May 31, 2007

Think

My new Creative Creatures gave birth to a little philosopher. His name is Think and he is 2"x6" (5x15cm) (with hair)

I'm getting the hang of these little creatures... They pop in my head and I must run to the sewing machine...










Creative Creatures

I started a new family of dolls (not so well behaved ones! :-)) because my fantasy needed a new challenge.

It was fun to make them because I love to play with faces and features.

I used linen and old lace, Czech buttons and vintage looking fabrics. This is my favorite combination of materials! I also stitched them by hand.

You can find them at Etsy






"Be yourself":








"Small":




"Joined at the Hip":






Here they are all playing "Cops and Thieves" :-)

May 30, 2007

Fibre&Stitch

This is an interesting new Zine that will be available online September 14, 2007.

I was so happy to be asked by the publisher Sue Bleiweiss to do a tutorial for the :

Issue 2: Cover Story
Mixed media journals, customizing purchased journals and altering old books into sketchbooks is just a selection of what you will find inside this exciting issue.

These ladies are from the crème de la crème of textile art and they have very good people working for them! look into their homepage at Fibre&Stitch. It will appear every three months.

May 28, 2007

Small bag

I did this small bag yesterday trying some new techniques.

The funny thing you see looking out of the bag on the first photograph is my cell phone case.




I tried a new way to attach a cord on the upper border (the green one).
You take a felted cord (I used a cut out of another piece which I cut with the rotary cutter) and wrapped it in a strip of organza. After that I punched the open edge of the organza to the backing. This is the upper cord you can see. Both others are made of knitting wool also punched with the embellisher.

To do the cord for hanging the bag I took a satin band and punched wool on it. I cut once more a strip of organza and sew a tube as wide as the felted satin band. I reversed it and pulled the satin band through. I sew it between the felted bag and the fabric lining.



I also tried tucking the felt and punching it on the bag. I liked this result very much!

I think I will use all these techniques for a coat...

May 21, 2007

Surrogate Altar






This is the piece I did for the 1"x1" squares swap (with all the squares I received).

I finished it today. The photograph is not good enough because you can't see much contrast. I'll try to make some other ones.

The title is about the role of children in some classes of the society.

May 10, 2007

Further investigation...

A friend of mine gave me a wool vest to embellish. She wanted me to do something colorful because she found the vest too bland...

I used the same technique I used on the throw.

The ranks are made of knitting wool. The leaves are made of a woolen fabric and I used the embellisher to bond them to the vest. I did some button stitch around them just to frame them because their color was too pale.







May 8, 2007

Barnacle throw

This was my serendipity of the day!




I ordered the Yo-yo maker from Clover and had to immediately give it a try! You find a Yo-yo tutorial at Lazy Girl Designs . Thank you Lazy Girl!!!

So I did in no time lots of yo-yos and then I thought that I don't have time to make a quilt or something with them... So I decided to sew them with zig-zag to a wonderful wool fabric I have. I wasn't happy with the result because the zig-zag looked so "machiney". Then I got this great idea to use the embellisher with some wool to cover the zig-zag! And -best of all- I don't need the zig-zag any more because the embellisher bonds the 3 layers!! This machine deserves a monument somewhere!!

I was so pleased with these barnacles and with the back of the throw where you get circles in all colors which look great too!

I intend to sew a fabric border to this piece.







Back of the piece:



Featured at Lazy Girl Designs.

May 7, 2007

Dot-Dollie



This is the wonderful doll Dot sent me for the swap!

The colours are great! and I love the little bell (It's the first time I see a bell like that!)

Three new Franz



SOLD






I finished the last 3 Franz quiltlets.

These are about Assissi, the plants and the fish.

I scanned these photos and I notice that the ones I took with the camera show better the texture of the pieces...

They also are about 9"x6" (22x15cm)

May 2, 2007

Tagged

I've been tagged by Jude.

The rules

Start with 7 random facts/habits about yourself
People who are tagged have to write their 7 things on their blog
Then choose another 7 people to get tagged and list their names
Don't forget to leave them a comment to tell them they
have been tagged and to read your blog


1. I always have bread with miso and spread cheese for breakfast

2. I don't like to phone (out of free will, only if I must...!). I only communicate per email (no communication before that invention!)

3. I'm afraid of insects at night in my room (not in Austria, but in Argentina and Australia)

4. I always tell the truth, even if it's bad or embarrassing for me... (kind of silly sometimes...)

5. I don't like to have very young children around me (and I had 7 of my own - you tell me why!)

6. I like to read books and see films in their original language (I can do it in German, Spanish, French and English, so I have a huge range of authors! if I cannot read the language they are written in -love f.i. Haruki Murakami and Qiu Xiaolong-, I read them in English)

7. I can't garden (and I don't like to because I'm the sure plant death! this gives me too many pangs of conscience...) ...AND I'm married to a farmer. My life consists of discrepancies...

I tag 1 , 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Forgotten son



This is child #4 Maximilian (24) Twin brother of Sophie. I couldn't find a picture as I showed you the rest of my family!

May 1, 2007

Plants and craft market

Today we had a wonderful sunny day (like all spring days till yet!) and my daughter and I visited a plant and craft market which is very known in Austria.

There is a society that tries to conserve old plants so that they don't disappear and once a year they have this huge market.

The surprise was that this year there were so many textile related boxes! I even found a wonderful American lady who is visiting a friend in Austria, her name is Mary Hill.
She has a very nice homepage!, here she is at her stand:





Here is the wool, roving, felt stand with a wonderful wool naturally dyed.
It's from Gaby Tezarek-Brückmann:



Here is the felt stand:



and here is the stand of a Finn lady who does very interesting linen clothing and wonderful necklaces (you see them hanging there). Her name is Susanne Riecker and the name of her shop is TUULUKKI in Haslach, 2023 Nappersdorf (Austria):



All in all a great (and expensive! :-)) day!