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Sunday 25 March 2018

Journal quilts 2018, Abstraction

It has taken me a bit of time to get started with this year’s journal quilts,  ( all to be 7” x 9”) but the vernal equinox has spurred me on. My theme this year is “Abstraction”, stimulated by conversation with my drawing teacher.  The first three are about birds.

January, Gannets diving into the sea

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Hand-dyed and commercial fabric, patchwork with proportions of colour to reflect the different colours in gannets.

February, Robins bob-bobbing along

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Applique, commercial and hand-dyed fabric

March, Red kite soaring

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Commercial and hand-dyed fabric appliqué  with some lipstick highlighting.

Sunday 18 March 2018

Snow dyeing

After the last snowfall in London, when I forgot to try snow dyeing, I was determined to be ready to try it out this weekend when I read the forecast.  I pre-soaked some pieces of silk and cotton in soda ash, and waited for the morning ………….

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After the walk with the frosty dog

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exploring familiar landscapes in unfamiliar settings

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Dyes ready, cloth soaked, snow piled on top

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Awaiting the results

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Monday 12 March 2018

Fabric painting

I bought a copy of the new book by Deborah O’Hare of Quiltroutes. Besides showing all of her lovely journal quilts, the books gives lots of information about her fabric and stitch techniques.

As I am lacking space just now, due to imminent building work, I wanted to try her method of fabric painting, using  Dye-na-flow fabric paints. Fabric is laid out on a waterproof board, with no fabric pre-treatment. three experiments are on the go at the weekend.

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The initial results were paler than I wished, so I overdyed parts of the cloth with the undiluted blue.

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Much more interesting and lots to explore in future with different folding techniques, perhaps some from the book, Folding Techniques for Designers, , which has kept my fingers busy this weekend.

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Sunday 11 March 2018

Life drawing

We have two weeks of life drawing in the art course this term.  Absolutely exhausting for some reason, and yet again, I make the model’s legs completely put of proportion with her body.  Five minute, 3 minute and 2 minute poses in the drawings below.

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Saturday 10 March 2018

Free exhibitions in London

Due to family commitments, I didn’t get to many exhibitions between September and January, so I am making up for it now. on Thursday I went to two exhibition, both free, but very different.

I have mentioned The October Gallery here before. It really meets the definition of a hidden gem: down a small side street, not well-signposted, but marvellous when you get inside. The current exhibition, “Portal” shows the work of several artists, and is on until 5th May. Lovely lunch in the cafe, surrounded by the art.

Then to Morley College to see the biannual exhibition, “Made at Morley”.  This is a curated exhibition of work from students who are studying drawn, painting and sculpture at Morley College. On until 21 March. Lots of lovely things to be inspired by.

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Abstraction

I have signed up again to take part in the Contemporary Quilt Group monthly challenge.  The size this year is 7" x 9", in landscape format.  I've been dithering about for weeks deciding on a theme, not helped by the fact that group members post their pieces for viewing on Yahoo, and the platform seems to be broken. There are therefore very few finished pieces to look at to spur me on.

However, the snow paralysis n the UK gave me time to think, and I've decided that my theme will be "abstracting nature".

Taking the gannet photos from the art class as inspiration, ( I love watching gannets), I have worked on abstracting what, for me, makes them distinctive: the sharp, streamlined shape as the enter the water; the blue highlight around their eyes; the yellow neck feathers.

Sketching out ideas, and trying to explore geometry in my sketchbook, leading to an almost finished piece.  I'm still deciding on whether this needs more quilting and will add a two colour binding to disguise the wonky geometry of the two  triangles at the side.


















Other creative tasks were knitting a hat with beautiful yarn found in a charity shop. It's a lovely hat, but it is not a good look for me, so it is off to a local charity who are collecting warm clothing for homeless people.

Sunday 4 March 2018

Snow and ice in London

No dye to hand, so I couldn’t try snow-dyeing.

Snow in Twickenham

Snow in Twickenham

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