Change and Loss

 

Life Changes

It is over a year since I posted on this blog.

I have learned the hard way that life can change in an instant.

One  morning in  June 2023 that had started like any other morning, my dear, kind husband suddenly collapsed onto the kitchen floor. He had suffered an attack of tachycardia. His bones were already damaged by metastasised  prostate cancer, the fall onto the stone floor fractured his skull causing a bleed on his brain, twelve hours later he was dead.

A few weeks after this I suddenly lost the sight from one eye through retinal occlusion. No more driving and hardest of all no more painting and drawing.

I have sold my house and moved to a Retirement Village outside Cambridge .A new downsized life style has begun.

 And now a new craft to enjoy, Tapestry Weaving which I am going to write about .

This ancient craft is not about producing fabric but about making pictures .These can be very large but I make  small, decorative  items on table top or laptop looms .Craft shops sell the equipment quite cheaply .There are some lovely yarns available which are a pleasure to handle and easy to store.

I have viewed instructions on You Tube and bought several useful books which I shall review.

To start with I decided to work on some samples and put them in a  journal. I hope to produce some Christmas decorations that are made of natural materials like wool and cotton.

These are the first pieces that I made.

First Weave

                                    

Seascape

                                                

Mug Rug

A Coronation Cake

 

How to Make a Coronation Cake

  I have been asked to make a Coronation Cake for a local party to celebrate

 the coronation of King Charles 111.This needs to be a large cake.

I have started by making a decorative crown in modellers sugar paste to decorate the cake. This paste is different from fondant paste , it holds cut out designs well and hardens quickly.

                                                    

                   The Cross will go on top at the last minute to avoid damage

I shall make the actual cake near to the day so that it is fresh .The crown will fit a six inch cake and then this will be put on a larger 9 inch base.

Betty Crocker vanilla cake made with butter not oil gives a good result and is easy to mix up in a large quantity.

I found a good set of instructions devised by lucyssugarshack which are available at

                                                       http://hobbycraft.co.uk

                 These instructions list what ingredients to buy for the decorations

                              My crown is based on the hobby craft design

                                                     

                                                     

Needlefelted Eggs for Easter

 Eggs

I am working on some owl faces as needle felted eggs to hang on my white tree.

      

   Chicken themed decorations

                                                         

Needle Felting Instruction Books

  Needle Felting is becoming a popular craft and one that I enjoy doing .It is a way of sculpting with wool which can be done at home without making too much mess or huge expense. I have bought a number of books about it ,I have divided up the books that I own  as follows 

• Detailed instructions of  animals  and birds, seasonal items such as Easter Eggs and Christmas novelties, mainly for beginners

• Sculptures of the human figure

• Painting pictures using wet and dry techniques

• Apparel , scarves, slippers, hats.

These are books that I bought in my first category ,small items mainly for beginners  .

Roz Dace and Judy Balchin are two of the best known authors on the craft of  needle felting .There are detailed descriptions of the kind of wool that can be used and clear photos of the equipment that is needed to carry out the crafts and designs shown in the book. There are templates at the back of the book which indicate scale and detail .I found the easiest thing to make was the poly bunny and the cat shown in the picture using a  polystyrene egg base.

                                                         

     

   I bought Wool Buddies because I thought the figures would be simple and adapt to making Easter Egg shapes. The only thing that I made from this book was Eunice the sheep. I found the designs a bit too funky for my liking  and quite complicated in some cases.                                                 

 

I have only just bought this book, the designs are charming and there are instruction for small things like brooches and magnets which make nice little gifts. I am looking forward to making the hedgehog design and have sent for some of the hedgehog spine fabric which is needed for a realistic look.

                                                                    

Rachel Austen is another popular author of needle felting design books .I bought this one just before Christmas, owing to a late delivery I only had time to make the Holy Family trio and an angel. They were much admired and I shall work on making the whole nativity scene , shepherds, three kings sheep and so on ready for next year.

                                                                           

                                                                                     

Sculptures of the Human Figure

Moving on to making  three dimensional wool sculptures is a step up in from basic skills. These are not toys and are not suitable for children to play with. The most comprehensive book that I have is :-

                                                                            

There is a lot of detail in the book and making some of the figures take a long time. Needle felting is not a craft to be rushed ,much of the pleasure comes from handling the wool and watching your work take shape.

There are a number of useful websites from which instructions may be down loaded for less than buying a book.

The Woolly Felters have instructions for making popular figures like this one of the late Queen .

http://woollyfelters.com

                                                                       

I am looking forward to receiving the newly published book

 Needle Felting Dolls by Roz Dace and Judy Balchin

Painting Pictures with Dry and Wet Felting

Using needle felting techniques to create paintings is a move into producing works of fine art. I have only used dry felting, the books that I have provide plenty of inspiration , once you have understood the techniques it is easy to move to using photos or drawings of your own.

Landscapes in Wool gives examples of impressionistic work, layering the wool and attaching to a base of felt.

                                                        

Moy Mackay is well known for her lovely textile landscapes, she adds detail with sewing by hand or machine stitching to give extra depth to the work. Details and examples of how to do this are included in Felt and Stitch.

Garments and Apparel

I have not yet tried making anything to wear but for fabulous ideas about what can be achieved have a look at

www.etsy.com/shop/SkyWool

 

Needle Felted Vikings

 

St Giles Church in Cambridge UK has some lovely stained glass windows and at Christmas members of the congregation decorate the window sills.

