Give your Dreams Wings to Fly

Give your Dreams Wings to Fly. A flag book.

The back cover.

The flags are pigeon feathers which I collected during my morning walks in Bangalore.  

Another view.
I hope you recognise opportunities to give your dreams wings to fly.

It's been a busy week with guests at Welaro.

March and April CQ blocks

 I visited my mum and dad in July and came back with all manner of bits and pieces of fabric, saree borders , bits of embroidery from a peasant top which my mum made for my sister and me as kids.
 All perfect for the  Crazy Quilt blocks I was making for the Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2016.

This is the March CQ block which is beside this cross stitch piece for the Joyful World Stitch along.

The pink and gold zari brocade piece is part of the border of one of my mum's sarees. It's falling apart but I've added some embroidery in blue chain stitch tohold the piece together.

The blue fabric is cotton dyed with indigo.   

This is the CQ block for April.
Since acquiring all these precious bits of fabric I've begun to put together the CQ blocks in no time at all. So instead of stitching the pattern for the month from the Joyful World stitch along first and then agonising over the CQ block, things have gotten so much easier. I hope I'll be able to catch up, it's almost August and I've only completed the pages until March.
Have a good week. Hope you catch up with whatever needs catching up with.  

A Chinese Thread Book

A Chinese Thread Book or Zhen Xian Bao is an origami book made by the Miao people of China for the purpose of storing thread and needles.

I've made mine with paper like they are traditionally and I've decorated the front and back covers with paper embroidered motifs.

 The inside is simple in comparison. I wanted the clever little origami pockets to take center stage so I kept the embellishments to a minimum.  

There are seven pockets in all. I've read that they go up to as many as fifteen pockets. That's a lot of thread in someone's stash. 

The back cover.

Would you like to make a Zhen Xian Bao? I followed the instructions in this video tutorial  by Paper Kawaii to make mine. The embridered paper motifs are my own creations.

Have a great week.

The Amulet - An edition of three altered books

The Amulet- an edition of three altered books are complete.

 Feathers, ink and sequins adorn some pages.

There are pockets to hold a letter, a key or photographs.

 There's wisdom.

 Words to bolster the spirits.

  Texture and pattern.

A couple of blank pages to personalise the amulet and make it your own.

I've covered the outer cover of the book with indigo dyed fabric and attached my label.

The outer edge of the pages have been stitched with blanket stitch and the remaining thread has been left to create a little tail. The tail reminds me of a faithful dog and the Amulet is meant to be like a constant companion one keeps with them at all times tucked into a pocket or purse to provide protection and a sense of well being.

The Amulets are bound for an exhibition of artists books and books made by artist in August. Will share more details at a later date. Have to get on with the creation of two more books I have in mind.

Hope you're busy with projects which are bringing you much satisfaction as you scale new artistic heights.

Cats, Art and a Tea Garden

I'm making steady progress on The Edition of Three.

Guinea fowl feather has found it's way into the book. Love the spotted perfection.  

Dragonfly, sequins and some threadwork.

Foil discs with blanket stitch.

In other news I wrote a post for the Tea Box blog Still Steeping entitled Cats, Art and a Tea Garden.

 Have a great week.

Senbazuru completed

I started on my Senbazuru project a year ago in Bangalore. 

Through the settling down process in Coonoor the flyers I had collected while in Bangalore kept that connection with my old home. I completed the first 500 around World Peace Day  

Now that 1000 origami cranes have been folded and 25 have been strung together like garlands I've begun hanging on the silver oak trees in the compound around the house.
The Senbazuru project was taken up for the well being and happiness of someone very dear to me and I hope life will give him the opportunities to shine. He is so talented.

I didn't want May to go by before I discovered I had  posted just once all month long. I'm working on my Edition of Three. my next post shall be about the progress I've made. Have quite a bit of catching up to do with the Primitive stitch along as well as the Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2016.
Our B n B has been keeping me busy.

I hope June will give me a bit more time to catch up with all the various projects.How has the month been for you?

An edition of three

April simply vanished and I've meant to update this blog but all manner of things kept me from doing so.

