Whitework and more scrappy patchwork

I've made three so far but only two photos here to show .... and annoyingly I have run out of the pretty pink rosebud fabric, edging the top one here ........ so my 4th cushion pad will have to have a different edging fabric. 

Ah well, different is good too : )

I may have to keep making more big blocks whilst I'm in between homes. I've plenty of scraps and hand stitching like this is very therapeutic lol

Some local removal guys are moving me out of my house on saturday afternoon and storing it all for me, until I can move into my next home.

The completion is on monday or tuesday but I thought Id jump ship ahead of time and get the house cleaned through with less stress.

Mind you if my buyer pulls out last minute ...... I will be moving back in quick smart!!

Last saturday was our East Yorkshire Embroidery Society meeting and the speaker was a delightful young woman called Katie Pirson.

She is Royal School of Needlework trained and had brought the pieces she had stitched to show us.

For those of you who are keen on whitework or follow Karen Ruanes amazing work, I took these pics to share with you.

Utterly beautiful work this one below ........ 

                                                     exquisite detail

and her Montmelick........is that how its spelt? 

 and then - so pretty - sort of ring a ring a roses - ish!

Still waiting to move so hand stitching ..

Sorry for not being around but my brain and concentration has seriously suffered in this whole selling and moving house process!
And no .......... I've still not moved and am still at home waiting for my buyer to get her act together - and mildly concerned that she's going to back out!

I've been sorting and clearing out my stuff for weeks now.
I've donated, offloaded and thinned down my belongings and have still got 30 or so boxes of just stash to move with lol

All this activity has meant the blog and my stitching has fallen by the way side and I have reaffirmed, that stitching is my therapy.
So at the latest set back, I had to DO something and of course had packed away my hexis and other works in progress - duhh

But I found a box of fabric scraps and set to hand stitching for sanity ~

The idea is that they will become cushion pad covers to lay over my dining chair seats, which both cats will lay on and cover in their hair.
These pics are the first one and I'm half way through the second 

  but only mildly de stressed!

 So this is short and sweet and I will be back later, I promise.
I hope life's treating you all well and that your warm and contented, where ever you are : )

Brain freeze ......

Apologies are in order! ......... I've been so blessed pre-occupied I've fallen short of posting : (

The fact is that someone finally decided to make an offer on my house so I've been chasing around looking at other homes with a view to buy.
I have now found a place so with fingers crossed I'm hoping that my sale and the new purchase goes through lol

And thinking positively, I've begun packing and sorting and de-cluttering, which is both exhausting and distressing! 
All those bits that I've kept to 'use one day', but haven't gotten round to using? 
- well, do I keep them or do I donate them to the local art college or the charity shop?
Decisions, decisions..........

But I'm downsizing from a 3 bed very roomy house, to a smaller 2 bed with a boarded out loft ( that had formerly had a train layout in it!)

Well now, I'm two thirds through the craft gear and yes, I've donated  a lot to the art college for the students there to sift through.
 I've donated clothes and kids toys to the charity shop, I've taken some bits to Scrapstore and I've thinned down my magazine stash too.

Mind you I can't part with my CPS or QA's - no - nor some of the Greencraft and Patchwork mags that I received in swaps with Mary Anne.

 Then there's my craft books, they all now fill a lot of Asda's wonderful plastic canvas 39p carriers bags, lots of them.
And my paperbacks, mostly bought for very little at car boot stalls or charity shops and almost all yet to be read..........they too are in Asda bags lol

Of course now I've to box up the rest of my day to day gear........... I'm still going to need a pantec vehicle to move it all! Even if the sale falls through, at least I will have thinned down my stuff I suppose!

Now I need to ask a question but it may be that I'm just being thick lol

IF Google reader is now, not there any more - right?
How come when I log onto Blogger.com ....................... all the  blogs that I follow are still there?
I'd forgotten, again, to log in to Bloglovn and yet there all the blogs I follow are still on my Blogger...........so why have we all added Bloglovn etc for folks to continue to follow us?
Am I missing something simple here or did Google Reader not die? lol

My stitching has taken a back seat somewhat and my daughter, with baby Evie and her hubby, are moving in with me and my packed boxes next week too! 
So I'm not going to be getting much done for the next 3 weeks or so either!
They are also on the move and are with me until their new house is all sorted out or until I myself move - I never do things the easy way me ... lol

Bits n bobs - and spam on Bloglovn?

