tea and textiles

2012-02-01T13:43:00.000+08:00

new hexagons
On Friday I ordered two more packs of pre-cut hexagons for paper piecing (and why would you cut your own???), from The Quilt Fairy in Midland, WA. Judy is so efficient - they arrived yesterday. What brilliant service!

finished 2" hexagons

Here are the ones I've finished. A little way to go ;-))) but I'm stopping at 500 hexagons which will give me a top about 72 inches square. I will probably applique the edges to a border ... or maybe I'll get some filler shapes to square it off. Not sure yet ...

Tangled Up in Blue
This week I've been working on another Stash Cupboard Quilt. I needed a no-brainer after the exhaustion of Beneath the Southern Sky exhibition quilt!!! Most of these fabrics have been in the cupboard for at least 10-15 years.

The top is loosely based on Gee's Bend style - wrong fabrics and proportions, but I love the effect. The name comes from a Bob Dylan song, also performed by The Whitlams. Love it!

auditioning blues

and yellows/mustard

I just have to add some extra borders around the outside to bring it up to a useable size. It was a bit tricky getting similar, slightly muddy shades because most fabrics around now are much brighter. I found two muddyish pieces and one slightly brighter, but I think it will work OK.

coming together

Once again, I have pieced the top into 3 panels so I can quilt it myself. More soon!

2012-01-30T09:27:00.000+08:00

new bag
I'm in love with this new bag.

Plenty of space for treasures

nasty wave
It started like this

and became something like this

booby crushing wave!!!

Not large but very powerful! While Himself dived sensibly *into* it, I panicked and it dumped me, crushing right booby into the sand :-( and leaving little colourful bruises! Himself says I'm lucky to be alive and in one piece.

more glass

Not that I need any more ... see the nearly full punch bowl below!

2012-01-29T10:16:00.002+08:00

Disappointed, but not surprised

I've just been advised that Flight Over Fire has not been accepted for Beneath the Southern Sky exhibition. Although I was happy with the work, I must say it lacks *something* ... an energy ... that could have made it *great*!

Here is Brenda's criteria for selection:
Broadly speaking, the textile works were selected on the basis of addressing the title theme and conditions of entry; visual impact; excellence in design; and technical accomplishment. I was also keen to ensure that a broad range of techniques and materials are represented to demonstrate the richness of the textile and fibre art medium.

The good news is, I'm happy to show the complete piece now! The inspiration was a pic of an aerial view over an inland firefront, in far north Western Australia.

Although it does look lots better in real life, with lovely texture, I think you'll agree it doesn't have that certain *zing*. Oh well ... failure makes us stronger!

Meanwhile, you can follow the updates to see final selections as they are announced at Beneath The Southern Sky

Flight Over Fire

40 cm x 100 cm

I think I'll retreat to the cutting bench now, to work on my next project - a simple, homey bed quilt. Sob!

2012-01-26T17:00:00.000+08:00

Flight Over Fire
This is another detail pic of my finished and submitted piece for Beneath the Southern Sky art textile exhibition, curated by Brenda Gael Smith.

Flight Over Fire detail

It was inspired by [my hero!] WA aerial landscape photographer, Richard Woldendorp's pic of a Pilbara bushfire. Yesterday was the deadline and we will know by 7 February which pieces have been curated into the show. There were 71 entries worldwide and only 30 can be selected for exhibition. It's very scary ... just ... waiting ...

I used batik fabric backgrounds, stitched all over with 3-4 different single colour and variegated threads and appliqued 'fire' and foreground foliage. The 'smoke' area was topped with pieces of soft grey tulle, some black underneath and all burnt around the edges. I was trying to give the smoke some depth and movement. Hmmm.

I can't wait to show you the whole piece! Full size is 40 cm wide x 1 m long - proportions with lots of creative scope. Thirty pieces will be an amazing exhibition ... if mine is accepted, Himself says we will go to Melbourne to see them. Wow!!!

If not, I love it anyway ... and I'm even thinking of making it some friends. Maybe an ocean one ... and something else. I think they would look stunning hanging together.

2012-01-14T11:51:00.001+08:00

quiet and busy
Yes, it's only quiet here because I'm busy! Have been lashed to Bernie much of this week making my [potential] entry for Beneath the Southern Sky textiles exhibition.

The successful works will be chosen from two images submitted in gulp, 10 days time! It's impossible for me to begin a new project at the end of the year, so I'm pushing to finish it in time ... and starting work again Monday ... eeewwwwwww - wish me luck on both levels - finishing and acceptance.

Here's a snippet of the ~~fun~~ panic underway ...

2012-01-04T18:39:00.001+08:00

Happy new year everybody. Wishing you happiness, peace and may all your dreams come true.

I'm indulging myself *all week* before starting work again and I've managed to start and finish this quilt top using a mix of (very awkward!) odd-sized squares and scraps that seem to have been around forever.

How Much is That Doggie in the Window?
I loved this song when I was 5 or 6, and while I was cutting the little piece of Scotty dog fabric, I started singing the song. To myself. Don't want to frighten the neighbours. It was clearly the only name for this 1930s repro quilt!

Scotty dog fabric, bottom left

Originally, I wanted *lots* of calico - but after a variety of unsuccessful auditions where the scraps seemed to get lost, I took most of it out and added the wide plain calico borders on the outside instead. Lots of potential for lovely quilting here!

The quilting will be done in three sections, QAYG. That way, I can do it myself.

closer

It's strange how it doesn't look much like a quilt yet, but I know it will come to life once it's quilted.

2011-12-29T16:17:00.002+08:00

1930s scrappy
For years I've been collecting these reproduction fabrics and recently took the storage container down off the top of the cupboard, opened it ... and I was gone! The deal was sealed. A commitment I can't break. You know how it is when you just have to start a new quilt (despite already having 3 new ones on the go and, ahem, a few old UFOs in the cupboard)???

some 1930s stash

It's about time I tucked into this stash and what better time than the holiday break?! That's if I can put my new book/s down long enough to concentrate ;-)))

and squares from swaps

Apart from large pieces, I also had a stash of 3 different sized squares (above) from various swaps. I didn't want to cut them too small and waste any little bit, so I've added strips around each side to bring them up to one size.

I found a few acres of beautiful, soft calico to finish the picture. Can you feel the love?
Sixteen pieced squares will be centred and bordered with strips of alternating calico and print around them. There will be a different whole square in each corner.

blue square in bottom left corner

Not sure where it's going after that - stay tuned!

2011-12-26T15:22:00.000+08:00

a gift book
Here is a little A5 book I made for Ros. Hope she likes it.

front

back

It was supposed to be a journal of blank pages, but I made the cover first, then went to buy the book. Ooops ... do you think I could get a *blank* one the same size to fit the cover??? Lesson learnt.

Now I'm about to cut some 1930s fabric into large and small pieces and play. The idea is to make a very scrappy, very quick quilt for our bed for summer. The trouble is I can *seeee* it being hand quilted and oh, I just don't want to go there!

2011-12-14T15:55:00.000+08:00

dyed fabric and postcard
Here is the fabric I sent to Jayne ... hope she's received it by now so I don't spoil any surprise! You can see more in an earlier post, 25 November below.

left: dyed fabric, right postcard

I made the postcard to go with the fabric, to explain how the dyeing process evolved. The postcard is made with a table napkin glued to cotton print, with a bit of blue silk added. It's stitched with gold thread and cotton around the edges.

table napkin, glued and stitched

I just love making these and each time I make one for someone I wonder why I don't do them more often ...

2011-12-07T17:41:00.000+08:00

fabric swap
Here is what the postie brought me today - my surprise piece of hand made, original design and dyed fabric, swapped with other Australia/NZ art quilters!!! This piece comes from Wilma in Chisholm, NSW. I absolutely love it.

