Textile Jaunt

Seems a while since I posted about a Textile Jaunt then along come two in a row!

Last Monday I was privileged to make a visit to Gressenhall Museum of Rural Life and Workhouse,  www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk/visit_us/gressenhall_farm_and_workhousewith members of Jane-Ann's textile group. Nadine had contacted the museum to ask whether we might view the collection of rag rugs which are not normally on display, and we were warmly welcomed and given 'every facility' as they say.

Megan, who curates the collection, took us up to the archives and there were two tables set out for us, with printed sheets for us to make notes for ourselves, and to add to the museum's data base.

First we were able to view and examine some rugs which are out on display. We didn't see those which are in the 'houses', these are rugs which,shall we say, can stand up to being walked on and man-handled by the public.

Yvonne and I get to look closely at some of the rugs out on general display. This is a prodded rag rug onto rug canvas. Below you can see a close up of the detail. We spotted wool, tweed and many man-made fibres in the rags used.

Then we donned gloves and proceeded to look in detail at a selection of rugs which were not on display, some of which were so delicate they were falling to pieces.  For someone such as myself, who is a complete rug-hooking novice, the knowledge and expertise of some of the group members - notably Jane-Ann and Nadine - was astonishing and I learned so much. We were able to estimate roughly the decades in which the rugs were made, the materials used, and sometimes where they might have been used in the home.I know Megan was very pleased to be able to tap into their extensive knowledge, and has invited the group back to see more, and to help catalogue the archive. One small disappointment was the fact that most of the rugs we saw were prodded wool rugs, there were not many actual rag rugs, but I believe there may be in the archive.

This is a hooked rug, made with recycled clothes. You can see the reverse, very neat, where it has been turned back.

This is a wool rug, probably an early Redicut kit, in a typical sunburst pattern. Hooked into rug warp.

 This is another wool rug, probably from a kit. To me it looks typically 1940's geometric but that is just a guess.

Another wool prodded rug, in a chequerboard pattern, a detailed close up of the header photograph. It is Jane-Ann's favourite and mine too. That colour-scheme wouldn't be at odds with a contemporary quilt.

And here is a shot of the sort of storage system used by the museum. There are many more rugs hidden away waiting to be catalogued!

These photographs were taken by Jane-Ann as I had  - astoundingly - left my camera at home, for goodness' sake! Many thanks for sending them to me so that I could produce this post, Jane-Ann!

And thanks to Megan for all her help and enthusiasm, I know there will be more collaboration between the Museum and the group.

All in all a splendid few hours, fascinating to examine and investigate the rugs; also I might add, the museum is a jolly interesting day out if you live in or are visiting mid-Norfolk. Children are well accommodated and will love the exhibits too. And of course there is a great little cafe serving snacks and meals - what more could you want! I was there last year with the Ouse Washes Molly Dancers for Apple Day, and as well as performing some dances, we played for the Wassailing which was great fun.

My second Jaunt was to the Fenland village of Cottenham, to the College which each year hosts a textile exhibition of the work of the City and Guilds students, Textiles in Focus. To further entice you along, there is the Traders' Hall. All I can say is I am very proud of the fact that I did NOT buy any more books! To be fair, Yvonne and I decided that between us we probably had most of them, and could probably have written a few of the rest!

We enjoyed the 'professional' exhibition by The Material Girls, and I do have permission to take these photographs, but obviously they preferred that I didn't take detailed shots. Some really lovely work and the standard was very high.

I am told the person to contact is Chris Spencer at www.chrissythreads.com

We did treat ourselves to a wander round the traders hall, chatting to some old friends as we went.

We LOVED this stand:

There were two lovely girls manning this stand and we had a chat and a chuckle with them. We both walked away with some threads but I was very strong and did NOT purchase any of this mouthwatering merino yarn. Isn't it gorgeous?

A small sum was parted with at 21st Century Yarns - as usual, then we moved on to see very old friend Magie from the African Fabric Shop.

