Summer holidays

It is that slow time between Christmas and New Year, that time when you have got over the Christmas rush and are finally relaxing into the summer holidays.
I have wanted to play around with a new template for a free motion machine thread bowl and today seemed the perfect time.  I have tried this idea before, with some success but not complete satisfaction. My previous attempts have just used a flat circle that was moulded over a bowl and the remnants of the soluble fabric provided stiffener.

This time I wanted it to hold its shape itself, not by depending on stiffener. So I had to find a template that would do that.  I knew that I should be able to do it because my cocoons have their own shapes but I hadn't been trying to make a regular, bowl shape.  I looked on the internet but didn't find what I was looking for. Some sites were too mathematical and most templates were for paper craft which was helpful but not exactly what I wanted.

I drew a few templates and cut them up to see how they would go.  I finally came up with one I thought might work.

I had to search to find my compass which I haven't used in YEARS.  I drew two circles, approximately 60cm diameter for the outside one and 25cm for the inside one.  I drew it on one of those brown paper bags that you buy things in but can't bear to throw out when you get everything home, the paper is too good, the bag looks useful. Now it turns out it was useful! It was a good size, my visual diaries were not large enough.

Ignore the inside circle, it was too far in and I drew a new, larger circle.

I folded the paper into four equal parts and cut straight up from the inside circle - this wasn't measured, I just cut and hoped.

The angle of the cut from the central circle (remember, I didn't use the smallest circle) will determine the angle of the side of the bowl.

As I was trying a new idea, I decided that I should stick to as easy a task as possible.  My recent work has been for the Suspension exhibition which was in black to white so I used the materials I had for that.  No colour decisions, no new threads and fabrics to find.  Much easier.

Fabric laid out to give some strength to the bowl.

All I had to do was come up with a template that works.

The sewn template - now to see if it really does work.

Ta-da

I am not totally happy with the shape but now I have a better idea of how to go about the task and may try for some more bowls.  I'd like to experiment with the angle of the side of the bowl.

But ... I have been reading some interesting quilting books lately and have other things I'd like to play with, so the bowls may get made, may not.
There is a design for a small tapestry on my mind too.
And I need to think about what I might do with all those little bits of silk I have been dyeing.
Ah, summer holidays.

the tapestry with the slits

I don't think I have put up a good picture of the tapestry with the slits and I have had a few questions about it.
So here is another image of it at the exhibition. It is actually hard to get a good image that conveys the 360 degrees.

This is the three of them together.

The middle tapestry from a slightly different angle. 

I also found that my camera has a panorama capability, so I played around with that too.  

The lights were on a movement sensor so this view is darker. I will have to play around with the settings a bit more to work out how to get proper images.

My Tapestries in Suspension

It was my turn to sit at the Tinning St gallery today.  There were a few visitors but there was also some down time.  I have a new camera and I took the book along to read.  I took the camera too, of course.
So here are a few photos of my tapestries from varying angles.

My work was based on the idea that we have times in our lives when we are snuggled up cosily in our little cocoons but then things happen (whether caused by outside forces or from within) and we have to move on, change our directions, etc.  Then we start again in another cocoon and the journey goes on.

The thought behind these pieces is that the front of the tapestry is what you see from the outside and the back represents what is going on out of sight.  So there are bumps and rough patches visible from the outside but inside is more complicated and messy - there are soft spots as well as rough spots but it is not the same as the image we present to the world. It is not necessarily worse, it is just different.

You can see this one on the loom, and just off the loom, here.

It is the same one as the above image.  It moves gently in the moving air.

 Here is a link showing the back tapestry on the loom.

The front tapestry is here. 

 This is taken from below, experimenting with the camera settings. 

Another taken from below.

My pieces are the cocoons along the window wall and the three tapestries hanging in the distance. The afternoon light was lovely on the teardrop pieces. 

Bumping In

We started putting the show up in the Tinning St Gallery today.  It is looking good.  Thank heavens for people who are not afraid of heights - that does NOT include me!

Special thanks to Max, who balanced on ladders, listened well and was extremely helpful with height wary me.

The day started with us putting our work in the general area we had planned to use and then Ilka consulting with everyone about what was working and what wasn't.  Some slight changes were made and I think it is all going to look great.

If you make it on Thursday, you will have to be careful as you move around the gallery, there is a lot of hanging work.  Suspended!

Suspension - our exhibition

The flyer for our exhibition has arrived.  Great excitement.  

There are 8 of us taking part.  We all graduated last year from the Studio Textiles and Design course that we studied at RMIT.  It has been a great experience and has kept me focused this year.  The sharing of ideas, helping each other out with resources, encouragement, etc, has been invaluable.

Ilka White is our curator and has been inspiring and pushing us throughout the development of the show.

Now all I have to do is finish the work in time!
It is at the Tinning St Gallery in Brunswick and runs Thursday to Sunday for two weeks.