rescue, another soul in need of hugs and comfort.
This year I have lost several good friends.
Life can be a bitch at times ..............

Although today has been sad.........yesterday I had a pleasant trip to a huge car boot at Bridlington, taking a friend along for a jaunt.
Take a look at this wonderful teacup, which I didnt buy but I thought was such fun!

It was for sale at £3 although did have hair line crack in it, but even so.......what fun!

Its a good job I took Jean ( jeansmuse.blogspot.com) along with me!
She spotted all manner of goodies for my Topic Boxes at work that I missed and she managed to male me spend very little of my money LOL
I'm indebted Jean, thanks!
It was she who spotted these first .......... cotton edgings, 25 metres each and coincidentally ideal for my current stitching project. Although I probably wont use the edges themselves for it.
At £3 each........well I couldnt NOT buy them surely?

Which brings me onto the current WIP, that called to me, to get stuck in...
Although I was going to use vintage Laura Ashley fabrics originally...I have no way enough, but am making a start anyway and adding similar weight cottons as I go.
I have a desing on a piece of paper somewhere...safe...when I find it!
But its another of my seat of the pants ideas so it will evolve as I stitch and may organically alter, as I gather rectangles, squares and circles together.
Im hand stitching at the moment, so I will see where it takes me.......and keep my eyes open for old Laura Ashley floral cottons in charity shops, jumble sales and car boots.

Now I look at it, Im not sure that apple circle is going to fit in....but never mind lol

I have also unearthed some eco dyeing that has been steeping for a while now...well, a week or so.
Although they look abit like well roasted beef joints............these are euc bark, euc leaves and an assortment of flower heads, that were simmered in a wizardy brew.
I cant for the life of me recall what is in the brew, its been added to and topped up with rain water from time to time.
So it will be interesting to see if anything has survived the process at all!
Possibly not!

Watch this space lol

The bees are IN the tent!

2011-08-25T21:11:00.000+01:00

I have heard from Helen and she did receive the Giveaway bundle okay, which is a relief I must admit.
She does seem to be pleased with it thankfully lol

I stitched a belated flower between the bees, rather than two more bees at opposite 'corners'..... I get bored repeating things!
It works but wont win any quilt prizes lol
But I think grandson will be chuffed to sit on a firmly padded base with 2 bees for company anyway......and he wont notice its a lop-skew petalled flower Im sure!

Cutlery tray spool holder and Magic Feathers for Jude

2011-08-23T20:51:00.000+01:00

If you havent yet heard about Jude Hills request for 1000 embroidered Magic Feathers then hop over to her site and click on the Magic Feathers logo on the right hand side. If I could work out how to get her logo, Id have one on here too so you could link direct to her!

She is collecting feathers to turn into fabric story cloths for use with childrens therapy

http://spiritcloth.typepad.com/spirit_cloth/

Anyway these two will be on their way to Jude tomorrow in the hope she can include them somehow.

And see - they are laying on one of my new thread spool holders..the cutlery drawer! Well done Peggy for sussing it out.

There's no prize sorry lol

I bought a couple of tents, the smaller sized, in house variety, more like a wigwam shape really, for my grandson to use at mine and at his dads place.
So am making him some padded flooring to sit on inside them and since he loves bees........ have added these cariactures to this one.
Cant decide whether to place an applique flower between them now....SO many decisions to make in life aren't there!
But yes, I think they do need a flower of sorts to look at, before I stitch it all together ......
Gosh only 8.45pm and its almost dark outside. Our Autumn is on its way.........nights are pulling in, days shortening.
I picked wild blackberries today to have with cereal for breakfast making sure I left plenty for the wildlife.
One of the advantages of working behind a school with an enormous playing field that borders an equally enormous football field, that runs along side a railway embankment.
So there are blackberries and elderberries...and buckthorn too to dye with!
No sloes though.........so for sloe gin I must hunt further afield this weekend lol
And Im going to try making Werthers Original Vodka..where you simply put Werthers yummy toffees in vodka and allow them to dissolve into a liquer-y drink.....shaking it now and then to stimulate the dissolving...got to be worth a try lol

Overdyed white skirt with orange and blues...

2011-08-22T20:17:00.000+01:00

Well it was such a nice day yesterday, I thought I would pop some cut pieces of the white skirt with the interesting circles, into pots with some cold water dye to see what effects came out.

I should have sprinkled some salt amongst the folds too though, I may try that with some more of it.

I have half of the fabric left still white, so theres still penty to play with.

I think the white could work in a snow scene of some kind. I hadn't realised it, but the lining underskirt to this, is also cotton but a lovely soft fine lawn, so this was worth every penny of the £3.25.

I may have to stitch a feather in one of the circles......!

Any guesses what Im going to use these for?

2011-08-21T09:34:00.000+01:00

Well now at 50p each tray I reckon I have a use for these that doesnt involve cutlery....
and ideas what I want them for?
(Naturally I didnt know I wanted them, until I saw them sat in the charity shop...... )
And in fairness the grey one is perfect for my idea so I will have to trial the blue one....whilst looking out for more of the grey style tray.

Then there was this skirt....which called to me... not because it was my size you understand......
                                                                    no -lol- as if...
                                                                 but ....linen and circles...
                                                                    lunar circles at that..
                                                               I may try and overdye some of it.

And this caught my eye too.... though it was overpriced, but for charity so I paid it anyway. Though in truth it wasnt overpriced for the work that went into it which is beautifully done.
I could not get that result if I spent months in training, Im a CL-artist but can recognsie nice work from others!

I have a new hero!!! Please go look.........

2011-08-20T11:43:00.000+01:00

I have a new hero of embroidery and re-use........please give yourselves a treat and go look at the following links. You will probably never, ever walk past those long forgotten old embroideries in the jumble sales or on car boot stalls again.
I am going to treat both myself and an old school friend to his creatures off Etsy and then try my hand at making one or two (for Visually Impaired kids) for ourTopic Boxes, for the Mini Beasts Box.......using far less socially historic fabrics naturally.
Though having said that of course, embroidery on the fabric wings could be felt by our children ( and partly seen by those with limited vision) so I may applique the pattersn on each wing to show the replication of pattern.

His work was spotlighted on Craftgossip which is how I learnt about him...
but first go to this link and then I defy you not to go.... WOW!

http://finch-uk.com/

then the piece by Craftgossip link

http://needlework.craftgossip.com/inspiration-paul-finch/2011/07/18/

in which is his Etsy link and thats pure joy to peer at!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/MisterFinch?ref=seller_info

This guy can do no wrong lol and Im no way affiliated.......though I do wonder if he's single and available!

And still no word at all from Helen to tell me she has received the Giveaway package and I cant seem to email her either. Her blog link doesnt seem to be working, which make me worry even more that she is ill. It simply comes back as unavailable. All very odd.

Daft cats and still no word from Helen.......

2011-08-13T17:40:00.000+01:00

Daft cat Fergus, trying to get my attention whilst I was putting 'Somerset Studio' mags up for sale on Ebay.....

this is his laconic.....' You'll have to feed me sometime...' pose........

and the next one here is his new 'suntrap' seat! Though as you can see the sun had gone in at this point.....

