Reflection

 I decided that I really should try to finish off my piece for the annual members exhibition at the Embroiderers Guild, Victoria (Australia), coming up in September. Plenty of time, I know, but I needed to cut it to size and put a border on.

I decided to do the quilt art thing and put a fabric border on. I had some silk that I had dyed at the same workshop I did the background fabric at. That got cut up today and then I sewed on the border. I also sewed on a backing. 

It isn't perfect as I am not that good at hand sewing, especially silk. But it is done!! I have gone online and put in the details. Now I can relax, I have a piece for the exhibition.

I have cropped an image I got from 123RF. It is a site where you can purchase an image and then use it in your art. Here is the copyright.

Now to get back to my tapestry and see about finishing that in time - for a closer deadline!

Reflection/s

 The Embroiderers Guild, Victoria, Australia is having its annual members exhibition in a few months. I have been rather uninspired, despite the seemingly wide-ranging theme - Reflection (or maybe Reflections, I can't actually remember). 

I have been looking at images here and there, including Notan art, using the positive and negative space. 

I came across an image on 123RF, where you can get copyright images for a small fee. 

(Copyright: <a href='https://www.123rf.com/ profile_movlievyevgenii'>movlievyevgenii</a>)

I cropped the image, printed it out to the size I wanted, traced front and back and then ironed the tracings onto Vleisofix.

Today I cut them out. Then I found some silk that I had dyed at a workshop with Julie Ryder, at the Ballarat Fibre Arts Forum last year or the year before (time has less meaning recently). The silk had been folded before putting in the dye so that the resist was reflected on each folded part. 

The fabric didn't quite fit the image so I used another piece of indigo dyed silk from the workshop in the middle. I had taken some photos of trees reflected in water recently and noticed that the water was not an exact mirror image of the sky.

I tried to replicate that using some silk roving that I had. I have only laid it on so far, no glues or other means of making it permanent, so I need to get to and sew it, hoping it will stay put! 

I have a basic design. Now to try to sew some extra onto it. 

I have decided that it will need some thickness behind it and have cut out a piece of heavy interfacing to back it. 

As I have mentioned occasionally, I use this blog as a visual diary. I was able to look up a past post and see how I did a previous piece. I have not done quite the same thing but it did give me direction and inspiration. It is easier than going through multiple scrapbooks looking for past notes and images. 

20/02/2020

Well. I can tell exactly how long it is since I posted - the dates give it away.

It has been strange weather, hot and dry, hot and humid, now it is cool and wet. More summer forecast to be with us in a few days.

I have been working on a small tapestry, for one of my online groups. Every year they have a call for entries on a theme. This year's was Wind in Motion. I had several ideas going at first, not all of them appropriate!

I started on ideas last year. I was inspired by a satellite image of a hurricane that I found on 123RF. 

There have been lots of weather images around lately, with all the fires, smoke and then storms that have been coming though. The maps have been scarily coloured - maybe that is just a reflection of the media's inclination to scare us. So I feel as if my image is rather calm, compared to what we have been seeing - even though it is of a hurricane.

The tapestry is on its way to the organisers. I am looking forward to when it comes to our state and can be exhibited at the Handweavers and Spinners Guild rooms in Victoria. It is going to New Zealand and around Australia, so it will we well-travelled when I get it back.

Exhibition at the Embroiderers Guild, Victoria.

I have been busy the last couple of weeks, getting ready for the members' exhibition at the Embroiderers Guild, Victoria, then working on hanging the entries.

It has all been worth it, the opening last night was great. 

I had three pieces in the exhibition and one in the Challenge - that kept me busy. 

One of our recent Play Days had been about making felt bowls, using a template that one of the members had drawn up. I used that as my shape. I used a pair of earrings I have as the design inspiration. I drew the design onto soluble fabric, sewed it and then rinsed the soluble fabric away. The template worked wonderfully, allowing me to sew the various sides together. 

 Here it is, pinned out so that it would maintain its shape as it dried.

The shadows were a surprise - a welcome surprise. 

The vessel got made. I wasn't entirely happy with its construction, so it is Not For Sale. 

