Questions for friends

If you have visited the Stitchin Fingers network, you will notice that each person is able to nominate others as friends. I have listed both fellow bloggers and people I have met through the stitch fingers group.
A useful tool is the ability to sent a message to all friends and I have recently been using this to ask fun questions just to find out a bit more about the. So for anyone who may want to play or just see my answers, read on.

Question 1. what do you do whilst you are stitching, do you listen to music, TV silence? do you match the music to what you are stitching?

I am currently listening to an audio book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and the CD in the machine is Aboriginal Beats

Claire of Pinky and Boo has recently posed a question as to what is on your Ipod? why not pop over and have a look and also check out her embroidery from vintage embroidery transfers

Question 2.What is the first thing you can remember stitching? I remember sewing cards which had holes punched round a picture to thread cords through then stitching on felt.

I also remember having a small weaving loom which sort of leads me to the photos in the post. Over the last few years I have bought Spears Weaving Looms at car boots sales and put them to good usehere are looms 1-4 not sure if they ever made a bigger one

this is the one that usually gets the most use, size one, great for small background pieces. ( present sample worked by a friend whilst demonstrating weaving to her young daughter)
This is more my style, weaving with torn fabrics.

I also found this version of the old stitchin cards- does anyone one else remember using cards to practise tying shoe laces?

This arrived in the post yesterday so if I go a bit quiet, this is the reason.

what should I do with this?

Last year or the year beforeI found some out of date dyes at the back of a cupboard, dyed some cotton scraps and made this. Its about 30x 16 inch, unsuccessfully bound on just one side and I now think the back is more interesting than the front.



The big question is, What Should I Do With It?? any ideas? not really looking for a wall hanging at the moment, any suggestions would be welcomed.

Landscape quiltie

Stitch detail from June Unlimited Textiles challenge quiltie now on its way to June. Torn fabrics, running stitch.

self portrait photograph

Banbury Run 2008

Banbury Run 2008

Sorry Ladies, I suspect this post will be of more interest to any guys who may pass this way.
On Sunday we went to the 60th Banbury Run which is an Annual Run for pre1931 motocycles
run by the Vintage Motorcycle Club. Please click photos for more detail. more photos to be on my Flickr site in the next few days. This year the event was attended by 650 vintage bikes with riders of all ages and I now have several hundred photos to edit and painful sun/windburn on my face as although it was very cool, the combination of sun and wind caught me out.

Indian Motorcycle

sidecar

1923 Douglas TS

1923 Perrivale single cylinder 300 cc

1927 Scott Squirrel

early Norton

hundreds of bike lined up

1924 Triump model P 500 cc

1911 New Hudson

1913 Indian single cylinder

1915 Henderson E 1065cc

TAST revisited, week three

Detached chain stitch
Embroidery cotton on mixed fibre/thread background

Size- ATC

Crochet ladies at Stitched Up

On Wednesdays evenings I go to a local stitch/craft group at the Textile Workshop in Sherwood, Nottingham. There are usually around 8/10 of us working on different textile related crafts. Knitting and crochet are popular with embroidery coming a close second. Sometimes I stitch, sometimes I take my lace pillow.
last Wednesday I remembered to take my camera so here is some detail from Lailas finished crochet panel





and Margarets noughts and crosses





If you are in the Nottingham area, why not come and have a natter. If not, we blog at Stitched Up.

Take it Further Challenge (June)

Here is the finished panel for June TIF, the story is not yet finished as it eventually become part of a bag but at present I don't have any suitable fabric in my stash, it will turn up in due course.

size 12inch square

Slightly better colour match, my thoughts on the subject here. Design ideas developed from old course work, fabric from old stash, buttons from collection ( stories that have been told) combined to make a panel for a new bag ( stories yet to be told)

Take it further challenge (June)

OK, so I found two commercial prints that have sat in my stash box for the last few years, taken design elements from old C&G work and started to stitch. The whitish fabric is soluble paper, great for drawing on and stitching the design onto the fabric.

Later

(the design is actually square)

Take it further challenge (June)

Stories that are

These are samples of design completed about four years ago for Part two c&g creative embroidery.

Stories that are possible

Design for a bag or wallhanging to incorporate elements from my course work

Now off to audition fabrics and threads, also to think about technique.

Postcard for charity

This is my entry for Lakes, lochs and Land competition to raise money for Forget Me Not Children's Hospice.

