In the post

...Delayed Birthday books.
I have the first one by Elizabeth Barton, so now I have the second. I don't really have a problem working in a series. But it will be interesting to see what she says about it. I am sure there are ideas I can use to get more out of the different series I do work on.

And somewhere on the interwebs recently I read about the other book. So when a Certain Young Man asked about what I would like, I mentioned this. I had already looked and saw that there were second-hand library books. The images in the book are so amazing I told him I wouldn't mind an ex-library book. I think it cost something like £3 or £4 pounds!

The Heat and the Flame - front skirt beaded

And here is the front of the skirt beaded...spread on the back of the settee...

and draped on the stand.

Now to carry on with the back. It is based on a 'hi-low' or 'mullet' shaped skirt idea. But with my own twist of course!

The Heat and the Flame - front skirt

Finally some progress on the front part of the skirt. I needed to wait til I had some fusible to cut the appliques. I fused a blue-ish nearly right colour synthetic organza with a Kelly green which has made it the just right colour to go with the rest of the gown.

Because of the fusible, I was able to cut them out without fraying. So, they are only attached with beads to make it more wispy floaty.
So, stitching beads over the next few days. I haven't started on the beads for the back of the skirt yet.

"And the Bead Goes On and on..." 21-26 July

2014 - Week 30 Daily Beads

This week's beads are small faceted bugles. I decided to put one of the brass coloured beads between 2 of the bugles. I quite like the way it makes it articulated. The shape is even more interesting than the straight up and down beads.

no.202


no.203


no.204


no.205


no.206


no.207


no.208 small with smooth sides

Something on Saturday

I have been working on the dragon gown this week, but also having a birthday.
So, here are a few sewing birthday delights.

I was totally out of Misty Fuse or any other fusible for that matter. So, the Thoughtful Man worked out prices and a discount code I had from Barnyarns and discovered you could get enough of the 2.5 yard packages and still cost less than the 10 yards from America which a Certain Young Man could bring back next week if I had it sent to him. (only I really need it this week!) So, 4 packages of white and 2 of black. That should keep me going for a while.

And the other little bits are Very Cool. The Thoughtful Man is a gadget person. (Last year he gave me a microscope you can connect to the computer and then use the images for design, etc!) SO this year it was all these little parcels and a link to a very fascinating thing.

I have heard of using LEDs in your work and fibre optics, both in conceptual garments and in textile art as Kate Findlay has been experimenting with.
Wellll, this is along the same lines, but more than just having lights in your work, it has a sensor which you can shine up to whatever colour you are wearing and it will detect the colour and change the lights to match! Can you believe it?
You can check out this link for a page with a little video of how they have used it in a scarf.

Obviously, a scarf is slightly less exotic than what I am sure my imagination can produce with a bit of consideration! ;-) What fun!

The Heat and The Flame and a Dragon Glare

Head down, nose to the grindstone machine and one of the results.

Release darts in the bodice neckline are highlighted with top stitching
and beading, while a flaming dragon glares below.

This is part of the description I sent off to be read out at the Fashion Sans Frontieres show at the Festival of Quilts.

The large beads for the eyes seemed just the thing when I went digging in the 'old necklace beads' stash. And the result is better than I had envisioned! It sure helps him to glare, doesn't it!

Getting the work sent out - or fixing things so you can

Sometimes I feel like it is easier to make the work than it is to get it all sorted to be sent off!
But Sew Large and Menina de Favelae Água are ready for collection in the morning.

First, though, I got the sleeves sewn on. Made sure a flap of fabric was tacked on to hide my name for the judging part. Then sorting 3 labels for each quilt. one to be stitched on the back, one to be included with the packaging inside, and one to be stuck to the parcel.
So, all was well. I even stitched the labels on in such a way that my name on the label still was hidden under the name flap. (There has got to be a better way for the organisation to do this!)

Then I tried to fit them both into the large cardboard tube. Hmm. okay, try using a smaller thing to wrap Menina around. hmm.
So, I unwrapped...
and then found I had swapped the labels stitched to the back! Even though I wrote the name of the piece on the back of the label so I wouldn't mix them up? I still did. So, a bit more unsewing and resewing. not so easy on paper!

Eventually I wrapped Menina around the outer wrapping of Sew Large... after finding the rules and re-reading to see if there were any notes about not sending them that way. I didn't see anything but that more than one quilt could be sent together if you put the outside labels for both of them on the outside. Shouldn't be too much confusion for them as one is much narrower, and I wrote a note to say there were two there.

And then the Thoughtful Man weighed and sorted the label business. Phew.

**************
What I was doing yesterday.

Since Menina already had a sleeve from when she was in the Water,Water exhibition and then at the Spring Knitting and stitching show, it could have been easy to get her ready.

