Results of Class with Philippa Naylor

Excellent machine quilting class yesterday, taught by Philippa Naylor, organised by Creative Quilting and held at The Angel Pub.  This was the first time the landlord had hosted such an event, and I think he was somewhat surprised at the amount of equipment 18 women, plus one  teacher, could pack in to a rather small function room.

Philippa is a very encouraging teacher, and gave us well thought-out exercises to practice machine quilting.  My results are below and I’m off to practise some more today as Philippa is an example of Malcolm Gladwell’s 10000 hours hypothesis.

 

Extraordinary embellishing

Morley last night and a few hours spent on the embellisher, led to these.

The first four are wool felt background with felted pieces of of old blanket.  The back is as interesting as the front.

   

Wool blanket, with cashmere cream yarn and black merino wool tops , again front and back.

Different wool blanket, with merino wool tops form the Handweavers Studio, front and back.  I really like the shadow effect in the other side from where the embellisher needles went in.

Cotton quilt wadding, with cream cashmere yarn embellished at the right, and folded and embellished to itself on the left.

Pattern or Form….. which am I?

Interesting discussion at Morley on Wednesday about whether one responds to pattern or to form.  After struggling to work out how to turn two flat pieces of fabric in to a doughnut shape ( or torus to use the correct term) and having to be shown hoe to invert one over the other to obtain the correct shape, I am definitely in the pattern rather than the form category.  Reassuring to be told by the tutor that the majority of people fall in to one category or the other, and that very few respond to both.

In London yesterday to see the amazing papercuts by Rob Ryan at the Air Gallery. 

Great to see that so many had sold as they are astonishing.  It was also intriguing to see the framed papercuts  alongside the screenprints of the same cuts.  The papercuts have so much more dimension, even though they are all cut from a single flat surface.  Way beyond my price range, but some designs are available here at more accessible prices.

Detour on the way home to the Halcyon Gallery to see sculptures by Lorenzo Quinn, and then to The Opera Gallery to see the paper and Perspex pieces by Pavlos. Like gigantic quilled paper sculptures, the colours were striking

Interestingly photos from London on Saturday seem to support the pattern categorisation.

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Morley monotone, leaves and libel matters

White on white experimental stitching, and I’ve finally conquered bullion stitch. Stitched on calico, with white cotton Perle no 8 thread.

Incredible leaves picked up on the way to Morley. I’m attempting to preserve these colours using the method suggested by Isabella, of ironing the leaves between waxed paper and brown paper.

Lastly, off with younger son tonight hear Simon Singh speaking. The libel law reform campaign is still live, as another physician has had a libel case brought against her for questioning the claims made for a cosmetic cream. Not only that, the Sense about Science campaign has been requested by the manufacturer not to publicise her case. If individuals want to spend their money on these products, fair enough, but it is reasonable to ask to see the evidence on which claims of efficacy are based.

Stuffed and stitched

Great Morley class this week, making overly-stuffed calico samplers and then using these to experiment with hand embroidery stitches: bullion , blanket, French knot, running and chain.  Samplers are about 8 x 6 inches and the overfull stuffing gives a very tactile object to stitch in to. Intriguing to see the different ways people manipulate these stitches so they become a sewn signature.

 

Another tree

One flight back from Edinburgh and one episode of Spooks. Threads again from The Handweaver's Studio, although I was tempted by the range at The Grassmarket Embroidery Shop.


Fireworks at the top in this photo are one of my favourite ever fabrics, in our 10yr anniversary quilt.