Ramshackle- a fresh one

I wanted to take part in the SAQA Spotlight auction which will take place at their conference in Toronto. But after the cough was gone, last week my back was so painful I couldn’t do anything much, especially machine sewing.
Finally yesterday I was able to ignore the pain enough to get a new Ramshackle piece done.

Ramshackle: Big House Small Tree

The size is 6”x8”, but they will be framed in a mount with an aperture 4.5”x6.5”. So I have laid paper strips around the sides to see what it will look like.

So, today I managed the post office, though I drove. And the piece is winging its way to the collection point!

When I was checking through the requirements, I came across a photo from a previous year, used as an example of how they will be displayed for the auction.

And there in the middle is one of mine! Ramshackle Hilltop from 2016.

But is it Safe? At Festival of Quilts

I was excited to see that my work in the Art category had been hung on one of the white walls, rather than the black drapes.

And even more excited to see I had a Judges Choice!

And then at the SAQA dinner, I met another member. We talked of family things. Then she asked about my work. I showed a photo of one of the Ramshackle pieces. And then discovered she was the judge who selected my quilt as her favourite!

This photo thanks to Roz Rossiter. 

Yes, and of course, I have forgotten her name! Oh, yes. It is on the email Roz sent. Jenny Hall. 

Thank you Jenny for this support. 

I like Thankful Thursdays.

Some weeks, like last week, it seems Thursday happens before I know it. And as I haven't been doing much going out and about, I am running out of things to take pictures of!

But, this week, we've got it. Besides, it is warmer, suddenly, which makes it easier to go out...at least in the garden.

I like these violas I planted in October - around Halloween - in a spot where not much else grows. They had flowers when I bought them, but then basically went a bit dormant over winter.

But now, they are beginning to send up their mauve and pumpkin faces. When the daffodils get to the point to cut them back, there they will be brightening a plain spot in the garden.

I like the Snake's head fritillary . They go well with the yellow tulips.

Like my son says, Isn't it amazing that God made a chequerboard pattern on a flower!

Different stages here, near the bottom a new one coming towards the back, one about to open and in front a close view of recently open flowers...you can tell because the chequerboard is clearly defined.

As they get older, the colours darken and blend a bit.

  

And each one has different shaping to the pattern!

And then there are the plain old fritillary - white ones!

And I also like that SAQA Europe and Middle East is well represented in the current issue of the SAQA Journal.

One of our Co-reps.

Three of us who are volunteers

and followed by an article about the work of my friend Uta Lenk, who only stepped down from being co-rep last year!

Check out the 'likes' of the others over at LeeAnna's blog.

Off in the post

I was almost out the door with this today when somewhere out of the blue I got the thought about hanging it. Oh. So, I came back in , undid the parcel and put a hanging sleeve on it. and parcelled it again.
THEN went out the door.

Ramshackle Homes - for SAQA Benefit Auction 2018

12x12in

I didn't do hand stitch in the end. I had it 'visible' for sometime and I just thought it was fine as is.

Ramshackle Homes - Finished

Even though I am spending time watching the Winter Olympics, I am getting things done. Mostly handwork things. So, incentive to finish the hand-stitching on the binding of the Ramshackle piece I will be sending to the Benefit Auction. The call for it hasn't come out yet, but I wanted to get it done before next month, which will be a bit busy.

So, Ramshackle Homes

12x12in

I wanted to explore the golden colour at a slightly larger size. And I wanted to play with differently shaped plants. So, I think it is okay, but I prefer the darker lines. Still, it is bright and cheerful and someone will like it.

In progress

A new Ramshackle in progress.


I wanted to explore the golden yellow lines a bit more from the last piece - Ramshackle Row. This fabric is more mottled and has some darker yellow spots.

It almost gives the look of watercolour, where the pigment pools up in areas and dries darker.
In person, I wasn't too sure. But seeing the photo helps me look at it as a whole. I think it works!
I will probably experiment with the stitching a bit, but that is to be pondered.