I came out of the back door the other day to find he and Hilly cat, laying either side on the top of this plastic greenhouse gadget!

It houses several infusions of eco dyes and umpteen bowls and saucepans too and was watertight till their blessed claws got up there!

Now the side that is empty here is torn, so one of them may well end up tumbling inside if they are not careful lol

When the clematis cascaded off the porch roof there, they couldn't climb up on this gadget and of course I didn't figure on them using it as a climbing frame, or sun trap seat! Shish...

This is their usual and much preferred place for a snuggle....

Peggy sent me a great link for a poster with wise words on it and having printed it out, I thought I would photocopy it for the office wall. But at the last minute I moved the sheet with the picture on and ended up with a skew whiff copied picture.
Of course I did it again then deliberately and got a different 'skew whiff'! So for those fo you that 'Journal', it might be a nice technique ( techique notice, and not like, a mistake or anything.... lol) for addding unusual text or graphics to your pages?
I mean not to use this particular pic, but to do it with your own, though you are welcome to cut n paste this if you did want it!

See how easily I am pleased lolol

I still have not heard anything from Helen who won the Giveaway, so do hope the parcel of goodies got to her okay!

Right back to Ebay to list more Somerset Studio mags and Art Doll Quarterly too. I seem to be taking this 'downsizing' of things seriously at last!

A pic of the goodies and another Giveaway over there ...>

2011-08-11T00:22:00.000+01:00

Well I posted off the Giveaway Goodies first class post last saturday morning, so I think they should have arrived by now and Im hopeful that Helen will have found a few bits to fondle and tinker with.
So you can see what a Surprise Giveaway might contain the next time I throw one together......see below!

Foils, kimono cottons, copper curls and all the rest of the fabrics are silks, though I think one may be a feel a likey but is nice never the less lol

And just in case you want to enter another Giveaway, pop over to

http://jeansmuse.blogspot.com/ and leave a comment there!

Go on, you know you want to! LOL

Giveaway Winner is .........

2011-08-01T20:01:00.000+01:00

A short hello.......

to let you know that it was comment number 3 that my daughter picked out for me, (over the phone, so sight unseen)and that is a comment from .............Helen.......!! (Since India who would have been number 3, didnt want a bag of goodies anyway and had just left congrats..)

Anyway......... yes Helen it is YOU, have emailed you asking for your address, so it is not a spoof, you have won lol
Will post a piccy of the goodies but cant this evening, because my camera is at work and not in my bag where it was supposed to be!

duhhhh..........

Go Baby Giveaway ...Go look!

2011-07-29T00:10:00.000+01:00

Oooooooooooh LOOK...... over on

http://littlecottagecomforts.blogspot.com/

There is this great opportunity to enter this fab Giveaway...do go have a look! I will wish you good luck, if you will wish me the same!
Its a great blog too!

Brain stall but still stitching

2011-07-27T21:21:00.000+01:00

Am having a bit of a crisis I think. What do I do next?
Sell up and move house?
Then chuck the job in?
A where can I run to kind of crisis. Silly really, but its been creeping up on me and this week its sort of crystalised.
So I feel as if Im in flux and in need of a 'capacitator' to blow any cobwebs out, so I can think clearly again..well as much as Ive ever been able to anyways.

I have rejazzed this tree from ages ago. It lacked something so I have infilled edges with a toning rippled voile, thats not quite gold and not quite rust........probably hard to see it at all with all the 'autumnal' shades of old head scarf in there...

Then I had a knitting urge so made some Head Huggers and fingerless gloves. I used some of the yarn I bought in spain last year on the black Hugger, just catching it by its edge on a central stitch as I knitted. Pulled out the yarn is very lacey and of course I cant recall its name and will have thrown the yarn label out......
Made afew wristlets and put some pins onto backing papers.

Abit of eco dyeing next. Alum mordanted, old cotton pillow case with delphiniums, morning glory, sprinkled eucalyptus leaves and some mahonia bark offcuts bundled up and steamed.

And at work, stitching finger puppets to accompany the Dear Zoo story book for some early years bairns with limited sight.

And another batch for the same story but adapted with different animals to the original story! Going to have to do a different lion though, he gives me the heebies and the puppy isnt that clever either!

My mind was elsewhere today at work so think at least 3 of these puppets will have to go! Hey ho

A lovely old table and some nostalgic fabrics

2011-07-24T18:49:00.001+01:00

Meant to post these a week or two back, we had a visitor show us her collection of 1930s and 40s fabrics at our embroidery club meet.
And at this moment I cant recall her name which is awful because she was really very nice and I must pop back later and enter her name!
Shes from Sunderland and does talks so might be worth you looking her up.
The pics below are some of what she had with her to show us........memories for many I suspect!

Most of these she found were being turfed out or were 50p or less at various places. They are generally not considered worthy of keeping and old fashioned of course, but as she said, they had been hand stitched by folks like us, maybe lovingly, maybe begrudgingly - but time, money and energy went into them as in any craft. And these are so of their time, of what was available for us to stitch before tv took over and pcs were in every home.

These pieces below came off a nightdress and most of it was hand made lace, and that old fashioned pink is still a delightful colour I think.

She brought along some sheet music too and I adore these covers and illustrations although I have no idea what the music sounded like!

This next piece is some of my Jude weaving. Done when the mood took me but I had no idea where it was taking me. Im not sure Im satisfied with what I did on the journey but it was quite fun in the doing of it lol

And this is my spontanious buy from a Barnado's, a charity shop close by. It was £75 and I lov its legs, its carved out bits beneath the top and besides, it told me it should live in a1903 house like mine, so now it does...

Apparently it had spent a great deal of time in a garage!

( It didnt tell me that last bit, the delivery man told me.......)

So I have stripped off the original and very worn leatherette seat covers and used some designer offcuts from scrapstore and some fresh padding to give the seats a new twist.

I cant bring myself to tart the table up with paint or special effects though. It will remain an 'old lady of her time' and the only added things are tie on covers to lay over the newly padded seats, because I have 3 cats whose lifes worth, is to sprawl and cover all seats in their hair!

I am reclaiming my dining room back from the cats own use, in honour of this lovely old tabel and her 4 chairs.

I might even cook a sunday lunch or two now!

On a lighter note.... Karen Slaughter book - 'fallen'

2011-07-17T12:54:00.000+01:00

Karen Slaughter's latest book now released in the Uk....
'fallen'.
Fabulous!

Will Trent sounds wonderful, hope they never make a movie of him though. I have my own imaginative picture of him and want him to stay that way.
Have read all her books and apart from 'Martin Misunderstood' fell for the team, Sara Linton, Geoffrey, Faith and Will.

:)

Capitalism - a love story..... the movie and a rant with no apologies for it

2011-07-17T12:20:00.002+01:00

I watched the movie 'Capitalism - A love story' last night, by Michael Moore.
Watch it free..
http://www.ovguide.com/movies_tv/capitalism_a_love_story.htm

Its a 2009 film documentary and I had only seen a recomendation for it recently.
Please try and watch it if you havent yet. Then tell me if you trust this world wide banking sytem, or the Us and Uk governments.
Capitalism runs our world not our democratic governments and this recent Murdock fiasco adds to the pyre as far as I can see.

