Harrogate Knitting & Stitching Show

Harrogate Knitting & Stitching Show - part two of three

Ready for part two of my grand day out at the Harrogate show? Okay, let's start with the usual apology for my lack of photography skills. Secondly, I didn't capture the maker's name of the piece shown above, but it was part of a varied exhibition by 'The 62 Group of Textile Artists'. She looks calm and confident, doesn't she? Her gaze directed away from the viewer.

I think quiet spaces like this can be rather overlooked when there's so much else going on. With everyone intent on seeing as much as they can cram into their day.

I loved this, 'Rain' by Emily Jo Gibbs. It's silk organza and linen. She's hand stitched the material, and while the next photo is slightly blurry you can make out those stitches.

Such a simple idea, but often it's the simplicity that appeals to us, isn't it? Also, we know there's an awful lot of skill in producing something that looks effortless.

This was an eye catcher too. 'Inheritance' by Hannah Lamb. It's cyanotype on cotton organdie and vintage patchwork. I'm not sure if you can see from these images, but there're two pieces of fabric, one hanging in front of the other. The cyanotype in front, the patchwork at the back and visible through the sheer cyanotype.

Isn't that indigo colour beautiful? 'Inheritance' leads me on to one of my two favourite exhibition areas. The second being Jessie Chorley (more of that tomorrow) but the one I'll show you now is by Julius Arthur.

This section was a small oasis of calm in the midst of the heaving crowd, and I returned there a few times throughout the day.

These appliqued wall hangings reminded me of Rothko paintings. Something about the intensity of colour. The stitching of these appliqued shapes wasn't dense or elaborate. Such a huge contrast to the hexagonal English paper piecing patchwork of yesterday's post. I wonder what our great-great-great grandmothers would have made of the modern style?

Above - the beauty of a repeat pattern and limited colour palette.

I admit I hadn't heard of Julius Arthur before I'd seen these, but there's more info here if you're interested.

See you again tomorrow when it's embroidery all the way!

Comments

Threads of Freedom and charity shop bargains

It's Saturday afternoon, and I haven't done half the things I'd meant to. Partly because I spent most of this morning messing about with paints, stencils and the gell plate. Never mind, everything on today's 'To Do' list will join tomorrow's 'To Do' list ... it's hardly life or death if I don't haul the hoover around the room or pull up weeds in the front garden. I thought I'd show you what I made on Wednesday. I'd gone to my monthly StitchArt group, and this time we did something a little different. There's a project called 'Threads of Freedom' which is working with various community groups across the city. It's about creating little stitched pieces, some of which will be included in a textile panel to go on display at Leeds art gallery. There was lots of fabric we could choose from to sew with, and I picked this vintage tray cloth with the roses embroidery. My own embroidery's not a patch on those flo...

Sari scraps, PVA, a couple of books and a necklace

I'm typing this as snow's falling, and has been steadily all day. It's not settling to any great extent, though I bet by tomorrow morning the paths will be slippery with ice. Which always makes me paranoid about falling over and at the very least looking undignified, but at worst breaking a bone or twisting an ankle. Oh well, it's ideal weather to stay inside and craft, isn't it? I finally got around to listing packs of sari scraps on Etsy this morning. I only made up six bundles as I've no clue whether they'll sell or if I've set a reasonable enough price point. Time will tell. This is a link to the listing, if you're interested. This vaguely pink fabric isn't from one of my Etsy packs. It's from a bit of experimenting I was doing yesterday. I'd seen a post on Instagram showing how a DIY version of batik could be done without using hot wax. The Instagrammer used PVA instead, and I wanted to try this out....

Another week's flown by ...

Saturday's rolled around again, and it's not been the most eventful of days. Cleaning and hoovering, a walk to the shops to buy groceries, an hour on the allotment, then home to do some odd tasks in the garden. The strawberry plants are sending out runners, so I've been dealing with those, plus deadheading the perennial sunflowers, and cutting back the gone-over flowers on the sage and marjoram. I'm sad to see those blooms gone as the bees loved them. This afternoon I spent a few hours finishing 'Dawnlands' by Philippa Gregory. It's a really good book, a page turner where you care about the characters and want to be reassured everything's going to work out well for them. Plus you become enraged about the corruption of the so-called justice system at the time of the Stuart kings and queens, about transportation of prisoners to the West Indies, and about the vile nature of the sugar trade in the 1600s and the vast profits made from it....

rubykittyruby

Search This Blog