25 - 1 - 25 , pomegranates and doves

January is nearing the end
but I've been busy stitching on a new Stitch Club piece,
a workshop by Dijanne Cevaal
For many years now I've seen her work,
but never was able to do a workshop with her
(until now !)

The lino printing was fun !
I had all the materials at hand so that was no problem, just finding a design
A book I was reading solved that.

Finished, but not yet mounted on a canvas (30 x 30 cm)

I did a try out of my first prints on tea bags
and that gave me the fun opportunity to flip them over
because the print was on both sides nearly as good.
The piece of fabric I choose was too white so I painted it
with the textile paint I bought last year in Rijswijk.

Hmmmm a bit simple those four separate prints

Then  solution was cutting more prints to make a kind of border,
some of the lino and some of the thicker soft blocks.
The good part of using the blocks is that you can cut out
the shape on the outside as well !
That's handy if you have to make a weak print twice :
because you can place it at exact the same spot.

There was only one rather big problem :
I did the stitching with perlé thread (8) as Dijanne had suggested,
but my hands didn't like the difficult process of pulling
the needle through the fabric . . .

That's why I changed to the thinner perlé 12,
less impact of colour but much easier to work with !

Well, I still had my doubts about the polka dots fabric
until some sweet Stitch Club member told that they reminded her
just of pomegranate seeds !!!!!
Ohhhh . . . YES, why hadn't I thought of that myself !
And the pink colour ? Also pomegranates !

a bird and planets

It took quite some time,
but finally my bird is finished.

a kingfisher :
once seen as a blue blur sweeping over the nearby water
but now in all is beauty on the wall.
(20 x 20 cm)

What a lovely STITCH  CLUB workshop it was by
Yvette Phillips.

Not only a great textile artist but also a good teacher !

 For the first time I followed her lead
and put the fabric on stretcher bars in stead of in a hoop, before stitching.
At first I wanted to work on plain coloured linen
but in the end I found a suitable fabric in my stash
(though I used the backside !)

step by step
with my loyal phone always near !

(this photo came from the "Forth Rivers Trust" in Scotland)

Sad to say that this Alcedo atthis is, like so many other creatures
on the RED list !

*

Today, or rather tonight,
there was a special occasion in the night sky !

In the east, a beautiful bright full MOON
"at seven a clock" a bit down was MARS

between "one and two" much further away was JUPITER

and then in the south west was the lovely evening star VENUS
with, just to the left of it SATURN !

(haha, I tried to take some pictures
but judging by the lack of them here, you know I failed)

a start

Ohhh yes, a LATE start, but a start it is !

Is it still okay ?
(hmmm . . . but I do it anyway)

I wish all of my friends out there
A  JOYFUL,  HEALTHY  AND  CREATIVE
2025

We had a wonderful end of December :
a lovely dinner party
(with me wearing my necklace and earrings)
lots of presents, some homemade
(and I forgot to make photos before wrapping and now they're gone)
some stitching started
for Yvette Phillips' wonderful Stitch Club workshop.

The not so fun part of that stitching is,
that my arthritic hands aren't getting any better,
so it takes quite a long time before I'm finished
though now I'm nearly there !

(but now have to wait for some new floss first)

Today was another stitching day
but : in the waiting room of the hospital
(Man had to have another small surgery in Rotterdam,
and yes, all is well)

A few stitches on my Kingfisher
(till thread ran out)
But I had also two more birds to sew together
out of white cotton (old bed sheet !)
They are finished now, but my hands protested in the end.

Tomorrow I will be filling them and then I'll paint them
just like the little Xmas presents !
(will take photo's this time !)

The idea for this came from
Judy Coates Perez
and I'm deeply grateful for that !

quiet (but busy)

 It has been quiet here on my blog.
That happens sometimes
(especially after my busy Pinktober month !!!)
But I can say that I wasn't idling my days away !
(although I did a lot of reading)

There was another "(Un)perfect 10 gram" meeting at the end of November
We had to work in black
and the motto was "facing black"
with a bit of sparkle, or lights.
I must say I have no problems with that colour
(I'm often wearing it)

Like always we had a fun meeting 
with lots of inventive products.
I made a black "Möbius" ring
but still have to make a little video to see it best.

