LOCKDOWN SOUTH AFRICA

Lockdown in South Africa starts at midnight tonight.  Our rules are very strict.  No walking or jogging (including the dog) at all.  Only one person per car (the driver) to go out and get food and medical requirements.  So, my first stop this week was not to clear the shelves of toilet rolls but to visit my Bernina store for....

Had to get my priorities right!
I have a number of community tops to quilt so I am having fun getting back to basics and free motion quilting.

I just have the outer blocks to finish and then bind. 4 more to go.  In between when I have down time I am crocheting a family of Ellies who will be sold for funds for my local guild.

These are my sassy Ellies who will be dressed in the fabric they are sitting on and I will give them a sling bag.

These  are my angelic Ellies who will have tutus made out of the tulle they are lying on and then I need wings.   Need to play around and see what will work.
And then of course my 10 minutes of Vitamin D is benefitting my garden as it is now getting a look in. 
As somebody shared ...... Quilters have been preparing for this for a long time.  
Stay safe all.

Time to Play!

Sometimes I think it just needs a brave step into the unknown (scary place) to experiment and try things out.  Well, now we all have plenty of time during lock-down so let's play! 
Please post any experiments, with good or bad results, here.

Today I will be space dyeing a background cloth which is for a school children's project I'm involved with.  They have drawn around their hands onto Bondaweb  - about 35 children between 5 and 8 - and I have transferred the shapes onto fabric which have each been fused to a felt backing, appliqued with a satin stitch edging and cut out.  Their school logo is a tree of leaves and the idea is to make a big wall-hanging substituting the leaves with their hands.  I raided my green stash and they were able to choose their own fabrics.

Each hand will eventually have the child's name embroidered on it but I need to have the background finished so the hands can be placed and the names angled to be able to be read easily.

School logo

Some of the hands

Rough layout

It was at this point I realised that the piece of fabric which Phil and I had dyed years ago, wasn't big enough.  Hence having to dye a bigger piece.   Wish me luck with the dyeing - I am NOT a dyer!

Hilary

Artists inspired by architecture

Hi all

This landed in my inbox today from Textile Artist.org.

There is a link at the bottom.

Love
Claire
x

Textile artists inspired by architecture

We’ve posted several articles about landscape textile artists, and now it’s time to showcase those who focus on architecture. While architecture indeed rests within landscapes, these four artists pay particular attention to stitching buildings’ structural details in the most amazing ways.  Debbie Smyth’s thread drawings capture historic and current architecture in simple, yet intricate, ways. Harriet Popham uses thread in a similar fashion, but she combines architecture with animals and nature to create whimsical interior art pieces.  Karen Goetzinger uses a mixed-media approach with her urban scenes featuring thread designs on painted surfaces. And Ruth Chalk literally knits her architecture into being, using reclaimed and recycled materials in the most novel ways. Step into these architectural worlds of stitch and enjoy the view

In the process of moving interstate

Hi there
I just thought I would mention that I am in the process of buying, selling and moving interstate. I am looking forward to getting back to the window creations and having a good look and making some comments. Not long and I will have the luxury of time to do that.
Thanks
Amanda

Hello again fellow bloggers . You will notice that I have commented twice on Diane's Hong Kong scene as I was having problems with getting into the Blog . My head is still filled with Sophie Standing's thread painting class which I attended over the past 4 days and found wonderful !! Rosemary

You have managed to create an excellent Hong Kong night scene. Perhaps keeping the quilting simple only outlining the buildings and the individual windows would be appropriate ? I find that Jeans needles which are very sharp are ideal to use when going through layers . Rosemary

Hong Kong view

One of our daughters lives in Hong Kong in the Sai Ying Pun district, which is basically downtown.  She has a 500 sq ft apartment and the building has one apartment per floor so you can imagine how slim it is - but lots of windows!  And of course, she looks out on other highrises (hers is 22 floors and she's on the 5th). 

I was going to do a more pictoral piece of what it looked like to look out a window - showing the edge of the couch, curtains etc.  But then I keep trying to be more abstract so this is what I've accomplished.  I've shown a photo that she took for me out of one of the windows at night. 

The piece has been painted with acrylic paints.  I realized that I didn't have black or white fabric paint (such a surprise since I have just about every other colour) so that's why the acrylic.  I'm not sure I can quilt through it, and right now don't have time so this is my WIP.   The ceiling still needs fixing and so my work area is still a mess. 

I still like the idea of this but will have to do a lot more experimenting to improve it.