50 x 50 cm cotton

close

closer

Wilma also sent a unique fabric card, painted and stitched, which explains (on the back) that the fabric is one of her experimental pieces for the advanced diploma in visual arts and design. Wow! I hope to make something worthy of it one day. Thank you Wilma.

2011-12-02T19:07:00.001+08:00

book covers
Today was my *very small* quilting group of four's Christmas lunch. There are no rules regarding gifts, apart from no gifts! But usually one of us will see something we think the others might like. This year I decided to make some A4 size book covers for each of them.

This one is for Anne, who loves to knit and sew and is a member of a concert band. I can't believe I forgot to take a pic of the whole book, derr???

The cover fabric is the blue print.

[Blogger will not flip the pic anticlockwise,

even though it's flipped in Picasa, grrrr. So you need

to turn your head sideways, to the right ...]

Lorraine loves earthy colours and Australian native plants. She also had some owls living in her garden until recently.

Discharge dyed cotton cover fabric

Hand made silk paper, top left.

A real eucalypt leaf is encased in the covering organza.

The print underneath is from a Richard Woldendorp book

(my hero!).

Dellas has been having French lessons for about 12 months because she's going to France next year for a holiday with friends. Dellas, how come you didn't ask me to come ;-)))?

Some haute couture and the Eiffel Tower

is printed on scrapbooking paper overlayed

with a piece of tea-dyed old lace.

A real French stamp!

Dellas gave us some fig jam she made yesterday and Anne gave us some chocolate fudge. Not bad for no gifts! I guess it will be Lorraine's (unofficial) turn next year, LOL.

We went to RUSTIC FRENCH LIVING in Boyanup for browsing (buying) and morning tea, then drove on to Donnybrook for clothes shopping and delicious lunch. What a great day.

2011-11-25T16:24:00.001+08:00

a great week
Monday
I was given this beautiful tealight candle holder gift - for NO reason - by a very dear friend! Thank you Cathie - I LOVE it xo

Tuesday
Lunch with the gorgeous Rhonda.

the lunch

the view from our table

Wednesday
I made some candles with Katie and some other reflexology friends. Love them. These are lavender colour, with lemongrass and vanilla oil fragrance mixed together. It was an experiment and it worked. They smell divine!

Thursday
Dentist. Unfortunately these beautiful lips and teeth do not belong to moi ;-)))

Today
I can finally say the F word ... FINISHED, of course ... what were you thinking??? I put the last touches of Shiva paintstik iridescent colours on these fabrics for an online swap. Very happy with them. I wonder which one the recipient-to-be will choose ... ???

Fabric 1

Commercial cotton print, before dyeing

After dyeing with Adirondack raisin

and after the addition of Shiva colours in

bronze, gold and a dash of silver over

a leaf pattern rubbing

Fabric 2

Batik

Final batik, following discharge dyeing

and Adirondack terracotta dye added

All this and work in between, every day except Thursday. Not bad eh?!

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

2011-11-11T12:16:00.002+08:00

what were you doing
Did you make a wish? I was reading the new Ikea catalogue (sad but true) on this last day of my holiday ... I wasn't really waiting for these numbers to turn over ... (you weren't watching me, were you?!)

auspicious numbers

holiday

I seem to have fallen in love with the ocean over the last few years.

I've always been a tree and forest and bush (if you're Australian) person. The ocean didn't have much interest for me until we moved quite close and I started walking along the sand for exercise. Then I became obsessed with collecting beach glass and forgot the exercise, LOL.
So as well as living near the ocean, we also holiday near it! Last week we went to Yallingup, staying near the beach, visiting gorgeous cafes and galleries and reading books. Bliss.

Yallingup in the distance

seagulls posing

Canal rocks
We had fun climbing over the nearby rocks (found a little glass!) while struggling to avoid a bus load of Italian tourists.

some lovely texture ideas for

fabric dyeing

Bridgetown
On Sunday we visited a couple of open gardens. This one is at Ford House which specialises mostly in roses. We bought a few tiny pots of native plants - I was surprised they didn't have many within the garden.

the fragrance of these roses
was divine

2011-11-10T09:55:00.001+08:00

journal hinting
We've been away for a few days holiday and now that I'm home, this journal I started with Carole's online class around the middle of the year, seems to have shuffled its way to the top of the workbench, LOL.

The book to be covered (sorry Walter!),
dyed and blobbed pages completed

and the new cover gal peeping out

auditioning some random pieces

some yummy paper napkins and

stamped and printed fabric

Lots of lovely elements, simply needing a time commitment ... along with completing, or even starting ;-)))

* two handmade long overdue birthday gifts for friends
* creating some dyed fabric for a swap
* putting finishing touches onto 4 small quilts for exhibition next year
* making two quilted textiles for different exhibitions early next year

Oh dear!

Which brings me to the question ... why are we so time poor now, or is it just me? I seem to have less time and achieve less than when I was a full time mum with small children. Or maybe I take on more than I can realistically do within the timeframe. Hmmm, maybe we won't go there after all!

2011-10-27T16:56:00.000+08:00

carolling
This is my second favourite magpie who we (very originally) call Carol. She turns up about twice a week, sits on the nanna rail at the front step and delights us with her carolling. We usually give her a little piece of cheese for her trouble ...

The favourite, My Girl, will come inside the house if the door is open! But she likes to sit on the furniture and leave the gift of a squelch, so we don't encourage this behaviour.

2011-10-25T14:02:00.000+08:00

bookmaking workshop
I made this embellishment last week, ready for the fun Saturday bookmaking/journal workshop with Georgina Mavor.

She's based at Fremantle Markets, so check out her beautiful work next time you're in town. We started with an A4 size album and I used calico fabric for the covers, keeping it simple.

blank front cover

punched and showing inside end papers

Georgina shared some excellent tips, like how to use the ruler as a spacing tool as much as a measuring tool and how to pinch the corners to make a neat finish. Not that my corners are overly neat, but I like to know the theory!

finished cover, yay!

love this bit of text on the

scrapbooking paper

I left early, so didn't finish (or even start, LOL) my second A3 album, but I bought beautiful papers and will complete it next week when I have time off work. I'm guessing this journal will be used for sewing notes and clothing designs ...

Thank you for the tape measure fabric Mandy - you can see that most things are recyclable!

2011-10-24T18:05:00.000+08:00

obsession
I call it 'exercise', but really it's become an obsession ... wandering for hours along the beach, collecting beach glass.

Here's what I found this morning - isn't it beautiful? I'm trying to stop collecting the brown (beer bottles) and threw heaps back today, but I can't resist clear/white and green. The blue is divine and although these two pieces aren't very weathered I couldn't throw them back!

white and pale green

green and precious blue

the bowl is filling up!

2011-10-18T16:34:00.000+08:00

wet fish
OK, slap me with a wet fish but I've finished piecing this quilt and have decided to quilt it myself!

watery circles quilt

close

I've pieced it into three long panels (6.5 inch squares 13 x 13 rows total) so it should be relatively easy to do QAYG.

It seems to need borders and I managed to find a gorgeous batik in a range of blues which can be alternated between lights and darks, to add to the watery feel ...

Here is some scribble of the quilting design I have in my head. Hope you can see where I'm going with this ;-))) cos that would make one of us, haha!

2011-10-10T14:04:00.000+08:00

synchronicity
Does your family start a conversation and continue talking while wandering off around the house??? We seem to be really good at this and most often it causes a few laughs, misinterpreting what we thought the other person had said.

Fast forward to gift card shopping. I found this one recently for a mutual-aged friend's upcoming birthday ;-))) You can see why it appealed to me ...

I showed it to Himself and he thought it was hilarious.

The very next afternoon, I'd hung some washing out and asked him (in another room) if he thought it would rain overnight. His reply?

"No, I thought we were having that chicken!"

Derrr??? He thought I'd said, "Could you light the barbie now?"

We were doubled-up, aching with laughter for many minutes!

2011-10-07T17:15:00.000+08:00

Looking through a glass onion ...

