Back in May I shared a birthday outing with my chum Jenny. (Our Birthdays collide, although I have to bear in mind that I could actually be her mother! Ho hum.) Jenny had reminded me about the annual plant fair held on the lawns at the front of the Holburne Museum in Bath. And you know I can’t say no to a chance to snaffle more plants for my garden.
The day was surprisingly sunny, and we enjoyed looking around as well as a good gossip over coffee and cake. We usually have a no-gifts rule but relaxed this year slightly and bought each other a plant!
I was reminded of the last time we met at the museum for coffee and cake, during an exhibition of glorious stumpwork embroidery and as you will see from the images, it was simply exquisite. Stumpwork is a rather unattractive name for some of the most beautiful, raised embroidery and if you can find a stumpwork casket they can fetch a fortune at auction.
I became the proud owner of a modern replica version of a casket-type box after the death of Jane Napier, a fellow stitcher and cross stitch designer. I am not clever enough to work this style of embroidery but realised that I should make this a celebration of my passion for counted embroidery and, with some luck and a following breeze, I should be able to show you my progress this autumn. You can see here the raw carcass of the box and some of my ideas developing.
