Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Busy times.....

Hello.... this is my new kitten, Minnie ....she just wanted to say hi (and I know my friend Dot is very keen to meet her)! Very sweet little girl. I have a lovely photo of her with her sister Mouse too which I will load next time. Busy times for me lately, lots to do, new people to meet, painting, stitching...its been fun, but I dont like the fact that I have been neglecting my blog. I must get back to my weekly post. It keeps me on track.

I am soooooo enjoying my online class with Jude Hill. I have been collecting vintage and recycled fabrics, ripping, weaving, stitching...all very addictive and very satisfying.


Remember this woven piece? Well I have been busy embellishing with stiching. My plan is that it will be part of my initial slow cloth, see snippet below.

I think it will fit very well with my existing block. I am working on a strip to go at the top of the cloth also and maybe some fancy tassels along the bottom????
As I said, busy catching up with people too. I was lucky enough to meet (and shop) with the lovely Natima whom I met via my online class.
Saturday morning Nat and I organised to meet with my lovely sister Lee to go for coffee/lunch and a visit to Ziguzagu, a warehouse that sells all things Japanese. Nat and I were in heaven...fabrics and goodies galore. Visit Lee and Nats blog to see more of the shop!
I found these wonderful old fabric prints in a box of text and books....absolutely gorgeous (I'm sure Eva if you visit my blog you will love these...Eva designs her own range of lovely fabrics). I just ADORED these old prints and bought seven in total which I am going to frame and hang in my home... what a find for a fabric lover!!!



fabric samples and swatches.



Ooops... sorry, put the same picture on twice. I have two more I will share at a later date.
Nat is so gorgeous and very generous. She arrived with a lovely gift for me....a beautiful furoshiko wrapping cloth that she had bought on a recent trip to Japan. Nat showed me how to tie to make a carry bag...I just love it and isnt the fabric fantastic (lined and everything) . I was tempted to cut it up and use it, but I love it too much as a bag.
We had a show and tell. Nat is prolific in her weaving of fabric for Jude's class and it was wonderful to see what someone else was doing too. Her work is amazing. Talk about talk.... I dont think we drew breath for hours. Isnt it lovely to catch up with like minded friends?




furoshiko wrapping cloth.
And below a few of my purchases ....





pieces of vintage kimono cloth.
All cloth is from kimono's that they unpick and sell at the warehouse. So much to choose from...





A Childrens kimono... pink with plum blossom on the outer with the vibrant orange and green lining. I will unpick this at some stage and use it in my quilts, but Nat thinks I should wear it a few times first. We'll see.








A lovely old indigo apron. I loved this design and how old and faded the fabric was.








An indigo curtain/flag that is to hang in a doorway. Lovely fine indigo cotton.
This weekend I plan to stay at home ....do some stitching and some painting. Painting, now that's another story (and some beautiful photos too). Last Friday I went back to Greg Irvine's studio in South Melbourne for a day of painting ...such fun, so beautiful!
I hope you are all well and busy creating. I will make sure I visit a few of my favourite blogs over the next few days too and get a bit more stitching done.
LIE
DOWN
BREATHE
DEEPLY
- SARK -
See you all again soon.
Jacky xox







24 comments:

Nat Palaskas said...

Hey Jacky, that is a lovely post. Yes it was fun filled day I had for ages. I love all your purchases and that cute kimono with plum blossom prints, is gorgeous. Hope to catch up again soon - Hugs Nat

Caterina Giglio said...

great post Jacky! love that new piece and it goes so well with the first one too, sounds like a fab time together and shopping at such a cool place. can one have too much fabric? methinks not!!!

Sharon Tomlinson said...

Hi, your stitching is so beautiful and I just love the little houses. I think I already said that but anyway.
What a fun shopping trip yo went on and isn't it cool when you find new friends.

ArtPropelled said...

Hi Minnie! She's very sweet.

The woven piece is going to be perfect as part of your slow cloth. Have you any ideas about what you will do with the completed piece yet or is it an on going work in progress .... a meandering adventure.

lynne h said...

so jacky, how big is the silk woven piece? it is even more GORGEOUS now with the stitching!!

boy, i'm drooling here at all of this lovely fabric... the indigo flag really, really grabs me...

it sounds like all is flowing along beautifully, stitch by stich (and maybe also brush stroke by brush stroke ; )

xoxo

oh! i almost forgot about minnie! she's adorable! tell her i think she's going to be stunningly beautiful as an adult. : )

Elizabeth said...

