Once again, a great afternoon at Elizabeth Morley's , even though numbers were down due to the appalling heat - another 42 degree plus day. I must confess I thought about staying home in airconditioning, but Juliet had offered me a lift so I went.
I had over-estimated my stamina so spent most of the afternoon sitting under an airconditioning vent and chatting to others. Lovely to see people like Zoe who have moved away from the city. I forgot my camera so didn't take any photos of the Show and Tell which was excellent as usual. Dale had the most fabulous Flower Stitched piece - I covet it and ordered her new booklet on the spot.
Thank you, Elizabeth. I have been to every one of your Open Houses and I look forward to it each year. And thank you for the threads - I will remember that I owe you.
Showing posts with label inspirations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inspirations. Show all posts
Monday, January 18, 2010
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Revisiting Piney Lakes
Today's meeting of Designing Women once again focused on the Piney Lakes environment. In the morning we took a walk around the lake with the intention of finding and photographing aspects that we could incorporate into future work - possibly with a 3D emphasis.
The last time we did such a walk we spent our time in the wetlands section and I gathered enough inspiration for a series of work - starting with the layered organza and embroidered silk pieces and culminating in the Windows to the Wetlands piece.
Today we walked up the hill, away from the wetlands. We saw lots of interesting flowers and vegetation and 2 bobtail lizards. The first had a bright yellow head which indicated it was either looking for a mate or had recently mated.
The second one was more uniform in colour.
I took heaps of photos. I really like the shape of this hollow log.
In the afternoon as we were leaving the building I noticed the flowers on this blue gum just by the gate. So here is Friday's Flower on Saturday.
The last time we did such a walk we spent our time in the wetlands section and I gathered enough inspiration for a series of work - starting with the layered organza and embroidered silk pieces and culminating in the Windows to the Wetlands piece.
Today we walked up the hill, away from the wetlands. We saw lots of interesting flowers and vegetation and 2 bobtail lizards. The first had a bright yellow head which indicated it was either looking for a mate or had recently mated.
The second one was more uniform in colour.
I took heaps of photos. I really like the shape of this hollow log.
In the afternoon as we were leaving the building I noticed the flowers on this blue gum just by the gate. So here is Friday's Flower on Saturday.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Vintage Pattern Library
I have just discovered a great site. Access is free until the 25th August, but will cost heaps thereafter. Thousands of vintage sewing patterns on a searchable data base. I have just spent a happy hour browsing. Nothing downloaded as yet, but give me time!
Thanks are due to Kathleen at Fashion Incubator for mentioning it on her blog. Great fun. Do go and have a look.
Thanks are due to Kathleen at Fashion Incubator for mentioning it on her blog. Great fun. Do go and have a look.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Albany
We have just returned from a trip to Albany (see Kevin's blog for why we went and what we did)
Both he and I took lots of photos. Here are a few of mine. I hope I can translate some into textile pieces in the future.
Albany Woolly Bush. The bush looks dead, but these are real live flowers - fluffy tufts.
Barbed wire at the Princess Royal Fortress. It is almost organic, especially with the windblown leaves trapped underneath.
Amazing colours and shapes in the rocks bordering a path to a WW2 bunker, again at the Princess Royal Fortress.
Eroded bricks in a convict-built building at the port.
Both he and I took lots of photos. Here are a few of mine. I hope I can translate some into textile pieces in the future.
Albany Woolly Bush. The bush looks dead, but these are real live flowers - fluffy tufts.
Barbed wire at the Princess Royal Fortress. It is almost organic, especially with the windblown leaves trapped underneath.
Amazing colours and shapes in the rocks bordering a path to a WW2 bunker, again at the Princess Royal Fortress.
Eroded bricks in a convict-built building at the port.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Been so busy
Blogging has fallen by the wayside.
I have almost finished the dressmaking I planned for the cruise we are taking at the end of the month - pity I keep thinking of more pieces to make. I will have to be very selective in packing. So far the tally is 3 slacks and 5 tops. One top to go - though I just bought some more fabric for slacks . . .
I have nearly completed the commission I was given just after Christmas. While working on it I was struck by an idea - what if? I have made a sample which I will post to the blog after I have delivered the pieces which inspired it. Doesn't make much sense at the moment, does it?
I have almost finished the dressmaking I planned for the cruise we are taking at the end of the month - pity I keep thinking of more pieces to make. I will have to be very selective in packing. So far the tally is 3 slacks and 5 tops. One top to go - though I just bought some more fabric for slacks . . .
I have nearly completed the commission I was given just after Christmas. While working on it I was struck by an idea - what if? I have made a sample which I will post to the blog after I have delivered the pieces which inspired it. Doesn't make much sense at the moment, does it?