I had a name in mind and now it is not. (in mind 😁 ) so I have to wait for it to come back.
The finished piece will be 12x12in. and sent off for the SAQA Benefit Auction.

DONE! Ramshackle Row

In spite of finding thousands of other things to do, including sorting our the cupboard with glasses and mugs (What is that about?!) I have finished Ramshackle Row and it is ready to pack up and send to America for the SAQA Spotlight Auction at the conference in San Antonio.

Ramshackle Row
8in x 6in

I tried something different with golden yellow lines instead of dark ones. And this time I have worked very small with the cutting...not totally intentionally! I usually use chalk, but couldn't see the pale chalk and didn't want remnants of dark chalk on it. So, I used a pencil, which with a smaller line makes you think you have left plenty of room. However, I do like this. I wanted to do terraced houses, and I think this way of working helps to add to the idea of the houses being close together.

The Spotlight pieces will have a surround about 6 1/2 in x 4 1/2 in. for people to frame them. So, it only needs a zigzag finish.

Deadline 1 March! So, that is out of my head now. 😁

Required, returned and not required

No, not saying rejected. Just not chosen!

So, first...
Ramshackle Castles has been returned from its outing to FOQ and Bristol

next...
The response has come in for the 3 secret pieces I was working on.

Two of them have been chosen to be part of the exhibition that is in conjunction with the upcoming book OURstory by Suzanne Jones. Quilted Art that is about the marginalised and stories of human rights.
I can't show those 2 yet. They are short listed for going into the book, but it will be down to the publishers which ones are selected for the book.

But!
I can show the one that wasn't required.

Captured Butterflies

African ladies in their colourful dress remind me of a flight of butterflies
joyfully dancing and celebrating.

Imagine a place 2x the size of California, where over 2000 women and girls are taken
and are still being taken.
Imagine the colour going out of that place.
One by one like bright butterflies captured.
Imagine the families; fathers and mothers, husbands and children whose loved one has been captured. Imagine their grief.
 Imagine the sleepless nights wondering what they are going through.
Imagine the captured one was your loved one.

Why don't we know about this? Where are the protests? Where are the media discussions?

And no, not "just one of those things that happens in Africa."!

“Although the Chibok girls were the most high-profile casualties,

UNICEF estimates over 2,000 girls have been abducted by Boko Haram since 2011.”

Source: UNICEF; Open Doors UK http://www.opendoorsuk.org/news/stories/nigeria_160413.php

detail

Curiously, it is the one I like the best. I am still very confident about it and so will be looking for other opportunities to show it.

And probably will send a better photo. My son has given me his camera to use and it is sooo much better. I think I will keep the other one in my handbag for out and about sorts of photos.

SAQA Benefit Auction - 2017

The other day I got a notice that the Ramshackle piece I donated to the SAQA Auction had sold. Wonderful!

Ramshackle Abode

Now living in Louisiana in America.

Thinking about whether to do a Ramshackle again next year, or to try something else.

A bit of sadness about this:

One of my Ramshackle quilts is missing.

Ramshackle: Country Community

It was travelling with Wide Horizons V. It went missing between being shown at the German Guild AGM in Furth in Germany in June and the quilts being returned to Carrefour/European Patchwork Meeting in France.

They have been looking for it for several weeks. Another work by another artist has also gone missing.

Ramshackle Castles

Today I am parcelling up a new piece to send off.

I showed some detail photos of bits of castles while I was making it. (and also a glimpse of a shortness of brown fabric for the binding...now you see how I have sorted it.)

And now Ramshackle Castles has been accepted into SAQA: Made in Europe II. It will be part of the SAQA exhibition at the Festival of Quilts this summer.
This is exciting for me because since SAQA started having exhibitions at FOQ, I have wanted to have my work included. I did have work included in some of the other European venues, but this is the show I take part in!

And the Blurb...

