Pink Ribbon . . . day 1

 This is the first day

of my PINK  RIBBON  challenge 2020

Every day there are new patients, women and also men (!)
who have to deal with breast cancer.
They go through fear and hope that this ordeal will stop
and turn into something good, in the end.

For the research into new treatment methods and aftercare
for breast cancer patients Pink Ribbon needs money !

As a former breast cancer patient I know how hard the diagnosis hit,
so I hope to provide support to Pink Ribbon, by making a Textile Jewel
every day of this October month and sell it to one of you,
so in the end we can donate that money !

Here's the  PINK  RIBBON  Textile Jewel for day  1 :

A wet felted flat brooch, embroidered with silk rayon and cotton,
(5.5 cm,  2.2" diameter)

For a donation of

€ 15

SOLD  !

this lovely flower brooch can be yours,
a bit of spring the whole year round,
You just need to send me an email at
  fiberrainbow@gmail,com  
or leave a comment under this post
and everything will be arranged !
(Paypal is possible and easy)

ALL the money goes to Pink Ribbon !

(rain outside, so the pictures taken inside !)

"NIGELLA"

I hope to see you tomorrow
for the next Textile Jewel !

(after five years that people told me I was way too cheap with my jewels,
I finally raised them to my more normal art market price,
but still : ALL the money goes to Pink Ribbon !!!)

a rose is a rose is a rose

This STITCH CLUB week went by

working on a piece for the workshop of 

Sue Stone

The strip-weaving was well known to me

because that was in one of Jude Hill's classes

and gladly I used that more then once

so no problems there.

You could definitely say that Sue

is a portrait specialist,

so on her strip-woven piece she made a portrait.

I thought about that

collected coloured strips 

(which are there in abundance)

.....

but didn't come up with a good idea

WHO

I would want for a portrait

(or too many idea's perhaps)

So I collected a second bit of (different) coloured fabrics

and wove my background.

The idea of the rose was of course there before I chose the pinks,

the rose itself I sketched from a rose on the "web"

Thin paper to stitch through

and three dark enough pearl cottons

that would stand out against the sweet pinks.

Those cottons, thát was one of my mistakes :

my hand (arthritis) ached soon

because of the three layers of my weave !

Here everything looked still all right

(removing the tissue paper gave me the déja vu

of a shredded paper hanky from the washing machine !!!) 

 And I thought the result was a disaster :

the rose simply disappeared !

(I posted it in the group anyway,

if only to show that most of the time you have to try

many times before something good emerges !)

I left it alone for a day or so

and thought about unpicking, stitch or even paint ...

Then

 back to the stitching

(with stranded cotton floss !!!)

and the rose came back to me !

a kiss ?

There was (another) workshop in the STITCH CLUB

by Emily Tull

After observing and stitching the eye in April,

it was the turn of the mouth now.

- Taking pictures

- making sketches on paper

- sketches on fabric

- observing

- stitching.

Again it was asked to use a minimal

colour range.

Black, two grays and white,

or
two medium colours instead of the grays.

I opted for very dark red (no black)

raspberry, a dirty pink and a lighter one

and a very pale pink/beige (no white)

When I was taking the pictures I was tempted to picture 

this widespread bad habit of needlewomen

to put pins in their mouth

(for later, for safekeeping ???) 

Making sketches on fabric isn't easy ...

so I taped both paper and fabric to the window

and traced the sketches.

Sewing thread is used for the stitching

or just one strand of embroidery floss.

(I like floss best)

Mission completed

It was really FUN !

*

Remember that Hippeastrum

in the garden ?

six flowers on one stalk !!!

And it will take only a week or so

and the Allium sphaerocephalon

will be purple all over

100.000 trees

A few months ago

I discovered the art project of

Sara Vrugt

100.000 trees and a threaded forest

She planned to stitch a forest of thread and fabric :

100 m2 embroidered forest

which will hang in a spiral shape on 6 x 6 m

and with a height of 4 m.

One will be able to walk into it

and admire nature.

In addition there was to be a crowdfunding

to raise money for 100.000 real trees

that will be planted in due time :

1000 in The Netherlands

and 99.000 in the tropics

(by "TreeSisters")

During this year of making there would be four different places

where people could join in with the embroidering

BUT

.....

then the covid-19 crisis hit our country too

and all of it came to a halt ......

