bedlam but opulent

First of all, these are the beautiful Indian Splendour threads which a number of people have emailed me about. The whole collection won't be on the web for a little while but there are 7 silk threads in each of the Opulent colours - the machine threads must almost be here.

Bedlam, because we have been so overwhelmed with orders since we got home on Sunday night and we have a backlog. Some won't be filled until Monday because I am teaching at the Art Retreat in Fremantle Friday , Saturday and Sunday, and have an awful lot to do tomorrow.

Not to mention that a palette of Gossamer Fuse arrived and the advance roll of heavyweight Lutradur is almost all gone. I hope the remainder rolls arrive very soon. I am training Ian to work out the difference between lutradur and gossamer fuse. Not easy when everything arrives in the kitchen at once.

cloth paper scissors 11

Forgot to say in the last post that the latest CPS arrived around 4pm so we will send them all out tomorrow - it looks like another good issue. I had better get onto unpacking those last 2 suitcases quickly I think.....

Taste a Stitch Tuesday 8

This is my TAST using Fly stitch and the new Indian Splendour - told you it was nice and yummy! I made excellent use of my time at the quilt convention - towards the end of day 1, I whipped around to the Babylock stand and worked the wool fibre onto scrim, then at night I cut it out and positioned it all onto the matching hand dyed wool felt which Jacinta brought to the show for me, and on day 2 near the end I embellished (appliqued?) it all together. Night 2 and 3 whilst watching the rugby I stitched fly stitch over the surface over chiffon which I had also embellished, and on the plane on the way home I turned it into a little purse.

And by the by, once the lightening and thunder stopped this morning, the humidity popped out again. Feel sorry for us please. The multipos machine died in transit or more likely was hit by lightening after Ian connected it up after we got home and we can't process any orders until tomorrow - they are coming before 9am to give us a new one - but we are going somewhere nice to eat tonight instead and I have only unpacked 2 suitcases..... and something black worked its way into all the underwear in the wash so it is all back in napisan.

Jackie's Bag

Just back from Melbourne and stacks of emails and orders to do and unpacking and reordering etc (after breakfast...) but wanted to show the lovely bag I bought from Jackie

The Australasian Quilt Convention was wonderful - frenetic shopping from so many wonderful customers and a lovely workshop yesterday which I ran - Fragments and Frescoes - a really lovely class and I hope they enjoyed it all. We had so many problems with space and stuff and we had been thinking that was the last one but the response was so very good that we WILL be back in 2008. Need a holiday now though - again.....

36 here yesterday and 31 when we got home at midnight so we were out watering the poor old plants. Looks stormy but supposed to be 36 again today.

Off to work - and preparation for the Art Retreat in Freo on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and we are trading there on Thursday as well - 2 - 8pm at the Esplanade Hotel. I had packed all the boxes and suitcases at the show last night and Ian was putting on the labels and sticking the pallet when I realised I would need stuff for the workshops so I had to open two plastic bins and do some rapid movement in and out of suitcases. Hope I have everything.....

Friday night in Melbourne

Having a great time in Melbourne even if it is very humid indeed. Lovely to meet so many of my blog readers. We have been very busy and I am pleased to tell you that the Hurricanes beat the Brumbies tonight - in the last seconds of the game almost - made my night.

Two more days to go and so many emails to deal with. I have managed to do a bit on the embellisher at the show with the last of the new thread colours - Indian Splendour - which is more yummy than Royal Shiraz I think. I am stitching my TAST for this week - post a pic when we get back.

off we go

Still packing and departure gets closer but I wanted to announce that the heavyweight Lutradur has just this minute walked in the door. Won't have any for Melbourne but it will be available next Monday when we get back. And it will be a little cheaper which will be great.

Plus the last of the new threads in the Opulent Collection have arrived with silk tops and wool tops and silk hankies - Indian Splendour - yummy indeed. We will have all of these in Melbourne.

Rush rush rush - if you come to the Quilt Convention, see you there.

Back on Monday

And Ian had a lovely birthday and says thanks for all the good wishes. He gets younger each year....

monday madness before tuesday more madness

No time for pics today - busy busy and I have finally starting packing the suitcases and managed to get a sort of pretend newsletter out.

Today is Ian's birthday and we are off to dinner tonight - in fact we have been indulging ourselves and have been out to dinner a few nights and tomorrow when we get to Melbourne we will be off to dinner once more. Tut tut - be back to eating at home next week. As aoon as we get home we crave a curry made by me and I am thinking about it already.

I bought a bag from Jackie from Stitchworks but I haven't time to scan it - I was going to pinch the pic from her Etsy page but she has removed it. Thanks Jackie - it is wonderful - I will be admiring it for a while and then I have someone to send it to for her birthday - shan't say who.

