My lucky day!

Yesterday started off with a visit to Basildon hospital with hubby, where we were told he has got to go in for a 24 hour stay for an op' and have further tests within the next couple of weeks.
So after work I did some retail therapy at Craft Arena,(no affiliation) as I had been told that my Hemingworth threads I had ordered, were in. Just arrived this week though, were the Lumiere paints, so I just had to have the lovely indigo colour.

I also got a free pen and a Search Press catalogue for our Embroiderer's Guild- thank you Denise.

When I got home, I found these lovely flowers from Nickie- thank you Nickie.

And I also had in the post, this lovely calorie free doughnut from Gina-thank you Gina. Because I had gone to Craft Arena yesterday on the spur of the moment, I had to go back today to take the new Schoolhouse Arts programme in. Guess what, a delivery of wonderful bits from Oliver Twists had arrived. I know I can dye fabric and threads but after stroking them, they just kept calling me, so I had to indulge.

I should have been doing my school reports but, instead I did some more work on Kokopelli II. I was hoping to finish him today, but not quite there. I have given this one a beaded headdress and the collar is embossed, coloured with alcohol inks and stitched with beads. I think it will be quite a late night before I get to bed, I still have to work on my storm battered trees and get them finished by Wednesday, ready for the Embroiderer's Guild exhibition on Friday.

This is the page I made on Monday night, behind each door is a member of our group. This was great fun to make, lovely and fiddly. Though we all have the same components, everyones page is different, no two pages are the same. This has given me food for thought, could adapt this idea for a baby's first year using twelve doors, hmmm....I need to make a baby present!














I have managed some stitching tonight on Kokopelli, off to make his headdress now.

No time to stitch so far this week.

I went out with my daughter last night to our monthly scrapbooking get together. One of our group is going back to Germany after living here for three years, we then made a page with all nine of us on. I will post a photo tomorrow night.
Tonight I was out with Nickie as she was giving her talk called 'Reaching 50' at Roothing Valley Quilters, what a friendly group of ladies! Good luck with your forthcoming exhibition.
I hope to have time to do some sewing tomorrow night once I have tweaked the catalogue for our Embroiderer's Guild Exhibition.

I don't want to go to school!

I have spent a good part of today getting ready to go back to work after the half-term holiday. It has been a good week, though as usual I have not achieved as much as I had hoped for. Like all school children 'I don't want to go to school', but needs must.
I have been working on Kokopelli and my storm damaged trees. I don't normally have two projects on the go simultaneously but I need some hand stitching for work, and I now have a lot of ends to sew in, in my tea breaks.

Textiles in Focus

What a great day I have had. The workshop went well and everyone seemed to enjoy it,(inspite of the sleepless nights, I woke up at 3.30 this am and thought of ANOTHER 5 things I needed to add to my bags for 'just in case!) and as you can see from the slide show, they did some wonderful work. It was good to see so many variations of the postcard.Thank you ladies for being such a great class! As I was demonstrating I gave the ladies plenty of options so that they could do their own thing. After a quick lunch in the sunshine Nickie and I had to do some stewarding, Nickie was on the Fen Edge Textiles stall and I manned Mary Sleigh's while she gave her lecture. Of course any day out isn't complete without spending some money. I bought the Lizzie Houghton book on felt, and some odds and ends from Art Van Go. Sharon Osbourne was busy demonstrating throughout the day and Sleaford Embroiderer's were exhibiting their work as well. Oh, and I just had to buy a tiny little notebook from the Fibrefusion stall! It's a good job it is nearly pay day!

This 'n' that

I've had a great time adding the embellishments to my hat, not sure how long I will be able to wear it without getting fed up with the cottonreels dangling down!

I have also started to machine stitch the trees on to the fabric I painted. It is the storm battered trees at Sutton Hoo. Lots more stitching yet. I have also finished stitching the figure of Kokopelli today, I will do some more on that piece of work tomorrow

This morning it was off to Basildon Courts to get the next stage of my small claims saga sorted. There is no guarantee that we will get our money after all this!!! Justice!!!!!!!

