Happily stitching....

A weekend at home ....bliss. I've been doing more blog visiting than creating lately! It's a bit too easy to spend hours visiting wonderful blogs and then not leave yourself enough time to play around !

After a visit to Storycloths blog, I was reminded of a book I had purchased by Janet Bolton whose fabric art I have always loved. If you pop over to visit Storycloth you will see she has made two of Janets lovely angel cloths . This inspired me to get out my book again and have a play....below is my very rustic version of these angels. Click for a closer look...you will note the pins and needles....more stitching to be done tonight. This little cloth is approx. 4" x 8". I am wondering whether I will make a pair too. Whatever, I am having fun stitching my version! And this gorgeous little fellow below is the owl I recently received in a swap with Robin Olsen...I do so love him. Very funky isnt he
and I love the colours she has chosen for me." William the Wise" by Robin Olsen.

Above and below ....how did I manage to do this and I havent found a way of deleting one of the duplicates!!!

The images are from one of the Collage Boxes that Lawendula is sending around the world. Each person takes between 12-20 pieces from the box to use at a later date in their art. They then replace with images etc. from their own stash and forward the box to the next person. I have chosen my pieces and will be sending the box on its way again tomorrow. Such a fun swap, thanks for organising FM.

And finally a bit of dyeing from my recent efforts...and I must tell you that recently I havent been having a huge amount of success. Many insipid looking pieces coming out of the pot. I thought I should show some as my friend Nat is an avid dyer and always keen to see what I have been up to.

The two below I was quite happy with. The first piece with the natural colours was done by steaming leaves in some dupion silk (they werent native leaves, sorry I dont know the name). At the same time I had also steamed some soft cotton the same way. The silk took the colour quite well, but the cotton just looked dirty...a project to overdye down the track.

The one with the pinkish tinge was from steaming some found fuschia flowers. I was very happy with that colour, but dont know if I will wash again as it seems to lose colour each time I wash/rinse. I used a small piece of kimono lining silk for this one. These pieces will be nice to include in some cloths at a later date.

I hope you have all enjoyed a creative weekend too and I look forward to visiting my favourite blogs to see what everyone has been up to.

WAKE UP TO SEE THE OTHER SOULS AROUND YOU.

LET THEM AFFECT YOU.

-SARK-

Jacky XOX

Wise little owl .....

A wee little owl I stitched a couple of weeks ago...it's a long time since I made one of these owls. This little one is winging its way to the USA for a swap I've done with Robin (an inspiring textile artist). I will post a photo of the owl she sent me next post.... I was in Dubbo last week with my mother in law Norma. While she was in town visiting her optometrist we visited a couple of 'op shops' and I found these! Very happy with the little indigo cotton jacket, soon to become part of my boro quilt. I love the fasteners and I will find a place for those in my quilt I think.
Found lots of little lace doilies and lovely embroidered pieces for 25 cents each. I have a couple of projects in mind for these.

My friend Maureen has just returned from a visit to India...this is one of the many beautiful quilts she bought home with her. Such lovely fabrics and details.

There was such a beautiful sky the other night, so I thought I would share it with you. The clouds seemed much brighter and pinker in real life, so lucky to live in such a beautiful area.

GREAT ACTS

ARE MADE UP

OF SMALL DEEDS

- LAO TZO -

Enjoy your week.

Jacky xox

Progress....

Indigo gifts..... my sister and her family recently visited Malaysia and knowing my love of indigo fabrics brought me home these lovely indigo dyed fabrics from Chang Mai. The colours are not represented too well in this photo...they are not quite so bright...very inky indigo colour and lovely denim coloured blue. There's also a snippet of a beautiful japanese shibori cotton gifted to me on our basket making day by Nat. These are the fabrics I have been using for my fabric basket. Indigo gifts.
Remember these baskets...you can click to enlarge this time. That is my base at the very front.

I've been making progress....the sides are growing....it will soon be finished.

I've been busy sorting some fabrics today. I *needed* to do some sorting, things were becoming a MESS. I have sorted my fabrics for dyeing in one tub, my indigo/japanese fabrics in another, my sari silks/velvets etc. in another. I think I need more tubs!!!! It was fun. I love handling fabrics.

