resurrection fern

the quilt is finished

auntie tamara finished her first quilt this weekend,

a gift for her the little one

that is expected to arrive near the end of the month

it is so beautiful

the backing is soft organic unbleached flannel

i wonder if she will make me one:)

the other wordless wednesday

 

even rock babies need cozy quilts

That was the line used by the ever adorable cathy gaubert when she asked me to take part in her soon to be released book, Pretty in Patchwork, Doll quilts. I just received my copy of the book today and it is as whimsical, colorful and wonderful as I imagined it to be. You can't help but feel happy looking through it. I am very honored to be part of this talented crew, especially since I don't consider myself to be a quilter.  

and a few of my photographs I took before sending it off to the publisher.

I also contributed a square to the round the globe friendship quilt in this other wonderful quilting book.

kakishibu on paper

I said I would share with you another property of this amazing dye. If you paint it on japanese washi paper with each consecutive layer the paper becomes more like fabric. I had bought some beautiful washi paper in toronto when geninne and sonia were visiting. I decided last weekend to try sewing a small case for some thread and a crochet hook of two. It also could hold my glasses. I then painted successive coats of kakishibu onto the surface. In all I think there were about four coats. It is very flexible now and so much softer than the original paper. I wish you could feel the difference. 

t

those images are before the dye is applied.

                                 

my natural dyed crochet threads are very at home in that pouch.

box of tweets

birds on the rocks

birds on the picnic table

i am a little bird obsessed these days working on my pieces for the winged migration show at bookhou at the end of the month. I went down to Toronto to pick up some shadow boxes that I am going to use to display these hand stitched feathered friends. I had a little visit with arounna, john and piper. Got to see the show up at bookhou now. There are actually two shows since with the washi paper pieces. Everything looked amazing. I will show you a few pics tomorrow. 

Okay I will just show you one, lil p and her adorable hair sculpture:)

class with cal patch and her adorable pup

arounna and i took a custom t shirt pattern making class at the workroom with none other than cal patch . She is every bit as wonderful as her name and what an amazing teacher. If she can teach me to make a pattern then you know she has got to be good at what she does. Now I need to prepare the organic cotton/hemp knit fabric that arounna gave me so I can sew one up. I am planning on dyeing it with indigo. 

Then there was liam's birthday party, which was quite smashing, I would have to say!! Thanks so much arounna and john for inviting me. 

 

big and little things happening around the studio

While edgar continued to do this almost all weekend

beautifully photographed by deborah by the way, I fought off the urge to join him on the couch and instead I set up a sewing table in the studio. Then I gave my much neglected sewing machine a whirl and sewed up a pattern test for a pocketed tunic top. I used a beautiful, soft as silk, worn and lovingly mended by some kind soul vintage sheet. I saved my favorite mended areas to highlight them in the pockets. It is so comfy and with only a few minor adjustments I will be off and running sewing up the next one as soon as I have decided which of the lovely fabrics to make it with.

 

That huge white t shirt rag ball made a great substitute for my rather aching head today. I am planning on dying it with natural dyes next weekend and then making a rug.

I would love to kiss the hands that mended that sheet with so much love and care.

I also worked on some little things at my desk, read a little and daydreamed. 

How was your weekend?

xo

m

more pictures of the ornaments before they depart

They will be heading down to Toronto very soon, so I just wanted to shoot a few more pictures before they go. The ornament show will be up in December at bookhou. If you are in town during the month please drop by. 

xo

m

Happy thanksgiving to all my american friends!!!!

more slow stitching

hope you all have a beautiful and colorful weekend 

enjoying all the loveliness this time of year has to offer.

 

topsy turvy

Sometimes your journey takes you to places where things get turned upside down. This is what happened last evening when I was photographing some of the slow stiched fabric bowls on the porch.