Rust Retreat

With a month since my last post you won't be surprised to learn that we have been away.  The leisure part of being away featured our annual pilgrimage to St Ives, more of which in a later post.   The less leisurely but equally enjoyable part was a weekend working retreat with Alice Fox organised by the Contemporary Quilt Group of the Quilters Guild.  Winter School, as it was called, was based at Alston Hall in a beautiful part of Lancashire.  

The venue was ideal, comfortable, bright rooms and excellent food.  I think we all came away a few pounds heavier.

There were two workshops going on, Philippa Naylor with machine quilting and Alice Fox exploring rusting on fabric and paper.  In addition a group of ladies came to concentrate on their own work as a retreat.  

Alice Fox was my chosen tutor and she proved to be a supportive and inspiring tutor.  We started by exploring rusting with various agents but most particularly tea of various types and red wine.  

Very quickly we accumulated a growing collection of fabrics wrapped around rusty objects of all shapes and sizes.  Papers were also treated and in some cases used as drip sheets for the damp parcels.

You can probably imagine the sense of impatience we all felt waiting for the packages to dry and the rust reaction to happen.  In some cases wet parcels were brought home and several days allowed to elapse before they were unwrapped.

Where the fabrics had dried we unwrapped with bated breath.

 Above, prints on cartridge paper.

This piece above had been previously dyed with seaweed and was wrapped around an old ratchet.  The biggest effect is the sculptural creasing that has happened.  
 

 I am delighted with this lovely vintage hanky which was folded around washers.  There are some beautiful marks from the washers and some delicate flow marks from the liquid.

 I think the piece above was hacksaw blades.

 Silk noil wrapped round a chain-linked necklace.

 These strong marks have been formed where a strip of fabric was wrapped round a strip of metal and clamped with mini bulldog clips.

This piece is very delicately marked after red wine was dribbled over old cotton wrapped round an exhaust pipe.  

After dyeing various fabrics we looked at applying stitch both before and after dyeing.

 This piece above is all paper and still requires more stitch.

 This piece above frayings of thread couched down and then the piece rust dyed.

Finally we explored concertina book making incorporating the dyed papers and scraps of fabric and stitch.

I really like this little book, which needs further work but has lots of potential.  The patterning on the paper came from fine wire wool arranged on the paper.  

I have previously worked with rust and always got the strong orangey marks from it but rust promoted by tea gives softer marks and a range of colours is achievable.  It is also likely to be less toxic than the orangey kind.  Alice's workshop gave the illusion of running at a very sedate pace but we achieved a lot and had time to think where this technique might lead.  I've alreadybeen shopping for some wired wool and rustable hardware. I've got a good collection of rusty bits found in the street, on the beach and in gardens but I am always on the lookout for more.  It will be very pleasant too, to sit and stitch into some of the pieces made at the weekend.  Thank you, Alice and all my classmates for a great working weekend.

Wedding Card

I havn't been showing much of my creative work here recently as I have been busy with a project that could not be shared until after my stepdaughter's wedding.  I wanted to use my skills to make her a special card instead of just buying one and fortuitously we explored a technique at a recent meeting of our quiting group.  

Blogger has loaded the images in reverse order with the front side at the bottom. (I have switched Lightbox back on so it should be easier for you to view the images.  You no longer need to click on each individual image).

I made each signature individually on a felt backing and then stuck it to the vilene bases which had been edged in a neutral cotton.  (Affixing the  panels caused me some deep thought as I found I couldn't stitch them to the vilene.  In the end I went for strong carpet tape.  Hopefully they will stay stuck!)

These are details of some of the pages:

I used some of my printed fabrics, bridal lace and fabrics, beach glass, printed text and embellishments and  had a lovely time sewing special wishes into it.    Once the card was made I realised I needed something to put it in so set to and made a box with some of the butterfly fabric.

The box is lined with dupion silk and I  thought my stepdaughter could use it for her bits and pieces if she wished.  The knob on the lid is made with a small stack of buttons including a lovely copper button from The Thread Studio.

