in time !

Yesterday I finished "November" and I took

a detail picture by the light of my day-light lamp

You see I couldn't help myself :

I hád to give one of the trees a face.

It's a rather sad face ... 

( although a tree thát old must know that shedding your leaves

isn't too bad, there will be lots of new leaves next year ) 

I made the leaves out of the tiniest snippets of fabric and painted tyvek.

This morning I took a picture of the whole quilt.

I based my design on an old Dutch nursery rhyme by Rie Cramer.

When I close my eyes I can see the picture that went with it in the book.

( november, november,

daarkomt een hele vlucht

van kleine gele bladertjes

gedwarreld door de lucht

november, november

de wind zwiept door de takken

ik loop de dorre blaadjes na

maar ik kan ze haast nooit pakken ! )

( lots of tiny yellow leaves are flying through the air,

the wind blows, I run after them, but I almost never can catch them )

With this one now finished I can start with "December"

there will be a lot of stars in it.

( of course "August" is still there ... waiting !

But there are always so many

little projects that come in between ...)

a bit of stitching ... a bit of sauna

"November" is taking shape,

the little trees in the distance are done.

I love how the middle one turned out :

made with a bundle of old embroidery thread

At the bottom I doubled the threads and pinned them down

and devided the ends into branches, big and smaller ones,

then I stitched the lot.

The ends of the threads that were too long

I put in a needle and took them to the backside.

For the big tree in front I tried several strips of brown fabric

At first I thought to piece the trunk between the background pieces

but I decided against it because then the size would not be right

( all the journal quilts are cut the same size : 21 x 30 cm )

I just placed the tree trunk on top of the background

folded it and stitched it down with extra space,

to pleat it down while stitching.

( I still need to think where to put my magic thread in this one )

When the Novemder day is cold and gloomy we always decide

to end it in our warm and cosy sauna.

So that's what we did today.



faces, faces

My original plan was to stop with the October journal quilt

because I didn't know very well how to continue.

Then in the garden, I saw what was left of my New Dawn Rose:

lots of rose-hips in bright greenish orange

 ... then I knew how to go on with the faces !

(not all in a "rosy" mood)

One piece of fabric was replaced by another orange scrap:

and I drew and stitched some faces on a piece of dark blue fabric

like we learned in Jude's "Beasts class"

And here is the finished journal quilt for October

with lots of faces ....  ;-)

Now I could really set my mind on November!

Weeks ago I already made the sketches for November and December

(....and the still missing August ...)

The grays and blues and browns were chosen

and brought downstairs (to accompany the stacks already there)

The pieces for the background are picked but not yet sewn together

for I don't know if I do "patches" or "appliqué"

... probably a bit of both ...

Lately I thought my scissors needed to be sharpened

because it didn't cut very well at the point ....

NOW I'm not so sure anymore ........

( I think I have to ask Jude to "send" me a magic feather )

Here is the start of a little piece of November

It's always hard to judge how big the pieces must be

in order to fit together nicely

( that is: without making a pattern ! )

small stitches

I've always been impressed by the work the Kuna Indian women

( who live on the San Blas Islands, Panama ) are making.

The "mola" is part of their clothing. And although there have

been influences from foreign "conquerors", until this day

they pretty much stick to their own culture in this matter!

Many years ago I bought a mola (which is hanging on the wall)

Mola's are made in "reverse appliqué" with the tiniest of stitches!

( not a very good picture through the glass!)

In the October journal quilt that I'm working on now 

the pumpkin  has a zigzag mouth cut out.

After stitching it I admire the Kuna women even more !!!

I want to add a lot of faces in this piece, and although there are some

already in it I'm not sure yet how to continue.

So probably I will start on "November" ...

 then I'll have a bit more time to think about those other faces.

About two weeks ago I told Sandra that my fabric was neatly stored

on colour

in my IKEA chests of drawers.

I promissed that I would show her how it is

when I start looking for the right colour of fabric to work with.

;-)

(two out of four ...)

