Family History

For some time now I have been interested in my family history. I started wanting to know what made me, me. Why was I good at doing things with my hands and not my brain! My parents were both craft teachers so that was a good reason for me being like I am but what about them. The computer has made searching records a fantastic hobby but it is rather addictive. The more you find the more you want to find. The tree can become huge. I have over 1000 on mine now. I am finding things like - on my paternal side I come from a dynasty of Quaker clog makers. That's a very hands on occupation. I am from the North of England my mothers side from Lancashire and Scotland, my fathers side Yorkshire. Some of the information I thought I knew, which had been handed down I could not follow up. It looked like the history of two great men had been combined. The one I am related to owned a mill and a coal mine and was a Mayor. The other founded a children's home and is related to Queen Victoria's physician. All this information I have found on the Internet but it is two people born in the same year with the same name. Most of my ancestors worked in the mills. On my maternal side cotton on my paternal side wool. The jobs I have seen are calico printers, weavers, cotton doffer,cotton drawer,cotton spinner, cotton winder and a salesman of turkey red cotton. there are also a few farmers, stone masons and joiners.I have now traced some branches right back to the early 1500's
I have posted a picture of a needle point made by my Great Great grandmother Lucy Cockshutt in 1855 when she was 16. It is quite large about 3ft by 4ft, so there was also a love of sewing.
The other picture is of Mary Collins born 13 June 1830 and died 5 Feb 1904. She was my other maternal Great Great Grandmother.

Arch from Pam

This was the arch that I received from Pam.It is part of the Textile challenge Groups on going challenge The photo doesn't really do it justice. It looks like all the lights are on in the windows of the castle. It is all very neatly done too.

August Arch for Judy

I can't believe that this year is going so quickly and how long ago since I last blogged!
I have just finished this arch for Judy. I had made most of it by the first week in August. I thought I was doing really well but then suffered mental block. It is when you know what you would like to do but just can't think how to do it. I made the back that made me feel like I was progressing even if I wasn't. The ideas gradually trickled back and I hope Judy will like it.
I made it on my Pfaff embellisher. The first problem was keeping the shape. I had to trim a lot of so apologise for the lack of walls. Judy said she liked trees, leaves, oceans, ancients relics, castle and doorways. So, I did a window, well it is nearly like a door! The background is the ocean (and land which would have trees and leaves) The window is in castle which used to be an ancient relic before it was extensively modernised. In the for ground on the window sill is a vase of flowers( and leaves) and a shell a souvenir I brought back from Cape Cod.

I have not been very productive lately. I have done some gardening and tidying and been out and about so I thought I would post some inspirational pictures for you while I think about what to do next. My head is full of ideas I just need to get a few of them on paper. These are a couple of pictures taken at Lee Bay in North Devon

Challenges

This was the ATC which I received from Zoe. It was part of a hand stitched lottery challenge in the Textile Challenge Group. Her challenge stitch was cross stitch


July Arch for Kate
The base is black felt. I embellished a layer of velvet and then a layer of chiffon. I put the heat gun on it for a while. The picture is of my grandmother or my Aunty Nell. They were identical twins. The picture is framed with embossed metal. I have added tea dyed paper, shells,a skeletal leaf, a lace motif and gemstone. Finally I added some foil.

Lapstock 2008

This week has been busy. Not much time (not any) time for sewing. I have had rehearsals in the evenings and during the day making cards and ear rings to build up my stock.
It was Lapstock Music Festival yesterday and the weather was really kind. Th atmosphere was fantastic with around 20 bands playing from 11 to 11. The music was a good cross section and the audience covered several generations. It was so nice to see families all enjoying being together. These are a few pictures of the day.

Darmoor Quilt

The original encaustic picture used for the design on the quilt

This is a quilt made by Upcott Valley Quilters. We wanted to reflect the colours and textures of Dartmoor. It was hung at the Festival of Quilts here in England in 2006 but didn't win any prizes. We each did small samples of colour and texture which in the end we cut up and pieced to make the Moor. The towns are Stannery Towns, these were towns where the weighing, stamping and distributing of tin went on. The symbol in the corner is of the three rabbits/hares which is the symbol of the Tinners Guild in Devon and Cornwall. There are more pictures of the symbols found in Devon on this site look for hares in the index. http://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk