~ 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...

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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.....

A day of sewing and sowing

Sampler in green with a few spots of purple for courage

I took a deep breath, gathered my courage, (that is my word for this year after all), and signed on for the wonderful Whispering Hearts class....my very first e-course....with Jude of Spirit Cloth. I have been breathing deep ever since, as I listen, watch and read. I work slowly, so it took a week of mulling before I started.  Today, I was rummaging in our bedroom and a scrap of deep green velvet silk was on the floor....you can't really tell from this picture, but that's it, bottom left. It made me decide to look for other scraps of green fabrics I have and see if they worked together. 

The centre heart is one I had prepared a long time ago. I've been carrying these little squares and cut-out hearts with me wherever I go for a few years. It's great if I have to wait anywhere for any reason to just pick them up and....well, sew! The material is from a shirt I found in a charity shop. It has panels of that green with purple spots you see here, purple with green spots, light blue with dark blue spots and vice versa. It is probably the most garish shirt I have ever seen, but I loved it for use in my sewing.

 I was really pleased with the way the green and white stitching, (Jude's magic stitch), turned out, and as I slowly stitched I was wondering why I chose green today. I rather liked what came to mind...

Green

because it's Spring

because it's the colour associated with the heart chakra

for the Irish in me

and because I am so thrilled that I can wear it at last :~)

Stitching the hearts in place comes next ~

Today I also spent a couple of hours potting compost and sowing seeds in the greenhouse, singing happily as I worked. We now have more lettuce and cucumber, as well as courgettes, peas, runner beans, basil, and a lovely, (I hope), salad and herb mix. Can't wait to be grazing our own salad greens again.

The weather has been glorious. Sunny, blue-skied and warm. I have had such a lovely Sunday with Big Mama Bumblebees coming in to the studio to say hello, Blackbirds singing the sweetest songs all day, and Mrs Wren busying about just outside the doors ~ mere steps from where I was sitting....oh! I love Mrs Wren.

Oh!! and I nearly forgot....I found one of these at the bootsale yesterday ~ for £1!!! Tra~la~la :~) Ours is bright sunshine yellow though, with the faintest blush of orange at the bottom....can't find an image of that colour online anywhere.

Hope you are all having a happy Sunday too.

Cariad Mawr

H x