Just as we were leaving the house to travel to Chichester where the wedding took place I grabbed a few sewing supplies because I had it in mind to make something on the lines of a lucky horseshoe, although I don't think people give those so much these days.

Anyway, this is what I came up with,

I cheated a little and used a ready made heart but I had a lovely time decorating it with vintage fabrics and trims and embellishing it.  I think L liked it but hopefully she'll tell me more on her return from honeymoon, the day of the wedding was very hectic as you would expect so there was very little time for conversation.

I have a few fabric hearts in my stash so I may make a few more, maybe on a Christmas theme (sorry for using that word!).  

On Wednesday I went to the first Sit & Stitch day at Stitchcraft Studio and had a lovely day with a few ladies stitching and nattering.   This is going to be a weekly occurance on a Wednesday and hopefully the word will get around and more people will come along.  It will be lovely to have a regular place to go and spend time with like-minded people and to dedicate that particular time to the project in hand.  I'll show you what I was making when I get it finished, which could quite easily be next Wednesday!

Embroidery Exhibition

You wait for weeks for a blog post and then 2 come along together!  Today I've been down to Art & Stitch in Peterborough to see an exhibition by Peterborough Embroiderers Guild celebrating their 25th birthday.  The exhibition contained a wide variety of work, all of it to a very high standard and very inspiring.  I only had my point and shoot camera with me so my photos area bit fuzzy but I hope they give you an idea of the exhibition.

Er Zullen Altijd Wel Soldaten Zijn (There Will Always be Soldiers) Elaine Harburn.  This moving piece features transferred photos of a family of World War One soldiers embellished with found objects.  I liked the added layer of sheer fabric strips.

Memory Box by Kate Isaacs.  This beautiful box is made of old lace, doillies and fabrics from a scarp box, enhanced wit stitch, all with memories of the past.

This beautiful altered book and the one below is by Lin Oxley.  Fabulous work!

A Warm Glow by Pamela McDonald above started life as a vessel but soon became a lamp.  The following three pieces are also by Pamela and combine to form 'Time Passes'.  You can read about it in more detail on her blog where she also has more images of the exhibition.  Scroll down through a few recent posts so you don't miss anything.  You won't be disappointed.

Above is 'Sylvia's Workbox' also by Pamela McDonald.  I was mesmerised by this beautiful subtly coloured piece.  It is a tribute to a multi-talented friend whose workbox Pamela inherited.  There is so much detail in it you could look at it for hours and not see it all.  It is in a canvas and I think is about 24" square.  What a wonderful way to honour the life of a creative soul.

I think this beautiful altered book above is another by Lin Oxley.  The book is by Catherine Cookson in case you wondered.  All that central detail is pages rolled over on themselves.  The colour is a bit off but hopefully you get the idea.  

Paula Mason made this piece above to celebrate a very busy Summer 2012. 
 

These 24 pieces arose from a Toltec challenge whereby the same pattern could be interpreted in any materials.  There are some lovely interpretations.

If you live in the Peterborough area there is still time to visit the exhibition which finishes on Sunday 14 October.  There is much more to see than the few glimpses I have shown here and there is the added bonus of shopping in Art & Stitch!

Where do I begin? And Free 'Kemshall' videos this weekend!

I've fallen so far behind with my blogging that I don't know where to start!  I think I'll start with the last couple of pieces of dyeing that I was doing last week.  Having done the parfait dyeing and re-thought my Festival of Quilts piece I assembled a selection of fabrics and decided I could do with some more dark blue and maybe a greeny blue so a little more dyeing was called for.

This is fairly close to the colour in real life.  The dye powder said it was aquamarine and it's just a little more green than I expected but it's usable. 

The pattern in the piece above was achieved by flag-folding a strip of old sheeting into a triangle shape and then attaching pegs all the way round the edge.  I then used a wide paintbrush to apply aquamarine and the remainder of some navy dye.  The fabrics were left for about 3 hours before they were rinsed out and washed.  

