This morning I met Marg from Maggies Textiles. It turns out that not only do we live within a couple of suburbs of each other, but I used to work with her daughter! This relieved her children, who were worried I might be some weirdo she met on the internet. Well, they weren’t entirely wrong…we did meet on the internet, and I am a bit strange, but only in a needle-wielding, rather than axe-wielding way. I wasn’t worried…I figured the chances of someone setting up a blog about embroidery to lure me into their clutches for nefarious purposes was fairly slim…and I was right. Marg is lovely, we had a great chat, Moo was on her best behaviour (helped by a juice and chocolate log which looked delicious, but she wouldn’t share), and Marg gave me a lovely gift – some hand-dyed fabric from her stash, and a little box she made covered in hand-dyed fabric. We also did show and tell, and I saw a sneak peek of her lovely TIF challenge for this month. My challenge for this month is still in the mulling over stages……..
Yesterday I received two ATC’s in the mail – from Doreen (creative meanderings) and her granddaughter Ebony. They are both beautiful, Ebony made the one on the left, Doreen made the one on the right – needle felted and hand embroidered. Also pictured is the lovely tassel Doreen made me. The photos don’t do it justice (when do my photos ever?) – It is absolutely gorgeous… I spend a lot of time fondling it, because it is very soft and tactile as well as being lovely to look at.
A peek on some embroidery I’ve been working on:
The first two are the slips for a stump work toadstool. I am planning to do the gills in bullion knots. The second is part of an experiment. I admire embroidered landscapes; this is an attempt at one. It depicts a paddock with a plant called Patterson’s Curse, which is a very bad weed in NSW (where I grew up), and I am assuming elsewhere in Australia too. I don’t know what its proper name is, and I think it is known by other names elsewhere. It has (if you are not a farmer) rather attractive purple flowers – at least from a distance, when you can see a haze of purple over the paddock, but cows don’t eat pretty.
I’m glad your coffee went well with Marg.
Love the rose tassel!
And impressed to see the mushroom slips – looking forward to seeing the finished mushie.
I’m a country NSW then city Victoria girl, and I’ve always only known it as “Patterson’s Curse”
I’m just writing about your stash in my blog.
Comment by Megan — April 17, 2008 @ 1:02 pm
It was a lovely morning – I am still on a high! The stumpwork is impressive as is the quilted cushion mentioned last week! I just love show and tell!
Comment by MargB — April 17, 2008 @ 2:18 pm
Hi!
This is just a quick note to say that your wonderful trade for CYBER FYBER arrived here in South Carolina a day or so ago….I’m a bit behind right now which is a shame as I’d love to spend more time on your blog. I truly enjoy reading from it. I hope I can send a “hand” to France soon too. I heard from Doreen that you mailed fabric for Ebony’s quilt. This got me thinking about how we learned to stitch…or, at least, the image of little girls learning to embroider from mothers and grandmothers. Ebony and Doreen are just this image…but in a twenty-first century setting that includes a computer and Internet access…everything that is important to CYBER FYBER. I’ve asked Doreen, who is already part of the invitational section of the exhibition, if Ebony’s quilt can be on display too. Together, they represent a very specific aspect of Internet accessibility…especially since a blogger, you, responded with the fabric. So, thank you! Thanks for the trade and for your part in making CYBER FYBER even better.
Susan
PS I adore spider web stitches!
Comment by Susan Lenz — April 18, 2008 @ 1:23 am
I’m so glad you and Marg had a great time! It’s such fun finding friends on the internet who turn out to be neighbours.
You look to have been so busy lately, if yesterday and today’s post is anything to go by. I do like the little embroidery of the paddock. I looked up on Patterson’s Curse on Wikipedia as I didn’t know that name and was horrified to read how poisonous it is to livestock. It’s a native plant in England (and other parts of Europe) where it is called Viper’s Bugloss. I have only ever seen it once in the wild-and that was last summer. It’s pretty rare here, but alas belongs to that army of introduced species that have done so much harm in Australia.
Comment by threadspider — April 18, 2008 @ 4:38 am
I like landscape embroidery too. Yours looks great.
Comment by Emily — April 19, 2008 @ 12:10 am
Love what you’ve been working on and that you got to meet up with an internet friend. The landscape themes you’re percolating are still alive and well I see!!! I always love looking at your stitching!
Jane
Comment by Jane — April 23, 2008 @ 10:30 am