Stitched memories with cloth and thread...

Hello my lovelies...

Today saw me trundling along the dual carriageway towards 

the NEC in Birmingham for some serious coffee meetings.

Stitches is one of the biggest trade shows for the creative craft industry, 

held annually at NEC, Birmingham.

Anyone working within the industry, traders, retailers & suppliers all get together 

to look at current trends, new products and supplies... and loads of coffee drinking!

I met with many fab people, all of whom are going to be

supporting my book 'Stitched Memories'

I have to say I am a tad excited....just a teeny weeny bit!

It's becoming a little real now....

The wheels are beginning to turn in motion.

We all add a little stitch here and there to our own life's quilt, 

full of precious memories as time goes by.

 In my book, I want to give you all some ideas

and inspiration as to how and what you can actually do with those memories.

As a textile artist I work with a huge variety of fabrics, trims, notions and found objects.

I LOVE pushing the boundaries to see what can be achieved...

As time ticks by I will tell you a little more but thought I'd leave you with some snippets

to introduce my book for now...

If you are a lover of traditional needlecraft then hopefully I can bring a little smile or two for you... 

obviously when I've actually written it that is!

But in the meantime I am off to put my feet up for a well earned rest...

They simply stitched...

Good morning lovelies!

A cold start to this November morning greets me...

So, slippers are keeping me warm, cuppa in hand and I have five mins

of saying hello before my busy day ahead.

My week has been a very mixed bag of moments...

English Paper Piecing.

Family History.

Hospital.

Travelling through The Fens.

Slow Stitching.

Reasearch.

Of course, if I was to sum up all of my varied days it would look like a jumbled patchwork throw...unfinished at that.

I guess the same as anyone else!

In our modern times life just seems to travel so flippin fast don't you think?

I wonder if our ancestors thought the same or even had time to think of such thoughts?

Slow stitching helps to ground me when I am needing some downtime.

When it is time to step off that hamster wheel of normality.

Isn't it strange how the thrill of a simple piece of metal and a snippet of thread can bring such joy....

I decided in the summer that my project over winter was to finally get around to

cutting out and then stitching my hexies back together again to produce

a snuggly lapquilt.

I have so many FQ's that are too small to add to a project but too big to waste.

English Paper Piecing has always been welcome in my heart since learning how to make a cushion whilst at Junior School.

I diligently stitched with eagerness each and every little small piece of cloth waiting for my jigsaw to appear.

of course in practise it was a really good way of introducing children to stitching and even wiser a good way to get them to practise their stitching without it becoming a chore.

i owe a huge thank to Mrs Walters for that...

Of course real English Paper Piecing (EPP) has a history something very different to what we perceive today...

It evolved from sheer necessity, like many sewing crafts.

Every tiny scrap of cloth able to be saved was added to the bag of scraps

and housewives would sit and stitch whilst hubbies were toiling the land 

during the summer months to produce a 'new' bed blanket quilt to keep their families warm

in the grueling hostile winter months.

I'm sure they didn't see it as therapeutic as we do today.

they simply stitched....

Not sure what they would've thought of our designs and styles today.

They used any scrap of paper they could get their hands on as templates to 

use to cut out their hexie shapes...

letters from family, telegrams, birthday cards, shopping lists, brown paper from the bacon or cheese they collected daily on their shopping trips to the grocers.

None of our pre-cut shapes back then.

No die cut shapes or machines to help quicken the process.

No fresh sparkling new fabric....

No...

As they stitched by gas light or low evening light, because that was often the only time

they were able to sit and stitch...

they would simply stitch, slow and steady but methodically to get the job done.

Would their mind wander as does mine?

I really would love to sit and chat with the women in my family who are no longer here that 

sat quietly and did the very same...

What do you sit and think about whilst stitching?

All our vintage whispers of thread will become hierlooms of the future.

Do you add special memories to your projects or are you happy to simply stitch also?

Do tell..

I love to hear your tales...

