Sixty minute feast

I couldn't help myself! Sixty minutes of image feasting! A quick dive into some 19th Century print images, and more thought about repeating patterns and lace motifs.

By the way, I forgot to show you this, which I feel certain you'll adore too! It comes from Poppalina a blog that I discovered recently.

A little indulgence is ok, right? ... so I did some quick sketches (and took some more poor quality images!)


















This is an initial idea for a repeating leaf motif, which would probably make a neat border.



















This is the second one.

I'm not sure yet how I'll develop these sketches or translate them into embroidery. But sooner or later I figure they'll find their way off the paper and onto the cloth. And I'm excited about that!

I stepped outside and spotted this...








A neat repeat right there in the mud! It's just where the rain has dripped off the roof laminas. And I see some opportunity to incorporate small glass beads in place of the gravel. This also reminds me of those repeating leaves that I did a while back and still really love. You can see an example here.

While I was feasting on the 19th Century prints I came across this magnificent beast! You have to admit, it's begging out to be transformed onto cloth. And moments later I found Susan Fletcher Conaway's marvelous blog Fiber Art and Craft and fell in love with her work and particularly with her strange bird. Just perfect!

Leafing into Spring: Part I

I have to start by saying a big thank you to my friends Arlee Barr and Jude Hill for plugging my blogs and my new adventure over at A Common Thread . Also to everyone who has already joined me there. Welcome! And don't forget to tell all of your friends :}

And... sheeeeeeeeeeee's off! A new idea. But this is all you're getting right now, because I have to get on with it... a sneak peak of what's on the work table today. I am busy busy here!



















Leafing Into Spring

Before I go... remember folks... there's very little that a serving spoon of Nutella can't fix! ;}



















Nilo. That's one happy child!

BEHOLD! I have made SLIME... again!

This post is a follow on from Arlee Barr's recent post wittily entitled "BEHOLD! i have made mud! or snow dyeing part two, the results".

For quite a while I have been thinking to try an experiment dying cloth with the leaves of the plant locally known as "Gavilana", Neurolaena lobata (Asteraceae). This plant has several medicinal properties and is used locally to treat a range of ailments, including for "cleaning the blood" (whatever that's supposed to mean!) and as a deparisitite-er (sorry, don't remember the word for that in English). The latin name would also suggest some medical linkage, no?

Anyway, for some reason, I got it into my head that these leaves might be high in tanins and therefore good for dying with. The plant grows like the plague all over our property, as a weedy herb that reaches up to nearly 3 meters. So, wouldn't it be good if I could actually use it for something? So that's what I've been up to for part of the morning.



















"Gavilana" - Neurolaena lobata (Asteraceae)















In the pot, bringing it all to the boil. I decided to start it off with a fair amount of heat, before placing it out in the sun for a few days.















And so far, it's looking like this! YUCK!!!! It looks like cow poop! But, ok, definately works as a dye! Maybe this would be something to add to another dye to get a nicer color?... Or, maybe I should just forget the whole thing? ;}