M C Dwylefunkers Rally

We eventually found the rally site after turning left at the wrong duck pond and having to turn round after some very nice people told us where we should have been. The pub hosting the rally (The Lower Lode Inn)dates from the 15th centuary and has been a family run pub since 1590 and was damaged in the floods of 2007 when the river broke its banks and submerged 2 or 3 bikes that were parked up, one was last seen with just its mirrors sticking out from the flood water and the caravans simply floated and tipped over. It was a quiet, civilized do with around 50 people attending on bikes and trikes, camping on the river bank along with the local geese.

These two sculptures were spotted on the river bank outside the pub.

The pub ( Good food and very good breakfast-thank you)

Aftermath of the 2007 floods


5.30 this morning! nice and peaceful

Weekend Away

The weathers getting better so the wee beastie was wheeled out for her first rally of the year ( Ian has been using the BM up till now) Minor problem was that she would not start but with a bit of encouragement in the form of a rubber mallet the problem was solved for the time being but a new starter motor will be needed before we go back to France and Italy.
We headed down to a rally near Tewkesbury taking in four landmarks for the Round Britain Rally which I will be able to show you later in the year once the challenge has finished. in the mean time, here are some pretty houses and a pub snapped on route.

This one is for BBC Radio Four fans, The Old Bull at Inkberrow, better known as the Bull in Ambridge in the long running Radio Four series The Archers.

These rather spooky images come from just outside one of the landmarks at Great Malvern

Arte y Pico Award

Gosh, oh my, look what I've got..... many thanks to Threadspider for passing on this award, I'm always delighted to find that people enjoy reading my blog and I really appreciate the comments I have received over the last few months

The rules of this award go like this

You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.
3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her/him the award itself.
4. The award winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of Arte y Pico
5. To show these rules in your blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

Now this is where I have a problem as my reader now has 133 blogs listed in it and I am finding it very difficult to narrow it down to just 5. So I am suggesting that you look at the blog links in my sidebar and choose one or more that you haven't heard of before but I must warn you that there are one or two motorcycle blogs in there as well.

Bobbin Lace update

Don't look too closely as there are a few mistakes but this is my first attempt for many years so I don't think it's too bad and proves that I did do something last night other than talk and drink tea.

Bobbin Lace

My recent posts about bobbin lace have set me thinking and I realised that it must be 10 years since I last made any lace other than the metal sample. City and Guilds Embroidery took over for seven years ( Parts one and two at evening class) and since then I have been playing mainly with stitch.
So, having promised to take a practice lace pillow to stitched up one week, I've decided to re teach myself the basics of bobbin lace. Last night I started to wind thread on 11 pairs of bobbins, found myself an easy Bucks Point pattern and literally dusted off the lace pillow which had been sat inside a cupboard for years.

Bare, dusty pillow
Pattern and do you like my pin cushion?
lets get started

do you understand this? I've noticed that I now have to wear my glasses to do this :)

Lacemaking

I found this on You Tube and thought it might help explain a little about bobbin lacemaking

Yearly visitors

The robins are nesting outside the kitchen window again but my decent camera is acting up so this is a photo of one of last years parents.

Textile Heritage - on a beer bottle

We shop late on Friday nights when the supermarket is quiet. Last night I found this bottle of beer amongst the packets and tins when I unpacked the bags. Ian had picked it up out of curiosity, opened it and pronounced it good then drew my attention to the label details.
The beer is called Flying Shuttle and the info in the back label states:
This premium ale was brewed as a tribute to the Lancashire Cotton industry. The invention of the" Flying Shuttle" enabled workers to weave faster and transformed textile making into an industry.

Take it further challenge (April)

Still playing with changing size and technique, this time doing a little stash busting by making a rag rug style wall hanging 15x11 inch. As usual my camera refuses to capture reds accurately but you get the general idea.
Hooked rug method: hessian, assorted dyed fabrics including net.

Ruddington Frame Knitters Museum

This post was prompted by a post by Elke Boesewinkel

Until last summer I was working in a village called Ruddington just outside Nottingham. One Saturday I took a walk round the village my camera and the next few posts will be photos from my trip as I am laid up with a virus at the moment and not really able to do much other than cough quite spectacularly.


The main attraction in the village is the Ruddington Frameknitters Museum (more photos later) which also houses a collection of circular sock knitting machines which you can try for yourself.

Ruddington Frame Knitters Museum, workers cottage

You are also able to visit the workers cottage

Take it further challenge (April)

stash busting nicely :)

Take it further challenge (April)

Next project for Wednesday night stitched up meeting, computer design and copied using makeshift light box ( window)

Take it further challenge (April)

print and paint

Take it further challenge (April)

still playing with change using the same motif, I went to Stitched up last night and stitched the wholecloth version. The idea is to dye it but at the moment I quite like it as it is.


Anyway, I'm going to grab a cup of tea as both Patchwork and Quilting and Quilting Arts magazines came through the door this morning.

Take it further challenge (April)

atc size waiting for stitch

if you elongate the image it reminds me of a fuchsia

Take it further challenge (April)

not a lot of time tonight but managed to make two new stamps and try one out on Angelina fibres.. interesting....

Take it further challenge (April)

Next game was to make a stamp from the image and try it on some dyed cotton..oops forgot to mirror the image.....never mind:)





The shadow in the corner is the camera as I didn't want to use the flash as it tends to drain all the colour. May add some rubbings of the stamp once the paint has dried.

Take it further challenge (April)

Slowly starting to develop Positive/Negative/Change themes.

design marked out ready to hand quilt on Wednesday night

Next stage will probably be looking at stamps and paint.

Take it further challenge (April)

I have made the choice of using Negative/Positive change as a starting point and at the moment intend to explore changes is texture/size/colour whilst using the same motif. I'm not really looking to make an item or even a finished piece of work as such, more a case of setting time aside this month to play.

doodles made whilst waiting for April challenge to be announced

decided to start with this little design

Painted in so I can play with positive/negative images

first sample started, black satin?fabric from stash being fused onto white cotton sheeting background.

The Pink Artist Doll

Do you remember the squares stitched for the Pink Artist Project? Well, here is the finished doll

Her name is "Love Squared."

She wears 180 two inch art squares.
182 artists total created her.

She is just under 40" tall

and weighs 6 pounds and 2 ounces.

She smiles because already she knows love
and is able to give love unconditionally.

To many, she is a symbol of hope.

She stands for COURAGE and was built

by a community of givers.

Please drop by Girl Gone Thread Wild to view the process of making and finishing the doll to raise funds for Breast Cancer Research as I think she is absolutely fantastic.

These are my two stitched squares for the project