My new friend shares her secret

(click for a larger image)

She's going on a course to Plas Tan y Bwlch and of course has to take everything except the kitchen sink. She did even consider that!
The stupid woman is even taking her laptop on a two day course. Now I wonder who in their right senses would do that do you think?

She's going incognito and doesn't really have red curly hair. Here is a clue to her identity, I have a red car just like that. One year I took everything I could think of that I needed, but I left home without a hairbrush or comb. But I had a great room mate who let me share hers

This is my entry for the Wild and Wacky competition at the Embroiderers' Guild Extravaganza of Embroidered Textiles which begins at 10.30 this coming Friday and is also on Saturday at the same time. The competition is in memory of Dawn Roberts who was a very popular member of our Guild. To read more about Dawn, take a look at both these posts showing her creativity with words and stitch. Dawn's work and here Dawn's creativity, tassels and poems

The work had to use recycled material and my friend and her setting contains all manner of recycled material, including one with which I feel that I'm fulfilling a promise, a promise to Dawn herself. I had a favourite red fine cord blouse which I wore for years to do messy work. I shared a table with Dawn more than once and each time she reminded me not to throw the blouse away when I'd finished with it. She used to say 'I'll have it'. I have used part of the blouse to make 'my friend's' red waistcoat.

I can tell you all about it now, because there's a Show and Tell at the Guild evening meeting tonight and she's being shared with the members. I hope it will give them all a good laugh when they see it. I think this situation is one most of us find ourselves in when we prepare to go on a course. What to take and what to leave behind. I find some people have it down to a fine art and know exactly what to take, but I still have a lot to learn.

Any advice welcome!

My new friend

This last week has gone very quickly as I've been so busy with one thing and another, so busy I haven't replied to my comments. But I will as soon as I have time.


This is my new friend, you may have seen her before on my blog, but she is so fussy and keeps changing her outfit. She's a casual dresser and prefers her jeans after all. She had a curly perm and coloured her hair, she really should be wearing her glasses and is always searching for them. She forgets she wears them as a hairband!


I'm sure you can guess where she's going?


This is one of the boxes she's taking with her and a suitcase.


She has some fabrics and threads, scissors, iron and her sewing box in there.

Country Channel TV

Country Channel TV
I have just watched Talking Threads on the Country Channel and it was very good. I look forward to the next one!

I have decided to take it easy for a few days as I just realised my feet have hardly touched the ground in just over a week and have come to a full stop. But what a wonderful week I've had and if someone told me I could do it all over again I would.


The evenings are drawing in and it's almost time to draw the curtains again, but this was what the sky looked like last evening. It was so beautiful.


This is one of the Chester Cathedral windows taken today.


While I was waiting for my husband to pick me up in the car I noticed this grill on the wall of a house and then.....


I noticed this lovely hinge on the door. Isn't it unusual?


As I looked down on the pavement I noticed a small circle. I think it must once have held a lamp post.

SerenTex

If you would like to see what we did at serentex today have a look here

The Knitting and Stitching Show - Goodies

Today was my sister-in-law's birthday and we were out all day, but now that I'm home I've been having another look at all the things I bought at the Show and sorting out more photos.


This is a photo of Carol and Lynda demonstrating some methods from their new book on Maggie's stand.


And here is the lovely Maggie herself. They must have been very tired of seeing me by their stand, as this was where I arranged to meet friends during the day.


All these beautiful luscious fabrics and yarns were some of the things I bought from Dale and Ian on the Thread Studio stand. The fabric on the bottom is pre-felted merino and is called a Flimsie and there's a hank of Kashmir Sari Ribbon with a skein of Slushie, hand dyed mulberry silk/15 micron merino wool. I will be using these with my Janome Xpression embellisher.


These are from the Craftynotions stand where we watched Sarah demonstrating the use of Rusting Powder and Gilding Flakes which I just had to buy with the booklet explaining all the ways to use them. I also bought a swirly template and a similar stamp. I also bought a roll of Moulding Foil which looks very promising!


This is Ruth Issett's new book 'Paintsticks' with 3 new colours to add to my already large collection of Paintsticks. We watched Ruth creating her magic with a strip of masking tape, dye and Markal Paintsticks.


The next lot were bought from Kim Thittichai who did tell me how to say her name, which I forgot immediately I'm afraid. As you can see I've bought a White Hot Block which can be impressed with any textured surfaced and used to print with. It can be re-used by re-heating and impressing again with another texture. Then I also had hot Stuff sheets in black, this can be impressed and easily stitched into. I also bought a roll of Lamifix, a clear plastic film that can be ironed onto fabric or paper.


