Floating Fossils Part Two

Interesting about the circles Carol. How do you suppose they find out these things? Do they ask ‘Why do you like circles?’ and get the reply - ‘Well, it looks like my mum’.

Thanks, Artisue, you always say the right thing.

Thank you for the kind words Corryna. I like the look of the metal voile you showed on your blog. It looks like gold leaf flakes. Who makes it?

I’m in a state of controlled panic as I’ve just realised that it’s almost March and next week I have two classes, all my exhibition work to finish and preparations to make for the Jersey Textile Showcase. So it’s been nose to the grindstone all week.

Yesterday was ‘hissy fit’ day as several vital teaching samples went missing. My usual calm deserted me as I searched high and low and considered having to remake them (they were made from quite complex layers, in the form of stitched books). Poor Clive could do nothing right - if he tried to help he got in the way and if he didn’t he was accused of not caring. He retired to the shed. An appeal to St Anthony always works and, sure enough, they turned up. What a relief.

I am now ready for the classes and most of the Jersey stuff is done. The exhibition work is on-going, mostly because I got so carried away with the ‘quicky’, hopefully saleable, items. Here are some more floating fossils.
A background of ammonite drawings, with a little colour added using tinted charcoal.

Then some cast paper fossils, painted with grey mica and brushed with blue and verdigris wax when dry. Then I drew some tiny fossil-like shapes and digitised them. I spaced them out so that I could free machine in between them.

A little hand stitching and finally I cut them out with a soldering iron.

Stitched together they were float mounted over the background drawings.

I’d found some really deep frames and they look OK now they are finished. I have priced them quite cheaply as they were not supposed to be so much work. Pricing is so difficult and you don’t want to put the work out of people’s reach. On the other hand, it devalues everyone’s efforts if it is too cheap. The gallery, quite rightly, also has to take a share. Everyone is saying that it is hard to sell anything now so they may not go anyway.

I am going to put the labels on the five finished pieces. That always makes me feel virtuous. Four more to go but two of them are mixed media, which I am teaching at the Jersey festival so they can be finished over there.

Doh!

Just stopped by for a quick chat because what Joanne said about seeing a face in the earth piece reminded me of something. When I first started using the sewing machine software I set myself the task of combining the automated stitching with traditional goldwork techniques - gold kid and couched thread. The embroidery was based on a Celtic lettering theme. Here it is.

I was quite pleased with the combination but the kids kept calling it my Bart Simpson piece - I guess I should have thought more about the letters.

I never felt quite the same about it after that.

According to some boffins, the reason we look for faces in clouds or in wallpaper stains etc., is to do with the facial recognition babies have to develop to recognise their mothers. Just a little pearl of wisdom for you.

The piece measures three feet by two, Aussie Jo. I did offer the boys a stitching day but I'm afraid the ducks won! Jake used to love using the machine so I hope he'll come back to it. At the moment he is into judo.

Thanks for all the kind comments on the piece and the GCs.

Today I have been catching up with the June magazines. Commissioning is in place but I am tracking down new products for us to review. If anyone knows of anything exciting do let me know. I have also been looking at what I need to buy for the Jersey classes and ordering supplies. Got a bit carried away with Oliver Twists though. Love her colours.

Just had time to plan the small saleables for the Highcliffe exhibition. This is a design based on fossilised ferns.

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I am printing on silk as I blog. Multi-tasking or what!

Ta Da!

Bet you wondered where I was this week. One of my new year’s resolutions was to see more of the GCs this year. They grow up so quickly and it won’t be long before it will be deeply uncool to be seen with us. So we spent two consecutive days doing things with them, followed by two days getting over it! More on this plus our chatty bits later.

I have finished the big piece, now entitled ‘Earth Series: Triangular Disintegration’. Since you last saw it I have rotated the main piece 90 degrees so it looked more like strata and it has been joined by two wings which are more fragile and have triangular holes. Here is the main piece.

And a detail.

The triangular shapes of the wings were cut out with a soldering iron and then some were buttonhole stitched and applied back on top. Some of the holes have cast paper fossils peeping through and some are left void to show disintegration.


