Little shy bird

I couldn’t resist the little shy bird from Shibden Hall, peeking out from under his wing. I cropped the photo and printed him out in various sizes before copying him onto calico.

We went off to Rievaulx Abbey a couple of weekends ago to attend their Murder Mystery weekend  and he was perfect to pop into my bag to work on while the rest of the family solved murders, explored the ruins, decorated a wooden shield and walked up the bank to Rievaulx Terrace.  What a view to look at while I stitched…

…and behind me, down the Rye valley .

His outline is worked in split stitch using a heavy vintage perle thread.

It wasn’t long before we were out again, this time to Tolethorpe Hall to watch the Stamford Shakespeare Company’s production of The Tempest.

More wonderful surroundings…

…and they have this amazing Kaffe Fassett tapestry.

We took a picnic, as is traditional, and the play was really good. I taught The Tempest this year as part of the Shakespeare 400 celebrations so now I know it really well, which enhanced the whole experience.

Shy bird came out after the picnic and I managed to add one foot in split stitch and start the Bayeux stitch for his wing in crewel wool.

He’s a well travelled little bird!

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Bankfield Museum and Shibden Hall

Last month a group of members from Scunthorpe Embroiderers’ Guild had our summer outing to Bankfield Museum in Halifax to see the Exquisite Threads exhibition. As well as some amazing pieces from the Embroiderers’ Guild collection, including the Millennium Casket…

 

…there were pieces from Bankfield’s own collections…

…pieces from the recent Regional competitions…

…and an old friend: the ‘rainbow squares’ which was one of the first things I sewed with the Guild when I joined. Each branch was given a colour and each person stitched a square using primarily that colour. They were then joined together in long chains and displayed at various places around the country. The last time I saw them was at the Quilt Museum (now sadly closed) in York but didn’t think to get a photo of my square. So here it is!

Upside down – but I think only I know that! Simple feather stitch in shades of red, with seed beads added.

Then we went on to Shibden Hall.

Not much in the way of textiles but plenty of inspiration. The stone mullioned window in the middle of the above picture is set with the most gorgeous medieval painted glass rescued from an abbey I believe, after the Dissolution.

These guys are delightful. They remind me so much of the characters in the margins of the Luttrell Psalter.

“Tee hee, I nicked your dagger…”

“Life…don’t talk to me about life…”

“My name is Spike…”

“No… I’m shy…”

“Plough your garden, Mister?”

Inspiration strikes! Watch this space…

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