A Grand day out part one

woke up yesterday, sun shinning, hopped on a bus, stepped on a tram and caught a train to Lincoln

So I got off the train and walked up to the canal,



then walked up the hill


and up the hill


and up the hill


and up the hill



and pass the Cathedral



My Destination was the university where the Spinners and Dyers had been holding a Summer school and they were having a small trade fair. I treated myself to all sorts of fluffy goodness for spinning and feltmaking.



I also had the chance to play on a kromski sonata spinning wheel, spins like a dream although a bit more expensive than I was planning on......thinking about it :-)

Nottingham Riverside Festival

We had planned to go down to the festival yesterday but the weather put paid to that! so we wandered down today and found this...



and amongst the attractions and music I found this



of course I had to join in, just happened to have a drop spindle in my bag :-)

postal treats

I am a member of Unlimited Textiles, an internet swap group although I don't always have time to play.
This month the subject for the 5 inch quiltie was seasons and I received this lovely autumn quiltie from June ( I don't seem to have blog details for June, If you have one can you add a link in the comments? thanks)

Spell Book ?

not quite, each year I keep a holiday journal and since we will be heading north of the border, a celtic feel seemed to be appropriate.

Please excuse the dodgy photos but velvet seems to confuse my camera. The finished book is sort of darker blue than the photos.





size A5

looking for texture

inspiration-sunset, carded merino plyed with commercial mohair. plyed for texture, not yet set ( waiting for the rain to stop!


I've borrowed a spinning wheel again now that I have destashed a bit and made a space for it to live in. I plan to play and experiment over the next couple of weeks just to see what works :-)

Nottingham by the Sea

or a big pile of sand in the square! I have to admit that they have done a good job and it was certainly very busy when I wondered down yesterday. Sort of gave this city of ours a sunny feel that you don't normally find here. Since they rehashed the market square a couple of years ago, they are now beginning to discover its potential as an entertainment venue. We have had music concerts, a big wheel, ice skating rink ( the scene of my downfall) and the fountains have a constant stream of kids playing in them as soon as the weather warms up.



putting it all together



the scene yesterday

Unlimited Textiles Quiltie

Its been a while since I took part in an unlimited textile swap so I signed up to make a 5 inch quiltie on the theme of Seasons. I had forgotten how relaxing it is to make something entirely by hand. I was going to finish it on the sewing machine but decided that it would look wrong.

So here it is.



Plan of attack today...wander into town to look at Nottingham by the sea. Yes they appear to have imported the seaside into our city centre...watch out for the photos!

Patchwork on the Plinth

Please visit Claire or Vicky for full details.


Those of you in the UK, and further afield for that matter, may have heard about the art project in Trafalger Square, on the Fourth plinth of Nelson’s Column. Our craft group Stitched Up have been approached by Hazel Ellerby, a local actress/ artist to help make a quilt t0 celebrate the women of the East Midlands. She’s asking for women to contribute a quilt square that passes on a message either about yourself, or what you would want to say to the world. The squares will be sewn into a qulit, exhibited following the plinth day (12th August) and then eventually taken apart to be sold for charity.

Taken from Pinky and Boo Blog (Thanks Claire)

TAST revisited, week 28

Sheaf Stitch



size ATC

Detail


See Stitchin Fingers for more details

TAST revisited, week 27

Bullion Stitch



On Stitchin Fingers, the Take a Stitch Tuesday has resumed and this week it is Bullion Stitch. Stitched here in embroidery cotton on handfelted background.

The last few weeks seem to have been so busy that I have hardly kept up with reading blogs let alone any stitching, last weekend I managed to make a DVD slideshow for my mum so she will have a record of the wonderful flowers in bloom at the moment. As a result I have been lax in replying to your comments and I will be catching up with many of you over the next few days :-)

Have you ever tried to explain how you accidently buy something over E-bay? it's really easy, you just wait until there are five of the particular item for sale (all seperately) and you put in a silly bid having seen the first two being sold for more than you would like to pay and promptly forget about it. This has resulted in me buying a Jacobs fleece for spinning for a couple of quid, now I need to buy or borrow a wheel again:-) good job a friend has lent me a drum carder along with 3 different weighted spindles to have a play with.

Anyway, I'm off to surf your blogs whilst thinking of a design for a 10 inch quilt block right after I put the kettle on!!

Enjoying summer

I've been out enjoying the summer sun so no lace or stitch to show at the moment. TAST has restarted so I'm working on my bullion knot sample and I have a couple of other projects to start and finish this month.

I leave you with a couple of photos from my mums garden last weekend.

another lace challenge :-)

Hi, a couple of weeks ago at Stitched Up ,Margaret handed me a plastic file and said I think you may be interested in this as its old and has lace in it. the papers turned out to be an extract from The "Needlecraft Journals" Published by the Manchester School of Embroidery around 1906. They are described as a descriptive and illustrative journal for the teaching the practical working of Pillow Laces.
Apparently to start lace I require 50 to 60 pairs of bobbins retailing at 8d per dozen which translates to around £0.03 in today's money (sterling) and to obtain a pattern to work from, I need to place the lace I wish to copy on Daylight Printing Out Paper, under glass, expose to the sun , then tone and fix as an ordinary print. According to the instructions, this is the way the Italian peasants take all their patterns, pricking the lace holes through the photos onto parchment. I had always imagined that patterns would be passed down and I find the thought of the countryside strewn with bits of lace attached to photo paper rather amusing.



The written instructions are a little confusing due to different lace terms being used, there are photos of lace and working diagrams but no actual patterns/prickings.



This piece is described as Torchon where I would possibly describe it as Bedfordshire. Maybe someone could help me here? anyway I have worked a sample and later today I hope to buy some coloured thread to try another sample. I have changed one or two elements to fit in with my vision of what it will look like in black/silver maybe? I quite like the large, open scale of this piece (width just over an inch)

Here are two of my lace making companions, they are divider pins, used to keep sets of bobbins separate on the pillow, aren't they cute?




More progress from the beginner lace making classes are here along with piccies of crochet, embroidery and knitting from the talented Wednesday ladies.

On a separate subject, the take a stitch Tuesday revisited group are starting again next week, more details here and I hope to join in again and play catch up. I and also hoping to visit one of my friend who has top whorl drop spindles so I can have a play :-)

Stitched up learn to gatecrash..part two

Hi, just received some more photos from Saturdays gatecrash so here is one of the missing member of the clan, Me!

Complete with wool and drop spindle.

like many people, I just hate having my photo taken and there seems to be an increasing number of photos of myself appearing on facebook at the moment!

Banbury Run 2009

Anyone who has read this blog for a while will know of our great fondness for old motorcycles and last Sunday found us watching the Banbury Run, which some reckon is the largest gathering of vintage and veteran bikes in the world.
I now have a large collection of photos to sift through and label up but I thought I would share a few with you.

I give you.........The Banbury Push







and for those of you who prefer their bikes moving

Stitched up learn to gatecrash

wasn't our fault! someone told us that there was a Knit and Natter in the craft team at the Sherwood Art festival. Off we toddled, yarn in hand only to find out that it was all just a rumour! so what do you do? simple, commandeer a table and set up your own group:-)
Three crocheters and one spinner had a blast, ate ice creams, got accused of doing finger knitting and weaving! and possibly recruited students for the textile workshop and members for the Stitched up group.
Next time we will be organised - the guerrilla branch of stitched up will strike again, so look out for us!!


NB, I must admit that Claire, Vicky and myself found the beer tent rather early on.