stuff and pracrastinating

I have been spending most of my time (which is after dinner) working on my dragon fly table runner. I am very pleased with myself./happy with the result/chuffed with the nearly finished item - take you pick. All that is left to do now is finish the edge. I elected to bottom hole it and all that is left is to cut away the surplus fabric. Because it is a very course linen the buttonholed edge has gaps, so, before I cut I am going to 'fray stop' the edge - i do want to use it as a runner on my table. Means I will have to clear my table first. When it is done I will put a photo up - should be by next week.

In the mean time I am facing dead line for an art quilt for an exhibition in St Vincent's Hospital Exhibition Corridor. I have know for months and I have consistently baulked at doing it. I can't understand why. All that it requires is to big stitch quilt it - it doesn't profit me to avoid doing it - which I have done by finishing the table runner.

I shouldn't chastise myself too much though - I have been busy with other things - caught up in arrangements for two exhibitions in November at the local library for a challenge organised for members of the Embroiderer's Guild NSW to sync with Breast Cancer awareness and a major exhibition at the end of April next year.

I missed going to Stitches Plus last week as some of my family was visiting - three generations of women in the one house - must say I enjoyed it immensely. Because the family is scattered , and the children are now young adults family get togethers don't happen that often. So any get together, even if it is not the full complement is enjoyed I normally don't put photos of people up but in this case I am going to - I am enormously proud of their personal achievements and love them madly. The women are my daughter, my sister , my mother and I.

Oh, and there was an amazing dust storm over Sydney on Monday - I rely on the sun to wake me up but there was none so to speak - I took a photo from our front door when I got up a bit after 7:00 am. This the church directly opposite:

Cheers all - must go and try and clear up some of that dust that flew in on Monday ... and avoid that quilt just a little bit more.

playing and experimenting (and having fun)

I recently bought 'Stumpwork dragonflies'by Jane Nicolas. I have a couple of her books - for me they are a bit like top end cook books - I drool over the pictures and then put the book back on the library shelves. Jane had an introduction about study and sources that inspired her - and an adaption of a dragonfly which tempted me to do a style of embroidery which I have avoided/evaded/said was say too hard (but attracted me) for way to long. Anyway, to cut a long story short I bought some very course linen and had a go. I did the dragon flies first and then looked out some black work filler patterns on the net and here is a table runner in the making. I am quite chuffed with myself.


At the opposite end of the embroidery spectrum I have been playing with papers ( bond, brown paper and mulberry paper) and have created a collage which I will hand and machine sew into and see what happens. I previewed my collage on the fridge door -

I am continuing to play with postcard sized fabric and paper collages as well - all are still in the making and I will post a few of them up next week.

I haven't been to sketch club so no drawings this post!

Cheers

playing with pattern

I had a wonderful morning with Stitchers Plus on Saturday - we played with pattern. It is addictive. I did some more on Sunday and a bit on Monday night.

First I chose a drawing I did a while ago and printed it out in black and white:



Then I copied it, cut it up to create a kaleidoscope (needed some gentle help at this point - thanks Robyn), pasted it in my book , and then I painted it when I got home.
I also cut up a square and did a repeat pattern and painted it too



I now have lots of lovely patterns and can sidetrack myself forever and not actually do anything in cloth if I am not careful!

I went to sketch club on Tuesday - Jenny - I have moved on from bottoms and graduated to breasts. A new model I hadn't drawn before - I seemed to be in the wrong spot in the room last night- all the poses seemed to be foreshortened.


cheers all

more of the same

I have been stitching but it takes a bit of time for the result to come to light.

I have also been going to sketch club - this is a 10 min sketch from a couple of weeks ago. I keep promising myself I will go back and work on it some more but time has passed and I think the moment is gone.

I am back working on Daintree Dreaming but an hour of work gives me about an inch of coverage so it will be a while before I have much to show.

drawing and sewing again

Not that creative in the stitching line but very good for the soul. Been working on a small canvas which will become a footstool when done. It has been good to do this before venturing into the big portrait piece I intend to do - my tension has been all over the place and thread a bit thin in places. And yes, before you say anything, I have been working this free in my hand and don't have the canvas taunt which does affect the tension - I will need to block it before it becomes a little stool.

I got to sketch club for the first time in over a month. My drawing is progressing. The one above needs more work - I forgot to take a paper stub with me and the charcoal needs to be worked more. But what I was pleased with was the fact that I actually got the hint of feet. I avoid hands and feet like the plague as I find them so difficult. It is interesting looking at what you do after it is photographed - it shows there is lots of room for improvement!!!

I have been looking at paintings by Hunterwasser and have been inspired by his use of colour (not that that is reflected in the above) and will have a play with colour and shape -maybe play with a paper collage. I am trying to encourage myself to play with colour but seem to run out of time and energy. In fact, I am off to have a little snooze once I have done here.

texture - sea and shore

Every where I look I see something that I would like to capture in cloth; in this instance - a coral reef, its marking light and the trunk of a fallen coconut tree .

stitchers plus

I went to stitchers plus yesterday - not everyone was there - however, i missed last months meeting and it was good to catch up. Apart from a bit of drawing when i was away last month i haven't actually done much.

I have been think though and yesterday I was able to blow up a photo and draft a basic cartoon of a photo of my sister and I which I propose to work in canvas.

This is the photo which I printed out in black and white:

Here is the cartoon:

I selected threads for the skin tones, marked the canvas and attached it to stretcher bars. I should have a little show and tell by next month