kantha with other bits

We have stormy days here.

Yesterday
(on this hopeful day in the US)
we had a birthday boy with hugs from far away,
today a dear friend's birthday, also with hugs from far away :
that's the way birthdays are right now !

After the kantha design was stitched
Stewart gave the new suggestion to also use bits of fabric.

So the first (discarded) design I now used for that.
Reds and pinks, why not


The bit of red silk was "secured"
with interfacing ironed on against fraying !

The original sketch

After this one I still thought that the other sketch
was better suited for it
so e new cut out and more bits of fabric

Bigger bits of fabric and different stitches used too.

It was fun to do in the end
but not really "my cup of tea"

giveaway at last

I already said
that November is slow for me
but now I'm picking up the pace again !

The last Stitch Club workshop
by Ali Ferguson
who told us (in her wonderful Scottish accent) how to make a book from scratch.
(I'm busy, but am not able to show anything : gifts in the making)

I also knitted socks as a present for a dear old friend
(and she doesn't know yet . . .)

And at last there was time to work on the

GIVEAWAY  !

Ten years of blogging went by
but I had to postpone this celebration
because I was simply TOO busy
with my Textile Jewels for Pink Ribbon.

It all started (after reading / following lots of blogs about art and stitching)
with a leap of faith to participate in Jude Hill's online class
"Patchwork Beasts"
Someone in that wonderful stitching community convinced me
that blogging was easy-peasy . . .
(and the rest is history !)

"Stitching is done with the heart"

(+/-  7 x 24 cm)
GIVEAWAY !

   the start                    and                 finished        

There are hearts, one with an indigo dyed striped moon,
on a piece of break-down-printed sturdy cotton,
rainbow kantha stitched,
and a bit of my "magic thread".

You can probably understand why I had to "borrow"
Jude's black-and-white nine patch :
she is the source !

Thanks
(again)
Jude !

If you want to participate in this fun play
please leave a message in the comments.
I will be drawing a "winner"
in about ten days.

Happy stitching to you all !

wordless Wednesday

Vincent's cat

Before the holidays I prepared some small background cloths,

one of them with a cat :

a nine-patch cat

(the dark blue starry piece

is vintage kimono silk that Natima brought with her

when she visited Holland last year.

The cobalt blue stars at the bottom are from

a garment I once bought in Indonesia)

Because I like the "dotted" kantha-stitch really well

I used it in this one too.

Of course this cat became a "Jude" face

just like we learned in the Patchwork Beasts class.

cat in progress

Then, with the cat itself almost done

I started with the surroundings

There were already some random white stars,

but when I started kantha on the background

it occurred to me I could make some stitches perpendicular :

getting lots of tiny stars !

The last few days I stitched inside : 

too HOT to sit in the garden.

But today it was enjoyable to be outside again,

made my last stitches and also stitched on a bit of magic thread.

Making the last "kantha-stars" I thought :

starry, starry night

and then:

"Vincent's cat"

(later it will be mounted on a 20 x 20 cm canvas)

stars and paws

some bits together

After the last post

I owe you the dress for granddaughter.

She really looked lovely in it !

(she has wonderful long hair and made lots of braids in it

just like the lady on t.v.)

(later I just realized it was a dress inspired

by a costume of Daenerys of  "Game of Thrones"

I know of it but don't follow it,

but looked it up )

Of course she needed a dragon ....

Ha, she made one herself,

she's GOOD with crochet !

(she had to sew on the wings and front paws in the car,

driving to the festival !!!)

And this was mum's outfit this time

*

The garden looks rather good now

because we have sun and a lot of rain

(so I don't have to water the plants)

I'm always happy when the

Altea cannabina

starts flowering like a fountain is little pink flowers !

lots of beauties

*

And the ongoing activity these days

is still the stitching on my red / purple piece

(scribbles, like little fireflies looking for a place to land)

... stitching along

   one stitch after another

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)

silk floss

On the Weavers Market in Hoorn last Wednesday

I met again Ien Rappoldt.

Always when I see her on markets

I admire the wonderful things she brought

from her travels to south-west China

particularly from the Miao and Dong people

("click" ... sorry, only in Dutch, but the pictures speak for themselves)

She not only collects beautiful embroidery items,

she learns the techniques from the local people there !

I once bought an original old sewing case

and we have her book about the Miao.

In the old sewing case were still some silk threads left,

but this time I bought a variety of wonderful colours in silk !

Mmmmmmm ...today I started stitching with it.

I had began with a lot of blue scraps

(invisibly basted on a thin backing fabric ... I started even two pieces !)

The small one

(15 x 15 cm)

Love the "dotted" kantha stitch !

This time Ien Rappoldt also had these lovely 

hexahedron good luck charms the Dong people make.

There was a little booklet,

strips of paper and some yarn went with it

so you can make your own !

My first !

(the hexahedron is an origami one,
that was lying around, made by granddaughter)