stolen moments .....

As you can imagine with a new baby, it's hard to find time for stitching in the way that I used to. I also want to enjoy every moment with him.  There are some stolen moments though, especially when he's sleeping, so I managed to stitch this tiny keepsake which I thought I would share with you.

Also just a reminder that you can still see two pieces of my work at the 'A Group Gathering' exhibition at Unit Twelve Gallery until 27th August.  If you can't make it - here's a peek at my Daphne's Glove piece in situ at the gallery...

And a closer look...Photo below by Gerard Hughes Photography. Don't forget if you can't make it to the exhibition you can see the other pieces and read all about both Group Gathering projects on the Group Gathering blog.

A Group Gathering at Unit Twelve

I'm excited to tell you that the 'A Group Gathering'  exhibition opens today at Unit Twelve Gallery in Stafford.  This exhibition provides a unique opportunity to see the artwork for both of the Group Gathering projects - The Shirt Collar Project and Daphne's Glove - together. The Private View is on Saturday 30th June from 2-4pm you are welcome to come along and meet some of the artists.

You can read about the inspiration for my Daphne's Glove piece over at the Group Gathering blog, here.

I realised I didn't do a blog post on my Daphne's Glove piece, so here are some glimpses of it for those who can't make it to the exhibition.

Thank you for all of your warm wishes about my pregnancy in a previous post, it was much appreciated. I had a baby boy on 25th April and we are both doing fine. My stitching is taking bit of a back seat at the moment as I am just enjoying caring for and spending time with him. I am a bit tired (!) but very happy. Christine x

A Wedding

I made this little fabric memento for myself to commemorate my wedding day.  I got married on a tiny island in Scotland called Sanda back in 1997. Back then it wasn't the swanky holiday place it is now. My husband and I had been on holiday there the previous year and he proposed to me on the beach, we were the only people staying on the island which only has a few cottages and a lighthouse, and it was very magical experience, so we decided to go back and get married there.  It was a bit of a logistical feat, we had to take everything over there by small boat, cake flowers, table linen, the lot, as well as our guests. It was a small homemade affair before homemade weddings were fashionable, and the daughter of the then owner of the island made all of the beautiful food for our special day as she was studying at catering college.  A few days before our wedding the weather was so bad we didn't think we would be able to get over to the island but the day before the seas calmed and the sun shone on us on our wedding day.  On our holiday there before we got married I collected lots of shells from the beach, which I have kept all these years.  There were lots of these worn limpet shells with holes in the centres which I love and I've used one as the central little 'frame' on this piece. I've embroidered our wedding date inside...and of course a tiny boat.

'She wears her words'

You may have caught a glimpse of this new piece on one of the photos from my last workshop but I thought I would show her to you in more detail. She lives in a drawer covered with the title pages from vintage books. Her paper and lace skirt is made from words and she also wears them in her hair. She has a little stock of vintage books with her as she never likes to be without some reading matter....

Wonderful workshop weekend

Hello there, I thought I'd share with you some images of last weekend's workshops at Hope and Elvis.
Hope and Elvis is a large and inspiring studio venue in Nottinghamshire owned by Louise Presley. Louise runs workshops throughout the year and invites an impressive array of guest artists and makers to run workshops and creative days. Hopefully these images give you a taste of the atmosphere of the weekend and of Louise's creative space.  As usual, I brought along lots of my work to show for inspiration and lots of vintage materials to be used. It was a lovely couple of days spent with some enthusiastic and talented ladies.
This will be my last workshop for a while, as I am expecting a baby in about a months time so I will be occupied with other things! This blog will still be the space where I share the things I create with you but as you can understand,  for a while I won't be posting as often as in the past. A huge thank you to everyone who visits here for supporting me and my creative work and for those who take the time to leave such enthusiastic, positive and inspiring comments.  I hope that you will still check in here from time to time. Christine x

Tiny treasures...

I've been busy making samples for inspiration and getting organised for a  'textile tokens' workshop this weekend at Hope and Elvis, I thought I'd share a few little things I've made with you...

I'll be back here soon with more to show you and some photos from the workshop....

Hibernation

Hello and a belated Happy New Year! I'm sorry for my lack of posts of late. I have just been hibernating for a while and negotiating life's ups and downs. I've still been stitching though, slowly stitching away at this piece which I've been working on for quite a while in between completing other things.

I've now finished this piece, but I've been struggling to photograph it to a good enough standard to show you here... I'll keep trying and hope to show you soon.

In the mean time here's a little 'textile token' I just made in preparation for my workshop at Hope and Elvis in March. If you are coming along, I look forward to seeing you there....