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!

Green Shoots.

There was a discussion this morning on the radio about 'the green shoots of recovery' , all about the supposed economic recovery which we ought to be celebrating, according to some politicians. I'm not going into a political rant, don't worry, although I would say that there are very many UK families who are a long way off feeling the fiscal benefits of the period of austerity we have been experiencing.

No the green shoots I am pondering on are the literal and the symbolic in my own life.

Our garden is bustling with green shoots at the moment, the grape hyacinths, crocus, and chives are well on their way. Much as I am thrilled to see them, I worry that we will be getting some hard frosts and possibly snow and ice which will at best, stunt the growth of this brave young greenery.

CHIVES

GRAPE HYACINTH

CROCUS

DAFFODILS!

More symbolic green shoots are the direction my stitching is taking me. The last six months of 2013 saw me abandoning fabric for wool and wool felt in the sewing room, and moving away from quilts towards smaller items such as the pin cushions and bangles. I am having so much fun making these items, and they seem to be finding favour with quite a few people.

Staying with the wool, I'm working on this throw which may end up having some kind of quilting stitchery on it, but it isn't really a quilt, and won't have wadding ....probably.

Another new direction is Open Studios which I am dipping a tentative toe into with Yvonne when she opens her home in May when Open Studios begins. I've no idea how successful  will be..it all depends who walks through the door, doesn't it? But I know it will be enjoyable and I'm thrilled to bits to have the opportunity to join in . Big thanks, Yvonne!

Musical green shoots is the development of the Red Cat Sessions, the traditional music session which began round my kitchen table last year and has now moved to our local pub. It is a very tender young shoot at the moment, we have a small number of us, and if two or three folks don't turn up we feel the loss quite acutely, but we make a decent noise and the paying punters seems to enjoy our being there. We are learning new tunes each time, sharing our own favourites and discovering new ones. I hope we encourage other players to come and that we grow and evolve over time.

Sometimes green shoots develop at the expense of other things dying off. Sadly, for a multitude of reasons, I have resigned from Ouse Washes Molly Dancers; I shall no longer be playing fiddle for them. I will of course be following their progress through the year, but won't be there with them. It's been a lovely two years and last year in particular was filled with fun and festivals and I will miss all that. Happily, my lovely fellow Mollies have said that I must never say never, and consider it as having a sabbatical, which other people have done on occasion.

So there we have it, are there green shoots appearing on your own horizon?

My 2nd Blogaversary

Yes, two years ago today I started this blog. It began as a record of textile makes a friend and I were preparing for craft fairs. As it happens, that particular venture didn't come to fruition, but I found I was enjoying taking photographs and writing a bit about this and that. So although the blog changed in content over time, I'm still enjoying putting my posts together and keeping in touch with other bloggers, and those of you who so kindly and regularly leave a comment.

With better techno skills I might have made a better job of organising this post into a nice chronological story, but I'm afraid despite spending hours trying upload from various sources the photographs are all higgledy-piggledy. But I hope you get the drift. Here then are some high-spots in the last two years of Textile Treasury. First up, some photos, including the one above, taken in June 2012 when our son Kit and his family came home from New Zealand for a long holiday. We all squeezed into our cottage, and the weather was dreadful most of the time, but we had some fun. You can find the relevant posts in the archive.

Krissie's 40th birthday party held at our local because there were so many of us! Dylan and Fraser.

                                               Beccie, Krissie and Kit THe Birthday.

January February 2013 - Jim and I flew out of a snow-bound Britain to sun-soaked New Zealand. This was our trip to Hobbiton, a scorcher of a day with some wonderful photographs to remember it by.

JIm and I on a day out with Kit and Krissie to a wonderful winery. Great scenery and lovely meal.

The day we all went ot the Sky Tower in Auckland. Standing on the glass floor was a challenge!

While we were there I made some small repairs to the Bible Quilt I had made for Dylan about five years earlier. Well loved and well worn!

Back home again, finishing off the quilt I made for Krissie.

One of the cushions I made with the vintage Sufolk Puffs purchased from A Mermaid's Tale.

A seaside cushion made, and sold. The craft fairs didn't work out but somehow things manage to get themselves sold!

Another cushion, made with vintage and re-purposed fabrics. I'm rather pleased with this one.

And who can forget the ongoing story of the Wild Garlic! I picked it, I wrote about it, I cooked with it, I froze it, and by gum we certainly ate a lot of it! Again, stories in the archive if you like.

 The Ouse Washes Molly Dancers - Musical Branch! This was taken up at Ely Cathedral just before the massed sides Processional through the City .

Stopping to dance in Ely. It was a very hot day and there was much more to come!

Very late one night at the Burwell Bash, just managing to keep up with the session. This is my annual music fix. More stories and incriminating pictures archived!

 On our way out to dinner for Jane's birthday, during the Burwell Bash 2013

Oh! Back to Ely, this is the Ouse Washes up at the Ely Festival site. In the middle of a field in temperatures of around 34 centigrade!

 A well deserved breather at Ely.

Ouse Washes at Welbourne Festival. Much cooler and wetter than Ely!

This was Folk at The Forge, hosted by the Harmonious Blacksmith Nigel - a great time was had by all!

My first forays into lino- printing, following a workshop by Amanda Colville. You can read about it - yes, you guessed it, in the ARCHIVE!

OH! Slipped back twelve months to a collection of items I made for the craft fair.

Here is the original "One Bird upon a Hill beneath a Star. I've now made and sold three of these, but this is my favourite still.

A spate of furniture painting! I painted them OUTSIDE, by the way, just photographed them here as it began to rain. Eventually I will finish the other chairs!

There was much bread making over the past two years, plain strong bread flour, spelt and rye, sour-dough, wholemeal, you name it, I baked it!

This spice corner of my kitchen references the Great Clear Out and Re-Organisation which took place in 2012. This extended to freezer sorting and recording, and menu planning posts and frugal food posts ....... habits which astoundingly have lasted into 2014!

Wild Garlic Pesto!

Wild Garlic Oil. I still have wild garlic butter in the freezer! It won't be too long before I start picking fresh supplies!

Lots of music making, dancing, festival going, family gathering, garden-photographing, textile viewing, caravanning, quilt making, bangle making, felt loving, friends gathering, food enjoying, and of course - BLOGGING! Sorry the photos aren't in order, and are woefully short of the whole story, but I hope you've enjoyed the memories. Two years isn't all that long in blogging circles, but it's been long enough to find some really good blogs which I enjoy regularly keeping in touch with, and some super bloggers, some of whom I have made friends with. Sorry, blogging does not confer upon you the inability to end a sentence with a preposition!

So however this blog evolves, I do hope those of you who have stuck it out so far will stick around for what's to come - I couldn't do it without you!