Regional Day- Birds with Attitude.

 Between writing school reports and all the other jobs that have to be done in the run up to the end of a school year, I have been stitching my entry for the Embroiderers' Guild Regional Day competition, 'Birds with Attitude'.  When I heard the title for the competition after last years E.G.R.D, I knew I wanted to make a doll and not a bird.

 Magie Relph gave a very amusing talk on African clothing using two members to model the various outfits.  Then it was lunch and time to view the exhibitions.

 These birds were inspired by an article in Stitch magazine.

 I thought these tags were lovely.

 More birds for the competition.

Then shopping!! First of all with Lorna

 Then Denise (Craft Arena, lovely new big shop) and of course AVG. 
We then had the Maderia lecture  from Dr Susan Kay-Williams on dyes.  Unfortunately, I missed most of this, as one of our Branch members was taken ill and ended up being rushed to hospital.  What I saw and heard was very interesting though.
Competition results were then announced in first place, number 34:-

 In second place number 11:-

And in third place, MINE!!!! :_

You can guess where I got my inspiration.

I was lucky enough to win the members choice prize too.

After tea and cake, which tasted just as good as it looked it was off to Queens hospital to find out how our friend was, latest news is she is being kept in over night and should be out tomorrow.



I won two boxes of threads,  lovely eye candy!
Tomorrow we are off to an airshow in Lincoln, lets hope the sun keeps shinning!

Ooopppps!

 I hadn't realised how long it was since I last blogged.  I have had rather alot on my mind with changes to my job role.  Next week at school we have activities week, and we are having a 'Wolf Wedding'  so made this little 'wedding cake' from cotton reels, plastic boxes and fabric scraps and it is calorie free! 

 Janet Edmunds came to our Guild on Monday.  She bought along slides as she talked about where she found inspiration for her work as well as her vessels and  wonderful sketchbooks.

Saturday was Young Embroiderers's and the girls were making something to enter into the Regional Day competition.  Those who lacked inspiration made crows, here is my Blue Peter one I made Friday night.  May I introduce to you....... 'Cheryl Crow'   I have already made Russel Crow, a few years ago, and he lives in Lincolnshire with one of my friends.

Some of the girls managed to finish their birds.
I am still working albeit very slowly on my final piece for the Wisbech exhibition, now school reports are out of the way, I need now to get a move on.

Bank holiday weekend.

My weekend started with F.E.T.  It was lovely to see everyone and catch up.  Pauline got us making organic shapes with wire and stitching them by hand or machine, could be a handy technique for using in my 3d work.   While I was in Cambridge, hubby cut the lawns, and it was such a lovely evening, I would have liked to sit and admire the view with a cold glass of something. 

(Just had to take yet another photo of my tree paeony, the petals will be falling any day now.)

So, instead of sitting in the garden, we drove down to Buckingham to spend what was left of the Bank holiday with Mum.

I have been telling Mum about my Sugar Lump Fairy that I made, and she wanted to see her.S.L.F will now be staying with Mum for a long holiday.

 The weather was so good (for a change), that I was able explore the garden taking lots of photos.  I also heard and saw lots of bees especially on the apple blossom.  

Rhododendron.

Helping Mum with some jobs in the garden, meant that I didn't that much sewing done. These are the panels to go on the side of the sundial.  I need to finish this in time for our next F.E.T exhibition which will be in Wisbech in July.

May meeting.

Nodeen was our speaker last night, and she bought a lot of work for us to admire.  She reminded me of Nickie and myself, as she was talking about her textile journey and how she got so excited by all the new techniques she learnt while doing C&G.   We were exactly the same.

 Three tables full of work plus a 'gallery' of framed pictures.

 Nodeen loves bluebell woods and this piece is inspired by a wood near to where she lives.

 Lovely felt flowers.

Last meeting Nickie and I were admiring 2 Japanese bags made by two of our members.  Last night they bought some more for us to look at, so we put out a table for everyone to admire and covet their bags.  Two books they used, were written in Japanese!

Sundial continued.

Here is a better photo of my sundial than the one I posted last night.  This evening, I started making the panels to go on the sides of  the plinth.  I am using the same stencil as the one I used for my peacock shrine, so my work will link together.  It will take a couple of evenings to complete the panel, as it is only a small stencil and I have wait for the molding paste to dry between each application until I have the correct length.

As the weather was quite good I have been out in the garden, weeding and sewing seeds.  I just had to take another photo of my tree paeony, very Georgia  O Keefe.

 We have had a Venus Fly Trap plant in our pond for at least three years and this is the first year it has had a bloom on it, I didn't know they flowered.

Christened.

Before going to help at Young Embroiderers' this morning, I popped into my playroom to give my sundial a second coat of paint. 

The girls worked hard and their sewing ability has really developed, so much so, that they didn't need much help from me.

 

This evening I applied a third coat of paint and then sprayed it with aging solution, and when it had dried, it had a well weathered look.  I am not sure this photo shows off the green patina very well.  I have to decide now how to embellish the sides of the plinth, I shall have to sleep on it.  I have come up with a name for my white peacock, it is Amalesh.  It is Indian and means 'the pure one', as he is pure white, it seems appropriate.
I am still crocheting my granny squares even though the challenge is over, I managed to complete another 21 squares this week.   

And now....

 The final stitches were added today to the white peacock and so work has now started on his 'perch'.  After weeks of deliberation, I have decided to stand him on a sun dial. So, back in my playroom....

 Using craft vilene, I have constructed the sun dial and given it a coat of gesso, I've got lovely messy hands!  Tomorrow I will be using my metal effects paint on it to give it a weathered look, I hope any way.

 Every year when my tree paeony comes into flower, the blooms get spoilt by strong winds or heavy rains, and listening to the weather forecast, this year will not be any different.

Hubby made me this stream last Autumn, and it is lovely to see that all the spring flowers we planted have survived the winter.

Back to the peacock.

 I was determined to spend this weekend working on my white peacock and, I did!!  First job was stitch on the wings, which took a surprising amount of time, due to the shape and density of the bird.  Then it was time to work on the tail feathers.  After several experiments of stitching them together, I found a method that gave me the look I was aiming for.  Many hours later, and tra-lah!

 They are just pinned in place on the bird at the moment, as I had to get ready to go out and help my friend celebrate his 100th birthday.

And finally......

 The final week of the challenge set by Claire, and I managed to make 26 squares.  I shall continue to work on this project as I have found it so relaxing, I am going to make 10 blocks of each colour until have the size or run out of wool, which ever occurs first.

 I laid out all the blocks on my floor this morning once everyone had gone out for the day, to see what size my 126 squares made.  The colour layout might change when I come to put it together.

My hubby is away for a couple of days, so I am going to stop putting the finishing touches to my fairy and get back to my peacock. Our  F.E.T. meeting is in two weeks, so  I want to get his wings and tail on this weekend, so, I wont be doing much in the kitchen, the children will have to fend for themselves, well they are big enough