December / January Stitchalong

I’ve tried to get in front of myself with this one and not leave it until the last minute.

I picked up Margaret’s which has a garden theme, as does mine. But they look so different, partly with the different starting points, regular squares on a white even-weave fabric for hers and L- shapes on yellow canvas for mine.

This is how Margaret’s looked when I brought it home. She’s asked for colourful and given a whole load of suggestions.

I was struggling to make a decision, then thought of the piece I took to the Seata meeting last week for our first “Show and Tell ” session. It was a piece that I did many years ago, based on a birthday card by Molly Brett. I started it with Pat Phillpot when I was doing a C&G embroidery course, but it wasn’t finished when we moved here 35 years ago. The backgrounds are painted, then free machine embroidery with a thick thread in the bobbin and working upside down: lots of french knots, ribbon embroidery, trapped water lily leaves and gold fish under a plastic bag to give a watery effect over painted silk. It was my first 3D piece, I think.

It was resurrected many years later when I went to a Carol Money class in Scunthorpe, and came out annually for several years when the cherry blossom was out on the trunk road, and the forsythia in the garden. Eventually I realised how much I was influenced by the colours and things I see in nature around me seasonally. The butterflies are from photographs I took myself, printed out on paper and transferred them on to fine silk with Photo Magic. They flutter in the breeze.

I think it finally got finished at Lorna Presly’s Market Rasen group, and ironically Lorna had also gone to Pat Phillpott’s group before they moved up here.

It’s a very different piece of work from how it would have been if it was finished before we moved. Certainly the butterflies couldn’t have been done in the same way, long before domestic computers, and there are other techniques and stitches that I learned along the way.

I thought that I could use it for inspiration, and came across some gauzy yellow snippets from my Grasby sunflower pieces which would make perfect blowsy daffodils. I started with some varying length green perlé stems…..

…… and then anchored down the scrunched up snippets so they look like double daffodils.

Finally I added some leaves and a short stemmed flower.

It’s too early for daffodils yet, but I felt that they complemented the purples and mauves that the others had used being complementary colours.

A happy and healthy 2026 to all my readers, with lots of stitching and creativity.

Birds, birds, birds – Jan Dowson

“Birds, birds, birds” was the title of the worshop that we had with Jan Dowson a couple of weeks ago at Seata.

I’d met the challenge to myself of finishing the slow stitch landscape before Jan came. The last couple of sections at the top…..

…….. and some more stitches on the stone wall at the bottom, and it’s done (apart from deciding how to hang it, probably from a branch).

Going out of the back door the next morning, I saw this skein of geese flying over. I’d heard geese for several days, but this was the first time that I’d seen any this autumn. Later, when looking at photos on my phone, I wondered what it was, because it looked like a line of stitches, and I couldn’t think what! It was only when I downloaded them on to the computer that I remembered, and it just seemed appropriate with the upcoming 3D bird workshop.

Jan had a pattern to trace and cut out, instructions, calico, legs, beaks and eyes for us all. The pattern included some tiny little gussets to attach to the main body and head. We could hand or machine stitch them together. I hand stitched / tacked the head one in place, then pinned the tummy pieces and decided to machine stitch it all. I did the head gusset and started turning it to the right side before doing the tummy pieces, all very awkward and fiddly, and only as I started to pin the two sides of the whole head and body together did I realise that I’d done the head one way and the tummy pieces the other. I decided rather than unpicking it ……

……I would make a feature of the seams on the head. The whole bird was then firmly stuffed before adding the legs. Jan’s husband Derek had made all the legs, twisting wire for the toes (claws)and legs. Tricky, but it seems he’s had plenty of practice. It was fiddly enough to cut them to the right length and twist them together at the top, once they had been pushed up through the holes in the calico, before more stuffing and ladder stitching the tummy gap. Much to my surprise it stood up and was quite stable.

Next the eyes and beak, which has some fluffy bits of feather stuck in where the beak goes in, before wrapping the legs in florist tape: still standing.

Now to start stitching tiny scraps of fabric to the body. I didn’t know what colour I wanted to make him / her, but no prizes for guessing! Time passed all too quickly, and this is the flock at the end of the day.

I had taken other colours possibly to use, but reverted to my favourite greens. It was lucky that we ran out of time, as I had about used all the scraps I had with me. I heard somebody mutter that mine had attitude and looked inquisitive. I haven’t done any more since, except finding some more green scraps ready to continue.

It was a great workshop – thanks, Jan. And it had pushed me into finishing the slow stitch landscape.

Under the sea 3

I’ve added some real shells and bits of shell on the right-hand side since I last posted about this piece. They catch the light and echo the thread colours, and I’ve put in a few more knots too.

There’s a “slice” of limpet shell under the Yorkshire button sea urchin, and wafts of feather stitch in a lighter, thinner crochet thread.

The more I look, the more little gaps I keep seeing that need a bit more stitching! So there are some fly stitches tucked in behind the sea urchin……

…….. and on the left of the real shells.

I think it’s done! Quick, take it off the frame before I see another gap and overwork it! I’ve really enjoyed working on this piece with its variety of stitches, threads and subtle colours, giving it lots of interesting textures. I couldn’t find a suitable piece of drift wood to suspend it from, but I think this piece of very dry branch works. I now need to decide how and with what to back it, maybe a piece of handmade felt, but it always seems a shame to hide that.

Stitchers’ Question Time at Linconshire Textiles

Last Saturday at Lincolnshire Textiles, thanks to Janet Taylor, we had a Q&A session on things textile. The members had been asked to send to her any questions they had, and the panel of four and herself would try and help. There was a wide range of subjects from technical problems, traditional methods, mixed media and solar dyeing.

The panel consisted of four: Brenda Scarman, Fran Holmes, Jackie Dearing and myself (certainly no expert on anything). We had been sent a list of 14 or so questions, were asked to pick 3 or 4 that we thought we could answer, and discuss with the other panellists.

Some of the others had taught, and were well prepared with visual aids, including books and samples. Brenda and Fran are self-confessed nerds on needles. I learned a lot from both of them, and the websites they reccommended are well worth a look, Brenda on hand stitching needles and Fran on machine needles.

The session had been planned to last an hour or so, up to an hour and a half. Certainly on my side of the table it passed very quickly, much to my surprise. We’d just about finished the list of questions by lunch- time. A couple of the more technical questions had a little input from the floor.

Well done, and thank you, Janet, for organising it all, and to my fellow panellists with far more knowledge than me. There is always so much more to learn, try out and “play” with when it comes to textiles. I’m sure this won’t be the last of Stitchers’ Question Time.

After lunch we had a fabulous talk which was entertaining as well as informative by Sally Wilson. Her work was stunning and far-reaching, using a range of painting, drawing, hand and machine stitching, a mix of 2D and 3D pieces, often done as a series. She uses soft sculptures for some of her 3D birds and animals. Some of her work combines welding with textiles, which sounds incongruous, but a welded armature fixed to a wooden base was her starting point, before adding heavily stitched painted fabric. She always starts with drawing and sketches, her sketch books were fascinating, and at the end we had the chance to have a good, close look at her work.

Sally has won several prestigious awards including Hand and Lock (see below). Her delight even now in the prize was almost child-like and lovely to see. Thank you Sally for sharing your work and enthusiasm with us all, a real treat.