I put in the folding book I made a little while ago. 

I made a wall hanging based on Art Deco shapes. 

Oops, it seems to be upside down, not that it matters. It doesn't have the border on it in this picture and I don't seem to have any from the exhibition. We have a drawer at the guild with fabrics that people are giving away. The striped fabric at the top and the zigzag at the bottom were from that drawer. 

I was going to demonstrate machine embroidery today but it turned out we had two people booked, so I came home and sewed anyway. 

I wanted to make a piece for our Machine Embroidery group, which meets tomorrow. The theme is the Firebird Suite (I hope). 

I found an image at 123RF, which allows you to pay for downloads and then you can use them. 

My piece was put together, design-wise, rather hastily last night as I thought I would be doing it at the guild. I didn't change anything and just made it today. It is another A5 piece. I will have to work out a way to display them one day, I suppose. 

It hasn't turned out how I envisaged it would but that is part of the learning.

I may be all sewn out now. I will have to see how I go after the next few days. The exhibition is on until the 20th and I will be involved on various days, so I envisage some more thinking and planning of projects. 

Ambitious

There was a working bee for the people involved in Unfinished Business ... Finished (I discovered that is the actual title, at the working bee!).

Some of the people involved have made some amazing works, some are just starting, some are doing things I would never have conceived of doing. It should be a great exhibition.

I was trying to finish off the second vessel, having made a new back.
I sewed on the silk roving and it didn't get caught up in the edge - hooray.

I sewed the binding on and then sewed the pieces together. It is much better. Thank goodness.

There were several packs of donated pieces that hadn't been picked up. Lots of blue fabric in one of them. So, of course, I took some.
Fortunately, someone else was looking carefully at the blue fabrics so I just tore off a few pieces to do a small raw edge appliqué.

I got the photo from 123RF, not being able to find any of my own beach scenes.

Copyright: elen / 123RF Stock Photo

There were also some more threads for a counted stitch embroidery and they seemed to evoke the sea for me. So home they came too.

Actually, they remind me of a tree trunk too. I'll have to see if there is time to come up with a new piece before hand-in date - which isn't far away.

I haven't used many of the threads in the image but did manage to put in a few.
Now I have another piece made, quiet different from my previous vessels.

Trying to work it out

I took a day off today, sort of, and did some sewing. A day off all the other things, sewing should have a bigger priority, I will try to give it that in the New Year. Maybe I will have to break my New Year's resolution from a couple of years ago - to never again have a New Year's resolution.

Anyway ... I have made a piece that could be one side of a vase-shaped vessel.

I used Kathryn Harmer Fox's method - to a degree.   I didn't want to make the piece too thick to sew onto the felt, so just did the flowers.

I found an online tutorial Kathryn has done, using a sunflower. I will have to have a closer look and do it with more care - in the near future. I am in a group that has a challenge to be inspired by an artist and I am being inspired by Van Gogh and Kathryn, I am also in a group that is growing sunflowers, so I am able to take photos of the development of the plant. I think I am meant to be working on a bigger sunflower piece soon.

For the time being, I used an image from 123RF as my inspiration.

Copyright: number168 / 123RF Stock Photo

It was just the inspiration, I traced the basic outline and then flipped it, then just cut up random pieces of tiny yellow pieces of fabric that I had. I think I must like yellow, I have plenty of tiny pieces!

Today I did the sewing. I had thought to cover the background with fabric but ended up not doing so.

Now I have the back of the vase, if I decide that it suits. I am not convinced, yet, that it will go with the front. 

I also have to work out what I will put on the piece that will keep the front and back, and bottom, joined. That is for another day. 

Then ... I will have to work out how to join it all together. I have an inkling of how to do it, I am just not sure I will have the hand strength to do the hand sewing. Time will tell. 

Something new for me.

I was going to blog on the interesting date, 16/11/16, but I didn't have anything interesting to say!
Now it is the 24th - hmm, maybe my life isn't that interesting at the moment.

