Doldrums

Generally messing about and needing to get out of the doldrums.

I was trying to remember how to make a felt bowl as it is a long time since I made one. Well this turned out tiny enough to make into a little pin cushion. I used the wool I brought back from Ireland and so tirelessly washed and combed – before finding it wasn’t much good for felting – to fill the pin cushion
I tied in tiny buttons to shape the edge and a piece of acquired dyed blanket for the top. So there you go.

Book give-away on the Hand Embroidery Network here.

Spindle Tree

This is quite fun to work on – I must admit it took me a year to get round to taking the photographs.

In a drawing class we took some hedgerow ‘shrubs’ apart and drew the leaves, the thorns, fruit, etc. It was so long ago that I have lost the original drawings but you get the idea.

I then printed the drawings out on some thicker paper and made a little accordion book with the idea of putting in some photos of my chosen ‘shrub’ i.e. the Spindle Tree. Having been out blackberrying this week I remembered the project and brought home some pieces to photograph.

Micro-Pages Artists' Book Exhibition

Micro-Pages flyer_ back
Originally uploaded by www.abigailthomas.co.uk

'The Windmills of your Mind'.

I’ve had a busy week so far. I was pleased with myself this morning having remembered how to set up a DVD slide show for my group next week; we are going to start a project on Map Art/Memory Maps. Thanks to the generosity of people on the web and great links to artists on people’s blogs I found some really interesting images to inspire them. I’ve bought some clay so we will be working with that and maps from a charity shop. I went to a mini workshop earlier this year with Kim Pilgrim who used the idea of Memory Maps, and she said it was OK for me to use the idea with the clients of the day centre where I work. I am quite excited about it and hope they are too.

These images are linked to another project. More about that if it comes to fruition. I wonder if all this activity is to deal with my disappointment about the evening classes. No, I just think that I easily move on.

mosaic monday

mosaic monday
Originally uploaded by cathy cullis

Click on this to see Cathy Cullis selection, which kindly includes my felt.

Felt

Last week I decided to give myself a break from planning the evening classes and workshops and to treat myself to making some felt.

I would like to be positive but having been to the enrolment evening last night, to which a handful, a very small handful of people came, I think the classes are unlikely to run. Languages, computer studies etc. look to be in the same boat. I am however pleased with my plan and samples and will hopefully be able to use them in the future. Thank you to the people who said they would attend if they didn’t live on the other side of the world!!

Here is a link to my new felt hero Lisa Klakulak. I think her fantastic pincushions are my favourite although I am a fan of all her way out and intricate constructions. I like the colours, the shapes and the details which make her felt so contemporary.

On-line Embroidery Exhibition

'LaceWing'

One of my former tutors Val Campbell-Harding used to say that the back of a piece of work was often more interesting than the front; she was right more times than she was wrong. To see the online exhibition you can click on the side bar link.