last february day

On this last day of the shortest month
seven planets in the sky
and a new moon.
(sadly at that moment there were clouds here
though much later there was a beautiful clear sky)

A good moment to show the last Stitch Club workshop
by Darren Ball that I finished,
It was meant to be with a vintage photo as inspiration
but I don't have those, so I chose something else :
good "old" Maisy
(by Lucy Cousins)

My collection of old pictures, we used to adorn the little rhymes with
in the poetry booklets little children (girls) used to have.

Some sketches with possible choices, but in the end I decided on Maisy.

Some extra tulle layers and some machine stitching finished it off.
(though I'm not totally happy with the stitching
and working on the machine)

On to the next work !

"B" for bumblebee

The fun challenge by Yaroslava Troynich
to make an (existing) animal
in any creative way you can think of
had the letter "B" for July.

There were MANY animals to choose from
but for me the choice was easy this time :
the  BUMBLEBEE

Bumblebees live in colonies, gathering food and raising the young.
The queen, that hibernates underground during winter,
starts eating and makes a new nest in early spring.
Females have pollen baskets on the hind legs.
Their long hairy tongue is very useful to reach the nectar
that is hidden deep down in tube-like flowers.
They have a stinger, that does not detach after use,
but they hardly ever sting when they visit flowers
(but DON'T disturb their nest !!!)
Sadly the numbers of these insects too
are decreasing
which is bad for nature, and for us !

I love my garden and I'm always glad to see many insects,
especially the big teddy-bear-like bumblebees !

Years ago I made some wet felted bugs,
but of course I looked at many pictures before starting
this new insect.

The body wasn't a real problem,
but because bumblebees have these sturdy hairy legs
I chose to make them out of felt as well
(instead of the wire that I used for the bugs . . .)

And I can tell you :
that was a really fiddly business !!!

The wings, bumblebees have four,
were made on the machine, free motion stitching on polyester sheer.

Thanks Yara,
it was fun again !

back to Stitch Club

After all this time felting and stitching
for my Pink Ribbon challenge
I finally have time (and energy) again
to join in with one of the Stitch Club workshops,
this time by Dionne Swift

I've "known" her work
for quite some time and like the way
she uses the sewing machine.
Her way of transforming a landscape
into a line drawing
and later into machine stitch
is far more abstract than mine will ever be,
but I loved the workshop.

The translation of a photo I picked from the net
(thanks, unknown photographer)
in colour, after I first did one in only black and gray.

(I LOVE it when rapeseed colours the edges of the roads

at the end of April !)

The first try

Well . . . colour is more me

And the sunny yellow of the rapeseed
was no coincidence when you see
the bright Ginkgo in our garden !!!

This was last Saturday,

with still a hint of green
. . . . .

today it is golden
and leaves are falling already !

day 26 ( . . . and 55)

 Today :
a day
just as sunny
as that same day
55
years ago
. . . . . 

(and still going strong)

So no coincidence that,
when I found two water soluble stitched hearts
(in the same bag as the snowflake)
I knew exactly when and on what to use them !

My PINK RIBBON Textile Jewel
for day 26 :

a two sided pendant, with water soluble hearts on one side and
a machine stitched fabric collage on the second,
with seed beads on the edge,
on a textile bead and with an adjustable homemade cord

For a donation
of at least

 € 15 

SOLD  !

this token of love can be yours
to keep and cherish
or to give to someone dear.
You just need to send me an email at
  fiberrainbow@gmail.com  
or tell me in the comments below
and we'll arrange the rest.
Paypal is possible and easy.
(+ postage)

ALL  you money goes to PINK RIBBON !

 "SWEETHEARTS" 

Tomorrow???
There will be a new Textile Jewel for you.
See you then !

day 16

 What a swell party
with drinks and plenty of sweet and savory food.
(not too many people, but really fun !)

This morning I was busy with the last cleaning bits
(ohhhh . . . throwing a party is a good reason to clean up
because I'm NOT really a cleaning type !) 
And of course busy with stitching !

My PINK RIBBON Textile Jewel
for day 16 :

a machine stitched wet felted leaf and a water soluble leaf,
stitched with variegated rayon and some seed beads.
(7 x 4 cm,   2.75 x 1.55")

For a donation of
(at least)

  € 15  

SOLD  !

this bright autum leaf
can colour your garment
(or that of a friend, sister, mother, daughter)

You just need to send me an email at
  fiberrainbow@gmail.com  
or you can say so in the comments down here
and all will be arranged !
Paypal is possible and easy

ALL the money is for PINK RIBBON !