However, I was gutted to see how wavy the edges were when she was exhibited. At home she was fine! I thought it might be that it was over a radiator in the gallery for Water, Water. But even though she was nicely rolled, it still wasn't great at Spring K+S.

I realised I had to do something for Festival of Quilts as it is quite humid there and even some of the place winners in the traditional quilt section discover their quilts are a bit wobbly.

SO, I cut 2cm strips of pelmet Vilene.

unsewed the side bindings at the back. Slipped the Vilene under the binding and restitched them.

Then starched the whole thing back and front!

Well, it made a difference. (even with wadges of white sheets and cupboard door handles behind her.

Let's hope it stays.

"And the Bead Goes On and on..." 14-20 July

2014 - Week 29 Daily Beads (if you were looking for the catch-up week of beads, it was posted here on Tuesday.)

This week the bugle beads have smooth sides.

no.195


no.196


no.197


no.198


no.199


no.200


no.201

Something on Saturday

Rest for the weary?

And a little closer for the patterning on his tunic.

Also in Ely Cathedral

Difficult to photograph a dark alcove under streaming sun.

Inspiration in Ely Cathedral

On holiday I went round Ely Cathedral taking inspirational photos. Here are a few of the tiles in the choir and altar area.

I will show other features from the Cathedral now and then.

Sleeve day

Today I have been putting hanging sleeves onto pieces that need to be sent off hither and yon.

I entered 2 pieces into FOQ "Menina de Favela e Água"
and Sew Large - which I realise I never showed more than detail shots. As it wasn't accepted into the 'Redirecting the Ordinary' exhibition, I am sending it to FOQ.

H46in x W31in (117cm x 79cm)
 

“Sew Large” - A closer look at one of the tools of my trade.
A simple hand embroidery needle stuck into a piece of cotton covered with additional trial samples of cloth.
Any number of these can be found here and there around my studio.

Detail

and will also have 3 of this year's journal quilts there.

I also need to put sleeves on the Illuminated Letters to be sent to America next month. And a sleeve on Drop in a Bucket to be in France by 1 September.

This is a good kind of busy!

Signs

Some signs make you want more information.

Spotted last week...

Why?

"And the Bead Goes On and on..." 7-13 July

Caught up now on the daily beads after my holiday.
2014 - Week 28 Daily Beads

These twisted bugle beads are a little shorter than the ones used in the first 6 days of July. So, there is a small size 15 bronze colour bead at either end to keep it from flopping around.

no.188


no.189


no.190


no.191


no.192


no.193


no.194


For some of these bobbins, the holes don't line up exactly, so it gives an interesting angle to the beads.

Found Art

Found Face

somewhere in the Thetford Forest.

"And the Bead Goes On and on..." 1-6 July

So, we are back from holiday. Good rest from the urgency of deadlines and things. And so I have been working on catching up on the daily beads for July.

I worked out the order of steps and decided the grey beads were just not right for this project, so the white translucent beads will work for the whole month.

These bobbins were from a set of cheapy threads I was given by someone who 'saw them and thought of me'. My current machine doesn't use these bobbins. When I tried them before in the machine I had before that did use them, I discovered the bobbins are somewhat distorted and just don't work. So, I have been winding the thread off for things like tacking thread. And now the bobbins will not have gone to waste.

At this point I have caught up the first week, so here they are.
2014 - Week 27 Daily Beads (last part of week)

no.182


no.183


no.184


no.185


no.186


no.187

Something (exciting) on Saturday!

I have just been catching up on email from being away. So, I just discovered that the piece Drop in a Bucket has been accepted for the SAQA Wide Horizons IV exhibition which will be at the European Patchwork Meeting, Ste Marie aux Mines, France.
Date: 18th to 21st September 2014

Woo Hoo!
Persistence pays off eventually. I don't enter all the SAQA exhibitions, I couldn't afford it. But in the last couple of years, I have done one or two a year. That and donating for the auctions. However, the last time I got had something accepted was 8 years ago! (actually when I first joined) and that was also in France.

But also, this is encouraging because this series I have been doing about the needs of children around the world really means a lot to me. And I was hoping that passion would be evident in the work.

Spotted on our holiday...

...In a run-down museum which was meant to have a Celtic site on the land.

This was in one of the barns which had old tractors and harvesting equipment. I guess the re-created Celtic village had been taken down because it was falling apart and wasn't accurate in the first place...something a past land owner had found and cobbled together.
They are trying to raise money to get it set up properly.

Anyway, this machine looked interesting. Perhaps for stitching shoes? you can see a set of shoe shapers on the shelf to the right.

And also in a glass case with things made of bone.
needles

brooch

I am not sure if these were found on the site ( the bones of a tall Celtic man were found there) or not. Does make you wonder what you could make with bone yourself!