Stitching Trail

Moving to France 5, plus a bit of stitching

2008-03-26T15:05:00.003Z

All the cleaning, decluttering, packing and trying to get the place looking reasonable has meant that any serious workhas been out of the question. All the decluttering and packing has meant everything being "relocated" to my workroom so a) I have nowhere to work and b) I can't find anything.

My workroom is the one room left to be decluttered - so after our fortnight in France househunting, (we're off this Saturday), I shall be diving in there. I think rationalising rather than decluttering is probably a better description, because I really can't bear the thought of throwing anything out - it has taken me several years to gather my stash together!

So I am afraid the City and Guilds has taken rather a back seat for the past few weeks, but I am hoping to have a few weeks between getting back from France and moving to finish my current module.

But I have been doing a bit of stitching.

Firstly, a blackwork cushion, which is to enter in the village show in July (if I am still here). It is a very traditional show, so as you can enter two items in each class, I am trying to enter something traditional and something more creative to see what happens.

Secondly, we have been doing trapunto at my patchwork class. This might go in the village show as well!

So, no more blogging for a couple of weeks. We are off to France on Saturday (DH has booked us on the 3.29am shuttle - good grief), and will be spending all next week looking at houses, some of which look like real possibilities. So I am hopeful!!

Moving to France 4

2008-03-18T22:25:00.003Z

Well, if I was excited yesterday, I'm even more so today - we've got a buyer for our house!!! We are a bit shell shocked at the speed things are going.
Things are beginning to drop into place. The only thing we don't want to drop any further is the euro. The exchange rate rose a cent today, and that makes a difference of over £2,000 to the amount we have available. Frightening!!

Moving to France 3

2008-03-17T14:17:00.002Z

I'm so excited - the next step, and it's a biggy - as from tomorrow, our house is on the market!!

We've lived here since 1971, brought up our three sons here, but I am not a sentimental type, and I am SOOOO looking forward to moving to France. We have been wanting to do this for such a long time, so we went out to lunch to celebrate.

Now we need to find a house in France, and we are off to look after Easter. We have a few lined up already, but we are just going to do the rounds of estate agents and see what we can find.

It has taken ages to get the house looking pristine, and now we have to keep it that way. It's making it very difficult to work, particuarly as I am trying to work big - I've just got no where I can work and make a mess.

A Blogroll at last!!

2008-03-04T00:21:00.002Z

Youngest son, the computer geek, has finally got around to showing me how to create a blogroll. If you've been with me since the start you will know I am barely computer literate, but I must be improving as I can actually remember how to do it.
So I am gradually adding the blogs I read on a regular basis.

Not sure where the last few weeks have gone....

2008-02-23T10:17:00.004Z

.... one thing for certain, I have made very little progress - actually, absolutely no progress with my hanging.

It's not that I've been completely idle!

I went to the Prism exhibition with my friend LB, which was great. Some really fantastic work. I've been going for a few years now, and I really enjoy seeing how people progress. There seemed to be lots of series of work this year, all for sale individually. They often make such an impact by being hung together, I think it is sad they get broken up.

We had our grandson Joey for a day. Joey is nearly 2, so no work that day. Although when my sons were little, I would probably have worked away merrily all day. I suppose that's the difference between being a parent and a grandparent. We probably only see Joey every other week, so when we do see him, we are happy to spend all our time with him.

I've been to a 'Pile and Slice' workshop. Great fun. Came away with 12 blocks, which are just waiting for me to do something with.

I started off with 12 x 12" blocks, which I divided into 2 piles of 6. Working with one pile at a time, you cut the pile in half, take the top piece from one side and put it on the bottom, then stitch each layer back together again. You keep repeating the process until you are happy. These were cut 5 times.

DH and I spent a day in Oxford, where I haven't been since I was a child. The reason for going was to see the Treasured Textiles exhibition at the Pitt Rivers Museum. Unfortunately we chose the wrong day. It's half term, and the museum was buzzing with childrens workshops, and I couldn't get near at least half of the exhibition, which was a bit frustrating. I was reduced to taking a few pictures.

First, a detail from a Chinese robe.

A beautifil Chinese child's jacket. This design is batik.

This is a detail of a quilted 'chapan' from Turkmenistan. A chapan is a robe worn by men on special occasions. It is the most beautiful colours, this doesn't show the indigo blue. The robe is pieced together from narrow panels of warp ikat silk, and quilted with tiny running stitches.

