2013 - 04 : SUNBEAMS

CARLA: ISTANBUL 

MY INSPIRATION :

SUNBEAMS reflected in a Turkish car window at a street market where carpets were bought and sold, close to the Blue Mosque in Sultanhamed, the' old ' city.

These restored,antique fragments of small carpets come from Anatolia and were used by a nomadic tribe.

Amazing to see how well the dye (from plants) has kept over the years of intensive wear and traveling. 

THE RESULT : 

A MIXTURE OF CULTURES AND IMPRESSIONS IN A BEAUTIFUL, PEACEFUL AND SUNNY CITY.

2013 03 Skyfall

SKYFALL ... an interesting image ... and ... the name of a Bond Film

VIVIAN 

Our Design Explorations theme for February was 'SKYFALL'

A few years ago, at nightfall, I looked up in the sky and from the west ... a shower of meteors crossed the sky. In Vancouver, we have meteor showers in the late summer. But, this was no ordinary event! Many meteors in different sizes streaked across the sky, over a couple of minutes. We all stood and watched with our mouths open. It was unreal! One man said, "If this is the end of the world, it sure is purdy". The meteors streaked to the east and evidence was found in the south-east of the province, hundreds of miles away. 

This piece is done on sheer with tiny silver dots that represent the stars. The sky had a light streaked overcast - the result of an earlier rain. I hand felted silk fibres to show the clouds and meteors.

CARLA
For this theme I was inspired by the impressive statues of the stags at the entrance gate of the Scottish property,called SKYFALL ,in the latest James Bond film.

It was a surprise to see where the title of the film came from and I quite liked the beautiful scenery and impressive,desolate,atmosphere in the final part of the film.
It made me think of our trips to Scotland and some of the aspects I recognized,though fortunately not the shooting and violence.......
  

I cut out a stencil and did some printing on paper this time.

'Zien' means 'to see' and it refers to my message that it is essential for all of us to see,enjoy and preserve the beauty of nature in flora and fauna,big or small.

It also conveys the message to look out for all those who need attention,help and love.

2013 02 - 3D.

VIVIAN

For March, the Design Exploration theme was 3D ... but, it is hard to fit an actual 3D project into my portfolio. So ... while felting, I worked to make the pear appear to be rounded  ... 3D.

The pear was worked on wool felt and then mounted on an old wool sweater that had been washed in hot water to shrink and felt.

My 'play group' had a workshop in dry felting. Most had an 'embellisher' - a machines that looks like a sewing machine, but it does not use thread ... just needles with barbs that push the fibres into the backing.   I used a hand held needle felter made by Clover.

CARLA

For the 3D theme I made a scroll.

I used all kinds of memorabilia for it on fabric lined with card stock (not a good choice).

It was fun to stitch and manipulate my collected pieces of fabric and other re-purposed material.

The frozen pond on our sunny winter garden was an ideal place for the photo shoot.

2013 01 - TIME

VIVIAN
I did my piece by hand ... taking the time to use old methods and enjoying the process.

Our Design Exploration theme for  January theme was 'TIME'

So ... how better to take the time to do a SLOW project than to hand stitch it?
Essentially, I took a piece of Hawaiian batik with a hibiscus and leaf design and I embroidered & beaded over the design lines. Stitches: Kantha (Indian) and Chainstitch (which seems to exist worldwide). I like to have a SLOW project I can take travelling!

It only took a broken ankle to get me to slow down enough to complete this little project! 

Three months of sitting and watching the roses bloom gives you a different perspective on life.

I think it was time for me to slow down! 

Strange how Carla and I often choose similar colours for a project ...

CARLA

When Vivian came up with the TIME challenge,the first words that came to my mind were :

THE MISTS OF TIME   and .... THE WHEELS OF TIME.

The' mists' stand for old-age forgetfulness....

I thought of  the 'wheels' because I saw a news item on TV about the oldest, still working planetarium in the world ,which is situated in Franeker,in the north of our country. 

Images for franeker planetarium
http://www.planetarium-friesland.nl/engels.html

With a piece of home-dyed and-printed fabric and batting ,I just started free styling on my machine adding some fragments of organza to symbolize the 'mist ' and mystery of time passing.

The final result has the look of a fantasy Paisley pattern , another- historic- TIME aspect.

SURPRISE ME! November

CARLA

I am into printing and recycling these days and I love it.

This pillowcase was a home-dyed -poor quality- cotton shopping bag.

I drew and cut out  shapes of ' human figures' as a stencil to print with.

It is an experiment ,so I didn't bother with good pint and used just cheap acrylics. 

The ?-mark is a foam stamp.

Some hand embroidery was added , not too much because it is already pretty busy as it is.

On second thoughts I think I maybe could have done some more hand stitching.....

What I learned from it is to use better material ,even though it is an experiment : 

the work is the same but the result will be of a better quality.   

VIVIAN

I chose some fabric that I printed using disperse transfer dyes. They are a surprise when you complete the process ... you do not know what colour will print.

The basic method:

1. mix powdered dyes with water (some come premixed)

2. paint on white copy paper and let dry

3. transfer to polyester fabric by ironing ... put paper face down on the fabric and iron without steam ... use press cloth or parchment paper above and below ... hold layers flat and still as you iron ... peek to see when it has transferred ... be prepared to be surprised!

4. rinse with synthropol to remove excess dye

This little piece is the result of an old blouse (see vertical tucks) and a piece of curtain lace. They must be polyester to take the dye.
I stitched, did a small amount of colour addition to the area of the tucks and probably will add some hand embroidery and embellishment.

Below is the paper ... notice how dark it is. You can get more than one print and you can also spray with a light mist of water and get additional prints.

Below is the same piece embellished with hand embroidery, a dragonfly button and a few beads.

Carla and I began with an on-line group named ' Abstract Challenge'.

I am in Vancouver, Canada and Carla is in the Netherlands. We were able to meet when Carla and her husband attended a conference in Vancouver.

We decided for 2012 we would work together on 'DESIGN EXPLORATIONS'. We chose a theme each month and created our little quilts that are posted on this blog.

MEMORIES December

VIVIAN: Making Memories with my Friends

After a workshop with my friends … I thought about making ‘memories’ with these wonderful and creative friends. We meet about once a month and share a technique … something  good to play with. We show our current projects and have a great day!

This project was to work with Inktense Blocks and decorative stitching. We used the blocks for colour, couched heavy decorative cords, used a ‘fancy stitch’, the triple stitch to give a strong line and then made a quilt sandwich that is stitched with metallic thread to hold the layers in place. The little quilt can be used in many ways, including placing in a frame.

CARLA :                     " SHARING MEMORIES WITH MY DAD."

It is good to sit with my dad and try and help him to share the memories of his long life.

Over a cup of tea on one of my visits we talked about what has happened the past few months in our lives. Before we realized we went more and more back in time from there.

He needs a little help sometimes to dig in the past  and get started but then suddenly all the little pieces of information fit together like a jigsaw puzzle and then amazing stories are told about people he met and worked with.  

Wonderful stories of his youth,his brave actions as a 16-year-old boy in the Resistance movement in WWII , and  ...how he met my mother.

Moments to be cherished !