Wool Creatures

I have spent most of the day on the computer doing stuff related to meetings: Ozquilt Network tomorrow, Designing Women next week. Also searching for some ideas for the Journal Quilt I need to start for Contemporary Quilt Group next Thursday as well. These are the only things remotely related to fibre that I have encountered. Thank you, Kev, for sending a smile to brighten my day.

I don't do mending . . .

unless it is absolutely forced upon me and today was the day. Daughter Helen gave me a pair of jeans to mend some weeks ago and questioned me regarding their status when she came down yesterday. Naturally they had not been touched so today I sat at the machine and did them, plus some silk trousers of mine that needed a bit of stitching to extend their life a little. Didn't take much time or effort - why do I put things off so much? Procrastination would have to be my major fault.

Helen's visit yesterday was so that we could take photos of her making fruit salad to use in a class activity. It is very handy for her that her folks have all the digital gear, though she uses her digital camera heaps in her classroom.

We have managed a morning walk every day for the last ten days and I can feel that it is making a difference. Some of the walks that were quite strenuous are getting less so, so I think my fitness is improving. Still plenty of room for improvement though. Saturday's step tally was 11107, yesterday's only 8962. Don't think today's will be very good either.

Auditions

I spent a little time today going through my thread collection. I have two pieces of fabric that need additional stitching. One is a piece of embellished fabric made from wool tops on scrim, cut into squares and embellished on felt. I am going to handstitch this (shock! horror! me doing handstitching!) I found three hanks of yarn in different weights but the same colourway. It is very vibrant and I think it will look good. I seem to remember that the colour combination is called Marrakesh. All I have to do now is decide which one to use.



The other piece is constructed from layers of synthetic fabric on top of a heavy cotton. I stitched a grid and then used a soldering iron to burn back the layers. The squares have a nice crusty look but are a bit rough. I intend to make a bag from it. I tried an overlay of red tulle and I think that will work well. I am going to stitch the grid from the wrong side with either a fancy stitch or free motion meandering. Now I need to decide which of these two threads to use in the bobbin.


12264 steps yesterday - wow! Almost 9000 so far today.

Steps and Stamps

Our walk today was around North Lake. The lake is now almost completely dry. All the water that is left is a largish puddle of about half an acre or so. The odd thing is that, unlike the other local lakes that have dried out as greyish mud flats, the entire bed of the lake is covered in bright green vegetation. Kevin has a fantastical theory about why this is so.

I just missed the 10,000 yesterday - 9564. Today is much better - 11658 already and I still have to get the washing in and prepare dinner.

One of the reasons for the high tally is that I went into Fremantle this afternoon. I needed some lens solution and I still have a book voucher from Christmas. Didn't use the voucher, but I spied some lovely little metal batik stamps in the Oxfam shop in Queen Street. They were only $3.95 each so I bought 4 of them. They are quite small - the biggest one is no longer than 6cm. Made in India.


I placed them under a bit of fabric that I had previously rubbed with oil pastels and a texture sheet. I used a blue metallic oil pastel and made a quick rubbing of each stamp. The rubbings are very rough - I didn't take any care at all and the bird is legless. I am thinking that I might try them with Shiva sticks as well as for their original purpose. They might be interesting stamped into Angelina fibre and paper pulp too and they could probably be used for foiling . . . I have plenty of ideas - I just need to make the time to try them all out.

Walking

I just made it yesterday: 10107 steps when I unhooked the pedometer.

This morning we went for a walk along the beach at Woodmans Point. We took the camera but missed the only really good photo opportunity. We came out of the dunes onto the northern edge of the point and there they were. Probably a hundred seagulls perched on the beach and a pelican fronting them. It looked so like a traditional classroom - I immediately thought of May Gibbs' Mr Kookaburra and his class of bush creatures. But before we could focus the pelican turned his back on the class and returned to the sea where three of his siblings were waiting. The class took off in segments as we approached.

Our question of the day - where can you find baby pelicans? Neither of us can remember ever seeing other than full size pelicans.