Okay so my hexi cover is growing but slowly .......... but that's fine, 
there's really no rush and I will try and complete it before I die lol 
It is great to just pick it up and put it down though, as the whim takes me ...........all be it, that that means, the box with it all in, 
sits next to me on the settee............all the time! hey ho -

Jack here busy cutting out baby turtles which he had me draw..........
and he also wanted "hundreds and hundreds" ( who the hell taught him that quantity???) of turtle eggs too! But naturally I cheated and you can see them bottom left lol squiggly circles en masse phew!

I hate making these blessed tactile maps of Europe for work, but here's one not quite finished. 
(Iceland and Denmark but two countries that are missing but of course, you'd spotted that I'm sure ..) 
How on earth a child with no sight can feel and UNDERSTAND the notion, of so many countries on a slightly larger than A3 base is beyond me,
 but the teachers ask for them for each of our children that goes up to secondary school.
40 plus different textures and a key with each texture representing one country ........... a blummin nightmare lol 

LOL I did NOT teach her to pull her tongue out ........... I swear I didn't!!
She's coming on really well thankfully and so is her lovely mum.

I put another tree hanging together but used a square lampshade 'ring' this time.

and I cut out some coasters from firmly felted thick woollies and crocheted edgings for them. I've enough for gifts as well as for myself too. 

So how are you finding BlogLovn or whichever other feed you've opted for? 
I was disappointed  to find that I had umpteen unsolicited feeds from Discovery News on my BlogLovn, which I certainly hadn't signed up for. 
I have yet to log in again and see if they been removed after my leaving Feedback.

I watched the most fascinating 'Imagine' programme the other night about a childrens nannie who took photographs all her life with an old Rolaflex camera. 
They only came to life, after her death, when the contents of her storage lockers went up for sale.
 Remarkable pictures and obviously an odd, but fascinating woman.
Vivian Maier, well worth watching the Alan Yentob programme on BBCiPlayer, link below.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0366jd5/imagine..._Summer_2013_Vivian_Maier_Who_Took_Nannys_Pictures/

Wasn't it heartbreaking to hear about those firefighters who died last week. 
I can't imagine how it must be for their families, so many lost lives, such a dreadful waste. 
My heart goes out to them all. 
It puts everyday life into perspective doesn't it, when such dreadful things like that happen.
Rest in Peace guys.

An otter of sorts !

I've been a bit quiet, preoccupied with the new grandaughter, sorry lol

I was asked at work to quickly supply a diagram or model of an otter, for a blind lass for an exam.
So from this -

I came up with this lol

I know.........dead cat right?!!

Against all my principals I used beaver lamb fur which had been in my stash of work stuff, donated by someone, somewhen. 
Its difficult to portray perspective because of course a person with no sight and that has never had sight, will not understand the relevance of perspective.
Someone who has a visual memory is more likely to remember and understand what perspective is ie. that one leg and one arm is infact behind the body in this case.
So to replicate the exact picture from this exam sheet is flawed for a child with no sight. I'm assured there will be an aide to help the child understand what they are feeling, if necessary. ... if only to say its not a dead cat!!
Talking about cats........

I thought you might like to see this lovely stitched cat that was on display at our last club meet.......

and an Evie update lol

5 weeks old already - 

At home I'm back to stitching up more hexis for my bed cover. Funny how the need to make them hits and its like a form of therapy, you just need to make them you know?

Bargain rail find ..... and jellies

On the way home today from meeting Jean for a coffee in town 

I spontaneously thought I'd nip into the Age Concern charity shop.

It amuses me since by weekday its a large Age Concern Centre and the charity shop is within it, but having driven past it in the dark hours once on my way home from the cinema....

I realised that by night, it has a couple of ladies of the night patrolling outside its shuttered windows lol

I wonder if they give OAP discount to Age Concern members!!

Anyway the bargain rail was packed and this quilt was folded up on a hanger and priced at £1.50!