But móst of the time I'm working in the livingroom ... which means:

stacks and stacks and stacks on the dinnertable ... or on the floor.

( ... so much for tidiness ...)

  

Jeroen Krabbé

Yesterday we went to the exhibition of the nine

paintings by Jeroen Krabbé 

in Zwolle.

They are about the life and destruction of his 

grandfather Abraham Reiss.

The paintings are big  220 x 150cm,

they are beautiful but their story is horrible ...

it left us in tears

and devastated

and silent

for a long time

(Jeroen Krabbé is a wellknown Dutch (film) actor and also a gifted painter)

someone needs a heart ...

Wednesday in our mandala group I heard someone 

we know is very ill .... again.

There were some leftovers from a cloth I made

 this summer lieing about, waiting to be used.

That was the beginning and I started with a heart ...

now this little cloth is finished and I can bring it to her

On the back I wrote:

...even in dark times love will still be there

(you can see how small it is)

not me this time

When you are are close to someone with specific

skills it can be hard to unfold your own skills

into that same direction.

It is great to follow one's footsteps but it can be frustrating too.

My man never tried drawing because he thought he couldn't,

but lately with enough time on his hands ...

he started with geometrical mandalas

and he loves his new born skills very much!

He is very proud

( and so am I )

and here is September

Today I made the last stitches for September

it was not as much work as I thought it would be.

The weaving worked out quite satisfying and I am confident

for the plan I had for August : also weaving.

The blue bowl is not entirely stitched to the background

so it looks as if the apple is really lieing IN it.

(and I didn't forget the magic thread this time)

 SEPTEMBER

( ... although the colours are not perfect because it was taken

by artificial light, because of the cold rainy day)

Our daughter is very PROUD , because yesterday she finished

her own first-ever pair of  home knitted socks !

(with a little help from ........ her mom)

And you know what :

if she finds another beautiful boll of sockyarn

she might even do another pair !!!

( but first it's back to crochet )

next one emerging

With my July journal quilt finished it's time to go on

to the one for September

( apple picking time )

I already mentioned that I would like to do some weaving in this one ...

... and the next step was to begin with the stitching

A bit later I realized that I forgot to add my magic thread in July !!!

( Jude has her black and white weaving thread that she often uses

to do something magic .... )

Some time ago I found in a stash at school a little ball of very special cotton yarn :

thát became MY magic thread

and I started using it in my first monthly journal.

( so I added a little piece of this to the July Lion ! )

After a bit of working on ... my Baktus shawl is finished.

And again I'm very satisfied how the colours intermingled just by starting

at the beginning ánd the end of the ball and knitting four rows with each end :

MAGIC !

lion

Late yesterday evening my July-Lion was finished.

Today I ironed the backing on and cut it to the right size.

I still haven't figured out how to do the edges on the journal quilts

( probably machine stitched ???)

Till then I have to put them somewhere safe 

O, he is a very fierce LION

standing tall for the month July: birth month of our granddaughter.

( Or is he putting up some show ?

I'm not quite sure about that,

not that it matters ... I like him ! )

The rest of today was for knitting : our daughter is making

her very first ( and probably last ) pair of socks and it goes very well.

She's very proud ... and so am I.

My "baktus" shawl is nearing its end too, it's going faster now

 while I'm decreasing

( I will show the finished  shawl later )

lion stitches

Back again to stitching !

( There is still a lot of knitting on the needles,

 but that has to wait for in between moments )

The lion has its new backing and I am stitching mostly

with my self dyed bambu thread.

It's by far not as smooth as silk or even cotton embroidery thread

but it is strong enough and the colour is exactly what I need.

I love the way the colour slowly moves from yellow to green and back again

I'm really pleased with it !

A gentle yellow-green breeze is swirling through the air 

 The garden is at its end :

almost all those beautiful red and golden leaves have fallen down.

What stays are the memories of flowers :

Echinacea ...

Eupatorium ...

although this litlle Campanula (that flowers for the third time now)

is probably thinking that

the cold days will not yet arrive.