new beginnings

The "Diaries" class over at Jude's

(which isn't really a class in the normal way)

has started this September.

And now, after finishing the Wedding piece and the Warm Heart,

my hands are finally "free" to start on something new and b i g

And I mean literally b i g, like a blanket,

which is nót the size I normally prefer !

In fact I bought some lovely thick cotton ikat fabric last year.

This fabric I want to use  in a way

that you still see part of the "ïkat" on either side.

(because I also want it to be double sided) 

So I unearthed it from the back of a drawer

and the rainbow colours,

that were still pinned on around the moon,

go just fine with my latest plans for it !

On the other side there will be a lot of butterflies

of which I still had some left

from the Patchwork Beasts class, two years ago.

Lots of new butterflies are being pieced

by the machine, and than the seams basted in Jude's way,

with all the lovely tiny dimples at the right side.

outdoors and indoors

Last week there was a lot of noise outdoors :

it turned out to be

the noise of a chainsaw

(which makes me nervous most of the time)

Some man were busy on the little island

right on the other side of the water next to our garden.

I looked in terror :

Would they really ? ........ Noooo !

the gorgeous weeping willows

In a devastating trapeze act

the man were decimating the two trees

untill ...

there were only two pitiful remnants instead of

two majestic trees

( "it will be for the best" the Parks Department will probably say ... yuk !)

This tiny creature gave me more fun :

Lissotriton vulgaris (a newt)

he (or she) was hiding with another sibling and mum under the geraniums

(but the picture of the three of them wasn't sharp enough)

*

And indoors the stitching on the sunny heart piece went on and on ...

After all the "sun rays" were there

(in rainbow colours)

the magic thread was stitched in place.

Which left me only with the invisible basting of the backside

which I did today !

 

"A warm heart"

will be send of to France tomorrow

 to a very dear friend

(and namesake)



spirals .....

The center of the oldie - piece 

that I started stitching on again now has 

a finished spiral of  

threads

where there was originally a spiral of a strip of

fabric

Then there was today this lovely soft spiral

!

Huh ?

That's my belly button !

(Yes ! isn't it great ?)

And last but not least

there was daughter's just finished shawlette

in cobalt blue Malabrigo lace yarn

with tiny glass beads

showed of in a spiral

(Ha, but nothing spiralled out of control !)

Not even this little disagreement :

she seems to ask : don't you agree, he is being a bit selfish ?

... she gets in v e r y  carefully ...

and she nestles herself on top when he doesn't move over

mmmmmmmmmmmmm

cats ! 

sunny !

Three days ago already

(sorry I'm so late Karen)

I received my first little felted piece

of our felting-circle



The theme I have chosen for our felt exchange is

SUNNY

I think Karen did a wonderful job to capture this word in felt

(she said she added a little brown to all the yellows 

because she likes the autumn sun)

On all the felted pieces I've seen so far (including mine)

stitches were used on the felt, and even beads sometimes,

to make the piece more lively.

The fun part is, that stitching on felt is so easy :

all the odds and ends can be hidden inside the felt

 so you don't see anything on the backside either.

*

Because I badly needed to de-clutter the part of the livingroom

where I put down all the stuff I'm "working on/with" 

(which mainly results in making neat stacks)

I found an "oldie" w.i.p. 

from one of Jude Hill's cloth weaving classes

that could also de classified as

SUNNY

And, while I'm not yet ready to start on my intended bigger project

for Jude's new "Diaries" series,

I picked up this one again

.....

the "couching" stayed but for the spiral I have another idea, so :

to be continued

...

exchange

The Sara Lechner's workshop some weeks ago,

had a nice follow-up

with the women I befriended there.

One of them planned to make a "felting circle"

with a group of twelve.

Every month you make a little felted piece

(only 10 x 15 cm)

for one of the group and you send it to her.

And every month you receive a little felted piece.

Each of us had chosen

a theme,

or perhaps some colours,

that you would like the felted piece to be about.

My first assignment was

"Delft Blue"

( Delfts Blauw )

Well, that was easy, at least ... part of it was.

I love the colour blue

... but ...

how to catch that refined way of painting 

you see on Delftware vases or plates ? 

Making delicate motives with wool fibres is far from easy

and on top of that the original piece shrinks a lot !

I took some needle felt to start with and used the "Bergschafwolle"

ánd a felting needle to held the motive in place.

Then the rest was fairly simple : rolling in bubble wrap ...

till the good size, and then ready to rinse out the soap

But ....

I still thought something was missing

So I took my needle and embroidery floss

and stitched some fine lines to highlight the motive

That's more like it : Delft Blue !

The envelope went in the mail this afternoon

so tomorrow the surprise will be on someone's doorstep.

(Mmmmm, exciting to wait : I know my surprise is on it's way too )

amazing empty shell

It is probably not often

that you find something like this
because it's easily blown away by the slightest breath of air

I saw it when I had my lunch

while sitting on the steps that lead to the water

at the back of our garden.

This photo doesn't show

how  t h i n  and  t r a n s l u c e n t  it really is

A big dragonfly (I think) struggled from this tight shell that he lived in

as an under-water creature

in the first stage of his life

There is only a small hole between the head and thorax

Wow !

só glad man invented zippers !!! 

*

And furthermore :

I started stitching again on the "old" wedding piece

I put a piece of cotton batting behind the protruding top side

(to make it more firm)

and cut it after I secured the outer edge with tiny stitches

(mmmmm ... all thanks to Jude's beginning class)

two little friends

Felting is almost all I get done at the moment

(not that that is bad)

and it's clear that I didn't buy at Hawar 

all the colours that I "need"

Of course I can  use another kind of wool

(of thát I have enough)

but I've noticed

that the "Bergschafwolle" is very good

when making figures !

This is Katy the Cat all finished

and looking around in the garden

(standing by my late-blooming Allium)

Two days ago

she was still swimming in a vinegar bath

and later drying on the kitchen counter

(still without eyes)

But she needed her little friend Beaky Boo to join her !

So I googled,

found lots of pictures of Puffins,

and made a little sketch to remember him well

which really came in handy

.....

(well you see : he LOVES to play hide and seek ...)

but Katy loves to play along with his games ...

that's what friends are for !

*

(And, o joy, Jude is starting up some teaching again

hope I can find some time to work along !!!)