Seasons Greetings.

Confession time.

For the last few rows I have to admit that I have taken to the sewing machine. It really isn't as satisfying as stitching by hand but I began to recognise that if I kept working by hand I was going to get bored and put the project aside. It is quite a mixture now as I seek out more pieces of material and projects from over the last   few years; I hope eventually to bring it together as I work into it.

 So there is some writing, some stamping, even some foiling.

 Here is a hand stitched card which I made for my husband many years ago.

 Some encaustic, some monoprinting on procion dyed fabric.

Here is a try out for the Magic Feather Project next to a bit of batik with soy wax.

I am still equally enjoying and being frustrated by the Skill Share classes; many of the skills are a bit beyond my level but I keep persevering. A fun one is about drawing collections and putting them together on the computer, very well presented and enjoyable.

Another is about doodling and then tracing and colouring the doodles on the computer. I also made the clown which resulted as a repeat pattern.

I hope you are all prepared for Christmas, hard to believe that is has come round so quickly.

Cloth Paper Scissors.

I am pleased to have my needle felting work featured in today's Cloth Paper Scissors e-newsletter and on their blog. Here is a link to the full article:

: http://www.clothpaperscissors.com/blogs/clothpaperscissorstoday/archive/2015/11/25/a-must-try-needle-felting-project.aspx?utm_source=clothpaperscissors.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=cps-cdh-ac-151125-CPSfelting 

Below are a few other examples of my work on the embellisher.

Curved seams.

The time has come to make use of the curved seam experiments which I made a long time ago inspired by the generous Alicia Merrett  who shared her method. I am pleased with how they fit in as a border.

I have kept working at my ‘scrap’ patchwork and am liking both the results and the process. It is satisfying to be making use of some the fabric pieces which have been waiting for a purpose for a long time and the whole process of putting them together by hand is a nice steady occupation.

 Also I am seeing bits in a new light and liking some of my past failures. 

I am having to dig deep now and having to get more random with the colours as I run out of greens. By the way, influenced by my long ago patch working I have been sure to wash all the fabric first.

Getting inky.

I am enjoying classes on Skill Share; this one is Inky Illustrations: Combining Analogue and Digital Media. I must be learning something along the way. At this point I just enjoy getting a result. If you sign in you are likely to be offered a really inexpensive membership for  three months. I have made such good use of it that I decided to sign up for the year as I feel I have already had more than my monies'worth.

Rainy days.

I have continued this week with this slightly mindless project of finding scraps of fabric from various past interests of the moment and then sewing them together into a patchwork. Not altogether mindless as I have tried to keep to a basic colour way and to give some consideration as to how they are placed.

 I managed to avoid the urge to get out the sewing machine and so far have sewed them together all by hand, which is quite relaxing in itself. Bits of fabric which have long been discarded experiments are proving interesting and useful.

 Procion dyeing, thickened dye, stamping, block printing, machine embroidery, thermofax screens, to name a few of the phases I remember.A perfect project for dark rainy days in November.

Sorting through.

I have been trying to have a grand sort out in my little room/studio; I would like to say it is of my life but it is really only of all the scraps, papers, found and given bits and pieces which have accumulated over at least the last nine years. It has been hard to part with some of the bags of tissue, cardboard, and bubble wrap, but I am pleased to say that much of the ‘haberdashery’ and painted paper has found a home. I could still make my way through all the sketchbooks and course work gathered over the years, but this may have to wait for the next round of energy.

I gathered some fabrics from my scrap basket and am thinking of putting them together into some kind of patchwork, rather like Spirit Cloth’s nine patch project.

 Every piece of coloured paper and fabric holds some memory so one has to be a bit ruthless in all this.

Pattern

I have been enjoying trying out some of the classes over on Skill Share; enjoy is perhaps not quite the right word as pleasure and frustration are equally mixed as I try to get to grips with computer programmes which I have never used before. Some of the classes are excellent but others are definitely not for the beginner. If you fancy trying out the range of classes there is usually a cheap introductory rate. Here are some of the repeat patterns which I have made:

Also over the last week I have been to my experimental drawing class and tried drawing whilst watching a video of a moving figure. This was enjoyable and introduced me to the dancer Sylvie Guillame

I took photos of my drawings and then played with them in the Icolorama app.

I also watched a TV programme about contemporary images and discovered the amazing large scale drawings of Jenny Saville   in fact I think someone on my Access Course did a presentation on her work but I didn't thoroughly appreciate it at the time.

What I did on my holidays.

I have been away for nearly three weeks in all and managed a few bits and pieces.

I did a watercolour class on my cruise to the Azores, slightly punctuated by terrible weather in

 The Bay of Biscay. Looking down and concentrating I realised is not the best thing to ward off sea sickness. The ipad app IColorama adds interest to even my poor water colour flower.

In The Canaries I found a few bits of sea glass and some bits and pieces. I wanted to pick up all the discarded bottle tops in Lisbon but felt inhibited, ‘what a crazy lady’.

When I got home I received a lovely present from Özge Başağaç  in Turkey, complete with an artfully addressed envelope.

Then off again to Dorset and another present, a little basket made from clothes line, dipped in turmeric. Really neatly done and a perfect store for some of my beach finds.

I found some interesting bits and pieces, including a piece of what I think is fossilized bone and also fossilized wood, which looked to me like a piece of Whitby jet. Lots of information about this sort of thing on the web, including one knowledgeable lady who takes photos of rocks with holes and explains what has made the holes, fascinating.

I did a few drawings of the shells I found and manipulated those on the ipad; endless fun.

Over on Spirit Cloth Jude has started a Feel Free Project; you can donate or just choose to admire her work and process. She is putting together an account of her working process which is gathered from several of her previous workshops. I have done one of her workshops, joined in the Magic Feather Project and have one of her cat patchworks hanging above my desk now.

I have been trying out some Skill Share classes  to learn more about computer programmes.

I seem to have spent hours on this and keep reassuring myself that it is good for the grey matter, and that I must have learned something on the way. One of the ‘easier’ classes is about drawing a collection and the tutor is excellent and entertaining to watch. This is my first effort.