Post 349 World Embroidery Study Group.

 

There were 11 of us at the World Embroidery Study Group meeting today - pretty much back to our pre-Covid attendance.

Junette gave a presentation on Kogin embroidery. She had a few additional interesting snippets - like the oldest known needle with an eye is one found in Siberia, made from a bird bone, about 3" long and believed to be 50,000 years old!

Margaret Adams, another Guild member and electronic member of our group, has done a lot of work on Kogin embroidery, a lot of it for the Guild's Certificate course. Margaret brought along her samplers 

as well as some projects she has worked, like this book cover

and this pouch to hold all her Kogin equipment.

There was a lot more. There was a buzz in the room and everyone got involved and enthusiastic.  We are so fortunate to have such expertise to draw on.

We also gathered up the examples we had worked following our Inuit workshop last year. These will be put together as an entry in the upcoming Guild exhibition. It's an opportunity to showcase what we do as a group. Since we are a Study Group we don't have products to show as other groups do.

The Guild is preparing for a second exhibition this year as part of South Australian Living Arts (SALA) in August. We don't usually do two in one year, but the Members' Exhibition is a carry-over from last year, when it was cancelled due to COVID.

Our SALA exhibition is themed A Forrest, and the organising team have produced some dyed fabric pieces that members can buy to embellish and construct in any way they like. I found this amongst the printed panels and figured I would simply have to turn it into one of my dove friends.  Another challenge.

After we had all finished and sanitised the Gallery, I headed up to Stirling in the Adelaide Hills on a mission to visit Aptos Cruz Gallery in search of a birthday present. I didn't find what I had in mind, but I did find the perfect gift in a different form. I can't share that until next week.

 While I was there I succumbed to two things for myself. This cube is plain grey until you touch it, when it lights up with the time, date and temperature (it's showing time here, in case you are worried).

I've seen it before at Aptos Cruz. This was the last one, so I bought it.

They also had just two of these champagne flutes left and reduced in price. I have broken all but 3 odd champagne glasses. I now have 5. I rather like the elegance of these without stems.

The rest of the day has been spent writing up and sending out a summary of the meeting today and working on my Power Point on Bulgarian Embroidery. 

The WES Group today agreed to change our program so they can view Nelly's family collection at our April meeting before I return it to her. It's great to learn with PowerPoint, but just fabulous when we have physical examples (as we did today). 

On with the cotton gloves!

Finally, tonight I finished the first of the motifs on my Owl Service embroidery. I'm quite pleased with this.I think I'm going to need more of the over-dyed greeny-gold silk thread. Not sure I'll be able to get it reached 36C today and is forecast at 38C tomorrow before showers in the late afternoon. I have Pilates. 

Post 155

I managed to find a spot on the wall of my sewing room for my mother's two bird paintings. The bird already there is one I bought from a sale of art from residents at Catherine House in Adelaide some years ago.  It works well, although I have to fix the hanging mechanism on one of them.

from my balcony.

The building work was full on today. On the whole, the activity is background hum, although there was a very annoying high pitched whine for a while this afternoon.

I have changed my Pilates class from Friday to Thursday, where the group in the studio is only three students. It was, as usual, a good session. Afterwards I went to North Adelaide Village to get more fruit and veg and also to see if the chemist had micropore tape to seal masks across the nose.They had plenty of micropore tape, but none of it was double-sided,which of course is what is needed. They did, however come up with this tape which will work.

It is for use on skin - its purpose being to put on the front of a low-cut dress to prevent a gap that exposes your bra - or worse! So if you need tape to seal the top of a face mask to prevent your glasses steaming up, this is an option! Perhaps not too far from the original purpose.

I took Niamh and Veronica to their choir practice after school and swung past Norwood to pick up a copy of this book. With my newfound interest in birds I thought it might prove interesting. I'm good at buying books, less good at reading them at the moment. I could have had an electronic copy but thought it the kind of book I might want to share with others.

