Through the fog ......

 

I feel like I have been in a bit of a 'fog' since I returned from my trip .... a creative fog that is.  To overcome this,  I did some stitching.  This little patch for a friend got me started ... and once I started ideas began to form for a new cloth I want to make.  I am looking forward to the continuation of the Spirit Cloth Diaries with Jude and to an upcoming workshop with Roxanne of River Garden Studio ... that will get me back into my rhythm again.

 

I've decided to hand quilt this old quilt that I made for Norma many years ago too.  Sometimes when mulling over ideas for my current project I like to have something I can sit and simply stitch without thinking .... to do some meditative stitching.  I made this little quilt for my MIL a long time ago and was rushing to get it finished to give her for Christmas.  Thus it was only quilted sparingly...just enough to hold it together.  Now it will be quilted within an inch of its life...quiet time to think about Norma and projects I am working on.

 

Aren't these fabric snippets beautiful!!!  My friend Dot gifted these to me on the weekend when we caught up.  I have something special in mind for them.  Textiles, my favourite gifts!

 

I recently bought these two pieces of wool flannel in grey and mustard... and these locally made variegated threads (gifts to send to a couple of friends).  Aren't the colours gorgeous?

 

She keeps him company every day....  Oakey is old and sleeps most of the day, and most of the time you will find Minnie curled up with him.  Sometimes he wakes up and wants to go out for a short time....Minnie leads the way and watches over him while he is outside.  She knows he is blind and she has become his seeing eye cat.  Aren't animals incredible?

 

"I  DREAMED  A  THOUSAND  PATHS,

I  WOKE AND  WALKED  MY  OWN."

 

*CHINESE  PROVERB* 

 

 

Have a wonderful week.

 

Jacky xox

 

I'm back .....

I've been back home since the end of August.  My trip seems a distant memory already.  Lots of highs and a few lows,  but such a wonderful experience.  London, Paris, Belgium (Leuven) and Barcelona ... so many pics to load and revisit.

My husband Paul,  sister Lee and myself all made the trip to the UK to watch Matt and Watchi compete at the Games.  We stayed at Greenwich in a little unit,  walking distance to the equestrian venue.  It was great to be so close and to be able to catch up with Matt most days.

As well as taking in the showjumping events,  we had plenty of time to visit a few galleries.  Lee and I made use of the river ferries (clippers),  very easy travel, we were lucky to miss all the crowds.  We visited the Tate Modern (exhibition of Edvard Munch),  Tate Britain,  the V&A (our favourite) and of course a visit to Liberty.....how beautiful is that shop? 

 I love the printmakers of the UK and bought many cards and books of their work.  Came home with some treasures from a  Greenwich bric-a-brac shop,  fabrics and way too many goodies.  Some serious stressing when it was time to board the flight home, but got everything back and I am enjoying looking at them all now.

View of the London Bridge with the Olympic Rings taken from the clipper (not a great photo)

Taken on our first day,  catching up with Matt in Greenwich.

Matt and Watchi London 2012 

 

Unfortunately a disappointing start for the pair of them on the first day of competition,  but I was very proud of how they re-focused and went out the next day and did a super round in the Teams event.  They are both now back in the USA,  competing again (New York this weekend) and doing very well.  Both back in form which is wonderful.

Some cloth awaiting my attention....

 

And I am back home,  ready to get back into some stitching again with Jude and my fellow clothmates.  Maybe these two pieces I started before I went overseas will make their way into a cloth some time soon?

 

 

AN  EFFORT  MADE

FOR  THE

HAPPINESS

OF  OTHERS

LIFTS  US

ABOVE

OURSELVES

 

-Zorana-

 

 

 

Have a lovely week and hopefully next week I will have some more stitching to show you and news from my trip.

 

Lovely to be home again!

 

Jacky xox

 

 

Whoo hoo ........

My eldest son Matt is going to London, a member of the Australian Showjumping Team.  We are so proud of Matt and his little horse "Watchi" (to his friends...... Watch Me vd Mangelaar to everyone else).  I just wanted to share these photos of Matt and Watchi with you all.  You can click to make them bigger.

Photo courtesy of Equinos International Photography.

Matt and Watchi competing in Florida, USA a couple of months ago.  Dont you love Watchi's little white patch on his tummy.

Matt and Watchi relaxing down in the stable area, with Lacey (their dog) watching on.

He's  a relaxed little horse.....so sweet.

And this picture of Matt was taken when he had just turned 8 at his very first competition (you have to be 8 to compete at Pony Club level).  His little pony "Dasher" was a fast little mare .... a great mount for a young boy. 

My husband and I head off to London on Monday .... it will be so exciting!

LIVE  YOUR

LIFE  IN

FULL  COLOUR

REFUSE TO

SIT STILL FOR

NEGATIVE THINKING

LET

MIRACLES

FIND YOU

-SARK-

Jacky  xox

Fabric of Friendship.....

Since my last post I have had some beautiful (and some unexpected) fabric gifts come my way.  I love receiving fabrics in the mail!!!!

This beautiful, colourful cloth was made for me by the gorgeous Hoola Tallulah .... this cloth is as bright and effervescent as her blog and her life.  Such a beautiful online friend of quite a few years now.  Love the vivid fabric weaving and all of the hand stitching...such a ray of sunshine in winter in Australia.

 And Tallulah also sent these lovely hand dyed fabrics (sorry the camera has not caught the beautiful, soft, natural colours)  and some gorgeous variegated thread.  I love how she sent the thread on a stick from near her home...my very own twig from the UK...love it.  Thank you Tallulah for these lovely gifts and your friendship.