There are three or four pieces of mola work, which I had really wanted to see, but I couldn't get near them for the floor was completely covered by children making masks and helmets. DH volunteered to pick his way through and take a picture.

The exhibition is on for a few months, so I might suggest another visit. The museum itself is incedible - full of the most interesting stuff, including lots of textiles. Well worth a visit. This is a witch's ladder:

It was discovered in 1911 in the loft of an old lady who had lived in Wellington in Somerset. It is cock's feathers stuck into a rope and is thought to be a charm "for getting away the milk from neighbours' cows and causing peoples' deaths". Odd mixture, but what a fascinating thing.

From Oxford, we went to Swindon to see our new granddaughter, Emily Ellen, who is now 7 weeks old. Lots of lovely cuddles and some smiles. It is only the second time we have seen her, and how much she has grown.

So that accounts for 5 days, and apart from that, I have been concentrating on my sampler quilt, cos the class is moving in in March to trapunto - something else I haven't done.

I've been tagged by Celia (Cheshire Cheese), so next post..... also, I promised Celia I would blog about the book I'm doing about my hanging, so something else for the next post!

Moving to France 2

2008-02-05T22:19:00.000Z

Here's Gus. Put a box on the floor and he'll be in it in seconds - put a box on the floor in front of the fire and he won't move for hours!

He's nearly ready to go move to France. He's been chipped and he's had his rabies injection. He needs a blood test in a couple of weeks to make sure its taken, and then he can go. Taking him to the vets is a nightmare - he hates going in the car, but interestingly he doesn't make anything like as much fuss on the way home. I think he knows where he's going - the vet always does something nasty to him.

Details of houses have started to arrive, some look really interesting, and we're hoping to go over at the end of March / beginning of April to have a look.

Hanging 1

2008-02-01T12:35:00.001Z

As promised, stuff about my hanging - it's one of my final assessment pieces.

The brief is to pretend you've been commissioned to make a hanging to show a sense of place. My place was easy. In my village, there is a restored ragstone quarry , which is now a public open space, and it is really interesting nature wise - especially the flora. I know it really well because a few years ago, I was involved in the practical conservation of the area.

I'm planning to do two vertical hangings to hang side by side - one is an ammonite (lots have been found in the quarry) and the other is based on a huge area of teasels.

I made lots of drawings of ammonites in Maidstone Museum, and one in particular really captured the spirit of an ammonite. So I scanned it into the computer, rotated it to vertical and then selected part of it, which I then printed out large. So here is the full size design, stuck up on the wall in my hall. It's about 5 foot tall, but I think I'm going to lengthen the bottom section of the ammonite, just to make it a better proportion.

Today I've been working on the background for the teasels. I've made a series of papers using brusho, salt crystals, torn paper masks and some "Creative Colour Sprays" which are advertised in the current issue of Stitch. (They arrived the day after I ordered them.)

Needless to say, they look much better than they do in the photos! So tomorrow I'm going to have a go at the full size background.

I'm beginning to think about how I'm going to turn them into textile pieces - I shall need to do lots of sampling.

Progress!!

2008-01-31T11:14:00.000Z

After such a long spell of not achieving a great deal, its such a relief to be able to blog about lots of progress on various fronts.

My sampler quilt is coming together - I've now made all nine blocks, some of them are quilted, and I am nearly ready to start joining them together. Here they are, laid out on the table at my class, in their final position I think.

I've also finished the first of two stitched pieces for the "Computing into Stitched textiles" C&G. The original design was created using Paint Shop Pro. The embroidery is a series of layers. I took three layers of Fibretex, painted them and then stitched a grid with strips of organza.

Then I zapped it with the heat gun.

Then I made a patchwork of the nine squares of colour and mounted the fibretex on top. Forgot to take a picture at that stage. Then I gradually built it up using bits of organza, chiffon, silk.

AND... best of all, after months of inactivity, I'm making real progress with my C&G. I've been working on the designs for my hanging. Half of it is stuck up on the wall in my hall, and I'm working on the other half. It is such a relief, having been stuck for so long, having been on the point of giving up, that finally things appear to be coming together. See next post for details!

