Textile Postcard Project Week #117

December 29th  2019 - January 4th 2020

Let's ring the New Year in --
This bell is a decoration that I made years ago and used on our Christmas tree. Now it is time to Ring in the year of 2020..I find it difficult to believe that 20 years of the 21st Century have already gone by.

Detail of the lace decoration

Textile Postcard Project Week #116

 December 22nd - 28th 2019 
Several years ago I took part in a Christmas Swap activity. This card was done by a member of Saturday Quilters. It is beautifully embroidered and bound.

Here is a close up view of one corner which shows the machine quilting and hand embroidery.

Textile Postcar Project Week #115

December 15th -21st 2020

 










An exchange Christmas postcard which has been appliqued and embroidered.

Textile Postcard Project Week # 114

December 8th - 14th 2019

I have used this Christmas card which was sent to me, some years ago, by my Japanese pen friend. 
It has not been made from textiles but I considered it had some textile aspects to it. #1 it has a hexagon pattern on it, as many old quilts had and #2 it has beads attached to it. The near view photo shows this quite clearly.

Textile Postcard Project Week # 113

 December 1st -7th 2019

'Christmas is nigh!' A gold stitched card with stars seems significant as the Christmas Season draws near. I was given this tiny card, but it is a pity it has not been stitched more clearly.

Gold stars and lattice work do show up in these photos but, sadly, not very clearly

Textile Postcard Project Week #112

November 24th -30th 2019


The colour on this card has probably been applied by ironing on painted vlisofix. It has been finished with machine stitching and the application of a decorative purple thread.

The colours on the card are quite dark and have not photographed clearly, however the close up view is brighter and shows the purple tassel quite well.

Textile Postcard Project Week # 111

 November 17th - 23rd 2019

Bright colours of red, blue and gold

 This 'swap card' exhibits a bold design using appliqué and machine stitching.

Close view of threads and stitching

Textile Postcard Project Week # 110

November 10th - 16th 2019

A very feminine decoration on the fifth swap card. Sheer fabric overall with lace and and ribbon applique.

 

 

Finished with sparkles and machine stitching.

 

Textile Postcard Project Week #109

November 3rd - 9th 2019

 


 This is 'Swap Card' #4. It is a very attractive example with beading and an appliqued 'Zebra' motif. Finished with decorative wool along the edges.

Detailed view of sparkling beaded corner.

Textile Postcard Project Week # 108

October 27th - November 2nd 2019

Procian dyed background

The third example of my 'swap cards'.
The fabric on this one has been hand dyed and printed. It has been decorated with machine stitching and embroidery with a little hand embroidery in the corner. 

Embroidered flowers to finish

Textile Postcard Project Week # 107

October 20th - 26th 2019

Yellow blanket stitch has given the card an attractive finishing touch.

Clear view of at least 4 types of hand stitches.

The swap card  I have used on this postcard is one of the prettiest I have received. It has been all hand stitched with a painted background. Several types of stitches have been embroidered with finishing focus of 3 tiny yellow daisies appliqued in place.

Textile Postcard Project Week #106

October 13th - 19th 2019

Machine embroidery & applique

Some Years ago I joined a 'Swap Card' Project which was to make some small cards approx 2-3 inches  X 3-4 inches (6-7cm x 9-9.5cm). I then exchanged these cards with others who had joined. Often I received a card by return mail from another participants. It was good fun and gave us a reason the practice some different techniques.

Detail of one of the first cards which came through the post

Textile Postcard Blog Week # 105

October 6th -12th 2019


Cleverly placed scraps make an attractive card

The design of this card was taken from the front of a greeting card made by a friend and sent to me. I think it is delightfully casual and very artistic. It is made from torn scraps of hand made paper.

