the accidental embroidery student

now the strange thing is that I never intended studying embroidery!
In the eighties I made a couple of rag dolls and stitched one kit, prior to that I has taken art O and A levels, late eighties I picked up on bobbin lace which was later abandoned until recently and got caught up in the cross stitch trend as it swept across the UK. Completed a few kits, designed my own pictures, discovered black work, and stitched one embroidery kit.
I did however discover patchwork and followed the instruction in the magazine to make a cover for the chess table.
Everything changed in 1997 when we decided to go to the Artic Circle on our motorcycle, Biker Ted takes up the story here.
The quilts grabbed my imagination and when I saw the advert for C&G courses I went so sign up for Patchwork and Quilting! See, even when I got there I was intent on doing patchwork, just a one year course to learn the basics.
I never thought about the fact that I would be "interviewed" before being able to sign up! so after being reprimanded for not making an appointment I found myself meeting the tutor with two other prospective students who had bought their portfolios of work with them. Sitting there, quietly wishing the ground would swallow me up, I listened to the tutor explain both the patchwork and embroidery courses and realised that the embroidery courses actually sounded more fun although it meant several years of study.
so there you are, I never intended to study embroidery!
We were strongly encouraged to use recycled materials and cover any files and books used.