Och aye!

This is going to be a visual blog - plenty pics, minimal chat!

First your comments:

Diana. Yes, there will be free on-line classes. With my Stitches, Straps and Layers book and also with Lynda and Carol's Stitching the Textured Surface. They will begin on Ocober 19th and there will be details about early next week on the d4daisy site (http://www.d4daisy.com/) I wanted to wait until after the Knitting and Stitching show as we sell a lot of books there and then we can all start together. There will be a communal Yahoo site for all the classes so that should be great fun. The long-awaited Jae Maries book Contrasting Elements will also be on sale from Monday.


Heather - we had a cat who used to bully our dog. It would lie in wait under a bush when we came back from a walk and then stage an ambush.

AJ (note abbreviation) Hope the cats make it to the Final.

Yes, Pat. Bliss would be a great title.

JP - it has been rather more hectic than I'd like but things quieten down after the Knitting & Stitching Show. I am burning to do some of my own work - especially on the Rock Art theme.

Scotland was lovely. On Friday afternoon I did a seminar, which went really well and was followed by a talk in the evening. Great fun and a good turn out. Then the workshop on Saturday where they produced some stunning pieces - as you can see below. I worked everyone really hard and we tried lots of options for decorating metal. We made water soluble paper borders for the metal, which softens the lines, and I had made all the strips, ready for painting, beforehand as I knew they wouldn't dry - over and above the call of duty, but worth it.






















Aren't they wonderful - and that was just a few of the creations.

On the way up, we went to Newcastle as I had discovered a long line of ancestors who were shipbuilders on the Wear. I went to the archive office and looked at old maps to see where the docks and yards were sited. The maps were amazing and we were allowed to take photos. I can feel a new project coming on - the illustrated Allison. Here are some pics from the 1700s maps.

We went down to the river to see where the shipyards used to be and found that what was once like this:

... was now:

or university buildings.

There was a sculpture remembering the past - rather good, we thought.

Back soon - off to do a talk in Newbury tonight.

Cool Cats

Wasn't going to blog today - mad panic setting in about getting to Scotland. Not the work - that's all under control, now all I have to do is chip a room out of the chaos so that the cat sitter has somewhere to lay her head. I'm sure I've got a spare room somewhere!



I just had to tell you this catty story - yet another visit to the vet, this time for Cat Stevens to have a check up. She's still on borrowed time but the vet was pleased with her. Anyway, when we came out I sat down to wait for the bill, Stevens at my feet in the carrier, shouting her head off. A lady came and sat next to me with a large black cat, also howling. We got chatting and I asked her cat's name - somewhat apologetically she said it was called Hendrix. We had such a laugh about Cat Stevens and Jimmy Hendrix doing duets and having a jam session at the vets!




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Stevens was quite worn out by the excitement and has been doing her dormouse impression ever since.

Maybird - wish we could have met up. I missed the Dingleys - don't think my heart was in it this year - too cold.

Looking forward to seeing the piece Doreen.

Likewise Aussie Jo - hope it works for you. We do send reminders but they sometimes fall into spam traps. Ask Fiona about the password
fiona@workshopontheweb.com
She'll soon sort it out

WoW Rocks and so do my Oz Pics

I could get inspired by the coat too, Joy. I fancy one made from ‘patches’ – little papery pieces with delicate decoration and messages. I’m into lettering at the moment and want to explore it more – could be the next book, but not for a year or so. With the 'd4daisy' hat on, I can say that we have Jae Maries' book at the printers so that will be available in a couple of weeks.

The stove is super Wendy and is still a big novelty. We can’t resist the urge to light it on a grey day but it’s not very eco-friendly when you have to open the patio door as well, to let the heat out. We are resolved to wait for really cold weather for the next lighting.

I wish you weren’t going too, Christine. It’s always so good to meet fellow bloggers.

Heather – it would have been lovely to say Hello. Thank you for your thank you! Glad you are enjoying Workshop on the Web. (For a free taster go to www.workshopontheweb.com)
I thought it was a good, well-balanced issue. That’s not always easy to achieve as the Grand Plan sometimes goes awry. I loved Jackie Langfeld’s vessels.

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Carol Mcfee’s surfaces are amazing – their book is galloping off the shelves and

I’m so pleased for them.

