Roman Holiday

We may not have been quite Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck whizzing around the streets of Rome on our Vespa but we've certainly covered several miles of cobbled Roman streets on foot over the past few days.

From our wonderful hotel, centrally based just off the Campo de'Fiori we've explored markets... with their fabulous displays of fruit and vegetables

We've discovered the most amazing archeological ruins whilst wandering around streets off the beaten track...

as well as visiting some better known archeological sites.

We've sat and eaten gelato by fountains (and thrown some pennies in to ensure our return)

We've crossed bridges, some which have stood since 62 BC

We've seen churches and basilica, the beauty and scale of which cannot be descibed.

We've enjoyed the most amazing food... pizza, pasta and my favourite "Carciofo alla Roma"

Not to mention il vino... rosso...

e bianco!

After three days of glorious sunshine our last day saw some typical November weather for Rome... and we queued for one and a half hours in pouring rain to get into the Vatican museums

Although we weren't the only ones!

But it was worth it to be treated to masterpieces by Caravaggio...

Raphael...

and finally of course Michaelangelo. The Sistene chapel was breathtaking!

It has been a fabulous few days, a wonderful break... but as ever, it's good to be home!

Cosy books

Just stopping by quickly to show you some more book jackets that have been finished by some of the ladies in my Tuesday class, using layers of sheer fabrics to create the images.

Carol made this beautiful example above and I love the way she has used velvet for the leaves. It adds a very luxurious element.

Jan chose mushrooms for her imagery... very autumnal.

Jean made two examples, one with leaves and one with flowers to which she has added beads.

Thelma also chose leaves for her design...

and Jenny also made two covers... one for her sketchbook and one for her diary

I love the way they all started with the same instructions and yet have all produced something totally beautiful and unique which reminds me why I love teaching.

Having a bit of a break from the teaching for the next few days... and a break from the blog too. But I'll be back in a week or so to tell you all about it. Got to finish those lace samples first...

If the Shoe Fits

Some more colour to brighten up this first week in November... this time my rather bright pink slippers that I finished knitting on the train on Sunday... however there seems to be a little problem.

Well, quite a big problem actually...

However, a quick spin in a hot wash seems to have done the trick...

Left foot in... Right foot in...

A perfect fit! Snug, cosy and colourful... what more could you want from a slipper?

Apart from some even brighter pink flowers to go on the top! (Yarn and pattern from Knitting4fun)

There has also been some creativity in the kitchen... look what I made last night. This has to be a first... I don't think I've ever made my Christmas cake before the third week of December! It did make the house smell good though!

A Week of Colour

It was a busy week, last week... four days of teaching, four different groups, four different venues and four different classes.

So as I'm joining in with Emma's Splash of Colour project, I thought I would show some of the colourful fabrics created at ArtVanGo last Thursday. Ten talented ladies produced an amazing array of samples of which only a small selection are shown here. They started by making braids, which they stitched together to create new fabrics.

Colourful and sparkly!

Then they progressed to using sticky backed soluble fabric, laying down grids with the braids they had made earlier, adding bits and pieces as they went, finally stitching it all together.

With some of the ladies making colourful cuffs.

A beautiful selection of colourful samples.

If you have popped over to Emma's Slash of colour post today you will notice she has posted a picture of little P in a pumpkin costume... and it prompted me to dig out some pictures of Ben and Sam wearing their pumpkin costumes twenty four years ago! Sam was 18months old and Ben was just 4

The costume little P is wearing is the very same one that Sam is wearing here!

The busy week finished with flying visit up to Dundee as Stewart's Dad was celebrating a significant birthday. A lovely weekend with all the family.

Happy Birthday George!

I'm hoping this week might be a little less frantic... but knowing me that's unlikely as I'm frantically stitching pieces of lace!

Chocolate and Lace

After an intense few days making samples with lace I found myself distracted. I was in need of a diversionary tactic and so cake making came to the rescue. A chocolate sponge with a vanilla cream cheese filling...


But the lace was never far from my mind...

And I just couldn't help myself...

Back to my samples and I've started to introduce some colour. Floral designs reminiscent of those beautiful Mexican costumes that started me on this research.

Thank you once again to everyone who has offered snippets of lace to help with my project. Your generosity is wonderful and some of the stories amazing... more details here if you want to help.

Lots More Lace

Lots more sampling. I finally think I know where I am going with this module.

Thank you so much to everyone who has promised to look out some lace for me. It is very much appreciated. I have tried to reply to each of you but sometimes the "no reply" function doesn't let me, so if I haven't responded to your comment please email me.

And if you missed my last post... I am looking for scraps of lace, however tiny that might hold stories or special memories along with a brief note from you about those stories. I then plan to incorporate them together with the text into my final piece for my "Fine Art Embroidery" module. I would love it if you could be part of this project.

Connecting Threads

A few months ago I put up a post about my on off relationship with quilting, including this hand pieced hexagon quilt top made from Laura Ashley fabrics, that had remained unfinished in a plastic bag at the back of my wardrobe.

I knew I would never ever finish it... I didn't like the fabrics anymore, I wasn't happy with the design and to be honest there are too many other things I would rather be doing. So when Kayla Coo left me a comment that said "Don't throw your Laura Ashley quilt away because I think it's lovely", there followed an email exchange the result of which was I sent her the unfinished quilt top along wth the the bag of remaining fabric hexagons. And last week Kayla sent me this photograph... the quilt alomost finished by her mother in law.

And I think it is beautiful! I love that someone else has taken the care to turn something I had discarded into a thing of beauty. I love that two stitchers who have never met have both worked into this quilt, over twenty years apart. I love that continuity and connectivity. Which leads very nicely into my next idea....

In the silk lace piece that I blogged about yesterday I used scraps of lace that were left from my sister-in-laws wedding dress, given to me by Stewart's Mum the last time we were in Dundee. Again I like the idea of the connectivity, the fact the lace has a story and that by incorporating it into a new piece of work I am somehow weaving pieces of history together. It ties in with my ideas about missing pieces of stories and the way I have associated it with lace.

And so I have a request for you my blogging friends... do you have any scraps of lace at home? Pieces that might have been handed down to you, pieces from wedding dresses or christening gowns, bits cut from garments or projects, hankerchiefs or petticoats... anything that might hold memories. If you do and you would be willing to part with even the tiniest scrap, would you be willing to send me a piece? If so please leave me a comment or send me an email and I'll let you know where to send it.

What I would like are snippets of lace together with a brief note about why they hold special memories. My plan is to incorporate them into my final piece of work together with the text - I'm not entirely sure how yet but I know I'm excited about the idea and would love it if could help me. Thank you!