My history map

A long time ago, in that other country, The Past, a small girl lived with her mummy and daddy in a compact sixties semi in a quiet close of similar modest homes. 

Their home was just one corner of a busy market town, tucked beside the Downs in Hampshire, with Butser Hill an ever present, but distant marker in the background of their lives. The house sat beside a plentiful thicket of brambles and wild ground, perfect for playing with The Gang and gathering blackberries. A very small stream ran along the bottom of all the back gardens, and the main road was far enough away to be no danger.

At the front of their collected houses was a wide green, bordered by two rows of "houses for elderly folk". Sometimes the little girl scavenged blackberries, or scrambled in the undergrowth with The Gang; playing hide and seek, surprising a slow worm, or trying to climb the scrubby trees growing on the land; sometimes she dressed as a fairy princess and floated about on the green outside, chaperoned by her trusted feline assistant, Kandy, watched by mummy from the window of her sun filled kitchen.

Sadly, the little girl's daddy and her grandad died within a year of each other, the year she became eight, and their life together there was over. She and her mummy had to travel all the way along the A272, she doing the map reading while Mummy drove, to live with her granny, known and loved as "Ganna". Mummy had to go back out to work full time, while Ganna, at the age of 70, became the mother of the house in all ways. 

with Ganna and Grandad in happier times

That little girl was, of course, me. I look back on that time, not as something remembered, but as part of the myth of the past by which, to some extent, we all live; those things we understand happened to us, but which evoke no sense of lived reality. As an adult, I think of my poor Mum, coping with the loss of so very much, relinquishing her parenthood and going back to being a daughter in the house. I think of eight year old me, trying to adjust to such a huge change of living. I was lucky, in that Ganna was the most wonderful second parent, and my life was enriched by her presence, but still it was a big disruption.

In Sussex Stitchers this year, we have a project where we are each encouraged to create an embroidery centered around a map of some sort. I have chosen this, my most momentous journey, as the story behind my map. Transferring various images onto printable organza, I layered them over another, printed onto silk: this layer is backed by white cotton sateen to give substance to stitch into. The imagery I have used includes some photos from above, but also clips from my mother's diary of the time; entries from February, when he died, and November when we left all we knew to move back to Ganna's house. I used MistyFuse to attach those organza layers, and have quietly stitched into the fabric with simple couching, running and seed stitch, using some metallics, silk and stranded cotton. I am toying, now, with bordering the piece with some vintage lace edging. This reflects that remembered sense of having stepped back into an earlier time, that of my grandmother's world, rather than the sixties in which, in theory, I grew up.

Behind all this past detail is a faded out version of an oil pastel sketch I created on a return visit to the area around 30 plus years ago. I was exploring the top of Butser Hill as evening approached; sketching a hawthorn tree, the layers of the downs and the curve of the A3 winding through them on its way to Portsmouth. As evening approached there were wonderful layers of clouds to catch the dying light, it was a magical experience. 

I am hoping these fleeting glimpses once finished, will create some sense of that lost life which sits, in its own little flickering, glowing space, inside my inner mind. There is more to do, but I am content with the outcome so far. I hope you like it.

A stitching update

 I’m sorry for my absence, our life together has been overtaken with difficulty just now; living has taken on a new priority, and my dearest heart is quite unwell, so we are going along quietly together. In the in between times I am still stitching where I can. 

My most recent project was to create a hanging for his bedroom from some delicious African fabrics I bought years ago with him in mind. He recently asked for someting to replace a lovely old family portrait of his great grandfather as a little boy in Regency frock. Little Arthur has returned to a house he previously lived in, much to the delight of the house owner. The result was this; some giraffes, which are an old private symbol between us, African fabrics, because he grew up in Africa, and three little four patches, composed from fabrics I used in his three great grandchildren’s quilts, so they are with him in spirit. It is another little “story quilt” with fabric links which means something to us. 

Having completed that, I needed something new to work on, or perhaps something in progress to mover further on. You will remember this series from here, here and here.

I am hoping to begin the next phase with this piece of cloth, more gleanings from that first quilt, and not quite as pale as it appears here.

I have cobbled it together with Jude’s Glue Stitch, a regular web of tiny stitches and long intervals which creates a single piece of cloth from several little bits, all held down on a base cloth, here calico. It leaves a little grid of tiny stitches on the front, but they get subsumed by embroidery, and it is a much nicer cloth to stitch on than if you bonded them down with adhesive webbing, however fine.

I think the three pieces will sit rather well together when finished

I am taking  another Stitchtopia trip in a week’s time, just eight days, and my dear heart’s daughter will take care of him while I am away. We will be knitting in the Faroe Islands, and I will be meeting up with a few previous fellow travellers, so much to look forward to, but I will also be spending time in airports, so wanted something to take along to stitch. I’m hoping this will work. 

