The need to move swiftly

One thing I'm still learning about inspiration, is the need to move swiftly when that sense of something stiring breezes through. It's like catching butterflies. You have to hope the inspiration will alight somewhere nearby, and then you need to creep up, and throw your net over quick!

Typically, these days, I'm finding that I don't have the time, or the materials, to translate my ideas into something tangible when the inspiration alights. And before I know it, the idea has metamorphosized, or, I find myself off on the next butterfly chase.

I had been Planning on Pink. I started a pink theme board with my new account at Pinterest, which you can visit here. Now, I feel the idea growing into something new... and I don't know what that is yet! Patience...patience, Catherine!























A silken white moth, with feathery puffs, seated on a cotton scrap, dyed with Lac extract.


















Sopa de ropa: The last of the Lac dye and some other recycled fibres simmering on the stove this morning.


















And here it is turned out of the pan, looking for all the world like a Summer pudding!


















This is more like the intensity of color I was hoping for. Hmmmm, I think Summer pudding is a good name for these shades of deep pink, [yes, the sun has pushed his way through the clouds for a few minutes!] And for those of you who love to cook, a recipe for Summer pudding can be found here on the Barmy Baker.


















I'm excited by this small scrap. A silk shirt that Megan and I wax batiked with a stencil we designed earlier in the year, now over dyed with Lac extract to achieve a deeper shade.























A new motif that I'm playing with. I like it's formality. I like the fact that, if I play with it some more, I could probably make the negative space into a formal motif as well.

This almost reminds me of Suzani textiles from Uzbekistan, which I admire very much. You can see a couple of my favorite online examples on the Flickr photstream of Circa by Courtney Pyle, starting here. I also love the colors of this.

Hope you're enjoying your Sundays!

Turned out just peachy!

A while back, before Christmas time, I started some solar dying experiments. Some worked out pretty well, given that I didn't use any mordant (this year I'm going to try that!). Here's one that I untied yesterday. It was dyed using bark from a local tree species (can't remember which now, will ask husband about that and add the name later) and by wrapping small sections of the cloth around little pebbles and tying them with string, (which probably has some lovely-sounding technical name, except I haven't learnt it yet!) I don't know what I had expected, but it turned out a lovely soft rusty peach color.



















It was fun when I unwrapped it... looked like a volcanic clothscape.



















Or... belly buttons!















This is what it looked like once ironed. Very subtle color variations and little moon-flowers. Have some dusky-peachy-rose colored DMC thread. Might see how I go with that today. If I can find the sun-cream I might stitch in the garden even.













I like this... it goes well with today's cloth!


Arlee Barr kindly informed me that the technique is part of what's called Shibori. I've been admiring this technique on other people's pages, but hadn't got that the pebble-wrapping bit was part of it. If you're interested in finding out more about this traditional art, then you should definately check out this link, to where master clothmaker, Jude Hill, has a plethera of posts relating to the subject, with some fabulous examples, great explainations and links to others who are far more skilled at Shibori than I probably ever will be! :)

Long Night Moon #4

Yesterday afternoon, this lovely butterfly stopped off for a visit. New wingéd eyes!



















I haven't mentioned it recently, but I'm still working on this. Super slow cloth!















For a while, I wasn't sure how to deal with the triangular pattern on the border of the fore wings. But then I remembered that I had this cloth.















It was $1 from a bin in a thrift store in San Jose, and it's some kind of seat cover thingamejig. I loved the soft color combination in contrast with the bold pattern. And it turned out to be the perfect thing.















This is pinned still. Now I have to begin stitching it. This is what I'm working on in the evenings (before House!)

Another earthquake in the early hours of the morning and it was 5.2 on the Richter scale. Never a dull moment!

Sphingidae

Another gorgeous Costa Rican moth. Looks gold to me.

Long Night Moon #3

Guess what I got for Christmas?... A rotten flu virus! This is as far as I have been able to get with the Long Night Moon cloth. My whole body is aching. I am supposedly going to spend the day doing nothing (is that possible?) with Nilo, who is recovering fast and getting back to his usual active self.















The flower is quilted...















The moth applique edges are stitched and ready to be added to the cloth and then quilted...















An interesting edge. Although I am not planning to show this edge as part of the finished piece (whatever that turns out to be!) I like the effect of this ever so simple stitch, and plan to play with it whilst "resting".

Moth #1

A good day. I feel satisfied with how this new piece is shaping up. Slowly. But surely. Some of the photos of the in-between stages of the construction are rather beautiful in themselves, so I'm including a few of them here. These were photographed held up against the light, and it made them look very delicate... hmmm... something to think about for future pieces. The various layers of fabric collage, which make up the form of the moth, are mostly cut and basted now, ready to be properly stitched.