It's handmade, hand quilted here and there and has in its day been rather nicely done.

My size 6.5 foot will give you an idea of its size.

(Eagle eyed amongst you might even notice that my big toe which once had a bunion below it ............. 

now sticks up and out like a mini erection ....

proving that the NHS has varying degrees of success on bunion ops!)

There is some stitching coming adrift in the central area and there's batting seeping through in places and you can see the quilting was very hit and miss, but there's very little of it thankfully.

What I've done, already lol, is taken it apart so I can wash the front and back through, discarded the wadding and I will

 try and repair the skew whiff log cabin bits

 then see how best to use it next.

But at £1.50 ......... I couldn't leave it on the bargain rail could I!!

Oh and look what else I bought today ...........

and no, there was no OAP discount on these!!!

(Jean had seen these before, but I had begun to believe she may seen them after much wine consumption LOL)

jellyatrix - OAP jelly 'babies'  

spot the zimmer frame!

Some thing that struck a chord with me.....

"Memories are more than recollected experiences.
They're displacements of ourselves in time and space.
They're events our younger self witnessed and participated in, 
recalled by an older self, who often wonders if he's truly the same person.
They're visions of people we once knew.
And, bewilderingly, we are one of those people."


(from Fault Line by Robert Goddard opening paragraph of Chapter 2)

This resonates with me in so many ways...

We have had two glorious hot, bright days up here in East Yorkshire.
Sheer bliss - though I doubt it will last lol

Chelsea Flower Show - Leather flowers??

http://www.thewomensroomblog.com/2013/05/02/susannah-hunters-chelsea-flower-show-leather-garden/

No I haven't been lucky enough to go to the Chelsea Flower Show and
they say this is the first time that a display of leather flowers have been featured in one of the gardens!
I bet they'd be wonderful to see in situ too.

If your going, let me know what they are like, in the, er.... leathery flesh will you please?

The swallows have arrived above this East Yorkshire garden, I hope the long arduous flight was worth it for them and we have some warmth for them to glory in.

Finger puppets and family : )

Daughter, grandaughter Evie and son in law with Evie's cousin Jack.

Aint life grand.............!

More bits for the Nursery Rhyme Storysack -

 Finger puppets - 3 little pigs and Wolfy, who has a bushy tail tucked out of sight and also Jack and Jill.
I love my job lol 

 

Evie piccy and some finishes ...

spot the cutie lol

I made up a Hickory Dickory Dock activity board,
 to go in a Nursery Rhyme Storysack for use with our hearing impaired children. 
Mousey slides up and down and it's about 13" tall.

Then I found a Consonant Clock, that I marker pen coloured in, cut out
and laminated, sticking it onto thicker card.
I found it on the below link in case your interested.

teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/reproducibles/.../hickorydickory.pdf

I got the crochet cushion finished using a felted pink woolly and some old mother of pearl buttons.

and the back ............. 
 once I'd photographed it I could clearly see how out of line one of the buttons was, so I restitched it into line with the other 3 - but then forgot to take a new piccy ............ so this is the before!
Trust me it's fixed now lol
I used cut off, inside seams from the jumper, to form the loops.

Rag Rugging and Ive a grandaughter as of today whoop whoop

My daughter gave birth to her first child Evie last night, both well thank goodness but I've had my mind on her pregnancy and with her being so overdue ............. so no blog posts for a little while sorry!

I missed out on our Embroidery Groups monthly talk today since I was at the hospital with Tylah but please nip to Jeans blog, she went and it was a great tell and show by all accounts.

Id been looking forward to seeing Heathers rag rugging dam it lol wouldn't you know it ~

pop over to Jeansmuse@blogspot.com and see the fabulous rugs and pictures.

Heathers worth reading up on .......... she's responsible for Rug Aid which teaches blind folks to make rag rugs overseas too .......... take a look and feel free to donate to help them : )



http://www.rug-aid.org/

Erica Wilson and links to take a peek at

One of the other things I picked up recently at a charity shop was a 1978 paperback book :

Erica on Embroidery - Highlights from the television series

I had never seen the 1973 programme myself and having found some video clips of her on You Tube, I don't recognize her at all and since she has a definate style, I'm sure I would have remembered seeing her.
She's almost quintesentially posh British !