Designing a series from scraps

After adding some more stitch to my Honouring Christine piece, I am still working with scraps of the same fabric from that original course. This next piece was a trial to see how Mistyfuse might work to hold the various scraps of fabric together on an underlying base of "harem cloth" a fine muslin cloth which Jude uses regularly. I found that layer of glue, although ultra fine, still had a tendency to catch the tread a little on its way though and make the fabric stiff, though that got less annoying the more I handled it. For some reason I think of this piece as Sea Flowers, not sure why.

I did the designing for this on a graphics programme on my iPad: in this case the free version of Sketchbook, though I'm sure other equally valid apps are about. As long as you have layers, a simple selection of brushes and the ability to pick colour you have all you need. In the screenshot below there are five different layers, the top four holding an element of the next section of stitching I was trying out - the flower to the right and the fly stitch and running stitch in the centre and top. An earlier incarnation with a more fleur-de-lys shaped flower was quickly rejected without any reverse stitching required. Then I could tack some boundaries onto the cloth and stitch away knowing that I understood where it was going.

The second bit of stitching began on harem cloth (the trilithon in the centre) I extended the design by incorporating some surroundings, using "glue stitch" to combine all the layers rather than Mistyfuse. Below I have pinned down a printed version of  my stitch design from the iPad so that I can tack the next circle (cut away from the paper) to be stitched once the paper is taken away.

And here is where this is going - Moonhenge. I am unconvinced by the stitching in the reflected moon at the base, it seems to disrupt too much so I may take that out and just add some circular running stitch. 

Both still to be bound somehow.

Such a long time ago, using Connie and Harry's sheets for fabric as I was so unsure of whether the results would be usable. There may be another piece before I finish. An accidental series.

If you are interested in the memorial book for Christine, it should be on display at the Festival of Quilts this year if it is accepted into the "Quilt Creations" category. Twenty four of us have banded together to stitch or weave a piece which exemplifies the creativity which Christine fostered in each of us at Studio 11. We had a meeting this week to review all the pages of the book prior to assembly and were thrilled at the variety and quality of each artwork. Do pay it a visit if you go to FOQ this year, and treat yourself to the Christine Chester retrospective gallery which will also be part of the show. You might catch me stewarding while you're there.

Honouring Christine

 I'm sorry for my recent silence. it has been a busy several months and I always find that winter saps my creative energy. In the intervening time I have been involved with a group of Studio 11 folk, all of whom are missing Christine, the Studio and that sense of fellowship which came with it. She truly achieved what she set out to do all those years ago.

We felt we would like to do something to honour her in some way and, after several ideas were mooted, we have fixed on creating a book in memory of her. Each of us are stitching patchworking or weaving something which embodies the creative freedom and teaching she gave us. Each piece, no larger than 8 inches each way, will be attached to a page of khadi paper: those pages will be assembled into a book in honour of her. We are entering it into the "Quilt Creations" section in Festival of Quilts this year, where it will be displayed. There should also be a link with either the retrospective gallery of her work (do come and see it if you are going to FOQ), or the Creative Textiles Studio where Christine was a regular tutor. 

Following that we have agreed that the book will be given to Christine's family as a lasting memorial to her and as an expression of our gratitude for all that she gave us.

I thought and thought about what I wanted to do. In the end I felt the most fitting tribute would be to use some of the fabrics I dyed in the very first course I did with her; "Tie Dye Mini Quilt", way back in 2012 when she first opened the studio. I had no idea what a wonderful journey she was going to encourage me in, and I have valued every minute I spent in the studio since.

I am calling this "Moonflowers" and have kept it very simple. Minimal stitching enhances what is already there, and I have so enjoyed creating this; Christine's voice in my ear encouraging me and memories of her wisdom and bright heart pulling us all forward in our creative journeys.

I hope it will be a fitting addition to this book which will enclose our creativity and be a memorial to Christine's inspiring teaching.

Remembering and Honouring

This is a hard post to write. If you look at my "word cloud" you will see Christine Chester's name shining large because I have mentioned her so very many times as my source of inspiration and textile education. I first met her when I did the Tie Dye Mini Quilt Course at Studio 11 when she first opened it back in 2012. I was the only participant, and it was the start of 11 years of inspiration, experimentation, laughter and friendship as the Studio 11 community grew. 

Last month this dear soul; friend, teacher and incredibly talented and thoughtful textile artist died after a courageous battle with cancer. We, her friends and students, joined her family last week to say goodbye to her and to celebrate all she had given to us over the years. 

