Tuesday 11 October 2011

How do you get jam off a mouse?





I am in the kitchen, catching up with a bit of blogging while making some more jam. It's the last thing I should be doing and is, I think, a displacement activity for getting on with the text for my book. Unfortunately I'm using Clive's laptop and have made his mouse all sticky with jam. He'll kill me.

I was only at the K&S show for a couple of days, doing demos in the Learning Curve. What did anyone think of the show? I loved the Textile Study Group exhibition and have devoted many pages to it in my WoW review. Purchased one of Gwen Hedley's little treasures from her Excerpts from a Visual Diary. This is mine.
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Here are some more. They looked great in a row.
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Here is a piece by Mary Sleigh, based on Kettles Yard in Cambridge - a place I love. It's a place of collections where art, furniture and fossils all sit side by side and I love Mary's take on it. The title is Not Wanted on Voyage.


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I also enjoyed the Beryl Dean retrospective - waiting on images for that one. It seemed a pity to have two brilliant retrospectives at the same show. Diana Springall's coincides with her book and was great - but could have used more space.


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I loved seeing the inspiration, design and finished pieces.


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The piece at the back of the image above was entirely worked in narrow fabric tubes.


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The graduate showcases were very good - both knitting and stitching. Who could resist a knitted lampshade? Anyone know the name of the student? I'm usually very careful to note names but missed this one.
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I felt that the quality of the exhibitions was a little uneven this year but when you consider how many great exhibitions are here, all in one place, it is such good value.




I have to go - my jam is ready for pouring. I think that the birds can have the rest of the grapes now.


5 comments:

Heather said...

Give the mouse a gentle but thorough wipe with a damp cloth and we'll say nothing - Clive will never know!
Several friends have been to the K&S show and echo your thoughts. It must be hard to see everything in just one visit and do it all justice.
Enjoy the jam - it could also double as a decorative glaze or bonding agent for mixed media pieces!

Su said...

We went to the K and S for only one day and managed to miss so much that we've decided we need longer there - quite how though is still to be decided!

As for the mouse, just give it a wipe, it's not as if you've told mnay people so he'll never know!!

Irene said...

I went to K&S on Saturday. It was so very crowded that it was difficult to move at times. What I saw of some of the exhibits (mainly hand embroidery) I was very impressed with. I did my usual visit to ArtVanGo and bought a few paints to play with. The mouse? Just give it a wipe with a damp cloth. Enjoy the jam.

Diane said...

Run out and buy another mouse. Do you think Clive would notice if it was exactly the same? I think so!!
We were in Melbourne for a week and when we arrived home our cumquat tree had shed most of the fruit. We collected up 2 buckets and I have spent the last week making cumquat marmalade. I used 15 kilos of sugar so that tells you how much I made. Everything was going well until the last lot when I became side tracked and it boiled over. The end result was that we not only had to pull the cook top out and clean it but as the jam had run under the edges and all over the oven we had to pull the oven out and clean behind it as well!!!! Fortunately I have run out of jars so what is on the tree I think the possums can have.

Sabine said...

Thank you for your comments on the K&S which are interesting and to the point. About the knitted lampshade, I saw it, too, but cannot remember the creator's name. However, apart from the unusual idea, I decided a knitted lampshade would be a terrific dustcollector to have around.

On arrival I found it surprising and disappointing to find a café at the left of the entrance in the Palm Court, instead of the show space that was in the same spot two years ago and where I saw wonderful stuff then.

I loved the show in general and very much enjoyed your demo on Friday. I also was very pleased that you signed your book "Textile Translations" for me which I had bought an hour earlier at the Embroiderers' Guild stand. Having come from Germany especially for the K&S, I was very lucky to attend on all four days.

Last not least, having seen your husband at the demo, I cannot at all imagine that he would kill you for the sake of a sticky mouse. He will be fully compensated by the grape jam!