Markings on Cloth

 Markings made with rust and tea on cotton fabric.

 Some of these are the result of dye pot experiments which I conducted in November last year.

 Resisted cotton dyed with tea in a cast iron pot yielded grey and off white patterend cloth and these work well with the rust dyed cotton.

The experiments continue. I need a lot more to fashion a garment which I'll embellish with Black Work embroidery.
I need to make up my mind about the type of patchwork garment I'm going to hand stitch. Kimono? Kashmiri Phiran?
I probably need to create some stuffed steeped and stored jars as suggested by india flint. See jars created by others here.

Where The Mind Is Without Fear

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high...... the first line of Rabindranath Tagore's famous poem. A poem most Indian children learn in school and remember.This was Tagore's dream for newly independent India.

My sister requested me to embroider this poem so the words could inspire her.

My sister loves florals so I embellished the poetry with appliqued buttonhole wheels in different sizes.She picked the colours of the tussar silk border and they work very well with the other inspirational pictures and objects she has on the walls beside her little writing desk.

I forgot to measure the size of the finished piece but its about A4 size or a tiny bit bigger.

Which poem inspires you? I like the pictures which Sarojini Naidu's poems paint, in poems like - Bangle Sellers and Coromandel Fishers.

Red - Roy G Biv 2014

I found red in Hong Kong.

A little shop in Yau Ma Tei where an elderly man stamps red packets with gold foil patterns and auspicious chinese characters. 

The red and white taxis of Hong Kong island caught in the reflective ceiling of a shop. There are blue and white taxis on Lantau island and in the New Territories the taxis are green and white. 

Some creative yarn bombing outside the FrancFranc store in Causeway Bay. 

Chinese new year is around the corner and I spotted these lacy paper decorations with exquisite details in a shop in Sham Shui Po.

Homeless - a store for quirky, cute and well designed products,there's something for everyone in the three floors the store occupies.

This has been fun.

The challenge searching for Red has been taken up by quite a few and there are many gems and to view them Jennifer has links to all those participating, on her blog. Click here for links.
 Have a good weekend.

Cheers to an exciting 2014

2014 was ushered in quietly with family in Hong Kong.

The year ahead to me looks like the image above, hazy and unclear at the moment but holding the promise of exciting events.
A year where more dots will connect and more patterns of new experiences will emerge.

I wish all of you a year of achievement. Journeys which expand your horizons and experiences which give new meaning to living. And may you have good health, happiness and prosperity.

Roy B Giv returns this year. I urge you to join in the fun. Read more about it here and here.