Making embroidery Modern!

This is one of my mantras - I confess.  I know I have said it before, but I am always on a mission to 'Make Embroidery Modern'.  It is such a beautiful and creative medium to express yourself and what's more, its useful too.  This week an impromptu project came along that whipped itself up into a day of non-stop stitching.   The result .... well, I was pretty excited about it.

A few days before hand, I had been to visit Cliffe Castle Museum in Keighly.  This is a charming small museum set in a house that was once owned by the family Butterfield.  In the 19th Century, vast fortunes were made in the north of England with the Industrial Revolution making it the heart of textile production in the World.  The Butterfields were an example of a family that were at the centre of this.  As with all great family fortunes... the first generation is the exceptional one, taking the risk and developing the business.  The second generation exploit and enjoy it and the third generation usually squander it and the fortune having been spread around so many descendants is thin on the ground and finally fizzles out.  So it was here, but in the gilded age, Cliffe Castle was a magnificent residence that supported an opulent and dazzling lifestyle. 

Henry Issac Butterfield was second generation son, who made Cliffe Castle a magnificent place.  Splitting his year between America (there were Roosevelt connections in the family through marriage) and Paris and Yorkshire, he bought expensive furniture and furnishings on his travels and shipped them home to create a mansion in true high victorian style.  

Overloaded with gilt and heavily carved and embossed items, the rooms are chokingly opulent.  Magnificent chandeliers and fireplaces are the centre pieces of rooms in which every surface is covered with pattern.

There is a small but lovely collection of costumes on display and as I always find, I am drawn to those beautiful embroideries on silk that embellished the bodices and waistcoats of the late 18th and early 19th century.

Things were so much prettier in those days (if you were rich of course) and I love how the women were so feminine.  I looked at my jeans in despair!!!  That evening, I came home and browsed through my small collection of historical costume books, which frankly make much better reading than the fashion magazines of today.  Then something else happened. 

 We booked a last minute trip to Venice for a few days to celebrate our wedding anniversary.  Like all of us girls are prone to do....I flew into a panic...at not having anything nice to wear.  It is quite a while since we took a trip like this to a warm and sunny and exotic place and my wardrobe was sadly rather more geared up to windy and chilly Yorkshire days.  I dashed into our local town where we have a delightfully old fashioned department store called Harveys.  They have a fabulous selection of lovely and unusual clothes that aren't geared up for 20 year old stick insects and you even get wonderful customer service.  I picked up a few items and amongst them was this white linen tunic made by Phase Eight - which is actually easily available everywhere and not expensive.   I love White fabrics and although I sometimes get a bit cross with all the creasing that goes on with linen, I found the style of this top so appealing and comfortable that I bought it and knew the second I put it on, what it needed.   EMBROIDERY!

I began a little cautiously.  A few lazy daisy flowers in 12 weight cotton thread.  A couple of leaves followed and dispelled all inhibitions - I sewed and sewed all afternoon and into the dusk.  All the stitches used are basic embroidery stitches, most of them self taught from a book or Youtube.

 Colonial knots (much better than french knots bye the way), Button hole stitch, Split Stitch and a simple Back Stitch were the basis for the design.   Drawing a rough outline with a fabric maker pencil helps to position your flowers, but otherwise just let your imagination run away with you. The great thing about doing something like this is that you can be as whimsical or as real as you like.  I mean 'a turquoise dandelion' - how lovely is that to wear around your neck?

I chose fresh and cheerful colours and I think the result is a sort of modern version of the all those 18th century costumes I love so much.  In fact, we are the lucky ones really... we don't have to wear all those 'take your breath away' corsets and strangling collars and frills and flounces.  We can simply take the best of it and translate it onto our own more modern, washable, breathable items of clothing.  

This little project has brought me so much joy and I can't wait to wear it, hopefully languishing on a gondola!!!!!

