Grow Your Blog

I'm excited, intrigued and interested by this opportunity to build my blog following.

I'm Gilli, I live in Somerset a county in South West England and I've been here about six years now; I moved down here with my husband and youngest son (I have two sons) from Sussex in the busy South East of England. I'm a retired nurse (due to rheumatoid arthritis) and I've always been interested in handicrafts and spent many comfy afternoons with my Nanna learning to sew, knit and crochet. I made my own clothes when younger (when the dress patterns matched my young figure), household items for my first and subsequent homes and then clothes and knitted items for my two boys. Then, like most mothers, the job of running family life takes over! As the boys grew older, I became 'a fan' of the 'cross stitch craze' of the late eighties/early nineties. As time moved on, the boys seen through their exams and boredom with the repetitiveness of cross stitch, I started to look for something else. At one of the stitching shows around 1997 I met a lady exhibiting her work; she had been awarded a 'Medal of Excellence' for her course work for City & Guilds Creative Textiles ...... I was hooked! I looked around and found a local venue running the course and started my Part One in 1998. Successfully completed and now back working in the community as a nurse in public health, I started Part Two, but at a different venue because I wanted input from another tutor and a change of study day. The course was finished in 2003.

Since then, I have continued to develop my love of textiles with membership of the Embroiderers' Guild (in both SE and SW England), by membership of various exhibiting groups, but most recently, with my friend, as we explore and experiment with lots of techniques and ideas.

I don't have a favourite technique; I love hand and machine embroidery, I enjoy traditional and modern techniques and I love to use mixed media whenever appropriate.

Why do I embroider? I LOVE it, it's my release, my passion. I enjoy creating a unique piece of work. I find it soothing to have embroidery in my hands; it can be worked on whenever the mood is right. I love using colour combinations and creating textural pieces with my sewing machine.

Why do I blog? I enjoy sharing my ideas, I love to read about other people's activities and I find it useful to get comments when I'm finding it difficult to move on with a particular project. I enjoy having 'contact' with friends all over the world.

I've added a few photographs of my work over the years! I hope you find my ramblings interesting enough to become a follower and friend.


The future: more stitching and a little enterprise with my friend...... watch this space.