Textile Postcard Project Week #66

December 30th 2018 - January 5th 2019

Today we have a 'bran new day' as well as a 'bran new year'. I am celebrating the privilege of living in these times or air conditioning and refrigeration. The sun has been hot and storms have come through regularly. The family home I grew up in did have a kerosene refrigerator but definitely no air conditioning. We survived hot summers and I even played tennis each week. I cannot think of this now.

The thunder rolls on a 'bran new day'

 My postcard depicts the hot sun and red sky around some storm clouds. The background is a piece of commercial cotton but I made the sun shape and machine appliqued it in position.

Aclose up view of machine stitching on applique

 

Textile Postcard Project Week #65

December 23rd -29th 2018

Christmas Eve is with us. Here at Milawa it is a typically warm summer day. I feel I have already celebrated after the lovely family party we had here on Saturday. Those members of the Ellis and Brown families enjoyed a wonderful few hours together. Not everyone could be here of course!...but we thought of absent family members.

 Now for the Christmas postcard I have made

A bright greeting for all who read this blog!

Of course the background is hand dyed red in colour with a faint discharged pattern.
The Christmas fabric was given to me by my Swedish penfriend Gunilla Borjesson.  
This was machined appliqued over the red
 background with a Christmas ribbon 
added over it all..

I hope you can see the sparkly stitching  in this view.

 

Textile Postcard Project Week #64

December 16th - 22nd 2018

'Christmas is nigh!'

Yes, it is the week before Christmas. I have chosen red for this postcard because red is rather symbolic of the Christmas Season. I wonder why? Red as a colour represents warmth. People who live in the Northern Hemisphere need warm clothes and warm fires at Christmas time. Australians, who live in the Southern Hemisphere, enjoy and sometimes only just tolerate the warmth of our Summer Christmas Season.
The made fabric sample on shown has been dyed red with Procian Dyes. The decoration on this base colour was firstly screen printed,
then machine stitched with a variegated thread.
 Finally a 'Shiva Stick' was added to give to
 give an irregular sheen to the fabric. It was great
fun developing the finished impression.

A detailed view of the resulting fabric

Textile Postcard Project Week #63

December 9th - 15th 2018

 Another postcard featuring SLOW STITCH, but with another pattern. It has been fun deciding how I will stitch each card. Of course some patterns are more effective than others. The Eco leaf images can seen on the soft cotton fabric as if in the background!

Variegated thread adds to the interest in this piece of work. 
The photo below shows a much closer view.

Textile Postcard Project Week #62

December 2nd - 8th 2018 

Raw edge sampler

 
I have made a number of samples demonstrating the art of the
       SLOW STITCH.
Experimentation with different dyed fabric and a variety of thread offer another appearance. It has been fun to see the resulting patterns which are achieved by small differences.
This sample was stitched on pre-loved and echo dyed cotton fabric using a hand dyed cotton thread. The result is interesting especially if you squint your eyes and peer at it. Rows of alternate stitching give quite a raised look and the eucalypt leaf shapes can be seen behind the stitching.

This detail of my postcard clearly shows the ragged and torn edges.