Tuesday 15 November 2011

From Berlin To Dublin

BERLIN

Welcome to all of you that have just begun to follow my little blog and of course, those of you that have been following for a while are also very welcome. I really enjoy reading your comments and being part of this lovely blogland community!

I had a request from grrl + dog for more photos of Berlin, so here goes.....

I love the architecture and particularly the colour of this building.


This whole buliding was covered in grafitti. It looked as though it had once been a nightclub, but I think it was inhabited.


Tha Holocaust Memorial.

I may post a few more at a later date, but if you fancy a bigger "fix" of Berlin images have a look at Mr Dotty's flickr account as he has loads of them!

DUBLIN
I was away last week for a few days helping to steward the Ten Plus Textiles exhibition at the Knitting and Stitching Show in Dublin.


Val and I flew over on Wednesday, but unfortunately there was a problem with the plane engine so we were delayed by three hours and missed our sight seeing time, but we really enjoyed the exhibition. It went very well and the group have sold a lot of pieces. We met some wonderful people- the Dublin people are so warm and chatty- had some fabulous meals and of course, sampled the Guiness! We also had the very unexpected treat of complementary tickets to see John Barrowman!!!!!
 I loved spending time with the other members of the group and their husbands and getting to know them better. They are such beautiful, talented and interesting souls! Our group ranges in age from 40ish to 70ish (though one of our associate members has just turned 80) and I feel priveledged to have these ladies in my life.



"Scavengers" by Caroline Schofield as part of the Seascapes exhibition by members of the Crafts Council of Ireland.



             Winnie's Wool Wagon

I was also very excited to meet Mr X Stitch and the team (you may have seen him on Kirsty's Handmade Britain). He is a lovely man- I'm not just saying that because he gave me M&Ms!!!  Click on his name to take a look at their fabulous website full of cutting edge contemporary stitching.



We will be at the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate from 24th November to 27th November (I'll be stewarding on Saturday and Sunday) so if you are nearby, pop in and say "Hi"!

Sunday 6 November 2011

More From Berlin

Life seems to conspire to keep me away at times, for various reasons. I meant to post a few more piccies from Berlin and here I am a week after I got back trying to remember what we did while we were there! Anyway, here goes.....


The bubble man, near the Brandenburg Gate


  A sight-seeing ballon- I wasn't brave enough to go on this!



                                          The Tempodrom

Thursday 3 November 2011

Dotty About Hexagons

I do love making traditional patchwork hexagons. I love the process; drawing paper templates, pinning them to the fabric, cutting around the template, folding in the seam allowance and tacking and finally stitching them together with tiny little stitches.

The shapes grow and I feel connected to the past, all those thousands of fingers that have carried out the same actions. I find it very soothing.


I love how these brooches have come out- thay have given me another good use for my gorgeous buttons!

One or two will be appearing in my EtsyShop over the next couple of days.