All shades of grey/Graubunte Fäden

A friend asked me if I wanted some threads, which had been left behind by a lodger who had moved on. "Threads? Yeah, sure," I said.

Well, here they are, and I'm now trying to figure out what to do with them.

Straight threads, entangled threads, wound threads, all different shades of grey. A metaphor for life.



Among the threads there were three rope-like items - neat threads wound around thick strands of other threads - and I started with them, sewing them together like for a bowl, trivet, mat ...



I also tried out the threads on my daughter's flower loom (when googling about flower looms, I learned that this is a revival tool from the '70:s - didn't know that!).

I like the flowers best when they're a bit sloppy and not too neat - and this seems to be the perfect stuff for that look! I could imagine how great a waist-coat or a belt would be with these flowers - maybe with a felted center to it as well ...

What I enjoy about these threads is that there are several matching shades and that there is such a lot of material! This gives me the opportunity to play and experiment with them, considering punching the whole entangled batt with the embellisher as a 'filling embroidery' to the fabric background ...

Thinking of seaweed, drift wood, a harbour fence, a coral reef ...

Sea shore and maritime motifs are definitely connected to my summer feelings. The blue and greyish shades of the threads - in combination with different white fibers - maybe with some natural found objects like sea shells and drift wood - would most certainly make a good arrangement.

I think I would like to work on that.

(German summary: Ich habe einen ganzen Haufen Baumwollfäden in verschiedenen Grautönen bekommen - und überlege, was ich damit machen könnte. Ein paar dicke, umwickelte Stränge waren schon dabei - die hab' ich gleich zusammengenäht. Mit dem "Blumengerät" (Prym) meiner Tochter probierte ich einige 'schlampigen' Blumen aus - da eignen sich die verworrenen Fäden sehr gut - und ich könnte mir diese als ärmellose Weste oder auch als Gürtel gut vorstellen ... Zuletzt noch ein paar Experimente mit dem Embellisher - in maritimer Richtung. Eine Kombination mit weißen Fasern und einigen Naturfundstücken würde sicher ein recht nettes Bild ergeben!)

Rhapsody in Blue - Whatiffing 121-126

These blue samples mainly consist of wool and yarn, some of them punched to a base like silk fabric or organza:

121 - wool punched on printed silk fabric

122 - wool and yarn punched on organza

123 - wool fibers

124 - wool and yarn punched on an organza ribbon

125 - wool on organza

126 - yarn and wool

And then I just have to show you this:

Spring is on its way - at last ...!

Black&White, Whatiffing 115-120

This time I've been experimenting with linen on woolen cloth (115, 116, 119 - starting upper left corner), linen on wool roving (117), wool and black lace on blackish woolen cloth (118) and silk fibers on the same (120).

For the first three ones I used the multicoloured package string for decoration, either punching or embroidering with it.

I think the surface of the sample with the red ribbon yarn punched to it (119) looks a bit like granite - maybe I can use that as a background for further Wiking motives ...

(I'll be off for the weekend - going to Vienna - back again Sunday evening! )

What my Beggar's bowl looks like today

"A bowl, whatever its shape, is open. Open for possibilities."

(Sue Bender in "Everyday Sacred")

This is what my Beggar's bowl looks like today: the inside is almost finished, the outer side not yet.

(If you are new to the blog, you can read about the beginning of this project here and here.)

And once more I would like to point out that I do find "Everyday Sacred" to be a book worthwhile reading - it speaks in a slow way and with a low voice about the essentials in life ...

Feel Hope They Say ...

Feel Hope They Say

A mother has lost her child.

A woman has lost her husband.

People have lost their homes.

Feel hope they say.

Please let it be Spring soon

so life will grow again.

I'm back again - I had a most wonderful time with Sara, so many impressions and inspirations, a nourishing and joyful time with such a gifted artist and generous woman like she is ...

Now I've bumped down to earth again, and need some time to sort out all messages which have been piling up while I was away.

I tried to do a Whatiffing today - it turned out a little different.

Whatiffing 105-113, Dull and Glossy

Some new Whatiffings: these are different thin fabric scraps on multi-coloured pre-felt, punched and then hand embroidered with glossy silk thread.

(I took a lot of pictures of a new project today - forgot to put the memory card into the camera - have to wait for new daylight tomorrow ... it's one of those days. Sigh.)

Mammoth and elf ...

This is a mammoth (I think). He just popped out of the white wool roving I was punching with a patterned organza. The only thing I had to do, was to cut him out and emphasize his eye a little more with some black wool fibers. I wonder if he would like to move on to a woolen cave painting ...

Then I saw a tiny green house taking form while I was trying out a thin green-printed silk scarf on the roving. I took a closer look and suddenly discovered a little elf standing in the open door.

She asked me to fix the roof - somewhere on my working table, she had seen a small green, glittery scrap which she thought would be just fine. Of course I fixed it for her. And as I wanted her to stay, I even added some white and green beads to make it look nicer.

Whatiffing 96-104, Crafting Felt

Something completely different again: what if I'd use some colour combinations which I normally wouldn't? What if I'd use some awkward material, like this left-over crafting acrylic felt in strange colours?

What if I'd combine it with free motion machine embroidery, cutting holes in it, weaving it over and under, letting it tell stories both of dwarfs and aliens ...