You Tube

This is the very plain and unexciting Fedora hat I bought from a fancy dress shop for Saturday. (A Blues Brother's hat, love that film)

Last night as I mentioned in my previous post, my OH attacked it with some fabric paint for me. As I had done my C & G in patchwork and quilting, it seemed the obvious choice to have a patchwork coloured hat. I am all set now for Textiles in Focus.

Tonight, after I gave it a second coat of paint, I asked him very nicely, to put on some 'stitch lines' for me.

I mentioned in a post that my brother was going after a job on the Great Barrier Reef, here is the link if you want to see his video:-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri1WZpAF6sQ

It is only 59 seconds long.

Only 2 days until the closing date for applications.

The hat!

Nickie couldn't make last night, so I persuaded Hubby to do some work for me on my hat so I could do some stitching on Kokopelli II. I am doing some more work on it today and will post photo's of it on my next posting. Lets just say 'it's in your face'!

Card for Embroiderer's Guild

At our Embroiderer's Guild on Monday we were all asked to take a blank white card. The idea being, that all members of every Guild will make a card that can be sold on the Embroiderer's Guild book stall at shows like Ally Pally. I thought it would be a chance for me to refresh my memory of what I am teaching on Saturday, but this time I have done it in a different colour- Think I prefer the green! I have also tidied up my play room, it was such a mess as I have gone from project to project without having a proper tidy. I will be making a mess tonight though, as Nickie is coming round and we are decorating hats for Saturday to wear at Cottenham.

Bargains.

Today started with a 'quick dash' to Basildon to get the bits I needed for the workshop I am teaching at Cottenham on Saturday. I needed some disposable gloves so popped into the Pound shop where I found these games, just waiting to be attacked with alcohol inks etc. I bought 2 of each, just in case! There are 100 letters in the crossword game-bargain!!!!!!

It was then on to Barleylands and Craft Arena, to get threads, paint and craft vilene.(Sarah Lawerence is doing a workshop there in May)

In between having my oldest daughter pop in for coffee (its one of the things I love about being on school holiday is getting to see my grandchildren more often) taking younger daughter to the beauty salon, cooking the evening meal, addressing and posting off the Embroiderer's Guild Contact magazines, I have been preparing the kits for Saturday. Because I am running out of space in my playroom, I had to make them up on my bed. (I will have to stop buying the bargains- no, on second thoughts, I just need more shelves.)

This is what my class are making on Saturday, a mixed media postcard.

Signs of spring

I spent the weekend in Buckingham, and although the snow that fell in Essex on Thursday night melted very quickly, there was still plenty of the white stuff at my mother's. In patches where the snow had melted it was lovely to see signs of spring. My mother is a very keen gardener and always has some colour in the garden all year round.

I spent the weekend working on Kokopelli II and this landscape, all hand stitching as I didn't want to take my machine away. The landscape will have some storm battered trees machine stitched on them some time this week-I hope!

Tonight we had our Embroiderer's Guild meeting and Joanna O'Neill was the speaker. She bought along wonderful work that she had done with velvet and discharge paste. The hanging that she is standing in front of was in the Double Trouble book 'Voluptuous Velvet'. It was a very amusing and informative evening and we hope that she is going to be coming back to do a workshop for us.

Ninety degree angle!!!!!

No stitching tonight as I had an Embroiderer's Guild meeting. What started off as a light dusting of snow as we made our way to the meeting, was, by the time the meeting over, a good couple of inches. It took 45 minutes to drive home from Chelmsford ( normally takes 15) and we ended up turning ninety degrees and ending on the other side of the road in a pile of snow-Nickie and I were sooooo lucky that there wasn't a car coming towards us. I have typed up the minutes and emailed them out so I can now get to bed!!!
I want to be up early to get some photos of snowy trees before it melts, they looked so lovely as we were driving home!

Kokopelli II

The fabric background that I made on Sunday is now dry and ready for machine stitching. The feel of this fabric is a lot softer than the original piece, as I have not used diluted P.V.A glue. The P.V.A produced a firm fabric which was o.k on the machine but made my fingers quite sore. This time I used C.M.C available from Art Van Go. Again coloured with Dynaflo colours Brick Red, Ecru and Ochre. I won't start the hand stitched spirals until the weekend as I am going to visit my mother in Buckingham and I don't want to take the machine.