Last night we went to see John Waters' interpretation and dedication to John Lennon's life. It was an amazing show - he's a very talented man, backed by excellent musicians. There was a lovely mix of music and stories woven through Lennon's life, in what could have been his own words.

Don't miss it if you get the chance to see this show. Here's a snippet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbC_AbRsVuk

2011-10-06T13:59:00.000+08:00

silks
The 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence is currently in town, and last night they held their bazaar.

Tables were laden with threads, silks, wool, garments and fun - mostly textile - stuff for sale. I managed to find some silk pieces to add to the stash. Yum. Next week they will have heads down and bottoms up, felting away in many workshops with felters from all over Australia and the world.

new and recycled sari silks

wisteria

Spring means wisteria in our back garden. Most of the flowers were blown away after only about two weeks in bloom, following the last few strong breezes in September. Pity - but you can't love it any less!

2011-09-26T14:45:00.001+08:00

warm and fuzzy
I know it's not exactly rivetting news to most people, but we've just bought a new (old) slow combustion stove cooker for the kitchen. I LOVE the warmth of wood-burning heaters and stoves, so I just can't wait until it's installed ...

Can't you almost smell the hearty soups and baked apple crumble? Yum!

Stove front

Top hotplate warmers

Coals tray under fire box

It needs a bit of a clean-up, but looks to be in good nick.

crows
We have a family of crows - two adults and two young'uns who have turned up to hang about in our back garden. It reminds me of the nursery rhyme ...
One for sorrow
Two for mirth
Three for a wedding
Four for a birth
Five for silver
Six for gold
Seven for a secret never to be told
Eight for ... something, and nine and ten ... can't remember!

They love to sit on this gate and old post!

One on the bird bath and one on the chair

Bear with me - I'll get back to some textiley heaven again soon ;-)))

2011-08-22T17:28:00.001+08:00

true colours on the road
Quilting progressed yesterday on the road to Perth to visit birthday boys.

Perth is that way!

I think it's taking longer to remove the basting

than to do the hand quilting ...

2011-08-14T17:54:00.001+08:00

quilting again
There's been a lapse of about 6 years since I last made a quilt - this one, Macybe Diva, started in 2005. The top went into the cupboard for a couple of years until I was ready to have it machine quilted.

It was made for our bedroom in the last house - but doesn't really work here. What an excuse to make another one! As if I need an excuse ;-)))

I'm really enjoying hand quilting this one - True Colours. Mostly batiks with some Kaffe Fassett fabrics thrown in for splashes of vibrant colour. When I say quilting, I really mean long, colourful running stitches. Yesterday I had a *day off* and sat in the back room overlooking the garden, with my legs in the sun ... quilting for a couple of hours. Bliss.

True Colours, 2.5 m square

And I've been playing with hexagons this weekend. I need around this many again - so about 400 to make it big enough for the spare bed. Think I'll put the lights around the perimeter and all the colour in the centre. Still playing here ...

Another one in production ... this will be machine quilted.

I'm already in love with this one and soooo enjoying quilting again, after such a long break.

It's great having three different quilts to play with, depending whether I want to machine piece, glue to papers, or hand stitch ...

2011-08-11T09:44:00.001+08:00

more retreat goodies
I had lots of fun making and filling these casserole carriers for my non-sewing retreat gifts.

I was given one many years ago made from quilting fabric and my first thought was - I'll never use this. How wrong can you be? I used it until it was almost shredded! Decided to make mine out of tea towels - it was almost as much fun choosing the tea towels. And a tip ... choose tea towels bigger than the standard 70 x 45 cm ... you may have to search a little to find them.

Now I can understand why Himself asks, 'Where's that going?' whenever I make a cake or platter of yummies to share. How sad that he presumes it's leaving the house - and he's usually right ;-)))

blue tea towel casserole carrier

inside - paper plate, paper napkins, badge

pink one, outside

inside

sewing gifts
This time I filled a fat quarter with sewing bits and pieces and tied them up like a pudding.

sock wool, silk paper bookmark, fabric postcard,

handmade button, thread, quilter's emery board

and a satay stick guide for ripple free

straight sewing!

packed into recycled paper bags

from the quilt shop

hexagons
The hexagon cutting is progressing. I won't start sewing until there are about 300 cut and glued. Note that I started stitching to papers until Anne suggested I use a Sewline glue stick. And why wouldn't you?

stitched and cut

ready for glueing to papers

true colours
Quilting has begun on this 2.5 m square quilt. Well, when I say 'quilting', I use the word loosely. The stitches are big and clunky and not at all resembling the tiny, evenly space quilting stitches I could once see well enough to do several moons ago! But I'm already loving the look and feel of this quilt.

True Colours (named after the Cyndi Lauper song) ...

2011-08-08T19:23:00.002+08:00

retreat 2011
It was retreat fun time with 7 quilting friends on the weekend!!! I haven't been for 2 years, so it was a much needed break.
I spent several days making gifts ... we swap 3 sewing related gifts and 3 other ... usually food related ;-))) throughout the weekend.
Here's some of what I made. More soon - Blogger is not cooperating with all the pictures.

bookmarks made from silk paper
and paper napkins, with shells
from the beach

silk paper (left) on back, roses paper napkin

glued to the front

A vintage birthday postcard,

scanned, printed and stitched to

brown print background fabric

This one is stitched to old feedsack fabric

and this one, backed with music scrapbooking paper

has a wartime poem!

2011-07-19T13:53:00.001+08:00

a tourist in my own city
We had a leisurely stroll around bits of King's Park early last Saturday morning. The river was like a millpond.

the war memorial

it says ... Let silent contemplation be your offering

I loved the reflection of the eternal flame

the silent Swan River [click to enlarge]

towards South Perth

freeway, looking south

2011-07-18T17:25:00.001+08:00

some finishing
... a basted quilt (by Jenny in Roelands). What a good idea not to do it myself!

Look at the basting - it's almost

completely quilted!

and very tempting to call it finished ...

but I am actually going to hand quilt it in
large clunky straight stitches, in lots of colours

leadlight
Soldering and cementing finished.

I'm an expert leadlighter following
this 3-week class, LOL!

jam
Think ... fragrant strawberries ... wafting through the house. Yum.

from this

to this, in less than 2 hours last night

another type of jam
Caught up with son #1 drumming at the Rosemount on Friday night and son #2 watching! Parents Behaving Badly - we had a great night.

[Click to enlarge]

2011-07-03T14:22:00.002+08:00

japan journal
I've finally given birth to Japan! This is my fifth quilt in the series of six, Countries Other Than Australia.

antique fans, Japan 12" x 12"

bone button with silk stems
rolled and stitched

All the fabrics are Japanese and include some antique kimono pieces. The design was inspired by a greeting card pic of antique French silk fans. Mostly hand stitched, sashiko background and echo quilting, with bone bead.

I've just heard that our quilts have been accepted for exhibition at AQC in Melbourne, April 2012 - woo hoo!!!

2011-06-27T15:40:00.001+08:00

new moss
There's so much to love about winter ... like moss.

This is growing in a shady area right down the back garden, where we sit and drink tea or a beer ;-))) in summertime.
I'd much rather see this than a boring old concrete path.

2011-06-16T20:10:00.004+08:00

stained glass
I'm learning to do stained glass and leadlight! It's only a three week course and here is what I've done after the second week. It's a small piece, about 20 cm square. Next week we will solder the joins and cement the lead, yay!

Stained glass/leadlight class sample

a quilt

Finished piecing last week and it's been sent to the machine quilter to baste, so I can *hand quilt*. It's about 2.5 m square ... I know, I know - beat me with a wet fish! But I haven't done any hand quilting on a large scale for yearrrrrrs ... and the intention is to do big clunky colourful, straight stitches across it all. Nothing fancy. Shouldn't take forever ;-)))

a banner ... sort of quilty

I finished making this banner yesterday to promote our natural therapies expo being held this weekend at the Stirling Street Arts Centre, Bunbury, WA from 10am-4pm on Sunday, 19 June (if you can make it!) The letters are made from fabrics backed with vilene and glued in place.

