THE LAND OF THE NAUGHTY SAMPLE

At one of my classes this week I decided to work alongside my excellent students & produce a sample 'out of the box'  It was awful

Look at this ghastly mess, such a lot of stitching as well hand and machine.  I had wanted to use the heat gun on it expecting the black scarf swopped for chiffon (BIG mistake) as the fabrics below were a bit 'in yer face'.  Of course I had not tried out the scarf with the heat gun.

This is what it looked like after the horrendous smell (remembered to open the window and wear the mask)

What a mess, charred fragments, the whole thing fell apart, so I cut it up.  You might think that I would sling it in the bin, but remember hours of stitching had gone into this.
So mark one nuahty sample:
Layer with pre-felt - bought cheaply at Alexander Palace then add scrim - bought at Festival of quilts.  Hand dyed velevet & cover with a chiffon scarf care of the stash.
Spend hours and hours hand stitching, Kantha style using 2 different threads

Pretty boring, heat gun attack

Hmmm looking a tad better - out with the Treasure waxes and the Gleam.  Gleam hopeless, I hate the tiny little pots with the lids that are really difficult to open.  So I used my normal treasure wax

The reasure wax on the burnt mess looks like little beads.

So endeth sample one

Today I thought I am going to do something with the rest of this huge piece.  Fortunately I had not charred the whole A3 sized piece but just a corner

Fingers drumming on desk hhmmmmm, ah ha I will use the soldering iron instead & my hotstamps.

Well I have not even bothered to photograph the horrid mess - I hate this black scarf that is like tar grrrr

RUBBISH

Onto mark three

When I was getting the hotstamps out, I dislogged my Clover Slash cutter - ah ha light bulb moment

Cut off a sliver of the bad boy

Slash

Burn

YEY

So onto the large piece

Look at the difference, it slashed through all my hand stitching, but hey ho, at least it is now behaving

These are my Lana brushes, as I love my Lana threads, they are just like suede brushes, one hard & one soft, so I roughed up the naughty black stuff
Then finally I attacked it with the heat gun from the reverse and voila a good sample.
Gotta go out now, am thinking of layering sample one onto sample 3 and maybe throwing sample two in the bin - what do you think???? Was it worth all that effort??
Back later



STITCHING CHALLENGE

I was having a think???? Would my bloggerettes like a FREE stitching challenge??


If you would like to join in then please leave an I am in comment & if I get 20  or more takers then I shall run it in my NEWSLETTER
Closing date Halloween 31st October 2011
UPDATE:  Not enough interest yet......

SHOP NAME CHANGE & WORKSHOPS

Etsy have at long last allowed us to change our name.  My etsy shop is now
www.shelaghfolgate.etsy.com  


I have added 2 of the Tantalising techniques workshops. 

                                           Silken Tales

                                   Lingering Lutradur
These workshops are techniques with no finished item


I shall also add these workshops to my bigcartel shop
http://shelaghfolgate.bigcartel.com

I have also added 2 of the SMASHEE workshops

                                HUBBLE BUBBLE DOLL

                                   THE PHOENIX BOX
These workshops are techniques to complete a finished item


Please visit, they would make a really lovely Christmas gift for a stitchery friend, & as a bonus if you let me know that it is a gift I will send the workshop to them on a date specified by you and you will also receive the workshop FREE
Please email me if you want further details:  shelaghfolgate@aol.com with workshops in the Url please

PROGRESS?

thToday was a typical October day.  Sunny, warm (ish), bright & clear.  I decided to walk early morning knowing that my village church should be empty except for the new flower arrangements.  A brisk walk bought me to the door and the peace & solitude that so eludes us most busy working days.  The sun was making window patterns on the walls.

Forgive the images taken with my phone.

These look like little happy people to me.

This is the font where my children were christened,  isnt it beautiful

Wonderful detail on the stone work
Part of our church dates from the 12th century

This is the main stained glass window above the high altar.  In the afternoon & early evening the sun streams through the window

This is the fabulous organ, the beautiful pipes with the window behind and the carving on the wood

The chunky heating pipes behind the pews.  Why am I showing all of this?

Well I got a huge shock on a board in the church are 6 proposals for UPDATING this wonderful piece of English country history.  A small congregation of around 50 and someone wants to...wait for it

Put in a new floor....get rid of the pews...update the heating ....GET RID OF THE ORGAN...put in a mezzanine ... no doubt make a shop,  an internet cafe and hold raves.

