Monday 31 October 2016

And the bead keeps going on and on...30-31 October

first part - Week 44 - Oct 2016

no.304

no.305


All of October's beads

Sunday 30 October 2016

And the bead keeps going on and on...23-29 October

Week 43 - Oct 2016

no.297

no.298

no.299

no.300

no.301

no.302

no.303

Saturday 29 October 2016

70,273 project x's 9-20

More red x's for the 70,273 project.

x9

x10

x11

x12

x13

x14

x15

x16

x17

x18

x19

x20


More info: www.The70273Project.org

Friday 28 October 2016

Willow design work

How I work:
On the computer
- inspiration photos so I can remember stem colour, overall colour and then shapes of leaves.
Pinning to the dummy (or to the design wall or laying things out on a piece on my table) - In this case, in real life the strips look more green than the photo. I was trying to see if I could get away with just the one layer of sheer fabric which I showed you yesterday.
But no. Too much of the blue. And comparing it to the close up leaves in the inspiration photo on the right, the answer is definitely not.

Bits and pieces going on at the same time - String dyed and now drying to be used for the willow stems.
I had tarragon+tea mixture left from earlier in the year when I dyed silk for the Mere Edges piece. It has already dyed the plastic container yellow and it is time for it to stop hanging around in my studio.
So, I stirred it and the string went in. Nuked it in the microwave 4 min. and left to sit while tearing the strips above. Now it is drying on the radiator in the downstairs loo.

So, the next step will be to stitch a string down the middle of the synthetic organza strip with a pale green colour underneath. Then take a deep breath to be brave enough to begin cutting leaves. (!) With the soldering iron so the edges are sealed.

Thursday 27 October 2016

water

One of the synthetic organza fabrics I thought I might use for Willows by the Watercourses (H2OH! piece) is sort of citrus green one way and blue the other. This is going to work well because I want the water to be reflecting the willow tree. When vertical, it shows the green side more, and if I layer that with a green, I can cut willow leaves out of it.

I cut the piece in half lengthwise. Then while pressing it discovered the iron hadn't adjusted to the temp setting yet and I got a ripple in the fabric. Oh! Ripple!
It seems the iron becomes too hot just when it is nearly adjusted - like it gives a burst of heat and then cools to the temp. So, I used that to my advantage and rippled the whole of one of the pieces.

Okay, a bit like taking photos of air, but it gives a bit of idea.
You can see the rippled piece on the left and the smooth piece on the right.

When the rippled piece is turned horizontal, then you see the blue rippled water with a hint of green 'reflection'.

I may layer this piece over some other blues to create a bit of depth in the water.

Wednesday 26 October 2016

red x's

This is my box with bits and pieces for making red x's.
I have it sitting by my chair in the lounge to stitch while we watch cooking programmes and the like.

Monday 24 October 2016

The 70,273 Project

Recently I heard about a project set up by Jeanne Hewell-Chambers at The Barefoot Heart. Jeanne has a heart for disabled people. When she heard on a documentary that between January 1940 and August 1941 (before the Holocaust began), many of Germany's loved sons, daughters, father's, mother's, relations and friends were murdered at the command of the Nazi's because they were deemed "unfit" or an “economic burden on society", Jeanne decided those people had to be commemorated. Some were visibly disabled, some were old, some were mentally disabled, some were slowly recovering from an illness or injury. They were men, women, teens, boys, and girls.
Three doctors were to read each medical file, and when two of them made a red X on the page, the disabled person’s fate was sealed. Most were murdered within 1-2 hours. Very few of these 70,273 people were even met by the doctors who wrote an X, let alone examined.

The 70,273 Project involves collecting 70,273 pieces of white fabric, each with 2 red X's on them. These will then be made up into quilts to be exhibited in various places around the world.

This speaks to my heart, too. And is made even more poignant knowing people like my 96 year old mother-in-law who would have never reached that age under those circumstance. Or my brother who lived over 20 years after having a kidney transplant. Or to bring it even closer home - me...with my pains and headaches and 'malaise' or what ever you might want to call fibromyalgia.