Saturday, November 29, 2008
In a whorl
whorl |(h)wôrl| noun a coil or ring, in particular
• Zoology each of the turns or convolutions in the shell of a gastropod or ammonoid mollusk.
• Botany a set of leaves, flowers, or branches springing from the stem at the same level and encircling it.
• Botany (in a flower) each of the sets of organs, esp. the petals and sepals, arranged concentrically around the receptacle.
• a complete circle in a fingerprint.
• chiefly historical: a small wheel or pulley in a spinning wheel, spinning machine, or spindle.
verb [ intrans. ] poetic/literary spiral or move in a twisted and convoluted fashion : the dances are kinetic kaleidoscopes where steps whorl into wildness.
DERIVATIVES whorled adjective
ORIGIN late Middle English (denoting a small flywheel): apparently a variant of whirl , influenced by Old English wharve [whorl of a spindle.]
Thesaurus. whorl - noun. Elegant whorls of wrought iron loop, coil, hoop, ring, curl, twirl, twist, spiral, helix, arabesque.
I have a fixation on whorls, circles and spirals at the moment. It may have started with the photo I took of paperbark at Piney Lakes early in the year.
It was encouraged by an embellisher sample: purple felt with different shades of blue organza punched into it, then spirals of wool fibre punched into the reverse. A challenge at Innovative Stitches for us to use buttonhole stitch added to the obssession as I stitched onto the spirals.
Then I started making rings, buttonholing onto various plastic bits I have saved. I am also planning to use the Flower Stitcher to stitch a heap more as well.
What will come of this? I don't know yet, but everywhere I look I see whorls. Must do something with this rust dyed piece as well.
• Zoology each of the turns or convolutions in the shell of a gastropod or ammonoid mollusk.
• Botany a set of leaves, flowers, or branches springing from the stem at the same level and encircling it.
• Botany (in a flower) each of the sets of organs, esp. the petals and sepals, arranged concentrically around the receptacle.
• a complete circle in a fingerprint.
• chiefly historical: a small wheel or pulley in a spinning wheel, spinning machine, or spindle.
verb [ intrans. ] poetic/literary spiral or move in a twisted and convoluted fashion : the dances are kinetic kaleidoscopes where steps whorl into wildness.
DERIVATIVES whorled adjective
ORIGIN late Middle English (denoting a small flywheel): apparently a variant of whirl , influenced by Old English wharve [whorl of a spindle.]
Thesaurus. whorl - noun. Elegant whorls of wrought iron loop, coil, hoop, ring, curl, twirl, twist, spiral, helix, arabesque.
I have a fixation on whorls, circles and spirals at the moment. It may have started with the photo I took of paperbark at Piney Lakes early in the year.
It was encouraged by an embellisher sample: purple felt with different shades of blue organza punched into it, then spirals of wool fibre punched into the reverse. A challenge at Innovative Stitches for us to use buttonhole stitch added to the obssession as I stitched onto the spirals.
Then I started making rings, buttonholing onto various plastic bits I have saved. I am also planning to use the Flower Stitcher to stitch a heap more as well.
What will come of this? I don't know yet, but everywhere I look I see whorls. Must do something with this rust dyed piece as well.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Sunday at the Craft Fair
I was rostered on to look after the Designing Women stall this morning so I spent the entire day there.
My friend Jennifer is visiting from the US and she decided to go to the Fair too. We met up a bit after 12.30 after she had had a look around and had coffee, a pie (of course) and a good chat. Then she had to go to visit her mother and meet up with her brother. I wandered about, went to a couple of workshops and took some photos. Forgot I needed to take one of the stall, though.
The photos I took were of the "Eyeline" exhibition by the TACTile group (Jenny Bowker, Dianne Firth, Helen Gray, Beth Miller and Beth and Tevor Reid) from Canberra. This is their third exhibition and again is absolutely stunning. My photos are not, though I have some detail shots that I hope will inspire me. I bought a book of postcards as well.
Then I took a few photos of the Art to Wear exhibition. This year the emphasis was on "The Next Generation" and more than half the garments on show were produced by secondary school students. There was some excellent work and it looks like this aspect of textile art is flourishing, but only in the private schools. There were no examples from any of the government schools, though perhaps this is understandable. The raw materials are expensive and the out of school time required, both of students and teachers, is considerable.
The theme for the Year 12 students from one school was "Bridal" and I particularly liked this one. I didn't note the name of the maker, though, which is remiss of me.
When the Show closed at 5pm I took down the display pieces from the stall, packed them up and dragged everything to the car. My feet were really hurting by then!
My friend Jennifer is visiting from the US and she decided to go to the Fair too. We met up a bit after 12.30 after she had had a look around and had coffee, a pie (of course) and a good chat. Then she had to go to visit her mother and meet up with her brother. I wandered about, went to a couple of workshops and took some photos. Forgot I needed to take one of the stall, though.
