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What I did on Saturday
Olympic Cauldron: beautiful and functional I spent Saturday afternoon in the company of the delightful Gwent Quilters giving the talk at their annual Summer lunch. They gave me and the medieval...
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Collections, collecting and unexpected encounters
I had a slightly strange day yesterday. I went for a meeting about a research project that we are about to start and the team met in the Wellcome Collection’s cafe. The cafe is great and there is a...
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Kate Bush – Creativity Hall of Fame Nominee
I am sorry that there has been a hiatus in the blog. This is not because of the Olympics but because we have been having an almighty clear-out and I haven’t had time or energy for any sewing for...
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Ghost dolls at Hawkwood
I have spent most of the week at Hawkwood College just outside Stroud, Gloucestershire, on a writing retreat. I’ve been to Hawkwood before and I knew that it had a real shabby chic style in the main...
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Threads of Identity V
Those of you who have been reading the blog for some time may remember that I produced a series of small pieces based on Laura Ashley fabric in a sort of memory box arrangement with other artifacts....
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What I did at the weekend – collectively
As I blogged earlier in the week, I spent the weekend with a group of people interested in collaborative writing techniques. In the event we did a fair amount of arts-based inquiry into our subjects,...
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Embellished: new vintage by Karen Nicoll
Occasionally I recommend a book on this blog. There are so many new craft and design books that it is hard to know what’s worth money and what isn’t because initially they all look so tempting. I...
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New Project: Benjamin’s ‘Destructive Character’ Art Book
Sadly, I own and wear one of these… Although I haven’t been doing much stitching or anything else really recently, I have started work on thinking about a new project. I am planning a conference paper...
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Gorgeous George
For some reason my fascination with dolls and doll-making continues. I impulse bought a book on dolls and doll makers which arrived yesterday, and I couldn’t wait to get started. The book is...
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One more thing about my drag doll
I suppose I should have said as part of my last post, how much I enjoyed making this doll, and how much, now she is finished, I love her. I was telling my colleague, Patricia, about this at a dinner...
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On not having a Kaffe Fassett quilt
I haven’t posted much recently because I am mainly trying to finish things off and there isn’t much to show. I have taken two quilts to be professionally quilted which is a great way of getting...
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My new series: Walter Benjamin: The Destructive Character
One of the big projects that I have been working on this summer is an artists’ book about a particularly short article by Walter Benjamin, one of my very favourite academic writers. The article is...
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Quick inspiration
I have blogged before about the sumptuous new collection at Dolce and Gabbana. Selvedge magazine clearly feel the same. This is a nice article about using religious imagery without offending people...
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Quick burst of creativity
There is a nice part of Bristol called Westbury Park which has some great shops, like a proper baker and a tailor that does alterations, and the very lovely Heart Space Studio. This year the local...
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Why did the author knit the chicken?
This is probably the first time in about ten years that I haven’t taught my creativity module at the University. Apart from missing working with some lovely people, I haven’t minded not teaching it a...
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What I did at the weekend
I have no idea where to start today so this might be a real ramble, for which I apologise in advance, but lots of things have come together in that last few days which has been fun but hard to...
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Steal like an artist
I seldom do book reviews on the blog, but this is a book that I read on a train journey a couple of weeks ago which is worth a look. I can’t help but feel that my grate friend Alf Rehn said most of...
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Interesting book for makers
I seem to have started doing book reviews on this blog. This wasn’t a conscious choice; I just want to share some books that I have either enjoyed or found interesting. Andrew Marr’s book about...
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What I did at the weekend
I realise that I have rather fallen in love with the zentangle technique and that this is a stitching and not a drawing blog, but I was very pleased with myself for this task, and just wanted to share...
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What I learned from the ladies of Coombe Down
Last week I went to give a talk on Laura Ashley to the Coombe Down Ladies’ Group in Bath. It only dawned on me very slowly that this was not a sewing group, but a general interest group. They had...
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