Free motion machine embroidery group display

It is almost November! That is the month that our free motion machine embroidery group has its display. We have had the Farmyard theme this year.
I have tried to do each month's challenge and have, finally, done each one so far. December is working dog or cat - what is a working cat??
Anyway, I suspect that I won't get to do that one. Our display has to go up next Sunday and there is not much incentive to be doing the December challenge.

I have - finally - done a Sheep/Goat image that isn't too terrible. I have tried several times and they have all been disasters. This one isn't great but it is done!
It is based on wool - coming from sheep. I love the Hedrena brand of clothing. So do the moths!! So I have plenty of pieces of clothing with holes. I decided to use some of them for the background. And the layer beneath is wool too. The sheep are made using wool wadding/batting.

The image isn't all that good but it is what I have ended up with.

Then I realised that I have one for the November challenge, something to do with water supply or windmills. I actually made this image earlier in the year, thinking it would do for the machinery theme.

So now I have made one based on a picture I took several years ago, at a weekend workshop for tapestry weaving, at Tandwancoort. It was of an abandoned car and some equipment.

I used the eucalyptus oil image transfer that I tried recently. The image didn't transfer all that well this time. It may be because the calico I used may not have been washed properly and may have still have size on it. Or I may not have done it properly. Or it just didn't remember how it worked last time.
Anyway, I have done some heavier machine sewing than I intended but it is ok.

I have framed it and tried to do a mount board frame around it. It is a while since I did the framing course and it didn't turn out all that well. But, as it isn't for sale and no-one else has to deal with it, I am just going to go with it as it is.

Random stuff

It being 19/10/19, I have to post.
I was at the second last day of the Embroiderers Guild's Members' Exhibition, so no  textile photos from today.
So ...
Here are some images of the lemon scented eucalyptus. The first picture is from July, the others are today. Different light makes such a difference!!

July 

July

October

The fruit bats are visiting it overnight, it is in bloom. The rainbow lorikeets are here during the day - along with many other birds. We seem to have quite a variety visiting at this time of the year.

Also, it is spring, allergy time! But there are some gorgeous flowers around.
This is one example of many rings of flowers at a local park. Could be inspiration for a textile bowl, they form a bowl-like structure with the leaves, then the flowers come later.

It is also time for the sunflower seeds to be planted. I had some last year but they didn't grow, probably not helped by the fact that I was away for all of November. So we are trying again. 

They have a grid over them because the birds like to dig and see what is there!

Demonstration piece

As I mentioned earlier, I was demonstrating at the guild today.
I thought I would combine two recent ideas: the thread bowl and the silk paper.

This is the thread bowl on the soluble fabric, I don't seem to have a photo of it put together. 

I copied the template for the thread bowl onto some soluble fabric and laid it over a piece of silk paper that I had. It just fit.

I finished the sewing while demonstrating - and talking a lot with the many visitors.

After I got home, I cut it out around the edges, put it in water and dissolved the soluble fabric. It provided some extra stiffness to the bowl.

The template depends on the edge of one section being sewn to the edge of the next piece. So I cut out the piece of silk paper that would have stopped it meeting properly and now I have another bowl.
The silk paper shines beautifully in the light

I seem to do a lot of my work at night. I will ry to take a photo during daylight and see how that looks. But I am happy with the result so far.

A silk paper bowl

As I am demonstrating machine free motion embroidery at the Embroiderers Guild, Victoria tomorrow, I thought I would have a play with something a bit different - for me. It is our annual members' exhibition.

I took some old works when I demonstrated on Sunday and people were interested to see all the things you can do with free motion embroidery.

I made a little bowl for the Challenge, Altered Art, and thought I would try something similar. I also met the person who bought my thread bowl from last year's exhibition. I tried making another on Sunday but it hasn't turned out quite right, I think I needed to do more sewing on the upright bits. So I may choose to try another tomorrow, see if I can work out what went wrong.

But I also tried something different today: I had some silk paper that I had made recently. It was just big enough for the template I had for making a fabric bowl.

I put it in the hoop, with the design drawn on some soluble fabric, and did some freehand drawing. The soluble fabric helps to stiffen the bowl a bit too.
I thought I would need to disguise the seams of the sections so make them into tree trunks. It has worked but I think, if I do another, that the trunks need to be a bit slimmer.

Still, it was a challenge for me and I am moderately happy with it. It is not very big as the silk paper I had wasn't very big, nor was the template.

The thing I like about this technique is that you can see the sewing on both sides of the bowl and the bowl is a little bit translucent.

I may try a slightly different template, see if I can get the tops of the sides to flare out a little more.