Caloundra Quilt Show

Well, all the feedback indicated that the Quilt Show was a success, so now I can relax and get back into some more doodling.  It was the first show that I'd worked on and I found it very exciting to do.  Luckily I'd asked for photos of quilts with the entry forms so it was much easier to look at a little bit of colour co-ordination once the size matching had been done.  It meant there would be no need to have to move things around on the hanging day because of clashing colours or designs.  Being a beginner myself, it was really good on set-up day to work alongside group members experienced with these matters.  A couple of small hickups were fixed really quickly, really well and without fuss.  My project helper Cathie G makes a great partner to work with -  couldn't have done it without her.

Already I've made a list of reminders for the next show in 2013, little things to tweak and little things to keep in mind for improvement.  Hope I get asked to do it again  -  just loved it.

       Viewer's Choice Winner
      Wendy Clancy's  Candle Wicking
       "Taupe Beauty"
    

Sweeeeet Sixteen

Well, my "Sweet Sixteen"  Handi Quilter is set up and ready to go.  Here I am getting the hang of it with a little free motion tracing.  "Ma Sweet Thang" surprised me when he went with me to the Textile Exhibition in Brisbane.  Ain't he just the "Sweetest Thang".  I'd seen the machine at Harvey Bay recently on a holiday and did a little trial run and ooooooo  it was luverly.  It took a bit of rearranging the studio but eventually it all fit in and there's still room to  move, just,  lol.  The tabletop space, the lights, the bigger foot, it's all soooo goood.
Thank you "Ma Sweet Thang".

That Half Finished Painting

I just love shells.  There's a dish full on my dining table and a vase full on the TV cabinet plus the odd one around the place. This is the last painting I was doing of shells when I got sidetracked by textiles and fibres.
It just seems to sit there waiting for me to return.  I think it needs to be finished now as "Ma Sweet Thang" is  asking when the empty space on the wall above the TV is going to have its shells, as intended. Summer always feels a better time to paint, for me, so another few months seems the best option. After some of those beadies are done first.

More Beadies

Well,  I've started my "Big Beady Project.  2000 beads to make and 1740 to go.  Ooh that look like a lot more than I thought now that I've written it down.  At 100 a month mmmmmm that's a lot of months to go.

I have a half finished painting that has taken that long to finish.  I wonder which one will get finished first.

With three quilt tops ready to quilt and a couple of crazy felt hats planned oops.

Leaf Me Alone

The Buderim Surface Design Group issued a challenge for the "Year of the Forest" and this is my interpretation.  Too many of our forest are being cleared, hence the pun in the name 'Leaf Me Alone".
On a piece of my onion dyed silk, I used a fern frond as a stamp to create the design.  First with discharge paste, then with a yellow and then two green dyes. A bit of stitching to add texture plus a touch of gold leaf to finish.  Afterward I realised the gold leaf was a bit too much but what's done is done.

That Crazy Red Hat

I'd been browsing through some "felters" sites and saw some of the most wonderful, and some of the most weird hats, so I just had to have some fun.   Part of the exercise was to learn how to felt the hat and the ribbons joined together as one piece.  Of course after I'd done it, I thought of all the other places I could have placed the ribbons for better effect instead of on the back.  Isn't it typical! 

The decorative stitching is all cotton perle thread.  It took a bit of time couching the perle onto the thin edges of the hat and ribbons but it gave a nice finished edge. And I just happen to have a bead that had the right colours to match.

The long peak folded in and shaped the crown nicely.  I was going to needle felt the felt ribbons up the side of the hat  but ended up using the decorative stitch to attach them instead.  None of the decorative stitching is visible on the inside of the hat as I pulled the thread through the middle of the felt.

I think I'll have to try this again.

Sliced Sausage

Thought I needed to make a stripey sausage for a project I'll do one day.  When I think of what it is, I'll have them ready.  I used a Stanley knife (packageing knife) to slice the sausage and blunted 4 blades.  At just over 2 inches it was too thick to cut with scissors. There must be an easier way or a better tool.

Cherry Guavas

Good enough to eat.  These little balls are a practice for putting colour where I want it to go in small things like this.  They look just like the cherry guavas that my tree produces in abundance.   Well almost.

An Uneven Vessel

I'd read that a football is a good resist to felt a vessel on so thought I'd give it a try.  It seems to have worked out ok. The red wool embellishing took me weeks to do.  It's textured knitting wool that I couched very densely over sections of the brown and white base of the vessel. The stitched trim on the top points is just there to add interest.  I sometimes think I only make things because I like to do the embellishing.   Now I have to do it more often to warrant the cost of the ball and pump.  Or is it going to be another tool in the back of the cupboard......... naughty me.

Fabric Beads

I sat down last week and made these 162 fabric beads.  Haven't done that since I was a kid.....make beads that is.......not 162 though.  This time around I used Decoupage Finish in the whole process for most of them. For the first dozen I used PVA Glue than finished with Gloss Varnish but then I found that the Decoupage Finish could be used as the glue and the varnish all in one.  It also required less coats for the smoother finish if that's what's wanted.  Anyway, they make a lovely decorative bowl of lollies don't they. And all sugar free.

Eco Dyeing

 Our Textile and Fibre Art group at Caloundra had a workshop for Eco Dyeing and it got me all enthused.  I set about collecting  red and brown onion peels and tibouchina petals.  The petals were the easy part as they grow in our garden but the onion peels took a bit of boldness.  Actually it was my "sweet thang" who made a secret trip to the local supermarkets and asked for bags of the loose peels that I needed.  Isn't he a  sweety. 

These pieces of silk are about 3 metres long. The left one dyed in red onion and the right one dyed in tibouchina petals

Because this piece is 4 metres long and was wrapped quite tightly around the stick the brown onion dye is more prominent on the outer ends and becomes quit light in the middle.  I'm happy to see the patterning is quite evenly balanced on each half.

Brown onion peel on scrunched silk.

Thought I'd try a little bit of Shibori while I was at it.  This is marbles tied into a silk scarf.  It is dyed in red onion peels but I think I left it simmer too long because it went quite brown instead of the ruby colour that I'd been able to get before on another piece. 

Rainforest Canvas

I've become fascinated with sculpting fungus by felting them.  The treetrunk background is nuno felted,  then embellished by couching the woodiest looking threads and wools that I had, as well as some donated to my cause by a friend.  In some areas I've burnt into the trunk with a soldering iron.  After attaching the felted fungus I felt (tongue in cheek) that it needed some green fernery for interest.