I am very excited about tomorrow-it is going to be a good day! In the morning, I'm having my hair coloured (ok that part is a bit boring, sitting still for ages! There are only so many Hello magazines I can stomach), meeting two lovely friends in the afternoon, then in the evening Mr Dotty and I will be rubbing shoulders with some arty types! I had a piece selected for the Open Contemporary Art Exhibition at Stockport Art Gallery and I can't wait to see all the wonderful art.

Sneak preview of my mixed media piece, "Home from Home 2". I am always very grateful for how well received these pictures of Skye cottages seem to be.

I have been busy working towards my next exhibition with the Ten Plus Textiles Group. This is a quilt I made four years ago for an exhibition at Little Moreton Hall, a stunning tudor house in Congleton.

The "strips 'n Curves" technique by Louisa L. Smith is quite challenging. I created a fabric by piecing together black and white strips, then cut these up to make the patchwork- lots of seams to match up!. I quilted it very simply with circles. It is quite striking, but I'm afraid I found it...well, dull!

So, my brains were wracked for ideas on how to recycle it (or is that "upcycle"?) I'm beginning to explore the shapes of leafless trees.

I love the ones in Skye- short and gnarly, and leaning against the harsh elements.

So, I appliqued a bold, bright, bare tree onto the quilt. The curves of the branches echo the curves of the patchwork and the tree looks as though it is offering up the moon. I requilted it with orange thread-it was originally blue- and added some black satin stitch circles to draw the eye. Then I had great fun handstitching and voila!

I don't want to reveal the whole thing just yet as it is going to be on show in October.

Right, off into the kitchen to make the second Christmas cake of the year! *smiles smuggly*

Desired Things for Spring

It has been gloriously sunny this afternoon and I can feel the promise of better weather just around the corner. I had a lovely dog-walk this morning with a good friend, so we had excercise, a good chat and two happy, waggy-tailed dogs! That more than made up for the time I had to spend cleaning the house when I got back.
As I'm feeling all buoyant and good about the world, I'd like to show you a beautiful bracelet in wonderful Spring greens, from a lovely Etsy seller, desiredthings.

Blue/Green Bracelet with paper charms

From desiredthings

 

Her work is gorgeous and because the charms are made from paper, they are incredibly light to wear.

Trip To Salford

My study room is piled with carefully packaged textile artwork at the moment. Tomorrow I am delivering the work to Salford Museum and Art Gallery for the Ten Plus Textiles group retrospective exhibition. The preview is on Saturday and I am really excited about it.

There are 16 members in the group and we have each put in around 4 pieces of work, spanning our time in the group, including a new piece each. There will also be some art  from associate members. Our work covers many textile arts, including beadwork, patchwork, mixed media, batik,quilting and weaving. It is very varied and wonderfully colourful.

More details about the group can be found here: http://www.tenplustextiles.com/

Salford Exhibition

I have been working on a piece for Ten Plus Textiles (http://www.tenplustextiles.com/), the group that I am priviledged to be part of. The group are having a retrospective exhibition at Salford Art Gallery next February to celebrate 20 years together doing wonderfully creative things, (I have only been with them for a fraction of that time!)

Here is a sneak preview of my new piece. It is just a portion as I don't want to spoil the surprise!

The work combines modern technology with traditional patchwork. I have used the computer to print text and images onto fabric. I have also made "fabric paper" by layering tissue, newspaper and paint onto a fabric bagkground with PVA glue. These have been combined with painted, stamped fabrics of various sorts, which were embellished with stitch, buttons and eyelets. I cut lots of 1.5inch squares which were arranged and stitched to a background.

To see the whole piece you'll need to visit the exhibition:) I will post details nearer the time.