still felting

Yes, the ideas must be tested.

I made a small bag today,

for which I got my inspiration

from Kaffe Fassett's fabric.

First I wanted to use it for the inside

but then I decided that the outside would be fun !

For that I had to go through daughter's stash of pre-felt

and cut out a lot of circles.

Then I had to decide on the size of the bag, not as big as my blue one.

The template was made and I started laying out the wool tops

with another go for an inside pocket

In the end I layed out the coloured pre-felt cicles on the back and the flap.

After quite some elbow grease, kneading and throwing .....

... this was the result :

The circles are a bit faded.

That happens when the prefelt is rather loose

and when you put it on right in the beginning.

( Straighter lines can be achieved with firmer pre-felt

ánd putting it on later in the proces

but ... with the possibility that it won't felt in ... )

This result is okay with me

( although the size I got isn't what I intended ...

but I know what I did do wrong ! )

I don't know yet what I will do tomorrow :

maybe ..... 

I start a feather to send to Jude !

......

ideas bubbling up

Although I love to stitch on "Water"

it is still felting-time at the moment.

After finishing my blue bag

( and showing it off on Saturday )

there are still more and more ideas that I want to try,

most of the time one leeds to another !

I did something in special colours today

but I don't want to show too much ...

( probably later, I don't want to spoil someone's present ! )

And a bit more blue ....

Ha, I love it só much when it becomes exactly as I wanted it to be ....

( still a lot more things to try ....! )

oooh ... the blues

Well,

noooo ... 

nót what you might think 

not thát blues,

I am very happy at the moment.

thése blues

my "holy" blues !

I've finished my ultramarine blue bag !!!

Yesterday I felted the "failure" inside pocket and

today I cut it to the right size and stitched it (yes, sorry ...) in the bag,

the felt is really dense and thick so that was not a problem.

Now all is finished

( and I will be totally blue when I go out )

more water

There was time in the sun to stitch a bit more

on "water"

The little pleats are stitched.

They are there because I added Jude's cloud.

So the strip on the left side had to come down a bit : 

I didn't want to loose the nice "lightning" on it.

But then I realized I had stitched the bottom part already, so ...

pleats

I discovered something else.

Normaly I use one or two strands of  DMC embroidery floss,

I especially love the variegated colours.

But you can also find silk thread !

When you cut "doupion silk" the thicker weft threads come loose very easy.

Don't throw them away ! You can very good stitch with them !!!

The lavender thread in the needle is left-over doupion silk !

( easy also in the split- backstitch ! )

*

Something happened in the water next to the garden this afternoon.

A pair of swans with kids were on the little island, resting and grooming.

Then a lone male swam came with much noise of wing flapping.

"Papa" came down from his island while "Mama" and her two youngsters

disappeared through the "back door"

Then there was some real show-off !

they were trying to intimidate each other ....

... broad wings, heads back ... turning and turning around each other ...

It was really quite impressive and spectacular !

( but no harm done ! )

After a good five minutes or so

each one shook his tail, flapped his wings ....

and went his own way

( that would be the way to fight a war ...! )

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 )

needle and fork

Although I did a lot of other things

ánd I didn't sign up for Jude's "Magic Cloth" series ...

needle and thread have started itching again

( not literally ofcourse )

Add to that the wonderful scraps from Connie ...

I just started with some pieces and let it grow on it's own

.....

an idea is already forming in my mind to where it may lead

( about 28 x 28 cm  now ... )

*

Our wonderful daughter, a great cook,

was asking, when I spoke to her on the phone yesterday :

"shall I cook dinner for you tomorrow ?"

Well, ofcourse we said :

"Yes !!!"

So for me it was no cooking dinner tonight,

just eating and enjoying it !

( "Chicken under the hat"

pie with aubergine (eggplant), courgette (zucchini), chicken (but we had it

with veggie-replacement), ginger, spices and ....cherries ! )

eco dyeing

While Connie gave some good and simple instructions

I made a fresh start with my eco-dyeing adventure.

It really is a matter of trial and error for me,

error it was, most of the time to be honest.

I hardly ever get the bright and sharp prints I see with others

but, I'm still going strong and trying again.

The picture of my Sanguisorba gave Connie the idea

that I might give it a go with thát one.

I also took some flowers of the red Persicaria (syn. Polygonum)

and the little yellow ones, fallen of the Verbascum

and some green leaves.

I had some silk, with chiffon on top,

and some strips of the etamine (wool) and cotton scrim

I used at Pam's workshop, which had not much colour on them.

In the front garden I found a lovely dark red Alcea (hollyhock)

that gave good colour at Pam's.

( the hollyhock was hidden and I hadn't noticed it,

while the bigger plant was all eaten by those nasty slugs or snails )

So, ready for the steam pot

They went in there for half an hour

and I let them cool down over night in a plastic bag.

This morning I hoped for the "aaaaah"- moment ......

... which I got !!!

( The green leaves didn't do anything at all !

The orange colour in the right bottom photo is from the first onion skin dye bath,

while the reddish swirls in the bottom piece in the same photo

are from sari silk threads

I got from generous Siets in the dye / felt workshop )