Expo banner

We will be giving short taster treatments (15-20 mins) in reflexology, reiki, corporate massage, Bowen therapy, pranic healing and thought field therapy. There will be stalls selling aromatherapy products, bush flower essences, books, CDs, crystals, wax melts, tealight candles and much more! Proceeds will be donated to SolarisCare for cancer support.
Entry fee $5 - more here http://bunburyreflexology.blogspot.com/

2011-05-27T15:34:00.025+08:00

Cornucopia
I've been asked about the inspiration for the quilt in the post below. It came from this
issue of Cornucopia ... with very kind permission to reproduce here, thank you Julie at Cornucopia! She even sent a pdf, but Blogger wouldn't upload it so here is my pic.

Issue 37 Volume 6 2007

Click to enlarge

See more textile gorgeousness
www.cornucopia.net

2011-05-26T17:02:00.003+08:00

August journal in May

I wanted to stay ahead of the deadlines ;-)))

This one is inspired by the antique ikat chapans (overcoats) of the silk road, at the Museum of Turkish & Islamic Art in Istanbul.
#

Ikat chapan

Label on back

I love ikat fabrics and have had a few for many years, so it's lovely to be able to use some of them for this project. There are three different fabrics in this chapan and it's assembled in the same way they are constructed full size, apart from the raw edges. In fact, that wasn't a good idea! The fabric has a very open weave and it's been shedding constantly as I've worked on it.
#
My challenge for these quilts was to try something different for each one and with this one I've learnt, Don't Use Ikat Fabric In Raw Edge Work, LOL!!!

The hand quilting in the background gives it the texture I thought it might have in real life. And now I'd love to make a real one for moi!

Here are the back labels for the other three journals in this series, Countries Other Than Australia.

China (for February)

England (for April)

New Zealand (for June)

2011-05-19T18:59:00.000+08:00

new old gates
I love a gate. And a fence. Here's what I had already ...

gates

fence posts

some old fence pickets

A home will be found somewhere in the garden for them.

This is what I found yesterday at the salvage yard ...

two gates!

With a little dab of anti-rust paint followed by some lovely charcoal colour, I think they will look pretty flash.

2011-05-12T14:23:00.000+08:00

bolsters
On Saturday we hung these gorgeous bolsters for our 'Cushy Job' exhibition at
Caf-fez, our fave local cafe.
You may remember the creative textiles group members each swapped a baggie of fabric and thread goodies at Christmas lunch, and the challenge was to make a bolster from the contents.
They'll be here until the end of June.

Lined up, patiently waiting their turn to be hung

A glimpse through the door

on Prinsep Street, Bunbury ...
they have the *best* coffee!

Window display, enticing you in

Thank you Caf-fez

2011-05-10T18:00:00.000+08:00

Koru
Here is my third quilt - representing New Zealand - in the online challenge, Countries Other Than Australia. The koru is derived from the fern frond and symbolises peace, tranquility, new life, growth and harmony.

Koru, New Zealand, 12 x 12 inches

The background is seeded calico with green commercial cottons torn to sort of represent a totem, with the koru in blobby cream wallpaper, hanging by wound linen thread. I found a postage stamp - perfecto! And some paua shell ... depicting the shape of NZ, with a little imagination.

Fern fronds and paua shell

Wallpaper koru with linen thread

2011-05-07T14:32:00.000+08:00

it's autumn on the side fence
These colours make me go weak at the knees ... I think it's grape ivy?

Little grape berry things ...

a blue gate
Painted last week. This is one blue I love.

a birth in progress
I can feel a new quilt coming on!!! So excited! The last one I finished was in 2008 - there's never been such a loooong gap.

I've been hunting and gathering batiks for a couple of years for 'one day' and recently started auditioning them again. Decided they need some *splashes* of colour, so I bought a few Kaffe Fassett fabrics. Can't go wrong really! The quilt is inspired by the one on the cover of Make Your Own Contemporary Quilts book - although it won't look much like it with this combo, but I love the simplicity of the strips and squares.

Mostly batiks, with a few Kaffe Fassets thrown in

The big flower prints top leftish and top right are KF

And some lighter yummy batiks
for ~~contrast~~ resting space

2011-04-20T19:53:00.002+08:00

Small journals
I was supposed to be working on my journal this week with Carole's class ... but we have one son about to leave for 6 weeks in Europe, so I thought he might be able to use a little journal.

Inside the cover

I think he'll enjoy this part of it ;-)))!

A couple of reminders ...

and some special memories to revisit

Well, I couldn't leave the other son without a gift, so I made this small card for him.

A favourite Larson card about
curiosity killing the cats ...

We're seeing them both tomorrow. I can feel the lerv already ...

Meanwhile I've been painting, blobbing, splotching, stamping and dripping paint, ink and tea over the watercolour paper - preparing to start my journal in Carole's class. More soon!

2011-04-15T15:58:00.001+08:00

April journal
Here it is, Celtic Roses, representing England and Scotland! I know the celts weren't historically associated with roses so I've stretched the facts a bit here but just *had* to include some celtic knots in this piece! The background is silk and sinamay (hat stuff).

Celtic Roses

The 'roses' are made from torn sari silks, which I LOVE (use them in almost everything, LOL). The union flag is the 1606 version (without Ireland's St Patrick's cross), appliqued with vliesofix .... and the crown ... well, I don't know where that idea came from! It was created by stitching with Madeira metallic thread over a design drawn on solvy and washaway and adding some beads. The binding is the same hand-dyed raw edge organza as under the celtic knot.

I'm happy with this one - hope you like it too.

2011-04-03T18:31:00.000+08:00

New moon
I notice it's a new moon tonight - virtually guaranteed that I will sleep! If I'm ever having trouble sleeping, it's usually a full moon - does anyone else notice this?

Anyway, my paternal grandmother (Nonny, to me) was a maiden Moon, so maybe it's something to do with her ... in all her caustic Irishness - hey Nonny?!

Have a look here http://www.mooncircles.com/

2011-04-03T11:07:00.004+08:00

I'm making a journal
Yesterday I started a fabric journal class with CAROLE from NZ - see link >>>

We've already been shown how to dissect pages from a hardcover book to retrieve the cover - and how to give our pages an aged and antiquey look with tea, coffee, ink and paint. Can't wait to get to the art store early tomorrow morning for some watercolour paper ... meanwhile, most of what I need is lined up on my workbench, waiting for action!

Today I'll continue working on the *other* ;-))) online journal challenge, Countries Other Than Australia. So much to do, I'm running around like a startled chook - but a happy one with its head still attached! For anyone who doesn't know what a *chook* is, that's Australian for chicken, hen, domesticated egg laying bird ...

2011-03-22T17:57:00.001+08:00

Hearts
Today I finished these for Christchurch. If you'd like to do some, have a look HERE.

Start by layering some fabrics

and stitch randomly to secure

Put two wrong sides together, cut a heart shape

and stitch together leaving a gap, then fill

One side ...

... and the other side

More jamas

Himself allowed me to buy these for him ... and he has worn them. How cool are they???!!!

I love the ships!

2011-03-17T16:24:00.000+08:00

Bolster cushion
Last year the textiles group decided that we would make bolster cushions from the end of year baggie swap fabrics. Here are some of the contents in my bag.

I tried very hard to cut this satin fabric (above), poised with rotary cutter over it twice - but just couldn't do it! So I kept the design simple.

Hand stitched around the rose;
mixed threads wrapped on ruched satin

I loved the furry selvedge on this damask.
Click to see close up.

I think the fabrics speak for themselves and as I'd like the bolster to be used, it was best to keep it soft and squishy.