The beach walk took 3805 steps, but I wish the pedometer took effort into account as well. The same number of steps in a shopping centre is easy. Slogging through seaweed banks and loose sand is NOT.

I have spent the rest of the day going through some of my textile magazines. The slips of paper have proliferated.

Some years ago I used to photocopy the contents page of magazines, circle or highlight the articles I found interesting and file the copies in a display book. A good idea - but every time I used the index to find an article in a particular issue I found another article that appealed - and failed to see the relevance of some I had highlighted.

Then I started writing technique (and project) names and page numbers onto sticky notes and putting them on the cover. I have used these today to find a particular project, but I have also found articles that didn't make it in my selection in 2003, but which I really like now. So I found the article I wanted - plus about 50 others.

I would really like an easy reference system - I have LOTS of magazines. A computer data base doesn't appeal. Suggestions welcome.

And despite the huge effort this morning I have only racked up 8353 steps today.

Green tomatoes

We slept in a bit today and it was nearly 8.30 when a visitor arrived just as we were setting out for our walk. It was going to be the beach today. Maybe tomorrow?

Yesterday was 7983 steps - better than I expected. And despite not having been for a walk today's count is already nudging 9000. Reason: I went shopping. Only for boring groceries, but you can get in a lot of steps when you shop in an unfamiliar supermarket! The layout is never the same. I also went to the fruit and vegetable shop just down the hill in the Stock Road Market area. I don't go there often because I find the owners a bit off putting, but they do have cheap vegetables. While I was there I found green tomatoes in amongst the ripe ones so I swooped on them. I love Green Tomato chutney, and I haven't made it for ages. It is still bubbling quietly away on the stove and the whole house smells absolutely wonderful.

I also did a bit of zapping and burning this morning on yesterday's fabric and another one. No pics, because I don't think they are ready. Both need some more texture and/or embellishment.

A Starting Point

This piece of fabric was originally part of a challenge block. It was stamped with gold paint and had gold flakes scattered over it before being overlaid with red chiffon and zapped. I used most of it last year when I made my A4 challenge quilt for April.

Today I sprinkled some of the metallic thread ends I have saved over the bit that was left, put another piece of red chiffon over the top and stitched all over in gold thread. Tomorrow I will either zap it or use the soldering iron on it. It will be the base for a series of 6 ATCs for a swap to raise money for cancer research.

I did not do at all well in the step program yesterday - only 6609 steps. I don't think today will be much better.

A little bit of sewing

I made this piece of fabric ages ago. It is silk tops on top of felt with pintucking, programmed stitches and freemotion embroidery. It was just the the size to make a book cover and I even had a book. So today I did it. It took me less than half an hour.

I also did quite bit of playing with QuickFonts in my 3D software. I had downloaded some Dingbat type fonts and I tried turning them into designs. There are a couple that I am quite happy with and I will stitch them out eventually. The rest went straight to Trash.

On Saturday I did 11129 steps. Yesterday was 7916. Today I will be lucky to reach 7000 - you don't take many steps sitting at a computer or sewing machine. We did go for a walk though this morning.

We are off and away to the US

But not till July. Tickets booked, car booked and first night in LA all organised. More later - neighbours have dropped in and an impromptu barbecue is underway.

Snugglepot and Cuddlepie

Nothing done today that relates to fibre - but I haven't mentioned my impressions of the production of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie that we went to see on Thursday night.

I enjoyed it , though I thought it was too long. It needed to be tightened up, or more material included. The costuming was a bit hit and miss. Some costumes were quite elaborate (the fantail pigeon and the magpie spring to mind), others such as the Banksia Men were just bundles of knitted fabric. That was probably because all of the cast except the three leads spent time as a Banksia Man and quick on and off was the main requirement. It was interesting that the ladies of a CWA branch in NSW were given credit in the program notes for the knitting they did for the show.

Dale asked me yesterday about the 10,000 steps program and how I was going. I had to confess that I had not put on the pedometer for a week. But I did this morning and as of this minute I have racked up 10922 steps.