PeaceFelt 2011

Here is the Peace Felt gift I received from Mary in the USA.  She said it was a wet felted background with everything else needle felted.  I think the autumnal colours she has used are lovely.

A close up of the pumpkin patch - textures and perspective.

 More textures and autumnal colours from the trees at the back.

More texture from the woolly sheep.

Peace Felt is a very interesting project to be involved with as you never know what is going to be sent.  It is also good to make contacts in other parts of the world - all with an interest in felting and craft.  I hope my recipient will like her gift of the Saltfleetby picture.



Bishop Bob in situ

 Well, here is Bishop Bob in situ in the college Theatre bar.  It was quite tricky to find a place without too much natural light and with enough floor space to experiment with the distances for the light.  We really wanted a halogen bulb so that the shadow would be really sharp, but the old fashioned one worked pretty well and gave us the shadow that we imagined.  We were very pleased with the end result.  There is also an element of interaction for the people judging/looking at it, as we made a sign inviting them to switch the light on (and remember to switch it off again, of course) and we hope that this will give a surprise element, when the shadow appears on the wall.  All in all, we are pretty pleased with our achievement! 

A view with all the various cards/explanations/ descriptions and the Tate Modern-inspired information on the back wall.

Hello to Bishop Bob

At the University College where I work, the Chaplaincy challenged all the departments to make a Bishop (in the style of a scarecrow) and place them in various locations around college to be viewed on Tuesday.  My colleague, Rachael and I decided to make a small scarecrow Bishop and shine a light on him to project a shadow, as our entry.  Other departments have gone for Bishop Desmond Tutu (in a tutu, naturally) or Harold Bishop (from 'Neighbours') or St Nicholas, who was also a Bishop.  We have devised a Tate Modern inspired description for our installation and have had help from the Maintenance Department who kindly provided the lighting. 

Our Bishop is based on a real person, and we have tried to make him using a medieval image as the inspiration.  Part of the brief was to be frugal and spend no more than ten pounds, but we spent nothing as (due to the fact that Chris and I are hoarders), we had all the materials we needed at home.  Bishop Bob may not look much like a scarecrow, but is in fact made around two pieces of wood, as a traditional scarecrow is.  Rachael made his hat, head and hands and I made his clothes and crozier (shepherd's crook-like staff).  I'll let you know how we get on!

Final images for Late Summer/Early Autumn

 Try as we might, there is no denying that Autumn, if not here, is just around the corner, and according to the weather men, will descend in earnest from this coming Wednesday.  However, to celebrate the glorious weather we have been enjoying for the last five days, more like July than September/October,  here are a few images from plants in the garden.  Above is Salvia 'Icing Sugar' which I bought at Gardeners' World Live and which has been flowering since June, despite the difficult conditions.  It still has lots of buds, but is not hardy so I don't think it will survive over the winter.  I'll just enjoy the bright cerise flowers for as long as I can.

 Aster Ericoides, which has become one of my favourite asters.  It is smothered in tiny lilac flowers which the bees love.  There is also a scent, but I haven't yet identified it - there is a honey perfume, but something else too and I'm not sure whether it is pleasant or not!

A lovely combination of an aster with the ever reliable Helianthus Lemon Queen, which has been featured on my blog several times.  I just can't resist the happy yellow flowers.

 A new plant, bought yesterday at the last garden visit of the season for us.  It is Spiraea 'Gold Fountain', although I'm not sure it is, because that is supposed to have white flowers.  Still, whatever it is, it is very pretty and the golden/green leaves give a real splash of colour.

I couldn't leave out the roses, so here is Blush Noisette, with a self seeded verbena bonariensis (and the washing line ...oops!)  Blush Noisette is a pretty rose with a lovely fragrance and I think this is the penultimate cluster of flowers, to celebrate the very last of the summer.

Jewel colours

Owing to my recent felt making, I had to check my stock of lovely merino wool and ordered some more to replace some I'd run out of.  When I opened the box, I was greeted with this selection: turquoise, aqua, sky blue, purple and royal blue.  In gemstone colours they would be: turquoise, amazonite, chalcedony, amethyst and lapis lazuli.  What a gorgeous treasure chest of colours!

Latest felts - finished!

