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A new year, a new day

.......

another year, another day

.......

life just goes on and on and on

and

so does the stitching

...

Basting the woven strips of "August" to a very thin backing

Now I will start looking for flowers

(Daughter's socks are finished : just closed the 12 stitches of the toe for her)

last month ( ..... uh, no ! )

In the consternation of describing yesterday's felting failure I totally 

forgot to show my finished December journal quilt

starry, starry night / wintersolstice

winter and summer next to each other

the whole stack together

uh ..... NO

August is still missing !

So, after finishing a belated pair of (christmas present) socks for my daughter,

and a helping hand with another pair that she is knitting herself,

and a felting failure ...

I finally brought together the greens I want to use for August

and started ripping strips for (again) a woven background.

(I didn't have to rip up shirts and boxers like some people do

although the result turned out beautifully,

 look here)

;-)

working on December

With the "Teeth cloth" finished I can go on now with

the December journal quilt.

a small woven star

(woven into the blue woven background)

and stitched !

The big star in the middle got some "magic thread" and .....

a face

 When the face was there I suddenly realized that it looked more like a sun !

Like the "summer solstice sun" in the June quilt !

So this one will be the "winter solstice sun" 

By the way : our sun is just an "ordinary" star

like so many, many, many others ...

(Manya also made a lovely star, with a story !!!)

old beast .... new beast

I started my December journal quilt with a woven background

all in dark blues : the night sky ...

Then I started with the biggest star,

the one that will have 

a spiral heart 

but :

not now!

This is my latest project that HAS to be finished tomorrow :

an old "beast" of Jude's Patchwork Beasts Class 

which I followed this summer.

I made two similar pieces in pale yellow and white

but I didn't know very well how to continue

so they were still lieing about

waiting for Inspiration ! 

A very vague idea for a present was all that was needed.

Some days ago I finally started : about time !!!

(but sometimes pressure works great for me)

A lot of TEETH were needed !

For this will be a present for our dentist, who is retiring from practice.

( I don't like to go to the dentist : there's always some kind of trouble

but ...

HE took away my greatest fear for dentists looooong ago ! )

At first I thought it would be a dog ....

... but then it turned out to be a horse !

You see ? Even the magic thread is already in place !!!

There is still a LOT of stitching to be done

so :

I BETTER GET ON WITH IT !

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 ...)

  

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.

colourful autumn

This is the last day of October and the trees in our garden

are in their most beautiful coloured coat.

It only lasts a few more days like this ... then the leaves

will be dropping slowly, or fast, when the wind starts playing.

The very first "beast" I made in Jude's class was never finished.

The lion was there, looking at me ... I was looking back at him

... and I was not content.

I thought I might know what to do with him in the end.

 I know now ( or: I think I do )

He is to be my "July" journal quilt as intended,

but I started to take off most of the fabric he was basted on

and added the batting I used on the other ones

then it's back to the stitching !!

                                                      



"September" is also taking shape although things can still change.

( I might add some weaving, it's only pinned down)

starting again ...

Finally I'm starting again with my monthly little quilts.

September and October will be next in line.

July and August will be left alone for a bit.

At first I made some simple sketches but that doesn't mean they will look

exactly like this when they are finished, it's merely an idea to start with.

Than I started rummaging trough my stash for the right colours.

( I think I know, but it may change a bit ) 

Then started to put one and one together ... YES ... by hand, that's easier to control.

But.......

are the socks ready, now that I'm starting stitching again ...?

NOOOO .... but only half a toe needs to be finished ... pfffft ! 

( Tomorrow will be a felting day for some friends,

maybe I will find some time to finish the socks then )