Rescue Some Books - Kansas City, Missouri

A bookshop owner can't get rid of excess books, so he is burning them in protest. If you are in this city, rescue some books!

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/books/05/28/bookburning.ap/index.html

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Brown Coat

Last weekend I got some help evening out the hem of my brown coat. Today I machine finished the hem and started to apply the black wool trim. I got exactly half the trim done. I will work on it a bit more tomorrow night. I am keen to get this project finished off so I can start on the next one. I am going to have too many coats! I really need to make myself a new dress or two. They have some very tempting red wool twill at Spotlight on special at the moment....

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Klosterstitch at 66 Hours

klosterstich_66hrs, originally uploaded by Jane Stockton.

I've moved the work on the frame, so now you can't see the pink border section. The extra area worked is the blue background, near the first part of text.

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Klosterstitch at 62 Hours

Klosterstitch at 62 Hours, originally uploaded by Jane Stockton.

Managed a few more hours on the hanging. Got the yellow done and a little bit more of the blue worked on.

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Shrug Start

shrug_start, originally uploaded by Jane Stockton.

I started a crochet shrug. Got the pattern off the DIY Network show Uncommon Threads. Only 54 more rows to go.

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Huzzah! Trevelyon Miscellany

Great news, just got a call from a friend in the library. The collections people just had a meeting and approved purchasing the Trevelyon Miscellany - it's already been ordered!! Whoo hoo. Can't wait to get a look at it. I will do a review when I do.

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Up And Down

It's been one of those weekends!! I started off fine on Saturday morning but after a quick trip down to the local shops for a few necessities, I felt like death warmed up!! No condition for Saturday morning cleaning. By mid-afternoon, after a couple of paracetamols, I was feeling mildly human again. Managed to get a couple of hours down during the evening on the klosterstitch project.

Sunday was tourney day, I decided to be minimalist and didn't take too much stuff. But other people did, it was the best decorated tourney we've had in ages. And I forgot to take my camera!! Again, a couple more hours on the klosterstitch hanging in the evening.

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Support

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the support. I hope my previous post didn't come off too whiner or bitter sounding!

I suppose what I was trying to get at is that it's good that the judges were being strict on wanting everything documented. And I am the first one to admit that these two pieces of documentation weren't the best I've ever written (I should've supported the use of single gold thread, instead of double for example), but there has to be some leeway when asking for documentation otherwise you will get a limited number of items always showing up, for example, while they are wonderful, how many of the little 14th C German brick stitch bags are out there?? Alot, because someone wrote some really great documentation on this topic, so for someone looking for a quick project, that they can full document, this is an easy out. Same with the heraldic bag, I found one great article that gave all the necessary technical info and historical background, so in essence, all I had to do was make the bag.

Yes, documentation is great, but that needs to be balanced against the goal of encouraging the design of original pieces based on period techniques and materials and context.

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Slight Frustration

I just realised I haven't posted for a while, life can slide by!! Well, I didn't win the comp at Crown. But Mordenvale did have 3 of the 4 entries, so world domination plans are well on schedule.

I am however, somewhat frustrated about my projects. I got the judging feedback sheets back and I am really surprised. The very ordinary wool pouch got a better mark than the Baronial badge! I was really shocked. And the reason was frustrating. Basically the pouch got better marks because it was more a straight copy from an existing piece than the badge. I know my documentation on both was not as good as it could've been, but I think the badge was better, as it was an original design, using multiple period examples as evidence, using period techniques (although marked down for using single gold thread rather than two - another item which I'm willing to argue the point) and for a period purpose.

I've always been led to believe that an original piece is marked higher, rather than a straight copy. But obviously this isn't the case. At least it bodes well for Midwinter.

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Baronial Guard Badge Complete

Baronial Guard Badge Complete, originally uploaded by Jane Stockton.

This is the finished badge. I used a cardboard template, covered in interfacing to pull the embroidery over. It will be outlined in thick gold cord once it is sewn onto the sash. It is very shiny!! I am entering it in the Heraldic Embroidery competition this weekend at May Crown, I will let everyone know how I went.

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Bluebird Pillow Case

Bluebird Pillow Case, originally uploaded by Jane Stockton.

Bluebird pillow case based on Vogart pattern. Pink linen ground and DMC threads. I've been working on this one for about a week. Unfortunately, some of the transfer ink remains, but I think a few washes should get that out.

Bluebird Pillow Case -Detail, originally uploaded by Jane Stockton.

Bluebird pillow case based on Vogart pattern. Pink linen ground and DMC threads.

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Baronial Guard Badge - Embroidery Done

Baronial Guard Badge - Shiny, originally uploaded by Jane Stockton.

I finally dragged out the Baronial Guard Badge and did the last couple of hours work on it. Now all I have to do is "make it up". I'm thinking of backing it with buckram or cardboard to help give it some body. It will be sewn on a sash and I think stiffness will help make it look nicer. Because of the materials, it can't be washed so the cardboard shouldn't be a problem.

Baronial Guard Badge, originally uploaded by Jane Stockton.

Baronial Guard Badge made using red and green silk ground, with imitation Japanese gold thread. Basic couching work. This image is taken in indirect sunlight to show the design.

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Gloucester Shakespeare Festival, 2007

Got an early start, picked up a couple of people at 8am and headed off to Gloucester for the Shakespeare Festival. We were the second to arrive at about 9.45am so we made pretty good time. Helped to set up the tents, put up banners, put embroidery out for display.

It was a nice day, still too warm to be wearing wool. I think I need to start being less authentic at these events. I don't think anyone really cares if I'm being authentic, they are only there for the fighting.

There was a pretty good turnout, but very few food places and no Turkish people!! The golzemes are my main reason for going! We found out later in the day that the Tocal Field Day was on, so that's where everyone had gone.

We left at about 3.30pm, I dropped Lara and Tim off, and treated myself to a Butter Chicken from Beaumont St. Was dog tired, hit the sack at 9.30pm.

Here is a video of some fighting, I've been trying to get this to work in YouTube for hours, but couldn't. So here it is in GoogleVideo. It looks better with the screen slightly smaller, ah well:

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Please Send Money - The Trevelyon Miscellany

I am only half kidding, dear reader. The Trevelyon Miscellany of 1608 has finally been published by the Folger Shakespeare Library. It is $750US or $1500AU. Ouch. I am trying to get my library at work to buy it, but it's gonna be a hard sell.

In case you were wondering why I'm mentioning it here, one of the most famous sections of the miscellany is the large number of embroidery patterns it contains. It also contains all sorts of other things of interest to the person wandering around Shakespeares England, dates for local fairs, astronomy, Bibical quotes and stories, agricultural information etc etc.

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Car Trouble

My car was up for rego this week. I took it in and it failed. So I've been running around getting it fixed. So with a bit of luck, it will all be sorted out by tomorrow. That's why I haven't been posting. Also, I haven't been doing anything to post about! Although I started to make some slippers from old blankets last night, will post pics later.

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