...of Dragons and Hearts with Wings!

I found some beautifully dyed variegated threads at Cottage Garden Threads... I came across the name on a blog, did a search and now I'm in looooooove and need to order some! I've been using mainly the DMC variegated series but have also used a few of the Anchor threads (which I've not liked as much because the colour changes tend to be too short and not as subtle!) The Cottage Garden Threads are available online at: Orange Daisy.. Yum!

Yesterday's sunset in the Dungowan Valley

What a wonderful week it has been already! I raced all over town today; finally changing my name on the last few bank accounts and a few other official things that had slipped through the net. (We've only been married 5 years! Can't rush these things!) I've been procrastinating because I thought it was going to be much more difficult than it turned out to be! Thank you to the lovely girls who helped me do this almost effortlessly today!

SOLD!

I did my grocery shop and had the most wonderful surprise when I arrived home! My Green Eyed Dragon that I listed on Etsy has sold! I'm so pleased! The buyer sounds just lovely and assures me that he is going to a loving home!

The week isn't over yet and is only getting better and better! I arranged insurance for my new car which arrives on Friday! (Lucky, Lucky me!)

To top everything off- I've just had a call from work and they don't need me tomorrow so I have a full studio day! YAY! (Not that I don't love work- it's just I love being here too!)

Here's a little look at some pieces I've been working on....

 Two pieces of hand dyed silk

woven and stitched together

Red Silk and White cotton strips

Woven and stitched together

The red and white checkerboard and the blue squares are my experiments with Jude Hill's fabulous slow cloth fabric weaving technique at SpiritCloth. Here's a link to her video tutorial blog entry... which is serene and educational all at once! These little pieces were sooooo much fun to make! The blue squares are about 1" (2.5cm) square and the R+W about 3/4". 

The blue and white piece on the right is a hand dyed piece of linen from my last dye batch 

the heart with wings is from my River of Tears divorce journal...

I want to put all these components together; but may need to dye some more fabric or at least play around a little to make it work. I am going to add a few words but don't want to pre-empt them just yet. They are words I used to pump myself up at particularly trying times when going through a pretty yucky divorce. I had to work hard to get there; but they helped once I got to the point of being able to say them! Stay tuned!

Once upon a time there was a Dragon....

.......and now he is complete and up for sale in my Etsy store!

Green Eyed Dragon

Complete! with pashima shawl fringe

Hand dyed vintage embroidered linen backing

Hanging sleeve top left and pashima shawl fringe bottom right

Corner Detail - Double Cross and French Knot

I love the variegated thread cross stitches that fitted perfectly along the drawn thread type edging on the vintage linen.

Vintage Tie Label and Shadow work

I'm so pleased with how he turned out! The End.

of Slow February Progress............

So, here I am at the end of my second working week… feeling as if I’ve achieved, well, not a whole lot! I miss stitching, I miss blogging, I miss being able to do just what I want, when I want to! I don’t know how so many of you juggle a day job with creativity! I do enjoy my job though...... just need to learn to balance it all.

I’ve speedily read the blogs I keep up with (sorry, I haven’t left comments!), and tried to do at least a little hand stitching each evening….. Once I’ve caught up with the dreaded housework this weekend I intend to work on some things here in the studio…. I can't wait!

Hand dyed muslin, silk and linen...

This little piece is from my last dye batch. I'm not planning at all, just using scraps and small pieces and stitching to keep me sane...

Hand dyed vintage lace on rust dyed silks and muslin

This piece started life as part of a challenge but I didn't end up using it. I have more stitching to add; I'll out line the Rose with split stitch and possibly the leaves too. The background is machine pieced.

Hand pieced and quilted commercial printed cotton

This little block is all hand pieced from my scrap bag. I haven't done any hand piecing since the Really Ancient Cloth in my last post! (About 100 years ago!)

Thanks Marie at Ancient Cloth for the link to my Green Eyed Dragon! and to Catherine at Emergence for her link too. They are both doing some amazing work and experimentation!

Fire Breathing Dragon

The Green Eyed Dragon is officially breathing fire...

 WIP - Green Eyed Dragon

Vintage Tie, Denim, Hand-dyed silk, Czech linen/cotton cloth,

Couched threads and fibres- silk and cotton,

Variegated embroidery thread, Perle thread

Green Eyed Dragon

I've been collecting neckties for about a year now; and have just 1 finished project incorporating them! (a bag that I use frequently!) I have 3-4 other pieces in various states of completedness some of which I have blogged about. I love the crazy patterns, designs and colours and I especially love how the colours look together -as they hang off the old wooden ladder suspended from the beams in my studio....

Here is a little something that I'm just letting happen with my most recent purchase...

Green Eyed Dragon - WIP

I'm not trying too hard on this and there's not a lot of forethought - not even a sketch...which is unusual for me... I'm enjoying the process.

 Detail-

 including vintage shadow work and label from back of dragon tie

 Gold Lined Cloud Detail

 - metallic fabric scraps, and worn denim

Off to do some gardening before it gets too hot.........