  "AUTUMN  COLLOUR"  

I hope to see you again tomorrow
for there will be a new Textile Jewel then !

a rose is a rose . . .

A lot has been going on in Stitch Club
For the last workshop by Cathy Brickhill
a working sewing machine was needed . . .
and mine
came home from the repair shop :
DEAD !
My dear Pfaff 2058 needed a new computer circuit
but sadly, that is no longer available . . .
So there was nothing for it than buying a new machine !!!
There wasn't that much money to spend
for a machine that would be the twin of my old one,
so, several steps back.
But now I'm playing again, on a new Pfaff 610.

Certain things have changed in the build of the machine
and I must say not all changes are improvements !!!
But there is nothing I can do about thát,
so getting used to it is the best option !

Cathy's workshop was free motion stitching
with the use of water soluble stabilizer.
I've used that a lot before
but it is always nice to see what other people do !

So the new embroidery foot on the machine and feed dogs down !!!

The finished rose 

The next flower has more petals !

the front and the back of the finished brooch.

A pansy from the garden was a nice start.

In fact those two flowers were NOT the very first thing I did
because at the start of the workshop there still wasn't a machine !

That's why I gave hand stitching on water soluble a go !!!

In fact this is a bit "harder"
because with a machine you have two threads
that are knotted while sewing.
But with the hand stitching I had to be vary careful
to stitch through the previous stitches :
otherwise you end up with just a tangle of threads !!!
(I used "random cross stitch"
just like I did in the Tiny Portrait. workshop
by Sharon Peoples)

(against the light)

Ha, there were several members of SC
that were happy they could do this workshop in hand stitch
("machine-haters")

thread Thursday

 

day 30

 During this whole month
the workshops of the Stitch Club
continued as usual twice a month
(though not for me of course
because there was little time left for that)

But I liked the work of Vinny Stapley
and her "Wild layers" appealed to me
(I love plants and flowers) 
I didn't choose (green) plants, but flowers : poppies.
I have taken bits of time
to continue the first design I did on the background
of transparent layers of thin cloth and lace.
(pinning it all was okay, but then came the stitching . . . !)

What a coincidence that I finally managed to complete
Vinnie's piece and make a poppy on water soluble
for today's Jewel ! 

My PINK  RIBBON  Textile Jewel for day 30 :

a wet felted pendant, wearable on both sides,
with a water-soluble machine stitched poppy.

stitched with cotton floss and some seed beads,

a few wooden beads and a tiny bell

to remember the poppies in "Flanders Fields"

on an adjustable wax cord.

(9 x 6 cm)

For a donation of at least

€ 15,-

SOLD  !

this poppy-jewel can be yours,

to give away to someone you love,

or keep it yourself.

You just need to send me an email at

fiberrainbow@gmail.com

and we'll arrange the rest there is to be done.

(Paypal is possible and easy

but mind the postage !)

ALL  THE  MONEY  GOES  TO  PINK  RIBBON !

"POPPY"

So now there is only ONE DAY left for you

to purchase one of the Textile Jewels

of this year !!!

Hope to see you tomorrow 

:-)

One of the poppies on the piece for Vinnie Stapley

stitches by machine and hand

This sunny week started

with a "bunting-day"

because our youngest grandson

came to us from school on his birthday !

(special vegan brownies by granddad)

The new backpack as a present needed

a bit of a personal touch !

A bit of sketching,

a trick to transfer it to the felt

and then I took my machine out to stitch.

Here the result ready to insert into the plastic sleeve

in the flap of the bag !

AFBLIJVEN

(Hands off)

One happy boy

*

Because the free challenges of TextileArtist.org are now finished

(and it goes on as a subscription per month)

it doesn't mean that there is no more stitching !

There was one piece in the challenges I liked very much :

blue, and there were lots of leaves in it

and a lot of stitching!

I asked the South-African lady if it was okay

if I used the leaves too.

So on my normal glue-stitched background

I added some leaves

and started stitching as usual.

Done !

(I like the result, though it's not totally mine)

*

The challenge of Christine Chester
was sent to a dear hard working health-care friend,
with 5 older stitched pieces to thank more people.
*

Sunny days

so the garden needs water !

But then

you get something !

Iris germanica

I heard once that you don't have to be too nice to those bearded irises :

we weren't very nice with all the digging for the new fence,

was surprised they even survived ...

BUT

love the result !