Matilda's Shed

Hi beautiful

Well the day has finally arrived! Matilda is so excited - her studio (affectionately known as The Shed) is now ready to move into. 

It's been a long wait - since November 2017, when Matilda first fell in love with the old shed on a back road outside town. She had longed for her own studio in the countryside for a long time. 

While the old building was being slowly restored, on the weekends, Matilda worked in the yard, pruning the trees, erecting a lovely wrought iron fence and lastly planting flowers in the front garden. The trellis is up and waiting for string beans and sweet peas to be planted. 

On this bright sunny day, Matilda and her furry friend, Cuddles are so happy to be in their new home. 

Flowers bloom along the fence

Matilda at the front door

Cuddles the cat being curious

 For those interested in the construction of Matilda's shed, here are a few notes. 
Inspiration: photo from a magazine - an old farm shed in country Victoria in autumn. 
Foundations laid: begun in a Ro Bruhn workshop in November 2017
Layers: Top of fabric pieces; muslin stabilised; wadding; calico backing.
Techniques: all hand stitched with the exception of securing the backing to the top. The wadding was added to give the stitched piece more substance. Transparent thread and small stitches secured the wadding. 
Size: 13" x 13.5" including binding.
Thanks to: friend Margaret gifting me the flowers (the tiniest yo-yos!); encouragement of embroidery friends. 

Happy stitching!
Cara

A stitch a day - February

Hi beautiful

Another month has passed and with it the growth of the "1 Year of Stitches" hoop.

February has seen the garden completed, a sturdy oak door built, a pond partially filled, a grassy hillside flourishing and a black cat waiting for visitors.

Here's the big picture.

End of February progress

Zooming in on the details:

Garden blooming

Oak door

Grassy hillside

Fish pond partially filled

Millie - the patient cat

I've really enjoyed the daily surprise of what emerges. A magical land is unfolding of its own free will. Going slowly like this allows new directions, unthought of the day before. At times I've had an idea for the next day or so, only to do something entirely different. How fun is that?

Wishing you joy and blessings in the coming month of March.

Cara

A stitch a day

Hi beautiful

Well here we are at the end of January. It's been such a hot month and that tends to drain me of energy and enthusiasm for beginning craft projects. 

One project I have successfully undertaken every day is the "1 year of stitching challenge". There are over 2000 stitchers participating worldwide. It's truly inspirational to view the diversity of designs, fabric and threads. Many post weekly to the closed group on Facebook, while others post daily on Instagram. (The tag is #1yearofstitches and #1yearofstitches2017.) 

Here's my progress in January.

Linen napkin as my fabric

Day 1

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

I'm enjoying stitching the story of my garden. For close ups and comments, check out my daily posts on Instagram.

Have a wonderful February!

Love and lightness of being

Cara

2017 One year of stitches

Hi beautiful

It's almost a new year upon us. I'm getting organized with my journals and looking forward to a year of new craft projects and learning new skills.

So I was thrilled to hear about a year long embroidery project shared by Sara Barnes on her blog Brown Paper Bag. It's called "1 Year of Stitches". She showcases Michelle Anais Beaulieu-Morgan's exquisite 2016 piece here.

Michelle Anais Beaulieu-Morgan

This morning I started looking for a large embroidery hoop I knew I had and some suitable fabric. I found this 14" hoop and beneath it, a long ago (late 70's!) cross stitch. I'd only done a few stitches in the middle. Much too fine for my eyes, even back then. The linen fabric is just perfect for this project.

Lucky find

I couldn't believe my good luck in finding both hoop and fabric. It's meant to be! 

Looking forward to commencing on January 1st and joining others.

Love 

Cara

Demelza - maid of the forest

Hi beautiful

The Beauty of the forest greets you today. Demelza, Maid of the Forest is resplendent in her rich autumn colours.

Demelza - Maid of the Forest

 She's a little out of her environment on this Christmas mat!

Demelza stands about 8" tall. Needle felted wool on an acrylic felt base, embellished with embroidery and buttons. Strong and sturdy - polyester filling and weighted at the base with sachet of lead shot. Her face was outlined in black pen, coloured with pencils with stitching for eyebrows and nose.

Inspiration came from an article by Sarah Lawrence, titled "Soulful Divas" in the (June/July?) issue of Spotlight's online Get Creative magazine. I used the template and one of the face designs.

View from back

Close up

Close up

Fun and easy to make. Should I make another diva?? Tempting!

Cara

Just linger for a while

Hi beautiful

Warmer weather is coming, so in this moment, I linger a little.

The beauty of stitching, the texture emerging.

Boro piece in progress

The richly woven piece with its undulating colours.

Waffle weave in 8 ply

A day to linger, dwell quietly in the moments.

May peace be with you.

Cara

Turkmen and Mountmellick

Hi beautiful

Rest after chores, lovely. Time to do some stitching.

Prompted by Sharon B's blog, TAST (Take a Stitch Tuesday), I'm enjoying learning some more embroidery stitches. This past week, the stitch to use was Turkmen. So practice followed by application.

Here's my practice piece. Turkmen stitch is rows 1,2,4,7 (from top to bottom). I had to mix it up with some other chain stitches - for variety! 

Variety of chain stitches

Turkmen stitch is also known as double chain. The rows in blue are square chain stitch. The loopy stitch is rosette chain stitch and is done in crochet cotton. All others use stranded cottons.

My hankie cloth is the perfect piece to apply my newly learnt stitches. (See my previous post, Hankie Cloth on my take of recycling hankies.) 

Turkmen stitch - on right

And then I had to try another stitch - Mountmellick, a linear stitch from Irish Mountmellick embroidery.

