Looking Back

We are traditionally at that time of year when we think about what has gone before and look forward to what the new year may bring or what we would like to gain from it. I thought it would be helpful to me to assemble some collages of the things I have made and the techniques I have explored over the last twelve months.

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Almost all the work I have done this year has been in the realm of textiles and fibre. To my eyes it looks like a pot pourri, an eclectic collection without unity. However, as I wanted to spend the year acquiring new skills that is probably what is reflected here along with evidence of the connections I have made throughout the year with fellow bloggers around the world.

New skills

Over the course of the year I have learned dyeing techniques, shibori, monoprinting, sundyeing, felt making by two different methods, foundation piecing, mile a minute quilt blocks, silk painting, fabric paper making, free machine embroidery (need much more practice), new embroidery stitches, fabric layering, embellishing with a needle-felting machine and some elements of design.

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I have also learned to make wallhangings, bookwraps, bookcovers, a patchwork bag (!), a fabric paper box, dotee dolls, various pouches along with sundry ATCs and bookmarks etc.

Exploring digital change

In a very small way I have been encouraged by Maggie Grey's work to explore manipulating my photographs in Photoshop Elements. The textures revealed by quite simple changes open up all kinds of possibilities for interpretation in fabric or mixed media.

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Funnily enough, when I started writing this post I didn't think I had done that much this year but in looking at all the collages and thinking back I can see that I have achieved a reasonable quantity of work and have been learning as I have gone along. I have to confess, however, to feeling a certain sense of dissatisfaction with the quality of what I have produced. I still feel so much of a novice in the sphere of textile art. I think maybe because I have not yet decided whether I am making art (as I used to feel I was doing when I was painting) or whether I am making "things". Having said that, I can see that some of the things I have been exploring and learning are beginning to come together and maybe the "making" has been part of consolidating the skills I have been learning.

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For 2009 I am telling myself that I will follow a more structured course of study while still experimenting and exploring. My intention is to work with one of the design-orientated books I have bought over the past year. I am already trying to work with Maggie Grey's "catalogue killers" but my added aim is to work through the "Finding Your Own Visual Language" book by Jane Dunnewold, Claire Benn and Leslie Morgan. It's going to be a busy year! Watch this space to see if I falter!

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If I haven't said it already, I wish everyone a peaceful, happy, healthy and wonderfully creative New Year. Religious or otherwise I hope that you are all blessed in 2009 and, if life challenges you, I hope that you will find strength and love to sustain you.

Take it Further December Generosity

I can't believe that we have come to the final month in the Take it Further Challenge. Even more so that I have actually managed to take part each month and am still here at the end!

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Sharon said at the beginning of the month, "For the final challenge of the year and since it is the gift giving season and many of us run ourselves ragged either making gifts or buying them I want to ask what is the idea of generosity to you. That is the theme for this month. So just take a few moments and think about what it is to give and how would you represent that visually."

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Wikipedia describes generosity as "the habit of giving without coercion". Generosity can also be giving one's time, or labour, for others, without being rewarded in return. As this is the Christmas season and traditionally the season for giving I decided to interpret the theme of what it is to give. I have two friends, who we were going to spend Christmas Day with, who both love Cliff Richard (as I do myself, I have to admit). I decided that I wanted to make them something myself to incorporate Cliff in some way. The result was two bookwraps, slightly different from each other but made from the same fabric.
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I have to admit to raiding Google for the images! Sssh! Don't tell anyone!

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I used some of my own dyed fabric for the lining.

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I love these two photos of Cliff. Hmm, where was I? Oh yes, I edged this wrap all round with beads and the other bookwrap I just beaded the front photograph.

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Finally, I made a cord with three different yarns. Although this wrap is wonkier than the second wrap I made, I am really pleased with the result and I'm pleased to say my friends were both delighted! I am not sure whether I have completely met the criterion for generosity as I felt a great sense of reward from giving and throughout the making process. ;o)

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I am quite sad that this is the last challenge and I would really like to thank Sharon Boggon for setting up and running this challenge through 2008. I have learned a great deal over the year and have explored ideas of design which I hope to continue with in the new year. Sharon is runing a different type of challenge next year. On her blog she said "Each month I will post details of either a slightly unusual or lesser known stitch, or a style of embroidery. Please note I will be looking at embroidery styles as well as stitches. Sometimes it will be both. Sometimes it will be one or the other." I have decided not to join in this time as I want to continue to explore the principles of design but I am sure the new challenge will be great fun and Sharon is bound to find some wonderful stitches for everyone to play with. Go and play, you'll enjoy it!

