complete.....

Same piece of work, different pictures. Yesterday it was waiting to be finished......today it is backed, edged...complete. It also has a new home....a happy ending.

To my girls....you have a video on its way...I am converting it as we speak so get the kettle on, put your feet up and relax....

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trying to keep up.....

Whilst I am cracking the whip and handing out detentions left right and centre over in school I am busily failing to keep up myself....oops! Here's proof  that I am trying though. This is a piece I am creating alongside the work my girls are doing. They get blow by blow updates, video and chat. We are supposed to finish on Friday...not a chance. I am rubbish at deadlines in case you hadn't figured that out yet. Doesn't this always happen? I have another piece on the go too....stitching my fingers to the bone on an edge, burning the midnight oil. I couldn't work any faster if I tried. What to do? Stop having so much fun....that would be a good place to start....

p.s......awful dirty looking pictures.....grovelling apology....

pleats......

I have been working a little more on my ''fiddly sampler''. Pleated silk has been added to the mirror section and is in the process of being bound with needle weaving....I love it! At the moment I am half way done with this process but I am going to have to put it away for a while...slacking on class work I'm afraid and must catch up....No hardship though, it will just mean more white, a different kind of white but equally as wonderful to work on....

mirrors....

Mirrors, mirrors on silk with web stitches and French knots, the next stage of my ''fiddly'' sampler. Don't ask me how big this will be when it's finished, haven't a clue. For now I'm just having fun!

If you have been reading this rambling of mine for a while you will know that my main focus, my obsession is ''traditional'' and ''English'' embroidery. So where do mirrors fit into that.....well, (and it is a tenuous link) BUT in  Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century England a mineral called ''mica'' was used regularly as an embellishment in opulent needlework. In the Indian Subcontinent, prior to the arrival of mirrors from Europe, ''mica'' was used in traditional mirror work. Does that do it?? Are you convinced? Aside form that I have just been browsing a beautiful book , 'World Textiles' and in there is a glorious Whitework robe from Afghanistan with....mirrors.......that's good enough for me....

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silk.....

Silk for you today, old work yet special work. Again these are cloths for my children but I shan't go into detail as I don't want to make anyone cry. And I know you are thinking 'how many cloths does one offspring need?' well if you have a mother with nothing better to do then this is what happens....you get a cupboard full of cloth! If you are in my online group I have put together a kind of 'show and tell' about these that you will see at some point. I hope you will look forward to it rather than think ''on no, what's she going to be banging on about now.''

For the rest of you, please don't think I'm posting old stuff as a cop out., I'm not. I am merely trying to get slightly ahead and have new things to show you tomorrow. Well I say new things, it's boring old toe wrap two but new pieces for that. On Sunday, if you are very good I may have some new white....

silk and paper.....

The final piece of the jigsaw is finished. My tiny piece of silk embroidery is now embellished onto a piece of equally as tiny paperwork...Today is a day of ticking off the final things on my list. Already today I have compiled a disc of images, set up my new printer and printed books which are now available again here. Later I have to prepare my work for the journey, a little mounting and a lot of packaging. I have to gather needles, thread ,scissors, paper and cloth. I must remember my business cards and I will also need a little pillow to facilitate paper pricking.

I think I will take a few days off next week....if I have images from Sunday I will post on Monday. If I don't have images I will not be seen for a while, I need a break it's been so hectic. When I come back I will pick a winner for these little puffs and have another gift for you.

See you soon x

silk and a gift....

I have made something extra special for you this week. A tiny, tiny unique piece of paperwork. It is small, 6 x 3 inches but would maybe look lovely in your journal or sketchbook. It would even make a very pretty shopping list if you needed a random scrap of paper to write one down! As always, nothing original here! Just leave a comment, a nice one, a rude one, any kind at all!! The winner of the last buttons, these ones, I know....... it was years ago...is Lilipopo....postal details please!!!

Aside from stitching paper and pricking and perforating I have been embroidering some silk...yes...fabric!! This is to go with the ongoing paperwork that I showed you last time. Don't worry it will all become clear....soon I hope. And I hope you are proud...the ironing is done!!! and cupboards have been cleared out!! It's been a positive hive of activity round here I can tell you. Thing is though, I am no more organised. Despite throwing away shed loads of stuff I appear not to have gained a jot of usable space, not a chance of having everything in the same place. ....still pondering that one...

timing.....

