Stitching news in Colour!!!!

Yes, this is the third blog post today and will go some way to explaining the long gap! I've been busy with, amongst other things

- a workshop at Happy and Glorious https://www.happyglorious.co.uk/pages/our-shop, run by Cas Holmes http://casholmestextiles.co.uk

Here's the small precious objects piece  I left the workshop with ...

Paper, teabags, fabric and hand stitching inspired by my Mother's lace.











It took a while for me to find my way to the set of three and to add some free motion machine stitching ... but now just look!!

and one reason it took a while was more playing with fabric, this time a small length of woven strip cotton, more details on this are here https://www.africanfabric.co.uk/fabrics-textiles/african-fabrics/handwoven-strip-cloth

The top piece is rusted in salt water and the lower piece found itself in a tray of dye at the Institches Studio last week, https://www.institchestextilecourses.co.uk.

I've probably said that I'm on my third year long course with Hazel and Terry this time learning all about adding colour.

Some great results last week, well worth all that rinsing, washing etc, because some of the fabric is now being auditioned for one of the 'pages' of my London Loop project.




Here's what it looks like so far .... comments welcome.

I'm trying for the deconstructed and reconstructed look to give Heron a well deserved stage.


Finally, something else found its way into the dye tray. Originally my embroidery and Mum's lace but neglected somewhat so it had mould stains that washing did not shift.

I'm not sure what I'll do with it now but it certainly looks more loved than it did. I'm pleased that the lace has taken the Procion dye so well. I might play with lace and dye again.

That's all for the moment ... it is still very windy and raining hard here ... a good day for indoor tasks like the one now done here.

All about the waiting ....

For what? You ask.


For lemons to ripen, our desert grape vine to settle in after planting and the basil, well, I guess we are waiting to find it frost free zone so we can continue to reap the benefit of its wonderful flavour.

 

And I am waiting for one more day before unwrapping the fabric around a great selection of rusted bits and pieces .... watch this space for the colours and patterns that'll emerge!!!








I'm hoping for some fabric that will be suitable for book spines. So far I've printed a photo of the book spine onto fabric ... some are interesting,

others not so much. So maybe what I need is a mixture of photos and free motion quilting of the lettering onto a matching fabric. One more reason to watch this space....  I'll post more pics soon.



And I will leave you with beautiful morning sunshine now the mist has cleared ... looks like a day to be outside.

Today chez moi ....

Its been a while! I've been busy  ... so a quick catch up mostly in pictures ...

.

The transformation of 6m of white cotton to a beautiful set of colours for  my next stitching project  well, that was last Friday and Saturday taken care of ..

So relieved that all the buckets and bags remained whole as I drove home ....

Its hard work rinsing and washing all that fabric but exciting as the colours emerge

Some sunrise colours here

and the black to pale grey set will be perfect for pavements and stone walls ...

Finally, I found them a nice resting place  .... but they won't be there very long.












One short flight on Sunday and now I'm enjoying some late autumn sunshine at home in France .... there are five dogs, two people and walks twice a day  ... so twice along the quiet back road in the morning and twice around the lake in the afternoon. Lots of steps and lots of time for reflection.

In between my kennel assistant routine I slipped in some sedentary jobs. So, big news here, today I sent my novel, well, the first three chapters and a synopsis, out to several agents.

It felt the right time and I now have to wait for, what? Well, who knows. Fingers crossed ...

But doing that leaves my mind free to continue with what at the moment I am calling Novel 2.

That felt a big thing to be doing so in between  I tacked a small quilt ready for, yes, you've guessed, quilting. There was a slight hiatus in this gentle activity when in the middle of the morning I lost the thread and scissors.

They were there when I went out to feed the hens and gone when I returned.  The fabric was undisturbed, my pincushion was there but no scissors and spool of tacking thread

The culprit was Naomi ... loveable and naughty and very fond of chewing ... and eventually I found the evidence.  She now has a hard(ish) rubber ball to chew and I have learnt not to leave temptation in her reach!!!


