June hexi BOM and some

I meant to mention that at the Quilt Museum I noticed one or two quilts had been worn away in (mostly silk fabric) areas and they had been 'conserved'.
Many of you may know this already but it struck me as such a clever way to preserve the integrity of a genuine vintage quilt and prevent further damage to the thin or frayed areas.

A small holed tulle had been hand stitched over damaged areas and it was virtually invisible on patterned fabric. I saw both black and white tulle used on different quilts and it was almost invisible!
They had even cut the tulle in zig zaggy, so that it was laid over a vertical strip of hexis, following the edges of the hexi strip perfectly!

We have a leggy teenage visitor in the adjacent field at work, sadly with a limp bless him/her.

 So many consider them vermin but I find them fascinating.

York Quilt Museum - snickelways and gin

I found I had the day off granddaughter duties today and on the
spur of the moment, I decided to go to York to the Quilt Museum.
Some pics of York's old buildings to set the scene ~

 

The famous 'Shambles' which back in the day were all butchers shops.

 

 

York is well known for it's 'snickelways' like this below,

 

 

 

In fact those of you overseas might find this site interesting and throw some light on snickelways and ginnels too!

If you google York England and snickelways you will find a host of smashing pictures of these nooks and crannies.

Anyway back to the Quilt Museum : )

My hope was to have seen the original Godstone Grannies hexi quilt which Karen is currently making her own version of.
http://faeriesandfibres.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/godstone-grannies-and-sheilas-quilt.html
But they have a rolling series of displays and the Godstone was in storage, so I am arranging with Heather the Curator,
to go back and see it and she tells me I can take photos of it then!

That's smashing because no one can take pictures in the display room itself so although I saw some fascinating quilts today,
I have no photos of them to show you in situ : (
Interesting original 'bosses' I think they are called though on the stairs outside the display room lol

Running until August 30th is a display that cleverly displays
quilts of the appropriate original period, with costumes from
Downton Abbey (2010), The Portrait of a Lady ( Isabelle Archer) ,
Jane Eyre ( 2011), Elisabeth Bennet (1995)and Georgina Cavendish ( The Duchess 2008).

In other words, original quilts are shown, that would have been in use from those late Georgian to the Edwardian periods, which was an interesting way for me to understand what was fashionable when,
 and what fabrics were used at that time.
I found it interesting to see how many had both dress and upholstery fabrics in them too!
I guess drapers would sell a mixture in the bags of fabric scraps that they sold and those bags were much sought after obviously.
Not much alters lol we all value others' scraps!


This particular costume was on display for example
(http://entertainment.time.com/2012/02/17/the-clothes-of-downton-abbey/)

Interesting to note that the Lady Dowager was in half morning at this stage in the series, for those that had died in The Titanic disaster.
Once the initial period of mourning was over, it was acceptable to allow other colours into the wardrobe, purple, lilac and grey were most acceptable.
I don't recall understanding that when I first watched the programme.

Alongside this costume was the most sumptuously quilted gold satin quilt from the 1930-40s, maker unknown. It had been quilted on a Cornely machine and it had the most beautiful stitching.
The Quilt Museum display catalogue says this -
"The machine has a hook and a circular foot which is guided by the operator into the desired design."
Nothing was drawn onto the fabric and machinists trained for a long time to achieve their stunning skills.
The stitching is a chain stitch rather than a machine sewn stitch.
You can still buy these machines!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Singer-114W103-Chainstitch-Embroidery-Industrial-Sewing-Machine-/111211475725?pt=UK_CraftsCollect_SewingMachines_RL&hash=item19e4b8730d

but at a price!