This year I have done St. Clement. I have made some needle felted Vikings to illustrate the Vikings who settled to trade in the area now known as Quayside.They  became Christians and built a Church devoted to St Clement.

St Clement was martyred by being thrown overboard  with an anchor around his neck and is the patron saint of seamen.

                                                 

   

Needle Felt Pussy Cat Portraits

 

 This Alley Cat portrait  in wool and felt was popular at a local craft exhibition I have just taken part in.

                                                

Alley Cat

              A companion for the ginger cat I did a while ago

                                               

                                   

                                            

Needle Felted Christmas Baubles

 

                                               

                  Christmas is coming, time to start making things. 

                                               Christmas Baubles

Legend has it that in Pagan Times in Northern Europe The Fire of The Gods was stolen and given to man by Snake Lightning which lit up The Tree of Knowledge that granted consciousness to man. In order to appease the Gods men hung offerings of apples, bread rolls, and flowers on the branches of a tree. The tree would be set on fire in order to return the gift of fire to the Gods. This tradition was adapted to the Christian faith in the 8th Century.

St Boniface used the triangular shape of fir trees to introduce the concept of the Trinity. Apples were used to decorate the trees until a harsh winter killed many apple trees in 1858.Other forms of decoration were invented such as glass balls  and the Christmas bauble became popular as the use of fir Christmas trees as a decoration spread around the world.

I use needle felting which uses wool to make baubles ,replacing my old plastic ones for a natural substance.

Traditional forms may include the fir tree, the candy cane, candles, wreaths ,bells ,stars and more recently birds, and snow men.

                 

                                                        

                                                

                                                                         

Needle Felted Broody Hens

 More needle felting with some hens on nests .Getting ready to use these with some eggs in the nests for an Easter display at home.

                                          

                                          

A Russian Gun in Ely

 

            This cannon was captured from the Russians in Sebastopol in 1860 and given to Ely City by Queen Victoria after the Crimean War in recognition of the successful formation of the Ely Rifle Volunteers.

It has been decorated with the flag of Ukraine. 

Ely Cathedral has been a place of prayer and pilgrimage since the 8th Century.

                                       

                                                     

           

BBC Access to News

 

                                             How to receive BBC News from Ukraine                             

Ukraine's National Flower

The National Flower of Ukraine is The Sunflower

Painting and Crafting with Wool

 Felting

I have decided to work with a new medium for producing paintings ,sculptures and craft work.

Wool is a wonderful, natural medium, best known for lovely clothing but also used for painting sculpture and craftwork.

Here in England we have factories that are still producing beautiful wool both for spinning into fabric and unspun for artists and crafters.

I have been using dry felting techniques ,

This is some of my work, I am improving with practice. 

                                                               

A Marmalade Cat

Winter Night

                                                                           

Easter Eggs

                                             

Felted Easter Eggs

                                 

                                                                 

Using traditional wool from Teesdale

Memories are Made of These

 

              It seems amazing to my grandchildren that I grew up without TV, Wifi ,the internet and mobile phones. How did we face the summer break from school , what did we do in the 1940s and 50s?A simple holiday on the east coast of England was something we really looked forward to. My Dad would also add to my book collection with a story  like this  parent free adventure by Enid Blyton .                                                          

    

 No burgers or pizzas were  on the menu. A big treat was a bar of chocolate like Cadburys Dairy Milk. There were almost no sweets or candy at all until about 1947.My Dad was in the army , the soldiers had generous sweet rations and  Dad would save his share until he came home on leave to give it to us . A Mars bar would be sliced into slivers and made to last a couple of days .                         

Loose leaf tea like this was the drink of choice for most people. It would be made with boiling water in a well warmed teapot and served in cups with saucers after being left to brew for a few minutes to draw out the flavour . I hated the tea leaves at the bottom of the cup. All sorts of signs were read into the formation of the tea leaves. A large floating leaf meant a significant letter was coming. My grandmother would spend hours ruminating over the possibilities. Mugs were unheard of in our house except enamel ones sometimes taken or picnics.

Food was pretty tasteless, the English had a love for boiling everything to a pulp It was not until I went to France at the age of 12 that I realised what food could really be like. Marmite which I like, was good on toast, crumpets or in sandwiches. It is enjoying a revival as it is suitable for vegetarians. There is a new version out with peanut butter added, I am not enthused by this.

                                                                 

            Bisto was another great food improver added to gravy. Once the war was over we always had a large beef joint for Sunday lunch.  These days a joint of sirloin that size would cost about £30 .The smell of it cooking was delicious .Cooked until very well done the Bisto gravy added moisture. Left overs were served cold on Monday as my Mum would be busy with washing day.                                                              

Every thing was cooked on a stove that looked like this

                                                                  

In 1952 Dad bought a TV. Black and white of course and 11 inches wide. Our entire family  watched the the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth 2nd on it. My grandfather stood up every time the National Anthem was played which was frequently.

       A new invention in 1964 was the introduction of Pyrosil cookware. Said to have been invented to use in connection with rocket ships this oven to table ware was popular. I still have some.   I was shocked to see some on display in a museum.                                                             

                                                                      

Remember These?

 Do you recognize  these from your childhood?

Then you probably grew up in the U.K before 1960