Handmade Brushes

This was fun. A small group of friends meeting, having lunch, swapping postcards and making our own paintbrushes. We set about constructing our brushes using a selection of plant matter for the bristles, sticks for the handles and string to bind them together.

Once the brushes were made we compared how each performed using the same technique.

We experimented with homemade walnut ink and food dye.

I tended towards blobs and smears with scratchy marks

And really liked the combination of the blue/aqua food dye and the walnut ink.

Some of the papers have been used as the backgrounds for these postcards.

My friend Ange set up and led this workshop in her studio

Some of the plant matter we had to choose from.

Ange demonstrating how to make 

 and use the brushes.

Fibre Arts Summer School

I am away in Ballarat at the Fibre Arts Summer School. The class that I am taking is called Threads of Meaning and is with Roxanne Lasky.   The class has a stitch focus, however, it is designed to be contemplative with a focus on making connections between the 'why and how' so that when the work has greater meaning and becomes a more personal statement and reflection of individual style. You can read about her here.

Words or text appear in much of her work and her practice has a strong emphasis on Journalling.

The front and back covers of one of Roxanne's recycled paper bag journals.

And some of the pages.

Another journal, this is the stitched cover. Turkey 'wishbones' arranged in a star or flower pattern are embedded into the appliqué layers. Stitch further emphasises the motif.

A page from the journal, the image says it all.

With so much inspiration it was time to get to work. I liked the idea of the journal and made the decision to restrict my palette to neutral colours. Each exercise would be worked to a scale that would fit in a large book. This is the cover of the book that I am making. The cover is made from a recycled placemat. The weaving was completed in response to the word woven appearing on my word list. The pages inside the book are coloured with an ink made by boiling plants and metals together, the ink applied with brushes made from assorted plants tied to the end of a stick.

This page was the result of the instruction to lay a few of our materials down on a page and then arranging them in a way test was meaningful to us.

This one a response to the quote 'Everything breaks, Things Fall apart. 

This is an old handkerchief that was ripped. I arranged the handkerchief pieces to form a heart shape and then stitched heavily around and in between the pieces. The underpinning idea for this is Mending a Broken Heart.

Another weaving, this one made to decorate the branch of a tree. 

Postcards

Each month the textile art group has a postcard challenge. There is a theme to work to and usually a technique that is explored in the meeting. The theme for the March postcard was Icons and Symbols and the focus technique foiling.

Cats are worshipped in my house so thought that I would develop the idea of The Cat as Icon. The foiling technique was used to create the halo. The cat is stylised drawing/painting glued to lightweight card. The halo and cat attached to the hand painted Evolon background with machine stitch.

The theme for April was Dancing the Night Away / April Fool and the techniques beading, 'bling' and embellishment.

My interpretation was 'Less is More' said No Fool Ever When Choosing their Dancing Shoes. Felt shoe machine stitched to fabric background. Embelished with beads, sequins and bells.

Angels have Wings

Made for the Textile Art Group that I belong to. A self directed group that uses the skills and expertise within the group to explore techniques that are related to textiles and stitch. The theme for our February meeting was wings. Members are encouraged to interpret the theme in any way that they like. 

Postcard sized. Collage, various papers and machine stitch. One for me and one to swap.

Coconut Ice Cot Blanket

The plan was to use up the odds and ends of 8 ply wool yarn in the stash, all colours and each square bordered with two rounds of off white. There are lots of squares made and in lots of different colours but somewhere along the way I got distracted. I liked the pink squares so much that I purchased more pink yarn so that I would be able to make the squares into a cot blanket. One of the ladies at my knitting(crochet) group remarked that 'all that pink and white reminds them of coconut ice'. 

There are quite a few different shades of pink.

Forty eight squares and a generous border. The finished blanket is approximately thirty six inches wide and Forty eight inches long.

I like this pattern and crochet it a lot, the squares are the perfect for carrying around in my handbag and at knitting group where I can chat without having to concentrate on a pattern. This blanket has all the squares crocheted together which has created a ridge around each square which adds some additional definition to the quilt.  

Birds of a Feather

My little flock is finished.

The little orange birds were followed by

this handsome fellow, 

and this black swan.

Birds of Feather flock together. A class photo of the fantasy birds made as the first project.

All birds made from the same base body pattern. Many different colours and interpretations of our little birds.

Something to aspire to - one of the tutor, Abigail Brown's beautiful birds. 

Easy Knitted Blanket

This is my latest knitting group project. Unlike the more skillfull members of the group, my projects need to be simple and require little or no counting.

This blanket uses alternating sections of plain and purl to create the chequer board pattern and was kept free of counting by stitch markers.

There are one or two rows too many in some of the squares - the result of too much talking and not taking the time to count the rows or use a row counter. I could have unpicked the knitting but decided it was not that obvious and I hate picking up rows of stitches.


The pattern is similar to this one on Ravelry. There was a sample blanket made up in  Twisted Threads the lovely store that supports and allows the Twisted Sistas(Sisters) to meet. I copied the idea from the small sample in the shop and made it big enough to be a throw rug.

It was knitted on the needles given to me by my friend Ruth. A lovely set of interchangeable needles and cables all packaged into a convenient carry case.

The yarn, Bliss 8 ply pure wool by Heirloom. A neutral colour that would blend in with most colour schemes.

Pincushions

I have been busy making a few of these pincushions.

Feeling frugal and virtuous - everything from my stash of stuff. They are made with squares of ecodyed fabric, backed with a chocolate brown tweedy type of old woolen suiting, lined with with remnants of wadding left over from quilting projects and stuffed with crushed walnut shells. The walnut shell sharpen the pins.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Cookie cutters make good templates for Christmas decorations. It is easy to trace out simple tree shapes, sew them up, stuff and decorate with beads. They could also be made into a brooch by sewing a brooch pin to the back.  If sewing is not your thing make them from stiff card covered with decorative papers. 

This a good shape

Wrapped in wire and beaded with a star on top, this one was made into a brooch.

Same shape, these are patchwork and will be hanging decorations.

A different shape, lots of beads and very glitzy.

Santa Workshop

Working on these and making progress, although perhaps not enough. Eleven 'Santas' so far and a few to go.

Up close 

Striped, spotted or plain socks

Ready to be wrapped