The photos I took were of the "Eyeline" exhibition by the TACTile group (Jenny Bowker, Dianne Firth, Helen Gray, Beth Miller and Beth and Tevor Reid) from Canberra. This is their third exhibition and again is absolutely stunning. My photos are not, though I have some detail shots that I hope will inspire me. I bought a book of postcards as well.
Then I took a few photos of the Art to Wear exhibition. This year the emphasis was on "The Next Generation" and more than half the garments on show were produced by secondary school students. There was some excellent work and it looks like this aspect of textile art is flourishing, but only in the private schools. There were no examples from any of the government schools, though perhaps this is understandable. The raw materials are expensive and the out of school time required, both of students and teachers, is considerable.
The theme for the Year 12 students from one school was "Bridal" and I particularly liked this one. I didn't note the name of the maker, though, which is remiss of me.
When the Show closed at 5pm I took down the display pieces from the stall, packed them up and dragged everything to the car. My feet were really hurting by then!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Piney Lakes
Designing Women, the textile group I belong to, meet at Piney Lakes Environmental Education Centre on the second Saturday of every month. The building is a wonderful venue, set in a bushland reserve, but we are usually so engrossed in textile stuff that we don't look at our surroundings.
This month was set aside as "Piney Lakes" day. We were to take our cameras and/or sketchbooks on a walk to explore the reserve. Of course it rained. However, there was a break and we ventured out. It was magical - everything was freshly washed so the colours were intense. We did the short walk along the board walk through the wetlands section, being a bit wary of further showers. These are paperbarks (melaleucas) which are the dominant vegetation in the swampy part.
There is a longer walk, called the Sculpture Walk because of the art works along its length, which actually passes the lake. I love this other walk and made myself a promise to do it again soon.
One of our members, Loraine, has done a course as a Piney Lakes guide and she spoke to us about the area while we waited for the rain to stop. I think we all found that this added to our appreciation of what we were seeing.
We are supposed to develop a textile piece based on our impressions. I took 40 photographs and will have a problem finding one to focus on. This is one possibility.
This month was set aside as "Piney Lakes" day. We were to take our cameras and/or sketchbooks on a walk to explore the reserve. Of course it rained. However, there was a break and we ventured out. It was magical - everything was freshly washed so the colours were intense. We did the short walk along the board walk through the wetlands section, being a bit wary of further showers. These are paperbarks (melaleucas) which are the dominant vegetation in the swampy part.
There is a longer walk, called the Sculpture Walk because of the art works along its length, which actually passes the lake. I love this other walk and made myself a promise to do it again soon.
One of our members, Loraine, has done a course as a Piney Lakes guide and she spoke to us about the area while we waited for the rain to stop. I think we all found that this added to our appreciation of what we were seeing.
We are supposed to develop a textile piece based on our impressions. I took 40 photographs and will have a problem finding one to focus on. This is one possibility.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Research = sorting the clutter
I have several impending deadlines.
I have signed up for the Aus-NZ Art Quilters journal quilt challenge for 2008. I did the challenge in 2006 and sent off 5 quilts from the 10 I made to an exhibition which toured the country. I got them back late last year and I am really chuffed that one of them was selected to appear in the latest issue (#117) of Down Under Quilts magazine.
This month's theme for the journals is Seasons. I have been tidying up my sewing room table. Because it is so big, everything seems to accumulate on its surface, and when I do a tidy up I never know what I will find. This time it was 2 pieces of transfer dye printed fabrics, an organza and a polyester satin, in red, orange and yellow. Think HEAT, SUN, BUSHFIRES! I think they will be the basis of January's challenge. Need to get a move on though - only 3 more days left in the month.
The second deadline is the fan piece for the Joan Schultz master class exhibition in Brisbane. This is due by the middle of February. I have been doing samples, but I am not happy with them. I am rethinking the design. More later.
The third deadline is the WA exhibition: Stitched and Bound. Entries are due in early April. I have a very nebulous idea, but it will need to be translated into a quilt in very short order.
But the studio table is clear now. I have rediscovered some very valuable and inspirational printouts on the creative process as well as some sheets on techniques that are beginning to resonate.
I have signed up for the Aus-NZ Art Quilters journal quilt challenge for 2008. I did the challenge in 2006 and sent off 5 quilts from the 10 I made to an exhibition which toured the country. I got them back late last year and I am really chuffed that one of them was selected to appear in the latest issue (#117) of Down Under Quilts magazine.
This month's theme for the journals is Seasons. I have been tidying up my sewing room table. Because it is so big, everything seems to accumulate on its surface, and when I do a tidy up I never know what I will find. This time it was 2 pieces of transfer dye printed fabrics, an organza and a polyester satin, in red, orange and yellow. Think HEAT, SUN, BUSHFIRES! I think they will be the basis of January's challenge. Need to get a move on though - only 3 more days left in the month.
The second deadline is the fan piece for the Joan Schultz master class exhibition in Brisbane. This is due by the middle of February. I have been doing samples, but I am not happy with them. I am rethinking the design. More later.
The third deadline is the WA exhibition: Stitched and Bound. Entries are due in early April. I have a very nebulous idea, but it will need to be translated into a quilt in very short order.
But the studio table is clear now. I have rediscovered some very valuable and inspirational printouts on the creative process as well as some sheets on techniques that are beginning to resonate.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Magazines
A few days ago I said I was addicted to books. Now I must admit that I am also addicted to magazines.
Not the Women's Day or New Idea kind (my hairdresser has them and I confess to indulging when I visit), nor the House and Garden type (my doctor has them plus the more upmarket versions and I am quite happy to dally with them when he is late, as he usually is), nor news magazines like Time (that is what I read at the Bloodbank). My magazine addiction is textile magazines.
I have a few subscriptions. I have been subscribing to the American Threads magazine since 1990. My subscription runs out in September and I am tossing up whether to continue with it - I have not been overly impressed with the last few issues.
I love Textile Fibre Forum and happily send off my subs every couple of years. This is definitely the best Australian textile magazine.
I used to buy several Australian quilting magazines, but now only buy Down Under Quilts from the newsagent.
I have all but one issue of the Australian Textile Art and Machine Embroidery, though I have only been a subscriber for a couple of years, but I think it is time I stopped buying this and won't renew my subscription. It comes in the mail, I flip through it and rarely find anything that engages my attention. Pity - the earliest issues were cutting edge.
I also occasionally buy Stitch, an English embroidery magazine, from the newsagent if a flip through reveals some interesting subject matter as it usually does.
The magazines that involve me at the moment are Quilting Arts and Cloth Paper Scissors. CPS #12 arrived yesterday and I will need to spend days poring over it. I have pages and pages of notebook ideas derived from various issues of the two magazines. Maybe one day the ideas will transmute into actual pieces.
Not the Women's Day or New Idea kind (my hairdresser has them and I confess to indulging when I visit), nor the House and Garden type (my doctor has them plus the more upmarket versions and I am quite happy to dally with them when he is late, as he usually is), nor news magazines like Time (that is what I read at the Bloodbank). My magazine addiction is textile magazines.
I have a few subscriptions. I have been subscribing to the American Threads magazine since 1990. My subscription runs out in September and I am tossing up whether to continue with it - I have not been overly impressed with the last few issues.
I love Textile Fibre Forum and happily send off my subs every couple of years. This is definitely the best Australian textile magazine.
I used to buy several Australian quilting magazines, but now only buy Down Under Quilts from the newsagent.
I have all but one issue of the Australian Textile Art and Machine Embroidery, though I have only been a subscriber for a couple of years, but I think it is time I stopped buying this and won't renew my subscription. It comes in the mail, I flip through it and rarely find anything that engages my attention. Pity - the earliest issues were cutting edge.
I also occasionally buy Stitch, an English embroidery magazine, from the newsagent if a flip through reveals some interesting subject matter as it usually does.
The magazines that involve me at the moment are Quilting Arts and Cloth Paper Scissors. CPS #12 arrived yesterday and I will need to spend days poring over it. I have pages and pages of notebook ideas derived from various issues of the two magazines. Maybe one day the ideas will transmute into actual pieces.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
A new book
I am definitely addicted to books. Today I bought a book purely on its appearance.
I was in Big W looking to see if they had a new range of yarn - they have, and I bought some yummy pure wool ones to knit and felt. There are some great colour combinations, and a surprising number of them are 100% wool.
The handcraft section is next to the book section so I had to have a look there as well, and look at what I found. The colour photography is fabulous and I can see lots of the photographs translated into embroidery and embellished fabrics. And it cost less than $20.
I was in Big W looking to see if they had a new range of yarn - they have, and I bought some yummy pure wool ones to knit and felt. There are some great colour combinations, and a surprising number of them are 100% wool.
The handcraft section is next to the book section so I had to have a look there as well, and look at what I found. The colour photography is fabulous and I can see lots of the photographs translated into embroidery and embellished fabrics. And it cost less than $20.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Reading Matter
I can (and do) spend hours and hours with textile books. I have had Val Holmes' latest book since before Christmas, but have only just got round to reading it, as opposed to just flicking through. I found it very inspirational and it now has a forest of paper scraps poking out the top, scribbled on with ideas of things to do derived from some of the techniques and examples.
I also finally received my missing copies of Threads magazine from the States. I am a subscriber and I wrote to them in November when I had not got either the current magazine or the two before it. They were happy to send me back copies, but it has taken a while for them to get here. I am looking forward to reading them tonight.
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