Take the time to look at this and hover over the quilting! Sadly it doesn't show you the attractive and unusual chain stitching the machine produced though.
http://www.quiltmuseum.org.uk/collections/heritage/gold-scrolled-quilt.html

I was nothing short of gobsmacked by a crazy patchwork 1877 coverlet which was completely overstitched with embroidery and I mean completely!
It was nothing short of amazing - see link below

http://www.quiltmuseum.org.uk/collections/embroidered-and-embellished/pawnbroker-crazy-coverlet.html


There were quite a few vintage hexi quilts there, most were 3/4" or 1" hexis ,made of either silk and/or cotton dress fabrics but I particularly liked the way one had incorporated the surrounding hexi flowers, into the outside of a central pathway of sorts.
I can't explain it properly so nip over and look!

http://www.quiltmuseum.org.uk/collections/heritage/hexagon-top-with-block-
printed-panel.html

Mary Anne you may be interested in this vintage Huswife!
Made in teeny tiny diamond hexis - mind boggling! and I loved the needle holder bits at the bottom!
http://www.quiltmuseum.org.uk/collections/heritage/mosaic-patchwork-huswife.html

I popped into the fabulous button shop 'Duttons'
http://www.duttonsforbuttons.co.uk/

and that's just one wall!

On the way home I cruised country lanes so I could collect some ( hopefully lead free!) elderflowers to steep in gin ~
Hogweed shapes are on my wallpaper at home -  its a great shape for design : )

Then I called into the Waitrose supermarket on my home, to buy some cheap gin for the infusion and some not so cheap for me to drink now lol
Well Who Knew there were so many gins to choose from, and that Id never heard of before!
All those different brands!
I bought 'OPIHR' to drink now, which is infused with oriental botanicals ( and tastes very nice too I assure you) and was in a lovely bottle ~

 

~ but am pretty sure that one above, Gin Mare,

is going to be my next purchase lol

My Yorkshire granma used to say you were a 'mare' if you were contrary!

Oh ......  and not an 'offending' tattoo in sight today : )

Thank goodness I didnt have camera with me!

Driving along Hessle Road earlier today I saw a tall slim lass in denim shorts, with a guy and a small child who was riding a bike.
The couple looked pretty rough it has to be said!
She had a large tattoo on her right thigh and as I sat at the traffic lights and glanced across, I realised what she had
from her groin to about 6" above her knee -
it was a very large and long,  tattoo of a bulging scrotum and a lengthy male appendage, in graphic detail ~
Now I freely admit I am not too enamoured of tattoos that show above and beyond straps and on female bare shoulders, but I accept that it's a personal choice and many consider them to be exquisite artwork, so good luck to them.
My daughter has tats too, though subtle ones lol despite my dislike lol
And I have to admit to liking some tats on some guys - like the River Boys from Home & Away ~ sighs with feeling ~ although I expect many of them are simply character make up temporary ones lol



But even so I have to ask WHY
would any lass want a HUGE penis and scrotum
on a lovely sleek thigh?????

Perhaps she's  a hooker and that's, like an advertising ploy?
Or is it the length and width measure, of what she's looking for in life?
Mind you I'd have thought it would have been really intimidating for a male travelling by that thigh - as it were lol
and she'd best keep looking in summer, because we know what happens to them there things, in the real cold weather lol
I guess every one has a dream right, but to wear it on a thigh like that? yukkkkkkkkkkyy

A little earlier I caught sight of a 30 something lass waiting at some other traffic lights and she was using a childs scooter to get about on - now that I thought was innovative lol

its a joy to open my back door at the moment, my small rear patio is a real sun trap and the plants Ive collected together, make looking out of the kitchen window a joy.
I have even gathered in mange tout, sugar snap peas and courgettes and 2 single strawberries lol so not bad given the 5' high weeds that inhabited the garden when I first moved in lol

I finally cut into the wonderful vintage Sanderson fabric that someone gave me and have made a new insert for my shoulder bag.  I washed the 6.5 yds and the musty smell wafted away thankfully.
I love this old foxglove flowered fabric but it would be way too dark for curtains in my rooms, but it works great as a substantial lining.
I have made a flap over from the fabric ,with a button fastening since taking this picky.
So my charity shop bargain bag with the naff lining has been renewed lol with a bit of vintage charm : )

Winslow Homers knitted painting and some hexis : )

 You'd almost forgotten about this painting that we were helping to recreate as part of the 'Follow The Herrings' didn't you!
Well here it is in the foyer of Hull Truck Theatre, an accompaniment to the Hull  stage of the 'Just Tie Up Your Fingers' theatre production.
Finished and looking smashing, all blocked and stretched on a frame,
it wasn't a disappointment!