The zipper is hiding under the flange

And the best news? Allllll the bolsters will be displayed around the walls in Caf Fez - a gorgeous local cafe - during May!

2011-03-09T18:05:00.002+08:00

Happy birthdays
... to Soo who had a special big round curly birthday on 3 March ... and Ros who shares her birthday today with Barbie. Sorry Ros, just had to share!

These are the fabric postcards I sent and I think they've both arrived.

Fabric postcard for Soo

I was a bit disappointed with the bumps - but hopefully

it's the thought that counts?

Happy birthday Ros

... and Barbie!

2011-02-22T18:01:00.005+08:00

It's home
The theme was My Place.

Having travelled with Australian, New Zealand and South African 'friends' during 2009/2010 - opening in Johannesburg, then Wellington NZ, Brisbane, Melbourne and Colac - it went to France in September for the Carrefour Europeen du Patchwork where curator, Dijanne Cevaal gave a lecture about the the artists' inspirations and interpretations of the theme. Feedback about our work was consistent, with many positive comments.

And it came home today! Thank you Dijanne.

Moon in My Backyard, 12" x 12"

2011-02-20T17:20:00.001+08:00

February journal

Moving right along to the second journal as I'm still waiting for fabric to arrive for the first - this one is All the Tea in China.

12 x 12" challenge quilt

The background fabrics are silk rayon (both reversed) and white linen. The teapot is full of green tea of course - the handle and spout are paper and the foiled script says 'tea'. The coin is real and the upside down lid is not a baseball cap, LOL! Beads on the left suggest a lantern. Perhaps?

2011-02-17T09:23:00.003+08:00

Journals 2011
There's excitement here on the dining table - I've joined the Australia New Zealand Art Quilters' online journals challenge again ;-)))

This time we make one 12" x 12" journal every two months with the same theme, Countries Other Than Australia. Woo hoo!!! Already I have 12 countries when only 6 are needed ... some serious culling required.

Here's a hint of the first one - a bit obvious isn't it?

auditioning for first journal

2011-02-14T06:20:00.002+08:00

Journal class
Look what I've done - joined a journal class with Carole!!!

As if I don't already have enough to do but how could I resist ... I love Carole's work and can't wait for April, when the class begins.

Go to MADNESS AND MESS to see more!

2011-02-13T15:03:00.000+08:00

Tea and a heart
Last week, Linda came for tea and homemade cake. Made at someone else's home. Well, you don't keep a dog and bark yourself.
Look what she brought for me - how beautiful is this? She made it from vintage neck ties. Thank you Linda. See more gorgeousness HERE.

with glass bead

2011-02-06T17:49:00.000+08:00

Something old, something new
My faithful old Bernina sewing machine developed yet another tension problem recently and I was desperate to make some new jama shorts ... so I blew off the cobwebs and threaded this

to make these

I'm not really this slim, they're actually folded!

It was fun, but I'm glad I don't *have* to use it all the time. No wonder people in the 1950s had so few clothes! ;-)))

I decided it was time to buy this

(still testing)

and so happy!

2011-02-01T16:13:00.000+08:00

New beginnings
I love the start of a new year - to me it means new beginnings, dreams and plans. I don't make resolutions because somehow it sounds too regimented and contrived.
First up for January was the Aus_NZartquilters postcard swap, below. Ten of us made between 2 and 4 fabric postcards each to send to our recipients. I made 2 for the swap.
The theme was Summer and I thought of summer holidays which consist of early morning walks along the beach, cooking and reading. Love it.
At last I can post the pics! I've been waiting to hear that they all arrived safely before spoiling any surprises ...

My interpretation of summer.
Sent to Anieta and Pauline, plus an extra to Jenni who conducted the swap,
and my friend Ann B who is in this online group.

This one is from Ann B to me - hot, hot, hot - lovely (thank you).

from Jenni S - yum

and from Delia - a hot and dry summery feeling.

Our next project
We have another journals project this year - this time it's one journal every second month. They will be 12" x 12" and the theme for each one is, Countries Other Than Australia.

Already I have 8 countries in mind when I only need 6! And another Anne friend from the local textiles group - I seem to collect Ann/e friends ;-))) - has just given me lots of inspiration for New Zealand. It wasn't on my list but I think it's just been added.

The first journal is due to be finished and posted online by end of February. Can't wait to get started. After the bolster cushion and after the new jama shorts. But that's another post to come!

2010-12-25T17:25:00.000+08:00

Happy nearly new year

The outdoor tree ...

It's not Christmas chocolate weather here at 36.5 degrees C in the afternoon shade, with a hot easterly wind blowing from the hot east! I don't do heat and I'm not straying far from the air con. Can't wait to walk along the beach in the cool of early morning tomorrow.

We've had a beautiful day with close family, great food and conversation.

Peace and happiness to you all ...

2010-12-17T18:17:00.000+08:00

Framed again
This is the fourth piece in the exhibition. It was a bit tricky getting a pic of the whole exhibition in the salon because it's been constantly full of ladies wearing foils in their hair and naturally they don't want their picture on my blog ...

Framed at Country Framers in Bunbury.

They do the best job.

So instead, I'll share some silk paper I made at a workshop with Karen a few weeks ago.

The blobs on left are three smaller pieces
on top of the large piece

And I finished knitting 40 stitches x 1 metre for a worthy cause. It will be joined to other metres and made into blankies. I was so happy with this because (not being a knitter) I learnt the difference between moss stitch and ribbing. Well, they're both created by knitting one and pearling one, but it's the order that you do it on the back that counts!

Brownish moss stitch in centre, between
two red sections

Moss stitch in red above, ribbed below it,
then my fave plain knitting.
I feel so clever now ...

2010-11-23T16:02:00.002+08:00

By any other name
This rose bush was given to me recently by my amazing friend, Helen N, for my belated big curly number birthday! Each time it flowers, the colour is slightly darker and the fragrance is truly old-fashioned gorgeous. Thank you Miss H xxoo

Today, these pics are dedicated to two other friends who are currently going through a hard time. Much love and hugs to April in Perth and Susan K in Bunbury. Thinking of you lots.

Exhibition
Here is my final piece for the Elev8 salon exhibition (of 4 pieces!) opening here in Bunbury in December. This one was based on my Spring postcards idea (scroll down to Postcards post below). The framing has since brought it to life - and I'll put some more pics up once they're hanging.

Vivaldi's Spring, close

Hand painted silk background,
created at Linda Stokes' workshop

2010-10-18T19:33:00.003+08:00

More mail
This Spring postcard depicting Floriade in Canberra is from Patrise.

How clever and simple it is - flutterings of Floriade ...

Daisies

And this one which arrived today from Buffy, is daisies from her garden. Can you see the pic underneath?

I love them both - thank you.

Garden salad
Yesterday I collected my first salad of the season from the garden - lettuce leaves, spring onions, parsley, baby broad beans, nasturtium leaves and flowers. All I needed to add was a splash of fresh egg mayo, yum.

Collecting vegies and leaves from the garden always reminds me of The Whitlams' song, 'Melbourne' and the words, 'she eats all of the garden ... it's a jungle out there', from their Eternal Nightcap album. Aaahhh, bliss ...

Accompanied by a collection of roses from SIL Lyn's garden ...

aren't they beautiful? Spoilt moi!

2010-10-07T16:21:00.000+08:00

I have mail
This yummy enough to eat postcard is from Ann, my friend on Central Coast, NSW. Thank you soooooo much, I love it.

It wasn't part of the swap, but as we didn't get to swap with one another, Ann just decided I needed a surprise - complete with maximum bling!!! [She thinks I'm minimalist. If only she could see my sewing area. Office. Back room ...]