Cottenham

It was off to Cottenham today for a Regional committee meeting for the Embroiderer's Guild. Also at the meeting was fellow blogger Gina, (knitting another pair of socks in the lunch break)and Sue Cranwell who gave a talk to our group the other month (December). Nickie and I had to take our bits for Textiles In Focus as we wont be there until the Saturday. I finished my entry for the McMillan fund raiser, we were asked to donate a piece of textile with the title 'Spring'.
I have gone 'outside the box' and used the Native Indian figure of Kokopelli. A lot of legends surround this figure. He is said to carry seeds of all the plants and flowers of the world in his bag that he carries on his back and he scatters them every Spring, while playing tunes on his instrument. His flute is said to be heard on the Spring breeze, driving away the cold harsh winters as he heralds in the Spring. Childless couples
would pray to Kokopelli for the gift of offspring. I could go on, I love doing background research when starting a project.

The background is the cotton wool fabric I made the other day, and has had all the stamped spirals reworked in chain stitch., with the occasional star sewn in as well.



The figure was F.M.S, and his
'feathered ' headdress is made from sheers.
Eyelets punched, and I used buttonhole stitch and 'thonging' to attach it to the board.

Kokopelli was embossed onto metal shim and made into arrowheads. These were made into dangles with a selection of beads, shrink plastic tags and feathers.
Since getting back from my meeting, I have another piece of cotton wool fabric 'cooking', so that I can make a similar one for the Chelmsford E.G exhibition and then my colleague at work can have it.

Almost done!

I have just got to do a bit of wrapping and then my 'Spring' entry will be finished. It has taken ages tonight to thread just a few beads onto the thread, too small a hole and thread a little too thick, but at least they are all on now. I have yet to get the camera out and take photo's but I will do so, so I can post them tomorrow night. Someone I work with, wanted it to go on her wall and I have said I shall do one for her in the half-term holiday.
Off to Cottenham tomorrow morning for an Embroiderers Guild meeting.

Ouchh!!!!!!!!

I have started stitching my 'Spring' entry for Cottenham-Textiles in Focus, my fingers are quite sore,(not helped when I accidentally machine stitched through my index finger!) I hope to post photo's tomorrow night,(of my work, not my finger) as I need to get on with it, if I am to get it finished by Saturday!

Snow stopped play

This was the scene from my bedroom window yesterday, a day to stay in and hibernate .

BUT,

today, was a different matter, the sun was out the air was wonderful so I went for a walk across the fields with my daughter and my two grandsons on their sledges.

Then back home for Winderemere Warmers!

(hot chocolate, brandy and squirty cream) it warms you from top to toe!

I have been experimenting and making some background fabrics,

this one is scrim-plasterers and bandage and tissue paper bonded with P.V.A. When dry covered with gesso. Coloured with dynaflo and walnut ink. I have started to f.m.s. but I will put this away as U.F.O., I might make book covers with it at a later date.

This one is calico and cottonwool bonded with diluted P.V.A, coloured while wet with dynaflo. I am now going to hand stitch over the swirls.

Added bonus

Just heard- no school tomorrow- what a shame!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Snow!!!! YIPHEEEE!!!!!!!

We have had a couple of inches of snow, and for the first time ever my school has closed due to the weather ( it's private not state!) It feels like I have won the lottery!!LOL.
SO, I made a vat of leek and potato soup and invited my very elderly neighbour in for lunch to try it out as he is going stir crazy for company, done a smidgen of housework and I am now working on an idea for 'Spring'.

Yesterday I popped to Craft Arena to get some Hemmingworth threads that I needed, bought them and two books, Quilting Arts and some Dynaflo. IF we get snowed in(fingers crossed) I shall have plenty to read. (no affiliation to Craft Arena, just love going there!)
Today at long last, I have finished my dangly, it has taken so long because I have not been happy with the beading along the edge of my pyramid. I have stitched the medallions on a different angles to give all round interest.











I am now about to start thinking and planning something for Textiles in Focus based on Spring- I haven't got long!!!!!