A finished scroll of our NC500 trip ...

 I love a summer holiday project or two or three when my students & I have a break from each other & it is a luxury to fill time as I please. This year, due to commitments, we have not taken an overseas holiday but had a wonderful 10 days exploring the North Coast of Scotland on the NC500 route. read all about it on the previous posts with links here 

I shared that I had decided to do a sewing scroll on a long 1.5m linen fabric length, originally just as a small scroll. However, once I got started, I realised how much I was enjoying the randomness of just doing it that soon the whole scroll was covered in stitching doodles. 

We often have the idea that creative work has to be 'perfect' but there is so much more joy (in my opinion) in the imperfect creative act where the process forgets about judgements & fear about 'is it good enough?' and just goes with the pleasure to create something that has no purpose other than to give pleasure to the one making it.  Comparison & perfection is the thief of joy so it is best to just go where the process takes you. Sometimes it is about stepping out of your comfort zone & trusting your intuition. 

I made a conscious decision not to add fabrics to the scroll itself because it is a huge distraction for me to select fabrics from my generous stash & I get too side-tracked or overthink the colours etc which means everything grinds to a halt. 

I decided on thread stitching only but added details with the sheep wool I picked off a fence & the shells I found on the beach along the way because they belonged to the journey.  A large shell & piece of driftwood I picked up on various beaches was set aside for the scroll handle. 

I found a lovely bit of fabric in my stash with the same colours with a scene of trees & sheep & decided to machine embroider some of the place names to attach to the end of the scroll. After an initial mishap when the bobbin thread bunched up & had to be cut loose & unpicked, it went well & I managed to  do many of the place names with just one spelling mistake (you have to select all the characters for each word & save before it stitches so it can be tricky as you don't see the whole word together ...) The green thread was a good, gentle choice & the colour doesn't jar ... 

I bought in a piece of pale lilac linen from a trusty ebay seller I use for my linen bits & decided I wanted to hand stitch it to the scroll front. None of my threads looked just right but on a trip to our county town of Shrewsbury, I saw a variegated thread & knew it was the perfect colours.  Blanket stitch uses so much thread that I bought 3 lots but used up a whole one only. The rest will be used on other things as it is lovely colours. 

The edges were done with 3 strands of this cotton in blanket stitch to hold the various layers together,  then the decision on how to attach it. The end fabric was merely rolled over, the drift wood attached by stitches at the top & bottom then the large shell attached to the driftwood & scroll. Easier than I anticipated. 

The scroll will roll from the one end to the drift wood / shell side & ties with a 'made in Scotland' ribbon I already had. 

I am rather pleased with it, a project purely for my own joy & that is surely the best way to doodle with thread. I hope you have enjoyed the journey with me. Thank you for stopping by, 

Dee 🪡🧵🐚🚙

NC500 #7 - Crossing paths with the Picts in Scotland

 I find genealogy fascinating & have done extensive work on my complex family tree.  With information online, several sites connect to known lines & mine (through my Mother) connects all the way back to the early inhabitants of Scotland, the Picts. They are known by the huge intricate stones they left behind 

While touring around the northern regions, I noted several Pict sites to visit. 

The Shandwick stone was a really impressive sight ... 

 

The Shandwick stone or Clach a' Charridh is one of the many found on the Pictish Trail along the North Coast of Scotland. 

From the harbour, the stone if on the hill opposite, in a prominent position. 

It stands in its original site, high on a hill overlooking the Moray Firth.  It is an impressive 9 feet tall, intricately carved on all sides. It is described as ... 

One side of the stone (on landward side) has panels including a busy scene of birds, beasts and human figures and a fantastic pattern of spirals. The other side shows a cross decorated with spiral work and surrounded by angels, animals (perhaps references to biblical stories), and complicated patterns of snakes and interlace.

The jewelled Cross has 54 raised spiral shapes (bosses) 

A good drawing of the stone is here ...  

