Exhibitions at Birmingham (part two) - Victorian Radicals

The other exhibition we saw while in Birmingham was Victorian Radicals at the City Museum and Gallery.  There are some really good stills of the exhibition on the site and much better photos than mine!  This exhibition again featured Pre-Raphaelite paintings and drawings, but also ceramics, sculpture, enamels, jewellery, stained glass, textiles and clothes, from the Victorian age. Above is Paolo and Francesca by Alexander Munro.

This small ink drawing is King Arthur and the Weeping Queens by Dante Gabriel Rossetti.  Again, being able to get up close meant we could see so much detail.

This is a sketch for a textile design by William Morris and it was beautiful.  

One of William's daughters, May Morris, was a skilled embroiderer and ran the embroidery department at Morris and Co. for some time.  Her embroidery is featured on this dress.

You can see it a little more clearly here.

This necklace was much brighter in real life.

A sketch of a boy used in Rossetti's The Beloved.  The painting is in the Tate here.

'The Last of England' by Ford Madox Brown is full of details, from the cabbages hanging at the front, to the children with their mother behind the main couple and the child inside the mother's shawl.  Apparently the pink ribbons took the artist four weeks to paint.

Kate Bunce's 'The Keepsake' featured the most stunning dress materials although you can't really see them that well in my photo. 

I do like the Persian pottery of William de Morgan - all those lovely blues!  (The 'Medea' by his wife was featured in the Scent exhibition in my previous post).

Wouldn't these tiles look lovely in a bathroom or kitchen?

This exhibitions showcased some wonderful work by some very talented artists and craftspeople.  I was really pleased to have seen it and it was well worth the entrance price (£11.00).   The people we met in Birmingham were really helpful, (particularly when we had gone the wrong way to the train station) and were very friendly too.

Projects List for 2019 (and probably beyond)

Being a person who enjoys lots of hobbies, (some might say 'Jack of All Trades, Master of None' and there may be an element of truth in that, but I like to do different things, depending on my mood) I have many projects in my head that I would like to complete during this year (there may be too many for one year, so this may need to continue into 2020...).  I have written them in my hobbies book, but thought it would be a good idea to share them here too.
Are you sitting comfortably?  Then I'll begin (shades of Listen with Mother...theme music here (Berceuse from Faure's Dolly Suite) - I do remember listening to this, but not until the early 1970s.) After that little meander down memory lane, let's get started.

Sewing

• a proper patchwork quilt (my first ever and a small one to start with)
• a hexagon cushion cover in shades of blue (I have just got some hexagon templates to help with this)
• three more pinafores - denim, stars cord and cat material (which will need lining I think, so that is another challenge)
• stretch fabric tunic dresses (my first attempt at sewing with stretch fabric) 
• using jelly roll strips in some way (yet to be decided)
• Kantha embroidery kit
• four crewel embroidery kits (I seem to have quite a collection of these, but haven't actually got round to starting any of them!)

• mend toys - Panda bear and Gonga (he is the knitted rabbit pictured above in his new clothes). (Both 40+ years old and showing signs of neglect.  Panda bear had holes in him and is literally threadbare in places, but I have darned what I can and patched over the holes.  Poor Gonga also had many holes in him which I started to repair years ago, but got distracted by other things.  He now has new trousers and a new tie.  Both look much smarter and properly cared for now.)

• make a thread catcher basket (actually completed as I had the pieces all cut out, just needed to sew them up.  I do like making these little fabric baskets/boxes.  This is my favourite cats in glasses material, also destined to become a pinafore at some point)

Crafting

• seasonal hare decorations (Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, with appropriate charms and gemstones)

• pompom wreath or two (I have actually started this and am enjoying making the pompoms.  I am also trying to secure the wool threads by stitching around the wool which ties the strands together).  Pompoms are such happy things - even the name sounds happy)
• polymer clay muse/icon figure (this is still forming in my mind, but it has to have jewel colours, silver, wings, positive words, a crown or halo and a serene face.  I am especially inspired by Laurie Mika's work and I have her book, which is lovely. I may start with a 2D plaque, but would like to make a 3D figure at some stage)
• make a canvas with favourite floral papers in a grid of squares
• keep working on current art journal
• begin another art journal
• Christmas leaf wreath using different papers and card

Jewellery

• bracelets with sterling silver spacers, either macrame or knotted cord
• multigem earrings
• multigem bracelet
• multigem kumihimo necklace
• rainbow moonstone bracelet with sterling silver spacers (and matching earrings)
• blue goldstone knotted/macrame necklace

There will also be gardening this year, naturally, and reading.  There will also be card making too. Looking at the list, perhaps it may be a little ambitious (!).  Still, it's always good to have things to aim for. I will post my progress now and again and see how I get on.