Catching up

2008-01-24T11:18:00.000Z

After seemingless endless pictures of France - some stitching at last!
These were some of the few things done last year, when I wasn't well and wasn't blogging.
They were done for a competition at my local Embroiderers Guild branch. The challenge was to embroider a 6" square, and there was quite a range of techniques. The branch used the squares to make a branch banner.

For this one, I layered up some dyed cotton and organza, machine stitched and then hand stitched into it. It was based on a photograph of grasses.

This second one is stitched on calico, so is a slightly more free piece of blackwork than if it had been stitched on evenweave. I'm really fascinated by geometric patterns, and really enjoyed doing this. I do like the less regimented quality of doing blackwork this way. The black bugle beads in the centre don't show very well in this photo, and of course they are both now in the banner.

Neither piece won - c'est la vie!!

2008-01-21T15:13:00.000Z

Well, I'm really chuffed. A big thank you to Lesley http://www.lesleyv.blogspot.com/ for nominating my blog for a Make my Day award.
The rules say that I have to "give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times."
So, I suppose eventually, everyone is going to get it, and most of the people I would want to give it to have already had it at least once - Magstitch, Digital Gran, Purple Missus, Creatilfun - all of them amazing creative women who share their work, ideas and techniques so willingly.
Then:
Zoe http://witchypoos.blogspot.com/
Joyce http://sewartjourney.blogspot.com/
and Lesley herself.
Finally:
Fiona - Neverending Lists http://fionacupcake.blogspot.com/
Susan D - http://artoftextiles.blogspot.com/
Celia - http://cheshirecheese.blogspot.com/

I've remembered!!

2008-01-21T01:06:00.000Z

That lovely brickwork in the Bergerac area that I couldn't remember the name of - I think it's called "colombage" - don't know if that's the correct spelling, but here are some more pictures.

Moving to France 1

2008-01-18T15:19:00.000Z

This is an exciting day for us. We have taken the first step in our long held plan to move to France. We have been to a French property exhibition in London, and registered with several Immobiliers (French estate agents).

We are hoping to move to the Bergerac area. Bergerac is a beautiful town on the River Dordogne, and the area is lovely - not quite far enough south to be dry and Mediterranean, but with rolling hills, fields of sunflowers and lots of vineyards (and exceedingly cheap wine). There is an airport at Bergerac so we can get back quickly and the kids can get out to us easily.

We need to get a move on as the eldest son and his wife (expecting their first child at the end of June) have announced that they expect to spend their September holiday with us in France - no pressure then.

So while we wait for a selection of properties to view, we need to get the cat, Gus, sorted with a chip, rabies injections and a pet passport.

I shall report progress as it happens, but just to whet your appetite, here are some pictures I took when we were down there last September. Firstly a sunflower field just before it was harvested, followed by two pictures of old buildings, and the wonderful brickwork in the area - it has a lovely name, which I cannot remember!

Sorry I forgot to rotate this picture before I imported it and I can't find a way to do it now!

Sampler quilt

2008-01-17T14:58:00.001Z

A patchwork class started at my local village hall - too good an oportunity to miss - so I have started going with my friend J who has been doing patchwork for several years. We are doing a nine block sampler quilt, hand pieced and hand quilted, using the 'quilt-as-you-go' method. Here are the first four blocks, sashed and partly quilted.

From top to bottom - Shoo Fly, Dresden Plate, Dutchman's Puzzle and Ohio Star.

Apart from the odd bit of machine patchwork, I have never done patchwork seriously, and I am really enjoying it. I understand why people get completely hooked. I know this is all very basic stuff, but I have to start somewhere!

A bit of dyeing

2008-01-07T16:34:00.001Z

I've been meaning to try dyeing in a plastic bag for ages, but just never got round to it.

I've been going to a patchwork class for a few months, it's a quilt-as-you-go sampler quilt, which I haven't blogged about yet. I was really reluctant to spend lots of money on the fabric for the backing, so I thought I'd have a go at dyeing in a plastic bag. There's a really good tutorial for graduated dyeing on the Fibre and Stitch website, but I decided not to try graduated dyeing and just used one colour. The one fabric I have in abundance is cotton curtain lining left from when I was a curtain maker, so I had a go, and apart from only using one dye, I did what the tutorial says. It worked really well , except when I washed the pieces in the washing machine after I dyed them, they lost a lot of their texture. But I am pleased with the colour and am using them to back my quilt.