I have read a lot about that period of history. I recently read about a nurse who was made to let them come and empty the building of her disabled patients...being told they were being taken to a lovely place in the country where they could get much better. But I didn't know about the totality of the decisions on this aspect of the Nazi regime.

So, I decided to make some of the blocks. Here is the info about the blocks.
Because each block commemorates a perfectly imperfect person,
blocks can be perfectly imperfect, too.
There are only other two guidelines:
~ finished blocks must be made in one of three sizes 3.5″ x 6.5″ (9 cm x 16.5 cm) or 6.5″ x 9.5″ (16.5 cm x 24.2 cm) or 9.5″ x 12.5″ (24.2 cm x 31.8 cm)
~ A completed and signed Provenance Form (release) must accompany the blocks.
For more information about The 70273 Project, visit www.The70273Project.org. There are also links on Jeanne's blog where you can find out how to get involved, more specific detail about making the blocks, and how to get your group or family involved.

If we don't tell people, who will stand up if we are the ones on a list somewhere? Actually, in some places people are being ticked off a list.
More information on the "T-4" programme can be found on the website of the Holocaust Memorial Museum.

I have started out with the small size. I want to document them on the blog.
I haven't the skills to do a patchwork quilt, but I can contribute blocks for the people able to do that!
x1

x2

x3

x4

x5

x6

x7

x8

While we were visiting my Mother-in-law in hospital last week, I made the first 5. They don't take too long. Just the thing for keeping your hands busy. Perhaps I will put a few blank pieces and some red thread in the kitchen to do while waiting for things to cook.

Sunday 23 October 2016

And the bead keeps going on and on...16-22 October

week 42 - Oct 2016

no.290

no.291

no.292

no.293

no.294

no.295

no.296

Friday 21 October 2016

Harvest - last Sunday

Last Sunday we had our harvest celebration.
I usually decorate the front table.

And this year, we did a fry-up or Full Cooked English Breakfast instead of a dinner.
Fun! Everyone had their part in the kitchen or out of it.
My part was cooking Scrambled Eggs. (easier than getting individual fried eggs right!) We had sausage, mushrooms, tomato, baked beans, hash browns, bacon and more!

We are collecting to send to Haiti via MAF - who fly teams of doctors and health professionals, building teams and more to places that are inaccessible. In this case, inaccessible because of the damage.
We have supported them in other ways in the past, including the teams who went to Nepal. MAF has a slogan 'Flying for Life' So they had already planned for a fund raiser called 'Frying for Life'... and we decided we could do it as a meal! And then the Haiti disaster happened, so it gave us even more impetus.

Wednesday 19 October 2016

Bubbles-foam for a Cascade

This morning I got a bright idea of making bubbles or foam for a cascade of water.
Crochet several types and colours of threads.

As you do.

Tuesday 18 October 2016

Seams on bodice

Finished the seams on the bodice. Each side of each seam took between 6-10 minutes! Pedal to the medal and all.
Do you think it gives a sort of abstracted idea of tree limbs with a bit of foliage between? More things will happen to give it a 3D look. But this is a start - a base.
Beneath the 'tree' will be water, so thinking about the technique for that. I know what it looks like in my head, and I think I know how I will do it.

Monday 17 October 2016

Seams

After a busy weekend with Harvest and outings to a Drama play with friends, I am back at the current project.

I mentioned joining the parts of the bodice made of hair canvas with fabric that lines as well as turns to the front. I hadn't thought about how much the quilting fabric would fray. But, I found a solution that adds to what I am trying to show.
One of the seams...caught down with a fancy featherstitch from my machine.
The seams were meant to be like foliage peeking between limbs of a tree anyway, so this works well. The little frayed bits will eventually add to the whole.

At the moment, the working title is Willows by the Watercourses. So, thinking about developing the willow a bit more. I don't want to recreate a willow, because I want to focus on the water side of it.

Sunday 16 October 2016

And the bead keeps going on and on...9-15 October

Week 41 - Oct 2016

no.283

no.284

no.285

no.286

no.287

no.288

no.289