Cant see how I missed this movie back then, but I did become ill and depressed by all the negligence and professional flatulence I was battling against with insurers, so maybe thats why.
Oh yes and I was squeezed up in one bedroom of course with all the furniture I could manhandle, up the stairs last minute... and my adult daughter, 4 cats and 2 dogs.

Not that I was EVER flooded mind you, no, just the patio back filled from sewers and my outside drain, to a 6"- 8" depth.
I had only ONE kitchen floor cupboard with mould 3/4 weeks later, logically cos water had risen up through the exterior drain and permeated through the wall at that point, but ONLY at that point remember.

The insurance company refused to simply log a courtesy, notification only call and insisted on sending out a surveyor, who decided that water had penetrated an airbrick through to the inside plaster behind the floor cupboards and 'capillary-rally' travelled along the 10' plus to that particular cupboard...which was at least 10' away from the only air brick right?
Which itself gave out onto a concrete floor....see the mis-logic here yet?

A kitchen gut out was necessary he said, I would NEVER get rid of those mould spores and told me if I didnt go ahead with it, then the insurance company would wash their hands of me should anything occur as a result of this in the future.

This at a time when thousands of homes had been deluged with foul water and folks were truly and devastatingly homeless, and I had a fully working, comfortable home and had NO flood water in it, none at all.

I kept thinking 'their' common sense would kick in and theyd see it was a waste of resources.
I was not an emergency claim.
I had protested that I didnt want to be a claim at all, just wanted them to log the fact that their had been a patio flood.
I just felt out of fairness, now theres a joke, I should inform them ...you can be too honest..from there on in the insurance industry system manufactured a claim.
Reluctantly I agreed to a kitchen gut and replacement.

The next thing I know is that the handling agents Cunningham, Lindsey, instructed a total ground floor gut out, no one at Saga or their handlers , would answer my calls and emails about why this was now the plan or tell me what I was to do with my ground floor furniture, me , my daughter, 4 cats and 2 dogs..... I tried for 10 days to get an answer..
then the wreckers came to gut out my home.
Panic in me had now set in.

Not only did my larger furniture end up in the garden, no one helped me move it, I had to demolish my original retro suite in doors to get it out.
They took out cooker and fireplaces and left them on the floor whilst they hacked plaster off the walls, so they were choc full of dust, radiators were left outside too.
All large furniture and white goods had to be replaced, yet all of it had been fully working and fine.

Since we'd moved upstairs I threw a fury when they said theyd be taking out the stairs...
They didnt ....
I remained upstairs, finally putting my animals in care 3 weeks later since they still hadnt tcontacted me,
(for 10 months folks, costing over £8000 that time) so photographed all that was found.
NO evidence of water damage to the underfloors from the 'flood'.
No evidence of plaster capillary water damage anywhere, in any room. Concrete floor in kicthen just fine and my 1903 home had sound foundations.
NO evidence of water damage to any plaster, and there was very little plaster, for capillary water travel behind kitchen floor cupboards, funny that.

Then they start to dehumidify....3 months after gut out mind you...
its winter, its cold, no rads, no heating, microwave to cook in, on the landing.
No hot water either to bathe in.
Then sporadicly builders come in, house left unoccupied and unlocked on 8 occasions whilst I am at work _ house keys are 'lost', front door handles and locks broken and thats the bits I found out about by coming home unexpectedly - yes I blow another gasket or three and take keys off them, new locks fitted.
I alone now can let them in and monitor how infrequently they do work at my home.

10 months later and damp patches occur on walls in the kitchen and front room, (wrong plaster mix had been used, unquote and water leaks from next door filter through brickwork) and my photos show that sleeper walls below the floor boards had been built solid........former ventilation holes in dividing walls had been filled in.
I hadnt known that was wrong then but Id been given a Builders Registered Cert afterall, right?
Found that the new fuse box they fitted, had not been correctly earthed yet I had an Electrical certificate, right?
Proved that no official inspections had taken place after I got a mediator chap on the job finally for help.

All floors came up again, sleeper walls rebuilt, plaster off walls, kitchen all gutted out again .....all replacement furniture taken away this time round. I had 2 months in a hotel
Not that great when I wanted to be at home, have my grandchild there and my own life back.
Oh yes, the ground floor toilet?
That had been fitted wrongly...THATS why it flooded from its base so much, odd that.
I go on anti depressants, work was great, my head was fooked you could say... and I was Angry, angry to a point that I could have injured another cowboy builder, impaled him with his trowel.

Was that it? My insurance premiums doubled each year from £330 to £1950 pa........ no other insurer would cover me at all.

The 2nd laminate floor lifted after 2 weeks of being laid, faulty product they told me, but months later I establish from an independant assessment that it was faulty fitting by their workmen - again.

The insurers still will not tell me categorically what the total spend on my home came out to, all the rebuilding,the twice stripping out and replacement furniture, 12 months of animal care and 2 months of hotel accomodation this last time round in 2010...........3 years after the events of the Hull floods.
Aviva folks, avoid them.
They said sorry of course and assure me the additional costs of repairing what their builders did wrong or negligently or fraudulently......isn't lodged on my 'claim'.
But other insurers tell me its above £100, 000 and I have a 3 bed mid terraced house worth £99,950 so thats almost silly right?
Especially when it wasnt flooded?

SO angry as I have been over finding out just how negligent, fraudulent and manipulative the Insurance industry is ... and seeing the devastation wreaked by the (w)bankers and their systems...this movie has just re- ignited my anger!

I loved where Michael walks round one of New Yorks major financial buildings wrapping yellow and black Crime Scene tape around it then hollars through a megaphone for the guilty culprits to come out, to give themselves up....AND
where he goes to each bank with a big plastic bag asking that they give us the public, the money back, that they manipulated from us to bale them out of their own cock up.
He tells the security staff that he wants to make a citizens arrest and we the public, want our money back and the culprits arrested.

AND where he greets folks as they leave work from these 'upstanding' (sic) insitutions, asking if someone could explain to him what "derivatives " really are.
Could they give him some advice about about them......and one of the suited smart arses shouts back..
"yeah stop making movies...."
Pratt.
None of the blokes he does interview really CAN explain to him exactly what a derivative is..............its gambling basically. With our money. One guy almost chokes trying.

And we are the losers whichever way the dice fall.

I know some of you may work at a bank and you need a job and my argument here is not with you.
Maybe you have little choice where to work.
Its with the honchos up the food chain from you.
Its with the system that supports the wealth held by 1% of the population as Michael Moore illustrates with the leaked memo that Citibank sent round to its chosen few, warning them that the 99% could cause them trouble.
Its with capitalsim and the fact that we allow it run this way.

When I was in the police force, the question
'What do you do for a living?'
.................................. was a conversation killer lol
Same question now?
Ans: ' Im an investment banker'
Same result........this time it would be me who raising an eyebrow walks away, trying hard to hold my tongue, maybe.
Capitalism is fraudulent and the insurance industry is tied in with it.
US that other 99%, have the moral right to stand up against this blatent theft and manipulation.
We should do so, in whatever way we can.
Start by not telling the bloody insurance companies everything!
And please, please watch that movie, then think about what it says about our society ................and us.

