huswif

I'm busy making for my next fair on 16th May. It is the Selvedge Spring Fair in Stroud. I love stitching these sewing huswifs, filled with vintage finds....this one is made from a wonderfully soft and slightly threadbare piece of vintage quilt. I have more of it left so it will probably pop up on some other makes. It also has an uncharacteristic bit of  bright colour, but the vintage velvet milinery flower seemed too perfect not to use.

On another note, you might like to know there is a little interview with me in the Spring issue of Hoop-la Magazine.

bird bunting

I've already made nature bunting and botanical bunting, so now I had to make bird bunting too..hope you like it.

Little pieces

I'm slow stitching my way through these January days making these little bird pieces, When completed, they will be made into 'bird bunting', a sample to take along to my workshop at Hope and Elvis.
Just to let you know I will also be a guest tutor at Sew Not Strawberry Jam in Kent in July, you can visit the website for details.

Stitching stories

If you'd like to see where I do my stitching and read a little bit about me, I am one of the featured artists on Ruth Ribeaucourt's beautiful blog, Rubanesque. You can read it here.

Hope and Elvis

Just thought I would let you know that I will be teaching a workshop at the wonderful Hope and Elvis, in March next year.  I think there are still a couple of places left, hope to see you there!

words of wisdom

I was inspired to stitch this as I wanted to elaborate on my idea of little reminders and make something more detailed, a tactile textile book of sorts. A hand stitched, handbook, a manual for life, something to treasure and keep and be sought out when needed.  It's hard to capture all the details and quotes I've included, hence so many photographs, but I hope I've given you a sense of it .... I'm already gathering ideas for a companion piece called  'words of comfort......

Trevethoe House

I spent a lovely evening on Tuesday with the ladies of  Shrewsbury Embroiderer's Guild, talking about my work and chatting to them. I took along some work to show them and this was one of the pieces I took.

I don't have a formal education in textiles, I've learned along the way over the years, and I can't remember a time when I wasn't making things. I used to regret not having studied art or textiles, feeling that it put me at a disadvantage, but I don't anymore. A lot of my work is very personal and draws on my experience of life and I don't think I'd be making the work I do now without having been on a personal and creative journey.

This piece is about a year of my life, in 2005 (although I didn't stitch this piece until later, in 2012). During this year, myself and my husband took a 'year out' from full time work to concentrate on our creative selves, after the sale of a home and a business and a long period of stress. It was during this year, and having this time to devote to my art that marked a turning point in the work I was making, when lots of different elements came together. We rented a house in a rural location, the first time I'd experienced living in the countryside, something which was to have a profound effect on my work and my creative process. The house was called Trevethoe House.