Grandma's Garden

Remember this? My Nan's letter has inspired me in many ways and has crept into my recent work.

I had a thermofax screen made from a page of it in two different sizes and used it to print onto some fabric, which I have been using to make hexagons.

It's very difficult to see in the photograph, but the thermofax process uses a photocopy of an image to burn away the screen material wherever there is a dark area and can be used to make screens to print very fine marks.

I showed you some of my hexies a little while back, so here is what I did with them:

 Work in progress. You can just make out my Nan's writing  printed on the lower shapes. The hexagons are about an inch across- more and more I am needing to use my glasses to sew. Anyone else find that?

                                     The finished wallhanging.

I enlarged a photo of a section of the letter so I could stitch Nan's handwriting onto the quilt.

If you want a close look the quilt is on display at Altrincham Forward as part of the Ten Plus Textiles exhibition until 29th April.

Now And Then

Today we are collecting in all of our work ready to set up our exhibition at Altrincham Forward next week. We will be stewarding the exhibition ourselves, so if you are nearby pop in and say "Hello"

Early Blooms

When in doubt, do what you love....

Handmade Books

May I belatedly wish you all a very Happy and Creative 2014! How is it going so far? I hope the weather is being kind where you are.

One of my special Christmas presents was a 2 day workshop at Hot Bed Press in Salford with the beautiful Elizabeth Willow, a Liverpool based artist. The workshop was called "The Folded Book" and Elizabeth took us through lots of methods of folding books, stitching and making covers. I had a wonderful, intense and inspiring weekend and came home full of ideas.

This morning I sprang into action to create this little story....

...a true event which came about because my youngest son likes to look with his fingers....

The book is folded into concertina folds and backed with card, then secured with a belly band- all techniques learnt from Elizabeth. I made a few mistake during the process, but I learnt quite a lot. For example, when you are  stitching round letters into paper the resulting perforations cause the centre of the letter to fall out! I am very grateful for Elizabeth's careful instructions on how to avoid getting really gluey!

I'm sure that books will become a part of my art in the future. I am hoping to try out something in fabric as part of my Ten Plus Textiles work. (Check out our new website btw!)

Hope you have a good week and remember to look after those fingers!

Merry Christmas

Thank you all for your company over the last year. Wishing you a very happy Christmas and a creative New Year. xxxxx

Woodland Friends

I was very excited to win a giveaway over at Sew Sweet Violet's blog by the lovely Jooles.
The book from Mollie Makes arrived this morning and I can tell I'm going to have fun browsing through it and picking a cute project to make.

Jooles has had a project published in the book- beautiful his 'n' hers hot water bottle covers.

Pop over to Jooles' blog - it's always full of gorgeousness and inspiration!

Have a good weekend xx

Rings and Things

There is a definite chill in the air, time is ticking by and I'm navigating a path through good moments and sad ones. I'm taking comfort (and warmth) from simple things like French knitting- not too much thinking, just doing!

(Blurry photo, but I wanted to show you I'm back to my favourite hair colour)

Finished simply with a cluster of 8 metal washers from a well-known DIY store, ( I have since reduced it to 3 washers as the weight kept pulling the scarf around so it didn't hang straight and I can't stand clothes that have to be fiddled with!)

Ideas are swirling around my mind and gradually I'm becoming productive, relishing the timeless motions of pinning, tacking and stitching into fabric and paper, taking shape between my fingers. I love English patchwork, making hexagons, the simple repetitive rhythm unchanged for centuries.

I have a plan, to tack together the old and the new. Vintage technology revisited, allowing me to print my Nan's letter onto fabric, words from the past whispering inspiration for the days to come.

Some of our good moments were spent at the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair at Spinningfields in Manchester at the weekend- so many talented crafts people. Mr Dotty and I had a wonderful time and spent thousands of pounds in our heads! Actual pound were spent too! I bought this beautiful ring from Helen Shere.

Natural

Simple

Beautiful

Hope your week has lots of good moments too.xx