Although it was getting towards dinner time when I got home, I decided to have a go at colouring the reverse side of the owl bag using my Inktense fabric pencils. The trouble was that you need water to fix the colour, so you can do one of three things, (1) colour it dry, then wet it, (2)wet the pencils, or (3)work on wet fabric. I couldn't be sure there would be no colour transfer to the other side if I wet it after dry colouring, so I washed the bag, then put both a wooden and a plastic chopping board inside it to keep the two sides apart, placed the embroidered side on a towel and coloured the wet fabric.

I didn't try any fancy shading - I was more concerned to get coverage without impacting on the embroidered side of the bag.

The result is now drying - with the boards still inside to minimise any colour transfer.

In between these activities I've been working on the box side from last weekend. I have finished one side apart from the four-sided stitch border. I'm working on that now. Then all I have to do is work three more sides exactly the same - plus the accessories.

It's a very elegant design.


Yesterday I had a newsy email from my friend Christine in Watford.  She has elastic envy. There must be something I can do about that...

Tomorrow Jennifer and I are going out to lunch. I'm looking forward to it. If I'm woken by the building work I might have time to make the masks for my brother.

Post 153: sunrise, sunset

Today's first achievement is the completion of the frame around the owl. That leaves the heart medallion at the top to be completed. I still haven't decided on colour. Do I blend or contrast?







Work on the building site next door began at 7.30 am again this morning, just after sunrise. It was background noise - but plenty of it in the first few hours.

By the time I was up and having breakfast, the road in front of the building site - right next to my apartment - had been blocked off.  I think we can assume this is now months of serious building activity. Unless it came today (I didn't check my letterbox) there has been no notification of road blockage, which, I understand, is a requirement.

I am not getting up in arms about this. So far this has not impacted me greatly



although, I was somewhat taken aback when I went into my sewing room this afternoon to use the sewing machine and found a humungous piece of machinery being parked just outside my window. It was 4.30pm, and this seems to be the corner of the block used to store the pile driver overnight.












I needed the sewing machine to stitch the batch of masks I cut out yesterday. I managed to construct 7 more, to the point where the elastic gussets are ready to stitch down.

Yes, there are only 6 in the photo. I have unpicked the seventh, which needed an adjustment to the shape of the outer layer.













Tomorrow's job will be to stitch down the gussets and insert the elastics. The bamboo T-shirt fabric seems to have worked well. I should, perhaps, have constructed one fully and done a breathing test! It should, however, work.


The most notable event today was a nice long phone call with my friend Vivienne in Canberra. It's these conversations and connections that keep me sane. They help make sense of it all as well as maintaining a thread of friendship, continuity and identity.

I managed to finish the outside border of one side of the bag from Christine's class on the weekend.






Yesterday's sample paid off and I worked one side of the Breton stitch without a hitch.

I'm pleased with my progress on this. It's about as much as I can do before my eyes give out, but it's fair progress.


I took a break from it to finish the frame of the owl, shown above.

I was interested today, in the contrasting Covid news bulletins on my television. The Australian news was focused on Aged Care facilities where the majority of new cases and deaths are currently occurring in Victoria. There is a realisation that not only are workers in much of that sector casual, under or untrained and poorly paid (so reluctant to take time off if they are unwell) but that facilities are not set up for medical treatment and infection control.

The UK news here today was focused on cancellation of flights to and from Spain and the varying responses to that. We have plenty of stories of annoyance and resistance to restrictions in Australia (a few people in Melbourne refusing to wear masks, or sneaking across State borders that are closed or having a birthday party) but interestingly, we are, I think, generally accepting of having our international border closed. As an island nation we have a long history of quarantine restrictions, mostly plant and animal, to keep disease out. While Australians travel a lot, we can't just nip over a border to another country. The tyranny of distance is also a protection. 

It was another gently, colourful sunset this evening - a bit like my day.