Back to the suitcases. 5 all up and only 1 partly packed......

Sunday musings

Okay - so the Hurricanes won their Super 14 game yesterday - the only NZ team to win and it was Tana's 300th super rugby game. Nail biting until the bitter end. The game which followed though - Brumbies and Reds - was so boring that I started falling asleep. The best parts were the punch ups and the laughs at the referee - how could anyone take the man seriously?
Next Friday we will have to rush to our hotel in Melbourne to watch the Hurricanes play the Brumbies.

Spending today working on 5 thousand tasks necessary for the next two weeks. The last of the stuff for the workshop, stitching sleeves onto my two pieces, working on the workshops for the Art Retreat the following week and Ian is working away on the book. Tomorrow I will leisurely pack the suitcases. So - nothing exciting in the way of work but I am making little Medieval Magic panels.

Last Thursday night we went to Eminem - the Turkish restaurant. The food was wonderful as always.

Little update - just found out that NZ has won the second one day test against Aust. That is amazing stuff. Just a shame Grant isn't doing so well in the 18ft skiffs In Sydney. His turn will come in the next race on Tuesday.

Take a Stitch Tuesday 7

This is my effort for TAST this week - Feather Stitch using my lovely new threads - Royal Shiraz. I embellished some of the RS wool onto scrim and cut it into strips and embellished it to some hand dyed wool felt (bit addictive this wool felt and makes a change from the cheap acrylics I usually work with). Then worked feather stitch in 3 different thicknesses.


For this one, I cut the remaining embellished wool into rectangular shapes and worked them onto black acrylic felt. Did some running stitch and then ironed Gossamer Fuse to the surface and some foils and lime green and purple chiffon scarf over the top. Used 3 different weights of thread for the feather stitch and zapped it all. Quite pleased with the results.

Our Gossamer Fuse has finally left the factory and should be here but probably not in time for Melbourne Quilt show. We fly off on Tuesday - got everything away yesterday - it is such a lot of work going to these shows.

I sorted all the ATCs for Melbourne - there are some really lovely ones there. The display will look fantastic.

Today's rugby game is between my team - the fabulous Hurricanes with the Hurriplane all fixed and back in action - and HIS team - the Blues. Fingers crossed please.

NZ National Lamb Day

Today has been declared National Lamb Day to celebrate 125 years since the first shipment of frozen lamb (Ian says Canterbury Lamb) from NZ to England. So I hope all those Kiwis and Poms out there will be celebrating appropriately by eating lamb today.

And yes the red roses were very nice.....

Overnight, Grant's house down the road, caught fire - seems the tenants had left a candle burning in the laundry, so the back part is all burnt out. He is planning to develop it and at least the main part of the house in the front looks intact still, but a big shock. It will certainly hurry along the development. We went around to have a look for him but couldn't see much as the assessor has selaed it all up.

Royal Shiraz threads

Jacinta has sent me the first of the Royal Shiraz silk threads and I aso had some silk pods arrive today which match perfectly. I think this is going to be my favourite of the new Opulent threads. The machine threads are on the high seas and should be here in about 2-3 weeks. So Judy and Shirley, your threads will be with you soon. You have probably both forgotten! For me, this collection is going to be the most exciting of the four we have created and I have all sorts of ideas for it. My first piece of work will be with Royal Shiraz - I have wanted this combination for ages and especially since our visit to Shanghai and the tunnel under the river.

Still furiously (or not furiously) packing stuff for Melbourne but I tend to muck around when I have to pack workshop stuff - take far too much as I always have so much to tell - I think that really I would prefer to run workshops here then I could just pull out what I want when I need it..... Plus when I am putting my stuff together I come up with all of these new ideas which is nt what I am supposed to be doing.

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone - Ian bought me red roses this morning.......

The first section of the book has gone to the printers for the dummy run to see if we are on the right track so the light at the end of the tunnel whilst still wavering, is getting stronger. Hang in there everyone......

Left overs

This is what you do with all of your embellishing leftovers - use them to create a journal cover, a bag, a spec case or whatever. This is, for me, a little journal cover opened up - I have used up all of the off cuts from the Arabian Nights sample pages including threads from hand stitching so waste not - want not....

I have spent my day packing my workshop box for Melbourne - Fragments and Frescoes - it takes forever to find and collate all of the materials and samples and stuff - workshops are frustrating because you can never take everything or show everything. Not sure how all that mixed media will go in a nice pristine sewing environment.