Happy Holidays

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It doesn't really feel that much like Christmas although we have got the tree up and cards festooning the lounge. We usually have my Mum to stay for Christmas but this year she is going to my brother's and coming to us for New Year. I have seen her today though, we met up in Lincoln for a few hours and had a little shop and lunch, very nice!

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I'm sure everyone is going to be very busy over the next few days so I would just like to thank you all for sharing this creative and blogging journey with me over the last year. I have had a great time visiting so many blogs and it has been wonderful to receive so many supportive and encouraging comments and emails. Thank you for taking the time to leave your comments. I try and reply to most so I hope I haven't missed anyone out.

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I hope that you all spend a very Happy Christmas with people who are important to you. Don't get tummy ache!! lol

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MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Vintage Crochet

These are the photographs that I couldn't show you yesterday because of the poor light. I can't tell you how excited I am about this beautiful crochet. The work is so fine and must have taken hours to do.

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This is a detail from the piece below which was probably intended to be a tray cloth or table centre. It is commemorating the coronation of King George V in the year that my friend Grace was born so it is almost 100 years old. How amazing is that? It is in good condition apart from a little discolouration. I am anxious to find out the best way to conserve it and would be grateful for any advice. I'm also thinking about whether I should pass it on to a museum or archive but, again, don't know who would be interested.

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There are a lot of other pieces:

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The piece above is done in a yellowy cotton, probably a bit darker than the photo shows.

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I am so thrilled with these two months which are my birthday month and the birthday month of my mum, my nan and Grace. I really want to make a wallhanging or quilt with these and incorporate some other memorabilia.

There's more

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Aren't these kitties wonderful?

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I love these butterflies but how can I use them as they are not finished?

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Oops! I think the one above may be upside down!

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What a great set of antlers on this stag!

And Finally

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I think most of these above have been hand crocheted.

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Some of these are machine made but they are all lovely.

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Still here

I've been away from blogging for so long that I don't know where to start, not that I've got a huge amount to say anyway. First of all, thank you all for your 'get well' wishes. I'm pleased to say that my cold is much improved and I am feeling much better. It was certainly a nasty germ and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Thank you, everyone for your lovely caring messages.

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I have got a couple of workshops to update you on. The first one is from several weeks ago and was a general muck about working mostly in white and texture.

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I have used several textured wallpapers, skeleton leaves, lace, stencilled texture paste, tissue, serviette (napkin), mesh and newsprint. I have used a small amount of white paint to push back the right hand corner of the design and a little blue paint has been addedto the left corner to balance the right. The idea of the workshop was to try out various arrangements and textures and not necessarily to end with a finished product. I personally like the inclusion of text or parts of text. We were supposed to leave it mostly white but I felt the need to brush on small amounts of gold paint to warm it up a little.

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Last Saturday I dragged my still-weary bones and cough to another workshop led by a very talented friend who you may have seen commenting as Gilby. Gill is a wonderfully adventurous and inventive mixed media and fibre artist and it was great to spend a day with her. Fortunately she led us in an exercise which did not ask too much of my cold-fuddled brain but which I found inspirational and which has fired me up with ideas, which I think was the general idea.

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Basically we used coloured tissue and tore and pasted it to cartridge paper. You could use any colour or tone theme to suit yourself. For my first piece I worked with warm colours,

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and for my second sheet cool colours. The beauty of tissue is that it's cheap and you get some lovely colour combinations where the tissue overlaps.

