more serendipity

Because it was in my mind, and because I have been working with the design, I was putting strings of likely keywords into the Ubiquitous Search Engine. I found this on Etsy, with closeups of the stitching. It could be her cushion cover, the fabric looks the same. I wonder if it came as a kit. Not sure I'll use their method of six strands of embroidery floss though, which looks rather bulky. I'll have to have a think about what will work better. Even three strands of floss would give more delicacy to the image.

How strange it is that this object from my long ago past has been strewn in my path by the universe! 

I have the design sized up on baking parchment

and quite a nice piece of oatmeal coloured Irish linen, which would acknowledge her Irish heritage. 

I also remembered the "this will come in useful one day" purchase from long ago which still seems to work - a pink transfer pencil. Now to see if the current measurements come anywhere near standard cushion pads! 

And, of course, to delve into my stashes of thread!

Such treasure

This is Ganna's chair.  

It was always called "The Bergere Chair", and she sat and pondered in it every day. It lived in her ground floor bedroom, just beside the window which looked out over Alexandra Park. It proved a difficult object to negotiate in the middle of the night when, creeping back in, having forgotten my key, I was glad to find her window unlocked, but dismayed to find that the back of the chair was hooked over the brass handle, with which one pulled up old fashioned Victorian sash windows. It added somewhat to the weight I had to lift, and made waking my grandmother, at 1am, far more likely. 

When she sat in her chair, she always had a cushion at her back, stitched by her. It was one of the things which drew me to embroidery. To my dismay, it disappeared from our trove of "household objects" at some stage, and I have, over the years, trawled the web to try and find the pattern, to no avail.

I sit in her chair most days, tucked into another bay window, in another Victorian house. I ponder in it sometimes, but stitch more often. I too use a cushion at my back. I have a great deal more muddle around it than my orderly grandmother would ever have tolerated!

As you know I am part of Christine's Studio 11 community. Yesterday, on Facebook, she posted about a piece of fabric, part of a trove of vintage linens that have come to her. She has plans to "stitch it to show deterioration due to age and dementia", part of her long running series of textile works which reference her experience of losing her father to the disease. But first, she has kindly photographed it for me. It is, of course, Ganna's cushion, unmistakable. I can trace it out for myself, and use to recreate this early treasure, and lean against it in the chair that held its original. 

Given my track record this may, of course, take a while! I hope I can do it justice

What a compliment

I popped over to Rachel's blog today to find that she had very kindly put me up for an "Outstanding Blogger" award. I'm sure she must mean someone else really, but as I have been offered the honour I shall respond. There are five questions to answer, so here we go.

What would my perfect holiday be?

Well that's a rather difficult question to answer. I would love to be able to take the sort of holiday my very fit cousin takes, walking somewhere wonderful and remote for days and days, with a comfortable place to stay at the end of each day. Not being particularly fit, I will stick with the somewhere (reasonably) comfortable. I have a great hankering to go to Japan both to see their beautiful Zen gardens, and their textiles. Having done a little bit of Shibori in the past I am in awe of the way the experts in Arimastu create stunning fabrics with their nimble fingers, beautiful designs and careful dyeing techniques. So that is on the future plans list. 

A little "moon over the sea" shibori

I would also love to go back to Bhutan, every time this picture comes up on my desktop I think, "gosh, I took that, I really was there". 

Those are, of course, travels to distant parts, but for the most part our annual holiday is taken in the Lake District, in a self catering lodge near Ambleside. After 15 years going there I still look forward to it every year. As Autumn approaches my heart lifts and I think "not long now", so perhaps I already have my perfect holiday, the one I take every year; its perfection in recognising that I don't need to go very far to find happiness

Where is my favourite place to walk?

Lockdown has inspired me to walk more than I have in the past (despite best intentions). For the most part this has either been around my local streets or on our lovely seafront. This is a great pleasure, the view across the sea to Beachy Head as the sun goes down never fails to raise my spirits. 