It was intended to convey how fragile the earth is but it turned out a little heavier than it was supposed to be. I mounted it on wood (god bless the woodworking son-in-law) covered with tissue and emulsion paint, followed by ink and coloured waxes. I don’t like my textiles behind glass, although I do sometimes glaze pieces intended to sell as some people prefer them this way. I don’t expect to sell this piece although I shall price it for the exhibition. I must now make some more saleable textiles. I still want to use the original design - this piece is not a good example of design led working, but it was fun to be free to follow where it led.

Comments.

Artisue I always start with a teaching plan. I often get side tracked but it helps to have a logical progression. Make sure the students know what they are aiming for and give a very brief outline of the steps they will take to get there. It’s a fine line between having too many breaks for demonstrating and leaving the class for so long that the fast ones get bored. If any ingredient is vital to the outcome take a little extra along for anyone who inadvertantly brought the wrong thing. Enthusiasm for the subject is the main requirement and I know you have that - you’ll be fine. Anyone else got any tips or comments - I’d welcome a view from the student perception.

Dale - I loved the pintuck part of the course and some of our folk got very creative with them. When you dismiss the idea of working them in straight lines it becomes very interesting.

Gosh, you really need to get stitching, Wabbit. I am having trouble with my new laptop talking to my sewing machines. Not all of them have a patch for Vista yet. At the moment I seem to be using three computers to get a design on my Bernina!

It’s not the being touched part of massage that is the problem, Wabbit - I’m a hugger, too. It’s the sitting still that gets me.

Margaret - the useful men. It used to be my natural charm but now it’s old age!!!!
There was a comment on the TV about that sunset, something to do with the way the cloud was moving and the reflected light. Dorothy got a super photo of the orange effect. It was certainly weird.

Time out
We took the three boys to the Arundel duck place but it was absolutely freezing. The kids were really good but I grizzled a lot. On the way home we stopped at Chichester, intending to force down a bit of culture via the cathedral, but it was closed for a concert.

As we walked around the close Toby (5) appeared to be making very rude signs at people. It transpired that he was very taken with a statue of Richard of Chichester giving a blessing. Hence the two fingers.

Next day the girls and I had a stitching day.

Lauren’s free machining is coming on very well, here’s her book.

Sophie’s approach to stitching (both feet on the pedal and give it some wellie), really tested the machine. She is six, so had to have a pile of books under the foot pedal. I was surprised how well they both did but it was exhausting and Clive had to cook the dinner.

Figuratively Speaking

Artisue - thanks for the concern. The class went really well and the back stood up to it OK.They were very good about helping to carry things and I found a hunky young chap to carry it in and a very robust older model to carry it all out. I am so annoyed because I forgot my camera and can’t show you the wonderful stuff that was produced. Everyone did at least one piece that they really liked - always a great relief for a tutor.

Lucky you, Gisele, living in Jersey. I like the stuff you are doing. I shall try to bring the fossil pieces over as they are very much a mixed media effort and that is what I’m teaching over there. I’ve just discovered that I am opening the textile event. I’m sure they must have asked me but I didn’t take it in at the time. Anyone any good at writing speeches?

Dale - hope you will show more of the Historical Heirlooms (we called it the hysterical heirlooms) course-work soon. I’ve enjoyed what you showed before. Must be hard keeping motivated on your own.

Thanks Darlene (and everyone else) for encouragement on the fossil front. It’s coming on very well but I had the day off yesterday and today I went for a quick lunch with Jane Wild which lasted all day. She is doing some fantastic painting and drawing (and even a little bit of stitching). All her work just now is based on faces and figures. Here is one of her charcoal drawings.

The shading is fantastic. I can't remember whether this next one is oils or water colour but I love the feeling that it was quickly captured and recorded. The shape is so good.

This one is a painting of a small sculpture - a seated figure, very abstract.

Another charcoal, I think - a back view.

And now for something completely different - a work in progress of a Cubist still life. I love half completed paintings, they fascinate me.

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The most amazing sunset I have ever seen is happening outside. Here's a pic and I swear I haven't retouched it. The whole world is full of a weird apricot light. Quite creepy.

Floating Fossils

Aussie Jo you mustn't laugh at our 15C. This is supposed to be winter and it should be about 7C. Actually it is much colder today with a nasty east wind. Yes, those ducks were hilarious and we've decided to take the GCs to see them next week (halfterm).

Don't feel guilty about the machine Carole - you deserve it and I'm so pleased I got you going again.

