The wall hangings I made for two of the LiveWires have been delivered and well received. Here they are, the first for LiveWire no 4 because she loves her garden and all living things and the second for LiveWire no 3 to recall her wonderful trip to Japan. For some inexplicable reason, I didn’t take a photo of the lined and top-stitched finished article of the one for No 4. I shall have to get one sent to me. If you zoom in you’ll see the thousands of stitches that I have been sewing, with great delight, off and on since last March!
For LiveWire No2, I made a glass panel of a Cornish engine house.
The following tender poem and beautiful art work came my way the other day and I asked for permission to share it here. I love the idea of the “quilt of humanity” and that we all need to recycle, literally and metaphorically, to make our world a safer place to be.
Julia Myers poem with art by Gina Litherland
“The old threads are unraveling,
Get your needles ready.
We are stitching a new quilt
of humanity.
Bring your old t-shirts,
worn out jeans, scarves,
antique gowns, aprons,
old pockets of plenty
who have held Earth’s treasures,
stones, feathers, leaves,
love notes on paper.
Each stitch
A mindful meditation.
Each piece of material
A story.
The more color the better,
so call in the tribes.
Threads of browns, whites,
reds, oranges
Women from all nations
start stitching.
Let’s recycle the hate, the abuse,
the fear, the judgment.
Turn it over, wash it clean,
ring it out to dry.
It’s a revolution
of recycled wears.
Threads of greens, blues, purples
Colorful threads
of peace, kindness,
respect, compassion
are being stitched
from one continent to the next
over forests, oceans, mountains.
The work is hard
Your fingers may bleed.
But each cloth stitched together
Brings together a community.
A world, our future world
Under one colorful quilt.
The new quilt of humanity.”
~Julia Myers
One of our old and very lovely buildings, Redruth Drapery Stores on West End, has been bought and is being renovated to become a place for the community to celebrate the arts in all shapes and sizes. The door hook is either brand new or newly polished and it pleased me.
Shiny door hook
This cartoon, in The Guardian this morning, made me laugh. I, too, have been watching the petition numbers go up but not so obsessively I needed a bucket.
Our lovely neighbour is home again after being away in China for a month where she and her brother have been constructing an amazing sculpture, the Chinese God, Thousand Mile Eye.
Thousand Mile Eye by Sue Hill and Pete Hill
Showing the scale
Sue brought us home presents – a beautifully embroidered scarf for me and a super sharp peeler for Mr S.
I love the Penryn River in all its moods and love that I sing every week with the river in view.
We can all adjust our sails!
We have been to see Ballet Rambert tonight – three wonderful dances but Ghost Dances is the best ever. We first saw the dance sometime in the 1980s and loved it then. It is a most powerful piece that didn’t disappoint tonight. If you ever get the chance to see it, please do.
What a beautiful piece of work this is. It shows the names of the Great Grandmother, Aunts and Uncles of the lovely person we met last night at her B&B, River House in Grassy Creek, North Carolina. I so admire anyone who works with such skill, love and dedication.
I pass these embroideries on my way to singing each Thursday. They sum me up quite well!
I’m creative
So?
Later in the day I passed this triangle of loveliness, heaps of little golden daffodils.
A triangle of loveliness
I’m going to two shared lunch events in the next two days so this afternoon I have made two delicious cakes, Tunisian Almond and Orange Cake with the addition of Star Anise in the glazing syrup. I love the glowing colours of the citrus zest.
Orange and lemon zest for Tunisian Almond and Orange Cake
I’m lining up creative things to do for my recovery time after my next hip op next week. I have new wool and a whole bunch of pretty ribbons as well as some colourful star shaped buttons for one of my projects.
A myriad of pretty ribbons
A pot full of colourful buttons
Here is my new embroidery hoop for another of my projects.
8″ embroidery hoop
Truro Cathedral is always beautiful, even in the constant downpour that we have had today.
Truro Cathedral from the top of the Moorfield car-park
1 We had a lovely day out in Truro today and the highlight for me was the …..
2 ……… Quilting Exhibition, Saints of Cornish Churches, in Truro Cathedral. The works were fabulous! I give you just a small selection here and am sorry that I didn’t visit earlier to spread the word about them. Sadly, today was the last day. I hope each quilt will be going to its relevant Church or will be displayed somewhere else as they are magnificent pieces of art. Do read the information about the particular Saint depicted and about the artist’s intentions. Please do click on each photo to appreciate the intricacies and the beauty of these works of art.
St Martyn by Di Wells
Made by Di Wells
Detail, Lydia
Info re St Martyn
St Euny
St Euny, info
St Piran, info
St Piran
3 After three weeks away I was able to sing with The Inglehearts again and what an uplifting experience that always is!
1 My brother and I started our family history pilgrimage today and went to Gwennap Church and Churchyard where the Martin stone that inspired Dad’s first novel, can be found. The Lychgate is mentioned in the book, Jeremy Visick. The cross stitched kneelers in the Church were very beautiful and I give you a few here to enjoy. Click on any photo for detail.
The Lych gate at Gwennap Church
The Lych gate on a kneeler
The Lych gate through the glass
Tin mine engine house on a kneeler
Love this one~!
2 On the path as we left the Churchyard was this tiny shiny bit of evidence of a wedding at the weekend.
Congratulations!
3 The next part of our journey was to find the first house we lived in when we first came to live in Cornwall when I was 6 and M, my brother, was 11. This beautiful rose was growing nearby. More of the houses in another post.
1 I have done my first 100 cms piece for the 7 miles of knitting being done by supporters of Wool Against Weapons (See this post) Now to sew all the ends in. I haven’t decided whether to do stripes in the next piece….
First 100 cms knitted
2 We joined a bunch of like-minded people today on the beach by St Michael’s Mount for a very special event, Fly Kites Not Drones, in honour of Nowruz, Afghanistan’s New Year. There were kites of all shapes and sizes flown by children and adults of all ages. Voices for Creative Non-Violence UK is holding a weekend of solidarity with Afghans who will be facing uncertainty and the possibly of an escalation in conflict during the renegotiation of the international presence within Afghanistan. Our kite flying on the beach was a part of this. Here’s a gallery of photos to give you a flavour of the event. Click on any one for the detail. I’d like to wish my readers in Afghanistan, and there are a few, a Happy New Year.
Fly Kites Not Drones
Kites in the air
G flying the crocodile kite
Seagull
St Michael’s Mount and a pink kite
G taking the photo, B flying the kite
Thanks for this one, G
Flying a kite
Some of the kite flyers
3 After the kite flying, we strolled about Marazion for a while and as the Church had a notice inviting anyone in during daylight hours (rare these days – many Churches, sadly, are locked when not in use) we had a look around and were both struck by the colourful beauty of the kneelers. Click on the photo to see the amazing stitch-work..
A great deal of work has gone into these beautiful kneelers
