Flying South

Getting ready to fly to Marrakech on Wednesday, where the sun

is bright in a blue sky and it is hot! It is going to be so good.

We visited very briefly, like two days, a few years back, and said

then we must return.

Deep in one of the souks is this shop. Suitable for a

visit on Halloween I think. All sorts of lotions and

potions, terracotta scrubbing brushes, sea sponges and

oils for the hammam, strange magical looking objects,

plus dyeing ingredients - madder, lumps of dried indigo,

and 'red' indigo, although I think something was lost in

the translation. Maybe it was cochineal? I did buy a

little terracotta dish of Berber's lipstick - cochineal. Hmm.

But first I have to find this treasure trove again.

I must also revisit the metal souk and take a better picture

of these lanterns, including all of the spiral tops.

Doing some research I have found the cloth dyeing

quarter, a must. Then there are the tanneries - which

I might just give a miss. Never mind getting lost in

the small alleyways, the smell of leather curing in

pigeon poo is going to be a give away. My nose is

wrinkling just thinking about it!

Our riad has wi fi apparently, so I'll keep you posted.

Scarves to go

A stack of velvet scarves delivered today, thus a week

of manipulating, pole wrapping, and dye painting velvet

Rich jewel colours, very subtle colour blending. I find

it impossible to get a good picture of the dyed velvet,

suffice to say gorgeous!

Hey look, I've gone a bit technical. I took pix of velvet

dyed and undyed, then fiddled around in Illustrator.

I like the result, so I should do more of this!

I must make time to explore the wonders of Blogger

A "Parson's Egg" week

e.g. good in parts

Last Saturday found me on Brownsea Island, Poole.

Now owned by the National Trust, it was the birth place

of the Scout Movement - Baden Powell set up the first

camp on the Island. A beautiful tranquil place, no

cars allowed, home of red squirrels - all busy gathering

their nuts, so to speak. Delightful.

Cottages on the foreshore - what a great place for a studio.

I was invited over to take a dyeing class as part of an

Embroidery Workshop. Location The Girl Guides summer

house - so quiet and inspiring, especially as students were

encouraged to take nature as their theme.

Samples drying on hedges

Cloth dyed in autumnal/island colours

The view from the house - dappled sunlight, looking

towards Poole Harbour.

I had been invited by Betty (Ruffell) who organised the

weekend. I think I surprised her on my arrival in

complete walking kit, boots, walking pole, and

racksack, jeans, big jumper etc. My norrnal attire

for workshops is churridar (trousers) and a kurta!

We had a great time. When it came to make my

way to the ferry my back said 'no'. Consequence,

last week not a lot got done until a visit to my

Chiropractor on Friday.

Enter the 'elephant in the room'. Velvet for dyeing.

Getting a good way into this now - dyed lengths for

scarves piling up. A few more metres to go.

Must take advantage of reasonable weather today

and tomorrow before the rains come. Wednesday

should see me at the sewing machine, all being well!

Getting there

First off, the October Journal Quilt - Autumn Leaf

Then clearing the decks, so to speak. Velvet ordered

for the annual dyeing of scarves fest. Car reinsured!

Paperwork, blurb and photos - publicity for our

family exhibition in January. Next stage, really

getting my head down to some creative thinking.

Flights booked for a short break in Marrakech at the

end of the month, to celebrate (Keith's words) being

married to long. I think he meant it in a nice way!

Should be back in time for the arrival of the first

grandchild. Exciting times ahead.

Shisha

Yesterday I slowly stitched a small

piece for a birthday card to a friend

Bright pink Dupion silk with shisha. It's a small piece,

about 6 x7 cm.The shisha are 0.5cm, snipped to size

with my special cutter. On one of my journeys I watched a

young girl attaching really tiny shisha in a slightly different

different way, using very fine thread. She kindly showed

me the technique, which took a little while to master.

They look like little jewels, surrounded with French knots,

then I found my sequin pot and went mad!

Proper Job

Thursday and it's meeting up with my friends at The Mill.

Today it's my turn to make a cake. Now I used to make

lots of cakes when the boys were small, and now I don't

so much. Today I was up early and baking, and proudly

presented my Dorset Apple cake. All very wholesome,

with the seasons Bramley apples and cinnamon.

I have to confess I usually forget/don't have the time/

ingredients so end up at the local bakers. There is

just enough cake left for Keith to have a piece with

his cup of tea. Halo shining brightly.

New start

After a hectic summer of workshops, time to catch up with

paperwork and a general tidy up, ready to start again. Now

it's my time to play, catch up with Journal Quilts, dye velvet

for scarves, and get down for The Rawling Family

exhibition in January 2010.

I posted this piece of shibori a couple of weeks ago, and it

immediately said Autumn Leaves, so here it is again,

this time as a Journal Quilt. That's a start!

Detail

Now back to the drawing board and dyepots