Glad you are better, Artisue. I am nearly back to normal but I am a bit worried about teaching tomorrow. I'm sure they will carry things in for me. I have had a much longer break than usual this year as I'm normally back in action around the end of January.

Tomorrow's workshop is one of my favourites - on dissolvable fabrics, so I'm looking forward to it. I left it a bit late to do all the samples and the packing which is why you haven't heard much from me lately. We have also been giving my website a complete revamp as it just grew organically and never was planned properly. So I shall have a CV and a gallery and stuff like that. Cameras have improved so much since I last photographed my work for the web so I'm having to redo a lot of the pics. I have also written an article for Stitch magazine, all about the heirlooms course that I did with Val. I'm so glad I took the opportunity to do it.

The fossil thing is coming on well. It has turned into a triptych with one big panel and two narrow ones. It's nearly finished and I shall show it soon.

Got sidetracked into thinking about small, saleable, pieces for the exhibition and this is a mock up called Floating Fossil. Not a good pic but you get the drift. I bought a set of very deep frames and puzzled over them. I shoved a piece of scrap card in and made a little box thing for the embroidery to sit on. It is all pinned together but I think it works quite well and I'll now take it to bits and make it properly.

Not sure yet what the backing will be but something plain, I think, to add to the floating effect. I am also planning an installation but it may not work and I may not have time so I'm keeping quiet about it for now. There is nearly a month to go but I have lots of teaching before then and I am also involved in the Jersey Textile event, which I am very much looking forward to. I'm teaching mixed media and that is always fun. It's all go.

Ducks and Designs

Artisue (are you better?) - I am indeed much better but, far from slaving over a hot sewing machine, I was having a day out. The weather is fantastic here with frosty nights and lovely warm days - it was 15C here yesterday. So we took off for what we call ‘the duck place’, actually the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust at Arundel, near Chichester. Arundel is lovely and has both a castle and a cathedral but we just enjoyed the birds and the sunshine and didn’t get to the town.
They have very posh ducks and this pair (whose name escapes me) look even more colourful when made into Layers in PSP and the mode changed to Difference. I have blogged about this technique before.









There were a couple of Chinese Mergansers which were hysterical - like Road-runner on speed. They ran on the top of the water and then did a jump which turned into a dive. So funny. We also saw a water rail, a new one for me, and a water vole. They have a boat trip, powered by electricity, so you glide silently through reed beds and surprise unsuspecting ducks. A lovely day.

The fossil panel is evolving into something quite different from my intention. It has taken on a life of its own. I must get ready for my weekend teaching but hope to get back to it tomorrow. I want to try a couple of things and then I’ll show it.

Comments
We’ll do machine stuff at the end if that is OK.

Great to hear from you Jude. I miss all the Boughton gang but not the travelling. I am having a gap year in 2009 from teaching, although I shall try to do more talks instead. This is partly to build up more courses but also because we want to move house. Still in this area but something different - possibly with a hot tub after all your recommendations. This was supposed to be a temporary house twenty four years ago. The way house sales are going I think we should start now.

I laughed about the massage bit Wabbit, as I hate massage. I know how good it is for you but, as you say, I can’t stand the inactivity. My hairdresser goes in for head massage at the washing stage, but they know better than to try it with me.

Your idea of the glossary of terms is one that we need in Workshop on the Web but I never seem to have time to write one. Any offers - if you post any handy translations on the blog I will collate them and put them on the freebie part of WoW. Scrimn is a typo (was that me?) and scrim is the same - a very loosely woven material, often called builder’s scrim over here.

Machines: we’ve got a good discussion going here.
Carole asks about the Janome 6600 and whether it would handle some of the ideas in Stitch, Dissolve, Distort. I’m sure that it will, Carole, and I’ve always been pleased with Janome machines. They don’t do the 9mm width, which is very handy, but you can do a lot with the 7mm. I don’t know this particular machine but, on most Janomes, although the stitch width is on the screen, you can press the plus button while it stitches and it will do a smooth increase, Your last machine has certainly done you proud.

Wabbit, I like the sound of your Bernina. Do you have the software? The machines with an embroidery option can produce really exciting work but you have to do things with them to avoid the ‘flat’ look that the stitching can give. This is part of a cushion using a built-in quilting pattern. This was stitched on black muslin with gold lurex behind it. Then hand stitched and applied to a zapped chiffon background.





