day 19

Sometimes
I'm really flabbergasted when I realize
how many hours it takes me to stitch and finish
such small items as my Textile Jewels !
Not only the stitching,
but looking
for just the right coloured thread or beads
. . . . .
(you're lucky you are not paying me by the hour)

My  PINK  RIBBON  Textile Jewel
for day 19 :

a felt triangular box, stitched with silk, cotton and rayon
on a homemade hanging cord
with a little bead charm
(5cm,   2")

For a donation
of at least

 € 15,- 

SOLD !

this cute little box
(which can hold some secrets)
can be yours, to keep, or give away to a dear person.
Just send me an email at
 fiberrainbow@gmail.com 
and the rest will be arranged.
Bank or Paypal
is possible and easy
(+ postage)

ALL the donated money goes to Pink Ribbon !

 "BOX  OF  GROWTH" 

 

I hope to see you tomorrow
there will be a new  PINK  RIBBON  Textile Jewel
waiting for you !

fanny pack

In ten days time we will have another market :
Saturday August 17
10.00  -  17.00

"VERWEVEN"

(in Zierikzee)

This is a special textile market

so I will leave my paintings home

and will take only "textile stuff" with me.

Some time ago

I made these small bags :

bum bag

or

fanny pack

(ha, didn't know that name but I like it)

I started making them

when we visited a medieval feast

and loved those tiny pouches, worn on a belt

for special small things.
here

(nothing like the handbags or shopping bags

we have nowadays)

Time to make some new ones like that.

The first pic has funny colours because is was taking at night,

next one (by daylight) the second colour is added

and the slot for the belt is made.

Decorations on the flap

finished front and inside the flap 

Back of the fanny pack

*

My  QUEEN OF THE NIGHT (Epiphyllum oxypetalum)

has been very generous lately

Though there were even more flowers buds,
in the end as much as 8 flowers bloomed
(not all at once of course !)

In the early evening three more started to open up
(the two at the bottom and one high up
are already from days before)

The next morning all were gone .....

(always hoping for seeds to develop
but never had any luck there)

water .....stitch by stitch

The new piece I started began as a long strip,

a scrap from Connie cut to a quarter circle became the "earth"

for the fern ( that was already on the cloth )

But then I added another strip next to the first one

to make it a square and started basting all of it down.

Some batik fabric with kind of flowers also cut in a quarter circle

and some yellow silk completed the ful circle

I love circles

( It's a bit like Jude's sun / moon, divided into four parts, I realize now )

Then there was the idea of the four elements :

air, earth, water and fire.

In the batik flowers I discovered a stem I could turn into a fish, and another one ...

... and I had a gap to close !

Then all of a sudden the thought "water" came to me !

Water of the sea evaporates by the heat of the sun, forms clouds,

becomes rain and snow and returns to the earth,

where plants get it in order to grow,

and rivers take the water back to the sea again ...

the ful circle

YES

now I had my plan !

And then I also knew for sure : with rain and the sun .....

there had to be a rainbow

( the outline of the "air" quarter is made by thread beads, including the rainbow )

Something else I found

the "megamendung" cloud Jude sent me !!!

( Hmmmm I'm very pleased with it so far )

sanguisorba

I made the felted strap for my blue bag today

It's drying now

and I'll sew it on probably tomorrow

so not much to show.

But in the garden one of my favourites has come back

and has come back beautifully.

The Sanguisorba officinalis was in a place

that wasn't quite right

( at least that's what I thought ! )

so I moved it two years ago to another spot

more in the background because it grows rather tall.

But ...

my Sanguisorba didn't like that place at all :

a few leaves

and that was it !

I was very sorry but didn't dare to re-place it once again.

Last year there was a new smal plant

just where the old one used to be.

This year it has restored itself

( almost ) in it's old glory !

a good one and a half metres high

and waving its dark red flower dots above the surrounding plants

with lots of insects visiting

I will leave it right there

in its own place !

  

last stitches

Sun and clouds today,

enough sun to sit a bit in the garden

with the felted vest.

Time for a few stitches.

Accents only, to bring out the subtle prints

of plants and string that survived

the felting process

The orange that stands out a bit is from a package

of yummy silk things and bits I bought,

the silk embroidery thread

is what I used to tie up the dye bundles,

so it matches nicely.

I also had to think about making a closure.

