Bottle top play

got side tracked with strips of fabric....50% vinegar and water...and crushed bottle tops...I also played with bottle tops, teabags and lining wallpaper.... None of which I can show you as I cannot acces my photos and I cannot see what I a,
M writing ! Which is why I'm not blogging ! It's so dammed frustrating !!


OK this is happening and l'm leaving it like this.....I cannot find the pictures of the fabric strips....no doubt when I click post they will appear by magic......

 the above are tea washed paper and bottle tops giving an almost instantanious reaction.

these are just teabag stains on lining wallpaper

the above are offcuts of curtain blackout lining.I tried the vinegar and water spritz and bottle caps, small bent nails....on both sides of the lining to if it would take an image, the plastic side took best.

 as for this messy post I don't know what l've done wrong or if its the technology.... but it puts me off blogging
I am alive and kicking....I just keep having problems with pictures and blogging so I delete and try again and delete................................................................and bingo....something at least

smocks at the mill near Hardwick Hall

Stainsby Water Mill near Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire

Hand worked Millers smocks

handmade Suffolk button

sack barrows outside the mill

Worth a visit if you are in the area...for the mill and the needlework !

next stage...of furniture bashing/ recycling

The bottom and middle shelf removed, and the whole thing turned upside down. The original doors will form the seat base. They have the same carved motif on as the "legs". The shaped piece resting on the top was originally the bottom trim of the cupboard. I'm hoping to refit it at the top on the back. What is now the top of the side cupboards had the leg extensions removed and need a flat piece cutting to fit.
The wooden flower plaques keep moving... to the back...to the cupboard door on the side.... not decided yet where they will end up.....found some green floral material for cushions. Stuck now, waiting for two strong men to lift it into place to finish it in situ...

Upcycling / furniture bashing

As a child I often saw ArtDeco sideboards in homes and loved the narrow cupboards on the sides... A little while ago I bought one ...I started to paint it... And wallpapered the insides with cream and red Chinese style paper...But it didn't seem to be going right...it didn't fit where I'd put it, it wasn't as useful as I thought it would be.
I still loved the side cupboards...I could take them off...but what to do with them /where to put them /how to use them...
No No it seemed to say to me...then I saw it...in the bay window of the back bedroom where the wall is covered in collaged wallpaper...
I got a friend to come and help...we dived in and got started and the top cupboard with sliding doors was off, the drawers out and the main cupboards doors off before I remembered to take a picture...
OK now when I click on photo it's not letting me access them...gerrrr.
Hopefully when I try again it will be in situ...in its finished glory. OK its letting me now...seems I have now to jump through hoops to photos now its upgraded its self...
Clever computers and simple humans like myself don't get on very well.....sigh...

I've come across some wooden plaques in my stash...l got them for something I never made...they may now have found a place to go.........

I just need two strong  bodies to carry it upstairs so I can finish it in situ...

getting excited !

hidden secret

I acquired 200 ish wooden coat / clothes hangers....some vintage and hand stitched.  I wanted the fabric off this one, Look what I found hidden underneath the fabric and old tights padding ?

"Padded and covered by Olive Leonard & sold in aid of Pocklington Canal Amenity Society 1985" One of the many enthusiasts and helpers who had a vision...
The old canal was lovingly restored through lots of fundraising and hard work to turn it into the visitor attraction in the East Riding of Yorkshire, that it is today. You can go and have tea and cakes or take a trip on the canal, what could be pleasanter on a sunny afternoon.

Rag rugging

I have being giving a weekly workshop on various forms of rag rugging....to a group of women (and one man) at the local Time Bank
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
I took a variety of old tools

 after trying various tools...the Ikea pencil as a prodder was one persons choice and the blind lady liked the split dolly peg best. The huge paperclip worked well as "toothbrush" tool as did the Ikea pencil with the paperclip to thread the rag through....

 a crochet hook with a cork on the palm end was favoured here

 This lady wanted to learn as her mother who now has memory problems talked about rug making...she started by prodding but her mum said she had a metal tool so she started to work with a bodger....

 this is the blind lady doing it by feel...prodding with the dolly peg tool

and a modern latchet hook pre cut rug kit.

a proddy rug made from fleece on a hessian back.

the start of a crocheted rag rug and a toothbrush one on the right.

2016

OK I'm still here but can't get photos to load... (sorted now)
My January went like this.....
Had a couple of falls...hand and knee healed nicely now...
So I will stop climbing ladders...decorating etc...just not safe at the moment.

Someone in the cover of darkness tried to steal my lead off the porch roof...but gave up..
Had to get someone quickly to flatten into place and repoint flashings.

The gusting wind blew the garage door into my face on the same day... bit stunned with a large bloody graze from hairline to eyebrow...
Bathed it just in time for friends arriving to take me to an artist talk and a veggie lunch...
Photos of the event show my forehead !

Sue Stone this months speaker at EYEs

I usually leave it to Lyn to post about the speaker at EYES but she is currently in charge of the library...so I remembered to click a few shots....
Google Sue Stone, textile artist from Grimsby... across the River Humber from Hull..check out
www.thewomanwithafish.com  and the review of stuff and nonesense exhibition.
She was a fashion designer who turned to textiles and is now chair of 62 Group of Textile Artists.
She mainly uses a simple straight stitch to most of the work.
Check this one out.....all done in running stitch/straight stitch.....hopefully they will enlarge when you click on them....fabulous

The painted bricks help give depth to the stitching...it depicts the women who worked at her fathers tailoring business. The single woman's head is that of Sue's mother. The whole of the stitching is running stitch in it's various applications creating a stunning array of patterns. What attracts me so much to these is the single simple stitch and single colour thread so creatively used.
When I worked in the community people didn't want to start creating until they had gone out and spent money they couldn't afford buying "good" equipment as if that was going to turn them into a famous artist...instead of creating with what they had and making something unique.

There were about ten or so self portraits, one for each year, the rest can be found on the internet. Again all in running stitch and and I think the coloured work is all hand embroidered in running stitch too. (but have some machine straight stitch..I'm not sure) The talk was was very interesting, and I could hear it all over again tomorrow !

On the members display table....

 Jackie got this book from the Green Fayre on the 21st of November.....and produced these in such a short time.....she can turn her hand to anything...but I think her days of climbing tree stumps to carve them are over now !

Rachels butterflies

 my apologies the name is not readable....and memory useless

Margaret's work

 Brenda's work...printed background with fabric gowns....

silk and wool fibres hand wet felted...again complacent that the name tags will say it all for me...apologies again.
I am still waiting for the work on my house to be finished....I have given away sack loads of fabric...and other stuff....in volume...the size of a single bedroom has gone...and lo and behold...the rest of it has spread to fill the space.....and its as if I never gave away anything !!
Happy, healthy new Year to anyone who wanders by this blog post.....
Check out Lyn's blog for a lot more info and pictures...liniecat@large