Ann's Spring postcard

close view of blingness

2010-09-30T14:23:00.002+08:00

New stuff
I made a felted wool needlecase a few weeks ago - almost forgot about it. Just goes to show how often I'm using it these days ... since starting the new day job in July :-)))

the workings inside

the yummy outside

And speaking of outside - I just can't take enough pics of my wisteria at the moment. It's in full flower and dripping with buzzing bees. Needless to say we can't sit and drink tea under it in our usual place; not worth the risk with Mr Allergic ...

the duck blows in the breeze and waves at it

Exhibition

This textile will be on display over the weekend at the arts centre's Fire, Fibre & Fine Arts exhibition. The theme this year is 'Fragments of Fantasy' and this piece is titled Possibly Pirates - it looked a bit pirate boaty! It's almost totally made of silks with hand and machine stitching.

Then it's off to my lovely hairdresser's salon with three other pieces, for exhibition during November.

'Possibly Pirates'

close

Postcards
I finished these two postcards yesterday for an online swap. The theme is 'Spring', so I printed some of Vivaldi's 'Spring' sheet music onto fabric and added layers of organza with a silk flower, over felted wool (same as the needlecase) and an embellished stem. There's a bit of hand stitching too.

I'm off to post them now - one is going to Queensland and the other to New Zealand - so I hope the new owners will like (or maybe even *love*) them!

2010-09-12T17:28:00.000+08:00

My Place ...
At last my little quilt is in France!!!

Moon in My Backyard

My Place is a travelling exhibition of 90 contemporary art quilts from Australia (curated by Dijanne Cevaal), New Zealand and South Africa. They are all 50cm x 50cm.

The exhibition opened in Johannesburg last year, before touring New Zealand and the east coast of Australia. This week it's in France, so if you're lucky enough to be swinging through the Alsace region between 16-19 September, don't miss

Carrefour europeen du Patchwork expo

at 5 rue Kroeber Imlin in Ste-Marie-au-Mines.

Click HERE to see the quilts!

Thank you Dijanne - I'm literally knotted with excitement!!!

2010-09-10T14:23:00.000+08:00

Framed
This is a postcard sent by Dot to thank me for helping her with postcards! Derrr ... all I did was to explain how to do the back.

Thank you Dot - I love her!

Two finished WIPs. Green Garden was started at a workshop many moons ago and finished last week. It was originally one piece, but just wasn't working so I cut it in half and added a third section.

Three panels completed

Green Garden framed

Equinox was made for a challenge and revamped a bit since then. They are now ready for exhibition at my fave hairdresser's salon for the spring season. Just waiting for one more to be framed. Might sneak them into our textiles exhibition, Art On The Wall for September first ...

Sorry about the lights and flashes - it's
the point and click method!

And look what you find when you're grumpy at having to do the dishes! Love is everywhere, aawwwhhh!

2010-08-09T19:57:00.000+08:00

Hand made book
This is the book I started at Jane Flower's workshop two weeks ago. It's a longstitch/linkstitch, ancient German technique.

Beginning to stitch one section

The first linkstitch loop is held with a needle

The spine takes shape

How beautiful is this?

The cover is stitched with card and

hand printed silk

and tied with grosgrain

I finished the cover this afternoon and added a torn silk ribbon bookmark.

The cover fabric is some silk I stamped and made at Linda Stokes' workshop in June. Seeee, I do finish some things!!!

2010-08-05T19:32:00.000+08:00

Winter colour
This gerbera is the brightest thing in my garden at the moment. I've had enough of winter ...

PS If you'd like to visit a blog where creativity actually happens, go

HERE ;-)))

Linda makes gorgeous dolls using all sorts of recycled bits and pieces.

2010-07-19T11:52:00.000+08:00

Felt brooches
I didn't go to our annual quilty retreat this year :-( but came up with a remote kinda way to be involved. I made some little felt brooches for the 7 gals, with written hints for each brooch. They had to guess which one was for them by correctly matching the hint with the brooch. For example, the handbag was for Fay, the shopaholic in the group ...

Her clue was, 'Too much retail could never be enough'

This one was for Mandy - she works at a golf course

Helen treks and climbs mountains and is open
to new directions

Barbara is a teacher

Jo lives in a forest

Mary is earth mother - she grows
almost everything she eats

And Ros loves retro ... and caravans

I had an sms yesterday to say they were having lots of fun and were all wearing their brooches - so I'm presuming they guessed correctly. I wouldn't like to think they'd cheated.

Most of the backgrounds are hand dyed and felted. The textures are silk fabric and wool, cotton and metallic threads.

2010-07-17T20:05:00.001+08:00

Silk square
This is a piece of layered hand-dyed silk (made at Linda Stokes' workshop), stitched into a 12 cm square. With lots of other pieces the same size, it will be made into a bag for a friend. Can't say tooooo much - it's a surprise. Don't think she'll look here ... but you can't be too careful :-)))

Free-motion stitched and layered with
more pieces. The mustard coloured thread
is bamboo.

2010-07-10T17:41:00.002+08:00

Mystery
Blogger won't allow me to create a new post ... so I'll tack onto this one until it decides to play fair again.

Purple ladies
This is what I made on the weekend. Our machine embellishing group is making a blanket to raffle. The designs are based on these three girls' faces - I've chosen the top right (from COLLAGE UNLEASHED by Traci Bautista) and the pics below are a test run on felt. The final piece will be on a gorgeously yummy rich purple wool felted rug. I've accidentally used black - the instructions were to use lime green, hot pink and white. Don't know where I got black from ... ooops.

The green is actually more 'lime' than the

yellow it appears here. I've used wool and silk tops
to embellish, then machine stitched over it.

Close

Leaving

A son has moved to Canberra for 3 months work. We visited with gifts of warm things - gloves, scarf, easy peasy cookbook, gift voucher and more - wrapped up in a red and white spotty parcel on a stick. I think he got it ...

We're thinking we might visit ...

2010-07-09T13:24:00.012+08:00

Maharajah's garden

The Maharajah's Garden is ATASDA's (Australian Textile Arts & Surface Design Association) 2010 travelling suitcase exhibition featuring exquisite small artworks which travel all over Australia for 12 months.

There are two colourful suitcases - Jasmine and Saffron - providing a portable exhibition promoting and fostering the textile and mixed media fibre arts. While Jasmine is travelling through Western Australia this year, Saffron is circuiting the east coast. Next year they will swap! See LOTS MORE HERE

Fabric bunting pieces are also included to create a welcoming and colourful display.

My textiles group was delighted to have Jasmine on display here last week.

Jasmine arrives in Bunbury

Some of the bunting

Click on these pics to enlarge if you wish to see
more of the exquisite work in detail

Jasmine loved her adventure to the south west of WA, including venues in Kojonup, Margaret River, Bunbury, Roelands, Dalyellup, Busselton and Mandurah! She's following the warmth and moving north soon ...

2010-06-22T20:02:00.000+08:00

Nalda Searles workshop
Nalda has been working for over 30 years as a painter and textile artist. She's opening her exhibition 'drifting in my own land' at the Bunbury art gallery on Friday night. Nalda's creative journey is beautifully described in her story/poem 'a stitching of words'.

We took cloth to tear, needles, thread and shells, rocks, buttons, beads ... I didn't know what to expect. We were greeted with a huge bag of pasture hay/fodder on the table!

Nalda talked about amulets and the meaning of talismans - they're all around us in the form of keepsakes, decorations and precious items. Then she showed us how to grab a large handful of hay and work it, to soften it into a shape. It's much more pliable than it looks and can be easily hollowed, rounded and curved. My oval shape kept dipping in at the top ... OK, be a heart ...

Stitching starts at the centre with long needles and strong thread and it becomes secure very quickly. I stitched torn silk around the border and added a piece of beach rock, then put a large safety pin on the back - and it's a brooch! Wore it today - yum.

This is Nalda's piece (below). She made the bull's head during the workshop and said she'll hang it on her studio door.

Nalda's bull's head and ring,
stitched and wrapped

Out of 10 participants, not one piece
was the same.

It was such a pleasure to spend a peaceful, relaxing, creative day with her.