I took a piece of a stick I found at Dorie's place

and made a nice pin!

( I hope it will last ... )

Okay !

And some stitches on the back ...

... finished.

finally !

Just one week ago that I had my first day (of two)

of Pam's workshop at Dorie's place.

Dorie doesn't live close by

so I was very pleased that I could stay for two nights 

with my long-time friend Anita, and having time to chat too.

( her house is only a five-minute-drive away from Nes a/d Amstel,

so I didn't have to get up really early! )

It was so nice, gathering up with a bunch of creative women

and a lovely teacher in a place where there was

room enough to hold a big party !

Unfortunately the weather was very bad on both days

but inside there was fun !

I'm new to eco-dyeing so I didn't know exactly what plants to bring

but others had enough and would give me some

so there was no problem.

It was kind of magic !!!

but I must say my results could have been better ...

although on the silk they were fine

We all worked very hard and made a lot of bundles :

... a tent full of them !

The next day we had to decide what pattern to use

and to start stitching all the bits and pieces together :

that had to be finished by lunchtime ...

( .... nobody actually was .... )

After lunch some of us started felting.

And now I must confess : I was faaaaar too hasty

and didn't do a very good job.

That's why I wasn't very pleased with the

first fiiting session with Pam ...

... but she gave me a lot of good advice and on I went !

There was a dye pot ready for a final dye of the garment ...

but no one was ready for thát

.....

so Dorie cut up some pieces of her own silk and needle felt

and made good use of it !!!

*

I must say that it took me some time after I got back home

to view the results of this workshop.

And, when I'm completely honest, I had hoped for a bit more colour

that I actually had got ...

( there wasn't very much "rainbow" there !!!) 

Btw, I got some lovely advice from Kaite, for the néxt dyeing session !

( Thanks Kaite !!! )

So after a LOT of hesitating and thinking

I finally finished the little vest today !

yeaaaaaah !

I roughed up the already half felted (!) parts with a woolcomb

( especially the edges that had to be folded over )

and put an extra layer ón or únder them

of the coloured needle felt I still had left.

... it worked quite well I'm glad to say !

Then I did some serious felting

( this time without haste ! )

and finally :

I could try it on !!!

( I don't have a tailor's dummy so I had to be the dummy myself,

wich was nót too nice because it was still quite damp

and although the sun was shining it was quite clammy and cold after a while ....

but now it's drying on the table ...! )

THANKS  PAM

for being such a wonderful teacher !

two lovely days

Pfffffffft ........

Workshops are great !

( but you can get very tired )

Tonight I came back from

a wonderful eco-dyeing and felting workshop
with a bunch of very lovely ladies.

( The weather was lousy those two days and I had

a bumpy ride home through the storm and rain :

boy, what a summer at the moment ! )

The Australian felt artist Pam de Groot

was giving this workshop at Dorie's place.

For Pam this is the last stop on her European tour :

she's flying home to her family next week

after another workshop this weekend.

It was my first true encounter with eco-dyeing but I must confess :

it takes a lot of practice to make something beautiful !!!

The fun was bundling up silk and fre-felt with all sorts of plants,

letting it simmer in a dye bath pot

and unrolling it again ....

Only :

mine weren't very spectacular at all !

.....

I definately need to do a lot of reading about

plants, mordants and other stuff

and then trying again !

( Enough for now, the results I'll show later .... )

a present

When I got home from some shopping yesterday

my garden friend (one of the "quilt sisters") had dropped of a present

quite a heavy one, to be honest !

Two giant garbage bags, though not filled with trash :

there was some big Polygonatum (Salomon's seal),

Verbena hastata and a giant Thallictrum !!!

(one sister is leaving the country, so her garden is emptied by garden friends)

As I have a small garden (which is already overflowing ...)

I had to make some space for these lovely newcomers !!!

That wasn't easy,

but there are always some plants

that get the benefit of the doubt for some time.

But

when something else comes along ...

So I had to do a lot of thinking today

then a lot of digging,

and filling wateringcans,

and filling holes.

Tiring,

but fun !

And ofcourse there were also some creatures to watch

this tiny toad

(there are bigger ones too)

.....

and in the water  

this Great crested grebe

that had a hard time swallowing his/her big-fish-lunch

*

(Tonight full moon : hope there are no clouds like yesterday)