pieces finished

 The little flower piece of the last post
wasn't quite finished,
the stitching was done
but it was still "only" a piece of fabric.
On my own wall I don't think that's a problem, in fact I LIKE it that way
But when I want to take it to an Art Market
I like to take it attached to a canvas.

For that I first have to paint the canvas before attaching my stitched piece to it.

I always try to reproduce the colours
that are on the edges as good as I can . . .
(and . . . to do that, I have to be very careful
NOT the make any smudges on the piece itself :

I aaaaalways have paint on my hands too !!!)

With the paint out, it was a good time
to paint some smaller ones
for pieces that have been waiting since last year.

The next step is to stitch the two pieces invisibly together,
a fiddly but necessary bit.

Yippeee, now I have four more pieces
to accompany me to the Art Markets this summer !

new stitched work

Not all the workshops in STITCH CLUB \
were for me the last month.
There were some hospital visits
(over again now) 
and some books to read
and older SC-work to finish.

Angie Hughes' workshop about "Indian memories"
was the start for a new garden-inspired one instead.

Though I started the way she explained,
in the end I removed all the stiff backing
and didn't use any glue (!)
Stitching it all together was much more to my liking !!!

But using stamps to print one's own fabric was fun !

The embossed foil didn't end up in the final piece though.

Detail with the found felt flower
(it never became the brooch that was intended . . .
but now it found it's home here ! )

Hospital-waiting time was great for this small piece,
but it took some time to give it the finishing touch.
Now it's ready to stitch on a painted 20 x 20 cm canvas.

(I started this one when I was nearly finished with the bigger piece
with the Aconites and the Snowdrops)

 The time of those little yellow beauties is long over.
Even the Rowan tree in front of the house has already
lost its delicate white flowers . . .

BUT
because it is a "wild" one, from the forest
the berries will all be eaten by the birds, starting in August  !

24 - 4 - '24 : un-perfect 10 grams

Today I joined a small fun felting group :
the "un-perfect  10 grams" group

I had seen some of their work already
and thought that it would be nice to join them . . .
and just then, I was invited to take part !

Every now and then they set each other a challenge
using ONLY 10 grams of wool
What kind of wool or what colour
is up to one's own personal choice.
This time there were two more instructions :
- use a resist triangle no bigger than A4
- use NO SOAP at all when felting 
?????
Hmmmm, some will raise their eyebrows
felting ? and not using any soap ? is that possible ?

Well I know one thing for sure
on the steppes of Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan (?)
nomadic people make big rugs with lots of wool,
water and indeed : no soap at all !!!
(and they roll it behind a horse for some time as well, haha)

That's the amount of wool allowed
About 5.50 grams was red, the rest orange and pink in equal bits.

One side laid with half the red on the edges and pink in the center
turned and ready for the layers on side two.
One thing that really struck me was
the difficulty getting the wool WET through and through !!!
Normally just a tiny bit of soap does the trick very easily.

Gently rubbing with pressure and the tiniest of movement
under a sheet of bubble wrap
did the trick much easier than thought !

I removed the resist through a tiny slit
and closed this with my normal linen thread
Than more rolling (in cloth) and shaping
and soon after that it was done !

My finished piece
(I'll probably add some stitching when dry !)

The fun part was that tonight I met the other group members
in a special ZOOM meeting
where we told how things went,
good tips and some frustrations and showed the finished goodies.
Such different end products !!!

Thanks ladies
it was fun meeting you all and a fun challenge too !
On to the next meeting, in June !

a colourful day

Yesterday I went to the "Patchwork & Quilt Days"
in Rijswijk near The Hague.
Though I can't say I'm a quilter anymore,
(I quit the Dutch Quilters Guild years ago)
I booked a workshop "gelli plate printing on textile" there !
(and . . . I urged myself nót to buy any more fabric :
my own little "shop" at home is filled to the brim !!!)

I didn't like the very thin layers, I more like stronger colours
but I surely need to do a LOT more playing with this :
I love the possibilities !

It was a good day to show off 
my new earrings
specially made to match the green brooch I showed earlier

It is so much fun to use wire inside the felt to shape it !

I also had a nice talk to a blogging friend, Els Mommers,
that lives half a world away at Saba !
She had her own art and many of the gorgeous Mola's she sells.
(I bought two from her a few tears ago)

It was a really FUN day !!!

*

The garden right now is
exploding

Too warm, but also lots of rain makes
that you see the change every single day.

This was a few days ago, before some heavy rain washed
most away of the flowers !

The ground is covered in green "grass" :
the leaves of all the allium and bluebells that are

mostly still in bud.
But soon the garden will be BLUE !!!
Though some white ones were early instead
and the Ginkgo leaves are bigger each day.

The early clematis is hiding part of the fence.

And because there are soooo many solomon's seal
I cut some of for indoors

I DO love spring !!!!!

 

new fun

Last Saturday we had a fun workshop
by Saar Snoek
(a young Dutch felting artist)
with members of the Dutch felting society
(Viltkontaktgroep)

We made leaves or flowers with thin stems
and she had a fun headdress to show off the technique.
I made two simple leaves then.
I always need some time to let things stew
. . . . .
but today I came up with a brooch using
that same technique in it.

Making the thin flower stems into some decorative swirls !

Of course I could have stitched them on
but for felters the fun is always to make it in one go :
no needle and thread needed !

Nearly there . . .

These were some of the results of the members on Saturday,
a lot of colourful leaves and flowers

Happy Easter

 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend

raffle . . . and parties !

Oh my, it took a while
for my leap day raffle to be completed
but now I have a winner !

ANNELIESE

*
Preparations for a big surprise party,
making a textile (3D) robin for another surprise and
putting together a mobile with lots of fun items
especially made by family and friends
for a 50 - birthday "girl"
our dear daughter !
(that's what robs you of a lot of time and energy
but it was totally worth it !!!)

Not really going back to "normal" yet :
last weekend another party
the coming weekend Easter at granddaughter's
and in a fortnight my own birthday party !!!

Hmmm, enough partying for some time after thát
and back to stitching and felting !!!