And another unexpected fabric gift...a beautiful, soft, buttery cloth from my friend Dot.  A different colour palette than I use myself,  but ohhh so beautiful.  It is to be a collaborative cloth...she has stitched the cloth a little and I will now add my *touches*.  Lovely soft fabrics (it is so beatiful in your hand) and I loved the stitched creature/bird...very quirky and very Dot!

 And what a treat these beautiful eco-dyed fabrics from another online friend Deanna in the USA.  Deanna has dyed these using tin cans and a variety of leaves on silks...looove these!  They will be put to good use in my Cloth I am working on for Magic Diaries with Jude Hill.
The little pouch is handmade and has some of the lovely bobbin lace that Deanna makes.

So,  as you can see,  I am flush with beautiful fabric gifts from my friends recently .... I feel very lucky.

 He hee .... now here's a pair of fingerless gloves that  I made for my sister Lee this week.  Lee chose the wool (a beautiful Merino, Angora, Silk blend) when we went over to Healesville recently to see the Arichibald Prize Winners. I have added a little boro touch as Lee is really into indigo at the moment and all things boro. 

They are quite utilitarian... and I know Lee will get a lot of use out of them on these chilly winter mornings.

BE

RARE

ECCENTRIC

AND

ORIGINAL

-SARK-

Have a happy week!

Jacky xox

a certain satisfaction....

I've just finished my third molekin journal and there is a certain satisfaction in having finished it.  It's nice to accomplish something...to see it through to the end.
I am by no means a prolific journaller (even though I refer to these as my daily journals) , and I often wish that I were more consistent in my journalling. 
To be disciplined enough to journal a little each day is what I would love to accomplish....but sometimes weeks go by between entries.  At first this used to bother me, my inconsistency.  But now I just do what I can when I can and I dont feel so guilty about it.
My journals are a mix of sketching, painting, ideas for future projects, a diary of sorts ...it is lovely to look back through them.  Seeing the inspiration for cloths I have made,  paintings/prints I have made.... and to remember goings on in my everyday life.  Sometimes what I write seems really mundane.  But reading back through them,  it all becomes much more interesting than it seemed when I wrote it.
I visited my friend Lynne Hoppes blog today and you should see her lovely stack of journals.

This is my meagre little stack of journals.  Thus far all in moleskins,  but I am keen to try a Stillman & Birn sketchbook like Lynne uses.  They sound great for mixed media and watercolours etc.

It has become a ritual of mine to put a print of Magaly Ohika's art on the cover of my journals.  I love her quirky/whimsical works of art (and own quite a few of them now).  On my first  ever journal I taped one of Magaly's prints (you can buy them in postcard size) to the front,  and here I am at my fourth journal with another lovely print of her art on the cover.  Her beautiful girls above remind me a little of textile work of Sara Lechner.  They both have the same gentle quality about them.

Another little boro cloth on the go.  A friend Lili who visited recently sent me a bag of beautiful kimono scraps.  I decided to try and put them all into a little cloth ... a memory cloth of a lovely time spent with arty friends.

It's cold, rainy and pretty miserable outside today, so I thought I might share this photo  I took last summer at a friends place of his sunflowers growing in his vegie patch....just to add a bit of brightness to the day.

I

BRING YOU

GORGEOUS FLOWERS

TO

STAND

BESIDE YOUR

GORGEOUS SELF

 

-SARK-

enjoy your weekend!

Jacky xox

It's cold outside ......

It's really cold outside,  but we were treated to a day of beautiful sunshine today (after the fog lifted mid morning).  We stoked the fire and I took the opportunity to get out my latest crochet project,  a scarf for my sister Lee.  Lee loves blues and greys and chose this beautiful Italian sock yarn for her scarf (much greyer in real life...looks quite blue here).  I love these sock yarns with the different colour blends.

The scarf design has a lovely petal motif.

While I was in Bali I found these little dilly bags in a few different styles.  Perfect gifts for friends back home,  but also perfect little project bags.  This one holds my wool, crochet hook and scarf easily.  And the best part is.... I leave the ball of wool inside,  tighten the cords and just pull out as much wool as I need..... I dont have my ball of wool getting out of control all over the place. 

The cows were enjoying the winter sunshine.  Might have been sunny but very soggy underfoot and a real chill in the air.  Great for skiing I suppose and there were snowfalls in the mountains not far from us..

Later in the afternoon I sat outside with my old dog Oakey and we enjoyed the last of that sun before it disappeared behind the big hill behind our house.  Very pleasant and quiet day.

LET

LIFE

SCOOP

YOU UP

AND

CHANGE YOU

SOMEHOW

 

-SARK-

Jacky xox

gentle stitching....

Well my holiday is but a distant memory.....we are really feeling winter at the moment.  Short, dark and wet days .... soggy....but not long now until the Winter Solstice and all a the sudden the daylight is brighter,  the wattle starts to bloom along our road and everything brightens.

I am enjoying some gentle stitching... quiet, repetitive stitching, very rewarding (both physically and mentally).

Thread Beads, indigo dyed cloth and old kimono fabrics (some of my favourite things in the world).  The beginnings of a nine patch.

I have also been stitching some fabric stones for Judes  Magic Feather cloths.  Linen backing cloth with silk and cotton appliqued stones.

It's a long weekend here in Australia.  Monday is a public holiday...The Queens Birthday Holiday.  I do love a long weekend - more time to stitch.

I hope you are all having a creative week.

I SEE ALL

THE BEAUTY

IN

YOU

-SARK-

Have a beautiful, indigo week.

Jacky xox