 I've begun work on an edition of three small books. I bought these three books and the idea is to change the look and feel of the book with embroidery and collage of natural and man made ephemera.

 There's isn't a well defined end product, It's evolving as I go along. I've begun with adding blanket stitch to the edges of some pages.  

The hope is that the pages of these books can be turned to reveal images, textures or little pockets to sequester a note or a photograph. It should be similar to an amulet, a little charm one can carry in their bag or pocket.

Our BnB has kept us busy and we've met some nice people. The plants in our garden have begun to flower especially the waterlilies - we have a pink and a yellow one, waiting for the third one to flower to see what colour it is. Enjoying the bright sunshine and the clear star filled skies at night.
Hope you're enjoying the sunshine wherever you may be.

March - Joyful World Stitch along

This blog has been neglected I know but March was a busy month. Managing our guest house has kept me on my toes.
There's a lot of planning, stocking, cleaning and scheduling and the high season is yet to kick in!!!!
 The little chick is a little symbol of Easter for me and it's also just like the three little chicks all fluffy and yellow which  hatched in the third week of March.

Easter was spent with family and now it's back to managing Welaro, planning a workshop and a weekend reunion with boarding school chums. All very exciting and hectic.

Have a good week.

CQ block and primitive calender page for February

Here's the Crazy Quilt block for February. A small swatch with hearts from Julie. Appropriate for he month of February I thought. A small bit of rust dyed fabric to keep with the primitive theme.

I've tried a bit of Kutch embroidery along one seam. Had to redo it a couple of times so the blue thread could be interlaced. The block itself measures 4" x 6"

That's the page for February - CQ block on the left and the cross-stitch pattern for the stitch along on the right.

Have a good weekend.
I'm trying to identify constellations in the night sky. Can identify Orion, The Hunter. Need to figure out what else is visible in the night sky over Coonoor.

February - Joyful World stitch along

The February pattern finished just as the month drew to an end.
February had it's ups and downs but it's a been a good month.

January - Crazy Quilt Journal Project - 2016

The crazy quilt block for January. First block for the Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2016.

My mother helped me pick the fabrics for this block from my stash which includes scraps of pashmina, noil silk and shweshwe fabric sent by a blogger friend from South Africa.
The block is 6 inches x 4.5 inches.

On to February now, must keep up otherwise it gets tough to catch up.
What projects are you involved in?
Here's a peek at the highlights of my week. have a good weekend.

The beginnings of a new fiber book

 I'm participating in a Stitch along and the Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2016 this year. I've decided to combine the output of these two challenges in the form of a fiber journal of 2016.

January for the stitch along is done. The little fox reminds me of my pet Brownie which a leopard snatched away last Saturday. Heartbroken but hoping he's in a better place with no predators.  

And here's the layout for the fiber book. The crazy quilt block has been put together, just need to get the embellishing done.

For all those celebrating Chinese New Year - Kong Hei Fatt Choy.
 It's the year of the monkey.    

A primitive calendar stitch along.

 I came across the stitch along on Pinterest and decided to join.

The Joyful World stitch along is going to compliment a crazy quilt block which I'll be making for the Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2016. I'm planning on making a fabric journal.

January has just past but you can join the stitch along, it won't be difficult to catch up unless of course you have the likes of Pepper and Socks who favour my laptop for a nap or one of their wrestling matches.
Have a good week.

Christmas ornaments

Every year I plan to make an ornament every month and finally in 2016 I've got around to it.

It gets more challenging because I plan to make about fifteen by the middle of April when my classmates from school plan a small three day reunion and I wanted to give each one a little something for the tree or home when Christmas rolls around.

Where I live finding gifts to buy is not easy so one has to develop the skills to make them.

This cute little reindeer is a freebie I found on Pinterest. 

I'm happy to say little Brownie has recovered from the wild boar attack, his wounds have healed and he's a happy puppy once more.

I've yet to start on the crazy quilt block for January for the Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2016. My mum helped me pick out the fabrics now I have to get started.

Lots of reports of  heavy snow, snow storms and extremely cold weather in various parts of the world. Wishing you a warm and safe place if you happen to be some place experiencing severe winter weather.