Beasties..

I'm currently doing Jude Hill's online Patchwork Beasts workshop... and loving it. There is some really wonderful work being created and as always Jude is sharing of her knowledge and gentle in her teaching approach. I've not been able to create as much as I would have liked but have followed the workshop blog and lessons.

This is the start of my second piece; Hey Diddle Diddle. The cow body is pieced; so far the other bits and pieces (head, legs, udder) are just pinned on. It is a lot of fun and I hope to add the rest of the menagerie! You know, the little dog, the cat and the fiddle, the dish and......

This was my first attempt at free piecing... I don't love it but it has become a little sampler for the techniques....

Back to work tomorrow... I had some oral surgery on Friday (teeth extracted!) and still feel a little off... Looking forward to playing with fabric over the weekend....!

SpiritCloth Progress

I have learnt soooo much from Jude Hill's online SpiritCloth workshop! I have enjoyed the class immensley and Jude's teaching technique. I haven't been able to spend as much time as I would have liked on this cloth before the class comes to a close - I had 9 weekend visitors for the Hubble's 50th birthday + some extra work shifts... Still, I'm pleased with where this is at... still have backing and borders to add! The tassels are on a thrift shop pashima scarf I hand dyed. The cloth is only sitting on it at the moment but I think they will be added to the finished piece!

Off to work I go.... !

SpiritCloth Workshop

I'm back- I've been reading through lots of troubleshooting questions on the blogger site and have moved back to the old editor for now.. at least I can add a post this way! It's been a frustrating few days trying to get this to work...

I'm really enjoying Jude Hill's SpiritCloth Online workshop... we're learning lots of techniques and asking ourselves lots of 'what ifs' in our process of creating a Story Cloth.... I'm loving the techniques; and will eventually try each type and make a sampler so I don't forget in the future!

I've put together quite a few different bases; this one I blogged about last week; old, old linen and cotton. I've been thinking that the linen reminds me of something and I know what it is now; papyrus. The fibres are visible and the stiffness of this little piece reminds me of the coarse texture of papyrus.

This is where I am up to with this one now; a story is starting to be told. The bird is seeking inner strength and is safe to be with her thoughts whilst in the tree. The tree itself is nuturing and protecting. Sometimes in my life I am happy to be the tree and other times I just want to be that bird sitting safely in the branches. The roots are couched threads and frayings. The sky, earth and tree are all hand-dyed.

Detail

Detail

Bird Detail

I think the cycles of life are going to be incluede in this cloth too...

Here is where I am up to with my Sun piece; I envisage it being part of a larger cloth. I adore working on this hand dyed lined background....

The Sun

Here is another little 'what if'. What if I put that gorgeous coloured hand dyed silk piece on a piece of that tweed? And what if I dig in my jar of scraps and pull out.... that piece of vintage necktie fabric and put it on top. What if that looks like a tree? What if I stitch it down just there?

Tree on Tweed

Hooked on Pastels!

I had a bit of trouble with Blogger yesterday; and I couldn't post more than just a title... couldn't edit either! I'm playing around with some new templates so please bear with me whilst things move around and I play with headers and colour schemes! My photos always seem to be a bit squished up regardless of how I crop or resize....

Anyway, I've been enjoying playing with pastel on board; I'm quite happy with these pears.....

Pears on Glass Platter

Pastel on Board

...but not so happy with this sunflower. I think it needs to be darker at the bottom... It's lost some of it's shape. Please excuse the blurry photo!

Following the Sun

Pastel on Board

Really Slow Cloth

No racing ahead for me this week…! I’m being forced to really slow down… My internet allowance for the month is exceeded already and hence the speed severely restricted! (I live rurally and have satellite broadband – We only doubled the allowance a few months ago and here I am, just starting Jude’s online course and, well, … things are slow……..! I managed to watch her video components [which are vey easy to watch and learn from] over the course of a few hours (for about 15mins worth of video) ;you get the picture?

(If you get a chance to do one of Jude’s workshops I can already highly recommend them!)

Also, I have a few extra days of work this week, so I missed my Garden Club Luncheon on Monday and a studio day! Oh well, I do enjoy my job and I still have a full day in here today after I’ve caught up with a few things. I’ll be working on components for my ‘SpiritCloth’

This first photo is a sun; it is the beginning of my story cloth. The linen is hand-dyed and basted to a muslin backing. All the pieces are raw edge appliquéd…..

This is a piece of very old linen (so old I can almost see and feel the seperate flax fibres!) on a hand dyed cotton serviette. The photo really doesn't do the colour justice the bottom layer is really a warm yellow...

I’m making some other small pieces and bases with the view to joining and adding some of them together to make a larger piece; I’m also digging out some little experiments from the past with the view to incorporating them in this story cloth.

of Pastel Paintings

Mum’s glasses case is finished and on it’s way! I lined it with soft fleecy and added blanket stitch around the top edge. I'm pleased with how it's turned out! I hope she like's it!

Glasses Case; silks, cottons, sari silks, ribbon, organza and hand embroidery

I promised a while ago that I would add a photo of the plates my Brother and SIL gave me when they visited. They are oval shaped with a delightful border..... I just love the colourful retro birds…!

I had a productive day in the studio yesterday; finishing this pastel painting which was quite literally gathering dust! It's approx 48cm x 68cm [19" x 27"]  and is the largest pastel I have done to date... I used Art Spectrum Colourfix Primer which is my favourite ground for pastel. It has such a nice 'bite'...!

Virginia Creeper

I also started and completed this smaller piece which I’m hoping to get framed at work in time for a few local exhibitions. Also on Colourfix Primer. 29cm x 22cm [11" x 8 1/2"] It is based on a photo I took at one of my Garden Club visits.

Untitled....  I'd love your help to title this painting...!

Umm... no stitching yet this week... but my fingers are itching to do some! I'm not sure about starting something new before I begin Jude Hill's online Spirit Cloth workshop.... No doubt I won't be able to help myself though!  I think I read on Jude's blog that there are still spaces available in her 3rd workshop: Patchwork Beasts. There is a link in the sidebar of her blog.

surrender to stitching...

I promised Mum I would make her a case for her glasses…the one she has is scratching the lenses… so I surrendered to this over the last few days…

I drove a friend into town yesterday; a doctor’s appt, hairdresser’s appt, groceries and errands… so... I had quite a bit of time to sit and stitch! We did manage a nice lunch at the gallery and afternoon tea before we trekked home. Jan has just had an operation on her foot and like most of us; hates the temporary loss of wheels (being able to drive) and with that-her independence!

I don’t think I could add too many more stitches to this if I tried! I love the colours and frayed edges and the variegated threads! Now to sew it up with a lovely soft batting lining and find some sort of closure... I hope Mum likes it!

of Flying High over a River of Tears....

I have been working away on a few things....

My Watch Me Fly cloth is complete- I think!  I’ve decided not to add a backing as I like the way the old damask linen falls. Here it is hanging in a window in my studio; I like the way the light is coming through the clouds and how the weave of the fabric is visible. I've enjoyed making this!

Watch Me Fly

This next piece is a piece of brown paper with an iron on vilene backing. The paper was crumpled and reironed giving it a wonderful texture to work with. I loved the way the light caught each crumple! This piece is inspired by my River of Tears journal pages. The photo shows some of the double page spreads from my journal photographed and printed out together.

The sequined piece that I used for the River has been in my stash forever and is originally from my Mum who was a dressmaker. The rocks at the bottom are reverse appliqued using sari fabric from yarnahoy ;the smaller rocks are made with fabric marker stitched over with straight stitch in a variegated thread. I forgot to take a photo of the finished piece... oops but I have continued the smaller round rocks along the top edge of the river and stitched orange trumpet bugle beads and a few Swarovski crystals in the river.... It all has meaning for me. I have taken the piece into work to get framed.... as I think it will work best as a framed piece. I want to experiment a little with framing some of these smaller pieces; and maybe put them in my etsy store or hang them at home!  I envisage doing a series of these....

Full Moon over the River of Tears

Finally, this is a piece of PaperCloth that I experimented with some time back. I wasn't really impressed as I think I use too much  PVA in the process of gluing tissue paper to muslin and the piece was left shiny and stiff. I had done some free motion stitching in white but then left it.

I came across it in the studio the other day and started to hand stitch into it. It really is quite brittle in places but I am loving the effect of the variegated thread stitches. I'm using a single strand of black as shadows between the flowers; sketch-like... I may end up cross hatching to make the shadows even darker. I wonder what will happen if I go over the finished piece with clear gel medium? Mmmmm...

Ranunculuses or Ranunculi

I'm so happy and excited that I'm going to be doing Jude Hill's SpiritCloth online course!