This was a sample for the cushion with chain stitch.







You can scan and stitch designs with the software but care needs to be taken when bringing in the scans. The software is expensive. This one uses the software to design celtic motifs which are stitched on felt, cut out and threaded through with further stitched strips. The piece is called ‘Fly the Flags for HRT’ and was made a few years ago before they found out it was not a good idea unless you really needed it. I felt great on it and my work became very colourful. detail below.










Meanwhile - back to the workshop preparation.

Sunshine and Snowdrops

It has been such a sunny weekend and I felt so much better on Sunday that we risked a weekend trip to see the snowdrops at Kingston Lacy - a National Trust house close to us. They are a popular attraction each year and look wonderful.
Snowdrops are everywhere - in the woods, in the meadows - quite breathtaking. Here are some pics.

I did a swoopy pic and then hot waxed it in PSP. A slight shift in rotating morrors produced this.

I have to say that my small garden can beat them for hellebores - we seem to be good at those.

The back was not bad but I didn’t walk for too long. I was very tempted to hijack one of the disabled scooters that they provide. We got one for Val once, when we were running a course on digital photography, and she was a terrible danger to life and limb. Clive was the only one who could manoeuvre the thing so she had to hop off at every corner, which rather defeated the object. Good fun, though.

Comments on Comments

Chrissythreads - thank you so much for the Prism CD - it looks a wonderful show. Wish I could have gone but this is the next best thing.

Kate - I shall look for Ben Fogle - sounds good. At that time of day Clive and I are usually trying to both finish work at the same time so that we can eat. It’s not easy - I say to him ‘How long will you be?’ He then says twenty minutes, so I go off and do something that takes thirty. By then he’s started something else. And so it goes on. Perhaps this show will give us something to aim for.

Sally - making pics bigger used to be easy before Windows Vista. They take an age to load now so I’m limited to a maximum of 600 pixels in any direction. Anyone else have this problem?
I love this quote on your profile. ‘I have got to an age when I look in the mirror, I see my mother’. Did you ever see the Billy Connolly show where he was talking about being in a very opulent hotel suite with a huge mirror over the bed. He said it was a real passion killer when he looked up and saw his mother watching!

Elli - come back to us - we want to see your corsets! Also pics of the studio.

Wabbit - sorry to hear that your Bernina doesn’t have the necessary buttons. Hope that is not the way they are going. What model is yours? Mine’s a 640.

I like this designing by committee - good fun. I shall effectively be placing another layer behind when the piece is mounted. I shall probably use a weighty board with tissue paper glued and painted and then mica mortar and copper wax to glow through from the back.

I have had a bit of a revelation about the piece and hope to show the finished article next time I blog. In the meantime Stevens finds it a good place for a wash.

She seems better but I am wary of speaking too soon.

Revelation

Artisusan - that is taking empathy much too far. We take so much for granted, including the putting on of pants -is that the American version of pants or the English, which translates as knickers? Whichever, it is a most frustrating state to be in and I wish you normality as soon as possible.

Hippopip - I find that the loo roll isn’t as sharp as the WS paper but a combination of the two works well - sort of going in and out of focus. I did a lot of research into loo rolls and found the best for casting is the sort sold for recreational vehicles. Another good one was found in a college up North where I was doing a residential. We were responsible for leaving several of the loos paperless. The person who had to replace them probably thought there was a nasty bug going round.

Clarabelle - I have to say that I named my daughter Claire because I thought it couldn’t be shortened. So what do we all call her - you guessed it - Clarabelle. I am so astonished that you bought a computer just to join WoW. That is a terrible responsibility for me, keeping the standard up!

Thanks to everyone who mentioned Workshop on the Web. I do so love doing it so it is great that you enjoy it too. Just been commissioning for the June issue and have got a great line-up, including Pauline Verrinder, Hilary Hollingsworth and Jean Littlejohn.

Annabelle, I must introduce you to Jane Wild. She has been doing some fantastic life drawing lately. I sent her to look at your study. If she lets me I will post some of her stuff when I see her in a week or so.

Sue - yes I am posting more and, yes, it is due to frustration at not being able to do much. So glad I’ve got you lot to talk to.

