So what have I been up to? At the beginning of October I joined a small Felting class in Chale. I have a wonderful embellishing machine but wanted to understand the qualities of felt before I could really use the machine to its best. The course is aimed at anyone at any level and is welcoming and vibrant. Everyone is keen to see what others are doing which I love. I think we are all hoping the group will continue to meet even after the course has finished.

The first piece of felt I produced was a flat and at the time not very inspiring. All I could see was flat swathes of colour and nothing else. I was worried that maybe this would not develop my textiles skills as I had hoped.

I lived with it in my workroom, pinned to a board and then layed on a table. Then I saw a photo on a wall in a friend’s house and knew immediately what it was going to be.

As I began to stitch into the felt I could see the subtle changes in colour, my stitches began to create little puckers and pockets that imitated rolling hills and the gentle purple sky you often see in the early evening. The old fence and long tufts of grass bring everything into focus creating a place that is isolated and a little bit wild.

My second piece was created by molding wet felt against a bowl. I love this idea that I can produce a firm textile base on which to embroider in a true 3 dimensional way. I used Shetland and Blue Face Leicester top to create the base and stitched in using hand dyed Perle and silks. I really like this bowl and have another much smaller one drying as I type!!!

I have been working on Snow Goddess but changed her name to Spirit of the Ice. Why? because I think she sums up the beauty that is in the ice of winter when it is unspoiled and crystal clean.

Last winter we had some fantastic icicles that formed on the roof of our consrvatory. When the sun was behind them you could see the Prisim of pure light and the colours held within it. I was amazed at the clarity and beauty.

When this piece is in natural sunlight she comes alive and glistens from every angle.

So what have I been up to?

I have sold a piece of work which is always fantastic. I hope I never lose that little rush I get when some likes what they see and will part with money for it.

I have also made a start on Snow Goddess – another spirited tree who glistens with the diamonds of the snow and ice.

Here you can see she is not that big – 12cm x 12 cm and is sewn onto silver silk shot with black. She is stitched using handspun and hand dyed threads, embellished with beautiful glass seed beads and opal leaves that catch the blue and purple that is in natural light.

This close up shot shows the detail in the twist of her hair and the beads on her bodice. I think she is charming and is the essence of how beautiful Ice can be.

So what will this inspire me to produce? A felted piece with detail embroidered? A handspun circular shawl that follows the swirl of colour?

Watch this space………………………………

Last weekend was the Kennet Valley WSD meeting in Thatcham. So Joy and I were up with the lark and off to see what everyone had been up to over the past month. We arrived to find chairs had been saved for us in the church yard and so set up camp for the day. Sue and Maggie were there which meant that the 4 of us were chatting and laughing straight away! Spinning all day in the sunshine with friends, what more could you ask?

Show and tell was fab loads of lovely things to see – my Flame Scarf was well received and lots of people were asking how I had made it. They also got to see Dorset Wave and Trees, they to were well received and generated a lot of interest.

Today we are breathing a bit easier, much cooler but not cold and some lovely rain to bring everything back to life after the very hot sun.

I have been busy over the last 2 weeks with bits a pieces of embroidery and felting.  I will post some new pictures when I have finished them.

I can also report that I have sold a piece of work which is very exciting.  It is always very flattering to find someone who likes what you do so much they want to have a piece of it for themselves.

This piece is inspired by Monet and his painting of Lillies.  I love the etherial colours and the way they drift into one another like mist moving across water.

I began by drumcarding merino and silk fibre to create the back ground.   The fibre is then laid onto a fine net and worked with an embellishing machine.

I then used scraps of fabric to create the lilly.  Small strips of fabric were laid onto the fibre and then worked with the embellishing machine.

The back of the cover has the same colour strips of fabric randomly placed and embellished into the fibre.

The next step is to work fine silk stitches onto the felt – I am not sure whether this will be all hand or a mixture of hand and free machine embroidery.

The balletic movement of trees in the wind

I started the sketches for this piece in December just before New Year and made the first stitches during the last few days of the Christmas break in January 2010.

I was never really sure where this was going to go as I had the picture almost entirely in my head. I love the graceful movement of the boughs of trees as the wind moves in between them, almost human like. This is why two of the trees in the piece have a human feel to them.

I hand embroidered straight onto an acrylic painting canvas and used a mixture of thread colour and weight to add texture and depth to the piece. There are tiny seed beads to catch the light and different stitches to catch the movement of the branches in the wind. The trunks of the trees are couched threads to create the feel of the bark and further down there are hundreds of french knots that create the plants and tiny woodland flowers growing at the foot of the trees.

This piece is as yet unframed as I am not sure what type of frame I will use, or if I will use one at all.

It is offered FOR SALE please contact me if you are interested.

I was thinking about the eruption in Iceland and the way in which the molten lava runs down the side of the mountain after it has been released. It also coincided with a challenge set by the Kennet Guild of Weavers Spinners and Dyers called “The Fire from Within”.

This piece will be offered for sale once it is completed and will also be exhibited in September 2010.

I have been very busy of the last few weeks with a couple of projects that have definitely made use of my Embellishing Machine.

The first is Alum Bay and comes from a course I took at my local Embroidery Shop called the Stitches Coven in Shanklin Isle of Wight. Margaret Raymond proprietor and tutor took the course, which asked us to look at and create a piece from a photograph she provided for us.

I loved the piece from the moment I started on it and think that the final product is worthy of the title Textile Art.

The second piece is called waterfall, the felt piece is produced on my embellishing machine and I have embroidered into it in order to create the movement of water. I am also adding beads to try to create the glint of the sun on water. This is not finished and as yet I am not sure if it is a wall hanging, table runner or garment! Will post photos when it is a little further along!