Sunday 26 July 2015

Preparing for the Skirmish Craft Fair

Well I am well on the way making more items for the Skirmish Craft Fair at Samlesbury Hall 30th & 31st August. More details to follow on times etc.

Having visited the Lavender Fields, I came home with a supply of dried lavender. I had already purchased some strips of linen from the Woolfest with the intention of making some lavender bags for the fair.

I successfully made seven rather nice aromatic bags- pictured below;



The lavender sprays were made by free machine embroidering on cream egyptian cotton using cotton thread, these were then bonded to the front of each bag front using bond-a-web.I decided not to make normal seams as corners would be too bulky- preferring the more rustic method of leaving raw outer edges. Caroline is going to make some too.

I have made a few pairs of pulse warmers by adapting a knitting pattern, these are not particularly medieval, but slightly gothic- but you never know what might sell- Caroline has already nabbed a pair!!!

We both have to dress up in medieval clothing, and my dress is nearly finished- I used a dust cloth which I dyed olive green in the washing machine. I took my measurements (scary!!) and just cut it out by eye. I am really pleased with it so far- but need to make some detachable long sleeves- again a suck it and see job. I might make some sort of tabard, but will have to look at my medieval books for inspiration.

I will add some more photos later.

Here are the photos of my dress for the Skirmish fair, including the laced on long sleeves- what a nightmare as my tool for making eyelets & attaching them would not work on the fabric. So I had to resort to hand stitching- hopefully they will hold out & not fray.

The dress actually looks good on, but alas I have no one handy to take a photo- so a photo with the dress uninhabited will have to do.


close up of lacing


Thursday 23 July 2015

Summer School

Hi back from Summer School and completely exhausted, but really enjoyed it. The weather was good to us and only rained at night! Marguerita and I shared a room, which was large light and airy- brilliant.

The workshop I attended was with Ruth Brown, Cyanotyping, whilst Marguerita decided on Alice Fox's Rusting workshop. The two go together really well and Marguerita & I have already decided to combine the two techniques, as if you think of it Blue & Orange look really good.

I did come back with some lovely samples, however one done using silk velvet went really weird in colour when stacked in my workroom- the colour changed from wishy washy blue (which I thought was a failure) to black, brown, yellow & blues from the bottom up- it has transformed into a landscape??? So you see there are no such things as mistakes!

I intend to do more, as I bought a basic kit from Ruth, have sourced the boards to attach the work to & am just off to get the chemical needed from the chemist, that's when I get changed out of my nightwear.

Here are some photos of the weekend, they include photos from my workshop & Marguerita's.

before being developed by UV light 


after development


love watching things dry!


end results




samples of rusting


Friday 17 July 2015

Lavender Fields & Summer School

Hi well when I get my act together I will pack my bag & away I go.

I am meeting Caroline & her Mum to visit the Lavender Fields near Rainford. Not sure what to expect & of course its been raining. However I know they have a cafe there - so jobs sorted! The idea is to buy some dried lavender to make some lavender bags for sale at the Skirmish Craft Fair. We already have the fabric & need to make the bags look medieval!!!

I will add some photos later.

Then on to Summer School run by North West Region of the Embroiderers Guild. I have booked a 2 day workshop on Cyanotypes (Blueprints) with Ruth Brown. I am staying over so should be eating loads of food!

I am sharing a room with Marguerita, who is on another workshop (Rusting with Alice Fox)  this year, hopefully my snoring won't get to her- I may take ear plugs for her.

Tracey is on the same workshop as me- so should be a good laugh.

This is the only workshop I have done at Summer School where I managed to get all the 'Play Stuff' into one bag- heaven!

However I must remember to gather some flowers from the garden for printing. I have already collected leaves etc. I suppose lavender may work?

Anyway I'll let you know how I get on, with further posts & pics.

Oh by the way you notice I packed my play stuff well in advance, leaving my clothes etc to last???

Monday 13 July 2015

Worden Park in Leyland Lancashire

After visiting Worden Park with my friend Nicky & seen the vast improvements made, I decided to visit again with John on Sunday.

It was a themed Pirate weekend, with a scary pirate, ie for a small boy, floating around the Park, and more in the cafe. We did not dress up, as we are scary enough!

I especially wanted John to see the walled garden. It looked stunning, such a lot of work had gone into making raised beds for vegetables, little paths, flower beds, grassed areas, rebuilt glass houses, wooden seating & sculptures etc etc.

They now sell some of the produce, vegetables, plants & cut flowers. So obviously John & I bought some plants & a bunch of cut flowers. You just have to!

