And the bead keeps going on and on... 24-31 Jan

Week 4 January 2016

no.24

no.25

no.26

no.27

no.28

no.29

no.30

no.31


And here are all the beaded tassels for January.


All the glistening hard to focus on!

And the new fabric beads will start on 1 Feb. (Beading onto fabric bits alternate months as in years past.) You can see the ones for 2016 next Sunday! I did get the fabric pieces for the year cut yesterday at the Offcuts meeting.

Something on Saturday - Another Trim Sample

Yesterday I found that I could listen to Andy Murray's late evening game in Australia while it was still morning here.

So, being as the something I needed to do required more brains than I have left when I am fretting over his coming back from 2 sets down, I decided to pick up the next beaded trim idea and have a go.

This is called a St. Petersburg Chain.*

Not too hard once you get started. The amber bead is a tension bead. Something to hold onto while you are getting started. Then you can untie it and weave the thread in. I will leave it on til I finish because then I won't have to look for where I have put it! I like having the contrast.

*Why, I don't know. The instructions were on a leaflet from the Bead Guild. I suppose you are meant to make a necklace or bracelet, but as I have mentioned previously, I am making up approx. 1 metre of these sample beading stitches to have to use as possible trim on my fantastical garments.

PS Andy Murray won that match and is through to the final. Oh, but that is against Djokovic, so you possibly know the outcome for that. But, there is always hope.

Ramshackle: Hilltop

For the SAQA auction at their upcoming Conference I knew the entry time was sometime soon, and then I saw a date for 6th Feb.
So I hurried to get to this yesterday so I could get it in the post. I went with some of my familiar styles, just adding one or two new things, like the shades in the windows. So it wasn't difficult to make up a 6x8in piece in a day. (It will be matted, so the visible size will be 4 1/2 x 6 1/2in.)

Ramshackle: Hilltop

Another in my Ramshackle series about neighbourhood and community.
Who lives at the top of the hill?
Does anyone live below?
Are they alone?

Then I found the 'be there' deadline is the 13th. The entry deadline is the 6th. Still, as I posted it today, it should get there with plenty of time for getting lost in the post and making a new one.
I hope it gets there with no problem! The first version of last year's piece was never found.

Kamlaika - "Seams"

Another finish last week was my piece using wax paper. Inspired by Kamlaika parkas I saw in Alaska which had been made by indigenous people groups.

On Saturday, we had the reveal of the work for our Worn Threads exhibition. I hadn't been able to get a photo here at home, so this is a quick one taken at the community centre.

(A bit of bad photo shopping at the left
to get a colourful coat out of the background.)

I will get some detail photos of the stitching to show sometime this week. We will be selecting and arranging so we know which pieces to take to the first venue.
It will be at Lady Sew and Sew in Henley from the 4th of February for 3 weeks. Then it will go to the National Needlework Archive in April.

And the bead keeps going on and on... 17-23 Jan

Week 3 January 2016

no.17

no.18

no.19

no.20

no.21


colour change for the bugle beads
no.22

no.23

Another finish - For Want of a Shoe

And it is even in the post.

I used a grassy print fabric with a touch of gold to bind the edge. Not easy to get right because the background print is so off grain and all over the place!

Near the bottom edge, I used a piece of the dark green from the quilt to fill in the gap where I ran out of the binding fabric to create a bit of interest. I think it helps to sort of draw attention to the date, which is the feature of each quilt in the exhibition that will tie them together.


For Want of a Shoe

And the story:
Abebe Bikila - Ethiopian, was the first African to win Olympic Gold. At the Rome Olympics in 1960, he ran the marathon barefoot because he was a replacement on the team and the sponsors providing running shoes hadn’t any left to fit him. Since then Ethiopians have become well known for their long distance running.

Challenging Technique:
Learning a little Amharic and Painting letters on fabric.

This is for the Stretching Art and Technique group. Our 17th challenge will be exhibited in March in New Jersey, and then travel through the rest of 2016 to the other Mancuso shows in New England during the summer and finish at the PNQE show in Pennsylvania in September.

And we have heard that Mancuso is willing to tour our exhibit on an annual basis!

A Drop in a Bucket returns

The other day when I got the news about the moon piece, I also had a knock at the door. It was A Drop in a Bucket back from its travels.

At the end of this year, there is a call for entry for a theme called 'H2Oh'. So, I think I am going to enter this. Perhaps even more people can stop and think about the message.

And the bead keeps going on and on... 10-16 Jan

Week 2 January 2016

no.10

no.11


And now the bugle bead change
no.12

no.13

no.14

no.15

no.16

Re-reading the letter

Maggi commented that she had noticed that others had posted the photos of their work.

Oh!

So, I reread the letter and find that it is so! We CAN!

So, here is my photo of 'Moonlight Groovin'.

The story to go with the quilt
The idea of the moon and its influence on romance has intrigued me since hearing the poem “Silver” by Walter de la Mare. The words in the poem paint such a beautiful picture of what the world looks like in moonlight.
It seems to me that de la Mare could have gone on to describe a moonlit rendezvous amongst all the other images of trees, animals and buildings. A couple dancing alone together; no one else to disturb. A glimpse of silver moonlight flickering off their clothing. A glimmer here, a glimmer there. Casting their own glow through the night.

