simple stitching

Tempted by a packet of iron on vintage patterns at a trash and treasure sale ...  I practiced my stem stitch and had a couple of pleasant evenings.   All things being equal the mushroom stitchery will end up as a tea cosy. 

The design has a lovely sweep to it.  In the end I wished I hadn't  stitched the beetle but it was part of the iron iron pattern and you could see it marked on the fabric.  

The apple also has a lovely roundness to it and I will make a table runner or wall hanging.   The apple is quite large and sits at one end of the fabric.

My poor photography doesn't do the fabric justice.  It has lovely red rust streaks through it after a day of play at bush dying using red gum bark.

Of course I had to stitch the pears - I will post a photo at some stage.  Not sure what I will do with them - maybe make a pot holder like in the one on the packet?

It was a pleasure to stitch these simple designs and gave me time to contemplate questions of composition and design, what works and what doesn't.   It reminded me that I really enjoyed circles, swirls and spirals and how stitch  them when I doodle with a needle.

Cabarita Park

I love the colour palette from the beach - sand, black stones, white shells, rust streaks in the rocks, gull grey and moss greens on the rocks.   One day I  will remember to take my embroidery colours card down with me so I can match these colours to threads.

Vale Shirley

I have been very quiet here this year - my mother was very ill  and passed away on 13/3/13.  Sad and glad all in the same breath.  Mum had a chronic illness and I am sure it was her iron will, strength of character and the especially loving care she received from my sister and her family that kept her going for so long.

I originally started this blog to show Mum what I was up to in my creative play. Mum lived 9 hours drive away.

Family and friends gave Mum a great send off and now it is time to get back to the real world of work and play.  That's not to say we will forget though - fond memories will remain.

introduction to altered books

I have just done a wonderful workshop with Karma Bains at the Embroiderers' Guild NSW on altered books.  I went with a couple of books, fabric, threads, many buttons, same papers and drawing & painting paraphernalia.   I could have saved myself half a car load by not taking the sewing stuff - I didn't use it at all ... but now I know how I can.

The book I worked on was very slim volume on needlepoint.  Not much has survived.

This is the first page I did.  I kept the grids and text on the page but crossed out the text I didn't want and circled what I wanted to keep - it sort of worked.   Karma had an example where he had worked through a fictional novel and backed out anything she thought not relevant and created a bare bones story.

The following pages have less and less of the original book.  I stamped on the next page , crossed out text and covered the facing page with some Japanese text.

This page was painted with ink which gave it a shiny look - I really liked the brush marks.  The tea pot was cut out of another book and the droplets stenciled on using acrylic paint.  There is still a little bit of text vaguely visible.

This page has sheet music pasted on one side and slightly coloured with water colour crayon.  The facing page is a paper napkin (well a 1/4 of one) and a piece of text cut from a magazine and kindly given to me by a classmate.

I have to say I am hooked and look forward to working on the balance of the pages and the cover which currently looks like this:

Hopefully I will get to work on it on the coming weekend.

Cheers for now.

Bush Dyeing

Happy New Year :-)

Did you make any resolutions?  Mine was to do more art in any medium.  We have been away since 27/12/12 and I packed my threads, sketch pad etc and, true to form have not done a lot but sit and stare out the window!  2012 was a busy year.

Amongst my planned activities was some bush dyeing.(I have seen some beautiful pieces of cloth dyed and embroidered by the Wagga Wagga Group of the Embroiderers' Guild NSW).  I have been at my sisters in Central Victoria for the last week and natural resources are at my finger tips. This also the view from the deck!

It's no wonder I have been sitting looking.  The water attracts no end of bird life and it has been a joy to sit and watch them fly in early in the morning and in the evening:

The heat has been punishing and I haven't really ventured out to collect material - not to mention that I was going to conduct this activity outside and it has been way too hot to do so.  However,  I collected some back which had fallen at the base of a Red Gum and allowed it to steep in the sun for a day or so and put a bit of unbleached calico and some silks in to the solution and here is what I ended up with:

I also bundled a piece up like a sausage and got what I thought a better result:

I also threw in some Jap silk, something called craft silk and a couple of old place plats my mother had tucked away.

I also put some beetroot peelings in a pot and, after boiling it up for 30 mins, threw in a bit of unbleached calico.  I think I would have got a better result with bleached calico.  I ended up trying to over-dye it with some of the bark solution out of the dye pot.

I guess the challenge is now to do something with the pieces of fabric ...

Cheers for now...

postcards from paradise

I have been working on a small series of postcards inspired by a holiday in the Cook Islands a couple of years ago.    They are to form part of a travelling exhibition with Stitchers Plus next year.

It is great to work on a small context but any thing that is not right really sits out to me.  I think I spent as much time ripping this little piece as I did stitching it.  

I am trying to use stitches that I saw in the embroidered quilts that are traditional to the Cook Island ladies who do such amazing work.    There is an earlier post on tivavae if you are interested in seeing them.

Cheers  

looking at lines in nature

Taking a walk is always an adventure.  Sometimes what I see can be overwhelming  in terms of pattern and line.   These photos are from a National Park near Shepparton, Victoria.  The sun was strong and the sky was very blue and clear.