Getting Ready to go to ENGLAND!

(Click on image above to enlarge. Grave Rubbing Quilt Series. God Called Her Home to Heaven. This work is obviously "in progress" and will be going with me to England. Vintage linens and lace were simply pinned with crayon rubbings on silk to a felt background. I free motion stitched it together. Yes....I'm a little strange this way! Instead of hand basting and then free motion stitching, I do it in the opposite order! This will be mostly hand stitched...including some sort of way to attach the antique photo.)

It seems that every time I'm about to go on a trip I finish the hand stitching that could go with me! It has happened again.

I'm flying to England on Wednesday evening...arriving Thursday in Manchester and catching a train to Birmingham...to Mathias and Laura-Jane's apartment which I've only seen in photos. I've got all sorts of great plans for my time in England...more than just ballet. In fact, I'm only seeing ONE performance of Sylvia. That show isn't until the evening of Thursday the 26th.

(Click on image above to enlarge: Grave Rubbing Quilt Series. Lost at Sea. This is a work in progress and will be going with me to England. The background was once a curtain....severely light damaged but now recycled with scraps of a semi-opaque chiffon scarf and lots of machine stitching...simple rows of variegated thread and silver metallics. I actually hand basted the grave rubbings on silk using perle cotton and some upholstery thread. I've just started to outline the grave rubbings in free motion embroidery.)

So...what am I going to do with all the time beforehand? I'm going to Cardiff in Wales on Saturday, February 21st. It's going to be an especially great experience as I'm meeting up with the talented and adventuresome CAROL TAYLOR. She's meeting me outside the central train station at 9:45 for a day of sightseeing, stitching, and textile talk! I can hardly wait. (If you're anywhere in the area and want to join us...drop Carol a note!)

(Click on image above to enlarge: Grave Rubbing Quilt Series. Petersburg. Vintage lines, doilies, lace and grave rubbings on silk pinned to a severely light damaged scrap of an old curtain. Obviously, a work in progress....and this one is too big to take to England.)

On Monday I'm going to Taunton to see another textile exhibit recommended by Maggie Grey. I'm sure this will be inspiring. That evening I return to Bath, a place I've wanted to visit since junior high school. I'm staying at the YMCA through Wednesday.

(Click on image above to enlarge: Grave Rubbing Quilt. The Just by Faith Shall Live Again. This is a work in progress and going to England to be hand stitched. The grave rubbing on silk came from a 1796 tombstone. It was free motion embroidered to a vintage doily on a piece of a severely light damaged curtain. I love recycling material...especially when it is the absolutely PERFECT coloring!)

Well, needless to stay, I need at least one...two...or possibly three hand stitching pieces to go with me. How could I spend time on a plane or a train or in the evening without a needle and thread? So this weekend was spent in my studio starting a number of new grave rubbing quilts.


(Above and below. Click on images to enlarge.. Grave Rubbing Quilt. Thy Blessed Will be Done. Grave rubbing on silk machine stitched to a vintage doily, a scrap of a severely light damaged curtain, and finally onto a piece of fringed crochet. I hand stitched it to the crochet so that the back is still visible. I'm working on a rod for hanging....otherwise....this one is done!)