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Once dry the tissue covered sheets become a design tool. We made a simple outline still life drawing which we then traced. The tracing can then be laid on the surface and moved around to decide where you might place the actual still life. Other options can then be to work into the negative space with other media leaving the still life predominantly as the tissue surface, keep the background and work into the positive still life shape, turn the background over and trace back the still life in a random position and affix that to a new background, use the tissue background as a guide to making a fabric quilt or a piece on the embellisher, use the tissue background as inspiration for layering sheers and organzas, the list is probably endless.

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You could also orientate the background horizontally or vertically. The horizontal background made me think immediately of a landscape. Why not have a still life on a landscape background? I think this is a very exciting design tool and I'm really grateful to Gill for introducing me to this concept. I've already been out and bought a supply of tissue to play with!

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You may have noticed a new badge in my sidebar. Andy Mitchell, husband of the lovely Silverpebble, is running in the 2009 London Marathon in aid of the brain injury charity Headway. He's made a special request for silver socks for Christmas - apparently they help stop niffy feet! He still has quite a way to go to reach his target so it would be wonderful if you could give him some support and sponsor him. The badge will be there until April so there's plenty of time to help after the festive season.

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I've had the most wonderful gift today from my friend Grace. She had come across a bag of crocheted pieces while looking for something at home and thought of me. One of the pieces dates back to 1911, the year she was born, and I think commemorates the coronation of King George V. Unfortunately the light had gone by the time I got home today so I will photograph it as soon as the light improves and show you it all. I am so excited about it and will have to use some of the pieces for something special. The work was done by a friend of Grace's and is wonderfully neat and even. Sorry, I'm teasing you, not having any photos to show you! I think the George V traycloth should possibly be preserved as it is a piece of historical commentary. I certainly won't be sewing that into anything.

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I'm off to catch up on some blogs. Christmas has rather taken over this week and I'm getting all behind. I've been working on a couple of presents which I can't show you in case one of the recipients looks in here but I'll put them up after Christmas Day. Did I say I hadn't got much to say? LOL

Man Flu

I am being a really hopeless blogger at the moment and I do apologise. I have to blame it on the 'man flu' which I'm sure I've got! The coughing which started with the arrival of the new furniture eventually became a full blown yucky cough and head cold by Sunday and I have been useless the whole time. That's why I'm sure it's 'man flu', I've had no energy at all and even less interest in anything. Aaaaaaagh!!!!!

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This, and a two seater settee, is the culprit in the stink which we have had to put up with for nearly a week. It's much less now but some friends who came round today remarked on it so it's still in the air. At least we can now stand to sit in the room without choking. My DH has been testing out the settee for its comfort and sleeping properties. He has spent 3 nights on the settee while I have been coughing away. He says if I'm not coughing I'm snoring!!!! Gasp! NO!!!!! Pwincessy people don't snore, do they Dilly? LOL

Take it Further November & Cyber Fyber

In the best traditions of killing two birds with one stone I have decided that my fabric for the fabric swap just about fulfills the criterion for the November Take it Further Challenge. The theme for November was to use text as an inspiration. I have been interested for a long time in including text, or the suggestion of text, as a layer in my work and intend to come back to this theme/idea in the new year.
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Last year, around the time I started blogging, I had text in mind when making the fabric page above. The letters and numbers were printed from pre-cut shapes with acrylic paint. I include it here only to remind myself and give me food for thought.

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The fabric for the swap obviously has text in the background and I'm really pleased with the stamp that I bought at the K & S Show. This is the piece I am keeping for myself where I tried a couple of ideas out. I have used similar stitching on the other pieces which will be parcelled up for the other girls involved in the swap. I'm looking forward to receiving the swapped pieces, although this may not happen till after Christmas as the girls are busy.

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CyberFyber

It's not long now until Susan Lenz's wonderful CyberFyber Exhibition opens in Columbia, South Carolina. As part of the Exhibition there is chance to take part in an International ATC swap. You can find the details here and there is still time to join in. I am hoping to make 3 ATCs for this swap myself as a memento of this event. They will be swapped out on 17 January and you will get back an ATC for each that you send. I just have to get cracking!

It's Arrived!