I was really pleased with this beautifully patterned navy piece of dyeing which will be cut up for my quilt background.

As well as managing to get some dyeing done I was encouraged by Annabel (WestCountry Buddha) to tackle a handsewn book a la Laura Kemshall.

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The first step is to select all sorts of papers from your existing stock of painted or textured papers, tissue, handmade paper, magazine pages, cellophane, watercolour paper, cartridge paper, anything that is laying around really.  You could if you wished use all new papers to make a book for your sketches or notes but it's fun to use up some of your so-called failed or experimental pieces. They can look so different in these notebooks.  It is best to keep the height of the pages equal but the width can be different.  You group the pages in groups of 3 or 4 and fold them in half.

The next step is to stitch the pages together. (Excuse the glare in the photo above caused by the metallic ribbon I used for the strengthening straps.) You can use either a running stitch or a linked stitch which gives you the herringbone effect and strengthens the spine by linking each signature (folded pages) to the next.   I don't feel I can show the details here as it would be unfair to Laura Kemshall but there should be plenty of resources on the web to show you how to make this stitched book. (I'll come back with a link later).  The tricky part is joining the first 2 or 3 pieces as you need to maintain a certain amount of tension in the thread so the book doesn't end up slack and sloppy.

 

This is my book opened out so you can see the variety of papers used.

Above I used some handmade paper, a piece of monoprinted paper and on the right watercolour paper that had been used as a dropcloth for painting feathers.

I still have to glue covers to the front and back of the book but I am quite pleased with my first attempt and can see how Laura finds them so addictive.  I definitely want to make one based on the size of a 7"x5" photograph so it will be small and chunky.  It's a great way to make use of all those papers that sit around after studio playtime.  If you click on this link you can see Laura's stitched book and, if you have some free time this weekend you can watch Laura's video for free at Design Matters TV along with about 30 other videos of their working practices and inspiration!!  It's free from 9.00 am Saturday to 9am Sunday morning (UK time)so treat yourselves to some 'me' time!

What else have I been up to?  I've been busy getting more osteopath treatment and my hip/bum is much improved so much so that DH and I were able to go on a coach trip to Hull to visit the submarium there.  

The Deep is housed in an iconic building on the River Humber, about a 2 hour drive from our home.  I had been wanting to go there for some time but timing the visit for half term week was maybe not quite the ideal time to go!  However, despite the masses of people who had had the same idea and the miles of walking (not to mention stairs climbing) we had a great time. 

If you go through the restaurant and up to the observation platform the structure of the building makes for some wonderful photographs (courtesy of my DH).

 

And there are some wonderful views of the Estuary. (My DH will be blogging about our visit in a day or two).

Looking down from the platform this beautiful and naturally coloured blockwork forms some resistance against the effects of the rising tides. 

 

Inside the submarium there were beautiful sea creatures and an ever changing view of gently circling fish, sharks, rays and even a swordfish!

 

 

All of these photographs were taken by my DH as I spent the time filming with my video camera.  If I can manage it I will try and upload a little film of the visit.  I've already watched it back and it's alive with the shouts and excitement of small people.  I was going to add a musical background instead of the shrieks and screams but, having listened to it, the children add to the atmosphere so they will stay.  Needless to say, after such a busy day I was completely wiped out yesterday.  I had to go into town to the osteopath and had a series of senior moments, including forgetting where I had left the car!  Brain fog wasn't in it! lol 

Finally, I have been making some progress on my crinkle quilt.  Well, it's not so much a quilt as a prospective bookcover.

I have stitched many lines across and round the piece but there is still a lot of stitching to do.  I don't think it's quite as crinkled as Nellie makes hers but I am quite happy with it so far.  So much so that I have started a second 'crinkle' with a piece of velvet backed on silk dupion.  It will give me something to stitch on Saturday evening if I've got any energy left after my workshop at Art and Stitch in Peterborough with Ruth Issett!  I can hardly wait!  Fingers crossed that my hip will behave as I've finished with the osteopath.