 As the title of this blog post may suggest, here are the finished pieces with the addition of hand embroidered french knots to give a little more texture.  The photo above shows the first piece I did, which worked well, although I decided the second piece would need to have more depth of colour. When I laid the design out, the sea line (or horizon line, depending how it looks to you) was straight, but as always, the wool decided to exert its influence and gave me a wavy line instead.

The second piece has worked well too, and I feel the added depth of colour is very effective.  This piece is now winging its way to my Peace Felt receiver in Ohio, USA and I really hope she likes it.  The purple colour represents the sea lavender which was all across the marshes, interspersed with grasses.  The shiny areas at the front are made using silk thread and silk fibres.
I now need to create another piece, using the stronger colours, as an example piece so that I can remember how I made it, just in case anyone wants to commission one!

Marvellous clouds

 We were on the way home from visiting Mum and Dad yesterday evening and I couldn't help but notice this amazing cloud formation.  To me, it looked a bit like a tornado, but luckily it was only cloud.

 I am sure that a meterologist could tell you why it was formed and how, but to me it was yet another amazing spectacle provided by Mother Nature.

As the sun began to set, it started to disperse and change shape.

 

Eventually, it turned pink and flattened out over the countryside. It was a wonderful thing to watch.

Which Jane Austen Heroine are you?

I came across this quiz whilst browsing through favourite blogs/sites on other blogs.  Intrigued, I gave the quiz a go and found out I am most like Elinor Dashwood. I am quite pleased with this as Elinor is sensible, practical, caring, intelligent, loyal and I would like to imagine we share some of these characteristics.  However, I am not sure I could hide my feelings as well as she does, nor keep a secret that undoes all her happiness from those around her.  A colleague at work tried the quiz and found out she is most like Marianne Dashwood, so hopefully we should continue to work together well.

I tried some of the other myriad of quizzes on the same subject and the results of a couple of them were very disheartening.  I was more than a little dismayed to find that I was most like Fanny Price (Mansfield Park).  Fanny Price!!  She is a snob, a wimp and allows other people to treat her badly and  is a wallflower who can be easily ignored.  She does have some good qualities, but I would much rather be like Elinor Dashwood than Fanny Price.  Yes, she gets her man in the end, but it is more through luck than anything else.  I was not impressed!  Mansfield Park is my least favourite Jane Austen novel, so that was another reason not to be like Fanny Price. (Re-reading that, it does sound like a bit of a rant, but I hope that I don't share many qualities with her.)

If you'd like to try the quiz, the link is below:
http://www.strangegirl.com/emma/quiz.php

above picture from:
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://knightleyemma.files.wordpress.com/

A new felt piece (at long last!)

Having not made a new piece of felt since (gulp) April/May, I finally got on with it!  It is based on a view out to sea at Saltfleetby, on the Lincolnshire coast, looking over the mud which was covered with purple sea lavender.  I added some silk thread at the front to emphasise the clumps of plants.  This photo shows the piece in all its soft fluffiness, before being felted.

After felting, it loses the fluffiness but becomes more defined.  I think it has a bit of an Impressionist feel to it.  The horizon went a bit more wobbly than I would have liked, but that's the joy of felt making - the wool decides what it is going to do, despite the maker's best efforts to coax it into position. I think it needs a bit of embroidery although I haven't decided quite what yet.  I shall make another one and then choose the one to go to America as part of the Peace Felt project. 
Having started making felt again, I need to continue as I have missed it over the last few months.

The last hoorah of summer

 The garden is beginning its slow and elegant descent into autumn but still has a few highlights for these last days of late summer.  Above is my latest buy - a Hibiscus 'Red Heart' - which is patiently waiting for me to decide where to plant it.

 There have been a few insect visitors recently, particularly Red Admiral butterflies, though not in any great numbers.  This one is enjoying the white Aster novae-angliae (not sure which variety).

 The ivy on the wall between us and our neighbours is literally buzzing with insect activity; wasps, hoverflies, bees and butterflies. Although ivy can be a menace, it does redeem itself by providing food for so many species.

 Two beautiful yellow roses from Rose 'Molineux' (David Austin).  A lovely buttery colour and a fragrant perfume.

 A bee happily enjoying the pollen and nectar to be found in Helianthus 'Lemon Queen', a perennial sunflower.  It is a reliable, tough plant which is always cheering.