Mountmellick stitch edging

Here is the meeting of Turkmen and Mountmellick applied to the edge of one of the hankies.

Green and gold edging

If you're interested in stitching, take a look at Sharon B's incredibly helpful site - Pintangle. 

Now that was a productive "rest"!

Cara

Hankie cloth

Hi beautiful

It's hankie time!

Do you have a stash of hankies just waiting to be loved? I have a pillowcase full, compliments of my mother. So late in March I selected 28 from their hideaway and went to town giving them a facelift.

Using the gelli plate, foam stamps and fabric paint, I transformed the plain hankies into a kaleidoscope of colours. Here they are drying off.

Gelli printed hankies

A couple of months passed by while I mulled over "now what?" Then inspiration hit one Sunday morning in late July while playing with another project. A tablecloth! For the rest of the day I delightedly pinned and sewed hankies onto a recycled piece of calico.

Hankies pinned to calico

It took another session to finish sewing on all the hankies. Then some more colour fun with zig zag machine stitching around some of the edges.

At the beginning of August, I began hand stitching here and there, choosing some of the stamped images. Here are some close ups.

Flower in stem stitch

Heart edged in blanket stitch

Heart in double chain stitch

Today I added more stitching, this time with crochet cotton, rather than stranded cotton - background and one edge.

Running stitch background

In progress - Edge in up and down buttonhole stitch

Finished edge in up and down buttonhole stitch

This cloth has 20 hankies in total - 5 rows of 4. It will be a long term project, for those days when I feel like slow stitching. Who knows what delights will be stitched onto this piece? I hope to use more old fabric pieces of my mum. The time I spend on this cloth has become my conversation time with my mum. She was a good dressmaker and embroiderer. While I still have my mum, sadly she has dementia and is unable to chat or remember. This is my conversation with her.

Enjoy recycling your hankies!

Cara

Places to go... to enjoy

Hi beautiful

The theme for this month in my fabric pages is "Places". What a wonderful creative journey I've enjoyed and agonised over. I ended up with 2 double sided pages; one became the front cover of a journal and the other, the back cover.

Enjoy the journey.

The front cover carries the title "Going Places". This page gives glimpses of my early memories of going for drives and outings from our home in Rockhampton. All the kids bundled into the car and off we'd go! The mountain range, the meandering Fitzroy River, the big bull, an icon of the town. The street we lived in ran straight down to the river and my school was just walking distance away. Below is the whole front page. Lots of machine stitching on a variety of prints.

Front Cover

Turn over and the inside page reflects my "Happy Places" - ocean, sand, gardens, home, Christmas, rolling green fields, star studded sky. A collage with lots of colour and use of prints, a combination of hand and machine stitching, crafted wire shapes, fabric scraps from dresses made long ago, a double weave test piece.

Happy Places - verso of front cover

Now to the back cover. The inside page features Canberra, a place I've both visited on holidays and lived in. Autumn colored fabric forms the background with a free motioned rough outline of the inner city's original street layout. Stitched and stamped patches each show a place in Canberra.

Canberra page

The back cover is a collage of stamps, each featuring a place in Australia. The stamps were glued and stitched onto a foundation of cotton fabric supported by heavy interfacing. The outline of Australia is stitched by hand - apologies to Tasmania as I ran out of space!

Back cover

So there are the four pages viewed individually. To bring them together, a felt spine decorated with machine stitching is attached to front and back. Paper pages in 3 page signatures cut to size are machine stitched across the spine. 

Felt spine with decorative machine stitching

Signatures viewed from above

First paper page

Decorative stitching between each signature

I loved how this journal evolved, challenging me to try out different ideas. It certainly was nothing like the idea I started with!

Enjoy your creative journey! 

Love

Cara

Lace nostalgia

Hi beautiful

Last post I shared the beginning of my fabric journal journey.

Here's the second signature which focuses on the "lace" theme.

Page 1

For me, lace always conjures up times past, the old days. This first page uses pre-loved worn pieces of fabric, a strip of cotton lacy edging, a length of tatting, scraps of vintage fabric, a clothing label depicting a colonial couple, old buttons - all patching and decorating the humble tea towel base. A variety of hand stitches highlight the "make-do" nature of this page.

Page 2

Glorious lace and pre-loved buttons bring a feminine softness to this page. The lace butterfly is so nostalgic of a bygone time.

Page 3

The old days theme continues with a photo of my great grandfather with his hoop. The lace top and bottom and the use of three buttons are continued across from page 2.

Page 4

The soft neutral colours continue with the crocheted doily, a vintage button, a piece of lace, a strip of ric rac and petticoat lacy edging.

This 4 page signature was most enjoyable to make. I love the softness of the finished piece - both its texture and colour palette. So reminiscent of a bygone era.

For a flip through this signature, watch my video clip below.

May you go gently through your day.

Love Cara

Fabric journal wander

Hi beautiful

What a wonderful world of textiles we live in! 

One of my projects this year is inspired by a wild group of women who love their textiles. The project is a fabric journal with the pages reflecting a different theme. The themes to date are "Words on the Page" and "Lace".

Here's what I've created for the first theme, "Words on the Page".

Page 1: Postcard - front

The front of the postcard depicts a village by the water, visited on a holiday. A cheery hello is sent by the happy holiday maker.

Page 2: Postcard - back

Quickly written words describing ever so briefly the fun and discoveries while on holidays.

The following two pages in the signature move to school days.

Page 3

Scissors and glue, crayons and printing, a ruler - memories of the first years at school. Mind you, I don't remember too much of the scissors and glue fun!

Page 4

Learning to print on lined paper with a pencil. The joy of written words has begun.

For a flip through these 4 pages and a description of how I constructed the pages, check out my video clip.

Thanks for dropping by!

Love Cara