Some fabric dyeing has been taking place at my home this weekend....not terribly successful, but there is always the chance to overdye. I will post about this another time.... Visit Jude's blog and see the wonderful pieces she has dyed.

LOVE ONE ANOTHER AND YOU WILL BE HAPPY.

IT'S AS SIMPLE AND AS DIFFICULT AS THAT.

-LEUNIG-

Have a great, creative week!

Jacky xox

fabric fun .....

I have been having fun with fabric these past few days. My friend Nat had my sister Lee , her friend Linda and I over for Sunday lunch and a day of fabric play....Nat taught us how to make fabric baskets. I have long admired Nat's fabric baskets (see the two finished baskets below...just two of many...if you click on this picture you might be able to see the miniature baskets Nat has made also!!!!
Nat's finished baskets and the beginnings of our first baskets...front my base, left Lee's base and right one that Nat started to demonstrate the technique to us.

On the day, I didnt quite complete my base, but since I've been home I have done a bit more stitching....quite addictive, but I must admit that my fingers are a bit sore from 'pushing' the needle through. I am using a selection on indigo dyed fabric that my sister recently bought me back from a trip to Chaing Mai in Thailand and some japanese indigo strips from Nat.

And here is our *teacher* Nat busy stitching away on her base. We had a lovely lunch, and chatted non stop all afternoon. It was so nice to sit and stitch with a group of women, I havent done that before..... we felt a bit like the Amish women, gathering to stitch ....lovely way to socialise.

I love the Japanese and indigo fabrics, but also have a real soft spot for the lusciousness of sari silk. These gorgeous fabrics were purchased from my friend Julia Dean (Verdigris Rose). Julia has some wonderful packs she is selling in her etsy shop...great value and beautiful fabrics.

A few of you have asked about my son and how he went at the World Equestrian Games.....fantastic!!! Australia came 7th out of the 28 countries that competed (we had never before made the top 10 teams and thus it was our first time in the Team Finals. Matt and Espirit had a fantastic final round jumping clear for Australia....our only team member to jump clean in the final....very proud of Matt and Espirit. The above photo is of Matt and Espirit in the Warm Up arena. I think they both look very dapper with their Australian Flags.

I hope you are all having a wonderful week.

Love the animals

Love the plants

Love everything

Dostoyevsky

Jacky xox

Friends...Fun....Laughter...

Recently I've caught up with a few of my art friends...lots of fun, laughter, beautiful food, art and of course sharing. The first pics. are from the Art Journal I worked in for Julia for our Round Robin Altered Book in our little group of 5.

Mixed media pages for Julia's journal above.

.

And these are some of the girls (Julia, being the photographer is missing) L-R Patsy (no blog yet), Ro, myself and Dot.

Lots of fun was had.....the above is Patsy at work printing/stamping after we had a little stamp making session with Ro. Some wonderful designs and backgrounds came out of this little play session.

Julia got us all outside with fabrics and paints, collecting leaves for some sun dyeing too. That was fun!!! No photos or the results, but there should be soon. I decided to steam my bundle ...bit of a flop...turned out a slimy mess. My fabric is now wrapped around the branch of a tree in the garden to see if I can get some colour happening! Will let you know how I go.

I dont know what's happening with blogger today, but twice now photos I uploaded are not appearing. I had some lovely photos of the delicious meal we had at Julia's....but they are somewhere in cyberspace. For some great photos of our day out visit Julia's blog, she captured it all. She was the hostess with the mostest...lovely, inviting home, scrumptious food and lots of fun things to look at *play* with.

Last weekend I caught up with my other art friend Nat and Dot again. Dot had arranged for us to visit the Convent Farmers Market...oh yumbo!!! As you can see from the mosaic above we had a great day. Fantastic fresh produce...beautiful cheeses, olive oils, olives, yarns, fruit and veg, bread, cordials...we bought it all (and we're enjoying consuming it this week). Click on the photo above to get a better look at us enjoying the day in the sunshine.

ONE SHOULD ABSORB THE COLOUR OF LIFE.

- OSCAR WILDE -

There has been a little stitching and fabric play happening...will save that for another post.

Enjoy your week!

Jacky xox

Hello .......