There's a book review coming up in the next post .... do read on or is it up?

Writing and Stitching in the digital era ...

Good morning

Days, hours, where do they fly to? So, a small taste below of happenings in yet another blog gap.

In my stitching life I'm beginning to see the shape of my project about walking the London Loop with a group of friends. I created a separate notebook using the Paper App on my iPad to mirror possible pages in a fabric book about the walk. I'm adding photos taken on the walk with those of the work in progress (there is a lot of that) that the photos have inspired. My first Paper app notebook on this project has lots more detail about the  methods ... memory joggers really ... and  I needed a second notebook with a shape that might be that of the finished piece.

The app is very useful, and its easy to use -   do have a look at it, more details here https://www.fiftythree.com/paper.

the beginning of a railway arch ... 

In my writing life I've been editing my novel after a chat, and with the so very useful notes of, wonderful Jane - the first of my beta readers. To give me hints and encouragement in while I'm doing this I joined an short online course about the writing life. It has audio snippets that are good for just before sleep and when I wake up listening and thoughtful questions at the end of each brief 'lesson' .

It was a good decision and here's the website of the writer who put the short course together and has lots more to support fledgling writers   https://janfortune.com.

I feel I'm close to sending my first book out into the big wide world so have been researching how to do this via an agent and the possibility of self publishing.  This Saturday I managed to listen on-line to some of the presentations at a Self Publishing Advice Conference. More details at http://selfpublishingadviceconference.com. There's lots of good stuff on their website if you're thinking of self publishing.

And so good to  rejoin my Saturday morning yoga class at Yoki Studio http://yokistudio.blogspot.com
...    and to get out in the garden where this small creature had found its winter home

It it still Summer or has Autumn arrived ...

... its that time of the year. That back to school time, holidays over and when you need to ask at the start of each day, and sometimes at other times,  which season is it today.

So a few photos from around the garden on that very theme, well, not the back to school one because I'm not back to the Institches School until the end of the month. But the rest are on song, so to speak.

   All ready for the new wood,


















Is this enough kindling?

And just in case it gets cold anytime soon ....












Meanwhile in the growing garden  - with credit to Paul for planting, sowing, watching for bugs and all that watering ,,,

Oh, but this one was my work ...

Meanwhile, inside I'm still stitching and I'm saying this very quietly  

I am also writing. Presently simply called Book 2 I've got a small routine going  and four days into it so far so good. Wouldn't it be wonderful if a very nice agent now wanted to represent me and sell my first one (it is finished) to a publisher?

In between the stitches and the words I keep looking at what can only be described as some odd bits of rusted and dyed fabric up on my design wall. Surely an idea of what to do with them will come to be soon. 

  and back to the garden, and the question of the season. The leaves are turning but it is still warm enough to sleep without the duvet. Is there a word for between one season and the other. Perhaps right now we are in sumertumn?  

Supper's ready, and yes, it includes one of those lovely lettuce and lots of tomatoes. 

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara a review

This is a formidable and lengthy novel. Other reviews say it is set to become a classic. Set in contemporary times yet never stating the years it covers, it is, on one hand, about four friends who meet at a prestigious US college. But they are really just the backdrop. The story is Jude's and it is a disturbing, complex, raw, sometimes horrific story. 

The geography is (mainly) in New York, and the cast is almost all male and they, some from birth and others eventually, have lots and lots of money and fame (of sorts). 

The story is phased well, starting at a significant time in the lives of four friends - their immediate post college years to the end of their lives. Their back stories are woven between the rise and rise of each of them until the one significant back story, the one that makes the book the book it is, is left. This story, Jude’s story,  dominates for solid reasons and Yanagihara reveals its darkness, its reach and its power at a well chosen pace. 

The focus of the writing is a microscopic view of the inner life of a character. Running through all this is the theme of kindness and love, how these impact and influence when given with and without judgement. Overlying this are issues of how we see ourselves, how we think others see us, how and why we keep our secrets hidden, and why this matters.  

