Recycle and Renew

It's dull and damp outside.  Time to do some stitching and

 dust down my sewing machine.

First up, I renewed a pocket on my man's favorite shorts.

A mere fifteen years old - bought on a trip to Australia.  

Stitched a loose pocket on his camera bag.

Yesterday a little skip dipping to retrieve these baskets.

Resting over the bath after a wash down under the shower.

Woven willow, possibly posh kitchen drawers.  Too good to ignore.

An old Indian block printed cover, now a little 'ripe' as we say

here in Dorset.  Faded in the sun, but still good enough to recycle.

Bags to store fabric for dyeing.  There's organised.

Almost lunch time, but first a tidy up ready for this afternoon.

I have a basket full of dyed cotton scrapes that will be made

into a quilt top.   Something to have on hand when I am not

in the dye pots - a little slow stitching.   

Time Out

in the garden - and checking out my Happy Wednesday present,

a Lumix camera - the macro setting is pretty good!

A little light weeding, dead heading and thinking time.

A Fishy Tale

or, an epic in the telling

Last week, over two days, I helped make a rather large fish

from water bottles, corks and other recycled bits for The

Great Rinising.  A story of water, or lack of.   It takes place at 

The Pump house, in the future when water is scarce.

 Ancient stories of garden hoses and hot water bottles.

A production by Wimborne Community Theatre at the

beginning of July - see http://stateofplayarts.co.uk

The concept of Theater Designer Pip Nash, it started like this

Bottles were attached to the main frame, nasty teeth in the

front, and embellished with odds and ends,

the top of the spine

Jenny adding the finishing touches

ready for walkies

past amazed visitors to the Mill

over the River Allen bridge, stopping traffic

turning left on to a country lane

almost there

The wonderful Victorian Pump House

in the background

and relax

If there's a problem, press here, here and here

What a difference

Yesterday Chris, Jill, Babs, Eleanor and Catherine came along 

to the experimental block printing workshop.  It was a great day.

All sorts of objects were experimented with.   I managed to

grab a few photos before the end of the day.  Little Indian

printing blocks seem to be the favorite tool here.   So many

more great prints over the day.  Ideas whizzing about.

Experiments on paper

several colours on the stamping pad

design ideas - elements for a bag

then direct on to fabric

a calico bag given a wash of dilute paint

and then stamped - an African feel with

Indian print blocks - interesting

prints to be utilized in a quilt

and something different - blocks made from foam and

soft board.

A lovely light in the conservatory for working.  The day was warm

in the morning, but, goodness, in the afternoon the heat

 All windows and doors open, one student decamped to a 

table outside.  Methinks a fan might be a necessary purchase!

Where did the week go?

A chaotically different week.   Indigo shop parcels sent hither 

and thither. Two days working on a community theater 

project which involved constructing a 15 ft fish from 

recycled water bottles.  Pictures later when I get time to 

sort them out.  Dyeing, mainly blue, not as colourful as this

turban cloths drying in the sun, viewed from

Meherangarh Fort, Jodhpur, Rajasthan

Now I am preparing for an Experimental Block printing workshop 

here tomorrow.   I wonder if the students will notice that the huge

chestnut tree next door is no more.   The tree surgeon did the deed

yesterday.  We are now flooded with light at the back of the house.

What a difference.   Plans are being hatched for the autumn.

Our garden of shade loving plants will be transformed.

A vegetable plot, fantastic.   A new greenhouse.  I have

negotiated shed space for the indigo vat, so all is well.

A splash of colour

Early morning shadows.

It's around 6.30 am and I am preparing for

a dyeing workshop in the conservatory.

Students arrive, and there is a lot of shibori

happening, plus batik.   Nice pieces I think

will emerge after rinsing and washing.

Now they have all gone home with their little

parcels, and wrapped poles.   I have a very

creative mess to clear.

Amongst the newspapers I found this - a nice bit of batik.

There might be more buried treasures, who knows?

Better get back to the clearing up.

From the wax pot

Just for a change

brush strokes

lines

and spots

on each piece a dark indigo background,

the marks are medium and light.  By

design, of course!

In the garden

Wonderful thunder and lightening storm, and great dollops of rain,

during Saturday night,  Just what the garden needed.   But first,

I dyed up some threads

recycled my hairy string

then, planted up herbs, and this

Excuse me while I check the spelling on the plant label.

It's an osteospermum.  Beautiful colours.  Think I might

need more of these.

Job done

If you look at the right hand column you will see this.

As if by magic, one click will take you to my new shop.

So, not only have I been enjoying indigo dyeing, I have

been sitting side by side with my man who kindly gave

me a page on his web.  What a nice chap.   Another

huge learning curve!   So, it's out there.

Any hints, tips or suggestions gratefully received.

Bound and unbound

different sorts of 'circles'

bound with thread which gives an organic shape

then

bound with marbles - it looks like a fabric sculpture

result

different shapes altogether - some look like little trees,

others like flowers

Now, a big thank you to Jude Hill who has added

me to her resource page.   I am honoured to be included

along with the other incredible artists.   Gosh!  

So...... over the next few days I will give my store a 

makeover and add my new indigo collection.