Timing is everything they say, well I am a little out on mine. I wasn't supposed to be here today and no it's not a return to daily rambling it's just that things have cropped up that will need seeing to tomorrow. I will also be here on saturday because I have another piece of white almost finished, this time with an edge and with blue and white transfers figuring in somewhere too. I will also be putting my mass production of the last ten days or so here on saturday...saturday will be busy, I will definitely be playing out!

Todays offering? another fragment, unfinished, frayable edges that perfectly fit the place they come from....

the pictures...well I did my best truly I did. I fiddled, tweaked, you name it I did it. They are still not as good as I hoped and all I can do is apologise....

I am getting closer to the point where I will start my new venture, I have lots of ideas, why am I nervous? You probably won't notice a difference in the work, it will be essentially more of the same yet for some reason it is scary...I hope I am doing the right thing. Only time will tell....

white.....

Another piece of white from the house of white. This fragment is finished, damp stretched and waiting in the pile, well more of a gathering than a pile of stuff to go in my re stock when I get round to it. It's all about timing I think. Hopefully it will be the weekend. At the moment, in terms of finished, I have two fragments, two pincushions and twenty puffs, (that's two lots of ten). In progress I have two more white pieces and another ten puffs. I would like more..that will depend on how fast my fingers can go...

My mind has been elsewhere this weekend. First I had James birthday and thanks for your birthday wishes too. I think he had a good day. We had cake, gifts and balloons. Ballons and birthdays go hand in hand in this house, I love balloons! We will have balloons when we are in our dotage, it's compulsory!! Then of course there is my new stuff, not yet started but my head is positively whirling with ideas. I ordered some supplies this morning, vintage trims and some beautiful vintage white work to use as applique and to reveal behind cutwork. It will probably find its way into a little piecing too. Now I need to source some binding, I want soft binding yet natural binding, cotton or linen and white. I am not going to make my own, disgraceful I know but I am trying to scrimp on time without scrimping on embroidery. I have a vague idea of where I may find it but any suggestions are welcome too.

Now do we have any hotmail experts out there? My inbox used to update automatically whenever I got a new message...for some reason it doesn't any more I have to refresh. Have I clicked something?? Can I click something to revert back to automatic updating?? Help!!

the beginning....

Another fragment is taking shape. I started this one last night whilst my third hook and eye piece was damp stretching. It's not even half way finished yet, more work definitely needed. A few more cutwork areas and lots more french knots. Tonight though I have one more muslin bag to make. The back of the third piece also needs to be done. Hook and eye fastenings, fourteen inch long opening....that's my evening sorted then

I have been out this morning looking for a cool blouse/shirt/top. Anything really so long as it's cool. As you know I am off to London on friday and for me London in summer, winter, anytime means only one thing and that's hot, hot, hot. I managed to get a long white short sleeved cotton thing which will suffice, as long as I'm cool I'm happy! You may be thinking, ''going away for the weekend with only one top??'' does she never wash? Well I actually have other things too, this is just a little back up, the reserve team so to speak.

fragments..

Two silk fragments now finished and going in the shop later today. One is embellished with off white thread and vintage cloth in the cutwork windows, the other with bright white thread and lace in the windows. Both are worked on white silk. That's it then, description given..I'm off..see you soon!!

Only kidding!! I actually don't feel very well today, not like me, I'm a northerner we are tough. I have the most awful headache caused by constant coughing and sneezing, my eyes are running and burning and I am in line for an Olympic medal for mucous production, sorry I know that's gross but It had to be said. I had virtually no sleep last night due to an inability to breathe which as you may know is a fairly basic requirement of life itself. Why am I here then doing this?? Because I can't keep away, I'm needy and I'm a loser. Please don't judge me though, at least it means I like you!

I would still feel like c..p if I sat on my behind all day so I may aswel do this, it keeps boredom at bay and I get very fidgety when I have nothing to do...Then there are my plans for the weekend, mucous or no mucous. I am going to make little muslin bags for my hook and eye pieces..why does that excite me?? I knew I didn't get out enough...

Tomorrow I have a treat for you too, well I say a treat, you may not think so. I have been rooting through my files again and come across some more ''artwork'' from days gone by. I am going to let you see it and then put it in my sketchbook section on here....see, I am always thinking about you even when I'm suffering...selfless that's me.