An alternative lavender bag!

An alternative lavendar bag!

Pamela just loves lavender!  

As another exercise for my on-line workshop

I trapped lavender petals and other goodies within silk fibres,

to create a sheet of silk paper that stimulates one’s senses other than feel.

More playtime – this time with a base of silk cocoons

Playtime exercise using silk cocoons again.

Silk cocoons were sprayed with Moonshadow colours.

Machine stitched with metallic thread onto pink satin. 

Interfacing was used to aid the stitching process.

The vibrant colourspeaks for itself.

Awash with colour!

Silk and wool rovings, with bobbin machine stitching.

Scrummy textural piece – base being silk cocoons

Silk and wool rovings, with bobbin machine stitching.

Experimenting is such a good thing to do.   Sometimes it leads to a dead end but that happens when one is trying something completely new.   This week though my experimenting has lead me to discovering a new medium that provides colour, texture, and variety to the range of techniques at my fingertips.   Silk and wool rovings are so luscious and beautiful to work with.     Playing with these has filled me my cup with much more confidence in this medium.

I want to show you two completed pieces made this week.

One piece was made by spreading a combination of silk and wool rovings, applying spray starch to give a soft but firm bond, then machine stitched by bobbin application of variegated thick thread.  

The other piece is a combination of silk cocoons rather than rovings, sprayed with Moonshadow paint, and a piece of knitting was snuggled between the cocoons, as were snippets of yarns.   When it was ironed the sericum adhered the fibres together.   It also is soft to the touch but strong for practical use.

The on-line course I am doing is encouraging me to experiment – so  this is is just one of the results.   Others from this week’s work will be posted for you to see too….very shortly.

What to do with table napkins – Take II.

Putting techniques into practice and trialling a new product, I am happy with the result.

Still doing my “homework” from the onl-line class, you can see how paper napkins can be adapted to a beautiful feature piece.  

I intend using this piece in a hand-made bag, which will be completed once I return from Orange Forum (NSW,  Australia) where 5-days will be spent attending a bag making workshop, tutored by Isobel Hall from Spain.   With this napkin piece, I am off to a good start, dont you think?

What you can do with table napkins!

Machine stitched and distressed paper napkin

EXPERIMENTING…..once again!

I belong to a group whereby we are experimenting using different fibres other than fabric.  For six weeks we focus on different elements and each week we try something completely new.   This encourages me to use products I have never tried before!Now here is the result of my first week’s work.  

Using paper table napkins I machine stitched to form a background, then made a grid and rubbed this back to produce a distressed effect.   Pieces of napkin were then attached over the grid to produce the final image.  

Having never worked in this way before, I found it enchanting and  now more ideas are flowing.   

Watch this space for the next challenge!

Beautiful silk paper has been made!

Following instructions this time, rather than a previous attempt

where the end result turned out like tyre rubber,

this silk paper turned out to be soft, lustrous and just as gorgeous as it looks.

Just right to become a gift for friend.  

Can’t wait to make some more, different colours next time.

Journal Challenge

Heat In The Outback - Journal Quilt No.1

A group challenge for 2009 is to make twelve quilts based upon a new theme for each month. The theme for January is HEAT….very suitable given the weather lately in Sydney. Determined to use some of my stash scraps I also discovered a photo (already printed on fabric) portraying a very hot me, trying to look cool during a visit to the Flinders Ranges in South Australia.

This A4 size quilt is embellished with machine quilting, hand embroidery, angelina, and organza. It is the first of my entries for this challenge, which participation is very new to me. It was quick and enjoyable to make.

Play time, again!

Mono-printed with acrylic paints and machine quilted

Neighbourhood eucalypt leaves were mono-printed on a hand dyed piece of cotton. The aim of this session was just to practice the technique of mono-printing with my acrylic paints. Consideration of the dimensional effect of overlaid leaves was important to the impact. Edge relief of leaves was a small challenge, so as to prevent spillover of paint…..mmmn more practice won’t go astray and thinner application of paint would help.

Machine quilting around the leaves and within the background gave the piece a sense of completeness. Several needle changes were required – they didnt like penetrating the paint. This small quilt now hangs proudly under the verandah on the front of my home. We live in a leafy area so this quilt “Eucalypt” fits in nicely.

Play time – trying new techniques

A Christmas swap with my fibraquins resulted in a garden quilt being made for Connie. What an opportunity it was to experiment! Initially blocked with any good ideas on how to create a garden quilt, my mind simmered for quite a while….until one of the articles in my favourite magazine (Quilting Arts ) opened up possibilities. So I was off to the local bargain shop to purchase silk flowers for this project.

Even when fabrics and notions were assembled ready for use, I was pessimistic about the outcome. But I need not to have been Mrs Doubtful! See for yourself the result….also just how software can be used to create another beautiful image of the same garden quilt. Viola!

More from the Flinders Ranges

Another impressionistic view of the Flinders Ranges was created as a result of my holiday in South Australia last year. If you like exploring rugged rocky outcrops amonst beautiful eucalypt gums it is a world of amazing colour. Quite a spiritual experience and so good for the creative soul. Here’s another quilt I made as a result of time in this superb wonderland.