Post 152 : Monday meal and making

This morning was mostly taken up with shopping for family dinner tonight. I also posted a set of face masks to a family friend and deposited 3 bags of soft plastic to the recycling at Unley. Dinner was a stir fry of noodles with duck, ham, broccoli, spring onions, capsicum, soy and salami. I bought a cooked Beijing duck and deboned it. I made stock from the bones so hope to have duck soup tomorrow. There was also enough stir fry left for Niamh's lunch tomorrow.
I managed to cut out another 7 face masks while making the stock. This time I did it sitting on a high stool. It avoided the worst of my sciatica but not entirely. It's very difficult not to stand while cutting and ironing. I used the remains of a bamboo Tshirt Katherine gave me for the inner lining (the tealy-green). It will be interesting to see how it makes up.

This will provide a set of 12 for Katherine's family. This is not urgent, since we currently have not community transmission in South Australia, but I hope to finish these tomorrow. I've had one request for elastic for masks.

This morning Margaret Morgan sent me a link to a video tutorial on Breton stitch. I found it useful. The stitch can be worked, it seems, as surface stitchery as well as counted. There are also variations.

I worked a little sampler on much larger  fabric. A is the stitch as included in yesterday's class, only a bit larger. B is a variation that is longer - three times the number of threads in height. C and D are the same stitches further spaced widthwise. This helps me get my head around the way the stitch works. Now I think I can work the smaller variety.


As I had expected, the pile driver began at 7.30 this morning. It was background noise I could live with. Just before sunset I took this photo of the day's work. It seems they are driving very close piles and setting them in concrete. It appears to be slow work.

It's unlikely I will see much of the doves while this work is going on. Enough to put any bird off.




Tonight I have worked a bit more of the owl. There is not a lot to do to finish it. I haven't decided what colour to make the heart above the owl's head.

Post 150 Back at the Guild

After a couple of days absent, Turtle came looking for food this morning, waiting for me to scatter it and staying while I did so.

I finished off the partially completed demonstration face masks from yesterday before heading off to the Guild for Christine Bishop's class  - Cube Pincushion, Needlecase, Fob and Bag Counted Set.

There were about 17 students, plus Christine and Melissa - on cleaning duty.

The Gallery is set up on the 4 square metre per person principle - tables well apart and only 2 students per table. Entry is through only one door - the main one - and exit likewise- through the shop door. There is a sign-in sheet requiring phone number.





The cleaning every 2 hour rule has been relaxed. Once seated, students don't leave their seat. Anyone using the bathroom must clean all touched surfaces, then exit, cleaning door handle and light switch as they go. In the break, Melissa boiled the kettle and poured hot water into the cups students had brought with them. I brought a thermos. At the end of the day Melissa cleaned the tables and all from 1.5 metres touchable surfaces.  Christine walked around the room observing student work and offering assistance. As always Christine had tacked the outlines on to the lines marked - a substantial amount of work.

The kit contained everything we need - including Liberty print lining (or dupion silk if you ordered the green or red kits).

Christine even prepared a stitch sample for each individual student!

It was a fun day, listening to people talk and laugh and catching up with a couple of old friends.

I had a request for another set of face masks, including a child's one. I managed to source more Tshirt fabric for this when I got home and cut out pieces. At Katherine's tonight I got them to try the fit of the masks with ear loops. The younger kids need shorter loops. Ear loops seem to be winning. I think I need to make another half a dozen to meet the current need - plus a couple I have promised my brother.

We worked on the scissor fob today - the smallest piece. I didn't get a lot of time to work on this tonight but this is where I have just reached.

I can see this will not be a quick finish project, but it is pleasing to work on and breaks down into manageable chunks.














I did make a little progress on the Owl while at Katherine's tonight.

It's late and I'm falling asleep.  It was a productive day - and more tomorrow.
e

Post 149: Building

I woke this morning at 7am to the sound of an engine nearby, It turned out to be a pile driver on the vacant lot next door, which is approved for a 9 storey apartment block.

The top of the pile driver was about 2 metres from my balcony.

The pile driver itself made almost no noise but there was a motor, presumably powering it, that made a steady engine noise.

The work seemed concentrated in the corner of the site closest to me - the north east corner.




I was out much of the day. When I returned home this evening this was the result. I seem to remember the developer added a screening wall in this position. It looks as if the build is about to begin.

