Saturday 31 December 2016

A Farewell to 2016 Crumb - December 30 and 31


It's been quite a year hasn't it.


Perhaps as I stitched this one I was thinking
or trying to think of the blessings
rather than the negatives
of this very strange year.


My goodness
as I write this I realize it is already 2017 in Australia!
2016 is fading into history.

Thank you for supporting my writings about the work I do.
I am happy to share!
Just a reminder that if you post a comment
I respond via email
simply because that is the way I have set things up
and it works for me.

See you in 2017!


Wednesday 28 December 2016

My SAQA Interview




They called it Marking Time and Tides in Stitch


Feel free to drop by their blog if you are interested.


I will keep a link on the sidebar to make it easier to link to
should you want to go back there again.

Tuesday 27 December 2016

Perhaps an Arts and Crafts Crumb - Week Fifty-Two


Stitching together bits and pieces
resulted in this.
Made me think Frank Lloyd Wright


I added stitches
but did not like the results
Nearly decided to remove them all
or perhaps discard this one.
But Christmas is a busy time.



Monday 26 December 2016

A Snowy Rainy Crumb - Week Fifty-One


The snow came early this winter
It came deep


The cold came along with it!


Then the rains came and washed away all the snow.
Then everything froze!
And Winter hadn't even officially started.

Friday 16 December 2016

Days of Rhythm


At the moment I have a rhythm to my days.
Mornings are spent at the sewing machine
but I can't be showing you that right now.
It is practical work
Piecing a bed quilt
that unfortunately won't be done by Christmas.
But if I can keep up this rhythm I'm hoping for early in the year.
Boy am I stiff after those morning sessions!


It is after lunch that I pick up my hoop
and get into a new rhythm.


A rhythm of repetition
repetition of movement
stitch after stitch
row upon row.
Building up a symphony of texture.


A time for mind wandering thought
Contemplation
Meditation
Until a thread comes to an end
and it is time to focus on rethreading a needle
 time to lay a hand on the growing areas of texture
time to smooth the cloth
time to move the hoop
then back to the rhythm of stitch upon stitch
and wandering thoughts return.



Thursday 15 December 2016

A Little Bit of Red - Week Fifty


....but mostly black and white.
White on white might have been more appropriate
for we are living in a snow globe again.


One day I am going to make a huge black and white piece
with a tiny but important red mark.
That has been brewing for a coupe of years now
but too many ideas
too few hours in the day!


Small stitches and finer thread melding two layers of cloth
together....
such a different feel to last week's
huge stitches with thick, thick thread.


There is no rhyme or reason
no planning ahead.
Rummaging around in a basket full of scraps
is enough.


This time a small piece of kantha caught my eye.
Stitched in a Dorothy Caldwell class years ago.
Stitched on two layers of Kona cotton...
not easy for my ageing hands!
If I embarked on a larger piece 
it would have to be on turban cotton or harem cotton
or perhaps an old worn damask tablecloth.


Wednesday 7 December 2016

Stitches Piled Atop One Another


Just Three more Crumbs to go.

What to do next year?

I am thinking....
daily stitching again rather than weekly.
It seems more appropriate 
for recording the passage of time.

If it's daily it has to be simple.

I like the continuous scroll of the four years
covered by the Daily Scratchings project.

Hundreds of things catch my eye on our daily walks
including pebbles.
What if I take the outline of a pebble each day
and appliqué it to a six inch square?
Each month of squares would become a wall hanging.


I've even been working out the various ways of
organizing the different months.

But it doesn't seem quite right for me.
I am not a square type person!

Perhaps strips of fabric covered with a pebble a day.

Or

perhaps a larger scroll than the 6" Daily Scratchings
and a simple row of stitch a day.

Or

Whatever else pops into my head!
Still have time.


Monday 5 December 2016

A Little Scrap of a Tie - Week Forty-Nine


Wrapping Christmas presents
left the kitchen table strewn with lovely papers, silvery ribbons, and 
Santa Claus gift tags.
Seemed appropriate to photograph the Crumb against a
Christmas background.
But this week's Crumb does not yet reflect Christmas.
It reflects the Chiku-Chiku work of Japanese artist Akiko Ike
whose work I have been looking at lately.
She uses thick, thick thread in her work.


So this week I chose the thickest threads I could find in my baskets
and then I went to Judy's Journal
to find that she had used thick thread and large stitches
for her beautiful Stumbling Flag quilt.
Quite amazing.


The thread I chose was so very thick it took pliars to pull it through.
Won't do that again in a hurry unless I find some looser weave fabrics.

As I stitched I realized the little scrap of olive green and black tie
was well over twenty years old.
It took me back.....


....back to the early nineties when I made
 bears covered from head to foot in embroidery.
This, the first one I ever made was called
Woodland Bear.


And this glamorous girl was called
Bajan Bear


Those were the days when everything had to have a bit of glitz...


Silk ribbon and shiny beads


doodads


and flowers galore.
Not a toy, but
I might have to make one for the baby-grand when she is older!

 Hope your Christmas preparations are going swimmingly.

Sunday 4 December 2016

Working the Beginnings of Two Pieces


On a beautiful piece of onion skin dyed silk noil
I have begun wrapping around some tucks.


I think they will be trees
on a piece honouring the totem tree the local woodpeckers
have created across the pond.
I look at it every day as I stitch in the studio.
When the tree died
a heron used to sit atop it
keeping an eye on the Rusty Pups.


This is an old photo of just one pecked hole
but today all that bark has gone.


Another rock piece
is up on the wall
for me to test what thread colours to use.


No, no, no
Those stitches just won't do.
Wrong colours
Wrong stitches.
They will all come out.
Always have a few false starts before I get into the flow pf a piece.
Taking time to consider the options is important to me at this stage.

I have to say I am a bit nervous over the puffiness
of using a quilt batt for the first time in years.
Not nervous about stitching it
Nervous that I won't be happy with the effect
of dimpled stitches.
But I am committed.... I think.


Friday 2 December 2016

Fallstreak Cloud Formation


As we walked the dyke one Sunday afternoon
this cloud formation was right overhead.
I have never seen anything like this
but Bonnie Baker, a local artist,
also spied it and knew it's name.
A Fallstream Cloud Formation.

What tickles me pink 
is that it also has a cross going through it
and for me this year is the year of the cruciform.


So now my aim is to stitch that amazing sky
onto this soft grey
cotton dyed in tea and rust.
Perhaps an indigo would be more appropriate
but I don't often do blue.