Ramshackle Castles:

Another in my series of Ramshackle Houses exploring community and neighbourhood. The challenge to develop the “Ramshackle look” to depict castles was a great way to take this series further. Each castle was given their own character; using additions and accessories like I do with the houses.

Living in England, I enjoy visiting castle ruins. I love to imagine the lives of those who lived in them.  Quite a different sort of neighbourhood, busy with all the people needed to run a castle.  In Europe, castles seem to be located on every hilltop...Or near enough. Sometimes the inhabitants were neighbourly. But more often, those in the nearest castle were definitely enemies!


I really enjoyed making this one. Castles are really something I enjoy learning about.  I did get a comment from one of the men in this house (guess who?) about there being no way you could walk on the ramparts at the angle of some sections. I said 'That is the point! It is Ramshackle.' And indeed most of the castles you find are some sort of ruin...although it will be said most of their walls are still straight. 

Ramshackle problem

I decided this fabric was perfect for the new Ramshackle piece (which I can't show you til about the end of June.).

Ah, but it needs this much more to work.

So, I have done some patching in of the background fabric. But in more than one place. So, it works. I haven't a photo yet.

Another Ramshackle

for the SAQA Benefit Auction.
This was one thing I worked on last week.

Loving this tree that sort of designed itself.


Ramshackle Abode

Another in my series of Ramshackle houses with character. This piece explores the idea of individuality which carries over into the 'accessories' which come with a house or home such as trees and garden.

Ramshackle Castle

And here are a few more sneak photos. Remember I said it was a different building and that I was very excited?

Well, Castles, obviously!

Bit by bit I am making progress...interspersed with beads on the dragon gown.

I am hoping to enter this into SAQA Made in Europe II, but it also fits for the latest in-house challenge for TVCT which is Scale: Home. Scale - as in trying something different in size to something you have made before. For me, this is about depicting a different sized building and how could the larger building work with the Ramshackle technique.

Ramshackle Dwelling and Habitation

This week I also started and finished a piece for the SAQA Spotlight auction they will hold at the upcoming conference.

This is Ramshackle Dwelling.

6in x8in
Statement:
Another in my Ramshackle Series of houses and their accessories.
Trees, bushes, and chimney smoke.
This one in a subtle colour and with 'shades' at the windows
to reflect the contentment of a dwelling place.

They put these donations into a mat with an aperture which is 4 1/2in x 6 1/2in.

Last year, I sent Ramshackle Place off for the SAQA benefit auction. I wrote about it here.
I mentioned that I had to make a second one because I had issues getting the green chalk out of the first one.
So, fast-forward to 2017. Vanessa at Lady Sew and Sew wants some samples to display for the workshops I will be doing. When I had finished the one above, I remembered the failed one, which basically just needed a binding apart from solving the green chalk issue. I didn't want to make it Ramshackle Place 2 because it wasn't so great that it wanted a repeat!

As I thought about it, I decided to colour in the house purposely with green chalk and then rub it back. and since it looked good, I also did the trees/shrub.

12in x 12in

And so, Ramshackle Habitation is also finished! And it is enough different to Ramshackle Place that there is no worry about confusion.
It is also an example of how some of the pieces have a bit of colour added. Sufficient at least for a sample.

If you are interested in the workshop, you can find out info here.

updates

Well, the Willows by the Watercourses wearable art was not required for the H2Oh! exhibition.
But as they had 521 entries, with space for 34, it isn't surprising.

So, now I will do a bit more to create a bit of texture on the bark. And, with Tears for the Daughters of My People, I am 2 up on my solo show at Lady Sew and Sew in March! Also, I can use them for the fashion show in the summer.
I had been saying I wanted to get ahead so I wasn't always doing something for the last minute!

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In the meanwhile, Pattern Review sent me a pattern for managing the Menswear contest in late Nov, early Dec. (I could choose.)

not sure when I will make a coat not drafted for me specifically...but you never know.