Then I booked to go to a class "Accidental landscapes" at Puddleducks, my local patchwork shop. Because I'm a very new quilter, I don't have a stash (yet) and thought this was the perfect opportunity for a bit of graduated dyeing. Once again it's curtain lining, and this time I didn't wash the pieces in the washing machine after they had been dyed

The first set of bags were blue through to yellow, and here is the result.

Then I did a set black through to orange, but I forgot to take a picture of these. Once they had been rinsed, I tore them in half and then put one half of each into what was left in the blue/yellow bags, and below is the result.

For a first attempt, I was really pleased with these. The class was fun, and although it isn't finished, this is what I did.

I'm not very pleased with the design - I find it very difficult to make a 'real' landscape out of my head, but really enjoyed the technique. I shall carry on with it. The one thing I am pleased with is how well the colours go together.

Welcome to 2008

2008-01-03T16:55:00.000Z

I'm really glad to see the back of 2007. It was not a good year for me healthwise, but I'm nearly there now and looking forward to 2008. Also not a good year creatively, but I've been going to a few classes in the last few months, and it's given me the kick start I needed to get going again.
Two bright spots in 2007 - a wonderful holiday in New Zealand to mark DH's early retirement, and I've lost nearly 4 stone (just need to loose another 4 now).

2008 has got off to a great start - my middle son and his wife have just had their first child - a girl - our second grandchild. Mother and baby are doing well, father is beside himself with excitement, and we are absolutely delighted.

We took my mother home to Suffolk today and we visited the winter walk at Anglesey Abbey, a National Trust property between Cambridge and Newmarket. Despite the weather - dull, dark, trying to snow - it was absolutely beautiful, especially the birch grove, which was quite magical.

The trunks are white, but where the bark has peeled off, its the most beautiful apricot colour which contrasts with the soft green verdigris.

These are just a few of the photos I took. Can't recommend this place too highly.

A pre Christmas treat

2007-12-14T01:24:00.000Z

Last week, we went to Cologne to the Christmas markets, of which there are 5. The biggest one is in the square by the Cathedral, which is incredibly tall. One of the towers had scaffolding around part of it, which I thought echoed the gothic tracery. (sorry the picture is a bit blurred.)

The markets are full of wonderful traditional Christmas decorations, presents and food, and there is a little land train that runs between them which you can hop on and off.

This is the Altermarkt - Old Market. The stalls are open from 11am to 9pm, and this was taken just after they opened which is why the market looks so deserted.

There is also a Medieaval market at the Chocolate Museum. The stalls here are tents, and all the stall holders wear medieaval costume. A lot of them are demonstrating their crafts - felt making, blacksmithing, candle making etc.

We didn't go into the Chocolate Museum - too much temptation!!

One of the best things about the Christmas markets is the gluewein - mulled wine which you buy in specially designed pottery mugs. Each market has its own mugs, and they are generally dated, so different designs each year. This is the fifth time we've been, so I have a whole collection of mugs, which I generally use in December. Also did most of my Christmas shopping!

Batik

2007-12-02T11:26:00.000Z

I first had a go at batik at art school in the 1960s, and have done it occassionaly over the years, but not for ages. The local patchwork shop, Puddleducks in Sevenoaks, does lots of workshops and classes, and I signed up for a one day workshop on batik.

The morning was spent making a sampler, using undressed cotton lawn, and exploring the various ways of mark making with the wax - all sorts of brushes, including a toothbrush, and even a dishwashing brush, as well as tjantings. The second and third squares in the second row were just waxed all over. We then painted the squares with procions dyes , using light colours.

Once it was dry, we rewaxed. The third square in the second row was etched into to create the lines. Then we dyed again, this time using stronger colours.

We then waxed it all over, crumpled it as much or as little as we wanted, to crack the wax. The second square in the second row was crumpled quite heavily. Then the whole thing was put into a dark blue dye bath.

The final process is to iron off the wax, with the batik between several layers of newsprint. Eventually, after several changes of paper, most of the wax comes out.

The second piece is based on a drawing I did in France in September, whilst I was sitting by the pool - well someone has to do it! The view was a series of stripes, 3 or 4 in the pool itself, the fields, the trees and the hills beyond.

This was done very quickly, without a great deal of thought - normally I like to give things a bit of thought. The original drawing was much narrower than this, and I think I might select part of the left side and mount it.