I rearranged my blocked shawl, removing the towel which holds moisture underneath. When I got it pinned out again, I recalled buying blocking wires last year.  They turned up in the last place I looked - under a sideboard cupboard right at the back against the skirting board.

They certainly made blocking more even.

I love the way garter stitch turns out in squares when blocked.




I left the blocked piece to dry out properly while I was out.


This is how it looked  when I removed the blocking pins this evening. It is quite large and wrappy.



I managed to complete a few more masks before heading off to my Sit'n Stitch with friends this afternoon. One of my stitching friends wanted to talk today about mask-making, so I left the last 4 in various stages of construction to demonstrate the process.















This worked quite well. I just need to finish these and I have another set for family to try out. 

Jennifer was at Sit'nStitch today. Our hostess made us a great lunch of pizza and her home-made pasties. Jennifer has some permanent heart damage from her Covid experience, which has resulted in fluid on her lungs. She is taking diuretics and limiting her fluid intake to get rid of this. She also has a thorax stenosis reducing her air passage by 50%. On 6 August she is booked to have a balloon inserted to widen the air passage and also have an angiogram.  The latter will provide more information about treatment. She gets exhausted and can't exercise or do anything strenuous. We has a good time stitching.

I worked on the owl today. It's coming along nicely.

This weekend I have a two-day class at the Guild with Christine Bishop. Six months ago this would have seemed routine, but right now it seems exciting and daring.

The biggest challenge will be waking up in time! I'm not sure pile drivers work on Saturdays!

Post 145

I forgot to take photos today. The moussaka looked great and so did the Greek salad, but I didn’t take photos. Fionn had footy training after school and then went to the football - Crows vs St Kilda at Adelaide oval with a 50% crowd. The moussaka was a hit with the adults. The youngest girls were polite, but, I think, unconvinced.

I went shopping at Frewville this morning to get the salad ingredients - and some of Bulla’s Murray St ice creams - my new favourites. Today was the first of term 3. Brigid had her first trial Yr 12 exam today so arrived early. She was fairly happy with the exam. Niamh and Veronica also had good days. Niamh was very excited to get the news that JEMS (Junior Embroiderers) is starting up on 1 August.

By Julie Edgley - Flickr: Whoof?, CC BY-SA 2.0,
 https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12842383

I spoke to my neighbour this afternoon. She told me of a bird drama on their balcony one night recently. An owl attacked and killed a magpie on their balcony, leaving the mangled corpse behind. I was shocked. I didn’t realise owls preyed on other birds as large as that. I did a bit of research. Apparently barking owls attack and kill medium sized birds like magpies and cockatoos. They are more common in bush settings  but not unknown in cities, including Adelaide. Horrible. It happened in the time when the doves didn’t show up for my seed. No wonder! It's a dangerous world out in the trees.

In between these activities I worked on the shawl. I finished the main colour with little to spare. I doubt it would have covered two rows, so I am glad I made the decision to reduce the rows in the previous band. 

I am now on the final band, with about ten rows to go. There are explicit instructions for blocking. Given the length, that’s going to be a challenge. I am, however, much happier with this now I can see the dark bands emerging. The alpaca is lovely to knit. It feels really smooth on the hands. It is, however, much harder to keep even than lambs wool. It’s not as firm - but will be so soft to wear.

I heard from Frankie today at The Crewel Work Company. It seems the extra linens for my chair will be in stock soon and on their way to me. I’d better get on with the ones I’ve got after I finish the shawl - tomorrow I hope.

The news, which I followed during the day as I knitted, was focused on the spread and control of the virus in Victoria and NSW. Victoria is trying to pull back an outbreak and NSW to get on top of two or three clusters before they become outbreaks. The rest of our states have no current community transmission and are trying to stop people coming across our borders from those two states. While there are people trying to sneak around the restrictions, we are not seeing many people outright defying or rejecting them. Governments have made mistakes, but are taking their advice from medical experts, collaborating and working hard to stay on top of it. It’s scary - but not yet out of control. I'm proud of our leaders. On both sides of the political fence they are working hard, listening to experts and making hard decisions responsibly. Thanks be.