Embroidered felt

Take it further challenge (June)

Sharons comment for June Take it further Challenge was :

Recently a group for stash busting was started in the stitchin fingers community. This reminded me once again of just how lucky we are to have a ’stash’. Most fiber folks have them. We draw on our stashes to make items or add to projects.

They are either purchased or scavenged materials that have accumulated over time and as such they often have a story to tell. Or it is possibly more correct to say that stashes are full of stories. The interesting thing for textile practitioners is that these materials can take on another story. They can be made into something new and take on other meanings in someones life.

Stashes also act as signifiers of wealth. Not only is the obvious wealth of what the stash actually costs to have and house but there is the psychological wealth of a stash because a stash is full of possibilities. While material is uncut it is rich with possible uses. Once you have committed to using it the material moves from being something that is full of potential to a project

So this month the idea to think about is stories that are and stories that are possible.

My stash tells the story about myself and my growing abilities in embroidery. You can see my changing tastes in fabrics, early purchases of commercial fabrics slowly give way to plain white cotton sheets purchased from charity shops, washed and dyed they now form the basis of much of my work. My love of shiny things continues, beads are recycled and buttons, buttons, buttons!! I love mother of pearl buttons.

Small collections of Indian embroidery, Japanese dyed fabrics and African beads chart my City and Guilds studies. Books on the shelves show the move from ‘how to make’ to inspirational images and ideas.

My story so far has travelled from cross stitch kits to textile art.

Put it all together and there are glimpses of future work, stitched and painted still in my mind, movement of thread through needle, machine, round bobbins and pins. This story is still unfolding and evolving.

OK, I don’t usually write this much and the big question is how to translate this into fibre? Still working on that one.

TAST revisited, week two

On Stitchin Fingers week two means buttonhole stitch, not my favourite but frquentley used especially when stithing the felt dolls together. This sample is stitched on handfelted wool and silk fibres in wool and embroidery cottons. I am trying very hard to stick to using just items from my stash for this and as many other projects as possible this year.

Postal Treats

Lovely needle felted quiltie from Liz at Unlimited Textiles, this months theme is landscape ( I still have to start mine but the idea is there)

Crochet on the BBC

Check out this link for a review of the crochet Barrier Reef on BBc Radio4 Front line programme, I think you can listen for the next 7 days. Fast forward to 22 mins for crochet but if you are a cricket fan, drop in at 7 mins.

Post Note

Amount of stitching this weekend? NONE

Last Drop Rally 2008

As I mentioned previously, Ian travelled to Lincoln and scrounged a spare part for the bike, fitted and fettled it eventually worked. Hooray!! we loaded up and dashed to the Last Drop Rally hosted by Saddlesore Rally club and as you can see, it stopped raining at long last. So here are a few photos of various bikes and riders!! showing how to have a good time.






NB. The bike broke down on the way back outside Trent Bridge cricket ground just as the Test Match had finished, found ourselves surrounded by men wearing dresses and men wearing grass skirts. Makes us bikers look quite tame!!

Gate to Southwell 2008

Well, this was not quite how we had our weekend planned. The idea had been to rush home home from work on Friday, get changed, hit the motorway and join our friends at a bike rally near Droitwich. The only problem is that no one mentioned this to the bike. She would not start, tried all the normal things, checked spark plus, fuel etc then tried sneaking up and surprising her, talking to her, stroking the tank etc. Alas, she was having none of this.
Friday evening was spent shopping in our local supermarket... aaaahhh

Saturday saw Ian riding over to lincoln on one of the other bikes to beg a spare part from the bike shop. I n the meantime, I headed into town to look at this....

any ideas what this is?

Firstly a quick history lesson

In 1109 the Archbishop of York wrote to each parish in Nottinghamshire asking them to contribute to the building of a new 'Mother Church' the Southwell Minster. The proposal was agreed and each year at Whitsuntide the Mayor of Nottingham and Representatives of every parish would carry their contribution know as the Southwell Pence to the Minster. The procession would travel on foot and horseback with much singing and dancing from the old Market Square in Nottingham.
Records show that Morris men have been associated with this custom since at least 1530 although it died out sometime possibly in the 18th century.
But, it was reinstated in 1981 by the local Morris men, and continues today.

Want to know more? click here for more info on the Gate to Southwell and here for more info on our local Morris side 'Dolphin Morris'.