Mental Agility Test and a Giveaway !

2011-07-12T21:19:00.000+01:00

http://www.bbc.co.uk/tv/features/theyoungones/

Why not try the above link and see how you do on the mental agility tests for a bit of fun ?
My pal Mary sent it through to me........ the things we do rather than housework!
They seem to alter each time you do it, so you can drive yourself mad over and over again.
Some are repeated so you can memorise whats gone before, which helps lol

AND................ I have a package sorted out for a

Giveaway to celebrate my now getting on for, 11000 page views ........... which is about 10950 more than I thought I'd ever have!

BUT........... its going to be a surprise package......

although ....

there will be much coloured foil
and an Aussie Felt magazine
and a fabric and yarns bundle
and a few little something elses .......

SO ................if you fancy taking part and like surprises.....

please leave a message of some sort,
( rude entries will be discounted naturally!)
and make sure you are contactable via email or your blog whatever.

If you post about it on your own blog, then you can have a second entry, but that means you have to leave a second, seperate message.

I will pick a number out of the sorting hat on the last day of july, will do it at midnight British Summer time, so there you are.............
you've got to be in it, to win it!
And if you do, I don't think you will be sorry...........:)

OH gosh! Over 10,000 page views!

2011-07-09T11:44:00.001+01:00

Heavens, just looked and I have almost 10, 500 page views!
I may have to do a give away again to celebrate!
Stay tuned... pass the word... I will gather a bundle together over the weekend, of gizzits!
Although I notice that Blogger has kidnapped my Follower piccies........Hope you are all safe and well .........and Im not expected to pay a ransome !!

Scary cloth dolls or what? lol

2011-07-09T11:39:00.001+01:00

Amongst the tactile resources for the visually impaired that I inherited at work, when I joined them 10 years back, were two sex education dolls.
I have no idea when they would have been bought or made, but this 'treasure' here, is the girl ....................what do you think then? lol

I updated the clothes but in truth, theres little else I could ever do, to make her more appealing...right?
The lad is exactly the same, as ugly with a similar hairstyle. Twins.
Infact maybe thats part of the education, that they feel so much the same, face and body wise, but for the gender differences ... must ask the teachers about that, its only just occured to me!
They both have all their aportioned hairy bits,(the same texture hair as on their head) and they each have the gental differences.

I repeatedly ask if I could make less scary figures, but they dont seem to want me to make more appealing folks lol
The logic being that a child with no vision cant see how ugly and scary the figures are anyway...which is true of course. But the rest of the class fall about with laughter at the figures...................maybe that helps the teacher discuss an awkward topic who knows!
But they bring a whole new concept to Cloth Dolls dont they!

On a lighter note I went to the Physio yesterday at a centre built alongside the Hessle Road in Hull. This was where once, prior to much redeveleopment, the local fishermens families shopped.

Hull has a rich history of trawling and (yuk) whaling before that and Hessle Road was part of that social tapestry.

Now most of the old Hessle docks, are modern shopping centres, with huge stores selling tools, suites, electricals and push bikes, with little inkling that there was once thriving, busy fish industries there.

One or two buildings remain as a token memory but, as in many places, whole livlihoods were wiped away, folks rehomed elsewhere and in a bid to become more modern, up to date and to improve families lives I suppose too.

Though I have no doubt many of the back to back Hessle Road houses would have been considered slums and maybe there was WW2 bomb damage too, shifting the community did not go all that well by what I read.

Hull was the un named East Coast port that was hit more heavily than other ports in WW2, yet not named by our Govt at the time. Apparently so the Germans didnt know for sure, which city they had bombed ..... not a logic that makes sense to me, but I guess it did at the time!

Anyway there, inside the health centre building surprisingly, was this lovely mosaic!

Nice to see an element of Hessle Roads past celebrated in this way.

Definately not my size or taste to wear but.......

for £3.99 I could not resist it, tacky fabric though it is lol

See all those nebula and planets!

Gosh, had best haul the weeds up behind it...........

And lastly another piece of stitching to go on a larger cloth at some point

..... though it does look more like an eye or a life cell now I look at it! I dont seem to be able to fade out moons successfully so I gave up and sprayed a darker one with fabric dye!

A fab swap! new life and some circles with a moon

2011-06-30T22:02:00.000+01:00

My cyber pal Peggy
womanwithwings.blogspot.com
and I have done a sort of swap and this is what I got in the post this week...yummy stuff! Thanks so much Peggy!

Spot the fabrics below Peggy?

Think this may well end up in a larger cloth.
I have a feeling this might work with the whale and moon piece I made a short while back.... made up in the style of Judes cloth workshops...slow, slow and done thoughtfully.
I may do a few more circles like this to place around the central rectangular whale piece.........the idea is in my head at the moment, not even on a drawn page.
Maybe with the phases of the moon.
So this is WIP for now.

I was invited to see the hatched eggs in the nursery, in the school alongside our offices this morning.
A not far away agricultural college give heated hatching boxes to the school, so the kids can watch the eggs breaking open and see the chicks.
I saw two newly born chicks, feathers still all wet..................so cute!
I would love to have chooks, nubian goats and a donkey if I were in the right environment.
Why on earth didnt I find myself a farmer!
But what fun to see these littlies never the less.
And as the kids all came in to class, the sound of the cheep, cheep, cheeping, was just delightful!

Super cute!

My hexies another Rose and an Etsy Shop!

2011-06-28T20:04:00.000+01:00

I fancied doing a little more with the colour catcher hexies, so mounted it on a black fulled sweater, then running stitched about a bit. Added one of my very favourite mother of pearl buttons and now it sits once again, until I suss out what to do next!
I had also completed the last of my Folgate Roses. Its been sliced up somewhat, from what we were doing with Shelagh Folgate in her Rosey, Rosey workshop.........but its now complete....
Though maybe....I might take out the dark green feather stitch and replace that with a lighter shade..which wont be easy, since its got other stitches and thread laid over it and Ive backed the blumming thing. But only now do I not like that darker green! DUHHH

It was either 2006 or 2008 when I first opened an Etsy shop .........and have I used it since then?
No!
I've an idea a local gallery I have sold afew things through, may now be diversifying into art materials because they are struggling to get by.
There seems to be a continued delay in them paying out now, for what they've sold.
I hope they do survive, for themselves as well as me. The lass running it has worked hard and was so hopeful, but then of course the banks killed the ecconomy.
Another local shop I sold from has closed now and it looks as if Ive gotten burnt there.
I did finally manage to speak to that owner, who said she hadnt got my address to post me what was owed to me! Yeah right.
But having been given it, again, there is still no sign of any payment.

So I have opened up the Etsy shop.........anyone know how I put an Etsy badge on the blog by any chance?
I havent been able to suss that out!
I've put just a few things in so far like these below, so will see what happens to them. But Im not sure anyone other than our own crafty selves know about and look at Etsy!