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Look what arrived this afternoon! Maggie Grey had a draw for her 200th post and amazingly I was the lucky winner! I don't know whether my photograph will show the detail fully but there is so much to look at in this beautiful work. You may not be able to see it but Maggie has used tiny, tiny stitches to add texture. The colours are gorgeous as you might expect from Maggie. I love the turquoise and golds and the dashes of red. The arch is metal and has so much detail to it with paper bonded to metal and gold embellishment. I'm sure Maggie has used Lumiere paints to achieve the beautiful lustre of the colours. I took the Shrine Door out into my conservatory to photograph it and it came alive with the sun shining on it so I hope to find somewhere to hang it where it will get good light. Thank you Maggie for this beautiful work, I am delighted to have it in my home. :o))

A Little More Craftiness

I wasn't going to blog this today but I thought I might ask your opinion. Today I have added leaf prints using a combination of warmer colours and you can see two sections below. I have used Lumiere paints which are sparkly but the photo doesn't show this up too well.

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My thought now, at the risk of overdoing the printing thing, is to add some highlights by (partially) overprinting with the feather again using the copper colour mixed with a little yellow. It may not be necessary to do this to every blue feather. Also the new feather prints will be a bit more ragged than the original as the feather is getting a bit dishevelled. I'm going to make a viewfinder to isolate each quarter as that should help me decide how much more each piece needs. I only have till the weekend to finish this and I fancy doing a little handsewing on it too. So, do you think I will overdo it with more feather printing? This printing and stamping is addicitive!

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These two shots below are of my practice pieces which I've been trying things out on. The circular design is from an old fashioned plastic cake doily. Remember those? I used it as a stencil to sponge paint through.

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My DH and I have been coughing our heads off all night. No, I don't think we've got colds. We've had a new settee and chair delivered today and they stink!!! I think it's just the newness of the upholstery or maybe the Scotchguard protection we've had put on. Whatever it is, I hope it soon wears off. If it wasn't so cold I'd have the doors and windows open to air it off! Poo! Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough! You can tell we're getting old too. It's a sit up and beg suite instead of a squashy one. I'm hoping it will stop my joints aching so much. First I have to stop coughing!!! Grrrr!

Helena's cards

The very lovely Helena, mummy to my favourite gweenwagon Dilly, has just started to offer her cards for sale over the internet. I thought I would jump in and be her first customer and my purchases arrived today.

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I am really pleased with my cards. Helena has taken a lot of trouble over them and they have lovely watercolour painting and textures on them. (I can't show you the second card in detail as the person it's for reads my blog!) I had an added bonus of a special "Hewo" from Dilly :o) Do go and have a look at Helena's shop http://www.shophandmade.com/Store/Helena, she is adding to it all the time and if you are looking for something a little different for someone special you'll find it there. While you are there follow the link to Helena's personal blog to enjoy her photos and drawings.

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Thank you Helena for the lovely cards which arrived at top speed!

A Little Craftiness

Do you remember this?

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I can't remember whether I've mentioned it before but, a few weeks ago, the four of us who have been doing the dyeing workshops agreed to take a section of our printed cloth, add to it and then cut it into 4 and swap. So that it's not too huge a task we have decided on a piece of fabric the size of a fat quarter (18 x 22 ins). I've been putting off starting a bit but I have been giving it quite a lot of thought. I do like the layered paint effects that Committed to Cloth and Ruth Issett use so I thought I would work along these lines as we have agreed not to overdye the cloth.

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The photograph above shows the cloth after two treatments. First, I did some shibori stitching and gathering and then applied bleach with a toothbrush. I left the bleach on for only a few minutes and then rinsed it well in cold water. Then, I used a text stamp I had bought at the K & S Show with Lumiere paint to print onto the surface. (The text stamp came from Dimension Fourth Ltd)

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I love feathers and have used a gull feather to print across the fabric, using the same Lumiere paint.

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These lovely marks are the negative images left where I had used the paper to smooth over the feather to obtain the print. They are almost more lovely than the positive images. (Excuse my shadow, I had to photograph this indoors).

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That's as far as I've gone today but I do intend to continue tomorrow. I am planning to continue printing but will introduce some complimentary colour, probably with some leaf shapes. I am so enjoying the printing that it is very tempting to keep going so I hope I don't wreck it by adding too much.