Close-up view of paper scraps

This is the beginning of Year 3 of posting post cards on this blog

Textile Postcard Project Week #104

September 29th - October 5th 2019

Most fabric was used to construct a cushion cover

Showing varied design

 I made a cushion cover from Asian hand dyed fabric. This is a pretty 'left over' sample. The fabric varied in colour which highlighted the sections which were tied and when revealed showed they had been dyed in a contrasting colour to begin with.
The background is a rather stripey commercial cotton fabric.

Highlighted 'tied design' 

The posting of this week's postcard marks the end of two years of postcard entrees into my Textile Postcard Blog. I have made the decision to continue for one more year. By then my stash of samples and odd fabric activities may well be exhausted.

Textile Postcard Project Week #103

September 22nd - 28th 2019

Australian Bush Colours

'Daisy Flower' feature

The background cotton fabric this week has been procian dyed as have the maps of Australia. I have made a template and a stamp featuring this map of Australia. Note that I have joined the island of Tasmania to the mainland. This was done so I could easily include this southern state. There is no stitching on this postcard and glue has been used to keep the maps in place.

Textile Postcard Project Week #102

September 15th -21st 2019

Circles, circles and more circles!

 Hand dyed cotton fabric has been used for this week's postcard. It is a section of a sampler where I have practiced the use of circles. Some circles have been stitched by machine and some have been hand printed. Stitching in a circle is not so easy. One has to turn the fabric at a very even rate. Can you see the wobbles in my stitched circles?

Stitching in a circle

Textile Postcard Project Week #101

September 8th - 14th 2019

In the tree tops!

Cotton fabrics have been used to make this design. The original postcard was made and given to me by a friend. Most fabrics I expect are commercial but there have been a couple of hand dyed ones used. These add movement and variation. 

Detail of machine stitching on branches and background

Textile Postcard Project Week # 100

September 1st-7th 2019

Random patterns for experimentation

Full view of postcard 100 shows a background of hand dyed cotton fabric which I have used for a practise sample of free machine stitching. 
This is the 100th card that I have posted within this project....I have no idea how longer I will continue. Maybe it depends on how many sampler scraps I can locate in my drawers and boxes!

My free stitching is 'mostly' in control!

Textile Postcard Project Week #99

August 25th -31st 2019

Australian bush image

I have dyed the background cotton fabric purple, with procian dyes which formed a base for whatever experimentation I chose. Firstly I used a stamp of the map of Australia which I had made myself. This red image was applied randomly. Using variegated threads I used two machine embroidery stitches to complete the image.

Detail of map and Australian bush daisies and leaves

Textile Postcard Project Week #98

August 18th - 24th 2019 Week #98

Woven Pattern

 This week represents the same technique with a few differences. Firstly I have used commercial fabrics with a much greater contrast. as well as a very 'wavy' stitch as the joiner. It appears much better as part of the design. I  think these fabrics show the whole design technique much more successfully. NB I have used a narrow glitter tape to accentuate the horizontal wavy lines.

A clear close up view of stitching

Textile postcard Week #97

Tuesday, August 11th -17th 2019

Blending colour

This machined design looks much more complex than it is in reality. I used 2 commercial fabrics which looked pleasing together. They were layered and cut into strips at the same time. Then fitted back together in a woven design. I chose a ‘wrigglie’ machine embroidery stitch to join the raw edges of the weave. The technique really looks quite effective depending on the fabrics used.

Apology for the darkness of my photo. Posting this entry into my records has been a slow process because we are 'outback travellers' at present and I am  using the WiFi connection at Mt Ive Station near the Gawler Ranges in South Australia.

Maybe  a little more distinct!

Textile Postcard Project Week #96

August 4th -10th 2019

Only 3  + stitches added to the design

 
Eco dyed Japanese Obi silk - pre loved of course. An Obi is the wide sash that a Japanese lady wears around her Kimono. It is made of a heavy weight silk and this one dyed very attractively so I felt it was inappropriate to do too much embroidery on it. I used eucalypt leaves to make the 'marks'.

Embroidered crosses with a heavy eco dyed cotton thread.