2010-06-18T19:53:00.000+08:00

Here they are
Some cards I made today. The first one is made with foil ironed onto felt, then it's topped with silks and dyed gauze. Some of the silk strips have been embellished (needle punched). The black is layered silk and tulle topped with wool.

Similar technique, but more layers,
on raw silk background.

The silk at top and left star points has been embellished
and wool has been curled up and embellished to the
bottom right star point.

2010-06-18T19:03:00.000+08:00

Not planning to stay
I thought I was just visiting. Having a look. Not making design and layout decisions. But Blogger has other ideas and has decided that this is the *new look* for moi!

So, while I'm here I'll show you what I've been doing for the last few days ...

I took these fabrics (and many many more!) to Linda Stokes' workshop to sew on day 2. I've started a small piece - well, bigger than A4 and smaller than A3.

It's looking a bit *boaty* already ... hmmm
Very happy with it so far.

Closer

And the second piece was also a blue felt background,
with painted vliesofix ironed on top, then foiled and stitched.
It's coming along quite well. More soon.

PS My computer is misbehaving... not sure when I'll be back.

2010-06-14T16:10:00.000+08:00

Linda Stokes workshop
What a wonderful time I had for two days last week with this very talented Perth textile artist. We began by preparing the fabrics - cottons, silks, linens - by washing and ironing at home.

I just love this part!

Three different Procion dye colours were poured separately, over 4 different fabrics. I used three cottons and one silk.

Fabrics were scrunched with fingers and placed in the jug. The first colour I used was a deep red (just visible around the edges of the jug), then I poured chocolate dye on top of the next fabric.

I topped that one with silk ... and finally, another cotton with blue poured over the lot.

It was left to soak for the whole day and washed, rinsed, dried and ironed that evening.

These are the results!

The first cotton, with red poured over it

Second cotton, with chocolate dye poured on top.
I see leaves there!

This is the silk - I'm in LOVE!

And finally, the blue.
You can see how the blue has trickled through
all the layers to give a lovely soft effect.

Sunprinting

We also painted some wet fabric and I sprinkled leaves and tree debris over mine, then it was left in the sun to dry. I wonder why the leaf shapes are lighter than surrounding fabric ... you'd think they'd be darker(?) ... isn't nature wonderful???!!! After it dried, I stamped and painted and scribbled with Shiva oil sticks. The gold was a bit popular!

The next day we started another project - layering; first stitching on felt, adding threads and foils - and some people managed to do some heat gun work ... but I didn't get that far. I have two pieces that need a bit more stitching before I put them up. More soon!

2010-06-13T19:33:00.050+08:00

Richard Woldendorp exhibition

This hero of mine recently visited Bunbury to give a floor talk, opening his exhibition of amazing aerial landscape photography. I managed to ambush him into signing my book and as I approached he exclaimed, 'That's an old one!' ... I'm hoping he meant the book, not moi!

Journey Through a Landscape, 1992

The inscription reads 'feel free and be inspired'.

How perfect is that?

Forgotten postcard
When we made the postcards for the display box (post below), I also made this one out of selvedges. My camera battery decided to take long service leave when I went to load it ... but it's recovered now. I love this one.

2010-06-02T15:49:00.088+08:00

Postcards group project

Here are some of the postcards we made for our mini group project. These are our interpretations from examples in the book, Stitched Postcards. See earlier story HERE in March and scroll down to Postcard.

Left to right above: Lee's felted flowers, Marg's iron-on
transfer paints [front], Anne's vintage, and Lee's melted fabrics

#

This is the one I made using silk paper.
Loved this process - can't wait to do more.

Left to right above: Anne's new fabric, Lee's melted fabrics [front)
and water soluble materials, and Anne's vintage
I hope I have matched all the correct names to the postcards!

Above and below: My architecture
and landscape

Marg made the storage box, containing all the postcards.

They will be stored in our Useful Cupboard with the book, so anyone wanting to make them can follow the instructions and have real live examples to work from.

2010-06-01T19:09:00.004+08:00

Happy
Finally finished the little textile landscape (32 x 26 cm) started last year. The theme was Out of Our Desert. I have mounted it on a canvas frame.
We had to experiment with air-dried clay and also create fabric beads, so I incorporated these pieces at the side. Very happy with it! There's a mix of machine and hand work, with a bit of acrylic paint in the 'sky'. Some of the unpainted pieces of clay reminded me of bone, so I left them white; they're held in place with black thread.

Closer upper ...

Not so happy
Last month a group project was created; we had to make a floral 'cream on cream' square using only the fabrics provided, with some suggested pattern designs. The 12" finished squares will be made into a quilt and raffled, with funds going to the arts centre. I really struggled with the techniques and this project taught me that I am definitely not a machine embroiderer's bootlace!

I had imagined creating a piece with silks and cottons, linens and raw edges, with lots of texture and freedom! But the fabrics required edges to be secured or the whole thing would fall apart; so it was much more of a challenge than I had anticipated. Which can be a good thing!

Machine and hand stitching -
metallic, rayon and cotton threads
on calico background

2010-05-25T16:03:00.000+08:00

Fragrances
I have just ordered some of these lovely fragrant aroma wafers, diffuser sticks and incense from this Australian company http://www.buckleyandphillips.com/

They truly have the best incense I've ever discovered. Unfortunately, the local store where I usually buy it closed recently. Isn't that so annoying?! Can't wait for a lovely fragrant parcel to arrive ... mmmmm.

2010-05-23T19:39:00.000+08:00

Making silk paper
I made this piece using mulberry silk, layering vertically and horizontally and sprinkling dried leaves under the final layer. It has the most beautiful sheen ...

Natural mulberry silk

The green and tan was made by combining two silk hankies and trapping a leaf inside ...

Silk hankies with leaf embedded

Tussah silk was used for the pink one - other fibres were added to create extra texture.

Dyed tussah silk

I love the fact that you don't quite know how it will look when it's finished and dry. I made a postcard from this one (above) - pic next time. Hope to incorporate the natural one into a picture of some sort, and ... not sure what I'll do with the green one yet. Lots of fun and a tad addictive.

2010-05-21T19:12:00.002+08:00

On the weekend
... we stayed here. I had a big birthday a couple of weeks ago and when Himself asked what I'd like, I said 'services please; not goods'.

So he booked the B&B and the weekend began with a trip to Fremantle and a snehana ayurvedic massage. Absolute blissssss ... hot oils, warm towels, hottie water bottle on my feet.

We visited a bookshop and a cafe, and I was wined and dined. You basically can't go wrong if you feed me ...

Next day I bought some fibres

And some nanna slippers ;-)))

We had lunch here with the family on Saturday. They gave me beautiful gifts of clothes, a quilt book and fabrics. Yum.

JoJo's, on the river in Nedlands

PS 60 is the new 40.

2010-05-13T17:15:00.000+08:00

Jewellery stand

We gave this to son number 2's gorgeous gal for her birthday gift, earlier this year. Isn't it just too delightful? I think he keeps her supplied with decorations for it ...

2010-04-23T17:58:00.003+08:00

Stolen quilt

It's a very sad thing that this beautiful quilt 'Dragonfly Maiden' by Cindy Watkins in Tasmania, was stolen recently while on exhibition.
If you come across the quilt anywhere, it has not been sold or borrowed or loaned. It has been stolen. Please contact Cindy at www.deeppeacestudio.com.au/index.html
#

Dragonfly Maiden, by Cindy Watkins - Tasmania

2010-04-21T20:42:00.086+08:00

Teacosy results
Here is a selection. I didn't get pics of them all, but how inspiring is this?!

Strategically located Devonshire tea room

Three of the winning teacosies, below ...

Left: 'Stepping Out for High Tea' by Chris, winner in Off The Wall category;

Centre: 'Pansies' by Edie, winner of Viewer's Choice;

Right: 'Red Hat Ladies' by Carol, winner in Humorous category

Congratulations gals!!!

