maandag 28 februari 2011

and yet .... another one

Oooo ... I know
was going to stop
with my felted circles
but
they're kind of addictive
as are the tiny crochet flowers :
trying another colour combination ...
or another yarn ...

So I did yet another circle
( bad coloured photos by lamp light ... )

this time the right colour, by daylight lamp !


The last few days were gloomy and it rained off and on :
good days for stitching,
but : spring was in the room already ! 

a bit of spring by nature

a bit of spring by me

zondag 27 februari 2011

variation

It isn't easy to do the "same" thing
over and over again
that's why I try out variations


( ... very sweet ... )
...........
or

I just start something else.
I might abandon my felt circles a bit
and go back to my bigger felt / fabric and
Jude's CWB class

woensdag 23 februari 2011

another colour

Here are some more of my felt circles,
it's so nice to pick a colour
and decide what to embroider on it !

Right now I'm making backings
for which I choose a fabric that fits in
with the colour of the felt

This one is the smallest
and definately a brooch
( I attached a safety pin )
 I'm thinking of Cherry Blossom

Spring !

Blue Lagoon

maandag 21 februari 2011

blue night

The dark blue felt circle 
had to become
night

First I added one of my little silk moons
The silk, spotted (sugar sirup) in blues and purple,
was dyed years ago but always kept apart
for something special
......
now I've used it several times already

Because the silk is very thin and was stitched 
about 1 mm from the edge,
I thought it would be best to "cover" it
with some branches
(some left over of the socks)

... and there was some space left for my
"night beast"

the owl

Stuffed
(with a bit of lavender and batting)
a fabric backing
and beads
ready to wear as a necklace
or
hang on the wall



zondag 20 februari 2011

seahorses

Because it was Stitch'n Bitch day we went
to Rotterdam yesterday.
I didn't do much knitting though
but mainly stuck to embroidery :
 I had my little felted circles with me
and added some stitches.
We had a joyful morning together
and my friend showed her finished felted bag
which looked really wonderful !

The colour of the circle
determines what I will embroider upon it.

The two turquoise ones reminded me of the sea
and because I liked the seahorses
I did in "Octopus's Garden"
I made some more

close up

Today I started on the dark blue circle :

NIGHT



donderdag 17 februari 2011

something else

I've slowed down a bit for Jude's class :
it's such a frenzy with so many people posting
about the wonderful stuff they're making ...
I needed some time-out :
that's what the felting is for


I made several little circles,
playing with colours was lovely
and some Wensleydale curls and some silk ...
making "perfect" circles isn't that easy


I want to embellish them
with embroidery, beads, sequins, fabric and crochet

 one !
......
looks like it's finished,
don't know yet


And of course there is still my February felt / fabric

... some magic thread ...

and :
a full moon tonight
                  

woensdag 16 februari 2011

no end

... a circle has no beginning
and no end ...
 and there's no end to the all the different ways
to fill a circle when you're drawing ..

Man has been very busy again !

a bit from someone else and a bit from him ...


trying out different colours ...

pens or pencils ...

or just inspired by some beautiful strange photo !

Playing with forms and colours
intriged by the boundaries
of a circle

zaterdag 12 februari 2011

felting day

Yesterday we had a lovely felting day with friends.
They did some felting here before
and one of them is surely bitten by the felting bug !

Felting a bag is a lot of work
so we started early
after coffee and applepie of course.
( Man had a bit of a flu so he retired upstairs,
free from chattering ladies )

The friend brought wonderful Sandra Meech-like
photos for inspiration taken by her husband.

then she picked the colours
and we used a template I made for a bag some time ago
that way she could see how big it would end up.


the a-symmetric flap fitted the design of the photo perfectly


.... with a little help from my friends ....

At four two very satisfied friends went home again

 At home : some rinsing
and then drying, stuffed with towels

And I ?
today I felted a bag too
( and went on with my February felt-stitching )

dinsdag 8 februari 2011

Octopus's Garden

Time to show my finished felt/fabric piece
Octopus's Garden
(of course after the Beatles song !)



It took ages to do the tiniest backstitches along the edge of the wave


Then I cut ( top, batting and backing ) just 2mm
next to the stitching
and left it raw edge which works quite well !



Sequins gave the mermaid a shiny appearance,


the embroidery was fun to do
and everything came perfectly together,
from the seahorses ....

.... to the school of tiny fisch


I started on the new felt/fabric piece :
for that I chose the dark blue felt
I will try to make such a piece for every month of this year
and because it's 2011 
they will all tell "fairy tale" stories !

( 11 = elf = fairy )

zondag 6 februari 2011

blue ... and a bit of yellow

Finally I started on the weaving under tension
which Jude explained to the class.
First I didn't know what to weave on but then I found
an old IKEA photo frame that once fell on the floor
( glas broken and all askew )
I did a bit of repair with some cardboard
glued on all four corners :
perfect!

After ripping many, many strips I could start binding the warp around the frame
On the strips that were not long enough to bind a bow
I sewed on a piece or used a pin

then the weaving could begin

It was really great fun, basting down every strip that was woven.

After one side on the frame was done
I had to untie the bows and rearrange the weaving to the other side,
that was a bit fiddly
but when the warp was tied under tension again
I could continue on the second half

I even found some lace to weave in

Sooner than I thought both sides were filled
!

... and although the day was gray and windy
there was already a little bit of yellow sunshine
in the garden

Winter aconites
( Eranthus heymalis )

woensdag 2 februari 2011

... I'd like to be ... under the sea ...

This morning when I was working on my "sea- felt"
I suddenly had the right name for it :

Octopus's Garden
When I thought about all the animals I wanted to add
an octopus was definitely one of them.
In the left hand corner wasn't enough space actually
... anywhere else .....?

Then suddenly I knew :
the photo above shows you where I put it
( uuum ....him .... or her )

That left me some space for a little oyster
with a pearl of course

The rest of the day I kept humming the song
I couldn't get it out of my head