Take it Further Fiber Book

The Take it Further fiber book is finally complete. My first fiber book, I'm over the moon.
The cover is felt which I've embroidered and it opens to reveal the page above.
Flipping through the pages. One for each month.
That's the last page. The free form Cable chain stitch is an attempt to imitate the end papers in very old hard bound books which are marbled.
The edges of the pages have sugar beads at intervals. You can see I got carried away.
Click on the months to see each page of the book.

January,February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November.

On to making more fiber books. The Take a Stitch Tuesday samples will be made into a sampler book as well. I need to start assembling the pages but there will be no extra embellishments like sugar beads along the edges of pages (what got into me to do that I wonder!).

There's The Bead Journal Project for 2010 which I shall join. Last year I had already committed to Take a Stitch Tuesday on Stitchin fingers.

There's a discussion on at the Fiber book group at Stitchin Fingers about a fiber book page swap. That could be interesting. A book compiled on a particular theme, with pages contributed by different people in the group. I think I must participate.

So what do you think of my first ever fiber book? I hope all who visit have a great weekend.

On a separate note - I've become an affilate of Amazon and Flipkart. You will see the banners on the side bar. Should you wish to shop online I would appreciate it if you could click on the Amazon or Flipkart banners/buttons and make your purchases.Amazon and Flipkart will pay me a small percentage of the value of your transaction without increasing the cost for you by even a cent. Thank you and happy shopping.

Journeys

3,000 km road trip
Getting up early gives me time to sip a hot cup of chai and indulge in some reflection.I've had a couple of such mornings this week and its all no doubt been prompted by The Great Driving Challenge.(TGDC)

The 3000 km road trip of a lifetime in quest of biryani got me thinking about all the other little journeys I'm making at this point.

Let's start with the Great Driving Challenge itself. Its interesting to see that the learning and experience gained from blogging over a year and a half is now connecting in a very significant manner with TGDC. Its also got me signed onto Facebook and Twitter. That's two different journeys there of reconnecting with people and discovering the journeys their lives are on.

Stitch Journeys
There are a couple of stitch journeys too.
Take a Stitch Tuesday on Stitchinfingers is starting up again after a couple of months of R&R which was also meant to be a time for tardy ones like me to catch-up and I'm happy to report I have. So TAST is a journey of creative exploration of embroidery stitches that's starting up again where it left off.If you are interested in joining in, read more about it here.

I have to complete the page for December for The Take It Further Challenge fibre book. Must complete that journey in the next two weeks.

Literary journey
I've been on a "high fibre" literary journey ever since R got back from the States with a little stack of books I had requested him to buy.I've read Knit Lit(too) and have begun on Knit Lit the Third.
My literary journey is taking a new turn with a book club that I'm trying to kick start with Priya's help.For women who are comfortable in their skin,aren't obsessive about counting calories and love the journey a good book provides. We're starting with Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert. Have you taken the Eat, Pray, Love trip? Would love to know what you have to say about it.

MiSh maSh

My journey with collages and cellphone images has been a sort of on and off thing but I've given them a more formal platform by creating Mish maSh and taking one of Shelley Klammer's online workshop's on Deepening Creativity. Thank-you Robyn.

The interlacements of the stitch journeys with blogging or Mish mash with The Great Driving Challenge or the interactions with friends and followers on Flickr, Twitter and Facebook are creating an interesting fabric of experiences and I'm loving every moment of it.You can follow me on Twitter, check it on my sidebar.
If you've read thus far you'll know that armchair travel is something I do plenty of but I am going to be taking a little trip to be with family. I'm not certain how much blogging I'll do but I'll be back in about two weeks with plenty to show and tell. Stay safe and happy journeys to you.

Take a little journey of three clicks of the mouse and vote for us on The Great Driving Challenge.Appreciate it, thanks.

November - TIF

I've completed the Take it Further challenge for November. The theme was typography.

In India you need to travel from one state to another and the language changes, most have their own distinct alphabet.Most people will grow up learning Hindi ,English and the language of the state they live in .Now if you happen to be native of another state then you'll probably be speaking some other language at home and should you move to work in another part of the country you'll atleast pick up a smattering of the language in that state too! Fascinating wouldn't you say and did I mention dialects? The mind boggles.

For the page on the left I chose to look for typography of Indian languages, I got these from food packaging.I've stitched it - a la crazy quilting style onto a piece of card paper cut out from a cereal box.The top looks kind of bare and is calling out for something with a bit of punch and colour. I'm hoping I'll get lucky in a day or two when I go grocery shopping.

This is the little sampler embroidered on the page on the right. Its all of 4 inches x 6 inches.

I'd hoped to be efficient and have the challenge completed by the end of the year but life in general does have other plans as we all know. So, the challenge for December will be tackled in January and The Take it Further book will be completed early in 2009 and featured right here. I hope you'll keep visiting though.