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I am working on my rockart pics from Oz. This panel is stitched and ready for joining

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This has yet to be stitched but I love the colours.

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A group of figures which need more stitch for definition. Then it will all be joined somehow. To be decided!

Westonbirt

Where does the time go? It's been a busy week, getting unpacked from the Festival of Quilts and planning a trip to Scotland next week. I'm in Peebles, doing a talk and seminar followed by a workshop. It will be great to catch up with my friend Kathy, editor of Stitch magazine, and to see all the lasses up there (note - I'm practising my accent). I haven't done this workshop (which is on using metal in textiles) for ages and have lots of new ideas. This not only means rewriting the handouts but also doing lots of preparations as I want to bring in water soluble paper and there isn't time for it to dry. So I'm doing enough for everybody, all ready to paint. Such dedication!

Smudge came home for a few days and settled straight back in, although he did seem quieter than usual. He is still a bad boy for fighting and has had multiple punch-ups with his dad while he was away. After a trip to the vet for his injections he went back to Claire as we are still away a lot. It does give poor Cat Stevens some peace. As you can see he hasn't lost weight.

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Yesterday we went to the Arboretum at Westonbirt in Gloucestershire with Fiona and Sophie. The wood-working son-in-law (wwsil) has a stand at the Festival of the Tree, showing his hand-made planes. All the demonstrators were camping and Phil had decided to splash out on a camp bed, rather than an inflatable mattress. Unfortunately it was too big for his tent and he had to sleep with his feet sticking out. He was doing well but we thought that it wasn't such a good show as last year. Might have been the weather, of course. The Morris dancers were good.

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This guy's coat reminded me of a piece of work I once made with lots of dangling tatty bits.

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The rescued owls were lovely. Look at the patterns on this short-eared owl (I think that is what it was - it did have short ears!)

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The one above looks very wise. There were lots of stands that all seemed the same and I think they should combine it with textiles to sharpen it up a bit. It cost us £25 to go in, quite a lot of money.

I met a stitchy friend, Yvonne, which was good and Sophie liked the Punch and Judy and the swing-boats. It was a long damp drive home and we cheered ourselves up by lighting the new wood-burning stove and settling down with the Sunday papers. We were soon roasting but it was lovely.

Festival of Quilts

We've had such a great few days - first at the Festival of Quilts, then at home with the GCs.

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Let's start with the trip to Birmingham. Off we went to the Festival on Wednesday, stopping on the way at a National Trust house nearby. It was Baddersley Clayton - a moated manor house. Here's a pic - and one above.











One of the lovliest NTs we've seen for ages. It was all old panelled walls and priest-holes, small but quite lovely and they did a good lunch. We walked around the moat and I took a swoopy pic of some trees by accident.








This was a good accident and I put it on one layer with a photo of pots beneath it. The eraser was then used to rub through to the pots. Here's the result.






On to the National Exhibition Centre - although we didn't have a stand we wanted to suss out the lay of the land and we had several boxes of books to deliver to the Home Workshop stand. (I'm pleased to report that they were all selling well at the show). Also, if I'm honest, because I love the buzz of set-up day and we saw all our friends and got in their way for a while. It was a perfect day and we stopped off in a park on the way to our hotel and walked around a lake.


The FoQ was up to its usual standard - shan't show you too much as there will be a 'free to all' review on the http://www.quiltwow.com/ site on 8th September but here is a pic from the recent graduates area. This girl's work was wonderful and technically excellent, too. Her name was Victoria Shepherd and she'll go far.









The talks went well, once we had persuaded them to replace the duff projector. Luckily we had a good techie. It was great to have such a huge audience for Old Walls - hardly a seat to spare and everyone was so interested in the work I took along. It wasn't easy lugging that great case around (the downside of not having a stand) but it was worth it.



We ran away into Birmingham for the afternoon and went on a tour of the Jewellery Museum. This was a factory that closed in 1981 and had been left just as it was - even down to the MDs jar of Marmite that he had on his toast every morning. They didn't go in for mass production and the way they worked, demonstrated by a knowledgeable guide, was fascinating. We also managed to go out for a meal at Tamarinds (Balsall Common) with Oliver Twists and the Ario gang. We do this every year and the food is wonderful and very reasonably priced.



