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Category Archives: embroidery

Sewing and the Power of a Smile

I mentioned a while ago that I have a new sewing project. It has been on hold while the family have been visiting but today I have done a bit more.  It’s another patch for Redruth’s storycoat and is representing a war grave in St Euny graveyard and a story that was told in our show, Until the Day Break in 2017. I’m showing the stone as it was in May that year with primroses and bluebells at its foot. It’s very small  and on soft material as this one, along with lots of other smaller ones, will be in the folds of the coat.

I used to read this delightful poem  with my Year 7 classes. We loved it then and I love it now. I have always thought it was by Spike Milligan but on looking it up I discover that it is by Jez Alborough, published in 1991.

Go on, start the epidemic!

 

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Knitted Birds, Persistence and Cornish Mining

I was in Make A Mends in Redruth this morning when a maker came in with the wonderful knitted and embroidered birds that she makes.  She was kind enough to let me take a photo and gave me details of how to get hold of the pattern.

Just outside our favourite coffee shop there was another example of a plant rooting itself in the smallest of places, a crack in the concrete.

Some weeks ago we were rehearsing as usual in Penryn when we were interrupted by David Foster who had been on the quayside filming for Beyond Borders. Our voices had carried out to the quay and he  came up to tell us that he loved what we were practising and  asked if he could use our singing  in the film he was making. Here it is, a fascinating look into mining past and present in Cornwall, bookended  with the lovely sound of The Suitcase Singers.

 

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More from Yesterday

Another busy day, morning shopping for the family, afternoon choir for me and lovely LiveWire 3 who has been coming with me when visiting since she was six, driving through a storm to get to the station for their return home and ……all breathe out!

Signpost seen from inside The Blue Bar where we had breakfast

Beautiful flowers on the Grampound vinegars stall in the market

A beautiful little cape handmade in Cornwall by Raggtagg Pixie.

 

Fabric, Raindrop and Venus

Among the fabric I collected yesterday to make veggie bags for Community Roots was a long strip of beautifully embroidered linen. I’m using it for the gusset of the bag and it’s gorgeous!

I love how raindrops collect at the end of the little blooms of Muscari.

Tonight there is a delicate crescent moon shining below Venus. Somewhere below the moon is Jupiter but it’s hidden behind the branches of the tree. The edge of sunset can be seen over Carn Brea.

 

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Wise Words, Wall Hangings and A Glass Panel

More wise words….

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.

 

 

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Poem, Door Hook and A Cartoon

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.

Clare in the Community

 

 
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Posted by on March 27, 2019 in art, Beauty, embroidery, Humour, Postaday 2019

 

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Chinese Deity, Embroidery and Peeler

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.

Beautiful scarf

 

 

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Calm, Cushion and Ballet Rambert

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.

From the programme.

 

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Weekly Photo Challenge – Admiration 

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.

  
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/

 

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Creativity, Yellowness and Zest

I pass these embroideries on my way to singing each Thursday. They sum me up quite well!

Later in the day I passed this triangle of loveliness, heaps of little golden daffodils.

A triangle of loveliness

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

Orange and lemon zest for Tunisian Almond and Orange Cake

 

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