There are 4 places left in my workshop next Sunday in Melbourne - I know you have to book for 2 different workshops (one on one of the other days) but I think there might be a possibility of just doing 1 when it gets real close. I know a number of people have emailed me about this and I have been told no - but a little bird suggested it might be different closer to the day. Anyway I have made 20 kits in case.

Tonight we are off to the Tallis Scholars - should be wonderful. I am sure they will be singing the Misere - just for me....

New style BBQ

Pat has sent me a glorious pic from England - this would change the whole concept of barbecuing in our back garden......

Take a Stitch Tuesday 6

The big picture - I suppose you could call it applique with a layer. I managed to complete it in the breaks at the rugby..... and by the way, the Blues and the Crusaders won so a good day at the Super 14 for the kiwis.


I have created another background in Arabian Nights and cut triangle shapes and embellished them and added a chiffon scarf which I have zapped. Using a fine silk thread I have hand stitched Algerian Eye stitch over the top - this is only a small segment but it was a good way to add layers. When I have finished stitching it all over I will add the pic so you can see the whole piece.

However - off to the rugby.....

Arabian Nights 2

This a section from Arabian Night 2 (you can see Arabian Nights 1 on my other embellisher blog). As with the other piece, I have carded and blended our new merino wool - Arabian Nights and embellished it onto hand dyed scrim. Cut it into pieces and emebllished it onto handy dyed wool felt. Using the matching thick silk I have worked running stitch over everything and sprinkled gold flakes and layered several layers of chiffon scarves over the top. Zapped it with a heat gun and appliqued 2 more shapes on the top and running stitch some more. The full versions of these two pieces will be in the book.

Now I am working on a third piece so I can try out the TAST stitch for this week on the top. After the rugby (and by the way the Force won in South Africa 22-3 so they will be happy). I hopefully will have time to load my TAST for this week.

Dorothy's snow must have paid off as it is cooler and may even rain....

Saturday morning

I have just found out that Pokey Botlon's book is due out in April - I had almost forgotten I sent her some ATCs last year - looking at the list of contributors I have seen plenty of interesting names so will wait until we get it probably not long after April.


Dorothy has sent me a pic of her garden - wouldn't I just love to be in UK for that snow. By the time we get there in October it will be an Indian Summer again. Snow means you can cuddle up in bed with lots of coverings.

Roger Water's concert - well we have never been here when there has been a concert and of course the stage was facing the other way so we got great distortions! Second half we all went down and sat on the grass outside the park at the other end and listened to The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall whilst also watching the fireworks for the opening of the Perth Festival. Not sure I woud have paid for the concert though - the once you have done those two pieces, the rest is all much the same.

friday and the rubgy

Today's first Super 14 rugby game was Hurricanes vs Chiefs and all of the newspaper writers had the Chiefs to win but I am pleased to say that the Hurricanes proved them wrong and won 39 - 32. Wunderbaa stuff. Wonder if the Force will manage a win over night? And for you Brumbies supporters - Ian is currently backing the Blues and you know who is playing whom tomorrow???

Tonight we are having a bbq - the Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) concert is on at Perth Oval - our park. Dark Side of the Moon is on in the second half so looking forward to that. On Sunday night is the Eric Clapton concert. It will make a change from soccer games and ghastly singing beforehand.

I have been exploring embellishing on hand dyed wool felt - it's lovely stuff to hand stitch onto. All this embellishing has got me doing a lot more hand stitching.

Flower Journal

This is my little flower journal - I have popped three of the flowers on my other blog. The inside pages are heavyweight tissuetex with flower prints on them.

Back to work - very hot and sticky here in Perth.

More Fabric Charms

I have received another 6 lovely little 1" x 1" fabric charms. They are all so glorious and different.

In my studio I have been working some more on embellisher things - a flower journal this time but I haven't quite finished it. I had to do a bit of running around today and it is easy to lose time - very hard to find it again. Ian has been very busy with the book layout, so folks, it is coming. We will be taking advance orders soon and then we really will know it is coming. However, as with most things, your best ideas come at the end of a project when your head is packed with thoughts. I have some of my best ideas when I am waiting to wake up.....

I have thought further on Hobart in March and am offering a workshop on the embellisher on the Sunday, in case there are any Hobartians reading this.

Waitangi Day in NZ

This is my offering for Waitangi Day today - a little vessel. Fiddly things these are.... All whilst listening to the cricket. The piece from yesterday is 40cm x 30cm - I don't work big.

If there is anyone who reads my blog from Tasmania, we are definitely coming to Hobart - the weekend of the 24th March - not doing a workshop but I will be doing demos and hopefully will have an embellisher to demo on.

My order of the lovely silk papers from Bangladesh arrived today - yummy papers for stitching and embellishing. Have to have more of a play with them.