The class has certainly rekindled my interest in batik - I love the immediacy and the simplicity of batik - but I'm struggling to find undressed cotton lawn. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Autumn colours

2007-11-28T16:55:00.000Z

It's such a long time since I blogged, I've completely forgotten how to do things - so here goes.

A couple of weeks ago Tony and I went to Sheffield Park, a National Trust property, famed for it's autumn colours. It was a beautiful sunny but cold Tuesday. We thought there wouldn't be many people there ( we are new to this retired stuff), but it was heaving!

The colours were absolutely amazing, probably close to their best.

Just couldn't resist taking lots of pictures, especially going right into the trees and catching the sun. I picked up some leaves, but they loose their colours.

In complete contrast, a few days later I took the next few pictures in our garden after a frost.

The last few days its never really got light - grey and rainy - very depressing.

I've been to several workshops in the last few weeks, first one in the next blog.

Rebooting my blog!!

2007-06-23T10:40:00.000+01:00

The last six months or so have been a bit of a creative desert because of one health problem after another! The one high spot was an incredible 3 weeks in New Zealand to celebrate my husband's retirement (he insists I add early!!). Came back feeling like a new woman and then fell getting off my exercise bike (don't laugh), hurt my back, and haven't been able to do a thing for weeks except read. It's still sore and my doctor has referred me for physiotherapy.

But at last, I am working again.

Let's start with some images from New Zealand. Firstly, this is the Maori Meeting House at the Treaty Grounds at Waitangi. They are very dark inside, and have a real sense of spirituality. All along the walls are ancestral carvings, and between them are tukutuku panels.

They were made using crossed laths, horizontal at the front and vertical at the back, held together be decorative stitching using strips of flax or grass. Two women worked together, one at the front of the panel, one at the back, and the strips of flax were "stitched" through the gaps between the laths to create the cross stitch patterns.

The patterns all have spiritual meanings.

In Te Papa, the National Museum of new Zealand in Wellington, there are some modern interpretations of tukutuku panels, using traditional techniques, but non-traditional colours. No photography allowed I'm afraid.

At the Art Gallery in Christchurch, we were lucky enough to see an exhibition of cloaks and baskets by contemporary Maori weavers/artists. The exhibition was called The Eternal Thread and has been to the US. It was really inspiring, particularly the cloaks, but once again no pictures I'm afraid.

Computer Design Course

2007-01-20T11:34:00.000Z

The one good thing about this course is it starts right at the very beginning and assumes you know nothing about using the Paint Shop Pro programmes. I have version 9 and I really haven't used it at all.

The first module is about line, so the first thing is to learn how to use the various brushes, how to alter shape, size, colour and quality.

Then how to use the effects menu. These effects are very seductive, and it's very easy to get really carried away with them, because they create images so quickly.

Module 2 is about designing with primary colour and about using layers to build up designs. Once again there is a whole range of effects and blends you can use. This started off as 3 vertical stripes of red, yellow and blue, which was then copied onto a second layer, rotated through 90 degrees and then blended. The lines were added on a third and fourth layer and once again blended.

This one started off in the same way, but uses an effect called weave, as well as various brush effects.

Then it's about generating pattern, using the pattern generator in the programme, but also using cut and paste, rotate and flip to create patterns and borders

I'm currently working on Module 3, which has a design project based around fences, and which can include any of the techniques we've learnt. The module also covers printing on various media. There are two stitched pieces to be done.

Off on Friday for a day with out tutor, to "play"!!

Stitch samples

2007-01-09T09:35:00.000Z

I've decided not to do the Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge. It's a wonderful idea, but just another opportunity for not getting on with what I really should be doing!

Here is a series of samples I did using chain stitch, all of which have just been posted off to my tutor. I absolutely loved doing them, but I could have done loads more!

Collograph 2

2007-01-07T14:39:00.000Z

At last, I have been able to get back to doing things. Christmas preparations took over needless to say, and then I got a tummy bug, which I took ages to get over.

So, here is the completed collograph, everything stuck down and varnished and ready to print. I made each of the elements separately, and stuck them down using double-sided tape. I just used the varnish my husband had in the garage - it was a quick drying satin varnish, but I don't think it's critical!

I found making the collograph quite difficult. Everything has to be level or it won't print properly, but I found different papers can make a big difference.

