Day 10: just a few more stitches

This morning began inauspiciously with my shower refusing to get hot. I washed my hair in the basin and reported the matter to reception. A couple of hours later, the receptionist found me to tell me it had been inspected and fixed - by clearing an airlock from the pipes. It was managed with promptness, consideration, and excellent communication. Really great service.

Today was an intense day of stitching - or maybe a day of intense stitching! We had all morning with our second project. After lunch we could choose which project (and tutor) we wanted to work with - or do anything else we wanted.

In the morning class we focused on the bird. By lunchtime we had done a little of each section of the bird.

The last thing we did was to practice embellishing the passionflower







I did a little bit more on the house as well.


















After lunch there was much moving of furniture so we could have two groups in the large common room. The larger group was with Jenny, as she walked through the steps to construct the harp.
I should have attended that group but by now I was on a roll with Nicola's sample and did not want to disrupt my flow. Jenny's instructions are excellent - so I'm trusting I can follow them slowly to construct my harp when I get home. It should be OK - but it does involve glue!

My fellow Australian and I were the only two who opted to work on the sampler. We had a productive and pleasant time.



The chef had promised Kathleen scones for afternoon tea and was true to his word. They were delicious and conversation inducing - we lingered a while with our coffee and tea .

We are all conscious that our time here is coming to an end. Next year's Spring Retreat is once again already booked out.




                     







Phillipa set up her 'merch' and there was a bit of a panic in case favourite kits sold out before people got to them.
















I plugged away at my bird, managing to outline most of the various sections. I am not happy with my blue head. The thread kept shredding and breaking and I think it's too dark. I think I will eventually undo it and change it.

As we were doing our final stitching, the tutors were packing up and getting ready to take our work to Dove Cottage tomorrow for their exhibition. There were phone calls back and forth about measurements and display boards.














Our postbag pieces were collected and labelled ready to go.


Phillipa also brought her redwork alter frontal - a wonderful reproduction of what is probably an early 18th Century frontal.














A number of us worked as long as we could to get a bit more done. I managed to get a lot of the bird finished and outlined - but time and tiredness eventually defeated me. I stopped for a drink, canapes, parsnip soup, hake and frangipane with home-made icecream. We had a birthday to celebrate and the hotel rose, as usual to the occasion.

I had plans to continue stitching after dinner, but the conversation, laughter and food won out. I tore myself away at 9.30, placed my frame in the box for the exhibition and retired to write my blog.

I am hoping that one day I can tell the story of some of these remarkable women - Phillipa, Nicola and Jenny in particular, extraordinary artists, business women and teachers who have not had smooth paths to earn their living, but while doing so have created a community of stitchers with an historical interest. It is  also the story of women who come to learn from them, and to learn, share and get strength from each other. It's a great story, a saga, or epic tale that links us to a long line of remarkable and mostly unsung women. I am privileged to be part of it.

Time to sing and pass on the song.

Day 6: all in white

This morning’s vision from my bedroom window  at 6.30 am was joy to an Australian- when she is in a warm hostelry with no need to go outside, great company and an embroidery project to look forward to.

I made myself a coffee with the excellent, ingenious in-room provision and settled down to read Murder in School, the third one of Bruce Beckham’s DI Skelgill series set in the Lakes District that I have on my Kindle for reading this trip.

The coffee sachets sit on a cup to form a filter and make very decent coffee. As far as I can see, the sachets biodegrade.

After breakfast we got going on our harp. Today is our last day on this project. Most of the day we worked on the finial, beginning by covering a wooden ball in silk and decorating it with gold thread


adding beads







and then a needlelace framework.

After lunch we worked on the rod for the finial.




This required wrapping metal rods with silk thread. I had trouble making my rod fit into the knob but Jenny says it will work and is giving me a hand.


Lunch included salads and a variety of seafood - some smoked. 






There were brown shrimp - apparently from the North Sea, a bit darker than pink prawns. The taste was not very strong, but I have no idea whether they had been frozen.

Around 4pm we had some instructions and a demonstration in construction. This is going to be fiddly and time-consuming but is relatively straightforward. I'm hoping to have my front panel embroidered by Thursday when Jenny has offered to help further in our free time. That would enable a partial construction. It is a lovely project -very precise in its requirements and processes - and beautiful. Jenny is endlessly generous with her knowledge and assistance.





By 4pm much of the snow had melted. It was still cold.




Tonight we went to the Wild Boar for dinner. There was a lot of interesting conversation and laughter. I love the wide-ranging discussion, the cultural similarities and differences.

It has been a long and intense day of work - but full of learning and camaraderie. I am too tired to elaborate on the many discussions we had today and the issues that occupied us.