I have also tried to increase my creativity so that I am doing something every day, even though it might only be something small, like sewing a button on, or wrapping wool to make a pom pom.  I can watch the TV and still be making/doing/thinking about creative projects and I am really enjoying that.

Finally finished sample felt piece

Back in February 2016 ( was it really that long ago?!), I posted about a new piece of felt I made, based on neolithic cup and ring carvings.  You can read that post here.

I found this photo to use as inspiration. (photo from:

 http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk).

This was my sample piece, which worked reasonably well.  I said I just needed to embroider it, to give the circles and spirals some definition and a raised texture.

Well, more than a year later, I have finally finished it.  The stitching does bring out the circles and it has raised them a bit too.  I think the felt needed to be a little thicker so that the raised areas would be more prominent.

Here are a few closeups so that you can see the stitching and the way the areas have raised.

 I do like the effect, although I wonder whether using a different stitch (rather than back stitch) would be more effective.

 I quite like the idea of chain stitch, although perhaps that might be too dominant, or stem stitch, or split stitch. That means I need to make another piece, doesn't it? (although I could have a practise on a scrap piece to see which stitch I like best).   Hmm...seeing as this one took me over a year to get finished (in my defence, I do have lots of other hobbies - gardening, paper craft, jewellery making and reading, which all need my time) perhaps I had better not make any rash promises about when I'll do it!

Send a Little Love Swap 2016

I recently took part in the Send a Little Love Swap organised by  Tracy at Mad about Bags .  I have taken part in this swap for a few years now and 'met' some lovely people. This year, I was partnered up with Lyn from Australia, who, serendipitously, I had been partnered up with for this same swap last year.  I emailed her to find out whether she was happy to swap with me again, and luckily, she said she was.  This gave us a challenge - to find some different things to send each other.  We did our shopping and making and sent off our parcels on the same day.  Her parcel arrived with me last Tuesday but mine didn't get to her until today!  (I managed not to open my parcels until I knew she had received hers). A lovely scent came from the parcels - tea tree? eucalyptus? All would be revealed...

 Well, goodness gracious, Lyn had been so generous again.  There was: (take a deep breath!) a lovely hand made bag with the loveliest happiest sheep embroidery on it, some wool for felting, a Felting magazine, a Welcome sign with hanging hearts, a wildflower calendar, some flower seeds, some ginger teddy bear sweets, an embroidered heart, a seedpod perfumed oil container (more about this in a minute) a teabag/tea strainer stand, a heart cutter and a card with a heart brooch on it.

 The teabag/tea strainer stand is already in use.

I shall have a go with the seeds this summer - that will be an interesting experiment.

 The perfume container is actually made from a Banksia seed pod, and had been hand turned by a local craftsman.  It has some eucalyptus essential oil in it and smells lovely.

You can see a hairy texture on some parts of this fascinating container.

 The little embroidered heart is beautifully made - just stunning!

 As is the sheep bag.

 I love the happy sheep and again, the embroidery is superb.  A HUGE thank you to Lyn, who has again been so generous and has sent me the most wonderful gifts.

 And what did I send her, you may be thinking?  Some ribbon and material (as she does lots of sewing), a mug and some lovely English Breakfast tea from a very nice tea shop in the city, a Lincolnshire Plum Bread tea towel, a little ceramic 'L' tile made by a local ceramicist, and a black and white stripy felt heart, some earrings, and two bracelets made by me.

 The mug says I 'heart' Lincoln.

There were also some magnets, a hanging heart decoration with little bells and some heart pegs.

 There's a closeup of the memory wire bracelet, with pearls and black and white gemstone chips...

 And the macrame bracelet.

Here are my parcels ready to be put in the box.  I have put a few more photos of what I sent as Lyn doesn't have a blog, so this is for both of us.  Thanks to Tracy for organising the swap and to Lyn for being the most amazing swap partner for the second time!

Felt making again (at last!)

 It has been over a year since I made any felt from scratch (hangs head in shame!).  So, I decided this disgraceful state of affairs had to be sorted.  I needed some stripy felt for a project and I had also been inspired by a programme on Scottish Art which showed neolithic cup and ring carvings, which I thought might translate well into felt.  Circles and spirals seem to have been an inspiration to many people and cultures all through the past, and there is something very satisfying about those particular shapes.  
Armed with my enthusiasm, I got making.  (I was slightly concerned in case I had forgotten how to make felt, but needn't have worried, as it all came back to me!)  I used merino wool as it blends easily and felts quite quickly.

