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Showing posts from February, 2021

Slow Stitching Sunday

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 I have needle felted some funky yarns onto a piece of pebbly wool.  Then I started to add some embroidery stitches.  It doesn't look like much yet.  Don't judge a piece before it is finished!  I am using some of my wool yarns to stitch.  I have played more with the Kiko's flower stitch and think I have it figured out now.  This piece is more relaxing to stitch because I have no preconceived ideas about it.  That works better for me.  I have put my silk piece away for the moment as it was stressing me.  What is the point of stitching if it is not relaxing! I am linking to https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/

Last pages

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 My little book is filled with mandalas, bead journals and slow stitching pieces.  The size is what determined what went into this book.  No real theme, other than stitching.  I have a bunch more six-inch square pieces that I have been pondering.  Our fibre guild did a square challenge for three years.  Those pieces have been languishing in a box.  I think it is time to make a book from them.  One for each year.   I am linking to https://www.create-with-joy.com/2021/02/friendship-friday-blog-hop-471.html / http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/

Fabric book

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 Here are more pages from my fabric book.  Things are neatly contained in this book and that makes me happy.  The fan could maybe use a bit more something.  Maybe buttons or beads. 

Work in Progress Wednesday

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 I have been fun going through my stuff.  I have boxes ready to go to the thrift store.  It feels good to let go of what I won't use.  While going through things I have come across bits and pieces and I really want to use them.  Mostly they are small pieces, experiments that turned out well.  I decided to house them in a fabric book.  The top photo is the cover and the next is inside the cover. More pages to come! I am linking to https://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.com/

Slow Stitching Sunday

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 Oh my, yes, this is slow going.  I am using this piece to try new stitches.  I have had lots of encouragement to do so.  Was it really the best idea?  The first new stitch I tried is called Kiko's Flower Stitch.  The instructions did not make sense to me.  There seems to be a step missing.  So I adapted it.  They are done in purple silk, bottom centre.  It is good that they are a bit difficult to see because they are not good.   I have to admit I let the frustration stop me and therefore very little progress was made.  I hate to pick out stitching but that might be the best idea.   I am linking to https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/

Journal Play

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I love making journals/books. I have created so many over the years.  I am not sure why I haven't posted about them more often.  Maybe it is because they are just for me.  They are such a great way to let the creativity flow and of course, the healing that goes with that.  The top photo is a new cover I created that is highly textured.  I have gone through my stash and found all kinds of interesting bits/experiments. I am on a mission to use up this stuff or set it free.  I think the cover needs a bit more work but it will do for now.  The second photo is of more interesting bits that I want to use inside the journal.  The journal will be filled with collage and some quotes so a commonplace book of sorts. I am linking to https://www.create-with-joy.com/2021/02/friendship-friday-blog-hop-470.html  

Jewel Encrusted Bodice

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 This was so much fun!!!  I have a bountiful collection of old jewellery.  Is anyone surprised?  I have been itching to create something highly textured.  I have also been doing a big clear out and came across a bathing suit form that I had been saving.  I decided it is time to use it and use up some of my jewels.  I have yet to figure out where I will put this.  I have one idea but I am not sure if it will work.  I will let this perk for a while.  

Work in Progress Wednesday

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 I've started a new mandala.  I am surprised at myself.  I honestly never thought that  I had it in me to do a series, let alone so many in that series.  There is something about the circle that continually draws me back to it.  This is some cloth that I painted.  I have attached a metal mandala charm in the centre and some funky beads.  The painted cloth extends well past the wooden hoop and I want to keep it.  I am just not sure how it will hang.  There is more beading to do so maybe the answer will come to me. I am linking to https://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.com/

I heart Photography

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Just a little sunshine on a cold and snowy February day.  I hope it spreads some cheer! I am linking to http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/ https://www.create-with-joy.com/2021/02/inspire-me-monday-week-474.html

Slow Stitching Sunday

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 There isn't a ton of beading on this mandala.  I took a mixed media approach to this one and I love it!  This fabric started as a cleanup cloth.  Granted I stopped using it to clean up messes once it got to a pretty point.  I added transfer foil and then another bit of paint to make the transfer foil less obvious.  I added more transfer foil for some in your face shine.  There is also some permanent marker and then the beading.  Using the hoop as my frame makes for an easy finish.  I have used up most of my supply of hoops now and should probably order some more.  The ones I have remaining are rather small. I am linking to https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/

Work in Progress Wednesday

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It has been bitterly cold and I have stayed in the house stitching.  With this current lockdown, we have been trying to do something outside with our granddaughter on Sundays.  It is so lovely to see her even if for a short walk or tobogganing.  This past Sunday, no way.  Just too cold.  Call me a fairweather grandmother!  Instead, I went through some stitching kits.  Kits are a great way to learn a new skill but I rarely buy them any more.  Still, I love silk ribbon and I wanted something mindless to do.  Turns out it they weren't completely mindless.  I had to modify them, I had to make them my own.  It is next to impossible for me to follow a pattern.  It just isn't in me anymore!  These pieces are pretty and I will incorporate them into a crazy quilt at some point. I am linking to https://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.com/

Art and Healing

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 I have been studying art and healing for quite a while.  It is utterly fascinating to me.  Before knowing the science behind it I instinctively was drawn to practising art for therapeutic purposes.  Last month I finished an Art and Healing course through Coursera.  I love going down the rabbit hole of research on my own so there wasn't a lot that I learned through this course.  There were a few nuggets that were not related to visual art.  Dance, writing and music were discussed and I was glad to gain more knowledge in those areas.   This week I took part in an Art & Healing workshop via Zoom.  I was curious to know how it would be run.  Well, poorly is how it was run.  I was annoyed and disappointed.  I did enjoy doing a page of circles in my art journal though.  It isn't remarkable artwise but that is not the point.  My art journal is a sacred space for me to create without concern for it to look good.  Clearly, having something turn out beautifully is a joy but not the

Slow Stitching Sunday

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 I painted this dupioni silk a while ago.  I have now started stitching into it.  I have decided I will use only silk threads.  Can you say luscious?  Silk on silk, love it!  I have added many french knots in the lower left.  I am pondering what stitches will be next.  Do I continue with the stitches I know and use all the time?  Do I use this to practise learning new stitches?  I think new or rarely used stitches are in order.   I am linking to https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/

Mandala or Kaleidoscope

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 Yay!  Finished!  I am happy with this one.  The fabric definitely did all the work.  My wonky piecing is not so noticeable now that I have added beads and sequins.  Honestly, I could just sit and look at this one for a time.  There is just the right amount of sparkle. I am linking to http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/

The start of another lap book

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 My mother wasn't much of a cook.  But somehow she managed to make some meals special.  She had a table cloth that was used so much it had to be patched.  I now have that patched and worn table cloth.  I don't use it on my own table but I have cut it up to use in my art.  I have used it my crazy quilting and now I am using it in my lap book.  There's that theme of redemption in my work showing up again.  I want to use the good parts to make something beautiful.  I have a certain fondness for the old and worn.  I always have had.  Even as a child my heart went out to objects, pets, and people that seemed to need my love. I covered the book with a piece of the table cloth and added a few more pieces of fabric.  I will add more collage components to this eventually.  I cut up a pretty pink napkin that I found at a thrift store.  It is the same style as the table cloth but seems like it was never used.  I am leaving the tattered edges of the table cloth to show.  It makes it al