birthday and valentine shirts

Both of which sort of didn’t happen. I was ill on gareth’s birthday, so we didn’t go to see the lego movie, and he was ill on valentines, so we didn’t go to York for the day. We have agreed that we owe each otehr a day out when we both feel better.

He still got his shirts though, even though they’re all somewhat plain this time. The madder one are still on my workbench wiating to be sewn, but I had a bit of drama with my sewing machine whereby the little pin that holds the needle in palce shattered, so I rang the man at the sewing machine shop, who said he’d save one for me and pout it in a safe place. a few days later when I trekked all the way into town, he wasn’t in the shop, and his colleague didn’t know where the aforementioned safe place might be, so I ended up waiting for it to be posted out when they found it. I also ordered one off the internet. They both turned up on the same day. Obviously now that I have a spare it will never break again.

Anyway…

A simple black and white houses print. I used some lovely chunky black and white buttons I’d had for ages.

We both really liked this print, it’s all old ads for silly spy toys like decoder rings and x ray specs. The blue plaid buttons just felt right.

Palm trees. You know that thing where you end up inadvertantly dating your dad? Whenever I give my dad a birthday card with arandom vintage car or tractor on it, he pops it under his giant magnifier and tells me what breed of tractor it is. Gareth sat and told me what type of palm trees were on his new shirt. Sigh…

I’m still not sure about this one. It’s spotty cats, which is the closest we can get to a print with bengals on. Gareth says the Sunday Times men’s fashion supplement said that leopard print is on for men this year, so he’s fashion forward. erm…

This one made my eyes go funny. It’s white tigers, with orange tiger buttons.

And he may not have got to see the Lego movie yet, but I made him a lego cake for his birthday. It’s homemade marzipan rather than fondant, since niether of us can see the point in fondant. It takes an awful lot of colouring paste to get marzipan to go red though. It’s actaully rather good for me, since cake decorating is not one of fortes (I like baking because I like to eat, but decorating cakes annoys me because I hate my fingers being sticky) There’s still rather a lot of it left, I’ve been right off food all week, especially sweet stuffs

courses again

there is a still a space left on saturday’s course at Nottingham

https://www.lakesidearts.org.uk/take-part-and-learn/event/3980/medieval-embroidery.html

and the link is now up for the courses at Leeds IMC, which are open to non-delegates

https://www.imc.leeds.ac.uk/imc2019/events/workshops/

embroidery is right at the bottom

bongos

See, the medeivalist in me knows that this little chap is meant to be playing a pair of small drums mounted on his belt,

But every time I look at this I think he’s playing bongoes on his own testicles.

The cross eyed expression, flesh coloured drums, and floppy phallic belt strap don’t help either.

Consequently I’ve spent considerable time pondering just how desperate he was for a career in music that playing bongoes on his own knackers seemed like a reasonable choice?

Then again, we all might find out after Brexit…

Goat jousting snail bloke

another one I did for Chester Beattie, based on one of thier manuscripts.

They did the packaging themselves, lord only knows that they titled it.

I was wibbling over which of the images they’d sent me to do as the second kit, so I should thank everyone at the Ashmolean class for unanimously chosing this one for me.

FOx and Rabbit

Before Christmas I did a couple of pieces for chester beatty library in Dublin. They have taken the originals into the collection, and I made them up some kits. The Images are based on manuscipts in thier collection.

I thought this one was higly appropriate for a library – the fox and the rabbit reading together

Of course, Gareth and his dirty mind kept asking why the fox was shagging the rabbit, but it’s perfectly obvious that the book is so very very exciting that the fox is just biting the rabbit’s ear in order to avoid gasping out loud.

oh, ok, that sort of sounds dirty too…um, nevermind

 

2019 courses

long course over three days at Nottingham lakeside arts, wool laid and couched work.

https://www.lakesidearts.org.uk/take-part-and-learn/event/3980/medieval-embroidery.html

two different long course at the AShmolean museum, one is gargoyles in laid and couched work (although I won’t make you do a gargoyle if you don’t want to, we’re taking a loose interpretation, you can do a portrait of your husband if you think we’ll be able to tell the difference) the other is opus anglicanum, which we’re calling angels and demons, but again, loose interpretations and all that

days are in May, July, and October.

https://www.ashmolean.org/event/opus-anglicanum-angels-and-demons

https://www.ashmolean.org/event/medieval-embroidery-gargoyles

online tickets aren’t avaoilable for the Ashmolean courses until the 28th of January, but it if email or phone Jude Barratt at the museum she should be able to sort you out

theres also a one day opus taster at the IMc in leeds, which will be less of a “work on something that pleases you” and more of a “here, you’re doing this small project I chose because we’ve only got four hours”. Leeds uni seem to have a new website though, and I can’t find anything, but I think it is open to non-delegates if you contact the IMC office

If you’re interested

I started a facebook group for pre1500 embroidery.

Service here will continue with weekly posts as per normal, and I’ll link to those over there. The Facebook group is in no way meant to replace this blog, but I have reasons to want to diversify a bit – mysterious secret reasons which will be illuminated in due course

I’m going to try and get the ball rolling over there by starting at the beginning of my blog archive and highlighting something every day until I run out, so if you fancy a few blasts from the past it might be fun

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2131204437191134/

( think that’s the right link)