Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Congratulations to winner, Gill who will soon receive her own traditional bilum and wooden wall hanging from Papua New Guinea.. The selection of a winner was a serious process, with all entries' names placed in the bilum and one chosen. Thanks to the eight followers who entered – perhaps the prize wasn’t to everyone’s liking, but these items were made with love, pride and generosity in far more difficult conditions than we can imagine. Please remember that this week is International Anti-Poverty Week. Congratulations too to all who participated in the Hunter Homeless Connect Day Sleepout and event this week. I survived only because I had a really great swag to sleep in – it was a very cold night. Thanks to fellow Rotarians who joined the District 9670 team in the sleepout and to my wonderful club, Rotary Club of Wallsend-Maryland who fed all the homeless pretenders on the night. Special thanks to all my family, friends and the Lemon Grove Hotel, Wallsend who spon...

Last Friday night, I made a pair of shoes ... we had a "fairy shoes" day at Hello Dollies on Saturday. There is a fantastic article in Stitch Magazine, no 50, Dec 2007-Jan 2008 entitled "Fairy Slippers" by Annette Emms. http://www.embroiderersguild.com/ Annette provides beautiful photos, a pattern and advice " Before you begin , spend a little time thinking about who will wear the shoes you're going to make. " The first pairs Annette made were for the fairies in Shakespeare's A MidSummer Night's Dream. I didn't think about the owner of the shoes , so am still wondering who might wear this pair of shoes ? Do you have any suggestions? They are about 9cm long . My shoes were rather understated compared with the gorgeous shoes created by Doris Dubois, who showed us a wonderful technique of layering felt, vilisoefix , angelina fibres, glitter, assorted bling and organza/chiffon to create a spectacular fabric for the fairy shoes. You can tel...