An old opera, made new

This opera was written back in the 1700's,

but this new version, which incorporates the most fantastic dance, just blows me away.  There are many highlights but I think this dance sequence is the best.

 

WIPW

That [email protected]#%

I have had to un-pull it back to where I joined it together to make the yoke.  I have no idea what I did but I found a section of stitches that looked really loopy.  I tried to fix it and that made it worse, so I had to un-pull it back to the front, back and sleeves.   I did something wrong and I had yarn all over the place.  In the end I cut the yarn and am now ready to start the decrease again.  I just hope it works this time.  (That took 3 days to get to this point.)

Nearly finished, rather I have finished the silly stitching. 

That means that I now have to experiment with the wool embroidery.  I saw this in antique quilts in Nates in France back in 2007 and am finally getting around to trying to do it myself.

This is from Facile Cecile back in 2012 and I am sure that the technique originated in Europe but the Americans call it Amish Plushwork.  I bought a whole lot of old tapestry wool to experiment with.

Only two seams on the quilt this week.

and that is all I have done.

 

 

 

That Bus Trip

So that bus trip.

I bought very little in the way of fabric, just 2 small purchases but we stopped at a farm shop and I bought lots of vegetables.

We first went to the quilt exhibition in Beaudesert.

 

This town sits just below the tablelands (The Scenic Rim) and is a hub for the farming communities that surround it.  The quilts were packed in and the following are the ones that caught my attention.

The quilts were so "packed in" that it was difficult to see some of them and the one I liked the most was tucked away in the corner of the hall.

It included hand and machine quilting, which was done on a domestic sewing machine, (not a long arm commercial machine) and the piecing was perfect.

There were some commercial vendors there and all were small businesses.  So small that all the sales were 'cash only', no-one had an EFTPOS machine!  There were some great 2nd hand fabric dealers and I found a range of fabrics called "Federation Fairies" that was new to me.  No one had a business card so I am hunting down this range on-line.  So much we take for granted, like business cards and point of sale machines.

From here we headed to Boonah, another small country town.

to be continued.

Getting last week organised

I know that sounds counter-intuative but some times I just do things and I have to get my mind to catch up with my actions!

My week started with car troubles and that just threw all my plans into disarray.  Because I had an appointment at a set time and the car battery was flat I just hopped on a bus to get to my appointment, which was at the Genius Bar at Apple.  (You have to make an appointment a week in advance they are so busy.)

The problem was with my watch, which I had lost some time ago and then found a week later in the garden.  Turns out that someone had found it, tried to get access to my information, failed, and then dropped the watch in the garden for me to find.  (Must have been someone local.)  I ended up having to buy a new  watch.

So, Mickey is back again but I need lessons on how to work this thing.  (My phone calls keeps going to my watch!)

It was an hour each way on the bus and then another 2 hours waiting for the RACQ to come and tell me my battery was flat, then he tells me I have to drive around for another hour to charge it again.  That was Monday.

Tuesday is my day at the Embroiderers Guild.  This week there was no parking at the train station.  Luckily there was a disability parking spot at the next station but again It got me rattled.

Wednesday I had a lecture at the State Art Gallery.  I had a bad coughing attack in the middle of it.  Ended up even more rattled, I enjoyed the lecture but the place was packed and I felt stupid.

Thursday I stopped.  I was due to judge at a regional show but I knew I couldn't drive all that distance so I cancelled at the last minute.  Something I have never done before but I knew I wasn't fit to drive.

Friday I went on that bus trip and chilled out.  I will tell you about what happened later, but by the time I got home I just about had my head together.

Saturday I was back to normal so mowed the lawns and worked in the garden till I dropped.

Sunday I unpicked my knitting.  What a mess. So I put that aside and did some 'silly stitching'.

Now for a new week.  (I have to get that knitting sorted.)

Some New Threads

Now, I know that these threads are used in the sewing machine and for hand quilting but I have some ideas for an embroidery. The colours are delicious.

The are Aurafil 12 weight.  It was cheaper to buy them from the U.K. as a set than from a shop here.  That is crazy!!

I am taking a bus trip with my local patchwork group today to see an exhibition of a country group and I am only taking one shopping bag!

WIPW

I still have an urge to keep on embroidering the seams of the rose quilt.

Shadowing of the printed design.

Lazy daisy and knots.

Straight stitch and Colonial knots.

But I think I sill soon get bored with this because there isn't a lot of thought involved.  So, I have dug out a design I was working on some time ago.  I was going to make this into a class but I think I will just make it into a book cover when it is finished.  It is a floral Dragonfly and although I drew the design and trialed the stitches I might change all that.

Actually I have sewn quite a bit of this one.

A reel of blue sewing cotton.

That is what Sharon Jewel started with.

She had bought this to repair her husbands shirts.

She then bought some homespun fabric and cut it up in pieces measuring 300X300mm.

Over a period of about 2 years Sharon filled over 100 pieces of fabric with embroidered images.  These originated for random images and thoughts, that arose over time and outside the deliberate processes of thought.  She then drew these images and words onto her fabric with a pencil and proceeded to stitch them with her blue thread.

Sharon has used simple stitches to express complex ideas, some of which seem disjointed.

But all hang together as a train of thought.

I asked her if she found the process 'meditative' but she hadn't thought about that, only getting the idea onto the fabric.  But she said it was something that she could put in her pocket and take anywhere and just stitch.

When asked how she removed her pencil markings she replied that if they were not covered with stitching she washed the fabric in soap and water and then ironed it.

Sharon doesn't come to embroidery with all the trappings what we, who have embroidered for years and have absorbed the 'rules' of embroidery that we were told must be adhered to.  She just stitches what she thinks and feels.

Yet there is a cohesion to this body of work. 

It isn't beautifully mounted in frames, but is like random thoughts pinned to the wall.

This exhibition is something one wouldn't expect to see in embroidery but that makes it even more special.

A lot going on where I live.

I live in the Redland's Shire of Queensland.  This was, until the last 10 to 20 years a very rural area.  There is rich red soil, perfect for growing all kinds of foods, but fruit, and in particular, strawberries, have been the favoured crops. 

 

This has always been a hot spot for koala, but urban sprawl has seen the suburbs extend right out to the bay, removing habitat, farms and native animals.  The Bay Islands, where I live, is a small microcosm of what used to be, but even that is being eroded.

At the moment they are re-directing aircraft from Brisbane out over the bay which the birds are finding hard to handle.  From September to April this is home to migratory birds, some come from Siberia.

But on the up side, there are a lot more services than there used to be.  Our local council hosts two galleries, one in Cleveland and the other at Capalaba and at the moment both have excellent exhibitions.

Cleveland - This exhibition is from the Bendigo Art Gallery and it blew me away.

Capalaba - Sharon is a local artist from the Russell Island.

Both are really significant exhibits and I will write about them through out the week.

to be continued:

 

Never Again!

My favourite seat frame is never leaving the house again!

I took it to Embroidery with me and the wooden screw that holds the frame in position fell out, and was lost forever.  I have had this frame for at least 20 years, maybe 30 years?  It has been impossible to replace the screw but my husband came to the rescue and made me a new screw.

It took him a couple of weeks to make it and it is different to the old one in shape but it does the job.

So it is staying in the house, FOREVER.

WIPW

I am having so much fun trying out stitches on the seams of the patchwork, but that seems to be all I have done.

This is crown stitch.

So I added a couple of Pistol stitches to make them into buterflys.

Just having fun. (Must remember to remove all those reference points.)