A Spoonful Of Sugar...

hello my lovelies...

Gosh I have so missed saying hi to you all!

Time always seems to propel faster when I want it to slow down...

Lately I have tried to regularly take a few hours out when I have got some spare time to talk with Mother Nature

and fill my sketchbooks with a few doodles...

Coming from the Fens of open land and vast skies I get the urge to reconnect with Mother Earth.

A day doodling is like taking a spoon of medicine when my soul is weary.

I always use my doodles as my inspiration when designing.

I've come to the conclusion that I was definitely born in the wrong era!

I should've been an Edwardian lady who meambled down the lanes capturing Mother Nature's

gems with my camera and notebook.

But hey... I can still be that lady just wearing my jeans and T-shirts!

I daydream all the time whilst on my walks

Something I was always getting in trouble for as a child...

I would make up stories in my head whilst walking of  animals meeting flowers, visiting different scenes.

Often I would write about them and my dream of becoming a writer has never waned... who knows one day...

Every little snippet of gorgeousness seems to capture my soul.

I'm an avid reader of all kinds of books but I especially love

the old ones (of course I hear you all say!)

Lately I have been building up my collection of Flora & Fauna...

So how do I use them when designing?

Well you may well ask the question but sadly I never have the answer 

My work is very organic and just evolves by itself...a little like a sourdough bread.

it has a life of it's own...

I start designing with thread, add in a little slow stitching and gradually add layers of texture and colour over a number of days, sometimes months or even days if I re-visit a design I find stashed away in a safe place every now and then!

Here's some of my work of late...

I never thought I would ever be lucky enough to indulge in a way of life that I hold so dear in  my heart and get paid to do it...

What ever form of crafting you lovelies indulge in, allow it to immerse itself around you like a great big hug.

Crafting is the best type of therapy needed for our minds to keep us on an even keel

in our busy society.

Indulge...

Inhale...

be still...

Enjoy.

Till the next time my lovelies...

Toodle-ooh for now!

Inspired by Grandma's Apron...

Hello my lovelies...

Monday always means a little snippet of Tilly Rose ramblings so 

grab a cuppa, put your feet up for five mins and indulge in a little

nostalgia with me...

Many of us celebrated Mother's Day here in the UK yesterday.

Sadly my Mum, Mum-in-law and two Nans are no longer with us to have a chat and catch up...

I do so miss them dearly.

I do so miss their kind words, their wisdom and everyday gossip

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday for me was a day full of memories so I thought I would share a little snippet...

One thing that all of those special ladies had in common was that every day of their lives they wore an apron whether they were doing the housework, expecting visitors or even a visit from the Queen!

As many of you know I am busy getting ready for a small exhibition focusing on the connection of women with cloth and thread throughout time here in the Fens and so many times the subject of an apron has appeared in my research...

A few years ago, a lovely American friend of mine sent me this snippet which

totally sums up the use of this item of everyday wear...

Although it obviously refers to an American lifestyle it still

reminds me so much of my Nan...

The History of Grandma's Apron

I don't think our kids know what an apron is.

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath because she only had a few and because it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and aprons required less material.

But along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears. 

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for  carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes  half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming  oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.

And when the weather was cold, Grandma wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables.

After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

In the Autumn, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron  could dust in a matter of seconds.

When  dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the  porch, waved her apron, and the men folk knew it  was time to come in from the fields to  dinner.

It will be a long time before  someone invents something that will replace that  'old-time apron' that served so many  purposes.

Send  this to those who would know (and love) the  story about Grandma's aprons.

REMEMBER:

Grandma  used to set her hot baked apple pies on the  window sill to cool. Her granddaughters set  theirs on the window sill to  thaw. 

The  Govt. Would go crazy now trying to figure out  how many germs were on that apron.

I  don't think I ever caught anything from an apron  - but love...

I still wear an apron every day.... whatever I may be doing...

How about you lovelies?

Am I the only one?

Do tell...

Toodle-ooh for now....