 My huge Hydrangea Avant Garde, which is stunning and which has two more flower heads developing.  It has been a very good buy, although the coming winter will no doubt prove how hardy it is.

Hardy Geranium 'Crystal Lake' with beautiful veining on the petals.  Yet another plant waiting to find a permanent home.

And finally, a burst of lilac/pink from Brachycome which has been one of the most reliable plants in my rather disastrous hanging baskets this year, and still flowering away.

My garden has been giving me a few headaches just recently as I am fighting against a rampant fungi in the soil which is sucking out all the moisture in the raised beds and gradually turning the soil to grey, ashy stuff which no moisture can get through.  Unfortunately, it seems to go around plant roots too, which kills the plants.  When I come across it, I am digging it out and replacing it with top soil and adding water retaining granules.  I am valiantly fighting to keep my plants in good health and am contemplating sinking drainage tubes into the soil to aid moisture retention.  Despite this situation, my plants are doing their best to continue flowering just a little bit longer, for which I am really grateful.

Accessories

 More from Mum's hoard of goodies, now we move onto some accessories.  If you wished to buy a parasol, where better to go than Swan and Edgar's Parasol Department (Piccadilly and Regent Street).  How wonderful to have a whole department devoted to parasols!

 Here is the parasol which came in the box - a lovely lace cover over black and white material inside.

 Of course, a lady should never go anywhere without her white gloves.  (I tried these on and could only get my hand to the base of the glove - nowhere near the fingers.)  The owner of the gloves must have had very small and elegant hands.

Something for the discerning gentleman now - how about some stripy socks, probably silk?

Or a dress stocking?  We thought this may have been for a woman until we saw the size of the foot.  Perhaps it was worn to attend an assembly or ball?
It is fascinating to be able to look at these items and wonder about their owners.  If they could talk, I expect these accessories would tell some very interesting tales.

The Regency Dress

Here is the piece de resistance of Mum's costume hoard - a Regency dress dating from around 1803ish. Strictly speaking, this is before the true Regency period which was 1811-1820, but for me,  1795 - 1820 is the time scale I think of to be the 'Regency'. The dress is made from a nude/beige coloured silk and has long sleeves with a gathered bodice piece over the bust.  Unfortunately, the photo of it hung on the door doesn't do justice to its lovely shape and it is difficult to imagine how it would look on a woman.  Twenty years ago, I actually managed to fit in it, but I tried again last time I visited Mum and I have expanded way too much! The moment of defeat came when the under bodice pieces that tie up over the bust ended up somewhere under my chin! Oh well, at least I fitted in it once.

Here is a close up of the front of the dress, showing the lovely bodice detail.  I wonder whether it was made for a special occasion, or a local assembly dance, or who actually wore it?  Unfortunately, these questions will probably never be answered.

  

This is the back of the dress, showing the high waist and a very pretty ribbon sash.

 A close up of the gathers at the back and the ribbon sash.

A close up of the front of the bodice, showing the gathers.  This bodice piece hooks up at each side and goes over the two tied under bodice pieces.  Once on, the ribbon is pulled which tightens the front of the bodice.

The back of the sleeve, showing the beautiful hand stitching and the interesting way the sleeves have been set in.

 Inside the bodice, again you can see the careful hand stitching of the cotton lining.

This shows a part of the under bodice with the main front folded down.  you can just see a ribbon tie on the right of the photo.
I am really privileged to be able to look at the dress in such detail and I think Mum is going to give it to a museum as it needs conserving for the future.  Perhaps it will be able to provide textile experts with the opportunity to look at the construction of a dress from this time and hopefully, it will be preserved for future generations to enjoy.

Embroidered silk

Another piece of material from Mum's amazing hoard and I think this could possibly be Spitalfields-type silk with machine embroidery.  The top picture shows that this was once a dress as there are pieces cut to form a curve - probably a bodice with a curved front and sleeve. The silk is decorated with flowers and fruit.

 A close up of the pink embroidered flower.

 Another of the blue.

 The back of the embroidery is as interesting as the front.

 Peaches, apricots, plums, cherries?  I'm not sure, but it is still beautiful!

A close up of the curved piece shows the cuts to allow the material to curve smoothly.  You can also see the needle holes where it was once sewn together.

The back of the peaches/plums/ apricots/cherries.  What is really amazing is how well the embroidery has kept its colour - it could have been made yesterday.