This is an interpretation of the marble staircase at the Villa Tugendhat which was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich and can be found in the Czech Republic. I am having trouble getting the colour of the photo to resemble the actual colour. This is the best but you can't see the stitching in the black. Picture of that at the end of the post.

I found the photo on Pinterest https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/559290847459235323/

I have been wanting to try botanic/eco dyeing and got it into my head that I would create a marbled effect on fabric through cold bundling with bits of rust and leaves. However, I left it way too late to start so I ended up making a dye bath of eucalyptus leaves and one of hibiscus flowers and try and marble with paint. I submerged zarashi, linen and muslin which had been soaked in a pre-mordant bath of watered down skim milk. Apparently, this helps cellulose fabric take up eucalyptus much better. I was a bit hasty with each stage resulting in very subtle colours but I love them. 

I decided to go with eucalyptus zarashi for the stairs and attempted to get a bit of marbling happening. It used a bit of this and a bit of that! I painted on the dregs of my morning coffee, used a few light dabs of a shiny white water colour paint and also inktense. The machine quilting is pretty simple, or should I say, minimalist as you can see in this photo.

Very pleased with what I learned about dyeing through this project.

Just tried to get a better shot.... lightened it so you can see the stitching Rosemary. :-)

NY Memories

 I wasn't looking forward to this challenge as I felt it was way out of my comfort zone.  I've never been sure about modern architecture, though funnily enough our new house extension could almost have been designed by Miles van de Rohe.  I also realised that with every other challenge we have done I have always managed to find a personal connection, or a photo I have personally taken, that I could use for inspiration.

My first look at the work of Miles van de Rohe mentioned a few of his famous designs, and I instantly knew I had found my topic.  Back in 1983 Rolls Royce sent my husband to work in the marketing department in New York, and at that time the office in Manhattan was situated in the Seagram Building, designed by Miles van de Rohe!!

This was the photo I found on the web.  I wanted to keep away from the front entrance area, and the straight lines appealed to me.

I initially decided to do the piece by hand using English paper piecing techniques, so drew the image I wanted using Illustrator, then printed it our at the correct size and cut it up.  I quickly realised I could save some time by doing most of the basting my machine, then after joining some of the vertical sections by hand I reverted to machine sewing to put the rest together.  I was disappointed when I finally assembled the whole piece to discover some of the lines did not line up, but I had no time left to remake the piece.  One the whole I am pleased with the result.

Collages

Having begun my  thinking around the angular buildings Mies is known for my research led me to his collages - https://architizer.com/blog/inspiration/industry/mies-van-der-rohe-collages/  Their simplicity was irresistible and I also learned that Mies embraced and populariised a favourite saying "Less is more". 

 

Museum for a Small City Project, Interior perspectives. 1941 – 1943. MoMA
Mies van der Rohe Archive. © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

I've found myself working in a range of styles since our lives have been impacted by the virus, trying not to do what I always do, but nothing can match the pleasure I got from placing that turquoise square just where I felt it needed to go.

I didn't think through the quilting when I put this together and having stitched it I know I would do this differently next time, and there will be a next time - time to go back to being me!