Exciting Innovation

I've finally mastered the hyperlink! When you see a different coloured word just click on it and jump straight to some interesting titbit culled from the web!

and for my first trick....

You have got to see this 

Its only a concept as yet... but Singer are interested....

Its the first genuinely new design in about 150 years -  but I'm not sure how practical it can be for our purposes . Printing the thread colour as you go will prove expensive...pint for pint the only liquid dearer than vintage champagne is printer ink!

Will it work on cotton AND poly cotton? or will we have to buy some expensive coated nonsense?

And would that dainty arm drive a topstitch needle through 4 layers of felt and upholstery fabric??

Still- I wouldn't bet against us all owning one in 5 years time!

Olive takes time off......

Olive sent me an email - She had decided to spend her Easter holiday relaxing at home. She ( very wisely ) delegated all cleaning  tasks and household chores to partner and family and spent the week....

.........well this is what she did-

The first box was started at an embroiderers guild workshop- the others she made from scratch....

The altered book was made for a work-shop her sister was running , demonstrating the use of distress inks. I had never heard of these ..........

and I love the moody stylised  look of these altered book pages  Its a look that could possibly be incorporated into a wallhanging with the aid of the inkjet fabric Catherine was showing us.....

(Note to self... must give this some thought.....! )

And isn't it astounding how much one woman (left in peace to work) can accomplish!

Messing about with stuff

This is a bit of painted and crushed tissue paper

this is a piece of vilene covered with grey merino fleece

and this is what happens when you make a vilene/merino/tissue sandwich and put it through the embellisher ( vilene side up) It makes a really interesting surface to stitch on......

So I did-I'm quite pleased with it as a sample.

hands across a blog

Alma has been researching gloves.. both the practical....

made from recycled felted sweaters, and beautifully tailored....

to the less practical -moulded from Kozo- a mulberry bark

Kozo looks like dried string but softens when its boiled and can be teased out into lace like strands and moulded round a 3d form- then it stiffens like paper.

Not practical - but very pretty.

The Plan

Strule Arts Centre has kindly agreed to host our exhibition in January 2011. So we called a meeting and decided that the theme of the exhibition should be "A garden- the greatest refreshment to the spirit of man". This is a quote from Francis Bacon .This should have a lot of scope for our creative muscles to get to work on....But for those of us whose muscles need a "jump-start" Olive has agreed to lead a session of creative messy play...., felt-tip pens, glitter, torn paper , glue and paint to the elbows....

Meanwhile- several million miles from messy play- Catherine has been doing this. Its a superb piece of goldwork and when it's finished will be a cover for the gospels at her church.