I'm certain some of you are wondering what on earth this gadget is? It's called a Couronne Stick and I bought it from Jean Draper. I took some reading material with me to read on the train and one of them was this month's Stitch magazine and I was very interested in the article by Jean Draper using hand stitching to create textures and forms. There were lots of circles in various sizes, all using buttonhole stitch which I saw Jean stitching on one of these gadgets which is really beautifully handcrafted in pine.

The Knitting and Stitching Show Alexandra Palace

I think that once I start to write about my visit to London I will be unable to stop, so I have decided to do it in stages.


This is my first visit to Ally Pally (as it is often called) in about 6 years. At one time I visited the Knitting and Stitching show every year. My friends Pat and David have invited me to stay with them in Hertfordshire every year since then, but this time I decided to take them up on their kind offer and both of them and their black labrador Toby gave me a royal welcome. Pat drove us to the show and the first view of the palace is shown above, the photo borrowed from Wikipedia.


I tried to take a photo from this angle, but it's not as good as this one, another borrowed from Wikipedia.


Here is another view, this time of the rose window and below is one I took myself of the rose window from the inside.


Alexandra Palace Rose Window


Above is a photo of the other end of the hall. This is the famous pipe organ.


You are high above London at this point and the views of the city are fantastic. Here is a photo my friend Pat took of the view below.
If you are interested in reading more about Alexandra Palace have a look here Alexandra Palace - Wikipedia,


Here is what I bought at the show. I set them up like this to photograph them and DH asked me if it was a shrine. I can't bear to dismantle them and they have been like this all day while I drool over them.



My friend and I decided to make it for Dale's stand (The Thread Studio) we wanted a go at winning one of her Pommie Bags full of Aussie goodies. We had the answer to her question ready and only one person had given her the correct answer, so we both won a bag each! Yay! Thanks Dale. Above, I show you what was inside the bag. We were very lucky!

Autumnal

I have been looking forward to the arrival of Sue and Terri's book from the USA, it's called Creative Ways with Books and Journals. I haven't had time to read it yet, but it looks very interesting and beautifully set out.


It has been a dreadful day here today and didn't stop raining except for this one little dry patch with the sun shining on the mountain. That little patch of sun is not as bright as it really was for real.


This was last night's sunset.


And the train passing at speed after dark with the Castle illuminated.
Tomorrow I'm off to stay with a friend for a few nights and we will be visiting Alexandra Palace for the Knitting and Stitching on Thursday and Friday and I look forward to meeting some of you there.

I've been sorting out some of my photos while I was searchinng for some images that needed to be sent away. I thought you would like to see these.


There is nothing special about this one, but I do like the colours.


This tree was taken in Cyprus quite a few years ago and I think it looks good converted to greyscale.


This wonderful sculpture was taken at an exhibition i saw at Beaulieu, again some years ago.


I wonder what you think of these? I think you would probably love them or hate them. I find them rather pleasing myself and they remind me of Yul Brynner.


Especially this one.

Having fun

Are you like me I wonder? Some days I am busy doing nothing, but other days going at the same pace I get loads done!


The last two days have been like that and I have finished two fancy dress costumes for my 8 and 9 year old grandsons. It is 400 years since the Welsh highwayman Twm Sion Cati was active in Wales and they are also celebrating the life of T. Llew Jones a well known author of Welsh books for children, who died at the age of 93 in 2009. Many of his books were historical novels about men such as Barti Ddu a Welsh Pirate and Twm Siôn Cati often described as the Welsh Robin Hood. It seems he died in 1609.
Next week they are dressing up for school.


I must admit I have always enjoyed making costumes and have been doing it a very long time for one thing or another. As a teacher I loved making costumes for school plays, also for my own children. I didn't own a camera when they were very young, even if I had, I dare say I would have been too busy to take many photos. I recently came across these two photos taken by my mother. The quality is very poor, but I love them. The photo above is my two sons dressed - obviously as Superman and the Snowdon Railway Station Master at the village fancy dress show.


This is my eldest son dressed in his Ladybird costume (with a not very flattering photo of me in the background as you can see, wearing a mini skirt). These were children's clothes which were very popular at the time, being sold by Woolworth stores. They both wore them, but unfortunately there's only a photo of one of them. A strange coincidenece here is that the clothes were then borrowed by someone else for another Fancy Dress show. Recently we realised that it was my son's wife and her sister who wore the clothes! I wonder if there's a photo of them wearing them somewhere?


Here is a redhead I'm working on, not yet finished, but coming along well.


Do you think there's a connection between the redhead and the car boot?