We don't play guitars...

Friday was my birthday! I was definitely spoilt with fantastic presents, delectable food & a day trip to the east coast. Off we went to Dundee, as the DCA currently has a Chicks on Speed exhibition. CoS if you are not familiar with them are an art/fashion/electroclash/feminist/DiY group! They don't play guitars... they play wireless high heeled electric shoe guitars, which are on display, along with videos, banners & cigar box synthesisers. Also on display is an amazing theremin tapestry! Woven by the Victorian Tapestry workshop, this giant eye contains metal threads allowing it to be used as an instrument. It is quite something!



And my textile project... getting there!

9 down...

...only 25 to go.
Perfect sewing job for watching the World Cup. Someone was a little distracting though!

Snapdragon & Crochetdermy

A quick posting today, as my silk squares have had markal paintsticks added for deeper colour and all now need ironing & sewing...

On Saturday we had a lovely drive in the country for Forth Valley Open Studios, one highlight was Snapdragon, who very kindly whizzed up this on the sewing machine for me!
How cute is this? Note to self I must learn how to free machine embroidery! Snapdragon also had a gorgeous garden, a very loud & cheeky dog, & some rather comical chickens & ducks! Another thing to pop on to my radar this week was some amazing crochet (or crochetdermy) by Shauna Richardson - check out the studio pictures on her website, they are amazing.

Squares & blue fingers...

The silk squares have been cut, I hope I have made enough. They are all in the process of being painted, left to dry & then ironed.
They have managed to completely take over the dining table (the desk in the spare room/craft space is currently hidden under so much stuff!).
In the process I have also managed to make my hands look like those of a smurf...

Decisions, decisions...

OK, so after much deliberating, I have finally decided that my kingfisher piece is to be a wall hanging. See my rather messy sketch here.
I just love promarker pens! First things first I sampled paints on the silk, unsurprisingly the pebeo silk paints worked best! I also added small highlights of colour with Markal paintsticks.
Then to the origami, here it would be helpful to have a couple more hands (especially hands that were immune to the heat of the iron!). Folding, ironing & then small stitches to keep in place and voila!
One silk painted origami base crane... now to repeat for all these colours!

Eccentric weaving...

I spent the weekend on an 'eccentric weaving' course in the grand surroundings of Stirling Castle, tutored by the very talented Louise Martin. It was great fun allowing the threads to create curves, and not worrying about the maths of it all! I produced two samples, the first is this petrol blue one, I like the curved line running across it.
The second, is much brighter (!) and not quite finished, I shall save showing you until it is. If you are interested in tapestry and are in the area, this week is Forth Valley Open Studios, in which Louise is taking part. Also a noble cause to mention is ripple, artists helping raise funds for the animal victims of the deep water horizon gulf oil spill.

Back to the birdies...

At the last local craft fair there was a haberdashery stall. I had to resist the urge to spend all my pennies on more craft supplies. Some yarn managed to slip through! The ball (unlabelled) is of blue textured yarn with brown thread running along. Using a variety of crochet stitches I created a frame with it to weave embroidery threads through, trying to recreate the colours found on a kingfisher.

I have also been playing around with blue organza & cottons, using crayon coloured bondaweb or angelina fibres as glue, finished off with rough feather finger shapes on the sewing machine. I like the richness of combining the layers and the ghostly fibres trapped between.
I also tried to bleach a selection of blue fabrics I had. However they all resisted the bleach to a more or lesser extent. So I painted the samples with acrylics, trying to show feather movement.
Next, I have brought some beautiful Indian silk dupion which I hope to use for my final piece, though I better first check how it takes colour!

Quilts 1700-2010: Hidden Histories, Untold Stories.

I spent the weekend in Milton Keynes visiting family. On Saturday me & my mum popped down to London to the V&A to see their quilt exhibition. The range of work was amazing, I am in awe of the tiny stitches, the planning & the perseverance. Each quilt told a story, from a wounded solider making a military quilt to Caren Garfen's 'how may times do I have to repeat myself' quilt looking at the role of women within the home. The show is on till the 4th of July, if you get the chance, I can certainly recommend it.

Also check out the summer edition of UK handmade, beautiful inspirations & tips!