Catching Up Again continued

Sewing For Pleasure show continued

This piece by Christine Hudson was part of the Madeira Embroidery competition stand on a theme of Best of Blighty.  Christine's notes explain her inspiration.  I'm only sad I didn't read them properly as she invited you to explore the pieces and I would have loved to have turned the pieces over and handled them. 

I was pleased to see some of the costumes from Downton Abbey at the Sewing for Pleasure Show.

I think the costume nearest to you was worn by the character Lady Sybil.  

Isn't the detail beautiful? I love the swirls on the sleeve.

 

These postcards are part of a much larger display of work by West Country Embroiderers.  Hopefully if you click on the image you will be able to see more detail.

After the enjoyment of the Shows at the NEC I had a lovely day out in Lincoln with two blogging friends.  It was a gloriously sunny day last Tuesday and we were sure to make the most of it.  My DH travelled on the bus with me but went off to do his own thing and use the opportunity to gather photographs for his collection.

You may recognise Maggi and Linda from their blogs (image courtesy of DH).  Both these ladies are wonderful company and we had a lot of fun.  Our first port of call was Harding House Gallery on Steep Hill which is run by a cooperative of artists who sell their works and also man the gallery and often work there too.   There is so much beautiful work in the gallery from textiles to pottery, to jewellery, to paintings and upstairs is an exhibition space which this visit housed an exhibiton by Doreen Hallett, an accomplished quilter.  If you click the link you will be able to view her work rather than having to rely on my probably blurry images.  

From the gallery we wandered slowly up Steep Hill, well you have to wander slowly, it's very steep and there are chocolate shops to distract you along the way :-) (of course we succumbed! Well, you have to don't you?)  

So much beautiful colour in the blossom part way up the hill. 

After a relaxed lunch in a pub garden enjoying the sunshine we took a walk to Lincoln's wonderful cathedral and were all inspired by the stunning stonework on the outside of the building which have been cleaned and repaired.

While we were inside the Cathedral visiting the shop the sun set up a beautiful colour show on the columns cast by the stained glass.  A beautiful way to bring our time together to a close.  Sadly I can't show  you the gorgeous chocolate that we bought at the chocolaterie as I've eaten it! lol 

Thank you Linda and Maggi for a great day out.  I really enjoyed myself and I loved the  threads you gave me Maggi.  I will enjoy dyeing them.  My DH had a good day too and is only now uploading his photos as he has been without a computer for two weeks.  He has gone over to the 'other side' and bought a Mac to replace his PC but the learning curve is very steep (a bit like Steep Hill) and we are having many pauses as we toil up it.  DH's son came round last night and gave him a crash course in iPhoto and we are slowly finding our way round that but progress is slow. 

Lincoln continued

I 've pinched a few of DH's photos of Lincoln as they are better than mine - don't tell him lol.

This building houses a restaurant and fronts onto the High Street in Lincoln. As you can see the river runs right underneath it.

I think this is a better shot of the sculpture over the river. You can just see the building in the photo above in the background.

This is how the photo of steep hill should look - upright buildings. Lol

I haven't had chance for much art today but I have been cutting up an old painting of mine to make a start point for some mixed media ATCs for a potential swap. Freebirdsings at http://freebirdsings.blogspot.com/ sparked off the idea so thank you freebirdsings :). I'm so pleased with the result I'm going to start another one. The idea is to turn the sheet over so that you can't see what you are getting until the piece is cut up. This is what I started with - an abstract painting full of different textures. I'll have to photograph the cut up pieces and post them later.

And here's a detail of the July Journal Page - I think it's a little clearer.

Finally this is an ATC I have started incorporating angelina fibres.

Day trip to Lincoln

I haven't been able to get onto the internet much over the last few days as our Pc crashed, well blew its motherboard actually, and we have had to invest in and wait for a new one. (Fanfare!!) The new computer has arrived so DH is now occupied with that and I can get back on the web. Yippee!! We are having to wait for my brother to come over and sort out the internet connection as we are definitely not techies but that should be sorted by the weekend so then we should both be happy.

We had a day out in Lincoln yesterday with our friends Lynne and Richard and I thought you might like to see a few pix. There was a festival of children taking place and a local school were giving a small display of maypole dancing:

We had a walk up to the Usher Gallery and sat in the gardens for a while waiting for Lynne and Richard to finish up at the hospital. This sculpture had a real sense of power and strength about it. The pose is a bit strange as the figure is facing forward and twisting backwards.

When we got back I did quite a bit more work on my beading/stitching page for July and this is how it now looks

I have used feather stitch but the photo doesn't show it up very well but I really like the stitch. I think it needs a little more stitch work but maybe not too many more beads. This photo is a bit overexposed I'll try and get the next one a bit clearer.