A Bit of Hand Stitching Needed.

I don't usually do much hand stitching, it's too slow! Sometimes however, a few well used hand stitches can lift an otherwise 'not working' piece, so here goes....

Old Crazy Patchwork.

While searching through my textile photos I came across this one of an old piece of crazy patchwork. It's amazing what a vibrant colour scheme was used, as this was made many decades ago.  I think it was used as a small table covering.

Getting Better.

I'm starting to feel a little more confident that this piece will turn out O.K. I've made use of a lot of fabric pen marks to designate the grasses and some 'daubers' to alter the colouring of the ferns along parts of the fronds.
I must admit that I'm getting a bit tired of this theme and will be glad to move on to another one very soon!

Not Working!

 I decided that I definitely needed more free standing fern embroideries for the fringe Lily piece, but overall I'm really not at all sure that this is piece is working.

I have 'auditioned' the various bits of fern that I have made, and just plonked them on the background, but they don't 'do' it for me at all. I'd hate to waste all the effort that I've put into the piece so far, but unless I can see a way of fixing it, then it will have to be ditched!

Toadstool in the Dew.

My camera focussed on the grass and dew drops, not on the toadstool unfortunately. It was such a bright shade to yellow too.

Who has taken a Bite from this Bracket Fungus?

I suspect a Wallaby or a Possum has taken a few bites from this large Bracket Fungus. Good tucker for some-one, but not me!

Amazing Texture.

Isn't the texture shown in the gills of this old field mushroom wonderful, like the pleating of taffeta or perhaps silk.

Using an Old CD.

Some Free Motion Embroidered Fern Fronds.

 I was going to digitize some fern fronds, but then realised that it would probably be quicker just to do them 'free-hand' as it were.  I started out thinking that I would need a grid, but found it worked just as well without. I have 2 layers of water dissolvable backing fabric put into a small frame of cardboard with sticky tape. I find this works very well with small motifs.

 Here I have worked different 4 fern fronds, cut away the excess backing fabric and pinned them onto a sheet of Styrofoam for washing out.

               I'm quite pleased with these, but I need more, including a couple of brown (dead) ones.

Background Almost Done.

With almost all the background stitching now done, I can start on the free standing elements and the hand embroidered wild flowers at the base of the tree.

A Good Wash and Brush-Up.

Having given Misty a good lick and clean-up on her back, Polly has now started work on the face. At nearly 20 years of age, Misty is a bit lazy when it comes to personal hygiene, so her best friend Polly happily comes to the rescue!

Tiny Floral Embroidery.

Whilst looking for something else I came across this small piece of free motion machine embroidery that I worked some time ago. It's a ray of sunshine in the gloomy weather that we are having just at the moment.

Next Topic for the Monthly ATC.

Some one in the group brought along the next items to inspire us for the June Artist trading cards. It should be fun to work these shell images I think.

Sunrise and Sewing.

 What an amazing sunrise today, pity about the power lines, but it was the only spot that I could get any sort of photo from. Can you see the fancy ridge capping on the roof of the silhouetted house ?

 Another bout of sewing on the bushland scene. I'm starting to get wrinkles in the cotton fabric, but I'm sure they will all disappear when I finish the background stitching.

Another stage in the progress.  Don't forget that you can click on any image for a more detailed view.

Some Sewing at Last.

At long last I have found time to get back to the Fringed Violet bush scene. With a palette of over 30 different green threads I'm all set to start. I'm using cotton threads as I don't want the artificial shine of rayon or any sort of synthetic thread.

Beginning with the distant leaves and shrubs I've made a good start I think.

Rusted Fabric anyone?

The colours on this rusted item are lovely, unlike the purpose for which it was built.................for killing people.

More in Castlemaine.

Don't you just love this old building? The iron lace-work on the balcony is wonderful, but I especially like the name. We had a delicious lunch in a nearby cafe, Chicken Tandoori Pannini. A bit of a cross culture experience, but really delicious.

Another Day out.

