A trip down south...

Last week we started off by visiting Manchester.
We visited the Craft & Design centre, where I had to use all my stamina to resist buying anything! On display was Threadbare - drawings in thread by Debbie Smyth, who incidentally is in the latest edition of Embroidery.
Then it was south to Birmingham.
I spent 7 years living in brum, so it is a place very close to my heart.
A wander around the city, lead us to the Ikon Gallery, and an exhibition of work originally shown there in the 1970s.
I particularly enjoyed screenprints from Tim Mara.
A walk past our old flat, led us to the RBSA gallery in the jewellery quarter. Beautiful and inspiring works by textile & mixed media artist Stephanie Redfern were displayed in the craft gallery.
From brum, a short trip across to Leicester, to where our friends Amisha and Pun were getting married. A 4 day extravaganza of celebrations, amazing textiles & plenty of delicious food!
Congratulations to the happy couple!

Peace.

Busy, busy, busy. Last week I went to an exhibition at Lillie Art Gallery, from the Northern Fringes (an Aberdeen based textile group). The work was varied and inspiring, I particularly liked the free form knitting cushions of Jenny Longhurst. Unfortunately it was one of those exhibitions were photography is banned. So I have no pictures to share - sorry!

I have also taken part in my first ever Craftster swap, see if you can guess my secrets!

Next week we are going to a friends wedding, I am quite excited as we are invited to the Hindu temple ceremony. We have been getting our outfits ready, here are is sneak peak.
Such beautiful embroidery! Finally a walk through the Hidden Gardens found this treasure...

Code breaking Chewit Monsters?

My plan to blog at least weekly is slipping... I spent the last few days in my home town of Bletchley (most famously known for its code breaking). The delightfully retro leisure centre is currently being pulled down. It is quite sad to see this iconic (if not rather bizarre) structure with a chunk out of it. I wonder if it is work of the Chewit monster?
A walk round the corner revealed some beautiful mehndi patterns painted on a path. What a welcoming entrance to a house!
Finally thank you to art4moi for introducing me to the work of the artist Ton Schulten. His broad bands of colour remind me of patchwork quilts and are very inspiring. Hopefully by my next blog post I might actually have some work to share!

Kantha embroidery

I recently attend a class on 'Kantha Inspirations' at my local branch of the Embroiderers' Guild. Kantha originates from West Bengal and Bangladesh. Kantha stitches are essentially running stitches, they were used to layer old saris to make quilts. This resourcefulness did not stop at recycling old saris, the thread used to sew was often drawn from the borders of the used cloth. Traditionally the running stitch would be decorated into birds, flowers and whatever else the embroiderers' found as inspiration in their day to day lives.

In our class we used pre-prepared stencils and acrylic paints to transfer motifs on to brightly coloured cloth. Once dry we layered fabrics together to create a wavy, quilted surface. Here I used a golden organza at the top, pink turban cotton, followed by white muslin. A pink bird is stencilled on the organza. Running stitches surround the bird, with flower and sun details added. The stitching scrunches up the fabric, enhancing the shimmering of the golden organza. Interestingly the central bird looks almost appliqued, I think this is due to the pink cotton behind creating a depth to its colour. Kantha embroidery used such a simple stitch, yet creates a strong effective technique. I have many more fabrics to embroider that I printed at the class - should keep me busy for a while!

Shisha work and Sari yarn

One of my latest ebay spends is the delightful book Embroidery techniques from East & West by Munni Srivastava. Embroidery is combined with quilting, and heavily flavoured by Indian influences. The colours are bold and the embroidery is rich in texture. This is certainly a great book to look through and feel inspired! From this book I decided to have a try at Shisha embroidery (mirror work). Not having tiny mirrors to hand did not deter me, I made some shiny circles from a drinks can (If you are trying this at home, mind your fingers!!!!!). I filled the background with some stitches commonly used in Indian work.

I must be having an Indian themed week, as yesterday my order arrived from fibrecrafts. One of the many things I ordered (they have an amazing selection) was a hank of recycled sari yarn. I am not quite sure what I am going to do with it, but at the moment I am happy admiring its beauty!