Dont mind if this Head Hugger and fingerless gloves doesnt sell though, cos I like them both anyway!

Tylah IS taking after me! Alexandra Soup and home made Acid Drops

2011-06-22T20:37:00.000+01:00

I imagine it could be most parents dream, that their offspring might take after them in some way. So imagine my thrill to know that my lovely daughter Tylah, was hand stitching some clothing ! ............ and since she was popping over to mine, I asked that she bring it for me to see......

She had bought fringe and sequin braid to decorate this waistcoat....

and designed the back centre piece herself...

If I tell you this is for a pal of hers to wear on his stag night.....

with pink hold up stockings, a skimpy t-shirt, ultra skimpy cut down shorts, high heels and and a sign saying he is
'The only gay in the Viallge'........
( he isnt by the way !)

It might give you an idea what the decoration on the back is meant to represent!

But it IS a start right?
She may yet take a more serious interest in stitching, right?
lol
Okay Alexandra Soup a la circa 1930/1940 ~

" Take a cup of lentils and 2 heaped tablespoons of ( pearl?) barley and soak them together for at least 12 hours.
Next day chop up an onion and fry it in half an ounce of margerine, add the lentils and barley, with three breakfast cup fulls of water.
Cook until the lentils are tender.
Add a couple of fresh tomatoes when the soup is nearly ready.
Rub all through a sieve, then reheat before serving."

No Im not at all sure either! BUT what about....?

Acid Drops.....

" Boil one and half pounds of loaf sugar, half a pint of water and half a teaspoon cream of tarter together until mixture turns a pale yellow.
Then add essence of lemon to taste and turn out on to and oiled slab.
Sprinkle preparation with tartaric acid, work it thoroughly in, and when sufficiently cool to touch, from into thin rolls.
Cut off small pieces with scissors and roll to shape by hand.
Sift with sugar andf dry before storing in a tin. "

Now I just know you're desperate to try the recipes for
Almond Cake, Almond Cheese Cakes, Almond Fingers, Almond Paste, Almond Pudding ( featuring breadcrumbs ....), Almond Rock and Almond Toffee!
Please email me for those ................... lol

...............and to think Im not half way through the A's yet!

Car boot buys, bad language and altered books

2011-06-19T15:15:00.001+01:00

I really MUST stop going to car boot sales
........... of course living about 300 yards or so round the corner from the site of a huge one, thats on almost every sunday morning, doesn't help my self discipline at all...
That, and all the years of having an indoor stall myself for cat rescue fund raising, means its sort of in my blood to go wandering around them maybe too .....
Okay, yes, and the fact that I am a hoarder......of items....that might come in handy, could be made into... or I cant live without .....but it's a BARGAIN!......might have something to do with it too!
I meant to go to the store today to collect my new prescription glasses, which is in the other direction, but the car went the wrong way.......so since I was passing the car boot, I thought I may as well pop in, en route as it were.

It's like wandering around a foreign country there these days. In the past few years, the influx of other nationalities has so increased locally, that now the chatter is almost all, other languages.
Its nice to listen to the flow and lift of african, polish, french and spanish speech, those I recognise - but there are also folks that appear to be from maybe, Gulf areas, and I have no idea what languages they are speaking, but again, I do like to hear the cocophany of sounds.

Sadly that can't be said for the large majority of blessed Brits that wander around there. They can be picked out by their talking yes, but because their speech is loudly littered with F words and it makes me ashamed to be a Brit as well, very often.

They use the 'F-ing' word as an adjective, several times within one sentence and it sounds course and unsavoury. Not just afew Brit folks, but dam near all of the men and women Brits that go there.
Don't get me wrong, having worked on VC10s as aircrew I have used the word myself to make sure a smart arse soldier or officer if needs be, needed to be reminded that he would have to do what my crew were telling him to do, whilst on board our aircraft!
In context maybe it is an appropriate adjective to enforce your point of view, in the right situation that is.
But in every day conversation,I would argue it isnt necessary.

The parents who bring to, and collect their kids from, the school (where our Services offices are situated) are the same.....shouting
'f-ing come here Chelsea/ do what I f-ing told you Jordan etc. etc.'
It's heartbreaking to listen to another generation of children with role models that have so little communication skill, that they have to repeat the F word to make them selves heard or taken seriously?
It makes me despair for the future for the human gene pool.........

Okay rant over lol
Want to see what I picked up today?
A set of 3 of these, for 50p - all 3!
And they are metal! Largest is about 2' wide and tall.
Naff pics on the side but they would paint or decoupage right?
Thought one might do nicely on a Christmas craft stall maybe as it is.......will see.

Then for another 50p these old magazines, part works from another time, but great illustrations for an altered book maybe, and two little fabric doilies for Peggy ~

Then I paid an extortionate £2 for this old book which is feast, if abit tatty! But it is a mine of information, the recipe for acid drops for example!

( NO..the suck a sweet kind lol......)

Cant see when it was published but it has a 40s feel to it I think.

It reminds me of The Arthur Mees Encyclopaedia's that I had as a child in the 50s, given to me by my Grandad.

It's pages will be used for many things but not before I have tried afew of the recipes myself!

Alexander Soup merits an entry so I reckon it must have been quite a main stay somewhen or other. I will feature some of the recipes now and then in case you feel brave enough to recreate them !

Do it yourself electro plating!

This dolls house instruction design I have seen before and I would love to have it made up myself.
There's the furniture designs too...the house itself, seems abit 30s like ( Jean what do you think?)
If anyone wants the info and designs copied let me know, all measurements are included to get you going.

And to prove how old this is, there are patterns to knit toys and there is the shamefully called Black Sambo doll to knit.
How cruel a time that must have been for so many people, to be so labelled and perhaps ridiculed by those same words.
Thankfully we have learnt much, but are still falling short .........lets face it.

And this replica Home Guard Manual, which will go in the Topic Box for the hearing impaired children, when I get round to starting them.

So not a bad haul and not alot spent!
But then paid £140 for new glasses.......bummer lol

Oh and the Harrogate Etiquette book so far, with holes cut out inside and pages torn and gessoed......not much to see as yet, but proof Im still doing it!

.....and the ghost book too

Wishing my life away, altered books and what Im stitching at the moment

2011-06-14T22:24:00.000+01:00

Its lunacy.
I go to bed sunday night thinking..........oh hell, work again tomorrow and then muddle through the day, banking on it being tuesday next day.
Then I only have to work wednesday and thursday, before I have my own long weekend time again...lol
What a daft way to live, mentally rushing through the week days, so I can have my weekends to myself again!
I'm wishing my life away and Im in the last quarter of it anyway!
I should just bite the bullit and go down to 3 days a week and manage on what money I have coming in and the hell with it!
lol
Okay some bits here Ive cold water dyed, on bargain 10p each old linens from the sunday car boot sale. I used bicarb as a premordant for these fabrics and the blues are bright and striking.

Saturday last was our monthly stitching groups meeting and we had a visiting speaker who told us about devore, well her style of devore. I have to admit its not a thing I could see myself doing, clever though it is.
I was so uninterested in it all, Im afraid I snook out and went back to a charity shop to buy some things Id seen previously but chose not to buy..... then!
A tiered lamp shade that will become a goth/halloweeny hanging I think and some wool blankets.