Moonlight Groovin’ is the second in my series of textile art work showing couples dancing in the spell of the moonlight. The full moon shines brightly down on their dance, illuminating the night and enhancing their mood.

As well as for the Moon Landings, 1969 is known for the legendary Woodstock Festival event. So, for a work to bring back memories of that summer, I chose to depict a young twosome from 1969. Groovin’ and movin’ to their own vibe, but feeling the love as one.

And a closer view.

Accepted!

Cool news. My Moonlight Groovin' piece has been accepted into the Fly Me to the Moon collection!
It will travel to various venues as a part of the 50th year celebrations for the Moon landing commemoration. (Or however you put that in proper English!)

Since the quilts have only now been selected, the book part of the project is only beginning. It will be up to the publishers about which quilts go into the book. Still, the collection will be going places like the Space Center in Houston! So that will be exciting!

The list of other quilts and their titles are listed on the author's blog. Susanne M Jones I can't show a photo of the work yet, but the titles of the quilts give an idea of the sorts of topics covered.

So, a rerun of the moon in the back of the coat in my Midnight Dance by Moonlight wearable art ensemble. The new piece is in a similar style but is pretty different in mood.

possibly now a series I might return to!

Ladder trim finished

Near the beginning of the year, the ladder sample/trim finally grew to over a metre. The instructions I was following involved a much shorter piece, but you were to come back along both sides to add a bit of edging. (for a necklace/choker)

So, the past few days I have been doing that. I had intended to fill in the gaps between with more arches but I think this is good for now. It looks like a trim.

And as that is what I am wanting...something to enhance something else, I decided I don't need to make a ruffly edging.

Besides a dark purple small width trim will go with things much easier than a statement trim.

pleat stitches done

The stitching on the pleats (within each piece of wax paper) are finished.

Now I need to start on the seams. Not much time left.

I would rather sew beads to be honest!

And the bead keeps going on and on... 3-9 Jan

Week 1 January 2016

no.3

no.4

no.5

no.6

no.7

no.8

no.9


These look like they are all the same. But there are subtle differences. There will be sets of 5 with silver accents - the small beads changing and then sets of 5 with gold accents. The bugle beads will change every 10 days in the month when the sets of 5 in silver and then gold will repeat using the different bugle bead. And on months with 31, there is a different set - as you can see with the bead one from last week.
(Not that you care! But it is for my record to remember what I did.)

Finally a finish

Having a break is a good thing. But you do get to the point where you just want to get something done! Not that I have been having a full break, I have been working on the daily project and the samples....and the Worn Threads and the Stretching Art! But little bits at a time because that has been all I can manage.

Anyway, there we are. So, this week I got the even weave peyote sample finish. At a certain point I had decided to make a choker from it. So, I was getting it to be long enough.
However, since this was a sample - first go at it - the tensions were all over the place! Sometimes the band was thinner than others. Some of that had to do with the white striped beads which are not regular like some of the more quality type of beads. So, thinner beads produced a thinner band.

And so I figured the irregularities would be less noticeable when worn as a choker. And I could put the circular peyote sample piece over the join! I stitched a small hook and eye to lay hidden under the circle. The eye is on the end of the row (perhaps you can spot it on the laid out photo.) and the hook is stitched with the other end on the other side of the circle.

I thought the weight of the circle piece at the front would keep it in place. Where as a plain choker with the join at the back could twirl around because nothing was keeping it in place.

And here it is on Madame.

Not particularly the sort of thing I would wear. And the colours are very specific. But I would wear it for special events at Christmas. So, in the meantime, Madame can model it. Hopefully it will not grow so familiar that I totally forget when it comes to next Christmas!

London - New Year 2016

Hard to believe it is already 5 days into the New Year!

Each new year the Thoughtful Man and I like to watch the fireworks in London on the telly. Generally we watch something else - even a DVD and then switch to the fireworks.

Also, each year I try to get photos. Last year I finally found the fireworks setting on my camera. and it works for photographing them on telly as well. So, this year I tried to get a variety of the views they showed.

Sort of speak for themselves.

I think it is cool to see all the phones held up by people in the crowd to get their own photos.

I love the silhouettes of the buildings in the foreground.

And then a view across London.

All the while nice and warm at home!

Mind you, we went to bed not long after. But were up again soon because the dog was making noises about something we all heard. It ended up she was wanting to get out the window at what she thought was a cat - compiled with the fact that we rushed down to see if she was okay! She gets seizures, so we thought the noise and then her squeaking was one of those. I think, though, that it was next door getting home late.

***************
I have begun to get back to a working schedule, but I wanted to show these photos. I haven't been on the computer much, so hadn't been able to sort them yet for the blog.
Yes, a very lot of money going up in smoke. But this year I was glad that plots were foiled in different places and that encourages me for the year ahead.