Tomorrow we are off to Cockermouth to the Wordsworth Trust building. On Tuesday we swap tutors and projects. I'm hoping I can get both projects finished when I get home.

Day 5 stitching in earnest

It was a pretty chilly this morning, but no sign of snow.

By 9 am we were breakfasted and back into our groups to continue our stitching.

In our group we worked on the front panel of the harp. adding the Celendine flower in two shades of silk. Jenny is meticulous and endlessly patient in teaching the technique of padded satin stitch.



Overnight the hotel staff had moved the large sofa out of the space in which we were stitching. This gives us much better light and enables Jenny to move around and access our work. It's a much better arrangement.

By late morning we were getting flurries of snow. I tried unsuccessfully to photograph them. The flakes simply would not show up in a photo.





We worked with Jenny and our front harp panel all day. I kept stepping outside to try to get a snow photo. Unsuccessfully.

Finally, after we had stopped for afternoon tea, the snow was falling heavily enough to register in photographs.

Our fornal teaching session ended at 4pm. Jenny, however, stayed on to teach us the last elements of embellishment on the panels. She is a glutton for punishment - simply committed to teaching fully and accurately.

I managed to get the partial leaf and a full leaf done.

















At 6 pm, before our evening session, I went up to my room to take some photos from the higher vantage point of my bedroom.

There is a fine layer of snow on the ground, and a forecast of more to come over the next two days.











Pretty cool - literally!








At six o' clock, before dinner, Nicola, Jenny, and Phillipa were interviewed by Richard, about their initiation, motivation and pathways into embroidery. It was an interesting and stimulating session that ranged over childhood influences, textile history, US-British differences in business models and practice, and personal values as well as challenges such as Intellectual Property protection. It generated thoughtful, stimulating discussion that continued through the evening meal.

My table broke up just after 9pm. A couple of tables were still talking.



I'd have liked to have worked a couple more hours on my harp, but am too tired - and needing to write this blog!

It has been a terrific day - such interesting projects, a great teacher, and a session that helped us explore our shared values and interests, as well as how to ensure our interests are furthered. One of the strengths we have in Australia is our Guilds, and their potential, not just for maintaining interest in embroidery, but in educating embroiderers and the general public, in issues like copyright.

I am mindful of how privileged I am in being able to share time with stitchers from other countries. Apart from the pleasure it brings, it places personal and local issues in a global context. That has to improve both the local and the global.

It is also fun. I think I laughed more today than I have in the many months.

Day 4 Retreat begins

The consensus amongst the locals in our group this morning was that the clouds were snow clouds. The blue-y colour was the give away.

During the day the forecast for snow over the weekend was, I understand, modified and it is less likely we will see snow.


During the morning, tutors and students continued to arrive. We now have 14 students, our two tutors and Phillipa making things happen and run smoothly.








We began formally after lunch, with a lecture by Melissa Mitchell, Assistant Curator at the Wordsworth Trust, on A Woman's Life with the Wordsworths - focusing on Dorothy Wordsworth.

Melissa used Dorothy's letters, journals and transcriptions to give us a sense of her life - both in terms of its chronology (orphaned at 6, separated from her brothers, placed in a harsh, uncaring environment, reunited with her brother, malnourished, ill and eventually bedridden) and in terms of daily domestic routines.

Evidence suggests she was part of William Wordsworth's tight-knit family, mending, sewing, embroidering, but also discussing, influencing and transcribing his work. Her work was vital to the family, rather than icing on the cake.

Melissa was knowledgable, enthusiastic, analytical, engaging and inspiring. We will be seeing more of her during the week. We are beginning to see the complexity of Dorothy Wordsworth's life before we begin embroidery based in her life and work.

We then split into our two stitching groups - 7 in each. My group begins with Jenny Adin Christie's project - a needle case in the form of a harp, based on one in the Wordsworth Museum, created by Robert Southey's daughter. Jenny has used contemporary technology and materials to enhance the original design, putting it together in an extraordinary The needles have been especially made in Japan by, the wooden knobs hand-turned and all the pieces laser cut and printed.


It is a treasure trove of materials.

We began by couching stems - but continued long past the session end time.












Jenny is a meticulous instructor, providing clear demonstrations and constant feedback and support.




Nicola's project is equally exciting - I won't get to work on that until Tuesday.

We are now the only guests in the hotel and the service is brilliant. Our dining room is set up with mostly tables for 2 with a couple for 4.This enables us to rotate and mix. The buzz in the dining room tonight was full of energy, laughter, shared knowledge and problem solving. It is simply wonderful to be back in this environment of creativity, shared interest and learning.