Managed to sneak up and catch her unawares! I have SO MUCH African fabric in my collection. If you get chance to hear Magie giving one of her talks do go, she is incredibly knowledgeable about the cloth she imports, having started out collecting it when she was cook for a Safari Holiday company (years ago!) and came upon the cloth in the villages they passed through. Magie takes her stand to all the big quilt and Knitting and Stitching shows and to local guilds and Regional days too.

Some of the smaller quilts made by Magie using these wonderful fabrics.

And some of the beautiful baskets she imports. I resisted this time, but I do have a couple. I find there is always room for another basket in the home!

So there you have it. Two jolly interesting days full of textile wonderfulness. I hope you've enjoyed the photographs and the stories too. Catch you next time - I AM trying not to leave such big gaps between posts!

Gigs and stitches.

The last ten days or so have been fairly action packed one way or another. First up I promised some photos of Ouse Washes Molly side at Gressenhall for Apple Day. You can just make out Nicky in her red dress, and melodeon, and me next to her looking very black with my fiddle! My dress does have lots of red satin (tasteful!) but it doesn't show. This obviously is a dancing action shot.

This is at the end of the day, following the Wassailing to the apple trees. Colin, Nicky and I then led the crowd  (many more than you can see here) in a Circassian Circle dance. Despite the cold it was a very successful day, and the organisers were profuse in their appreciation for the contribution Ouse Washes had made to the overall entertainment.

Then my trip to Bungay to watch Triette supporting The Old Dance School at Fisher Theatre. I had a brilliant time. Here you can see Nic Zuppardi and Nick Wiseman-Ellis, who were superb.

And here is a not very clear photo, sorry, of The Old Dance School, who played some really fine music, I had to treat myself to one of their cds!

I pop a quick one of me here, to show you the new hair colour....or rather the old hair colour! There are so few photos of me as I'm not keen on seeing myself (unless heavily disguised in Mollie-garb). And I notice two things - one I have no make-up on and this is not a great look! And two, I am wearing the same top I was wearing in my profile photo, taken two years ago! (The top-hat is new........)

Ok, a spot of slap...perhaps overdid the eye-treatment, never mind.This will possibly be the last photos of me to go on this blog! (Massive sighs of relief shake the Blogosphere!) I have to say, Jim really likes my hair in its natural state. Men eh?

Here is a strange little tableau, my original kitchen knife set, bought in a hardware shop in Gosport when I was in the QARNNS and about to be married. Yes, this hardworking set is 42 years old! We celebrated our anniversary last week by me being in Norfolk and Jim being in Wales doing something official with a crowd of other flyfishing chaps! Never mind, we had a romantic phone call...I expect I'll get taken out for a nice meal eventually!

A quick catch-up on the wool cushion progress - the embroidery is finished, just have to make up the cushion cover. Oh, and I found an old piece today which I'd been searching for - Jim had unearthed it and put it on display on the cushions in the porch! Without telling me and I hadn't noticed. I wanted to show you because we were talking about getting obsessed with one stitch when I did Teena's workshop at Dragon Hall the other week. Her obsession was French Knots, mine was feather stitch.

Sorry the light is horrendous. I used all my own hand-dyed fabrcis and created a design which I won't show in full as I no longer like the overall design. But I still LOVE the colours and the stitching! I hand- appliqued the shapes and heavily embroidered with seeding and feather stitch and beads and shisha mirrors.

I used various weights of thread and loved working with the variegated colours. The stitching became hypnotic, almost meditative, and although it was completed about 10 years ago I can still remember the pleasure it gave me to be working on it.

And then there's been music. Music music music. I find I'm having to drag myself away from it in order to do some stitiching. However, I'll say more about that next time. I'll leave you with the thought that although we here in the UK complain long and hard about our weather - it is a National Pastime, after all - we have not been suffering the extremes our friends and relations in the States have been experiencing. I hope if you've been directly affected that you are safe and unhurt, and that the chaos will soon subside and your lives return to some kind of normality. Til next time.