I remember writing an editorial for Embroidery mag about someone who was chair-bound after an operation. She said that having time for reflection gave her a whole new way of looking at her work. Perhaps it is working for me. I pinned my background on to a board to have a good look before stitching. You may remember that it was going to have a top ‘floaty’ layer of strips. Well, I started fiddling - a tuck here and a fold there - and then pinned the fossils on and looked some more. I have decided I don’t want a top layer and I like it as it is. What do you think?

It is quite big. Even with the folds, it is about 30 inches square, so I can still get away with it as a major piece for the exhibition. I may couch some threads over the top as they were a big part of the original design. I cloned some onto the photograph. Here’s how it might look. Not sure it needs it and I can always use that idea in the next piece.

I managed to do a little stitching this afternoon, just to integrate the piece and merge the colours into each other a bit more. I like to use a zigzag for this, varying the width as I stitch. One of the ace things about Berninas is that they haven’t been seduced into making the width and length controls electronically controlled. They have socking great buttons instead.

Here I am stitching into a piece of puff paint on Thermogauze (current issue of WoW). It’s becoming part of the background very nicely.

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I really hope to finish this tomorrow if the back holds out.

Soluble Paper and Waxes

Many thanks for all the messages. I am a bit better today having found a ‘magic’ rubbing in cream. It was actually prescribed for Clive (I know you shouldn’t take other people’s meds but it was only Ibuprofen) and it did seem to work wonders.

Clive does the stretching exercises - guess I should be doing them, too.

Extra thanks to folk who are organising some pics of Prism, especially Louise, who is sending a CD. I have already done the exhibitions bit of WoW but thought it would be great to show a little Prism as well.

Anabelle - thanks. Meant to acknowledge you for pinching your 'comments on comments' phrase. So fitting. Loved the tale about the dog and the peanut. www.thewitteringrainbow.blogspot.com/

Water Soluble paper. I don’t find that I need to cover the surface before pushing the pulp on to it. The paper needs to be really dry before removal and, if it is a very intricate surface, I use the point of the scissors to ease it away. If it comes to it, you can always wash it away, so it won’t hurt the mould.

Becky - the inside of the paper, next to the mould is the surface that takes the detailed impression. The other side may have some shape but not much detail.

I do love these paper casts. I know you can do the same with handmade paper but, because the water soluble is designed to be washed away, it takes up so much more detail. Plus, you don’t have to fiddle around mashing up fibres. It is quite strong if painted with acrylics and my first step is always to paint it white - even if I am leaving it white it still benefits from a coat of acrylic paint.

Here are my fossils, painted white, then ochre, then with grey mica. They were too dark so I used Liming wax, followed by Verdigris and Blue Moon and a little copper wax. Jane Wild showed me how to use Liming wax - she has done some lovely stuff with it.

This is the one straight off the fossil. It looks convex in this pic but the surface is actually concave.



This one was from the Softsculpt - not quite such detail, but still OK. They look much more metallic in the close up than they really are.



Hope to be fit enough to machine it all together this afternoon. That will be the background done.

Mix-pix tagged me so I will do the seven things about me, but will decline the passing on bit.

Seven Weird Things

Clive used to be my boss (he says that has now been reversed).

I used to own a horse. I spent a lot of time on the ground instead of on the horse. Hence the bad back.

I love pickled walnuts (rats' brains, as my son calls them).

Clive and I used to run a Gateway club for handicapped people. It was huge fun and that was where I first taught crafts.

I have two (much loved) wicked step-children as well as a much loved daughter.

I’ve climbed an Australian mountain (OK, it was a small one) with Jan and Jean, looking at rock art and eagles.

I used to have a proper job advising people how to buy commercial property as part of their pension fund.

My very best idea, ever (Workshop on the Web), was thought up in the bath.

Actually, I think that is eight but having toiled over them I shan’t delete one.

Ouch!

I stand before you a disappointed woman. Actually I am lying before you, with the laptop balanced on my tum and, as I am not built for such manoeuvres, it’s quite difficult to see the screen. I have a BAD BACK. This used to happen quite often but it has been so long that I thought it was cured. It will only last a few days (I hope) but is very painful right now.

The worse thing is having to cancel a proposed London trip to see Prism, the RA’s Russia thing and the Blake at Tate Britain. We were going to treat ourselves to a hotel and have a really good time. Boo Hoo. We can catch the painty shows but Prism is a great loss. I think we all want to show support for Julia at this time. Has anyone got any photos?