Congratulations Barb for winning
the Traditional category - sorry I don't have a pic. This is a bad pic

of Barb's second entry!

Above: Anne's 'T43 - made from teabags' :-)))

Davida's 'Ramblin' rose'

Jean's unique wire entry, 'My Cup of Tea'

Kim's 'Birds of a Feather Drink Tea Together'

Marg P's gumnuts! Marg I noticed this was in the Traditional section.
I don't *think* so!

Mary's Turkish mala design - layered and cut away

Karen P's swagman

Dot B's entry

and finally, Jane's beautiful piece.

2010-04-05T18:26:00.000+08:00

Morning tea ...

Just finished! I cut the text pieces from newspapers, which took forEVER ... layed it out and ironed onto vliesofix. Then painted all over with 50/50 water and PVA glue to strengthen. Ironed again to flatten, topped with bridal (fine) tulle, and stitched to felt lining. Although it's just a joke, you COULD actually use it, hehe!

Tea cosy challenge, Morning Tea, made from
newspaper cuttings, felt and tulle.

I've made a start on number 2, SeaCosy - think beach, shells, seagulls, sand and water. This is fun.

2010-03-28T19:25:00.002+08:00

Albany
We spent 4 days on a working holiday in Albany last week. Himself was working and I was holidaying :-)))
One memorable experience was being centre stage during the *worst* thunder and lightning storm in Albany for decades! We were having dinner at this little cottage ... (and there's ANOTHER story here later) with forked lightning flashing and banging around us. It continued for over 5 hours!

Lavender Cottage cafe restaurant

Peels Place, Albany

Driveway - I love gates!

At one stage there was a loud 'crack!' over the road which set off a security alarm for several minutes. It was VERY scary!!! Needless to say we barely slept a WINK until the storm abated at some uncivilised early morning hour!

Now to the rest of the story >>> Before himself was born, his mum lived in this house with a fearless old maiden aunt; and when he was young, the family would sometimes visit her. We were literally having dinner in Auntie Nellie's former bedroom! Himself said she would sit in bed and point her walking stick, while barking instructions to all and sundry within and without earshot.

Apart from Nellie's revenge being the terrifying STORM ... we enjoyed the company, and the meal was to die for - cooked and served by the French owners and brought out in 6-7 small courses, with palate refreshing lemon sorbet slap bang in the middle and rounding off nicely with chocolate mousse.

Dog Rock
We stayed opposite this doggy Dog Rock (complete with seagull on his nose, who would not move)!

And visited the gorgeous Amity brig down near the Residency Museum

As well as gates, I also love boaty ropes and things ...

Sigh. Isn't it just soooo beautiful? Not that I'd want to sail
on her of course. Safely secured in the harbour
near the museum suits me just fine!

Some more ropes ...

... and just a few more, in case you haven't had enough yet

The only textiley thing I did was to buy a little fabric. Well, a bit more than the budget had allowed actually. Which meant I had to forego the planned hairdresser pampering. As well as new silk at S-Light, I also found a beeeuutiful old silk dress at the Oppy. Luckily it's a bit battered and torn or I may not have been able to cut into it.

But I was still able to have a reflexology treatment by the very gorgeous Julia who has a treatment room at her friend Shirlene's shop, *infinite earth spirit*.

Go here to see more http://www.infiniteearthspirit.com/ Shirlene and I started talking and simply 'clicked' - immediately becoming New Best Friends! We ended up laughing ourselves silly and probably drove hundreds of normal customers away! You MUST visit when you're down there next time - there's a fantastic selection of items in her shop, from baskets, clothes, books, alternative CDs and heaps more. She made me and my friend soooo welcome. No affils here, just genuine excitement and appreciation of the hospitality.

Julia is also the FOUNDER!!! of Little Seeds Project http://www.littleseedsproject.com/ raising much needed funds to help rescued animals; and helping Nepalese children with medical care, schooling and food. What an AMAZING woman she is, driven by her love and compassion for others ... and does she give a great reflexology treatment or what???! She's also a natural therapist and masseuse AND if that's not enough, specially juggled her bookings to fit me in, and my friend for hot rocks massage. Highly recommended to catch her too, before she takes some time off in May.

What a great time I had! Also caught up with a friend who used to live one street away in Perth when we both had toddler twins.

The only down side was that himself actually fell and twisted his ankle on Day 3 - a bit nasty and quite colourful (purple, red, black ...) all over the foot and toes, but feeling better at last today - just in time for work tomorrow! Honestly thought he'd broken important limbs when I saw him on the floor, all crumpled on top of himself. Just to show the lervvv, I've given him a foot bath and back/neck/head massage since we've been home, aaawww!

2010-03-22T16:59:00.000+08:00

Gift voucher

Last week I offered to donate a reflexology gift voucher as one of the prizes at our arts centre Autumn Fair next month. Here is the folder I made for it. I don't do scrapbooking, but simply love lots of the cards and papers and accidentally have a little stash growing ...

I did some random (very!) stitching around a couple of the flowers on the card, then roughly traced a flower onto vliesofix, backed it with silk and ironed it on. Made the ties from the same torn silk, with organza embellished on top, tulle underneath and all stitched together - then beaded at the ends. I'm quite happy with it - hope the winner will be too.

2010-03-19T19:35:00.000+08:00

Pic sizes
Apologies for some of the pics being so HUGE when you click to enlarge. I'm working on fixing the problem ... cheers, Cait

2010-03-18T21:36:00.003+08:00

St Patrick's Day
The three musketeer sewing gals came to my place yesterday and as it was such an *occasion* I made an Irish Whisky Cake. I don't usually like whisky, but somehow when it's mixed with apricots, prunes, cranberries, roasted almonds and hazelnuts, with orange and lemon rind all melded into a cake - it tastes delish!

We played a little Loreena McKennitt while we stitched ... and my thoughts drifted to my dear old Irish father, born in Dublin and buried on this day 32 years ago.

Postcard
Moving right along ... my friend Anne at creative textiles *gave* me this gorgeous book, as a special surprise. Thank you Anne!

I decided to suprise her with this ... she should get it in the post tomorrow. I can't wait to hear.

And ... this year we are splitting into mini groups again to discover and pursue new techniques. It was Marg's great idea to work through the Stitched Postcards book.

Each of us will create three postcards covering these chapters: architecture, landscapes, vintage look, real flowers, new fabric, water-soluble materials, inspirations form nature, felting with the sewing machine, Iron-on transfer paints, silk paper, tyvek, melted fabrics ... and a storage box. Marg will do the storage box as she's the box/containers queen :-)))

Once all the postcards are completed, they will be put in the storage box and presented to the rest of the group with the book. How clever is that? I'm almost orgasmic with wanting to start!!!

2010-03-14T16:28:00.006+08:00

Currently enjoying ...
this great story by Maeve Binchy, set in 1950s Ireland.

I started this book earlier in the month, but put it aside briefly while I read Lunch in Paris (see post below), which was impossible to put down! With lots of humour and a large serving of not taking herself too seriously, Elizabeth's story appealed to me; a bit of a cupboard romantic and foodie to boot - it ticked all the boxes.
Although EB is *not* my new best friend, I wanted to find out more about her and discovered she has a DELISH blog. Well, there was just no going back - see right >>> Bon appetit!

PS
Also see India Flint at right >>> for some textile delish-ness!

2010-03-12T14:49:00.008+08:00

Ta daaaa ... two F words in one week!
*Finished* another bag! I had such a lovely jam-packed baggie, there was enough fabric to make this grab bag ... see Secret Santa swap post below.

Grab bag front (noshi design)

Back (stylised dragon)

Finished back

Finished front!

2010-03-09T07:40:00.004+08:00

Two birthdays

Happy birthday BARBIE and ROS - born on the same day!!! Only their mother can tell them apart. We'll have to do tea and cake soon ... have a great day Ros, xo