May CQJP

Keeping up, just about. Here's the crazy quilt block for May. I've used a collection of mother of pearl buttons. The square one and the one which looks like a flower are part of the giveaway I won on Pat's blog. The three tiny round ones are from a Zara top which belonged to my sister.

The top right hand corner is a piece of fabric I experimented with tea and rust and the fabric in the centre is a Shibori experiment with tea and a cast iron vessel.       

Here's the CQJP and the journal page which accompanies it.

The journal page for May.

Must get started on the CQJP for June. I need to have seven blocks done by the end of August if I want to continue to have a page on the CQJP 2012 site. 

Have a good week.

Patchwork

My next scarf is a hand pieced patchwork of tussar silk in earthy tones.Each patch has a paper foundation. Usually both sides of the scarf are patchwork but in this one I'm thinking of using a whole cloth on the other side. 

While cutting the silk for the pieced patchwork I have bits and pieces left which I keep and use for Crazy quilting but I decided to create a 'boro' of sorts with these odd shaped bits. I'm connecting them using running stitch.

The back and front of my boro experiment are visually different. The hand pieced patchwork is all about clean straight lines while the boro is more organic.
My weekend was a heady mix of a lovely birthday lunch, an evening watching the IPL matches with friends, a wedding reception and trying to keep cool during the massive power outage on Sunday. The week ahead looks quiet with a sprinkling of excitement.  How is your week shaping up?

CQJP Block for January

I've finally got the basic crazy quilt block done, for the January page of the Crazy Quilt Journal Project (CQJP).
I've used pieces of solid coloured tussar silk, the colours are those I associate with the five day trek up in the Himalayas. I'll be drawing on things I saw on the trek to embellish the block too.
The block is 6" x 6".
My CQ (Crazy Quilt) blocks are going to be the illustration in a manner of speaking for a fabric journal of things, places and events which I participate in or are of some significance to me during the coming year.
Now to begin embellishing the seams of the CQ block. Should be able to show you some progress in a couple of days. I've given it some thought and decided to combine TAST ( Take a Stitch Tuesday) in this fabric journal rather than creating a separate fabric sampler. Two stitches  Fly Stitch and Blanket Stitch for the first two weeks of January have been announced. Got quite a bit to catch up with.  
Hope your weekend was good. I cooked up a storm for our annual Pongal brunch which was so much fun. Our guest list is constrained to ten because of the size of the vessels I have but the guest list is threatening to grow which means I'll have to invest in larger vessels.
Hope your week is good, I'll be tackling watercolours later this week during the day and embellishing a certain CQ block and scarf during the evenings.

I won!!!

Pat had a giveaway on her blog for Mother's Day about two weeks back and I won.The first ever giveaway I've won.I was ecstatic to get up one morning and read Pat's e-mail. Today I had the pleasure of opening a box packed with goodies.Wrapped with care in pretty pink and rose patterned tissue paper I unwrapped something to delight every sense.

A little note pad, a little book - For Mother O'Mine by Mary Engelbreit, a little zine Pat has created on How to write on Fabric which has her beautiful handwriting, a little box of chocolates! Its the little yellow box of Whitman's Sampler and a charming little porcelain plate with roses on it and three exquisite vintage mother of pearl buttons.
Aren't these vintage handkerchiefs beautiful. They are in pristine condition. They inspire me to start a handkerchief collection.
Just look at all that. Three little charms from Blue Moon, a set of vintage crystal buttons made in Germany, skeins of silk thread,a vial of glass beads, a length of lace and a beautiful crazy quilted needle case made by Pat's friend Brenda to which Pat added the bead edging. Looks like I can't put off exploring crazy quilting much longer, I have everything to get me started.

Pat you've taught me a thing or two about giveaways and you certainly do things with style. Can't tell you how thrilled I was to unwrap each little treasure. Thank you.

Chocolate doesn't last long in this household, I'll be sharing that with my husband this weekend as we watch T20 cricket on television.

For the years of embroidery I've done I haven't made or got myself a needle case so looks like I was meant to have one and its going to be pressed into service right away. I'm going to put a picture of this beautiful needle case here.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Take it Further Challenge - Week 2

I've progressed! here's what happened on the pages for January.

Detail of the sea glass.

The saying when complete will read As the garden grows , so does the gardener.I'm putting this Old Saying in because my mother loves to work in the garden which is constantly changing- new plants and fruit trees or potted plants are rearranged, its a spontaneous garden ( if you can catergorise a garden like that) and she always says "It's a work in progress"

Detail of the crazy quilting.

I really enjoyed doing the crazy quilting, I wish I had some little bits of lace to add ,preferably taken off an article of clothing my mum used and was ready to discard - a handkerchief or something similar. I've enlarged the colour palette a wee bit to include a pinkish purple ( beads & thread) because my mum's favourite colour is pink.

I'm wondering what to do in the little space beside the sea glass& above the J. I thought I'd put a bit of paper with my mum's handwriting on it. maybe a border too, to hold all the elements of the page together.

Take It Further Challenge - January

We got back from our New Year party at 3am and I just couldn't resist logging on and checking out the Take it Further Challenge for January. With the time difference between Australia and
India I knew I wouldn't be disappointed. I wasn't and what a fantastic way to start 2008!
I was initially drawn to the colour scheme but mulling over the concept I've finally decided to incorporate both into my piece for January.
The person I admire is my mother and the colour scheme works well because she's a Picean.
I plan to work in a 4"x 6' format.The idea is to create two pages ( like a double spread in a magazine) for each month. I'll make the twelve pages into a little book by the end of the year.
I have set myself some personal constraints - to first use what I already have - fabric scraps, beads, embroidery thread etc, incorporate found objects and recycle things, try out new techniques so that I create a collage like effect.

So here's what I've been upto.

Ok, the base for my work is cotton greige fabric, it used to be a laundry bag.I'm hoping to use it as the base for all the "pages"of my Take It Further Book.R's trips to Mumbai every alternate week will keep me well supplied with laundry bags.

The two pages I've outlined with running stitch on the right and the page on the left has a pale violet cross stitched border.

The J ( my mother's name) has been embroidered on a piece of fabric which I dyed with tea. Tea is and has been an intergral part of our lives forever and certainly an important part of my mother's life.

The bits of green are sea glass which I picked up on the beach in Goa. It symbolises my mother's love for gems & jewellery and her fantastic sense of style.

The Better Homes & Gardens Big Book of Alphabets and Borders was a lucky find at Blossom Bookshop and the floral initial is from it, I suspect its going to be used a great deal all through this challenge.Beside the book are some tussar silk pieces which I was given by a friend who makes beautiful clothes. I haven't done much crazy quilting so the tussar silk will be used to explore the technique on the left hand page for january.
So take a look and let me know what you think. Hope to show incredible progress next week!!!