As an alternative for the delay to embroider the forest

hundreds embroidery kits (with leaves) were shipped.

Unfortunately I just missed going to the first embroidery "studio"

in the library in The Hague ánd I missed the embroidery kits ...

until I saw in the FB group of the project

that someone needed someone else to finish her kit !

The instructions, cheesecloth, pattern, hoop, needle and floss.

I continued on the first beginnings right away

A whole DMC thread on black cheesecloth, front and back

All ten leaves finished, front and back 

The leaves cut out with 0.5 cm around 

(though I didn't have the happiest of colours
I was glad to participate !)

Today they went into the mail to Sara !!!

keeping an eye ...

Sue Stone is an English textile artist

who makes stitched portraits.

Her sons made a special Textile Art site

where they give a stage to their mum

and other textile artists from all over the world.

In these strange times they initiated on FB

a "stitch challenge"

with every week another artist

to teach a tiny online workshop

about their own way with textiles,

starting with Sue Stone of course.

Next was Cas Holmes

and on April 6 Emily Tull

who explained how tho stitch an eye.

I was still busy stitching the piece for my friend

so I saw that video later in the week

....

and it very much appealed to me ! 

One piece finished ... ready to start something new !

For one I start with the end result

But it all started with

1. a photo

(hmmmmm ... hate making selfies : they look bad

and strangely askew most of the time)

2. a sketch (with pencil)

3. tracing the drawing in pen

and 4. the drawing (again in pen) on cloth
(an piece of linen from old trousers)

Hmmmm four "me's"

So not one eye
but both eyes ánd glasses

A collection of blues and grays and skin colours

Five slightly different  reds for my glasses

Starting the second eye.
I had some times five needles in my work
each with a different strand (or two)
embroidery floss



While working on this there were two more challenges :
by Richard McVetis and Emily Jo Gibbs

(so more to stitch !)

day 24

Another Monday in my Pink Ribbon month.

You might know by now that I'm a

"colour-person"

Many different colours

were passing by

these last weeks.

Is gray or white a colour too ?

I think so

The Pink Ribbon  textile jewel for day  24

Brooch made of light gray felt

with a matching back,

embroidered with cotton floss and many many beads

uhhhm ...and one sequin.

(diameter  5 cm)

SOLD  !

€ 10

and this elegant piece can be yours

to keep or to give to someone dear as a present.

All you need to do is send me an email at

fiberrainbow@gmail.com

(or leave a comment down here)

All the money will go to the Pink Ribbon fund

"bight shadow"

Hope to see you again tomorrow

when I show my next Textiel Jewel !

stitching continues

On this last day of July

the weather was good enough

to do some stitching in the garden.

I'm busy with a slightly bigger one

than last time :

20 x 50 cm

( +/-  8" x 19.5")

(I know there are canvases that size,

so I won't have the problem

that I need to make my own

like the 15 x 15 cm ...)

All the scraps in place and

invisibly basted to the hand dyed piece

The back, with the   b  i  g   stitches 

And because lots of scraps were out

(I keep them in colour family in rolls, or plastic bags or small boxes)

there came another one 

(ahhhh, Jackie and Nat might recognize some bits  ;-) ...) 

But I don't know yet what the main colour for the stitching will be :

???????

I put the "red" piece

on some other fabric ... but no

the colours were too "noisy" to work on

(though I know it's meant to be folded under when finished !)

so back to the original piece.

So after I gathered the colours (yes, silks too)

I could start stitching

A long way to go !

blue moon . . .

When I was laying together all the green scraps

for another stitching piece

there suddenly was a blue moon on one of them ...

Well, clearly that was it :

"Blue Moon"

it should be.

(ahhhh ... and that old Blue Moon song from long ago, by Ella or by Billy )

The piece from scratch

(or should I say : from scraps ?)

halfway through ...

working from all sides

And then the finished piece

front                    and                     back

Some more details of the stitching.

Just very simple stitches :

running stitch (kantha or sometimes flat stitch)

and buttonhole stitch

in silk  and cotton or rayon embroidery floss.

Stitching I did outside in the garden,

but when it was too HOT ... I fled inside !

*

B.t.w. garden ...

THIS

is what I'm doing to my New Dawn rose right now :

a severe case of

black spot  !

(I think I'll have to spray, next year ...)

________

But other things are doing great !!!

Perovskia

Thalictrum delavayi

Phlox (Utopia)