Hey, Mr Postman brought some goodies for me...

The mail has been really great this week!
Look at all the lovely goodies that have arrived.


First, these beautiful treasures arived as a gift from the lovely Lyn. I love reading Lyn's blog. She always has interesting posts and makes so many beautiful things. Go and visit when you've finished here.

Then, 2 DVDs that I had ordered from the ABC shop arrived: "Lost in Austen" and "Cranford". L in A was so enjoyable, I had to buy it, and as I only saw one episode of Cranford, I thought I might as well buy it too. Judy Dench was, as always, so delightful in her role (the little bit I saw) that it was a case of 'must have'.

Next was the first issue of this new magazine. Erica wrote about on her blog and after checking it out here, I decided to subscribe. It really is as good as it looks and sounds. Lots of creative talent by artists who are pushing themselves to go beyond the usual expectations. Very inspirational.
Get hold of a copy if you can, even if only from the library. I've only perused it so far, and I'm looking forward to settling in and having a really good read.



Then today, the 3rd (and final) ATC in the Black and Yellow swap I was in, arrived from LeeAllan. The other one from Rowan arrived a couple of weeks ago.

From the top: Rowan's ATC made with a lovely soft textured black background and bright, clear yellow ricrac. Rowan has only recently started making ATCs and his finish is superb.

On the left: LeeAllan's "Tiger Tail" ATC. Pieced background, machine stitched, with the addition of braided black and yellow embroidery thread. Very original thinking.

On the right: My Guitar ATC. Fussy cut guitar appliqued onto a yellow background using a fancy zigzag machine embroidery stitch, with our first initial and a star written on in ink. (Rowan's had an R and LeeAllan's had an L-A)


LeeAllan's ATC came protected by a card, which seems very appropriate this week. I had to show you, because it has given me ideas for a quilt using my collection of Australian Aboriginal designed fabrics. I won't be doing it any time soon, though, as I have enough on the table at the moment.

Y

My new blog

After posting my art experiment progress recently, I was asked why I didn't post pics of my other art works, so, I have just started a new blog.

The new blog will be kept very simple. It is a portfolio of my creative works. I will (eventually) post photos of my finished paintings, pastels, quilts, ATCs, Postcards, handmade bags, stitcheries, etc.

Hope you enjoy.

Y

Is This Sacriledge?

• Take one artist canvas, a piece of Amy Butler fabric, and staple fabric at the back of the canvas.
• Hang in daughter's flat for 12 months.
• Retrieve from daughter's throw out pile after she buys a house and no longer wants it.

As the fabric has slightly faded in a couple of places and has been stretched, I wouldn't risk it in a quilt, so what does one do with it?

Well, if you are into experimenting with fabric, fibre art and painting, you play with it!


I began this "muck around" a few months ago. The photo above shows the beginnings after I had started working on it. I am using Shiva paint sticks and fingers at this stage.






Add some acrylic paint and cover what I don't want to use...



Continue working on it with Shiva Paintsticks....



It's nowhere near finished yet, and I don't know if I'll like the end result, but I am learning things, and having fun!


I'll post my progress as I go.


Y

Twelvebytwelve

A little while ago, I entered a draw to win a set of cards from a group of wonderfully talented fibre artists. The 12 artists complete challenges and post the results on a joint blog, called twelvebytwelve.

Today, my lovely set of cards arrived. You can see the small quilts in a larger format if you visit their blog. Well worth the visit, I assure you!

xxx

Dijanne Cevaal's Teapots

I love the work of textile artist Dijanne Cevaal, so I was ecstatic when I was able to purchase one of her small works, which she had shown on her blog. It arrived in the mail a few days ago.

Here is a photo of "Teapots". Isn't it exquisite? The colours glow like exotic jewels, the quilting is amazingly intricate, and the design reminds me of all that is mysterious about the Middle East. Pure magic!

Thank you, Dijanne, for allowing me to show it off on my blog.

BTW, Dijanne has other works for sale. I also like her Pomegranate series.

Journal Quilts

I am participating in a Journal Quilt project with AusNZArtquilters this year. I am very new to fibre art and fibreart quilts, so you won't see anything mind blowing yet, but these are my efforts for January and February.

January: "Sailing into Winter"

The theme was seasons, and as we were in the middle of summer (not my fave season) my thoughts were already turning to cooler months. I love Autumn best, but I wanted to get a bit more experience before tackling that, so i decided on winter. Besides, no one else had done winter, so I felt sorry for it!

I used the reverse side of a piece of grey fabric as a base for this, and painted washes of mauve and grey over areas of it.
I then needle felted (with my embellisher) some purple abaca tissue and purple silk rovings down one side,
added purple threads, cords and more silk,
stitched them down,
appliqued raw edged scraps of black and red,
needle felted areas of them,
added white batting pulled apart and white angelina fibres,
quilted and stitched all over that.


February: "It's not all black & white"

The theme was graffiti and colour, using collage
Give me a theme and my thoughts immediately seek the twist!

I used black felt as backing for this. I cut it shorter than the A4 size, and then made a smaller than A4 quilt by appliquing a collage of scraps of various black and white print fabrics, adding a small amount of angelina fibres, and machine embroidering them down.
I then coloured (with gel pens) a few tiny areas, painted on the words black & white (upside down A and back to front E),
and attached it to the felt. (the end size is A4, with 2 corners appearing to be removed)
I wrote the words "it's not all" on white fabric, cut them out, and fused them down the side.

Cyberfyber exhibition swap

Fibre artist, Susan Lenz, has organised a Postcard and ATC swap on a major scale. She has listed the postcards and atcs that she has made for swapping, and invited people to swap with her.
She plans to hold an exhibition of the traded postcards and atcs next January, at a gallery in Columbia, South Carolina US.

(See better photos and read more here)

Naturally, I couldn't let this opportunity pass by, so I selected a postcard and ATC of hers, that I would like to receive, and have now posted off my swap pieces.

Susan's work is lovely! Do have a look at her site.

This is Susan's ATC:Susan's Postcard:

My ATC: called "Opal Fields"

My Postcard



I used my embellisher for both of mine.
The ATC is embellished wool, organza and cotton, combined with angelina fibres; then mounted on a yellow fabric collage and machine embroidered. I used copper iron on ribbon around the edge.
The Postcard is embellished cotton fabrics, crystal organza, silk threads, and tiny pieces of silver foil; quilted; then fussy cut flowers added by embellishing around the edges and securing with a stitched bead in the centre.

Wordless Wednesday

Catching Up

Yes, i am still around. I've just been very busy. I am currently quilting a lap quilt for my Mum, catching up with making healing hearts (7 done and sent, 3 ready to go, and another 5 to make, and no, this is not a chore. I enjoy making them and sending them off.), experimenting with my first ATC, helping DS finish moving his stuff into his new flat, choosing carpet for the back room, getting tax returns done, and all the usual office and home front stuff!!!
The unfortunate thing is, i can't take pics because i keep forgetting to recharge my camera battery.
I will post pics of Mum's quilt when it's finished, though.

The carpet choosing is proving to be rather difficult. I love colour (who'd have guessed!) but we have sort of decided on a neutral colour because we are going to use the room for an office for the next 2 or 3 years, and then it will revert back to a family room. Trouble is, i don't know what style or colours i will want to use by then! But trying to choose a neutral (beige) is really hard for me. I want deep teal or plush burgundy or charcoal or..or..or.. I am definitely not a beige girl. I can appreciate it in other people's homes when the decor has been carefully thought out to provide interest, but not in mine. We'll see what happens...

Meanwhile, here's a painting my Great Nephew painted. I think he's done very well. Another future artist in the family?