I'm back from my trip to Switzerland....and very slow getting back into blogging.....

My husband Paul and I had the loveliest time visiting with Matt and looking around Switzerland. And..... yes..... Matt did get selected for the Australian Team to ride at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky (I'm very proud of him). Both he and his dad are in Kentucky at this moment...it all happens very quickly once you are selected for the team. Competition starts to day and finishes next weekend.

I had to share this photo of Matt and I taken on our visit to Lucerne. Please indulge me.

Matt and I at Lake Lucerne.

I did actually get some stitching done while I was away (not much as you will see). You may remember this piece below from my earlier post....just a bit more stitching now. Each time I walked in the woods near Matts home I imagined little spirits that lived in the woodlands and thought I would put them into stitch...this is the beginning of my little Swiss Spirit cloth. A sunflower sun as there were fields of beautiful sunflowers and everyone seemed to have sunflowers in their gardens...huge sunflowers....such fertile soil

, and the little woodland spirit. A woodland spirit.

I've also added to my beast cloth....little embroidered butterflies and more fabric......

The Hare of Tonimbuk

And I've even managed to get to a lino-cut/printmaking class with Helen Timbury since I've been back. Lots of fun and a few more 'hare' inspired lino-cuts to be made soon. I do love printmaking.

Now this one is for Jude....what a woodstack. On her blog Jude has been talking about stacking wood, so I thought she would enjoy this (click for a closer look). There were beautiful woodstacks everywhere in Birr where Matt lives and I took quite a few photos of them...they really appealed. I will be doing a post later featuring all these amazing woodstacks. This one was on my walk up to the woods....

And here I am in the woods....I loved the filtered sunlight, the beautiful trees and undergrowth...so different to our Australian bushland. There was miles and miles of amazing tracks... so peaceful....

The woods and tracks were so beautifully kept.

I miss those walks....maybe I will have to visit again soon?

I hope I havent bored you with my *trip* photos...but I just wanted you to see a bit of the Switzerland I saw...and of course a little bit of art.

EXPECT

WONDERFUL THINGS

TO HAPPEN

Jacky xox

Hello from Switzerland ...

Finally mastering my sons computer, so thought I would do a little post after our trip to Lucerne this week. What a beautiful and picturesque city....amazing architecture, medieval city, the gorgeous Lake Lucerne and we had the most beautiful weather.

Paul and I at lake Lucerne

The beautiful city on the river with lovely *old* bridges.

The Flower Bridge as I called it, but know as The Chapel Bridge...this was constructed in the early 14th century...coming from Australia, which is such a young country, this is just amazing. Click for closer views of the photos.

Matt and I at the end of the bridge...the flowers in this country are beautiful.

Yes, I did bring some art suplies with me. My trusty journal (which I might add I havent been doing nearly as much in as I planned). A couple of small pieces of fabric, muslin and some dyed fabric and a few threads to play with. There are the most beautiful woods close to where my son lives and my husband I walk up there most days....I am so inspired by these woods and dreaming up mythical maidens who live/lived in these woods, so thought I would do a stitchery inspired by them...as I dont have much fabric with me, they will be small but intricate.

I am soooo wishing I had a dye pot here...after seeing lots of posts on eco dyeing etc. I would love to try some on the finds from the woods here.
My son lives and competes in Europe as a Showjumper. I took this photo of Matt (left) and Paul (hubby) when they had finished riding on the arena the other day. Each day they ride out....sometimes up to the woods, sometimes training on the arena. Lovely to see them both together and enjoying their horses.

Paul and I are over here to be with Matt at the Selection Shows for the World Equestrian Games....he is one of 10 Australian's over in Europe at present for the selection shows to try and get a place on the Australian team (four riders and 1 reserve)...

Prada

This is the barn dog.... Prada. Each morning at about 9.30 - 10 she comes up to Matt's flat and sits with me while I stitch, read, get online. She is lovely company and at this moment is asleep beside me on the couch. We should both be out in the sunshine though...so I'd better finish now.

Will post some photos of the woods and the beautiful things I have seen over the next few weeks.

Loving my time in Switzerland with my son!!!!

LOVE IMPERFECTLY

- SARK -

Enjoy your week!

Jacky xox