In November we also had a new Stitch Club workshop that I took part in : stitching on metal
but
I only did a try out on paper
(and skipped the metal in the end)

Then I was busy making our Xmas/New Year cards for this year.

COLOUR AND GLITTER !

(and I made some presents BUT those are still a secret !)

Then, after we had a fun party celebrating the Dutch "Sint Nicolaas",
I could start with a brand new Stitch Club workshop
by Tina Marais

Because my hands are not in the best shape at the moment
I wanted to make something small first.
(so I had 8 cm to work on instead of the suggested 40 !)

The imagined "seed pod" I made from (poly) felt
and some plastic beads.

But this left me wanting more   :-)

and I took the original idea, though still working "micro" !

One down, one to go

When the "further development" came for something wearable
(which I did already . . .)
my choice went to

felt
(and my own design)
 

Nearly finished

And with lots of seed beads stitched on I have now a lovely set that goes together

Happy !
Thanks Tina Marais for the inspiration !

final result for PINK RIBBON !

"Pinktober" 2024
is over for a good week
in which I finished a few extra Textile Jewels
and sent all of them on their way to their new owners !
(two more in the mail on Monday)

It always takes a bit of time
before I can announce it :
the final result for my
Pink Ribbon Challenge
of this October !

   DRUM  ROLL   

€  900,-

Yeeeeeah !!!

I know
I worked hard for it myself
but I wouldn't have been able to reach this
without the help of all my wonderful customers
(and I even received some donations
without a Textile Jewel !)

A very BIG THANK YOU to

LOTTE, ELKE, MADELON,
SUZANNE, SANDRA
SHARRON, SILKE
MARTINA, SYLVIA, LARISA,
NAYLSA, SIMONE,
JOLAN, JOKE, GILA,
TWINK, SUSANNE, MORAG,
GONNIE, ALLISON,
BIRGIT, MAGGIE,
ANN, JANE, MIRANDA

(not 31 names, because several people
snapped up more than one Textile Jewel !!!)

Thank you, each and everyone of you
that you supported me
to achieve this great result
for this, sadly very necessary, cause !

day 31, the last PINK RIBBON Day !

Because I was stitching this morning
on the VERY  LAST (RED) jewel of this month
I thought it was indeed a RED day.

When I stand before the closet and look what to wear that day
I often have a feeling about what colour I should wear.
It can be "definitely not that one"
or, this colour or that one . . .
but today I was totally sure it was RED
(hmmm, though I don't have a "middle" name
when I would have . . . it should be "Colour" :
you can see it in my art, my clothes and even my shoes !)

My PINK RIBBON Textile Jewel
for day 31 :

a wet felted hollow circle pendant with a felt bead
stitched with wool, cotton, silk
and some sequins many seed beads
on an adjustable wax cord
(9 x 6cm,  3,5 x 2,4")

For a donation
of at least

 € 15,- 

SOLD  !

this wonderful warm pendant can be yours
to keep for yourself
or to give away to someone you love.
Just send me an email at
  fiberrainbow@gmail.com  
(or tell me in the comments below)
and all the following steps will be explained.
Bank or Paypal
(+ postage)

ALL the money you donate will go to PINK RIBBON !

  "FIRE"  

NO
tomorrow you can surely come here, oh yes
BUT
no more new Pink Ribbon Textile Jewels will be here
because this is the very last one !

day 30

. . . and now, the end is near . . .

It is the penultimate day of the month
which means the second to last Textile Jewel that will be here this time.

The colours of my last felted circle were so spring-like
that I couldn't help but respond to it !!!
Besides
we here have autumn
but the southern part of earth
celebrates spring !
(don't know if they have Bluebells over there
but that equals "spring" to me)

Here is my PINK RIBBON Textile Jewel
of day 30 :

a wet felted circular pendant, stitched on two sides with cotton
another felt circle and some seed beads,
on an adjustable homemade cord
(8 x 5cm,  3,15 x 2")

For a donation

of at least

 € 15,- 

SOLD  !

this sign of spring can be yours.
And wouldn't it make a lovely present for someone dear ?

You just need to send me an email at
  fiberrainbow@gmail.com  
(or tell me in the comments)
and all the following steps will be arranged.

Bank or Paypal

(+ postage)

ALL the donated money will go to Pink Ribbon !

  "BLUEBELLS"  

One more chance tomorrow !!!
To find a Pink Ribbon Textile Jewel here !