Yanagihara also brings to this book the body as character. Its weaknesses, what it can reveal and it’s resilience are all explored. One aspect of the body dominates -the skin. The organ that sits between us and others. The largest organ in our body. The skin can be seen as the way we can be read by others. Perhaps also, in this instance, the way we tell our story and our story is told.

Yanagihara’s writing is particularly fine at key moments when she catches you, as reader, unaware of the turning point that is about to happen.  Overall this is a very smooth read. I found some of the point of view switches confusing and wondered why I was expected to work so hard to understand these sections. 

It’s also of note that the few women characters are there as sidelines, for the purpose of context, for example, to portray heterosexuality or motherhood.  As I was reading the book I asked myself about this choice. What was gained and what was lost by this imbalance. Was it deliberate? How did it contribute to understanding Jude and the way he chose to live his life? So, a good book, often harrowing, often romantic, frequently brave. 

Do read it. Take your time. You will need to! Prepare to be shocked, to weep and to admire. 

PS

Something a little different to end with. Slow stitching as the Jasmine climbs; August 2018.

Thanks to the Craftivist Collective. More info here https://craftivist-collective.com

The pleasure of a rusty box

Great find yesterday, a wonderful place to keep all the "tools' I use for painting fabric with rust.

Yes, I'm easily pleased ...

Somewhere to store all the small things  - screws, bolts, old secateurs, etc. etc.  to make patterns that ask the question what does stitch add?

That question is key for me. But its not sufficient on its own. There is also the necessity of how to make a form of some sort, a piece, so to speak.

Today's task is to consider that for the rusted fabric in my stash ... perhaps in a bigger piece than I  have previously.

Nuff said.  I'm off to lay out the rusted fabric so that each time I walk by it there's a chance an idea will come to mind.

Have a good day

that last stitch feeling ....

... is such a good feeling. Just when I didn't want to look at the fish on the quilt I've been stitching for months anymore,  it is done!!

Really done, it even has a sleeve on the back to hang it up by and thanks to Paul it will hang with the fish swimming. Otherwise, he says, they look like dead fish on a fishmonger slab. A very good point.

I thought about adding fins, ones that would stand up a little. But, that would make it less than cosy as a lap quilt so these fish have hidden fins.

Its Saturday, the sun is making lots of shadows on the stone walls around me and the air is full of quiet. Have a good day all.  I'll be back here soon.


Oh, forgot to add ...

The fish quilt is mostly my dyed and painted fabrics, it was free motion quilted on a Bernina 750 by me and the edging is faced using a new technique which I will definitely do again.

More details of that can be found here https://weallsew.com/make-quilt-facing/. It is a very straightforward way of finishing a piece without interrupting the overall design.

Worms and experimental fish eyes

 Some days are memorable, on others I experiment with how best to sew fish eyes and fish (!) for worms in the richness of what they make from our kitchen waste.   Ordinary tasks ...

I love that this 'can of worms' is about 20 years old, is very well travelled and always, of course, stays out in the elements.

Yet, it is intact, does its magic work today as it always has done. Magic that means we fill it with kitchen waste and a few worms, and it gives us beautiful compost.


OK, the egg shells don't quite get fully broken down and I did find a piece of string, a plastic label from, probably, an apple. The only thing that stays the same as when it goes in is an avocado stone. What is it about these? Clearly, the worms cannot munch through that tough outer skin.

As for fish eyes, I've been playing with different ways to give my quilted fish a face. I have a large, well, very large, collection of buttons but I didn't like the way they looked. I also discarded painted eyes  ... not really my style.

 Had a go at a hand sewn eye ...  really hard to get a neat enough shape.

The winner so far is a programmed stitch on the Bernina machine ... looks good, will be the same for all 24 fish, and I can add a french knot in the centre. Now to find the right colour thread that will show on all the different colour fish ... back soon, Please leave a comment.