Anyway, I am working on a small tapestry at the moment, based on the idea of The Four Elements. I am not sure my image is going to work. As usual, I had an idea and started before I had really worked it all out. So my image was a lightly coloured pencil thing (I used two images from 123RF, a copyright image place, if you pay for the images.)
Then I started weaving and instantly began with bright colours! So I am having to make colour decisions as I go, as the cartoon is only a vague suggestion of what I want(ed).

I found that I had woven a small section and didn't like how I had done it. I wanted to change the colours slightly, make them stronger. It is a curving piece and I would have had to pull out some of my weaving to get to the piece I didn't like. I have pulled out more on this piece than I have EVER pulled out in one tapestry and that may have influenced me in my decision to just pull out the offending part and see if I could fix it without having to pull out all the other bits.

So I pulled out the bits that were at the top, lifted some side bits to get at the curve and then pulled it out.

Then I used a tapestry needle to 'sew' the new colour in. It seems to have worked, probably because it was a very small section and didn't need a lot of manoeuvring.

I am not confident that the final piece is going to be altogether successful. So I am considering making a very simple piece, maybe just one colour. Then I can put it out in the weather, bury it in the compost heap and maybe even burn part of it. That should cover the four elements - water (rain - we are having plenty of that at the moment, maybe I had better hurry before summer eventually arrives); air (wind);  earth (compost heap); and fire (could be the heat from the compost, the sun or just a candle).

I'll wait to see how the first one goes. It seems a lot of work to weave a piece and then let the elements have their way on it. But it would definitely suit the theme. But I would have to hurry to finish it, so that the elements will have time to work on it before it is due to be handed in to my tapestry group.

I am even thinking of using different weft yarns, maybe wool, cotton and linen, to see how they react to the elements. It might make the actual weaving a bit more interesting too. Not that I am definitely going to do it.

Reviewing past workshops for new ideas

The Embroiderers Guild, Victoria, is having an exhibition in October, called A Secret Garden.
I have had ideas swimming around in the murky recesses of my mind, not really developing.

Today I decided that, as I cannot do my weaving once the daylight has gone, I should use the non-weaving time to be developing my ideas with some experimentation. As it is just after the winter solstice, there is quite a bit of non-daylight time at the moment. And today was particularly dark, due to rain clouds. Still, I can't complain about rain, we still need it.

I have looked at some Pinterest sites - too many things to look at!!

Then I came across a You Tube video of Kim Thittichai doing some painting of what she calls Bondaweb and we call Vliesofix, here in Australia.

It reminded me of the wonderful workshop I did with her at Ballarat a few years ago. I loved the workshop, did some more playing around once I got home and then forgot all about it - as is my wont.

So now I feel inspired to have a go again. I will have to tidy the studio again - it gets tidied reasonably regularly recently. I must admit that it makes it easier to keep track of things if I actually put them away properly - amazing.

I loved the process of tearing up paper, dyeing or painting it, tearing it up again, etc. I am hoping to make a background that will either be a door or a wall that is hiding the secret garden - a bit obvious, I know, but that is where my thinking is at the moment.

Then I had the thought of looking through a keyhole. I found some images on 123RF and have more ideas floating around, not really connected to previous ideas. I really need to actually start, then things might gel better.

Anyway, ideas are floating around - that is an improvement.
I am thinking of using some gardening type books as my base, maybe I can paint on the paper, rip it up, etc.
I will need to find all the equipment that is involved, that will make a bit of a mess, but it will be a productive mess, hopefully.

Here's hoping something comes to me.

Doodling the alphabet

I am still working on ideas for teaching handwriting, trying to make it interesting - for the student and for me!

I am still not confident of my drawing skills so have been using some outlines from 123RF. I found a couple I liked and have filled them in with doodles.

Copyright: paunovic / 123RF Stock Photo

Copyright: colorvalley / 123RF Stock Photo

I have been trying out various patterns that might suit the correct letter formation. Because we are doing letters with similar formations, I am finding that the patterns are getting rather repetitive.

The ants have turned out looking a little like spiders because of the patterns, something to work on in the future.

I had forgotten that I had done the letter D hidden amongst the doodles, I will try to make a few to go with the letters I am now doing to make a little alphabet book.

A letter a day doesn't take long, very restful to do just before sleep.