Sailing around Italy - Italy, Rome

In the morning we disembarked at the port of Civitavecchia approximately one hour drive from Rome.
We had a guided tour of the city of Rome by coach.

We ended our tour in the Piazza Navona where there was a beautiful fountain.

We stayed the night in Rome and flew back to Birmingham via Amsterdam the following day after a lovely holiday with lots of good memories.

Bunting

At my weavers' group we have all been asked if we can make 2m. bunting with 10 pennants for our 60th birthday in August.
I thought i would choose some flowery material suitable for August. I also chose some lace and flowery ric-rac braid to trim the pennants. see below

 I cut out the triangles with pink gingham one side and flowers the other side. I attached a flower and a leaf on the gingham side and then sewed the braid over the lace at the top.

The pennants were zig-zagged around the edge and then attached to a pink heading tape and the bunting is ready for the weavers 60th party.

All that is needed is a fine day!

Tea bag Embroidery

When you are thirsty there is nothing better than a good cup of tea. Like most people I now use tea bags which means I throw hundreds of used ones away each month.

However, you can dry the teabag, empty out the used tea and you have tea-stained paper that can be used for embroidery.

When dry the tea bags are stained various shades of brown and tea bags come in a variety of shapes. A few of the herbal teas stain a different colours. A slit is made at the back of the bag and the tea emptied then a piece of iron on interfacing is attached to the back to support the stitching.

Six tea bags, embroidered and decorated with lace and pressed flowers. The embroideries are attached to hand-made paper.

Embroidered squares cut and attached to angelina covered tea bags and embroidered again.

Tea bags covered in frayed material and the velvet gathered and embroidered.

Blue scrim embroidered with metallic threads on tea bags displayed on hand made paper.

Rust dyed fabric embroidered onto creased tea bags.

Another way of using tea bags is to open them out and glue onto hand made paper producing a background which can be printed onto or additional printed  tissue added.

Tea bag paper background with added tissue and printed spirals.
Fabric flowers embroidered over the top.

Tea bag background stamped in gold with machine embroidered humming bird and flower attached. The centre of the flower is a dried flower found in a garden and given to me by a friend.

These are the samples I have prepared for a workshop I shall be leading in June on tea bag embroidery. Who would have thought that used tea bags could be such fun!

Book - The Sea

I have been making a book about the sea using drawing, painting and sewing. The completed book can be seen below.

Throughout the book I have inserted quotes about the sea.

I started off with the high-water mark which is where many of us love to beach comb.

The next page has molluscs both drawn and sewn.

I love to look in a rock pool and this one has the tide just coming in.

Jellyfish are prettier to look at than to touch!

Reptiles are some of the strangest marine animals but some of the longest lived.

Looking through the window you can see one of the rays on the next page. They look as if they fly through the sea.

In the centre is one of the largest fish; the basking shark which despite its size and huge gape only eats plankton.

A few of the hundreds of types of fish are on the next two pages with seaweed which is exposed at low tide.

On the next page are some camouflaged flat fish and crustaceans.

Lift the sand layer and you can find them.

I love watching the wading birds on Morecambe Bay and here are a few you can see.

Flowers that live at the coast are very specialised and quite hard to find.

There is something quite poetic about the shipping forecast.

The last page is sad but we must keep working at keeping our oceans clean if we are to preserve the beautiful flora and fauna and preserve the natural environments.

Wild Weather

Friday night was a very rough night with wild winds and heavy rain named Erik by the Irish met office. I woke up to no electricity which didn't surprise me as the wind had sounded like an express train and all sorts of things were banging and slamming. As Saturday improved I thought it would be worth taking a look at the river taking my camera with me.

The river was in full spate and it was making a cacophonous roar as it hit the rocks and was funnelled under the bridge.

After the river had passed under the bridge it opened out into the mill pond where there were beautiful surface patterns on the water.

The power of the water was tremendous and further upstream it made curtains as it rushed over the weir.

It was a good walk along the river and the noise of the rushing river was intoxicating.