The bottom Witney merino blanket has felted beautifully on a 40 degree wash. Just enough to to be firm but not so firm to be harsh. The other two Witney blankets are mohair and merino but being interlock, they havent felted up much at iether 40 or 60 degrees.
I may have to try a higher temperature but having said that they may be useful to weave into, anyone else done that with a holey blanket like this? Did it work okay?
Any other ideas spring to mind folks?
If nothing else they will be good wadding for hangings and they have retained their handle, which is nice.
How much? £8 and all three are doubles and looked, felt and smelt(!) as new. My pal bought another of the beige merino ones too, they must have seen us coming I reckon!

Now this is a book that I'm altering. If I told you I started it some 2 years ago, I might be misleading you...........it could be far longer than that!

I am doing the Shelagh Folgate workshop Follow My Heart........
and we are going to alter a book and also make a fabric version of it too.
Im at the gessoing pages stage of that book just now, but I remembered this long lost book, so have resurected it.
I intend to faff with this too, at the same time.........it may stand a chance of getting finished then!

It was a car boot find, called 'Modern Manners - A Season at Harrogate'
and is full of all manner of impossible twaddle about how one should behave, when 'out' in the spa town of Harrogate.

That picture is from an old advertisement, as you can see I'd lightly coloured the pages way back, then remebered that I ought to have gessoed the pages first DUHH ........so put it down and forgot about it, as you do...
Its now also had the gesso treatment, so will take pics of it as I go along.

Then this hanging sprung to mind after seeing a sunset picture with a pyramid in the foreground. This is nothing at all like the wonderful picture though! This is more an interpretation, from some dark and daft area of my brain I think!

It looks quite good with the table cloth behind it now I see it on here!
Of course you cant see the horizontal lines of stitching on the pyramid, so I may have to do some more in a noticeable colour maybe.
Rusted fabric on the bottom and a burgundy sky, no more aubergine really. Maybe it needs a camels beady eyed head in the foreground, or Bast herself or a snake even!
Hmm will think about it whilst I gesso more sets for Shelaghs workshop.......
I do wish I could paint or gesso and make less mess on ME!

Posh Puss is found....

2011-06-08T00:12:00.001+01:00

I had not decided if she was finished and must have put her down, then forgot where .....
some of you may recognise that phenomena .....cough, cough...
Isn't it blummin annoying!
... especially when there is no one else to blame but yourself!

Anyways she appeared beneath something else that had been 'lost' and I reckon she is finished after all lol
She probably hid herself, so I wouldnt tag any other bits on to her

So Posh Puss she is, made with kimono silk, as are the trees. The circular 'moons' are cut from a vintage silk tie and the backing is predominantly an indigo cotton cloth.
I think I must have been the only person awake and bidding one night on Ebay for the indigo and white cloth but there are afew odds and ends of navy cotton cloth to infill, here and there too.

So pleased Id found her, Id almost convinced myself she had run away!

Ursa Minor ish lol

2011-06-05T20:21:00.000+01:00

Well I think Im about done on this fish, moon and ursa minor hanging.
Its hanging abit skew whiff because the nail behind it sticks out, so the hanging that normally is there, sits just right lol
I used several bits of old lace doily in here, for ursa minor and for the wave crests too.
Theres a lot of stitching in the sky and amongst the waves on this one, which I enjoyed doing. But I put the fringe too on too early so spent ages untangling them from my threads as I stitched....wont do that again, will put the fringe on last!
I might call it 'Luscious Lips' after the fishies full red lips.....but will wait and see if anything else comes to mind first.

Sea fret at Spurn and thoughts on Judes workshops

2011-06-03T19:57:00.000+01:00

Incredibly hot hot today - and mid morning I needed a beach and sea air fix, so took off for a drive to Spurn Head.
I was rewarded with a wonderful sight. The sea fret ( mist off the sea) was gently rolling across the sands, blown by the breeze, it swirled round my ankles and wafted around me, there one minute and gone the next.
It was quite beautiful and it was one of those occasions where I wished Id had a fancy camera...and knew how to use it!
If you enlarge the pics you might get a glimpse, but these are poor shots with a point and shoot.

As I drove in, on the marsh estuary side of the Spurn spit, the fret was creepily rolling off the spit back across the rivers surface. Creepy but amazing to watch.

On the beach side and I was in the fret....

the tide not that long out.....

It was magical and not another soul in sight....

............then a blink and it cleared and all that sky was blue as blue and went on forever! The skies are amazing out there and the light when its good weather is stunning.

Then I found this stone which looked abit like the great beyond, jam packed with planets and galaxies.....and made me think of the sun, moon and stars whispering workshop Ive been doing...

And to cap it all on the drive home, I saw a sun bathed, blazingly russet fox trotting along the side of a field, as if he had not a care in the world.

Bonus magic that.

Oh yes then at yesterdays dental examination new pictures in the waiting room and this one reminded me of Judes Beasts workshop as well !

Had to buy them .... and WIP

2011-05-31T16:18:00.001+01:00

Last day off, back at work tomorrow and still very much want to drop my hours and have more time off in the week to myself.
I work 32 hours over 4 days at the moment but would prefer 3 days (naturally for the same money!) but we all dream dont we lol

Anyway I popped in to a charity shop, to drop a wedding dress in that pal Jean gave me to take to a charity shop for her.... 2/3 weeks ago!
I forgot it was in the boot and then kept meaning to take it, but finally did this morning!
(Help the Aged or Age Concern whichever its called now.)
So maybe an old dearie might buy it and make an honest man out of an old darlin' at the day centre there....... who knows.
But there was this book for a £1 and I couldnt resist it.......its choc full of lovely illustrations and memories of when I was a child trying to collect cigarette cards.
Looking back now, what an appalling sales technique it was, to get folks to collect cards and kids, later or sooner as many did I expect, to become smokers.
So keep your eyes out for it in charity shops or at the library and feast your eyes on it.

It also has pictures of the silks that used to also be in packs, must admit I knew little of those back then.

My parents smoked Woodbines and Players....both pure tobacco I reckon then and they stunk the house out.
No surprise I never smoked myself... by choice, though I must have inhaled as much as them no doubt..yukkk.

Not a very clear pic sorry but 14 little heart charms for £1.50 and 3 of those are cloisonne ....and Im sure thats not how you spell it....

Popped back to the local park to pick some more of the huge shrub that had given me such a fabulous rich maroon colour early in the year on fabrics.
One that I had no idea the name of, well what another surprise!
I know, I know, this time I MUST find out and identify it, again I hear Indias words in my head.... warning, never to pick anything you havent identified.
This is what the foliage looks like now!
Very pretty and its sizzling away downstairs even now, but the water is nowhere near the rich red it was back in the spring.
So it will be interesting to see what colour is gives this time round, if at all.