Clive is very sympathetic and is cooking and waiting on me. Bless. He has also dangled before me the prospect of a couple of days in Dublin to make up for it. We live near Bounemouth airport and the fares with Ryanair are very reasonable. Something to look forward to..

Comments on Comments
Thanks for all the comments about the earth piece and Cyber Fyber. Now that Susan has told me how to get comments on email I could reply individually but I like our communal chats so will continue, if that’s OK.

Paddy’s Daughter - don’t really have a book on the current work - that’s a bit of an experiment. Stitch, Dissolve Distort does have some stuff on zapping and lots on the water soluble paper shown further down the blog. Raising the Surface is useful for backgrounds in general and a bit of 3D stuff.

Aussie Jo - yes, that piece of work been growing through the last few blogs.

Those ATCs were great Julie - still on the mantlepiece.

Arlee - yes, it’s good that we will be able to 'hang together' at Cyber Fyber. Will you be able to go to see it? I am very seriously considering going over. It sounds so exciting and it is ages since I visited.

I was determined to stagger down to the Beyond Stitch group as we are having a ‘challenge’ day. We each have to take an A4 design and swap them, so that we get one by someone else. The designs must be mono photocopies and can be anything from a well known painting to a texture study. We then have to use L shapes to select an area to turn into a finished piece. This is the design I was given - it's a good one.

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I shall try to somehow fit it into the Earth theme. I think it is probably a shield and the motifs look faintly lotus-like. Time for reflection. I’ll show you how the others in the group fare after next month’s meeting.


Due to the back I haven’t managed to do much work but I did mush up some water soluble paper over a fossil. Here it is on the fossil mould.

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Here’s the result: the fossil is convex so the resulting cast is concave - not so fossil like. I made a mould by pressing warm Softsculpt onto a fossil and using that for the paper. It doesn’t give such a clear cast as the original but will probably look OK. There was some paint residue on the mould which is why it looks a bit grubby. It will cover up Ok.

I shall use both. Now they need painting with acrylics (watery paint would dissolve them). Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. I loathe inactivity.

Hug a Hoodie

Haven't done a lot on the earth piece today as we snuck out and went for a walk which took in an exhibition by Hilary Bower. Interesting work, but I am grieving, as I loved her previous work so much. However, we all have to move on and it is very difficult leaving a successful working method behind. I so admire Yvonne Morton as her cut-back applique style found a ready market - she sold really well. Then she turned it around completely with her large pieces based on African tribal dress - mainly dance skirts. She still sells well, but how brave to take the plunge.

Had a lovely experience today while stuck at the three-way traffic lights near our house. They take ages to change and I happened to look into the car alongside (OK, so I'm nosey). It was a beat-up old banger containing a very scruffy looking oik - dirty, fag stuck to lower lip, uncombed hair - you know what I mean. There was also a dog of uncertain breed and the dog grinned at me so I grinned back. Our lurchette used to grin - the lips drawn back, a proper smile, not a snarl.

The boy signalled for me to wind down the window and I did expecting to hear a 'What you lookin' at' comment. Instead he started telling me about the dog - how she was the best dog he'd ever had, what she did, how he looked after her. His face lit up - it was lovely. As we drove off he said 'Thanks for talking', although I hadn't said a word. Note to self: don't be judgemental.

I have done a little work on my background - zapped the felt and painted it with gesso. Then some light ochre paint. I felt it needed a bit of contrast.

There are some interesting textures in there now and the contrast between the embellished tissue and the zapped felt are OK. Here is a close up. I might make some smaller pieces based on this effect. Unframed work often sells well at exhibitions so I could just pop them on mount-board.

I also produced a better design and decided to have two areas of fossils so I did a Markal rubbing of some 'old snails'. A better guide for the background.

Had two bits of lovely news, one thanks to Arti - I am going to exhibit two pieces of work in the Cyber Fyber Exhibition www.cyberfyberexhibition.blogspot.com/ next January. Exciting eh? I hope to produce new work on the subject of communication as it is all about blogging. As a fairly new blogger, I am very flattered to be asked, so thanks Susan Lenz and Arti for finding it.

The second news is that Wessex Textile Artists are going to exhibit at the 2010 Knitting & Stitching show. A long way off but it will soon go. A pretty good week, all in all.