Moth.

I'm not sure which moth this is, as there are several that look similar, the Magpie moth, the Vine moth and the Mistletoe moth. However, I think it is a Magpie moth.

Cheery Faces.

Don't these little faces make you feel happy? My friend Sarah made these for sale in the gift shop at our exhibition that opens on Thursday. We hang it tomorrow which will be exciting, seeing it all come together.

Butterfly Hanging Gift Boxes.

Here are all 4 of the butterfly hangings finished and in their acetate boxes. Unfortunately this big size was the only square deep one that I could find, so I had to devise a way of holding the pictures in place while people check out the back and the method of hanging. One needs to be straightened, but otherwise I think it works. I'd love to make some more, but I can't find any more of the small square thin canvases, only very thick ones that wouldn't fit into the acetate boxes without crushing the buttefly wings.

Lat One.

This is an Imperial Blue butterfly with the catterpillar food plant, Acacia. The scale is all wrong as it is only a very small butterfly, but to fit in with the other 3 I have enlarged it. The slight red cast on the left wings is some sort of reflected light, not part of the embroidery colour.

Flowers Not Butterflies.

 I had hoped to show you the last of the butterfly canvases finished, but the butterfly did not work well at all. The colours were wrong as were the wing shapes, so I have decided to do another completely new one instead. The difficulty is that so many butterflies have the most interesting colours and shapes on the underside of the wings, whereas I want to show the open wings.

                                                     Back to the butterfly drawing board.

Spring in the Garden.

       I 

                      I'm delighted to have my cream coloured Clivia in flower for the first time.

That's Better.

With the blue spots in the right place, this Blue Argus butterfly looks much better. One more to go.

Not Quite Right.

This is the next in the series, but unfortunately I got the sequence of colours wrong and ended up with orange dots where blue ought to be, and the shape of the body is all wrong. The head is so small that I don't think that I could actually attach the wire antennae to it! Back to the drawing board, or at  least back to the sewing machine.

Naturalised Daffodils.

The previous owner of our house in the bush planted bulbs everywhere. Each Spring we are amazed at the beauty of the clumps of daffodils in particular, all sorts of colours and shapes. These are the traditional yellow ones with big trumpets and they're growing wild on a hillside above our creek.

Acacias

 The wattle (Acacia) above is called a dwarf wattle, though it must be about the biggest dwarf tree ever. The blossom this year is incredible, so thick that I can hardly see the leaves.

This is a wattle growing wild in the bush, it's called a Blackwood, and as you can see it's very pale compared to the one above, and the flowers are much more sparse.

Blue Triangle.

This is a Blue Triangle, a very pretty butterfly that I loved to watch when I was a child. The caterpillars feed on  Camphor Laurel leaves which is what I have shown here. Obviously the method of making and mounting the butterfly is the same as the previous canvas. Another 2 to go.

Rajah Brookes Birdwing.

Here is the first of the completed butterfly panels, all except a hanging wire that is. I digitized the buttterfly onto a synthetic background so that I could 'cut-it' out with a heat tool. I added the wire antennae and then sewed it to the covered canvas. I added a cardboard cover across the back with a layer of felt on top so that it looks pretty neat from the back. I have try to find some really small D-rings for the hanging wire/cord though as the whole thing is only 15cm square. Now to do the next one.

Wood Duck.

It always seems strange  to see ducks sitting in trees, but these Wood Ducks are often seen standing about on branches.

Rocket Tree?

With all the native trees being evergreen, this poplar stands out with its bare limbs. Some of the branches are interlaced and there is even a platform of fallen branches caught in the tangle part way up.

Spring Creek.

With the wattle all in flower and the water rushing down the creek bed, I couldn't go past this lovely scene withgout taking a photo.

Spring Wildflowers

One of the earliest bush wildflowers to appear is this Hardenbergia. It's a creeper and can be seen climbing up the trees and over logs giving the bushland a cheery splash of purple colour everywhere.

All Finished.

                                                Now to make the free standing butterflies.

Small Pictures for the Gallery Shop.

 

 I decided to print out on silk 4 different types of leaves
as backgrounds for some digitzed butterflies.

The reason I used silk was so that it was easier to wrap the corners neatly, but even so I had to hand stitch the mitres. These canvases are only 15 cm square, so are really a bit fiddly to cover.

 

I painted the canvases first as I was worried that the stark white would show through the fine silk.

 I want to make 4 in all, so here are the 4 silk print-outs.

Architectural Challenge.

Over the past year the 7 members of the textile group that I belong to set themselves a challenge to interpret iconic buildings in 7 different countries in any chosen form of textile medium.

Here we have the Himijie Palace in Japan at the left and the Cathedral of St Basil in Russia on the right.

 On the left is Chichen Itza in Mexico and The Alhambra Palace in Spain.









Below is the Louvre Pyramid in Paris on the left and Castle Howard in Britain on the right.

Not shown is the Temple of Karnak in Egypt. In each case one piece of A5 is blank as one member of the group forgot to bring her pieces for a trial pin-up prior to the exhibition opening on October 4th.

Another Old Toy Sewing Machine.

This is a little old English toy sewing machine, made in the early 1960s. They made several models including the Minor, Junior and Senior versions. Some even were able to be plugged in and used with electricity.

Toy Sewing Machines.

This is a very rare little sewing machine.  It was made in Italy and has a painted needle plate rather than the silver one more commonly found. I had decided to sell the machine, one of my small collection of toy sewing machines and it's interesting that it is returning to its home land of Italy. It sold on eBay.

Just an Orchid!

Only 4 weeks to go!

This is the front of the invitation to the opening of this year's exhibition by the Stitched Together group.  We have been meeting together for 16 years now, and this is our 5th exhibition as a group.
It's amazing just how fast every second year comes around!

Wonderful Fish

This amazing piece of indigenous artwork was one of 3 fish hanging in the Cairns Regional Gallery when I visited recently. The fish are each about 1 metre long, with seagull feathers used for the fins and bones. The way these feathers are cut and shaped is just so innovative and artistic.
Unfortunately I didn't make a note of the artist's name.

It must be Spring!

The Rainbow Lorikeets are fighting over nesting hollows in the street trees.

Funny Little Chaps!

I added a new piece to my 'dressed' doll collection this week, a little brother for the chappie (pun intended) on the left. Aren't they little oddities?

Huge Flower Spike.

This photo doesn't show it very well, but this flower spike is enormous, 3 times as tall as I am at a guess. The flowers are obviously going to be red, but I'll be interested to see if they all come out at once, or in stages from the bottom up.  Watch this space!

Seen Through the Window.

I'm quite amazed at how good a photo my little point and shoot Panasonic took through the window this morning. A Wattlebird (a huge honeyeater) sipping nectar from a pink Echium flower head.