Next time, Alice in Wonderland....I promise. Love Ruby x

Snowy Days and a Winter Solstice Quilt

Our first January in our new home has brought us some lovely snowy days up here in the Yorkshire hills.  I suppose after overseas postings in Russia and Sweden, you could say that we are used to it and we are, but in fact in both cases, we were living in cities, in countries that are geared up for dealing with it - Yorkshire...not so much....LOL!   Actually, that is a bit unfair... the gritting lorries have been out and about, it is just that we live on a hill and with no winter tyres on the car... time to stay home and sew.   I do love those early morning moments though, when I glance out of the kitchen window and see this.....

 and even in this cold... signs of life in our garden

 Anyway, was in my sewing room, working on my embroidered cushion, when I spied our mischievous cat, Basil skulking into the basket under my sewing machine table and lounging around on my unfinished 'Winter Solstice' quilt.   When I chased him out, I saw it was completely covered in cat fur and he has obviously been sneaking in there without me knowing.   Time to get it out and finish it, I think.

I started this quilt last year in Stockholm while we were waiting for the house purchase to go through.  I was totally enamoured with this fabric collection 'Winter's Lane' and knew it was perfect to go in our bedroom.  It also had elements in the design that would remind me of Sweden... and in fact the cherry blossom fabric, reminded me of Japan where we took an amazing holiday in 2012.   I blogged about this when I was piecing it, but just to  recap - the pattern I chose is from one of my all time favourite quilting books 'Simply Retro' by Camille Roskelley, who is probably one of the most popular modern designers out there at the moment.

It is a very large quilt - king size, I suppose and once layered with the backing and batting it is heavy and bulky to manoeuvre.  Of course, I wanted it to look like the one in the book, which has probably been done on a long arm machine by a professional quilter - mmmmmm!  I do like a challenge though - ok so let's go for it!

I chose a free hand feather design for the patterned pieces and a curvy diamond with stippling to fill in the blank squares.  I simply used a plate to outline the shape in pencil and stitched it with the free motion quilting foot on my machine.

 I have to say that having the extra long arm space on my new Janome sewing  machine made a huge difference to this.  It is still a bit rough on the neck and shoulders, but I am pretty pleased with how it's going so far.  

It's not quite finished and I shall be post some photos when it's done and 'in situ'.  Got to dash now though as we are off to Houston, Texas for a week or so.   Super excited and especially as I will get to meet up with my dear friend and quilting teacher from way back in Paris... and I know she has a very special quilt to show me.... so watch out for that next time.... oh .. and the Alamo...... better go and pack....

See you soon, Ruby x

But where was Mr. Darcy??????

England has been basking in unseasonably warm weather.  It is absolutely glorious up here in the Yorkshire Hills and easy to find inspiration for alsorts of projects.  However, a little exploration both on the internet and the winding country roads, enabled us to find a hidden 'gem' of house that was just bursting with history and treasures and ideas for embroidery.

Nostell Priory is a magnificent Georgian House, nestled in the Yorkshire countryside.  Built between 1733 and 1785, it is just the sort of place that you imagine Jane Austen's heros and heroines would be quite at home in.  Infact it is constructed on the site of a 12th century monastery that was destroyed in our 'ever notorious' King Henry V111's rampage and reformation.  In 1654, a wealthy family of textile merchants by the name of Winn, bought the land and existing dwelling and ruins with 'big big ideas' for a new country house.  After the upset of the english civil war, the savy Winn's backed the winning side and the King and in return, were rewarded with a 'baronetcy' to sit nicely with their growing fortune and estate.  The architect James Paine would work on the house for 30 years to create a Rococco feast!! 

In 1765, the title passed to a new generation in the Winn family and as it always goes, the new baronet - now established in the world of aristocracy and fantastic wealth, married a beautiful Swiss lady who came along with her own grand fortune and even grander ideas.  This fashionable couple insisted on nothing but the best and employed the great interior designers of the day - Robert Adam and Thomas Chippendale to make sure that their home had one of the greatest collections of fine furniture and georgian style in the country.  Many of these original bespoke items are still in the house today and it is completely 'splendid'.

The ceilings had a 'wow' factor for sure and I loved this mixture of colour and shapes.

Fireplaces too, had beautiful details on them - oooooh, I think this one especially is cool for use in applique, don't you think?

The library was perhaps our favourite room...

There's an idea in there for sure and there were amazing textiles everywhere....

The gardens too, were magnificent and on such a glorious day it was bathed in autumn sunshine and perfect for some photographic shots.

Not sure about that bridge though!! especially in long petticoats!!!!  