They also have a small area (possibly an old potting shed) dedicated to small animals, brightly coloured birds, rabbits & guinea pigs, a corn snake, lizards etc etc. All well kept & happy. They bring out the rabbits etc to show to children on good days.

I took some photos with my new phone- it actually takes good quality pictures & gets emails etc- its John's cast off as usual but far superior to my old phone that had everyone falling over with mirth!

Here are some photos taken on the day;



what a sweet couple?

one little ball of fluff

Not quite sure what these two are doing??

Mulberry tree- no silk worms!

Can't remember what this is called, but I bought a plant for my little garden.

These plants were growing wild in the park- can't find out what they are???



After visiting the walled garden, we popped into the cafe, but only for tea & coffee- no cake-am I sickening for something???

The park is the jewel in Leyland's crown & was gifted to the people of Leyland from the Farrington family. It is well worth a visit, with beautiful extensive grounds, wildflower meadows, a conservation pond, a soon to be re-jigged duck pond, recreation area, craft workshops, walks along the stream, follies & the best of all the steam trains which run every weekend, bank holiday & on Tuesdays during the Summer Holidays.

The pull of the train ride nearly got to me, but as John was feeling tired we had to make tracks home.

There's always another DAY!!!

Wednesday 8 July 2015

Batik By-Pass workshop

Hi I am suffering at the moment -just had a biopsy in my mouth- quite sore at the moment, but at least it's stopped me talking for a while!!!.

We had a great day yesterday at the Batik By-Pass workshop in Avant garden Centre, I had six students in the end- just the right number! It was the first time I had run this workshop- so it was a learning curve for me as well as the students- NB I must put the wax pots on earlier as they take quite a while to warm up- also don't bother taking sewing machines etc as not nearly enough time to get that far in one day.

However, it was a relaxing and stimulating day, with the students firstly making small samples really to get used to wielding the tjantings. Not an easy task!

We used Inktense Blocks, Koh-n-Noor & Dy-na-Flow to colour the fabric after or in fact before applying the wax with tjantings or brushes. This eliminates the use of dye vats, which makes it a very lengthy process. The colours achieved are beautiful, with Inktense being especially vivid, & Dye-na-Flow being more subdued.

I did muck up a wooden stamp trying to experiment, however the whole idea was to play & try ideas out- which in part was achieved. I also managed to get additional painted finger marks on Lyn's scarf & by putting Margaret's large silk piece on a very flimsy airer outside, which due to the strong wind  proceeded to fall gracefully into a bird bath with greenish water in. Luckily her scarf was mainly green- so she was not too bothered- added to the whole feel of the piece!!!

Two of the students started to make batik silk scarves, with varying results- as you can see below;

I cannot remember who made what, but you can see we produced some lovely pieces and the best part was everyone had fun!!!

Marguerita 

Ladies at play


Not sure what Margaret is doing?

silk scarf waxed & partially painted
 

Part of silk scarf with wax removed




Lyn's silk scarf painted with Dye-na-flow- very subtle in pale grey/mauve



looking very proud!




Saturday 4 July 2015

Art & Soul

Hi well the exhibition went up without too much bother, apart from the fact we had to reassemble the hanging mechanisms as the gallery had been repainted, due to a small fire in the hall.

After that was well organised & dealt with by Nicky, Tracey & Anne, the hangings went up very well.

I had got on with the six window cabinets, and as I had colour co-ordinated the items, the hangings were put up to compliment the windows.

We had a good turnout for the preview, and loads of great comments.

I really think we as a group have improved vastly, with the standard of work and the diversity of content. Roll on the next exhibition-- The Big one at Museum of Lancashire!!!

Here are some photos of work in the exhibition:



Mine-Dream Timing

Caroline's Rabbit

Eileen's 'Issett Kandinsky?'

One area of the window display

Another area including one of our props

Suzanne's 'Ever Decreasing Circles'

Tracey's 'Spirit of the Night' I think?

Mine 'Leaf on Leaf'

Pat's 'Still Life'

Barbara's ' Winter Day on the Hills'

Nicky's 'Hockney Hill'

Another window


Anne's 'Highlights'

Quick glimpse of the gallery

Another glimpse of the gallery


I apologise if I have given any of the pieces the wrong title as I am working from memory & there are over 100 items in the exhibition with most of them for sale- Not bad for a group of 9.

If you haven't yet paid a visit to Samlesbury Hall I would recommend you do not delay in visiting the exhibition.