And this little piece came to life last night, excuse the small patches of rain water on the top right there........its dried okay thankfully.
Done something abit different with the moon this time.
It was a mishapen bleached out moon on denim, that had a pimply splodge where it shouldnt have had, on its edges.
So I cut it out as a circle and lightly stuck/ironed a little silver foil across it, linear like, to suggest the silvery moon. Then I stitched a coloured voile over it to give it that murky glow look and from the back, inserted a thin slither of felt, which has padded it abit.
Not sure if I like it padded though, may take that out yet.
Ive layered different fabrics for the sea and will add more as I include my flying fish, adding a little simple running stitch in sections to both hold it in place and add some play of movement maybe.

The fish may yet change shape because I think its too large at the moment.
But the 'interesting' fish fabric and colour is worth mentioning ..... lol
Its silk dyed with mahonia ( yellowy) and then ironed a second or two too long, after turning it right side out after hand stitching.........lol .... so its now a burnished orange!
Duhhhh but I quite like the colour lol

More Arts Trail at Saltaire

2011-05-29T16:40:00.001+01:00

One of the joys yesterday was meeting Claire whose blog I follow and seeing some of her fine work, first hand.

Claire works with adults who have difficulties in life and she is involved with a community allotment, which benefits them in so many ways.

Claire has used much of what has been grown to dye fabrics with incidentally and results can be seen on her blog.

Great to meet you Claire!

http://clarabellacraft.blogspot.com/

Bermantoft again.....but what amazing colours...

You may recognise the cute pincushion rings from Etsy or Folksy and they are as cute as they look!

Paula Perrins of

http://wychbury.blogspot.com/

AND LOOK! I could have brought them all home with me....

so much fun, so cute!

By Joanne Walker of http://www.stitchart.co.uk/

and look at that natty little drawer too.

What great use of the glitsy bracelet as well, doesnt she just look fabulous!

This is the way to see art.......above books, fabulous cards and art materials.

If you get the opportunity, do visit Salts Mill and see what else Bradford has to offer.

The dark satanic mills town has a great deal to interest us !

One of several for sale, cant find the listing for it though but they have one of the lesser houses ...
( ......... streets are named after his family you understand, George, Amelia, Ada, Edward, Fanny, Herbert, Whitlam, Helen, Albert, Constance, Shirley, Katherine, Jane...then theres Myrtle Place and others! )

1, Fanny Street is listed for £110,000 currently but not a patch to look at, as the lovely one above! Room sizes would be about the same mind you
and what a great address.........Fanny Street..........I love it!
http://www.ukpropertyshop.co.uk/estate-agents/ji-james-ickringill-co-6740.shtml

Oh and Riel......a postcard will be on its way tomorrow !

Saltaire Open Houses and Arts

2011-05-29T15:59:00.001+01:00

What a feast yesterday, to go and visit Salts Mill at Saltaire and follow the Arts Trail round the townships site.
Salts Mill is an amazing place in itself http://www.saltsmill.org.uk/ go
click to see the huge building and listen to the birdsong and wonderful calming music !
( then pop back leter lol)

" Sir Titus Salt was born near Leeds, Yorkshire, in 1803 to Congregationalist parents. He was the eldest of 6 children. His father leased a 100 acre farm in the area where he worked hard and prospered.

In 1822, Titus’s father Daniel left the farm and started his own business in Bradford as a woolstapler. Titus, then aged 18, joined his father and learned all aspects of the wool trade. He travelled to London, Liverpool, Norfolk and Lincolnshire learning about different types of wool and how to buy and sell between farmers and wooltraders.
When he was 28, Titus bought some Donskoi wool from Russia, but he couldn’t sell it – the tangled fibres made it difficult to process. Some of us might have given up at that point, but not Titus Salt; instead, he bought a mill of his own and began to spin the wool himself. His mill prospered, and soon he bought four more mills in the centre of Bradford. "

This above is taken from the official website so it gives you an idea who Titus Salt was.........do go over there and read about the fascinating story of how the enormous building and the village of houses for his workers was saved, renovated and has become a national treasure here in the north of england. It was all down to Jonathon Silver who saw the potential and realised the horror of plans to build a bypass road through the entire site.
David Hockneys drawings and paintings are hung and can be viewed within the enormous halls that once housed noisy, dangerous mill machinery.
An amazing place..
Anyways.....30 plus places in the village were open and displaying various art work by local artists and crafts folk. So you got to see the insides of the original old houses themselves, BONUS!
Mostly very small houses with no gardens to speak of, back to back yards and alleys, but the most amazing stained glass windows and I even found (painted over) Lincrusta in one or two of them.
Lincrusta was the Victorian equivalent of our Anaglypta wallpaper, I suppose a cheaper alternative to wood panelling. It was often over painted with wood effect colours, to simulate wood panelling in a way.

If you open the Salts Mill site you can continue to read my blog with the calming music in the background.........neat that!
( from she who doesnt have an MP3 or music in the ear anything...so is easily surprised anbd pleased lol)
OKAY..........so what did I see there?

"Samantha Bryan I am a mixed-media artist based in West Yorkshire."
http://www.brainsfairies.co.uk/gallery.php

Go look at this fairy of hers............isnt she simply the most oddball and wonderful fairy ever? Look at the weeny leather shoes! Darent take a piccy off her blog, it seems rude and it was too crowded in the wee house to take a photo then.
Do go look though.

The houses.......click to enlarge and see the original old stained glass in this one...and the street scene shows what were the larger, foremans houses, one or two in each street no doubt to keep the workers in line when not IN work!

The houses are small but lived in, many rented, several were up for sale, must look to see how much they cost! Mostly lived in by young professional couples since no room in them for families and afew by arty folks....with modern cars as you can see!
Though did spot this old Treasure.... with cream leather bucket seats and a fine old wooden dashboard that had a beautiful grain to it....

Displayed in Salts Mill are stunningly beautiful examples of Bermantoft pottery.........

WOW or what and such rich colours and patterns.....

Jardinaire heaven....

....and lillies, hundreds of long stemmed lilies in pots all over the place, what must that cost to keep them fresh and alive all year long mind you too....
Wonder what the inset metal area behind the lillies was for in its heyday?

Sir Titus Salt himself before a painting by Hockney of the mill building and below the ground floor room/hall that once was a buzz of machinery and noise... now a wonderfully relaxing haven of books, art materials, paintings and Bermantoft pieces.

Go make a cupper.........more in the next post!
:)

Shelaghs Rosey Rosey -ish and dye results

2011-05-23T22:18:00.000+01:00

I can finally say that Rosey Rosey is finished and I can think of nothing else to do to it. Its a twosum hanging now, but I suppose each would work on its own.
I grant you the brown tea towel does nowt for it of course!
I still have a third section to do something with but that will have to have different leaves, because I cant find the rest of the lace edging that I dyed and am sure the others were dyed with a different colourways anyway.
I have added beads and loose stitching to the flowers and took out the padding that had been in them.
Thats the first time Ive used Pro Markers to add to the background fabric, cant think why I havent done it before!

I had a dye session yesterday, with cold water dye and brambles (blackberries). Not bad results for only an overnight session.
My pal jean uses cold water dyes and I'd never really played with them but will definately do so again.
Mind you my moons turned out unexpected lol
I do not seem to have the knack of doing those. ....lol but am not disapointed with what emerged from the pot never the less!