The back yard!!!

And finally my favourite shot of the day - the bulrushes ......

So where is my notebook?.......ah there it is and a little doodle design inspired by my day.

I know exactly what I am going to do with that, but you will have to pop back in a while to see.  Oh and incase you are interested - working with circles is so much fun with a few helpful tools - Circular template rulers by Lori Holt of 'Bee in my Bonnet' and a whole ring of mega useful plastic discs called 'Bigger Perfect Circles' by Karen Kay Buckley, all of which are available at www.fatquartershop.com.  

Bye the way, Nostell Priory is owned and run by the National Trust today and you can find more info about it on their website if you should get a chance to visit.   I have to say that after years of living abroad, the National Trust is really a National Treasure - I am not sure there are many other countries in the world that do this sort of thing as well as they do.  I probably never told you about the times I visited 'Arckangelskoye' in Russia - the once grand country house of Felix Yussopov.... and wished the National Trust was there to rescue it.  But that's a whole other story...maybe next time.  Meanwhile, it was a totally glorious day at Nostell, but really...... the main question of the day was......where or where was Mr. Darcy? LOL!  Ruby x

The 1825 Post

So, we finally landed back on Planet UK!  I had thought from afar that our re-entry into England's atomosphere might prove a little bumpy - but apart from a little exhaustion and a few aching joints - it has been a breeze (due in large part to my big sis, I have to say) .  As the saying goes though, 'there's no place like home' - and its so true.  I know we have lived abroad for  many years... but even so, it is so wonderful when you can ask the lady in the post office how to top-up your mobile phone and understand the answer!!!!  I daresay there will be things I will miss about our life abroad - but its all far too exciting at the moment to dwell on what they might be.  So if you're interested, here's a first glimpse of our new home..... I can't really believe it's ours.

This beautiful Yorkshire stone Sunday school house, built in 1825 is everything I could have dreamed of. It's going to take a while to unpack and find a place for everything, but I think my quilts and embroideries will be just perfect here. It's so interesting to live in a place that has some stories to tell....I wonder what they are? Emily Bronte lived and taught for a short while in our village, I wonder if she was ever here? Anyhow to set the scene for our new life within these walls, I wanted to find out what was going on in the world when the school was built - here's what I found:

George 1V was King of England and little Princess Victoria was just 6 years old.

John Quincy Adams was elected President of the United States and Charles X becomes King of France.

The Decabrist uprising in Russia gives Tsar Nicholas 1 a taste of things to come.

In December 1825 the first public railway opens between Stockton and Darlington, with a steam locomotive by George Stephenson and the first horse drawn omnibuses were established in London.

Pushkin writes his famous play 'Boris Godunov' and Samuel Pepys Diary is published for the first time. Johann Strauss is born as is Charles Worth, who would become the founder of the famous Paris fashion house.

Charles Dickens is 13 years old and starts his teenage years in a London that overtakes Peking as the world's largest city. However, the 'Panic of 1825, was to be the first stock market crash and showed that 'we never learn!' What started out as a problem at the Bank of England arising from speculative investments in Latin America, including an 'imaginary' country,caused havoc in Europe's financial sector. Six London banks were forced to close and France saved the Bank of England from collapse with an infusion of gold.

Trade Unions are made legal on 1825 and in June the 'cotton mills' Regulation Act, ensures that children can only work a maximum of 12 hours a day!!!

Women's fashions are on the change - the lovely empire line dresses of Empress Josephine, Lady Emma Hamilton and Jane Austen were finding their waistlines lowering, bodices becoming more fitted and sleeves more puffed. It would be another 100 years before women got the vote!

Life was generally hard with dirty streets and poor living conditions for the majority. The scourge of this Industrial Age were killer diseases like typhoid, consummation and cholera. Our near neighbors, the Bronte family were having a dreadful time, but we're fairly typical of the time. Six children, with the mother dead when the youngest was just a year old. She would be followed to the grave in 1825 by the two oldest daughters. Little Charlotte Bronte was just 9 years old when she witnessed this.

I will be writing some more about the house and its story and Yorkshire, as we settle in and I get my sewing room set up.... I hope you'll join me...meanwhile.... welcome to our new adventure....

Ruby xx