Since I had to take a piece of art work to a gallery in rural Victoria,we decided to make a day of it and visit the town of Castlemaine. It is in the centre of what were the Victorian Goldfields during the Gold Rush of the 1850s, and although not as busy as it would have been then, it's a thriving and delightful town. As always when in Castlemaine we visited Stoneman's Book shop. What a treasure trove it is, not second-hand but new books, and the range of topics is extraordinary for a book shop in a rural area.

                         I loved this paper mache cat sitting on a counter with a smile on his face.

                  I ended up not buying any books but did get 6 cards featuring art works by local artists.

Fancy a Bit of Beading?

This is not my work I hasten to say, but a heavily beaded bodice that I saw recently. How elegant!

Done!

I must admit that I lost interest in these a bit, probably because they were all essentially the same, which is my own fault of course. I really like the ones with more complex patterning in the background, but being ATCs they are a bit small to really do much stitching in those areas. Anyway, the monthly challenge is now complete.

Down by the Beach.

 I took a day off today and went down the coast a little. I did have to collect some old embroideries of mine from a gallery, but I combined that with lunch out and a stroll along the beach.

               The water was so still and clear that you could almost count the grains of sand.

                                                          The gulls liked the still conditions too.

ATCs

 I actually found that it was harder to stitch anything much on these cards at all. I haven't got time to do them by hand, so it was rather a rushed job on the machine with very little variation in the stitching at all. The border colours are quite good, but I'm a bit disappointed in the stitching on the cards. Oh well, they'll do and I still have another 3 to finish. Rush, rush, rush!

Almost ready to Get Sewing.

I'm always happy when I can use materials that I have on hand rather than go out and buy things for a specific project. I'm definitely not going to need any other threads for these ATCs, these will be perfect I think.

Artist Trading Cards Underway.

Here are 8 of the best designs all printed out onto cotton ready for stitching and making into Artist Trading Cards.

I'm not going to do very much stitching, as the top 2 designs on each page are pretty busy.

Perhaps I'll just outline the main shapes and maybe add a couple of cross stitches where the original fabric background of the bottle picture has been incorporated into the new design.

Variations.

I'm not altogether sure how I created this, or at least how Photoshop created it, but it's not bad.

Perhaps I like this version better.

This is quite interesting too!

This is probably closer to the design on the bottle, but it's a bit stark compared to the other version I think.

New Theme.

 Last month the ATC challenge was to use a Leaf as a design source, this month the challenge is to be based on this wonderful little bottle owned by Margaret. I'm not sure just how I will tackle it yet.

More Metalwork.

While walking locally I spotted this old clock and lettering above the doorway to what used to be a dairy building. It's been converting into flats, but obviously someone thought that the old clock and message ought to be retained. I can remember when it was a working dairy and watching the conveyor belt moving the glass bottles along to be filled. When they washed out the machinery after bottling, the gutters used to run with milky water.

More Metalwork.

When adding yesterday's photos to my catalogue I was reminded of a wonderful piece of metal work that I had photographed some time ago. Attached to an old shed I have no idea of who made it or why, but I think that it's very whimsical and quite wonderful.

Abandoned Farm Machinery.

I always think that there is something rather sad about abandoned farm machinery, once they were vital pieces of someone's working life, now they stand forgotten and rusting in the corners of paddocks all over the country.
I have no ideas what these are, but I just had to take photos of them.

The Domestic Goddess.

This was a piece that I digitized some time ago, and subsequently sold at an exhibition.  The exhibition was called The Domestic Goddess, and I called my piece "What I Really Want is a Nice Cup of Tea'. The background is hand dyed cotton and I cut the teapot out from a piece of fabric,  then fused it onto the back ground. The flowers borders were all done separately as was the figure, with the back tape covering the joins.
It was a fun piece to do!

Ready to Start Stitching.

The background has now been printed onto fabric, and although it isn't quite as distinct as I had hoped, I think that it will come up O.K with the stitching. I have just placed the digitized motif in place for the photo.