I am completely upset and angry, IDIOTS.  Okay life is a progress, that I certainly know but what about heritage for our children etc.  I hope it never happens, I pray it never happens
Sorry to sound off but dont you agree how lovely these features are?
I left the sanctury so very sad and trudged around the rest of my route with a heavy heart

By the overgrown pond I had a conversation with a random man & 2 dogs about it, he is still cross about the removal & dumping of the pulpit about 10 years ago & so am I

So cross was I that when I returned home intent on doing some creative sewing, I set to and pulled all the stuff out of my kitchen cupboards & spent the entire day cleaning and re-arranging & muttering.  All sorted now with charity piles and dumping piles & its too late to stitch so tomorrow cant come soon enough
I hope that you have a lovely weekend and if a visit to your church is part of it, really savour the building before some local idiot decides to ruin your heritage. Thanks for reading this angry babble x

STUNNING DAY

Oh so beautiful, the walk to work this morning through the trees, past the church with the birds singing and the beautiful sunrays slanting through the Autumn trees.  My heart just sang, so good to be alive.  Then a lovely mornings Hand Patchwork with delightful students followed by the English traditional Friday fare of fish & chips.
I have spent a peaceful afternoon stitching.  Designing a new patchwork block and turning it into a table mat, now to hand finish it whilst watching the late summer birds flying around the fields nearby with the low sun glinting on their wings.  What a glorious bonus day. x

MEETING OF MIND MATES

Back now from a little blogging break.  On saturday a little coach left Kettering for Alexander Palace, Muswell Hill, London.  Coach not made for large posteriors as the seat belt connectors ouch!!!!

I was excited and apprehensive as I was meeting Dale in the flesh for the first time.  We are internet pen pals who get along really well, but who knows in the cold light of day we might not get along at all!!

Oh silly me....what a fabulous day...what a lovely lady...a bit like seeing myself lol

And here we are, a bit blurry but a lovely photo.  I wore my New Zealand necklace especially as Dale is a New Zealander and strangely we both wore green lol

We nattered and nattered, Ian must have thought that I had kidnapped her!!

Fabulous stall crammed with such yummy colours, beautiful themes, if you have never looked at the thread studio then have a look, there is a lot of information, ideas and tips.  The postage is the actual cost and I dont find it expensive at all.  I bought a couple of prefelts that had been dyed by Jacinta Fleshman in Melbourne, flown to Perth and dried in Perth and carried to London, one of them was still a little damp, somehow that really pleased me, truly a small world.  Lots of Starburst stains were bought, these are fabulous, the colour really does stain, they have mica powder in them.  They colour all papers and cloth.  The coloour remains even after hand washing altho the mica washes away.  I have many other sprays and nothing is as good as these.

I have been at work all week so have had no chance to play with my purchases yet

I had a lovely conversation with Frances Pickering on the Art Van Go stand, whose work really lifts my soul, we discussed colour pencils and she showed me the Derwent Coloursoft pencils, a tin of which are in the waiting to experiment pile for today.

I saw 2 more pages of Stepahnie Redferns Stone Bird, which was behind perspex, so funny as the lady standing next to me bent forward and banged her head on the perspex, shows how facinating Stephs work is, check out her blog, link on my side bar and her new work.

Another highlight for me was the work of Beryl Dean, outstanding retrospective.  I had jst been to the graduate showcase where except for one student the work was same old same old, then I went to see the life work of Beryl Dean, so ahead of her time, beautful drawings, designs and textiles.  Worth going just for this.  Google image her name to see some of the work.  I enjoyed seeing a piece of Margaret Charltons work with Dale.  I had a workshop with her years ago and have always rated her work.

I hope to go again next year but not on a Saturday it was heaving thousands of people, there were many log jams and I barely went in the second room, spending all my time in the textile room, even then I didnt see the tapestry, say hi to Kathy Sage or Richard Box or spend time in the Silver studio textile design exhibit.

I hope you have enjoyed hearing about my trip, I am busy designing and stitching ideas for this winter, pictures to come soon, meanwhile happy stitching! x

MEETING

Check back tomorrow for a picture of the first meeting between pen pals DALE & SHELAGH at Alley Palley today.  Much too tired to faff about tonight, but I had a wonderful time, thanks Dale x (and Carolyn & Carol)