mending

 
I found some little paper bags with old used postage stamps,
unfortunately there were no more landscapes
but I might give it a go with some animal stamps
. . . . .
But there was something else
I could do this last week :
another Stitch Challenge on FB
by Textile Artists.org
(like the ones we had last year's spring)
This time by my favorite Merill Comeau.
"text in fabric"

I chose the word "mending"
something that isn't done very often
since the "throwaway society"
is more common than not.

I get a lot of little repairs from daughter and the kids
(two trousers waiting for me right now)
I love it when things are functional again
with just some fabric, thread and a little effort !

all kinds of small scraps
in not too bright colours.

and a variety of matching threads
(after basting everything down)

finished !

Here some detailed pictures
to show the details of the different ways
I stitched the letters down.

That was really FUN
. . .
and now on to doing the "real thing"
which has to be less visible !

a stamp as start

Looong ago
our little baby was born :
a strong mum now !
Happy birthday my LOVE !

Jette Clover
hosts the workshop these two weeks in Stitch Club.
I love her work :
always lots of text in it.

A stamp as a start
. . . . .
but what if you chucked out a box of old stamps
only two months ago ?
Luckily I have a lot of envelopes
of other artists I swap with
and there I found on a letter from Mo
a beautiful Australian stamp !
Just the right thing to use !

"Twelve Apostles"
(Victoria)

Thanks Mo !!!

:-)

some more beads

Stitching beads and sequins for
Kate Tume's workshop
was fun, so why not continue with another piece.
"Rock or biodiversity"?
Or "something completely different" ?

I took some hand dyed (procion) cotton
and a snippet of Kaffe Fassett's "Paperweight" blue,
some stretchy cotton velvet, some glitzy purple
and threads, beads and sequins that matched with that.

First I made little poufs of the velvet
and took a tiny bit of "Paperweight"
(oh, and I ironed a 10 x10 cm piece of interfacing on the back)

Then it was just fun stitching beads and sequins,
but oh my :
that takes TIME !!!

With so many things lying around,
why not play a little more
. . . . .

on a wet felted circle
. . .

THANKS Kate
it was really FUN

beads and sequins

Beads and sequins :
I often respond to them like a magpie would.
I've done my share of jewelry making
so there still is a stash of that.

That came in handy for this week's
Stitch Club workshop of  Kate Tume :
embellishments !

A fun workshop for me (magpie)
I decided to use some fun fabric that was in my stash
for quite some time :
the flower fairies by Cecily Mary Barker,
that would be a good starting point.
So I chose one to which I had some matching sequins.

I basted down the fabric around the fairy first
and started with matching cream sequins.

Then I decided it would make a lovely front
for a needle book.
Now I hope to really put my needles there
because I always loose my needles !
I lay them down somewhere,
or leave them in some WIP.
I mostly work with several needles with different threads,
so I often loose more than one !

The front side of the book is finished (10 x 10cm)

For the pages inside I felted some neat squares in the right size (!)
and in colours that went with the colours of the cover.
I also had some fabric for the back cover and the inside
plus, for another page, some sweet fabric that I backed with some
 commercial felt, attached with buttonhole stitch
with my variegated silk thread.

Then I assembled the backing fabric and the pages
(in the way Jude Kingshott did)

And on to the next project !
:-)
 

from failure to something better

My snow-dyeing experiment was fun
but the results were very pale,
in fact you could say :
a total failure.

( I don't know what exactly went wrong,
I will try another time with ice cubes
and look for some more advise.)

folded, with dye powder, with snow.

REALLY pale !!!

But
why not use this failed piece of cotton
for another go at the Jude Kingshott workshop !

So I outlined the vague forms that were there
and cut lots of little circles
after I first ironed vliesofix (wonder-under) onto the fabric.
I played around a bit with various options
and started stitching the shapes that were ironed into place.

And after a lot of stitching . . .

I got this far
(resting for the moment)

the backside

What fun when you look against the light !

*

Though it looks already like spring in the garden
the birds still love to come to the feeders.
Some of them are true acrobats :

and while these two are having synchronized fun "in the air"
some others are happy with the mess they make on the ground :

goldfinch as well as moorhen !

a BIG difference

When I think of this last weekend
and the one before that
. . . . .
there couldn't be a greater difference :
in temperature
and the activities outside !
One was   WINTER  
the next was   SPRING  

You can hardly imagine a  BIGGER  difference in one week  !!!


For the Stitch Club this week had a workshop by Jude Kingshott
and she designed for us to make a small book
out of cotton organdie
(which is rather transparent)
with coloured shapes and neat stitching in it.

Well, that organdie was a problem for many of us :

it is not a material that is normally in your stash,
but of course you could use any other materials

that you did have at home.

I was thinking and planning

when I had a conversation with another Stitch-member

and then I suddenly remembered the dark purple table runner

that I bought years ago just for the strange fabric : cotton organdie !
Together with some greenish stretchy fabric
and my home dyed silk thread I could make a start.

My first page

Some other pages of the final booklet

It was very special to work on such thin material
where you can see trough one page to the next.

ice ... and stitch ... and dye

ICE

and The Netherlands goes crazy !

Though there are still a lot of restrictions
due to Corona (Covid)
everybody wants to take part in the ice fun !!!!!
Ice skating is HOT here !

For me it was a great opportunity
to prune some branches of the Buddleja and Malus (wild apple)
that hung too far over the water to reach from the garden !

So yesterday I was out on the ice with my garden shears
(earlier the sun was out but just then it was bitter cold !)

Ha, later the sun was back
and it all looks a lot friendlier

(some more needs to be taken off)


And because the sun gave a lot of depth to the stitching
I made another picture of the finished eco-printed linen piece

Now I "only" have to make the A4 book
for which this will be the front cover.

Then, today,

just when I was ready to start a new eco-print lay-out,
family arrived !
So much fun to be able to use the back door, haha !

Time for the boys to put on skates
and for me to make some tea and hot chocolate
and find some cookies.

FUN for everyone !

After they were gone I had time for the printing
but also for some snow dyeing
(a first for me)

The first lay-out and the result after steaming

the end result
(already dry because it is very thin silk)