Not having a stand meant that we came home feeling as though we'd had a holiday and we were able to go to the park with Sophie, who had a new bike. Her ever-patient dad soon got her going, after a few mishaps.
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She disappeared into a hedge at one point and I'm ashamed to admit that her mother and I had an attack of the giggles - but only when we were sure she was OK. She was soon riding like the wind, as you can see here (with a little help from Paint Shop Pro).

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We finished our wonderful few days by going for a walk by 'our' lake and catching the end of the Air Show in the distance at Bournemouth. The Red Arrows flew right over us on their way to the seafront. A great end to the week.

Not finished yet - here's a chat about the comments on the last blog.

Heather – the Starburst Stains are better sprayed, I think. I want to do more work and am rushing to clear the decks and get on with it.

Glad you are feeling better Doreen – want to see your work when it’s done, but it’s not easy when one is under the weather.

Hey Aussie Jo – bad about the sound system. We will probably try to claim on the travel insurance. That’ll take a year or two!

Dale – put me a box or two by – I know your stand. You turn around and the locusts have cleared it.

Margaret – so sorry to have missed you – we should have swopped mobile numbers.

The Festival of Quilts

It’s a mad house here, getting ready to go to the Festival of Quilts. We are not having a stand this year - it was so close to our return from OZ and we thought we wouldn’t be up to it. However, I am doing two talks at the show: on Thursday it is Design to Stitch (mixed media) and on Friday a new version of our Old Walls and Painted Halls talk. Do come along if you want a sit down - at £6 it’s a very reasonable price for a comfy seat.

I’ve got the rock art photos and drawings in the Old Walls talk. I have printed out some pages on Ink-Aided paper and am stitching into them. Made a couple of stencils and sponged clear embossing fluid through them, then sprinkled with clear powder and puffed.
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This acted as a resist when I printed them. Simple hand stitching will be followed by some machine work.

I think we were right not to do more at the show and I’m so glad that I put a lot of work into the two new talks before we went. It seems to have taken us longer than usual to get back to normal after this trip.

Our laptop was taken ill in Oz after being dropped by a taxi person. The fan broke and a very clever couple of chaps in Sydney fixed up an external one which kept going really well. This week however it finally died so we had a quick trip to the putey shop and got a dear little Dell-boy. He’s all up and running with all our talks on him, so fingers crossed.

I have been very remiss lately in answering comments so here is a catch up. Thanks for the comments on the hat. It was only an M&S one but I tarted it up a bit.

Ann: I sent for my paper from Power Planet – found them on Amazon Marketplace and they were very quick. I ordered loads so I hope it keeps well.

Doreen – are you better? Hope so.

Wabbit is so right about one’s own bed but it’s difficult to get it on a plane. Btw, Margaret – we didn’t set the timer for the bed pic, but got a granddaughter to take the pic. She thought it was a hoot.

I’m in Peebles – Scottish borders - soon Tattiekite, but that may be a little too far north for you.

I must also explain to Dale that a small holding in the UK is rather large – not quite a farm but usually a pretty good acreage – like your stand at Perth. I am kicking myself for not buying more while I was there – in particular those Starburst Stain sprays – I have put all my dauby Stains into spray bottles but I now need more colours!

Where did I get that hat?

Guess where we went on Saturday?

Yes, a wedding. My goddaughter (the daughter of an old friend), got married and it was such a lovely wedding.

Great to get dressed up in all the gear, new hat, new shoes – the lot. The ceremony was lovely – everyone seemed to find it amusing that I was squashed between husbands. The ex was invited and it was good to catch up with his news.

It was a lovely occasion – these days we seem to have been to more funerals than weddings and it made a most delightful change – Laura was a lovely bride and the groom was Scottish so it was all kilts and funny socks. The vicar said it was great not being the only man in a skirt! Instead of confetti we were all given special wedding bubbles to blow. Great fun.

At the reception I produced the little Pogo printer from my handbag and was able to print off some pics while we waited to be fed. It was a simple matter to stick them into the order of service booklet and the bride and groom were delighted. I told them that they won’t be the best photos they’ll see, but they were the first.

I’ve been playing with my rock-art photos. Here is a postcard decorated with Pogo prints and sprayed with Moon Shadow Mist.

Lots of printing has been done to turn these studies into a bigger piece – now I must start on the stitching.