Here is an example of one of the cup and ring carvings. (photo from:

 http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/scotlandshistory/earlypeople/cupringmarks/index.asp)

Here is my interpretation, before felting.  I made this as a practise piece, because I want to add surface texture with embroidery, which I haven't quite managed to do yet. 

I had already used the stripy piece before realising I hadn't taken a photo of it after felting, so this shows half of it.  I like the way the stripes aren't regular, but that is one of the lovely things about felt making - the wool does decide how it wants to be during the process and the maker can only alter it so much.

Here's the circle/spiral piece after felting.  The concentric circles and spirals moved about a bit despite me trying to keep them in one place, but I am pleased with the overall effect.
 Now I need to get embroidering...

Stitching Sundays 30

Stitching Sundays 30 - how did that happen?  Over this last 30 weeks, I have achieved far more with embroidery, sewing, patchwork and making than I would have thought possible! The photo collage above shows a variety of projects I have completed, including decorations, bunting, embroidering a felt piece which I started three years ago and trying patchwork for the first time (collage created using picmonkey).  I am sure that without the added excitement of having something to share on a Sunday, I would not have achieved so much.
Having said all that, I have decided that I am not going to continue posting on every Stitching Sunday. This doesn't mean I am going to stop making, sewing, embroidering - far from it (especially as I have discovered a love of split stitch!) - but I shall be sharing my projects on an 'as and when they are progressing' basis.
I would love to attempt to make myself a skirt that actually fits; a simple A line, knee length or a little longer, perhaps in denim, so that is the next challenge I have set myself.  I am a beginner at clothes making so am hoping this won't be a project too far!  I would also like to mend a childhood knitted rabbit toy (Gonga), who needs sorting out and a new pair of felt shorts making, so there is something else I'll be doing too.
It has been great to join in and I hope to have many more projects to share in the future.

Spring colours - jewellery and bargains

I decided that I was going to make a piece of jewellery for myself.  I have a huge stash of gemstones to choose from (oops) and initially, wasn't quite sure which I was going to use.  In the end, I decided on larimar, amazonite (one of my favourites for the blue/green shades it has), rainbow moonstone and silver pearls.  (That sounds so indulgent, doesn't it?)  However, as I used gemstone chips and memory wire, it was quite cost effective.  As I have mentioned before, I find threading the chips onto the wire to be quite a meditative process and the best thing is, I have got a lovely piece of jewellery which I'll really enjoy wearing. Although the photo above doesn't show it, the moonstone does have lovely flashes of blue when it is in the light.

 As for the bargains, well, on a recent trip to Horncastle (a place well known for antiques and charity shops), I found this little embroidered tray cloth in a charity shop (50p).  Of course it had to come home with me.  I was bought it and the primroses by our friend who we had gone to see.  I know primroses aren't cowslips, but I thought they went together well and do a sterling job of representing Spring colours!

(I did wash and iron the tray cloth, but it does look a little creased in the photo - ho hum!)

Stitching Sundays 26

One of my lovely blog followers, Anne, suggested I should make some bird decorations in Spring colours and I thought this was a great idea.  Although I have lots of Easter decorations, I don't have that many Spring ones.  So, before I move on to my next project (and I haven't yet decided what that will be), I thought I would make three more birds in Spring-like colours.

Here they are, two done and one left to make.  They do seem to look very different from the Winter ones, even though it is the same pattern and the same embroidery shape (give or take a bit of human error). It's all down to the choice of colours. So, just the yellow one to finish and on to the next project...

Stitching Sundays 25

 Stitching Sunday is here again and I have finished my bird and snowflake decorations at last...

 Here they all are and I am pleased with the way they have turned out, although there was one alteration along the way.  I originally made this bird shape below in the blue felt and embroidered stars on him.  However, seeing him on the tree with the others, I noticed he wasn't hanging straight and he was just too different from the others, so jarred a little.

 I unpicked him and cut him out into the same shape as the others, adding a similar swirly pattern.

Much better, I think!
Yesterday, in our local bead shop, we saw some felt balls at 10 for £1.50.  Now I know what you're thinking - 'you make felt, Ellie, so why didn't you make some?' -  I should have made some but actually, I couldn't make them as cheaply as that.

 We chose some pale colours which would go with the other decorations.  To allay some of my guilt for buying them, today I decided to pretty them up and put my own stamp on them.

Here they are, after being prettified.  I have sewn sequins on three and done swirly embroidery on the other three.  The flash doesn't help in picking out the details, but hopefully you can see some.  Now all they need is a hanging loop and then I hope the tree will be finished!  (As it has taken me quite a while to make the winter decorations, I may keep them up until nearer the end of March).