Small steps

 The cleaning up of the driftwood is progressing slowly, there are some lovely colours which will be brought out when I reach the waxing stage.

The beginning of my weaving for The Quilt Show at the NEC next year where I am taking part in a joint exhibition. The piece uses nettle and plant dyed british wool yarn. Certain similarities in shaping to the driftwood perhaps.

Before

I have made a start, the browner pieces are where I have started
removing loose bark

 I am just starting on a new driftwood piece, it occurred to me that I don't take photos of what the pieces look like before the clean up so here are a few pictures.

Some of the debris

The fibrous bits are from the layer under the bark and are quite
wet. There are odd spots of green mould.

I am weaving some of the fibrous bits on a very small loom while they are still damp, an experiment.
There after photos may not appear for some time, it will depend on weather and my available time. Both pieces will probably go in next year's West Country Quilt and Textile show at the end of August.

Sort of sad

This is the piece of work I made on India Flint's course a few years ago in Horsley, Gloucestershire. It was a lovely time with good companions and an amazing teacher in a beautiful peaceful setting. This cloth is important to me as a reminder of that time. There is also a photo of it in the Blurb book India put together of students work 'On a Wandering Wind'. The little beastie clothes moths have been feasting on it, this upset me but it also gives me an opportunity to work on the cloth again and add some remnants to make it whole again and maybe to bring back memories.

Update of West Country Quilt and Textile Show

Exhausting first day at the festival, lots of very positive comments and the offer of a gallery space to take the exhibition forward.

Planted dyed recycled cotton with african symbols

Above Kuba cloth, below my interpretation,
leather on bark cloth

Piece made from african fabric and cowrie shells
all sourced from The African Fabric Shop

Weavings

Add caption

View of stand and my work

View of stand and Liz Hewitt's work

West Country Quilt and Textile Show 2018

 Two more images of my work for Liz Hewitt and my exhibition 'Colours of Africa' at the show. http://westcountryquiltshow.co.uk/  Set up day tomorrow, finished stitching today.

 The Garden is beginning to recover from two months without rain, am so pleased with my quince tree, now we need no winds until they ripen. Hoping to make quince jam or jelly, a new experience for me, the first year I have had usable quinces. Roses having a second flowering after the rain.

Small progressions towards Colours of Africa

More designs towards the large piece I am making and a weaving waiting to be tidied up and mounted.

Working towards the next exhibition

Close up of stitched piece

The beginnings of another piece

I am finally managing to start work on pieces for the next exhibition I am taking part in with Liz Hewitt at the West Country Quilt and Textile show at the end of August, to close for comfort. Luckily I can use a few pieces I have already but both of these will be new pieces. The exhibition is called 'Colours of Africa', neither of us have been to Africa so this will be based on our interpretation of it. Liz also has a collection of African textiles she is working on.

The top piece is a landscape with plant dyed silk noil fabric and commercial thread. The second piece will be a large cloth with patches stitched with African designs, the one above is by the Ibo people and is in the Pitts Rivers collection in Oxford. If I remember correctly it was part of a collection of designs for tattoos.

This is also plant dyed but is mainly old cotton sheeting which I am already regretting using as stitching in to it is quite hard and my carpel tunnel operation is not fully healed yet and I suspect not one hundred per cent successful either as I am still getting a lot of pain in my wrist. The silk is so much easier to sew. Anyway I will  persevere and maybe even remember to post sometimes.