And the current contest is about sewing UFO's. (Un Finished Objects) and I have hopes of getting some of the blouses finished that have been hanging on my cupboard door. We shall see. We are going on a quick visit to York next week for a memorial service for Mum at the care home she used to live. Quick visits have quite a lingering affect on me. 😩

Weeping Woman - 3

Since working on this piece, I feel as if I should also make a weeping woman for Syria, for Yemen, for Iraq, or ..... India, Burma, North Korea and so on...
or even for mothers of children who never came home from school - gunned down in 'safer' countries.

I came across these words recorded by Jeremiah the Prophet and was amazed that this is the same type of weeping and wailing coming from women of these places of trauma and disaster here in our day.

“Consider now! Call for the wailing women to come;
send for the most skillful of them.
Let them come quickly and wail over us
till our eyes overflow with tears
and water streams from our eyelids.

The sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
‘How ruined we are!
How great is our shame!
We must leave our land
because our houses are in ruins.’”

Now, you women, hear the word of the LORD;
open your ears to the words of His mouth.
Teach your daughters how to wail;
teach one another a lament.

Death has climbed in through our windows
and has entered our fortresses;
it has removed the children from the streets
and the young men from the public squares.

Is it true that we are nearly in 2017 and houses are in ruins so that people must leave their lands? And is it true still that death climbs in through our windows, removing children from the streets and young men from public squares?

This is my Weeping Woman. The colour or place doesn't matter...
But why are we not weeping with her? That should matter!


***********
By the way, it took me around 2 hours to get all that statement down to the 300 allowed characters!

Weeping Woman - 2

I have done a lot of sewing and unpicking on this. I quilted the headdress, but the quilting I did on the face was wrong.

I put beads on for tears, which looked fine when I did it, but when I went to post it here...it was just not right.
So consider this photo another stage while I work out just how many tears it does want! Or, maybe the colour? I picked the beads to go with the sky, but I probably need to go with clear beads because the blue makes too much contrast.

Weeping Woman

A few weeks ago, I sat on the settee next to the dog for a little break. I looked across out of the patio window to the outdoors and this caught my eye...

The reflection in the window of the house opposite across the back seemed to show a weeping woman.

So, this has stuck in my mind, especially as I still cannot get the weeping mothers and women of Nigeria out of my mind. (The story behind Tears for the Daughters of my People.)

So, when SAQA extended the deadline for the Trunk show submissions, I decided this would be my piece if I could get it made through the travelling and so on we have been doing while my mother-in-law was ill.

Here are a few photos of the steps involved with developing the piece. Most of this was done on Friday when I was still processing the news of my mother-in-law's death.

Little changes here and there. The first was too peaceful of a face and as I went on, then concentrating on the folds of her headdress.

A few more changes have been done, but mostly this is how it looks before the quilting.

Willows by the Watercourses

What with one thing and another, I didn't get photos of the Willow I was making.

I left you saying I was about to do the water. Once I got going, I didn't have time to photograph the steps.

This is a detail of the part where it runs under the trunk of the tree.

Here is a close up of the willow leaves as they hang from the shoulder.

And a front and back view

 
Title: Willows by the Watercourses

The Statement:
Willow trees seek water so much so that their roots can break open pipes in following a leak. They are found to be plentiful along many streams and waterways. Ancient words of Isaiah the Prophet promised good for the children to come who would spring up as the willows do by these waterways.

“Water is poured for the thirsty.

Flowing and quenching dry ground.

Blessings are poured for your children

As water where willows are found.”

--Isaiah the Prophet

But I wonder if the waters the children of our world find available is the thirst quenching kind? Have we been careful to leave waters – real or symbolic – that is good for them? Or do they only have leaks to follow?

Quote is a poem I wrote adapting the words and thoughts from that prophecy of Isaiah.

There is plenty I would do if I had more time, but with travelling to York and back so much, that didn't happen. If it isn't accepted into the H2Oh! SAQA exhibition, I can add more for a future event.