Anniversary Gift

Back in March I shared some textile art I had created based on a Workshop on the Web workshop and inspired by some Dorset buttons I had made.  Here's a reminder....

My daughter Clare loved it so I decided to make another for her wedding anniversary and as they were decorating their bedroom at the time, I made it in shades of yellow and grey to match their new room.    The anniversary has now been and gone so I can share it with the world!

The background was once again made using strips of different papers and as Clare enjoys sewing and dressmaking I included some garment patterns and instructions.  After painting, I printed some random lines using an old credit card as the new bedding they had bought had similar lines.  Again I was using Dorset buttons so decided to use the circular shapes as part of the design.   So with the addition of fabrics and lace, beads, washers, sequins, machine stitching and hand stitches - again reflecting the same linear design - the Dorset buttons finished the design.

  

  

I'm glad to report that it was well received.

Distracted by rust again!

Things seem to be conspiring to send me down the rust route again!

The first was a workshop on WOW (Workshop on the Web) which used rusting powder, something I have never used before having gone down the rusting pieces of metal route instead.   Having tried the powder I will never use rusting pieces of metal again!

I tried out an idea I have of using words with rust, playing with the juxtaposition of words like "FOREVER" AND "ALWAYS" together with rust.  Bit mad but it is still in the development stage.

To try out the method, I cut the words RUST from freezer paper and ironed them to the fabric.  After a douse of water/white vinegar mix, a quick sprinkle with the powder and, hey presto, a couple of hours later the rusting was complete.   The fabric then needed to be washed and soaked in sodium bicarbonate to neutralise the rusting process. 

I was delighted with the result!

I did that a few weeks ago and since then I've been back to the rusty wall which inspired a series of work a few years ago and once again I found myself thinking about a new piece of rusty work. 

I've now added some seed stitching in rusty coloured thread, some cream French knots and some beads.

I'm going to use the panel in a quilted hanging using squares of different rusty coloured fabrics, including some coloured with the rusting powder.   I have worked in this way before and feel drawn to it once again.

Using Dorset Buttons

I've made some of the Dorset Buttons from the kit I bought last month and have used them as the starting point for a new piece of work.

I've signed up for Maggie Grey's Workshop on the Web and one of the workshops in the latest issue was by Isobel Moore.  Do check her work on her website - here   As the workshops are all available only for subscription I won't give any details, but it is a mixture of painted paper, fibres, fabrics, machine and hand stitching, plus any embellishments you wish to use.

  

  

Progress on Beach Inchies

The beach themed inchies are taking shape!   Having needlefelted the fabrics and fibres in my previous post, I have been busy hand stitching and embellishing the beach and sky inchies.   I've used a variety of threads, although my favourite is Perle no. 8 so I used this the most.  As well as beads I also embellished the beach inchies with fragments of shells.

The Sea still needs some work but the inchies are all cut ready for stitching.

I needed to dye some threads for these as I wanted some deeper turquoise blue so they are different from the sky so I had a dyeing session with the following results.

Ready to go now to get the sea finished and mount the results.

Hello Again!

I'm rather embarrassed about the length of time since my last post.  Started off with the excuse that we moved to Dorset but that was now over three months ago so I'll just move on.......

We have settled well in our new house and as it was brand new, we were able to move in without any further work.   We have had the garden to do so that has taken some time recently but as it is quite small, I can't use that as an excuse.   I got my workroom sorted quickly too and the best thing is I have my own room so no more having to clear away when the grandchildren come to stay.

It's not massive but I managed to get all my things in and with less space, I have to keep it tidy. So far, so good!

My only regret is that my large Perspex table that I used with my Bernina is too big for the desk so at the moment I have had to resort to the small extension table that came with the machine.  I have seen that Cotton Patch do a similar one (a lot cheaper than the Bernina one!) but I am having trouble deciding which size to get.

I have been busy with a few projects......

... the first one was a quilt for a friend's new baby boy.   We are caravan neighbours so I went for a seaside theme.   Baby Paul has now arrived and Mum and Dad loved the quilt.

 

 

I have also decided to have another go at selling online, this time giving Etsy a go.  I will start with some of the items I already have ready and will also include some of my framed textile art.  I've also planned to make some mounted arrangements of inchies, something I have done in the past as part of my themes on rust and maps.   For these new ones I am going to have colour themes but choose colours that can relate to occasions and anniversaries.  So far I've done purple (just because I like it!), red (Ruby Anniversary) and white/silver (Weddings and Silver Anniversary); will go on to gold next.

 

For each set I started by creating a felt base on my Embellisher, incorporating various fabrics and fibres including organza, scrim, netting and silk.  I then added beads, buttons, sequins, ribbon, lace or hand stitches before finishing the edge with buttonhole stitch.

 

 

 

I have also done some work in my sketchbook, but not as much as I wanted to.    The first two pages are based on some of the many photos I have taken of beach huts we've seen since we moved.  I've included photos, some gelli plate printed deli paper, some stitched applique and some hand stitching.   I found the colours particularly inspired these pages.

 

 

 

The second page uses car park tickets as the background which I printed with the gelli plate, adding some cut lettering to finish.

 



 



 

Hopefully there won't be a long wait until my next post.

 

 



Textile Art for craft fair

I have created some unframed textile art and felt art for selling at the craft fair I am doing this weekend.

The felt art is similar to work I have done in the past.  I first created a felt base using my embellisher and then added hand stitches in toning colours.   Buttons were added to finish.

        

         

I also tried out some new ideas for the textile art, with a mixture of patchwork, mixed media and fabric collage, all finished with hand stitching and some with buttons.

 

 

 

Both the felt art and the textile art are stitched to cream board and are sized to fit an 8" x 10" frame.  If any remain unsold after the craft fair, I will be putting them in my Folksy shop.

Finished work from Kim Thittichai workshop

As I mentioned last month, I attended a workshop with Kim Thittichai.   Some of the work I started at the workshop is now finished and are currently being exhibited at the Thread and Shutter exhibition at The Hawth in Crawley.

This first piece, Nightime, was created using painted bondaweb applied to coloured lutradur which was in turn cut with a soldering iron and reapplied to more painted lutradur.  Foil, sequins and gilding flakes were also applied at the first stage.

I added simple embroidery stitches using cotton threads.

 

 

 

Detail



The second piece, Skeletal Fragments, also started with painted bondaweb applied to lutradur together with sequins, gilding flakes and some skeletal leaves.   The lutradur was then "cut" using a heat gun.  I also cut strips of organza in the same way.  The strips were then layered and secured to felt using simple stitches.

Detail