Dylon
and think its called indigo, but the cold water sachet, which is SO much easier to sue than those daft little circular tins they sued to have the dye powder in lol

The above right was made by grabbing the wet cloth in the centre and swirling it round bit by bit, so it formed a spiral on itself. Then elastic banding it, to keep it together and pouring the dye mixture on it. That one seems to have worked splendidly, bet I wont manage it as well again lol
And my smaller moons, here at left, morphed into a humorous, spooky Roswell like, something or other!
All these are torn pieces of old linens, antimacassars and table cloths.

Again, a hanky with a whatever it is on it!

Here I used the brambles........3 punnets for a £1.00 at the fruit stall at car boot.........and they were huge, sweet and tasty!

I used one and half punnets for dyeing and theres some colour still in the pot to use up. I love the way its two sorts of colours. I used salt on all the fabrics, simmered the brambles in a steel pan and used the hard water from the tap, so nothing special at all.

And what about the crazy pinky red staining below here? You wont guess what that is so I am going to tell you lol

I used a rag to wipe up (spilt) red paint that I used on my front door step last week and threw it in the wash with the dogs towels!

And now the rag is streaked in places with this water mark effect...so its been cut into manageable pieces and is no longer in the duster and rag bag!

And lastly Ive bought a book, and in skimming through it am pleased I did!
Watch this space, Ive an idea for a Jude Hill / Louisa L Smith- ish, moon and sun!

Picking ones own burial site

2011-05-22T18:58:00.002+01:00

Its not at all mordling you know and my pal Sue selected the events of her burial with care and with great success I have to say.
It seemed a faultless occasion and must have been a huge help to her family and partner, to know that they were following her wishes and not doing anything she would have disliked.
We should probably all organise our own funerals to save those we love the anguish of doing it after we have gone, it seems fair somehow to me.
( I had best get my finger out and do it myself!)
It's like having made sure you have made a will you know?

Are family likely to know what music we'd have liked them to sit and listen to, what relevant words we might want said, that kind of thing.

Sue wanted a Peace Funeral, where she would be buried and in time able to regenerate the earth and become a part of the natural elements again. It must be some 2 years since she had chosen her spot and selected a silver birch tree to have grow above her.
It wasnt any cheaper than most funerals and it was many years since Ive been to a burial but you know, it was somehow far better than the cremations Ive been to.
It gave a closure of a different kind.
It seemed to be a contact with long past peoples, the way that our ancestors would have done it, laying kith and kin within the grounds arms, so they could become one with the earth again.
And to have birdsong and not other music at the graveside you know?
Just lovely.
Yes I know, there are so many of us we cant all be buried of course.
But to know you will be entwined amongst the roots of a tree, the same kind that you have always loved to sit beneath, and listen to the breeze rippling through its leaves above your head, in life.........what solace that must have given her.

The gathering was in a thirteenth century manorial barn at Whiston, near Sheffield, after which we to drove afew miles out into the countryside, to the woodland site itself.

" The Mediaeval Manorial Barn on Chaff Lane has been restored and is used as a village hall and is available for hire. It dates in part back to the Thirteenth Century and was use by the Lord of the Manor to store the grain collected from his serfs and peasants by way of tax. The barn ceased to be used and fell into disrepair before it was bought by Whiston Parish council in 1985. It was extensively restored and is a Grade 2* listed building. "

Inside were 3 large stitched panels, I think they may have been done by WI members, I've an idea I have seen them exhibited at Harrogate at a show, but if you know different, do put me right!
Halfway up on the left of the first picture is a stitched version of the inside of the barn itself.
I sat looking over Sues' wicker coffin at that very end of the building, the enormous aged old beams that hold up the thatched roof above us.
We all soaked up the peacefulness and listened to Vaughn Williams music, The Lark Ascending.........again, Sues choice of music.

A lady spoke words from Sue herself and memories were shared amongst us, if not spoken, then certainly in our thoughts.

The collection was to be for her favourite charity, one we regularly donated to, when we were fund raising for own cat rescue group.
The Doctor Hadwin Trust for Humane Research
(http://www.drhadwentrust.org/)

Sue is now laid in a small forest to be, in South Yorkshire (http://www.peacefunerals.co.uk/Woodland.html) and it was just delightfully peaceful with bird song in the background as the guys carried her wicker coffin through knee high wild flowers and grasses, winding past copper beech, rowan trees, oaks and elders........though I did see a monkey puzzle tree.............not sure what that was about!
(Perhaps a wife or hubby with a sense of humour!)

On the way out after leaving Sue in her place of rest I did notice a lady tending to a plot around a tree. I felt she had kind of missed the point of having a loved one buried in a natural woodland environment......
Because she had planted tulips and daffodils beneath the tree, and they stood about 18" tall, packed together in a 4' x4' block like sardines, forming a protective barrier against 'nature' lol
It looked like a manicured little enclave of urban garden amongst the wild growth wafting lightly in the breez all around it...
Sue would have had something to say about that lol

And I learned that just before she had passed away, they had heard a dogs bark at the door of her room in the hospice....where there had been no dog.
So we hope it was her beloved dog Eddie who died a year or so before her, coming for her... we have to hope dont we?

On a lighter note...pun....and planetary alignments

2011-05-14T19:17:00.000+01:00

Having signed up for Jude Hills - Sun, Moon, Stars Whispering mini series I have been lightening fabrics in planetary shapes and was thrilled with this crushed velvet result......no idea as yet what I will do with it, but just love it as it is ~
Love the colour thats left behind, I used the bleach and vim mix again and it took less than 10 minutes.
I stumbled on an old single quilt cover in the charity shop and was taken with the stars on it though it is an odd shade of not quite french navy cum jade background.......but couldnt very well leave it in the sho at 99p!
As you can see..........discharge paste did nothing much to the background colour....lol

I was in need of fresh air today so spent an hour or so beach combing, on the river foreshore nearby. Its tidal so there was that rich briny smell in the air and a fresh breeze, just the job.

I was searching for heart shaped stones.......I wanted one to place on Sues coffin when its buried, but in the end I didnt find a large enough one, so will use one of my own from my garden, that I picked up at Spurn Head a while back.
(I did find a couple of small ones though for Peggy, so they will go in the post next week, along with afew bits of sea glass lol)

On the subject of sun, moon and stars..there is an aligment of 4 planets at the moment which are visible by the naked eye, certainly in Australia and here in the UK but surely elsewhere as well?
(They are mercury, venus, mars and saturn.......good huh?)

http://www.news.com.au/technology/friday-the-13th-and-the-planets-align/story-e6frfro0-1226055078182

and also

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1942455.stm

so those of you also sunning and mooning, might like to check it out.
It could be said that I have seen the 4 said planets in line, across the UK heavens.........but if Im honest.........I could have 'dot to dotted' 4 shiny 'stars' all over the place and assured myself they were THE big 4!
So whose to really know without a telescope to confirm it and anyway it seems that mars zigzags about at the best of times !
But its an interesting thing to ponder when planning another planetary textile piece ala Judes workshops :)