Stitching and painting!!! I certainly hope that your gorgeous new puss IS HELPING!!!! i SO ENVY YOU HAVING ACCESS TO SUCH GLORIOUS VINTAGE jAPANESE FABRICS CLOSE BY. i WAS AT A QUILT SHOW HERE THIS WEEKEND AND A VENDOR wanted 10.00 for about 16 inches of fabric!!! Outrageous!!!
Your indigo bits are glorious and I am in love with your Slow Cloth. Have missed you but glad to hear that you are busy, making new art friends and painting and stitching!!! Big Hugs lovely girl!

Lee said...

Hi Jacky, lovely to see the fruits of our wonderful shopping trip on Saturday - I had so much fun with you & Nat. Thanks for inviting me along. BTW, I think my fave piece is that beautiful, little faded indigo apron. Can't wait to see what you do with it!! Lots of love, Lee xx

juliaD said...

Looks like you are having a very creative time, shopping inspired and art and sewing wonderful...Love it all!...xx...julia

Ro Bruhn said...

Your stitching looks fabulous Jackie, don't forget to bring it for show and tell. I didn't see those gorgeous fabric sample charts when I was at Ziguzagu, they must be a new range. Ah Greg Irvine workshop I must join you one day.

Julia said...

Jackie Im just loving how your stitching piece is coming along, you have so much patience with textiles and Im very inspired by you! The Japanese fabric place sounds wonderful, there's something very cool about Japanese stuff isn't there, I like alot of it myself and the childs kimono fabric is brilliant!!

Sending love
Julia x x x

Deborah said...

Great stitching. Love the slow cloth with houses.

Lis Harwood said...

Hi Jacky, I've come to your blog from Nat's after reading about your trip to Ziguzagu. I'd love to see what you do with all your goodies so I've signed up to follow your blog, hope that's ok :) I'm Lis, in England and have a Japanese textiles blog http://lisisturningjapanese.blogspot.com as well as my Online Quilting blog at http://shiny4444.blogspot.com

Karen said...

your woven cloth is truly beautiful and I love those swatches, what a find!

Patti G. said...

Jacky, Oh I love your new kitty, such a face! :0)

I am home from family vacation and now back to busy work....but love reading about your online class, wonderful works you are creating, and fun fabrics you are finding etc.
Sending hugs for you and your group of boys!!!!!! <3
Hugs,Patti

Gaby Bee said...

Your new kitty is a cutie :-)
Lovely post, Jacky! What a wonderful assortment of fabric.
Can't wait to see what you do with all these great stuff.
Have a wonderful art filled weekend!
Gaby xo

Robin Olsen said...

Your woven piece is beautiful and has such a wonderful softness to it. It's so comforting with the houses. Minnie looks like she found a very good home with lots of soft piles.

Dorien Ruben said...

I love to see how your work for Jude Hill's online class goes. Lovely! And great fabric finds too :)

Jen xo said...

yes,yes,yes,
THANK YOU!!! im off to Melb next weekend, guess where im visiting!lol

ikea and japanese fabrics = heaven!!

Your slow cloth is beautifultoo, i love how its progressing.
and such cute kitty...jenxo

Jen xo said...

yes,yes,yes,
THANK YOU!!! im off to Melb next weekend, guess where im visiting!lol

ikea and japanese fabrics = heaven!!

Your slow cloth is beautifultoo, i love how its progressing.
and such cute kitty...jenxo

Anonymous said...

oh the cloth is to die for..

so addicting..

Linda Vincent said...

I'm sorry this is late Jacky - I am getting SO doolally these days! You've given us so much to look at....all the fabrics are gorgeous but I especially like the childs kimono - very pretty!
Your slow cloth is going to be a real treasure (you make me want to do one :-)
And as for Minnie...she's totally adorable and I want to hug her!!

Mary Stanley said...

Great post! Love your new kittie!Love the tiger stripes..my favorite type of cat. My grandmother was named Minnie! So I love her name too!
The kimono fabric is delicious!!!
Always something fun going on in your life!

Angela said...

Minnie is so cute! I love what you are doing with your woven piece.

Heathers Meadow said...

I really love the fabric of the Apron. A friend of mine gave me about a hundred old handkerchiefs and I made dresses for fairy dolls that I created out of them. Something about vintage fabrics really inspires me.