Christine created a vibrant community of like minded folk centered on Studio 11. She gave of her time and skill so generously as our teacher, and also scheduled regular textile "Re-treats" where other textile artists came to share their skills and inspirations with us. In 2019, when she faced the challenge of losing the Studio because the rent had risen beyond her ability to pay, she simply packed everything up and relocated to her basement flat, rearranging her own life to prioritise her creative endeavour and, of course, source of income. I deeply admired her fortitude and refusal to give in to this difficult circumstance. Then Covid19 hit, another challenge, which she rose to by devising a series of Zoom classes which we could all do at home. This carried us through the pandemic in an incredibly supportive way, keeping our creative ideas flowing with courses on transparent fabrics, a "potato chip quilt" and Poetry of Stitch, exploring stitch as a mark making and expressive tool. Zoom also allowed her to host folk from further afield, extending the reach of her teaching beyond the south coast. In mid 2021 she found another real life studio for us to come to, and we were once more able to meet face to face, enjoy each other's company and share our creative endeavours. The new studio was a lovely airy space in an old building once used by the Plymouth Brethren as a meeting house. It was a beautiful place in which to learn; full of light, vibrant with colour and music, peppered with laughter as we, her students, were joined with her again in one place. Sadly, with her death it will close and become once more an anonymous old building on a small street in Eastbourne.

You may remember that in May 2021 she reconnected me with a cushion that had belonged to Ganna, through a piece of total serendipity. It has taken a back seat over the past few years due to other projects taking my time. I have now returned to it, and with each stitch I am connected in my heart with both my beloved grandmother, and with Christine. She used to say to me that I shouldn't feel guilty about not finishing things, if the inspiration to start them had fled. I store those words carefully in my heart as a quiet wisdom. But this project will be finished, with daily stitch, in honour of her and all she gave to me and to my fellow Studio 11 members. We gained so much from here, and do not know what we will do without her.

Stitch experiments

I've just taken part in the TextileArtist.org Stitch Camp, led by Gwen Hedley. I have had her book Drawn to Stitch on my shelves for many years, all unexplored potential. When I saw that her workshop was being repeated I thought it might be an enjoyable introduction to her way of working, so signed up. 

We were advised to prepare with fabric, paints, mark making tools, plenty of newspaper for mopping up spills and, of course, threads in our colours of choice. Each of the five sessions comprised Joe and Sam introducing the activity with their usual bright eyed enthusiasm and Gwen demonstrating what she wanted us to do. The videos were pre recorded and no opportunity to interact with Gwen herself, but the support group on Facebook has been really helpful for feedback and inspiration. Gwen's instructions were clear and the examples shown very useful for understanding what was needed. I chose to use an old tea towel for its soft worn linen. With two colours, we were shown how to make marks - one side dense with little background material visible, the other side more loosely marked, open and fragmented. Here is what I had achieved after day one.

Once dry the fabric was chopped up with greater or lesser pre thought depending on the inclinations of participants. It was such fun watching the images appear on Facebook, so many varieties of colour, marks and decisions. I chose the "turn it over and don't think" method, knowing that otherwise I would never pick up the scissors, being dreadful at decision making. Reassembly involved selecting pieces that had some kind of correlation and matching marks across these. I have chosen to stitch all my selections down on Harem cloth (as used by Jude). Many folk chose to stitch their pieces together in sequence to make strips, but I felt this wasn't for me, so have reassembled twelve pieces in a more or less patchwork. I hope the flow of marks is as apparent to you as it is to me, 

I have just begun the stitching, having several other things on the go as well. I will do my best to "finish" this, though many folk have completed theirs already. For me the interest lies in understanding how to use stitch in an abstract way, responding to what lies beneath. I am a bit ambivalent about acrylic and textile, but the paint was very dilute so the hand of the fabric hasn't changed too drastically.

a plastic fork created good parallel lines, the little flicks of colour above the lines were from the same tool, while a holder for Covid testing makes a decorative repeated square.

Random plastic packaging, harvested from the street, creates a sort of snowflake, or perhaps seed head with more fly stitch seeds tumbling down

more "snowflakes, parallel swirls and Covid test holders

I find a lot of the marks too stark, so will look at how to soften these with both stitch and the colours I use. As it moves forward I will post updates, but I suspect this will be around for a while! It has encouraged me to delve more deeply into Gwen's book as well, which I am finding really rewarding

How is your stitching going?

Completed treasure

You'll remember my post about the embroidery which came to me from my dear heart's Bridge partner. Well it is all done and made into a cushion just in time for Christmas. I had to do a bit of adapting as there were centering marks printed top and bottom and at the sides to take into account, hence the side borders here to achieve a square shape.

The fabric was some I just happened to have which does, I think, fit both the colours and the 70's vibe perfectly. 

I am particularly pleased with the piping, for which I had to learn both making a continuous bias strip and how to attach piping to a cushion. It is by no means perfect, I'm avoiding showing you the completed corners, but it was a fun thing to learn about and seems to have worked OK. 

