The Snow Queen's Tower

I recently received the Quilting Arts Gift Book/Magazine, and got together with a couple of friends I hadn't seen for ages, and we each made one of Helen Cowans' Snowflake Towers. As you can see, I had an awful job trying to photogragph it, inside.......
and/or outside! Anyway the Tower measures 4" across the bottom and just over 12" high (haven't got a 'half' on my keyboard!) It was great fun to make, but took a lot longer than one day, of course, and it uses Bonding Powder (Super Mend) a tub of which I've had for yonkses and never known what to do with. Subsequently I've discovered a free Tutorial on Fibre in-Formation called Foiling Fabric with Bonding Powder - now there's a coincidence. The other coincidence is one of my friends, who came down from Yorkshire, is booked in for a Workshop with Helen Cowans, in the New Year, and she has an idea it is to make a vessel!
I have a few bits left over from the original 'background' we constructed, so will post again when I have made some cards etc. I don't suppose the pix. will be any better though, the light bounces so much off the light fabrics to get much detail.


NB Further to the above, Helen has dropped by to look over my Tower, so to speak. Thanks Helen - you've made my day!

Further to my last Doodle .......

Further to my last 'posting', Judy Rys left me a comment saying she could see a face in my Doodle, so I did a black and white photocopy and coloured in what she mentioned. I have not altered any lines at all - amazing! Thanks so much to everyone who left a comment for me. Can anyone suggest how I can intrepret The Face into fabric, stitch, paint or whatever. All suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Textile Challenges for November / Doodles

The November Challenge in Textile Challenges, a Yahoo Group I belong to run by Carol Taylor in Wales, is a design based task, to change the focus a little (she reckons!) Well, it certainly has changed mine, for the better I'm not sure......

Anyway, this is my first effort at drawing a doodly line randomly over the page, then colouring in some of the shapes. The finished A4 design piece looks rather like a typsy Christmas Party! After I had drawn the doodly line I then did wavy lines in a criss cross fashion, to break up the shapes a bit, and make it look more interesting?

I then scanned the image into my Paint Shop programme and using the 'cropping device'
made these smaller designs, suitable for Postcards or ATCs.
As a Design based Challenge, it has provided a jumping off point, and
I may even have a go at the second part of the Challenge. Glutton for punishment, that's me!!

Before and After .......

I thought I would blog this picture of an experiment that was left mid way, sort of thing. When I was preparing the piece to make the Oil Lamp in the previous post last week, I made up two pieces in case I needed extra - like you do. (the one I used, and this piece) The textures were different, obviously, but the colourings were the same, as I painted both pieces at the same time.

The picture on the left is the result of stamping a piece of felt with acrylic paint, free machine stitching around, then blasting it with a heatgun, trying to make something lacey! I didn't think much of it, so left it to one side. When wanting something extra for the Oil Lamp I pulled it in half and stitched half to some felt and kept throwing paint and stuff at it, until it looked alright. The moral of this little tale is 'don't throw your failures away - throw paint at them until they submit' You can always make them into beautiful postcards to swap or ATCs or even Journal/Book Covers. The piece on the right will now form part of our A5 Experiments Gallery at our Exhibition next May, so nothing is wasted.

Click on the picture to see a closeup of the texture - I reckon it is unrecognisable from the picture on the left.