 

 It was Sue McBride who came up with the idea to recreate this painting in knitting and a variety of local folks have knitted bits for it. Sue and some of her knitting group friends,  (The Materialistics ), finally blocked the pieces and stitched the whole thing together.

Holy Trinity Church, where the wonderful coble boat is and all the fabulous knitting shown in my previous 2 posts, have asked to have this knitted painting later, so I'm chuffed to think it will be on permanent display there.

The play which I went to see this evening and enjoyed, centres around 3 women's lives back in 1881 and this particular Homer painting also features 3 fisher women, which is why Sue selected it!
I really liked the way the sky was interpreted, as if the dreadful storm of 1881 was there in the distance, creeping towards land.

I was relieved to see that the womens' faces which I'd stitched did look to scale in the end lol But I still think I made the woman on the right look pretty scary! lol

Not that the colours are true, so will take another pic in daylight, but these are my latest hexi florets - as opposed to flowers!

Oh and I noticed at school today that the caretakers had rigged up another outdoor play toy for the nursery kids and I thought it was such a clever idea.

They have made use of odd and ends of piping and rainwater whatever they are called - and by the looks of it, the kids can roll ping pong balls from top to bottom. I thought it would be good fun for littlies at play.

Legs, hearing aid decorations : )

Saw this at car boot Sunday morning and it made most folks walking by, chuckle lol

 

I should have asked how much they were really!
On the way home it occurred to me they'd have made really unusual  vertical fence supports for some ones garden lol
real conversation pieces!

Made these hearing aid decorations last week for a Spiderman fan who needs encouragement to wear his hearing aids ~ you'll notice that the backside of the cooked shrink plastic looks nicer, smoother and almost 3D, as compared to the
 front side - on the right - which tends to be a little rougher.
Duhhh I stuck the beads on the wrong blummin sides!!
Anyway the child was chuffed with them even so.

You know how maddening it is when the most favourite jeans you have, that you've had for years mind you, starts to wear thin in places that are too hard to piece easily? like tween the thighs!
I'm not giving up on mine yet and had already back filled the distressed designer holes -

 

 

but had to think again for the somewhat larger thinned out parts!

 

 

Well I can live with them like this and it saves my modesty at least

and won't shock any passing vicar lol

 

Oh and this picky was passed through to me by Jean who attended the Artlink exhibition opening and you can see the natty way they displayed the wired fishes us folks made.

I really like this method of displaying them and they

are good fun to make too.

 

 

Thought Jean may have posted more pics of that event

but shes been unwell so bookmark her blog and

catch up on more pics later.

She may also post a pic of the coat she made with human hair,

 which was in another exhibition on the same night as Artlinks  : )

http://jeansmuse.blogspot.co.uk/2014_06_01_archive.html

Follow the Herring - again lol

 

the fisher lasses travelling trunk, though how she would have carted it about without wheels like today lol, I just don't know!

this above really is striking ~
and lastly on a patchwork note, the old floor tiles in a small chapel had my mentally fussy cutting fabrics lol

Follow the Herring exhibition Part 2

More exhibition pictures ~ Holy Trinity Church is a lovely church to visit and they even have a peaceful area to sit and have a cupper too. A calming alternative to the chains of coffee houses : )

 

even knitted stones lol
I thought these were very touching, they are a commemoration of local fishermen lost at sea, with the mens names and the boats names that were lost too.

2 larger blackboards stood alongside,  names similarly recorded

 

The fishing industry is such a hazardous way to earn a living and I suspect the days of small boats with huge hauls are long past now. 
It was a major local industry to the coastal ports, with centuries of traditions, sea skills, coastal cultures and characters now fading like mists, out of the memories into history.
With enormous factory fishing vessels for commercial companies having all but fished some places so persistently that fish stocks have declined drastically, the local fishermen eek out a living, in a way of life that no longer pays its way.
Supermarkets drive down the costs and fishermen and farmers alike are caught between a rock and hard place.