Retail Therapy........

If you are in the Knutsford Area, and in need of some retail therapy, this little shop, Fibre and Clay might be the answer. Situated in Minshull Street, it is full of the most beautiful and unusual ceramics, and inspired textile pieces, including work by Jackie Cardy, Jackie Lunn, and many others.  Bags, jewellery, scarves and more, feature  alongside lovely wools and buttons. 

I only manage one visit a year, and am always impressed by the variety and quality of work on sale.

A wet weekend in July

Pat's report on this year's Summer School.....

I went along to the Regional Residential Summer School at Alston Hall for the first time this year and I’ve had such a good time. 

I chose to do the Pictorial Collages workshop with Liliane Taylor, and we dyed fabrics and papers, did fast sketching exercises getting to know our plant/container subjects, did Batik dying, wet ink on wet sketches, etc, and then launched into our ‘masterpieces’ with non-stop advice from our tutor.  We worked till 10.30pm on Friday and Saturday nights and started Saturday and Sunday mornings at 9am, only stopping briefly for coffee and meal breaks (excellent food!) and sleep.  It was exhausting!  But lovely to be so engrossed in the subject for two-and-a-half days. 

The whole atmosphere was friendly and cheerful, I’ve met some lovely people, and the staff at Alston Hall were magnificent.  The other workshops were Modern 3-D Crewelwork and Books to Cherish, and we all had beautiful results to ‘show and tell’ by Sunday afternoon.  However, I’m pleased I chose a course which was new to me, which allowed me to learn many techniques I had never tried before, and I ended up with a real feeling of achievement. 

Thank you North West Region for putting on such an excellent opportunity for fun and instruction!

Pat Knifton 

No wonder you were pleased, Pat.  This is lovely.  (Lesley)

Out and about... in Ireland

Marilyn sent this after a visit to Enniskillen.....

Sheelin Vintage Lace Museum, Enniskillen

During a recent trip to Enniskillen, Ireland I came across one of the most incredible little museums I have ever visited. The Vintage Lace Museum and shop is housed in two rooms and I have never seen so much exquisite lace.  Everything in the first room was for sale, dresses, tablecloths, christening gowns, bags, lampshade and many other items, it seemed like every inch (sorry 2.5cm) was covered with stunning pieces of Vintage Lace.

In the second room was the Museum (£2.50) where beautiful dresses were displayed around the room with further lace samples on the walls and in cabinets.  There was also a small display of lace making equipment and an unusual glass globe shape, which was used to magnify the work.  Information boards explained the history of making the different types of lace and there were many. Some of the lace was stitched with thread finer than a human, but my favourite was the Carrickmacross, which was embroidery onto a net & muslin background, which was then trimmed away leaving only the delicate embroidered lace.

For anyone that is interested in textiles, not just lace, it is well worth a look.

The website below has an enormous amount of excellent photos, close ups too.

http://rosemarycathcarttextiletreasures.blogspot.com/2011/03/sheelin-irish-lace-museum.html    

 

Also next door is an excellent tea shop with a fabulous selection of unusual cakes! 

No photographs, please......Woolfest 2011.

Woolfest 2011

Of course, I understand why artists don't allow their work to be photographed at shows, but I would have loved to share some of the highlights of 'Woolfest' here.  We are lucky to have this show in Cumbria, attracting as it does exhibitors from all over the country with exciting products and equipment, and inspiring work from  artists in all sorts of media, the main one being, of course, wool.....

....in all its forms; spinning and weaving, dyeing, knitting and crochet, felting, and more. Lots of demonstrations, and also live music all day if you needed to go and sit down and have a rest. 

There's a good friendly atmosphere at this show, too, in spite of the huge numbers that were there yesterday.

My favourites?  Jackie Lunn and Jenny Pepper's stalls showcasing their fantastic talent in felt-making,  Jan Beadle's beautiful weaving, being able to buy gorgeous bits for embroidery from Oliver Twists, and finally buying Ruth Lee's book on three-dimensional embroidery.

The only picture, shown with encouragement from the organisers, features 'flock', "a public art project which aims to encourage creativity and collaboration while  supporting and celebrating the sheep farming and wool industry". 

It involves groups and individuals in making thousands of pompom sheep for a large installation in Spring 2012, with a smaller one in Penrith during September this year.   Further details are available at   www.jointheflock.co.uk 

I came home with the usual stock of threads, fabrics, books and good intentions! 

'In the Garden' exhibition , Kendal, Cumbria

News of an up-coming exhibition in Kendal..............

I'm looking forward to seeing these pieces of work.

Also, remember Woolfest next weekend!

Chelsea Flower Show

Excuse my self-indulgence........ This post has little to do with Keswick Embroiderers, and only the slightest hint of a link with stitching.............. I went to Chelsea this week, and thought I'd share a picture or two, taken whilst sheltering from torrential rain, thunder and lightning, and HAILSTONES! I thought these creations were very clever. Designers made jockey's 'silks' using flowers and plants. They could almost have been embroideries!

I was also pleased to see Alison Holt at her stand . She had some of her lovely machine embroidered landscapes for sale. (Out of my price-range, sadly!) But it was good to see the work I've admired in her books, and DVD.

Gardens that could become stitched pictures..........

And especially this one....................

and this...................

Watch this space!

More Squares, and May meeting

May 19th   The stitch makes an image.........

This was the third of our 'Stitch' workshops, where we worked on developing a the idea of using  one particular stitch to make an image. Some of us carried on with the stitch from the previous sessions, while others changed completely. I don't think anyone finished their masterpiece, so maybe we will have pictures at a future date. 

The final sets of squares for the Meeting house display were ready today, and we were able to admire the whole set. They look very impressive, all shown together, and we were give an idea of how they may be arranged. This is not quite decided yet. These are the latest offerings.......

It will be interesting to see the final arrangement, and to have them on display in the room we use for our meetings.  Final arrangements are being made for the annual KEG day out, so contact Pat if you haven't already, and would like to join us to see the embroideries at Askham church in June.