day 30

A good downpour is often little appreciated,
when you have to get to school or work or shopping,
or you just wanted to have a garden party . . .
But rain is one of the most important
and life-giving things on earth
and without it : nothing would ever grow !
("and you're never gonna stop the rain by complaining")

A really gray and wet day today
but stitching on my felted base just goes on as usual !

My  PINK  RIBBON  Textile Jewel for day 30 :

a wet felted hollow brooch with some lace inside
stitched with sequins and many many bugle and seed beads.
(6cm    2.35")

For a donation of
(at least)

  € 15  

SOLD  !

This sparkly jewel can be yours
(come rain, come sunshine)
You just need to send me an email at
  fiberrainbow@gmail.com  
and we'll arrange the rest !
(PayPal is easy, or just through a normal bank accont)

ALL the donated money goes to Pink Ribbon !

 "RAINDROPS" 

After this
only  ONE  MORE  DAY  to go !
See you tomorrow !

wet summer solstice

Today was a wet and cold day,

only now, in the early evening,

the sun is shining through the clouds.

(I hope all the people who are celebrating summer solstice

do catch that bright spell)

This last week I was very busy preparing things for yesterday

festive headdresses

and finishing off the last of my rainbow pots.

Yesterday, 

however rather cold for this time of year,

daughter and I were at a small summer festival in Nijmegen.

(to celebrate the 25th aniversary

of the Jungian Institute over there)

We were invited to come with are felted items

and give a few workshops.

It was cold, but dry all day !

All's ready to go !

Though it wasn't a very crowded feast

there were lovely people who really took great interest

in all we had made.

There was music, many other activities, but I didn't take any pictures

except of this spectacular fire-eater !

(uhmmm ... don't try this at home ...)

It all ended in the early evening with a ceremonial fire

that was build earlier in the day 

(by one of the fire-masters of daughter's course)

The fire is lighted traditionally with flint and tinder

in half a minute !

More music and dance at end the party

and a special little visitor ...

We had a wonderful warm day

not warmed by the sun but by the people !

Happy Solstice to you all

late and early

After all the beautiful sunshine days

you could say the weather today was 

disappointing.

In fact it rained alllllll day long.

What better way to use such a day

than to do someting that you should have done

a long time ago

Ha,  ofcourse there are a lot of such things ...

(like cleaning up the room I'm sitting in right now)

but in this case I mean

making this month's felting-exchange piece.

The theme was "parts" and "uniting"

The idea for it was long in my head,

but every time I wanted to get started

something else happened.

Four parts in dark lilac and three shades of turqoise,

at the side the colour of one part runs along the side of the next.

Four spikes in the same colours, put into opposite coloured parts.

Then I cut open the top layer.

I liked it this way, but ... as I have to send it in the mail 

I opted for this version.

HA ! then onto the next !

The theme for next month was a bit awkward :

"autumn colours"

(well, the exchange goes on for a whole year ....

and some people do love autumn best)

So, in the middle of the green spring : autumn !

First some different coloured spikes, then, they were covered with "autumn"

All felting by hand, otherwise the veins would have disappeared.

And then :

cutting into the surface of the veins 

to reveal the colours inside

;-)

Later in the afternoon

I sewed some seed beads and stitches 

on the "parts" one

Tomorrow both pieces will be in the mail

and I hope each one of the receivers likes her piece.

boro, nearly there

Stitch by stitch

my Boro jacket is getting to the end,

"the end" that I think is the end

Originally boro is a kind of mending

old valued textile pieces.

To see some real boro, you have to look

at Stephen's blog "Sri "

(he has a gallery in New York, USA, 

were he has lots of antique Japanese textiles)

Of course you've realized by now my Boro isn't about mending

it's more about decoration, embellishment.

A certain kind of applique is used by Nadia 

She is a blogging friend I found (most probably ... I'm not quite sure ...)

through one of Jude Hill's classes.

I asked Nadia if I could try "her" technique 

on my jacket ...

She said I could !

;-)

So here is the result Nadia 

(still busy in the garden in the warm sunshine)

... and done !

Ha, I found another spot, at the bottom of the front 

that I wasn't very happy with :

so there will be a bit more "needle turn applique"

*

The rain on Tuesday gave a wonderful sight in the garden :

thousands of tiny droplets everywhere !

*

On Wednesday night we had a wonderful show in Rotterdam Luxor by 

Karin Bloemen 

O boy, she can sing ! 

... ánd she's funny too !

(it was a special show about the 125 year old theatre Carré in Amsterdam :

lots of famous diva's were impersonated by "La Bloemen" )

*

Late this evening I had to go behind my sewing machine :

I couldn't find the slipcover for the quilt

that is selected for the new book :

Art Quilts in Nederland  by Henk Lijding.

I have to bring the quilt to Gouda tomorrow,

where next Wednesday on May 1 the book is presented

and the exhibition starts !

(I'm thrilled !!!)

rain and sunshine

Yesterday started with lots and lots of rain

real autumn weather !

I went anyway to the Stitch'nBitch group in Rotterdam

in the new location (right in the centre of town)

but, due to the lousy weather,

we were only with five

...

but

the sun came out in the afternoon

and the day ended beautifully !

Today I almost completed the middle piece

for one side of my new b i g project.

I sewed everything together on the machine

and then basted the seams down by hand

(that gives such a lovely feel to it)

A lot of butterflies

like a stained-glass window

...

and butterflies like a simple x  

*

And we ended the afternoon with a loooong walk

with daughter and kids in the autumn sunshine.

...

(O, and you know that I completely forgot I've just started my third blogging year ?)
 no:  no give-away this time

for my dear friend

Early this evening I went to the hospital in Rotterdam

M is doing well, under the circumstances.

She was in pain earlier but got medication for that.

We'll hope, wait and see.

And when she's going home this weekend a friend will be staying over.

Yesterday evening, when I added names and a bit of magic thread,

I was carefully watched if I did everything in good order ...

( Hope there will be sunny times soon )

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 )