Line, Texture and a little Colour

Instead of taking the same photos I seem to take year after year on our annual 'fishing trip' to the Snowy Mountains I decided this year to take just a small number of close-up photos and focus mainly on line, texture and a little colour. (This is all with a view to developing my 'Eucalyptus' portfolio which will hopefully translate into stitch one day......)

A few collected leaves......

A little tracing and colouring in........

Testing  some quilting designs......

A little leaf darning and embroidery - inspired by the work of Alice Fox.

And now to preparations for guests.......
Sue xxxx

Happy New Year.........

It's probably no surprise that the new year has gotten well underway before I've managed to get my act together......(I do have a reasonable excuse.)

One of the benefits of expecting guests (beyond the capacity of the guest bedroom)  is that my sewing room needed to be tidied up - so at least it was sparkling and ready for the New Year..... I could see at a glance MOST of my projects either underway or in planning as every box, basket, bag or pile related to a different project - yikes. (That didn't include things tucked away in the cupboard or a drawer or hanging on the upstairs balcony rail. It would be too frightening to add them to the picture.....)

Just needed to fold down the cutting table and roll it out of the way......

This arrived in the mail in the nick of time......

The Christmas baking - 3 cakes, 2 puddings and fat-free fruit mince.....

Results this year were MUCH improved on last year......

One of my goals for this year is to make my own sourdough bread from scratch. The first batch shows promise.....

The levain / poolish / mother / starter (or whichever term you'd prefer to use) bubbled away nicely  - though maybe not as vigorously as the pictures indicated that it should.

The loaves rose as per expectation - though it may have been better to leave a little longer....

......and they looked and smelled amazing when they came out of the oven

Possibly could have been cooked a little longer.........

Overall an exciting start to the new baking year.....

And the mischief maker continues to amuse.......

The ONLY fabric not packed up......

 .......or not so much as the case may be.....

Usually she chews the ends of laces - this one was not so considerate......

Anyway, best wishes for the year ahead. Let's see if I can make a few dents in those piles.....

Sue xxxx

While the Sailor Was Away

It's a miracle! While the (temporary) sailor was risking his life on the high seas, parcels kept turning up at the door - After all, I had to do something to keep myself amused.  

First, two books by Sarah Fielke......'Old Quilts, New Life' has just recently been released. In this book Sarah takes a museum quilt as her inspiration and remakes it using modern fabrics. She then goes a step further and uses this as a springboard to interpret both quilts as a modern quilt with some stunning results.

While I was browsing I also came across this little book which Sarah co-wrote with Amy Lobsiger. It has some very cute projects using a variety of techniques. For anyone with grandchildren and wanting to practise new or favourite techniques I think a number of the little quilts would be ideal to wrap a teddy or doll in......

For a change of pace and intention comes 'Slow Stitch'.

Think Kantha, Boro and meditative stitch  - beautifully produced and exudes calm......

A page from the book.......

If this type of process appeals to you then you may also be interested in the work of Jude Hill. Below is her blog address. She also posts on Instagram (search for spiritcloth) and probably on Facebook as well...........

http://spiritcloth.typepad.com/

Another new approach is this book. Fabrics are layered, stitched then painted and more stitch (usually hand stitch) added - once again with stunning results.

A page from the book......

A glimpse at her technique - loads of possibilities......

This sent me running to pull out all my lace scraps etc - but they'll have to join the project queue for the time being.........

This book excites the senses a great deal. In this book Janet Edmonds takes the work of several artists and investigates transforming their ideas and style into stitch.

Then we have this one........colour based studies and exercises

And then we have this one........

And a few other bits to add to the tool kit........  (once my hands allow me to get back to sewing in earnest.)

While I am waiting to spring back into action I have been bingeing on online classes - I may not be able to 'do' butthere's no reason not to learn. I have particularly been focussing on free motion quilting. I would recommend any of the following, especially for beginning quilters, though they all have something to offer.....

I also have this issue of Textile with an article on Annabel Rainbow. If you haven't encountered her work before I suggest you research her work online.....

http://www.annabelrainbow.co.uk/

While the sailor was absent the sewing empire expanded - mainly to give the old machine a test run - and create a panel to expand the backing for my big quilt (Summer Quilt) in progress......

I figured that as long as I didn't mix the threads with the baking everything should be OK.

On another note.........

Did you do this?

I might have..........so tasty......

The moral of that story is don't leave a bucket of fresh fish on the floor!!!

Or leave the vacuum plug lying around when you go out shopping for a few hours......

And I have no idea where she found this.........



Roxie has now been with us for a year - and I think to say she has settled in is a bit of an understatement.......

We have all come a long way in the past 12 months.

I had hoped to get this post off the ground much sooner and to provide a lot more links but Google the artists and you will find much to while away a lazy summer afternoon and stimulate the creative juices. They all probably post on Facebook and Instagram as well blog and it is an easy process to follow them....

Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate and I hope to be back here again soon,

Sue xxxx