more new pj's

I intended to do some pj's for my son, but I need more measurements to get it right. He has alot more muscle now due to running and lifting weights. So, I am going to have to try to work out a bit more fitting when he is here for Spring break. I guess he is starting to have some problems getting clothes to fit. Maybe I will be making custom clothes for him.

But in the meanwhile, I used up some more of my flannel fabric to make another pair of pj's for my DH.

There wasn't enough of the red stripe on it's own, so I worked out a plan make it blend together with the blue stripe.

It can be an extra Valentine's present.

buttons

I got the buttonholes done after I posted the last post. Then put on the buttons the next day.
Here is the long sleeve blouse finished.

Then it got a bit busy over the weekend. But I have been working on a few more of the 'About Britain' pieces.
Here is Phone Home finished.

I am going to post them tomorrow. They suggested they might need a few extras to play about with placement and balance when they put selection together. If they don't get chosen, they will come right back, but if they do get chosen, they will come back when the exhibition is done.

I have had a traffic series in mind. I love the graphic symbols used for the various roundabouts. I mean to do something with just the black shape from different places sometime, but for now...
Here is Roads and Roundabouts.

And then I have always thought the Motorway symbol looked a bit like a superhero symbol... or at least like a transformer. So, here is Motorway Man. I always call him that when I see the sign.

and then while I was on signs...

We have Mind the Gap on the Way Out.
I already had the idea to emphasis the Gap. But when I went to quilt it, I looked at some more underground images and was struck with the idea of quilting the wall tiles to give the tube feel.

These 3 were all done mainly with fabric paint. Either by stencilling or by drawing the symbol with pencil and filling in with paint.

I have a few other ideas for making more for my son, but I need to get on with the next plan now.
oh, yes, and while I am now on half-term, I MUST take some time out just to read or something!

about Britain

So, no buttons on a blouse... But Celtic Cross is finished.

edit: a better photo...the other was a bit light even with playing in PSP.

and Phone Home top is done!

A few years ago my sis in law had very thick paper serviettes at Christmas. Some came home with me to use in my work. It is thicker than most fabrics and very like fabric to work with. When I went into the cupboard to look for telephone box red...it just jumped out at me!

back of the phone box piece

I used a stenciling technique. retaining the red but painting the other colours. at that point I wasn't sure about cutting and mounting or something else. I looked up British telephone boxes and amongst the photos saw one situated at the side of a path with a lot of bushes around it. So, this fabric - already fused from cutting other bushes from it - became just the thing to surround the 'snapshot' of the phone box.

Tomorrow I will sandwich and quilt it. I do have a meeting in the afternoon though, so I will probably do the buttons instead of starting another Around Britain piece.

back to art

Wow! last month I managed to sew over 30 yards of fabric in all the things I made! The blouse is at the buttonhole stage, but I was too tired to stay up late trying to do them. So, I ended up about 5th or 6th on the leader board. Cool. all the participants together sewed up over 1000 yards in the month.

I will get back to the buttonholes, but I dearly needed to make some art! So, here is a piece I made today. It still needs the other layers and a bit of quilting and the edging.  I enjoyed making the 20cm square size for 'cricket wicket', so I thought I would do a few more British themed pieces that size.

'Celtic Cross'

I embossed the metal from the inside of a tomato puree tube using a celtic cross design from a Celtic Craft book. Then I coloured it with permenant felt tips. The fabric was actually cut in an interlocking T pattern, but the metal covers it. So, I printed it with some carved wood blocks I have.

Tomorrow I should manage the blouse buttons and finishing this off. I have a couple other ideas for a few more British things. I also need to get onto the Journal quilts for this  year. The first 4 months are Red. I have a few ideas.