But, if I were braver, and fitter, I would love to do one of those long walks across the South Downs, finding a hostelry to stay each evening, and glorying in the rolling hills, the song of the skylark above, the wind rippling across the hills and valleys, and views, views, views in all directions to set the soul free. And, of course, that sense of long past human activity in the patterns of the fields, the clusters of tumuli on hilltops and, at times, the things we have engraved on the landscape. I visit them occasionally for short walks, and they always make my heart sing.

What inspired me to start a blog?

When Mum died in 2010 and we moved to our current abode I felt bereft and in need of something to keep me going. I started my blog "Of Gardens Grandmothers and Gleanings" just as we were getting ready to move. The first post really sums up my reasons for starting - it was called Beginnings. Since then I have explored many of those things I hoped to explore, joining the Embroiderers' Guild along the way, developing new and treasured friends there and learning so much of value. I've also found many interesting and inspiring blogs to read written by artists with tremendous skill and talent. I have been very grateful for the way the Internet allows folk with like interests to share their artistry and to connect with one another. As the blog continued, I made the decision to bring all things textile over here. It seemed to make some sense to take this interest, which has grown so much, to a new place and continue with my other ruminations back there.

What did I miss most during lockdown ?

Apart from my daughter's lovely long cuddly hugs, to be honest, very little. I am quite a solitary soul. Our stitch group and the textile classes at Studio 11 kept going online so the inspiration and connection was still there, though the pleasure of meeting with the rest of the group was a loss. It will be wonderful when we can all meet up in real space and time once more. The other loss has been that of spontaneity. We have both missed saying "lets go for lunch at the Lamb this weekend" or "do you mind of I trot off the the British Museum next Saturday", little pleasures which we are beginning to enjoy once more.

Darling daughter looking pensive in St Paul's - 2008

What was the last book I read?

The last book I thoroughly enjoyed was The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, a delightful mix of history and fantasy, so beautifully written. I am currently engrossed in the sequel, which is bringing equal pleasure. I read far too much fiction, and always have, and am sure I would get a lot more done if I banned novels for a month, but where would be the fun in that? In between novels, I have also been reading Art of the First Cities, one of many I have read about Mesopotamia. They feed my interest in this distant time and provide visual references as I try and express, in textile form, the things that inspire me about this dawning of history. 

a sampling of layers and stitches and a small bit of cuneiform

When I still lived at home with Mum, and was working in the lending library, I could never pass an interesting looking book by. I remember her dismay one day on coming home from work with yet another novel to read. "Honestly Kath, this has to stop. I've just had to pick up 40 books from your bedroom floor just so I could do the vacuuming"

I have shelves now, but there still may be a few books on the floor here and there!!

And finally, my nominations - all three lovely blogs which are visited by me regularly for the pleasure they bring

Fiberrainbow

Stitchery Spellbook

Tanglewood Threads

No obligation of course, but it would be fun to see your responses. Thank you Rachel for the nomination

Badger developments

Having enjoyed the Becky Hogg mackerel so much, I have now made a good start on her badger kit. With badgers in the garden I couldn't resist him when we did the woodpecker workshop way back when. As with all her kits, he came beautifully presented in a smart cardboard box with each element of the kit packaged separately in paper packets (no plastic anywhere) and full instructions for how to work the project. So far I have just done his body, and then put him to one side to concentrate on that blackwork project our stitch group has been doing, of which more anon. For now, here are some progress pictures.

You can see below that I have tucked my couching stitches just a little too far towards a previous row in one place, so there is a bit of a line along the back, but by the time I noticed I hadn't the heart to unpick. 

The back, with all those strands of silver waiting to be tied down and tidied up

I am so pleased with the progress so far, and looking forward to completing him, hopefully in time for us to take part in the Open Gardens scheme in aid of our local hospice in late June. He can then serve as a talking point for visitors and as a reminder that badgers, who live an a large old sett at the bottom of our garden, dig holes, so to take care when wandering across our "lawn" (we call it a clearing!).

Back to the other stitching which I will report on in a later post. For now, happy stitching