which has culminated (so far) in the 16-metre piece you can see, in thumbnail, on her website. This took her a year to embroider and as it grew, got too heavy to lift. Alice's work has to be seen "for real" to get the full effect of the gleaming threads and dimensionality of the resultant fabric - quite apart from the painterly qualities and general impact. Marvellous.
were drawn to the window display
Note the laser cutting on the side of the leather chair -
All very covetable! We were enthusiastic and as we were the only people in the shop we were able to chat with Margo. Paying with a credit card meant going downstairs to the workroom - where further delights awaited -
The scarf lengths are felted and gorgeously soft -
Fabrics are woven by a mill in Suffolk, and Margo uses the scraps for pieced cushion covers, with serged seams to prevent unravelling -
Of course what appealed to us most was this work in progress -
We'd got diverted by Margo's shop immediately after spotting Blade Rubber and of course had to go in there too -- it was hard to resist the "useful textures" stamps (block of 4 for about £15),
and these by the English Stamping Co (£5.50 for the large size) -
This yarn, from Fleece Artist (made in Mineville, NS; bought at Urban Yarns on West 10th in Vancouver, great shop) has been a delight to knit. I think the colour is Storm. The first sock got ripped back a couple of times, to get the heel shaping to work properly; grafting the toe together is a good way to finish.
Here's a detail, showing the metallic organza leaves that were appliqued onto the squares before the squares were sewn together:
This landscape has been hanging up since the workshop last week, and is collecting miscellanea that turn up as I gradually make order in the workroom:
The WIPs pinned to the design board include something A3-sized that really should be abandonned [could it be recycled into a bag??], a dotty fandango inspired by a Howard Hodgkin painting, a nearly-ready journal quilt from last year's "rain" series, and a discharged piece done in Bob Adams' workshop last year, which got some added stitching:
The motto, couched onto pink velvet, reads: Snatch the eternal from the desperately fleeting.
I got carried away with this month's BQL bag challenge. But I cheated - and found out that cheating doesn't pay.
... at the Royal Academy. The luscious colours in the Gauguin, especially the rich blue, made me want to get out my Laurentian [waxy Canadian] coloured pencils and scribble down lots&lots of colours. And what do they have in the shop but colouring books - for kids of all ages - based on painters; no Gauguin, but the Kandinsky will do nicely.
and this one for the sides -
Here are my less-than-zingy fabrics sorted by tonal value -
and here's the middle panel laid out, indeed somewhat stitched -
The sides included scraps from the big bag of fabric that Ineke brought along -
And here it is, not really like the starting photos at all -
Everyone laid their work out - what a lot of different results -
Now they need quilting. The aim is to show them all at the next LQ meeting, in 29 days.
This 12x12 is "on the wall" at my desk - I keep looking at it, hoping to see what it needs now... it doesn't feel quite finished ...
Ah, those five little words - "I have something for you" - and it turns out to be a beautiful orange wrapper. Started about 15 years ago, my collection has about 400 different orange wrappers (see some others here). They are few and far between these days. Thank you, Tony!
Magnificent, despite the wintery weather! St James Piccadilly courtyard - this is a Wren church, a good space for concerts. On Friday and Saturday the courtyard is filled with the striped booths of an artisan market.
Last month (in Pitt Meadows, BC, Canada) the days were sometimes spring-like, but the clearsky nights meant the mornings were frosty, and often misty -- lovely for early-morning walks, or just for looking out the windows.
After undoing the shoulders to shorten the body -- in the middle of the night -- I was sewing the sleeves in while at the airport - and finished a mere 5 minutes before it was time to head for the gate. Sue had to sew the buttons on.
It all had to be moved to cut and sew the fabric, so the circles got rearranged. Seeing it as a photo, I decided to change the proportions of the background:
Hmm, has this "taught" me anything? Not so much about rationalising my colour choices, or being deliberate about choosing colour; is this an "adjacent" colour scheme - orange, yellow, green? Again, the piece is a bit too fussy and busy (less is more!) -- but I was able to resist adding the small circle that was subsequently found lying on the floor! The circles are straight-stitched around and then satin stitched over that - it would have been easier to use bondaweb for them all. The quilting in the top part is shadow quilting, started by going straight across the piece about 2/3 of the way up, then travelling around anything that got in the way, and adding parallel lines up to the top; the next section was done the same way, 1/3 of the way up. Mainly, I'm not sure the colour conveys the sensation. But this "Dishwater" piece was fun - and it would be fun to do another with horizontal lines of stitching holding the circles on ... sometime ...
Maybe I could use some of the spotty fabric bought in Canada:
The starting layout, in the 12x12 format -
The final result: 
with a few changes of fabric. It was done in a hurry, and on looking at it again, the placement of leaves, and shape of pot, could be improved. The "animal" figurine references the plaster cupid in this painting by Cezanne - and all the awkward objects that get put into still lives because they just seem to fit the space.
"It is the heart always that sees, before the head can," as Thomas Carlyle said.Who told you that one paints with colors? One makes use of colors, but one paints with emotions. - Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin
Even though I missed the first two sessions of this course, the final Saturday was productive.
This 5-foot long "walk in the woods" is made up of multiple prints of the polystyrene block. It works better turned on its lengthways, and might end up on calico with added bits of colourful fabric.
Here's my "diptych or triptych" distilled from the images and techniques taught: three block prints, on tracing paper; on tissue paper, with the white ink taking off some of the black ink underneath; and black ink on tissue paper, with (rather subtle!) stitching added.
And here's what I don't want to always be doing: making fussy messy things, however colourful!
I'll miss the family dinners - and desserts not available in UK. Coffee; nutty butter (choc flakes and peanut butter!); heavenly hash (marshmallow swirl and choc-covered nuts); and Dad's favourite, three kinds of chocolate (he adds choc syrup).