It is protected from the wild elements by a glass case.

There is something quite primaeval about connecting to history so long ago, it is as if time stands still. Looking out to the sea from the top of the hill was strangely moving. 

At Armadale Castle on Skye, they had a fascinating visitors centre / museum which included history of the Picts in the region. 

It is known that 3 Pictish symbol stones have been found on Skye 

    

I will include some more Pict sites when I visit Scotland again. I know the link is tenuous but it is fascinating never the less. There are over 300 Pict stones across Scotland, many with dragon like beasts, interesting that they had a 'written' history & then they mysteriously disappeared. 

There are some interesting Pict facts on this page - I'm not sold on the tattoos & painting themselves blue which must have been a truly frightening sight, given that they were numerous barbaric tribes.

We know this about the Picts on the isle of Skye

The first millennium AD was a time of upheaval with different groups such as Picts, Gaels and Scots and eventually the Vikings appearing on the scene. Around this time clans developed, people lived in small communities, (Clachans), grew oats and barley and traded up and down the coast. 

Thank you for stopping by, I hope you have enjoyed this little bit of history ... 

Dee 

NC500 #1 Exploring Scotland's Black Isle

 I have neglected my blog because I have been on a little road trip around Scotland. The North Coast 500 North Coast 500 is a route that was set up in 2015 to take in the East, north & west coast of Scotland. It covers 516 miles of mainly coastline. 

I have looked at it several times but when hubby decided it is something he would like to do too, we booked hotels along the route & I cleared my student diary for a week (plus the weekends either side)

We decided to do the route east to west, heading up to Inverness for the first night. 

First stop in Scotland was the magnificent Stirling castle - you see it in the distance, standing proudly on the hillside, a symbol of strength & power. 

The queens bedchamber & the waiting room 

The Prince's walk with the graphic gargoyles & statues set against the walls - it must have been quite terrifying by lamplight in days gone by ...

The huge Chapel Royal in the castle grounds - it was built in 1594 for James V1

Living quarters for soldiers & servants within the castle walls 

A defended castle, perched high on the hill - The 67m (220 foot) William Wallace memorial towers high on the hill opposite. It was built in 1860's from world wide donations ... 

I learnt all about the importance of unicorns in the Coat of Arms of the royals from this chap. They have the head & beard of a goat, the body of a horse, the tail of a lion & the hooves of a goat - a composite animal with the best attributes of each animal. They feature prominently on the many tapestries  & coats of arms in the castle.  

It was the favoured residence of the Steward Kings & there is just so much to see. We spent nearly 4 hours there, exploring the magnificent halls, rooms, gardens, castle walls with their line of canons & more. It was a treat as I didn't really know too much about it. My Scottish history is patchy because there is so much to learn & because the Kings have a different title in Scotland so you have to remember their two names. 

Inverness has interesting canals & harbours & we stretched our legs along them.  After a hearty Scottish breakfast we headed north along the east coast towards Wick via the Black Isle.

The Black Isle is an interesting route from Inverness as it takes in the pretty harbours & traditional towns along the way. 

We stopped in Fortrose to look at the ruins before heading to Chanonry Point, known as the spot to dolphin watch on the Scottish coast. No dolphins on a breezy morning but beautiful views.

We made our way along the Cromarty Firth towards the car ferry, known as the The King's Ferry , because King James 1V of Scotland took that route 18 times between 1493 & 1513.  

We did not really know what to expect at Cromarty  but had a warming coffee & a tiffin at the seaside hut before a tiny ferry appeared. It can only take 16 passengers & 2 cars at the most as it is one of the smallest ferries about. We edged in behind a car, the ramp closing right behind our vehicle then it crossed the Firth with great views of several north sea oil platforms. 

I love wind in my hair & sea spray on my face - an exhilarating crossing that was over way too quickly as we arrived in Nigg. A careful reverse off the ferry then it was on its way back across the  water again. 

That is enough for now, more to follow. 

Dee 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