A load of old Horrocks?

This blog is a bit sparse these days isn't it? Thanks everyone who commented on it last time and every time in fact. 

I haven't much of interest to blog about but here goes.

The trouble with having things in craft shops is that you often forget what you have there. I recently requested the remainder of my items from one such so that I could replace them with some new things.

I'd almost forgotten about this mirror. I really like it when I see it again. In the shop it was in a crumply bit of cellophane and wasn't visible. 

I made it a while ago. Its lovely olive green dupion silk and has some really nice dyed velvet on it. Its very small, about three and a half by for and a half inches. I've listed it on Etsy now.

Then there were these landscape brooches made on silk paper with lots of horizontal stitching.

I made and sold lots at the time .

Also in my etsy shop.

Now, something that isn't in my shop that I've been working on is this.

 Can you tell what it is yet?

 Felt made with prefelts for a very specific purpose.

Added stitching

 1950s style

 This is the inspiration which I must say I love. I wish I could have made it in crisp cotton in the brighter colourway . Its a design by Alastair Morton for Horrockses and I hope its ok to use this picture here.

 This is the reason I made it.

Our branch of the Embroiderers Guild is holding the Northwest regional day jointly with Parbold branch, in Preston towards the end of the month. 

We are having a speaker from the Harris Museum about Horrockses dresses. 

The firm was from Preston so its an appropriate  choice. My Mum always wanted one but she couldn't afford it , but she had one from some Horrockses fabric and I can remember her wearing this style when I was a child and of course the sun was shining!

So we have all made a 'dress'. Not really, just a shape about 18 inches high made to look like a dress. 

Needless to say it should have been done months ago so I hope mine gets in the display!

And of course I've been making brooches.

 Some of these are in my etsy shop and some are in my FOLKSY shop

Well...we've got to eat!

I have no end of trouble differentiating between the photographs so I didn't get as far as I thought I might, listing these,  playing spot the difference, with the memory of a goldfish with a memory problem.

The Northwest Regional Day

Saturday was the North West Regional Day of the the Embroiderers' Guild at the Rheged Centre near Penrith.
I had a good day. I actually managed to remember it for a start.
(Last year I was still in bed when the phone rang to tell me the coach was waiting for me at the motorway services about 8 miles away. This would not have been quite so bad had I not been the one insisting that the coach call in at the motorway services to pick me up)

I met Maggie Grey again and really enjoyed her talk on Celtic Inspirations, in which she showed one of my pieces.
Fame.
Then, I won second prize in the coats anchor competition with this piece, which you saw last year.
(The top picture is truer in colour to the original)


Here's the whole thing.

I managed not to offend anyone (I think).
Although I was a bit tactless at one point.

I got to actually hold a lovely piece made by Purple Missus, and saw some dead catalogue art too!

Now when I tagged a few bloggers the other week I certainly didn't expect this!
Edit: its fun do go and look. (I wasn't shocked Cathy!)

Do you have stat counter? Its very interesting and my favourite bit is 'came from' which shows you where readers have ..well you guessed it..come from. Its so lovely to find links to your blog and I am humbled by some of them.
People I don't know linking others to my blog.
Thank you .
Yesterday I discovered a lot of visitors from katafoltok I have popped in quite a few times but unfortunately I don't understand the language of the blog. I do understand that she has made some beautiful cuffs in velvet. I did a 'translate' but it only gave me a very rough idea of the meaning. For example, do you know what a 'vernal quiltnet' is?
I thought not.

Dog Daisy Abroad.

I have been really touched by the lovely comments I had after my last post. Thank you to everyone who left me a few words.
I wasn't too sad on Wednesday, but my Mum was of course.
I just remembered the fun we had with him.

Big excitement chez-dogdaisy...I am doing a talk and a workshop OVERSEAS!
Yes, on Friday morning I and my car and much of my tackle, are boarding the Isle of Man steam packet ship from Heysham, and sailing off into the west to deliver a talk and a workshop to the members of the Isle of Man branch of the Embroiderers Guild.
The weather forecast is not good.
I will need a strong stomach and possibly a brown paper bag.
I think I'd better wrap my laptop in plastic.

UPDATE: Thursday pm. Just had a text..early ferry cancelled due to bad weather..postponed to 2.30. Hope I don't miss the talk. I'm the one giving it.

We will be making these boxes on Saturday,


having dyed our own tea bag paper and stitched into it.


I have been making samples using the technique I used in my blog header.

Dyed teabag paper, shibori style, providing a base pattern for applique and stitching over voile.


The ink seeps out as in chromatography and provides surprising bits of colour as a guide for adding stitch and fabrics.

As the colours arrived at are a component of the main colour they always look right and inspire addition of threads and fabrics in a colour you may not have considered.

Much nicer in reality.

I have collated all the pictures of my work for the talk and copied them onto a disc, and a data stick, and my laptop.
I will be using a digital projector.
(I have no idea how to do it.)

If there are any Isle of Man Ladies reading, I am looking forward to meeting you at the talk on Friday evening.
There will be homework.

In the beginning

Well...a very long time ago, the beginning of the 3rd Millenium, or was it the end of the second?
In the year 2000, the Embroiderers' Guild had a theme 'Fashioned by Stitch'.
This was my entry for the North West regional day on the same theme. Its called 'The First Fashion Statement' .
Adam and Eve wore fig leaves when they had sinned by eating the apple, Eve having been tempted by the Devil in the form of a serpent.
A photocopy of the text was 'aged' with tea and stitched under chiffon. I made fig-leaves from painted and waxed paper, wired to give them shape. I don't know if fig trees have tendrils but I couldn't resist making some.
And there's the evidence. The apple with a bite out, and the serpent.
The judges liked it and I won 'The Rose Bowl', first prize.
Forgive me for dwelling on past glories.
I'm working for a craft fair and I've shown enough piles of silk paper for a while.