Sadly the hoop ring mark has proved impossible to press out, even with a damp cloth, and is there because the embroidery had been left in its hoop for I don't know how many years - novice embroiderers take note!

It was interesting to complete this; not my usual sort of thing at all, but nonetheless an enjoyable project.

Now I have all the Christmas gifts out of the way, I might just go back to that tambour work which has been waiting for me to finish it since out Caroline Homfray workshop in October. More fun to be had.

little boxes

 I have been creating more little boxes. The first, another version of the one I created some time ago, the Foxy Loxy Boxy which now lives with darling daughter. The new box is the same construction technique and also utilised an embroidery from a past Sussex Stitchers workshop, many many moons ago; this time a little piece of blackwork which was finished at the time, but to which I have added a bit of gold just to give it a lift before putting it on the box top.

The box was lined with a toning red fabric (such a hard colour to photograph) 

and I was really pleased when I managed to get the pattern lined up on at least one side. The other three sides aren't bad, but not quite as happy as this one!

So, flushed with success, and given appropriate encouragement I thought I'd make another one. I had an old kit, picked up in a quilt show from a sales table I think, which included the pre cut cardboard and instructions to make a hexagonal box. It was a Dilys Fronks kit, and I have only just realised, having Googled the name, that I have admired her quilts at several quilt shows in the intervening years.

I thought this might be a quicker make, as glue was involved - none of that fiddly lacing of fabric onto inner and outer boards, but in fact it has probably taken just as long. First one glued the lining fabric to each of the sixteen rectangles of card for the sides, and the two hexagons for lid and base. Glue dried, the sides were stitched to the edges of base and lid, before flipping them up and stitching together to form the container. The lid top and bottom were then covered - more glue involved, before cutting two strips of fabric, turned in along the long edges, to be stitched around the "walls" of the top and the base. Sounds simple, and it was, but all that gluing, despite my being as careful and frugal with it as I could, meant that sometimes I was stitching through fabric firmly stuck to the card. Pliers were occasionally utilised. Fingers and shoulders got very tired. Several pairs of glasses were donned (sometimes together) and removed, and sometimes the stitching was so close to my face I nearly stitched my nose to the box! However, it is all done, and I am very happy with the result. I used a lovely Japanese style fabric for top and base

The inside is lined with oriental butterflies

Top and base match, but are not identical, and I'm very happy with the wisteria flowing down the side there.

The sides of the base are a rather nice deep red shot silk. It is repurposed from a shirt bought many years ago from a charity shop, just because I liked the fabric. Never worn, it feels new and is a much better colour than appears here.

I am particularly pleased with the gold thread, beads and sequins which I added to the fabric on the lid, they just lift it a little and give it a bit of sparkle.

It is destined as a Christmas present for my dear heart's daughter. I will pop some chocolates inside, tuck it into a repurposed shoe box and mark the parcel FRAGILE! I hope she likes it.

completing others' treasures

As Rachel has noted in a previous project, sometimes one finds oneself being offered someone else's unfinished work, along with a comment on the lines of .... "I don't know what to do with this, but I thought perhaps ...."

My dear heart plays Bridge several times a week with several different partners including a lady called Joan who entered her eighth decade recently. She is a very fine soul, with firm opinions (not always in accord with mine it has to be said), and a heart of gold. She has come to the conclusion that her house is now too big for her and that she must move, so is "clearing out". During this sifting of life's accumulations, she came across two bits of embroidery that her mother had started but never finished. Perhaps, she suggested to him, I might know what to do with them or have some use for them. One, a Christmas tablecloth with sprigs of holly and several half-finished robins has been put to one side to be "thought about". It came with no thread or instructions, and I am quite sure I am not likely to finish it, and will have to find it a kind home with someone who will. 

The second was in its own plastic bag, had all the instructions, a clear diagram

an image of the finished item and a goodly tangle of wool thread all tied up together. The only thing missing is the butterfly.

It is definitely not something I would ever take up by choice, but when I saw that it had the approval of one of my go to stitch authors, Jacqueline Enthoven, I looked a bit more kindly at it, and pondered the Man's suggestion that, if finished, it could make a rather nice cushion that could be given to Joan for Christmas

When removed from the bag only the large flowers, the fluffy "thistles" and those few dark stems had been finished. The colouring is more orange than this and, published in the seventies, it has a distinct whiff of avocado bathroom suite about it.

One "thistle" still has to be cut to make it fluffy - the stitch instructions refer to "looped stem stitch" but it felt more like Turkey Rug stitch to me as I completed it. So far the stitching has been going well and quickly, though I suspect all those little details, the stems and French knots will take time. I think I may have the perfect vintage fabric stored away to provide a back to the cushion. I hope I can get it finished in time, and then go back to something a bit more in my line of stitchery!