Thursday 23 August 2007

Ooh! Lots of lovely comments. Thanks. Very interesting site, thanks Wendy. Will pass on to Carol Dowsett who is editing Quiltwow. Mermaid is right that sometimes computer designs look so finished that you don't feel the need to stitch them. I've transferred this one to fabric and am cutting it into bits so that there is an element of surprise.
Jacqueline - the book will be out around May/June next year if I can bear to finish it. I keep finding new things to explore and it is already too long.
Hi Anna, good to hear from you. I use Paint Shop Pro these days but Displacement maps will certainly be in both Photoshop Elements and grown up P'shop. In PSP it is in the Effects, Distortion menu. The program gives you some maps to start with but will allow you to use any open image as a map.


I think anyone who possibly can should come to the Festival of Quilts. I like it better than the K&S, now. As a demonstrator there is a bigger buzz and it's very cosmopolitan.


We went to Bournemouth, our nearest big town, yesterday. It's a seaside town, so very busy with holiday makers. The sun made an appearance but we didn't have time to see the sea! We did, of course, find ourselves unable to resist the scone cafe. They make plain ones with a strip of mazipan along the top. Lovely. In Borders book shop I was scanning the mags and picked up Fibrecraft, as I usually do. Try not to have too many mags, as there is never time to read them but I do usually buy that one. When I opened it there was a full page ad for the newly launched USA version of Stitch, Dissolve, Distort. Full colour and well designed. I was so excited as Batsford gave up advertising ages ago. Val would have been delighted.




A really interesting book arrived yesterday. Written by Ruth Lee it is called Contemporary Knitting for Textile Artists. Got some really good stuff in it. Ruth is our interviewee for December's Workshop on the Web. In addition to the knitting she does wonderful things with Tyvek. She is having an exhibition in Scotland in September (15th, possibly) at the Gracefield Arts Centre, Dumfries, if anyone can get to it.


Must get on with the book - have allowed myself three days of solid book work and the plan is to finish part one and two. I'll keep you posted.

3 comments:

Digitalgran said...

Hi Maggie. I wish I could have come to see you all at the FoQ.
When I was doing machine knitting Ruth Lee was my very favourite and inspirational author and I look forward to her interview.

Kate said...

Hi Maggie. Hi, i've been catching up on all your blog entries during my lunchtimes at work - which has been great. I wish I'd said hello at the FoQ, but you were very busy at the time. Your blog is very inspirational and you pack so much in.
Thanks, Kate

Anonymous said...

I just got the Stitch, Dissolve and Distort, I am so inspired to get going with experiments. I find it hard to stay focused and just want to do it all. I attended a lecture you gave in N. Vancouver. I love reading your blog.