Firstly I tried ordinary copy paper, I laid the collograph on the paper and then used a roller. The result was OK, but it didn't make the most of the texture. Then I tried laying the paper on the collograph, but it moved about too much, and you get a double image.

Then I tried some handmade papers, which are much softer. I laid the paper on top of the collograph and used my fingers and the side of my hand to press down. You can really get the paper down into the textures and I was really quite pleased with the results. I also tried it with tissue paper and that also works really well.

The first below is the handmade paper, and the second is the tissue paper, which I crumpled up before I made the print.

So I have to pack everything up now and send it off to my tutor. I hate packing my work up and putting it in the post. I'm always so relieved when it arrives. It takes me long enough to do the work in the first place, let alone having to redo it because its been lost in transit!!

Collograph 1

2006-12-16T14:19:00.000Z

So picture me, youngest son in attendance, logging in to get him to help me upload pictures, only to find that I now have a toolbar, complete with picture icon, which was absolutely NOT THERE last time I looked. Needless to say, youngest son has yet another example of Mother going soft in the head!

Purple Missus asked what is a collograph. Basically, its a collage that you make prints from, so texture is all important. Everything has to be the same height, otherwise it won't print, so something that is a good texture won't necessarily print well.

The brief for my collograph was to make a print based on a textural study of a particular area, and I made a series of drawings, rubbings, and prints and took lots of photographs of the garden of the house we stayed at in southern France earlier this year.

What you have to do is stick stuff to cardboard, let the glue dry, then varnish it. These are some varnished blocks, ready for printing from. I used kitchen foil, sandpaper, pumpkin seeds, grasses, and gesso.

I printed the blocks using black acrylic paint with a bit of fluid retarder mixed in to make the paint last a bit longer. (Works quite well) The first lot are an attempt at creating a bark texture using scrunched up brown paper (left) and sandpaper. I started off with quite a fine sandpaper, then tried it with a much coarser sandpaper, but unexpectedly, the finer sandpaper is better. The next ones are made with thick piping cord. The one on the right the block moved, hence the double image.

This next one I used scrunched up kitchen foil to create tree bark, some vegetable nets to create moss on a wall, and some wonderful textured cardboard which arrived as packaging, but was extremely disappointing. Below that are some prints made from gesso blocks, which were an attempt at creating a stone wall. I layered gesso onto the card and then made marks in the gesso, but didn't find them very successful. In the end, I cut the blocks up into individual "stones" and stuck them down separatly , which I was much happier with.

Next step was to make a mock up of the finished collograph. The brief was to design a book cover for a book about texture, aiming to give a sense of place of the area I had studied. This was the second attempt.

All I have to do now is make the final block and make three prints, at least one of which has to be black and white. Going to finish my Christmas shopping on Monday, so will include a trip to the art shop to look for some hand made papers.

RATS!!

2006-12-03T12:26:00.000Z

Not a happy bunny this morning!
Have spent the last hour trying to find out how to upload photographs - and failed!well I did say that I am not very computer literate. Youngest son will help me sort it out - no doubt it will only take him a second.
I have been working on a collograph, part of my textures module. I've been creating various textures by sticking things to pieces of card, but I am finding it really difficult. Something with a really good texture doesn't necessarily print well. And its such a slow process - first you have to wait for the glue to dry before you can varnish, then you have to wait for the varnish to dry before you can print.
Varying success - crumpled cooking foil makes a really good bark texture, dried grasses make a lovely block - but is it a texture? Tried various grades of sandpaper to give the effect of lichen on a tree trunk. Surprisingly, I'm getting better results from a finer, rather than a courser grade, which is not what I would have expected at all.
Photographs have been taken, and will be posted, once I find out how!!

Here we go!!

2006-11-23T20:22:00.000Z

Well, I've taken the plunge!! I've been reading other people's blogs for ages, and I thought it was about time I started one of my own.

The aim is to chart my (painfully slow) progress through C&G "Exploring Embroidery", which I am doing as distance learning with Opus School of Stitch Textiles. I'm currently two-thirds of the way through Module 3 -"Nature's coverings". All about texture.

Over the next few days, I shall record and post some of the stuff I have done in this module, that's if I can navigate my way through the site! I'm only a couple of rungs above computer illiterate.

Having said that I am also doing "Creative Computing into Stitched Textiles" with Hazel Credland, and, apart from being really interesting, its definitely improving my computer skills generally. The course explores using Paintshop Pro as a design tool.