Replenishing the Soul

I have finished my second exhibition piece for the Melbourne Quilt Convention -it's called Replenishing the Soul and I have pretty well only used the embellisher. I managed to find some silver ferns - I do feel NZ should change its flag - I can never remember who has which stars and surely it is time to leave the Union Jack behind? After all, NZ and OZ are not in the EU.....
Below is a detail and the colour is truer. The three trees are Nikau Palms, native to NZ and found on Waiheke Island. I have almost finished a new vessel using some of the leftovers and started on a Frangpani vessel - not sure how the shape will go though.

Happy Blog Birthday

It is a year ago today since I started my blog which I can't believe - and I have had over 30,000 visitors in that time. Thank you all for reading my ramblings - I thought I would celebrate by sharing Captain Hurricane with you.

Captain Huricane is the mascot for the Hurricanes (my beloved Super 14 rugby team) and he pops up at every game and everywhere apparently. I have never met him but then I am not there. Hopefully he will come with the Hurricanes when they come to Perth to play the Force.
Anyway, the story goes that he is so busy he now has his own plane to travel in - the Hurriplane. Its design is based on a Hurricane fighter aircraft from World War 11. It has a cannon that fires rugby balls into the crowd. Unfortunately when he was flying back to Wellington from Wanganui, one of the tyres blew out so he had to leave it by Boat City in Paraparaumu and when he returned with the new tyre, it was gone. But - the good news is that it has been found, all in pieces apparently and some bloke has been charged with stealing it. I just hope that Captain Hurricane can get it all mended for the rest of the season.

Thta's my trivia for today but I will be back later with the textiley part....

Taste a Stitch Tuesday 5 and the rugby

My effort this week is not that marvellous - Chevron Stitch - a stitch I haven't used before so I have just tested it as a couching stitch over some lovely thick wool roving. Something to explore further.

I have used Cretin Stitch in the piece below though - this is a segment of the second work I need for the teacher exhibition at the Quilt Convention - it is making progress and I should have it finished tomorrow. I rather like this stitch - a good one to add to my repertoire



We watched 2 Super 14 games today - the Brumbies beat the Chiefs and sadly the Reds beat my beloved Hurricanes. Bruce and I knew it would be on the cards as the 'Canes have lost 6 players resting for the All Blacks including all of the front row. We hope that this loss will be worth it if NZ wins the World Cup....... I am also wondering if Captain Hurricane has found his Hurriplane.......

And I should have added that the Force lost last night - all that money and all that hype - not a good start.....

this and that on Friday

This is the back of our house all bagged - we are thrilled to bits. Everything looks different already and once we have painted it will change again. By the time the rubbish has gone and teh gardens are in, we won't know ourselves. The studio is even more linked up now. ANd all on a very hot day.



This book arrived today - Artist Trading Card Workshop by Bernie Berlin - I usually bypass these sorts of books but so far it looks excellent. All sorts of different ideas.

I have been trying to transfer an image today for one of my pieces for the Quilt Convention and not having a lot of luck. I amy have to change what I am doing. I shoudl have it finished in the morning.

We missed the first game of the Super 14s because of the bagging as Ian was helping. As usual Ian is undecided but because the Blues beat the Crusaders he is leaning that way - until next week. Off to watch the Force but at the pub - too hot to think about going to the ground. And we haven't eaten yet today.....

Aussie Day Fireworks

A friend has just sent me this photo which I thought worth sharing. It was taken at Hilary's Marina and if you remember, it was a long hot day. If you click on it, you will see more detail.

A long hot day here again too - 38 and tomorrow back over 40 degrees

Excitement in our back yard as the walls of the house at the back are being rendered(that's not the real word - they are more washed not thick like rendering) to match the studio and some brickwork for the garden is being done. I will post a pic later

Thanks to all of those interested in my as yet unknown (to you) challenge. Most of you have sent me your email addresses but if you wrote a comment on the blog and I don't have your address, I can't add you to my list. I will be writing my group email soon but stay in suspense for a while longer. I promise it will be interesting for those who love to experiment and push a few extra boundaries....

Thursday

and another new month rolls over.

I picked up my new specs today and now we will be on bread and water for weeks. But I will be able to read properly. My eyes have improved so much that I was having to take my specs off for reading and for someone who has worn glasses since 16 it was all much too confusing. So now I am looking pretty swish.

What an amazing response to my unknown challenge! 25 people and I was only thinking around 10. If you want me to email you when I have all the details more clear in my brain, please send me an email - link is on the right - I am too lazy to do it here. And I will email everyone at once. Keep you in suspense for a few more days although the brain is festering away.

no pics today. Super 14s start tomorrow....

ps 9000 visitors since 15th Dec and 46 countries......