I'm going to be putting up our Christmas tree this weekend, very exciting considering its done every alternate year and I have some new ornaments to put on the tree. Have a great weekend.

Sep - TIF

The pages for the September TIF. I've followed the suggested colour palette.
The challenge for September was Lists. Lists....hmm..... gave it much thought and couldn't come up with anything all through September probably because I'm not a lists person.I have a diary and make notes in it - when the utilities have to be paid, birthdays, appointments and I stick in movie tickets , write short recipes that sort of thing but lists I don't make lists.
So in departing from the tradition of the TIF's done in previous months where I stuck to both theme and colour palette I've gone with the colour palette and created two compositions. I won't call them representations of the given theme, just compositions where I had great fun going wild with herringbone stitch.

The page on the left. I wrote out things I had marked in my diary in September but the herringbone stitch just grew organically outwards and obliterated all the writing done with a marker and I think it is better that way.

The page on the right.

I'm working on the TIF for November

October TIF

The challenge for October was to represent your studio or workspace.My work is done sitting on a black sofa listening/watching BBC or Bollywood music on 9Xm or the fantastic foreign language movies on NDTV Lumiere or World Movies. I have three round palm leaf baskets stuffed with the things I need to do my work. Embroidery thread, scissors, pin cushion, packets of beads and sequins. I'm a magpie and collect all manner of things which find their way into these three baskets - sweet wrappers, foil from chocolate bars,the plastic ribbons off bouquets, currently its beer bottle caps which I have flattened with the kitchen tongs and the labels carefully peeled off the beer bottles too. I work on more than one project at any given time and mingled in with all this is the newspaper, my mobile phone and the innumerable remote controls and when R is around there is his mobile and blackberry which gets added to the accumulation of stuff .

Now here's the interpretation.

The detail of the page on the right.That's the foil from a chocolate bar which is backed with polythene so it didn't tear when I stitched it down with running stitch. I quite like the texture that resulted and there's a small one inch square of card, pock marked with stabs of the needle which has been used a number of times as the foundation for the hand pieced patchwork scarves I make.
The page on the left.There are the beer bottle caps and the jumble of embroidery threads.The semi circle represents the palm leaf basket.

The challenge for November is to use typography or text which I really like.I'll be working on the September challenge too which was "lists".

A month to go and the year will be over.Its been a productive year and I'll have my first fibre book to show for all the work I've put into this challenge.

Sharon B has outlined the challenge for next year, read more about it here.

TAST - Bonnet Stitch

Managed to catch up with TAST. Now I need to do the same with TIF.

August TIF

The August TIF and just in the nick of time. The challenge posed for August was Balance.
I think one is constantly challenged by the need to balance things and there are no formulas.
In my explorations this month I've represented the fact that images which are symmetrical like the form on the right hand page are more easily balanced and symmetry is what we gravitate towards whereas asymmetry balance is more difficult to achieve- the image on the left hand page is an attempt at achieving asymmetrical balance.

June TIF

June's challenge in a simple sentence would be "stories that are and stories that are possible" The colour palette and challenge details are here.
I spent sometime trying to figure out what the challenge meant for me and then I don't remember how or when the idea emerged but it was ready to execute and I'm done with this month's challenge and its not yet the middle of June.
On the left is the source or the story called Plantation House. Plantation House is the label under which a close friend who shares the same design sensibilities as me sells her garments. She takes inspiration from the japanese kimono or african garments so her garments have simple cuts and are impeccable for the detailing and finish. She uses fabrics made of natural fibres and the styling is relaxed , the look is one of layered textures. The whole story is one of understated elegance much like life on a plantation, therefore the name - Plantation House.


On the right is a story born from the cutting waste of the garments made for Plantation House. I use the cutting waste to make one of a kind patchwork scarves and stoles embellished with simple embroidery, geometric forms and applique. All handmade and hand finished with impeccable finish and detailing.


Shalini's garments are a perfect foil for my scarves and stoles. We had a show of our work two years back and we hope to have another this year. Its intersting to see how two stories can come together and complement each other so well. Immense possibilities which I need to explore if that show is going to happen.
Now I need to catch up with the Take a Stitch Tuesday group on Stitchin Fingers. I have to do both the Herringbone Stitch and the Buttonhole stitch.

January TIF is now Complete!

The January TIF is done.
For evidence view the pix below.

A couples of stitches before the finish.

Ta-dah! The January TIF complete.

The little bit of paper with my mother's handwriting - I tore it out from a recipe for Cauliflower and Cheese. Along with being very creative with sewing and needlework, my mother is a wonderful and resourceful cook.

Details of the embroidery in the little spaces which tie the two pages together and make a connection between the two. I think the crazy quilting is an image of my mother's garden - full of interesting forms , colours & spontaneity.

I really enjoyed creating these pages. Now I'm waiting for 1st Feb. I'll begin compiling and creating the book once I have the "pages" for February and March done.