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erica_Wilson)

This link may ring a bell or two in your memory and one thing on this particular clip that I thought was really clever, was using voile net to transfer the owl pattern, check it out.
(Erica Wilson stitches an owl )


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q082yaftI44 


I stumbled on this talented lady Divan Niekerk, who has embroidered the Flower Fairies, which you can view here. 
They look delightful and you too may not have seen them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avrIoI4a8rQ

And another find in one of the charity shop Embroidery magazines I picked up this past week, was a brief little mention about 

Maria Saunderson, who has also illustrated children's books with her embroidered pictures. 

In fact these two books are her own stories both of which look interesting.

If like me, any of you stitchers out there remember the Beatles from your youth with fondness, 

then one of her books has it all for us!

(Yes, these are both on order as I type here ........... lol)

This below book explains how 2 of Liverpool's ferries the Royal Daffodil and Royal Iris became to be 'Royal'and no it wasn't as a result of Dunkirk but it was to do with a WW1 battle.

http://www.stitchnfriends.co.uk/beatles.htm

and get this one!! Check out the piccies !

I know ....... there's little hope for me your so right ...

that British Sewing Bee...... and what I made this wknd..

http://gillymakes.blogspot.co.uk/

Nip over and see this post showing the opening of the new haberdashery shop that Lauren from the British Sewing Bee tv program and her hubby have opened ........ its a very impressive looking shop and looks as if it may be a runaway success for them.

My grandson tells me his bum gets cold when he sits in his pajamas to eat his breakfast, on his red chair ........... 
well we can't have that can we 

so he now has a bum warmer cushion 

I fancied doing a little crochet and am using some of the garter stitch baby blanket cotton yarns that were left over ........ it may front a cushion, maybe ..

and did you notice the Embroidery magazines in the pictures?

I found a stash of back copies in a charity shop that Jean originally put me onto and I bought almost all of those after 2000 ........... well okay and one or two from the 90's too.
Many will head over in time to Canada for Mary Anne but am thrilled because several of the mags have articles, on even more embroidered illustrations for children's books! 
Who knew!
Did you know for example that Penguin published 3 of the classics  with commissioned embroidery covers?
I certainly didn't and although I have watched the films ........... I have never read the books, well, that's my excuse for if I buy them!

Emma - The Secret Garden - Black Beauty

In the august 2010 Embroidery magazine there was an interesting article about Rachel Griffin who embroidered on fabric and paper to provide the illustrations for 'The Fabrics of Fairytale' book that I'd picked up a while ago.
She had formerly illustrated an Oxfam calender and also 'African Tales' which is worth a look at too.

Having a grandchild is a great excuse for buying yourself embroidery illustrated, children's books and that's going to be my excuse here on in ....... lol 

Book review link and lucky me whoop whoop

http://sewing.craftgossip.com/giveaway/review-giveaway-adventures-in-pompom-land/




Nip across to the link above and see the book review there ........ I've fallen for the pom pom characters in it..... soooo delightful.
The owl and kitten are especially lovely and its a Lark Books Giveaway 
too ...... 
my fingers are crossed but maybe one of you could win instead!

And here is another link for you to look at
www.taniasneesby.com

knowing my addiction for textile illustrations, well Tania makes the most glorious stitched pictures that are stories all of their own. 
This is her new website.

But to be fair, I have already been extremely lucky because these arrived in todays mail!

 Exquisitely made and packaged so beautifully and are a gift from Rachel at
 http://bluefinchjewelry.blogspot.co.uk/

Earlier this year I took part in the Grow Your Blog Tour which was great fun and a super way to get to know and visit the blogs of like minded creative folks.

     Rachel kindly said she would send them a gift if they left her a message, although frankly I did not leave a comment for that, I'd been really taken with her delightful designs.
Please take a look!

More Ebay mail and embroidered illustrations -

This is delightfully illustrated, look closely!
I am completely hooked on this kind of children's book illustration and I seem to have acquired another hobby ........... that of collecting books with them in! 

and another DK book - who knew! DK!

and then this fun one

loving that octopus lol