A Meeting with a Blogger Friend!

13th May 2015

A busy week so far, Embroiderers Guild on Monday evening where I learnt a new stitch for a leaf and yesterday I went to Manchester on the train to meet Julie Broad, fellow blogger, for the first time. We had a brilliant day, first visited Fred Aldous, a large art/craft store then walked for about 20 mins to the Manchester Museum.....

....loved this at the entrance....

.....a beautiful building inside where old meets new in the displays....

....it was great to see art installations on the walls between the exhibits...

....apologies for the photos, I didn't think anything would come out as no flash allowed!

The butterflies are constructed from colourful fabric and loosely pinned to the wall so they cast shadows.

Paper/card sculpture was also used in some exhibit cases....

....so lovely.

Loved this way of displaying shells....

....fabulous patterns and colours in these stones....

.....there was also a conservation area where endangered species could be seen in their natural environment....

.....the children loved this area and trying to spot the frogs/lizards in the foliage!

Walking back to the station we passed so many interesting buildings and the University Campus...

...the shapes on this building were really intricate...

....the windows and chimneys were beautiful.

The entrance to China Town with wonderful food smells!

Julie very kindly gave me a 'bag of goodies....

 ...some of her lovely cards...

....you will see how these cards were made on her blog...

https://creatingtextiles.wordpress.com

....an interesting collection of fabrics....

....fleece and silk! It was like Christmas and I already have plans for some of it!!

We had a brilliant day and found we had a lot in common and plan another day out before too long!!

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I have covered a small 'Pink Pig' spiral notebook for a gift....

.....using my soluble fabric/free machined shape...

....padded the notebook cover, stitched the shape on indigo dyed fabric and stuck on....

.....my indigo cotton lace....

....stitched to cover the spiral! 

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A beautiful, sunny day so did a couple of hours in the park with fellow volunteers....

...all ages welcome....

....so many more plants in bloom tho week....

.....new Lavender plants....

....and the new bed is looking so good!

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Popped into the charity shops and bought this lovely linen cloth for £1 and 2 small glasses for decorated tea light holders for 10p.

Must sort tea out now as I have a meeting tonight!!!

The Third Bowl..

11th May 2015

This is very delicate, maybe because the organza isn't as thick as the silk was in the blue bowl,or maybe I rinsed the fabric too much....

.....upside down.

Think this would look good containing dried petals.

A Creative Sunday....

10th May 2015

Had an early start today so was able to spend a few hours in my loft work space being creative....

....stitched using silver metallic thread....

.....rinsed in warm water and draped over a bowl....

.....just hope I didn't rinse too much!

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Finished my baby blanket.

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On my course in March I put this hand embroidered linen, charity shop find, into the indigo vat....

......loved the result.....

......decided to make a 'tote'....

.....side view....

....LOVE IT!!

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A while ago I planted a sprouting garlic from my kitchen pot....

.....such a beautiful flower!

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Off to Embroiderers Guild tomorrow, learning a new stitch!

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Tuesday I am going to Manchester on the train to meet a 'blogger friend' for the first time, feeling quite excited!! 

Soluble Fabric Results

9th May 2015

After rinsing the stitching on soluble film...

.....quite pleased with this....

.....only one small hole!

Pinned onto a board with a bugle bead holding the embroidery away from board....

......I pinned it onto my notice board and later in the day there was a shadow....

.....pleased with the result, especially as it was my first attempt, but the board was wrong as it didn't hold the pins firmly!!

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Remember my £1 bargain....

.....it now looks like this....

.....used my indigo dyed calico, wadding, lace and indigo dyed yarn....

...could be a photo album or sketchbook.....

....took ages but am pleased with the result!

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Prepared this for a bowl, hopefully will stitch tomorrow....

....flower shapes cut from organza and silver 'paper'  recycled from a bouquet using my soldering iron....

....fingers crossed it works!

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One of my secret projects, a gift for a family, using tracings from their hands......

...I used split stitch in 3 shades.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend....