Friday 13 January 2012

~ Stitching ~ Sunshine ~ and a Motorbike Ride ~


Some things finished, some things on the go, some, just barely started. It is possible that most of these will become part of the Magic Diaries Cloth. The piece at top left, is my first ever star.....which developed from this 'playground'.....




I've had great enjoyment with natural dyeing.....the pinks are from avocado skins. I'm not keen on pink, but I love the dyeing and that was one of the things I had plenty of! There are greys in there that came from a large bundle of old, dried bay leaves I was about to throw out, but thankfully the thought popped into my head to try them as a dye.


The browns are from acorns, which my Man and I enjoyed collecting. The pale yellow and that green silk on the top are from carrot tops from my father-in-law's garden....the silk was an over~dye of a very pale grey and it makes me really happy :~)

The blue....well, I do not have indigo or woad plants here yet, but blue is a must in just about anything I do, so I use what I've got, which is cyanotype. I use it both for making prints, and also just paint it on the cloth and leave it in the sun to create its alchemical magic.


Some more dyeing ~
Soya milk soaked

red cabbage and black bean dyes

black bean dyed linen: can~wrapped

before washing in machine

dried before washing



after washing in machine



Talking of sun ~ sol ~ haul.....for many years I have kept a daily journal and I include a daily weather report. For December, we had grey, dull, heavy and dark for 28 days, with just 3 (THREE) days of hazy brightness...no wonder we Brits are mad :~)


s-o-o-o-o


January is already whipping December's butt.....last night's sky, after a SUNNY day...



a
a
a
n
d


happy me, happy bird in tree, and happy Man.....he got to take this last night.....

Jupiter ~ photo by Mark Lee

Today was glorious and we went out on the motorbike, stopping for tea on the way.....

26 comments:

  1. great shot of jupiter. nice to see how the star formed from a basic 9 patch.

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  2. Thanks deanna....I could get addicted to this way of making stars :~)

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  3. Helen I love all of the moons, those wonderful teeny, tiny stitches, the earthy colours and the beautiful star. This is going to be such a beautiful, gentle cloth.

    Riding out on the motorbike...that sounds fun. How lucky you are with the January weather. Those pink skies are beautiful and the promise of another lovely day. Maybe the pinks you have dyed with the avocado will remind you of the beautiful January skies in years to come?

    Jacky xox

    Happy stitching

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  4. tea and a motorbike. :)

    those stitchings are stunning. something so tactile and beautiful about all those layers and threads.

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  5. love your cloth ... i think i have that same pile at my
    house . (:
    love your work .
    kathyd

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  6. What a wonderful array of images... from cloth to Jupiter, fantastic!! And that DOES sound like a dreary December.

    Just had to add that my word verification word is "goodshin".... not sure why I like, but I do. Guess anything good right now is a blessing, even a shin!!

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  7. Hi Jacky, and thank you...I had not thought of connecting the dyed pinks to the January sky...it gives them the meaning they needed :~) Oh....and I like gentle cloth....

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  8. Hi Brooke....I'm finally getting to grips with the layering.....I've loved it for so long, but had trouble with the composing for some reason. Thank you cariad :~)

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  9. Ha ha ~ hi kathy, thank you :~)

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  10. Hi Valerianna....ha ha ~ yes! ~ good shins are very important....they are needed for our forward journey :~))) May that goodness spread all around you ~ ~ ~

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  11. Helen, well I wish I had the same pile at my house -- the blues, I hadn't thought of doing that -- used to get the coated paper for my kids to make solar prints. What a good idea to use it on your cloth.

    All those lovely stitched pieces look like they want to stay together!

    Wishing you lots of sunny days!

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    1. Thanks Peggy....we bought the powders to make up our own cyanotype solution...they will last a l-o-n-g time, even using them on cloth :~)

      The rain came back last night, but we had nearly a week of LIGHT and BLUE....oh bliss :~)))

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  12. Now THERE is a blog title that grabs me. Your work is wonderful, as usual. Quiet and complex. The colours you've achieved are GORGEOUS - also quiet, deep, and complex. Sigh. So lovely.

    (And YAY, Blogger is letting me leave SOME comments, though it's being totally randomly picky about it. Harrumpfff!)

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    1. ha ha...especially the motorbike ride, right :~) Thank you for your lovely words.

      I have random comment trouble with blogger too...

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  13. ... oh I remember when I used to do natural dying on my raw fleece from my small collection of sheep and angora goats.. I just loved it.. seems like magic doesn't it.. onion skin, sumac berries and the bark(two different lovely soft shades) ...oh and goldenrod too..

    ... georgeous skies...

    Sure wish it was motorbike riding weather here... Hang on tight!!

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    1. Hi Gwen, and thank you. I went searching for sumac and found this lovely post.

      I need to go find a friendly garden :~)

      It is incredibly mild here...not like last winter at all. Keep warm :~)

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    2. Thanks for the link Helen, I love those handmade shoes too..

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    3. aren't they beautiful :~)

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  14. Lovely to read you so much happier. fab dye results there and pictures too

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    1. thank you Lyn...lovely to 'see' you :~)))

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  15. beautiful cloth, and such wonderful natural dyes.
    My Granddad kept a weather diary for years....it is wonderful to look back.xxx

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    1. thank you Trish :~) Yes, it is really interesting to compare the weather year by year. Isn't it amazing how different this winter is from last ~

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  16. Thank you for sharing all those yummy natural ways to dye.
    I just love what you are doing here So glad I found you.

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    1. Thank you so much Eydie ~ it is all due to this lady and her friends.

      Happy six~wording :~))))

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