It starts in a few weeks... I've never done a course of any type online

 and look forward to learning lots and being guided by Jude!

of windswept workings

Look what happened to 'Watch Me FLY!' overnight....

I added the hill landscape yesterday before I posted here.... the windswept trees and house emerged last night whilst watching TV with Hubble...  the trees are cut and raw edge appliqued from sari silk and the house is cut from the same red silk and white cotton that the centre woven panel is made of.

I have some onion skin dye on the stove...!

Watch Me FLY!

Just a quick post... have been absent from blogland for a bit. Work… Visitors…. Family…. Real life

I completed the pieced top for the Hubble’s quilt. It looks amazing and is HUGE! Well, larger than anything I’ve made before... 2.5m x 2.3m! It’s off to the quilting lady tomorrow!

I’ve also been working on ‘Heart with Wings’ … It’s actual title is “WATCH ME FLY’ . This comes from my journal of 8 or so years ago when I was going through a particularly difficult time in my life…. I used the journal to vent and then gradually through the course of an entry I would get more and more positive until I came out of the other end happier; if not, more understanding and accepting of the place I was and of the feelings I was having…… It served me well... This piece represents me rising above and overcoming the situation I was in.

Playing..............

Just a quick post....my Dad is visiting from South Australia for a couple of weeks! I haven't seen him for a couple of years and it is his first visit to our little farm!

This was so much fun to make with some bits and pieces which were lying around my sewing table! I was too lazy to change the thread on the sewing machine but I needed a break from stitching Hubble's quilt blocks!

Coloured foil and silk on denim

I've stitched down the heart and wings on my latest piece... and love the way the wings are rippling and looking feathery

Heart with Wings- downward thrust!

Heart with Wings-

Feathery wing detail!

I found the cutest cookie cutter at the kitchen shop the other day and just couldn't resist! Jon had some fun at work today with these in his lunch box and the kids (who go back to school tomorrow after a 2 week term break) are looking forward to taking some of these ginger cookies in their lunchboxes too!

Dog Biccies!

...of Pennants, Parcels and the colour Blue!

I’ve received a fantastic parcel of fabric from Quilts for London… to be used for the Olympic Pennants. So… If you’re in Australia and are interested in making a pennant for the 2012 Olympic Games athletes email me and I’ll send you out a fat quarter to use in your pennant! You can register online at Quilts for London or contact me. While you're on the website check out the ever growing gallery of completed pennants! There are some instructions and guidelines on how to make them although as long as they are A3 size, subject matter and technique is really up to you! All that is asked is that ‘gold’, ‘silver’ & ‘bronze’ are not used or the Olympic symbol…. The aim is to present each athlete with a pennant at the end of the games.

Quilts 4 London

Fabric for Olympic Pennants

I’m still beavering away at the Hubble’s 50th Birthday Quilt! I have 75 blocks done and only 35 remaining! Go Sandi…! I was going to work a full day on it today but the garden and washing beckoned!

75 finished blocks for The Hubble's Quilt!

 

Look what I found on ebay- a little vintage weaving loom- well a set of three, really! The tied or woven squares can be crocheted or tied together… the mind boggles! And to use a Spirit Cloth term if I may (they are words that are now firmly stuck in my head… What if….? Not much time to play now, but I intend to try a few ideas after the quilt is done!

A little experiment with my new vintage weaving loom set...

Not much progress on the Hearts with Wings piece simply because I can’t decide on the orientation of the wings! Straight is a little like soaring or gliding (no effort required), down seems like some effort has been expelled in getting up there and that I'm reaching higher still. Wings up seems to me like the effort is yet to be made; that strong thrust that will push me up… I know some effort is required to fly… so I’m thinking wings down (Hubble thinks otherwise and he laughs when I ask his opinion -and then continue on doing what I'm doing anyway!)

Speaking of flying; here’s a little sketch in my sketchbook…. that I’m turning into stitch… a motley hand dyed linen background and some DMC floss. Truly I’m not a blue girl but it seems everything I’m working on at the moment involves blue!

Cross-Stitch on Hand Dyed Linen

Lastly, an image of the pattern on a set of plates I bought for my brother and SIL. Aren't the colours and design just gorgeous? We managed to find a few antique shops open on our Easter weekend travels...... They bought me a lovely set too; which I'll photograph later..........

Vintage Plate Design