donderdag 27 september 2012

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.


dinsdag 25 september 2012

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)


zondag 16 september 2012

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 ! 

vrijdag 14 september 2012

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
...

maandag 10 september 2012

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 )



dinsdag 4 september 2012

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)



zondag 2 september 2012

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 !!!)