Textile Flowers, Whatiffing 87-95

Subsequently to the textile leaves - here are the flowers to follow! (Looks a bit like spring already, doesn't it?)

Like for the leaves, I used white wool roving for the base and punched different kinds of textile (artificial) flowers onto it - as you can see, they behave quite different depending on the fabric they're made of.

They all shrink pretty much while being punched - you will have to take that into consideration when composing.

For a better finish, I used a hand-felting needle to place some small dots of wool in the middle of each flower.

I'll give you the link to Sara's Whatiffing blog here once again, as Sara has now opened a Whatiffingaround Group at Flickr for this project!

Whatiffing 78-86, Textile leaves

For this whatiffing, I've experimented with embellishing different kinds of textile leaves on white roving. I think they could be very well used as a base for machine or hand embroidery, or just being part of a more intricate floral composition.

If you want to try it out, don't forget to rip off the plastic or even metal veins before punching - and add woolen ones for the finish!

Whatiffing 69-77, White connection

Wow! Reading the comments on last posting, I'm happy to see there are three new members in this very exclusive club - Paula, Renate and Yvette! Sara, if you're reading this post while still on holiday, you'll be as happy as I am! (I just noticed that the link to Saras What-if blog didn't work out - I've corrected that now, so push yesterday's button again for further information, please!)

I made nine new pieces myself today, the basis is white pre-felt, connected/"woven" with vintage cotton fabric strips, then embellished - using a layer of tea-dyed gauze on all - with:

1. white merino roving mixed with cotton caps
2. vintage net lace
3. unbleached handspun linen thread
4. fine sisal fibers
5. copper tinsel
6. silk thread waste
7. printed cotton fabric
8. white linen fibers
9. white silk fibers

(If you click on the label "whatiffing" under this posting, you'll find my earlier postings on this matter - or, if you only want the pics, you can click on the flickr-button on the sidebar and take a look at my album named "Sara's Whatiffing Project".)

I got some good ideas out of these white whatiffings and am just working on a little white picture ... more about that tomorrow!

Hot spots, Whatiffing 60-68

I'm taking up the Whatiffing series again (for newbies: here's the link to Sara's Whatiffing-project) - as I find this experimenting with the embellisher to be both fun and useful for boosting my imagination for further projects.

It's a pity I seem to be quite alone doing this very project, because I'd love to see yours too!

Anyway, this time I've broken up the 2"x 3" frame even more, letting the fibers - different knitting yarns held between two layers of cobweb thin red wool - spread freely while being punched.

They make me think of irregular pieces of mosaic and I can imagine them as a background, combined with another colour scheme ...

My crazy quilt Beggar's bowl taking shape

My bowl is taking shape - although it's hard work for the fingers to get the needle all through.

As the fabric scraps are not only for decoration but also stabilizing and shaping the bowl, I have to use a lot of backstitches for quilting and holding them down and must pull them quite hard. Although double and firm, the thread breaks now and then.

It's slow sewing - and almost meditative.

A textile Beggar's bowl as a What-if project

Well, I think the herald angels have now sung enough for this season and it's about time to go back to normal again ...

It's been lovely to spend the holidays with kids, friends and family - and now I'm equally enjoying getting back to work, taking part in your projects and sharing mine with you.

Reading 'Everyday Sacred' by Sue Bender lately inspired me trying out a textile variation on a Beggar's bowl - as a what-if project, raising the patched and quilted surface to a sculptural form, using textile media only, adding the scraps of fabric for decoration as I go.

I took a woolen cord, as you use it for weaving sturdy, woolen country carpets as I had this at hand, but I'm sure it would work in a similar way with bundled or plaited strings of rags. (An other alternative would be to crochet a basic bowl with rag string or fabric rope.)

I built up the bowl going circularly upwards, like a potter would do with strings of clay, me of course having to secure the straps with long pins and then attaching it with thread.

I kept the bowl quite small and flat for this first try - the flatness allowing me to twist the bowl inside out for easier application. I want to keep the patches and the quilting rather rough and raggy for this surface and am using odd scraps and black cotton thread.

The expression "Beggar's bowl" goes back to the tradition of Buddhist monks, who will accept whatever given in their bowl as nourishment for the day.

I think this is a wonderful allegory to a what-if project ...

(Please have a look at Renates What-if blog too - she's doing some other interesting what-iffing with raised textile surfaces.)

Hommage à Jude ...

Yesterday night, I sat down in the middle of xmaspreps and started this "Hommage à Jude", a kind of what-if-project, using some of my favourite scraps (and the Jacaranda haze-thread!) which Paula sent me recently.

I needed a break, slipping out of that Mrs-Santa-costume, and I needed to do some stitching again:

I wanted to know what it felt like to be stitching like Jude ... and I do now realize that you can really get addicted to filling the fabric with those running stitches - it reminds me of weaving - taking you further and further, stiffening the cloth and at the same time shaping and re-shaping the surface ... Through the slow process of stitching, you come to care about the material in a new way.

And I enjoyed the fraying of the fabric, giving the piece a worn and kind of weary expression. Of course my thoughts went to Jude as I chose the dotted fabrics - which I had asked Paula for when swapping. While adding french knots for the illusion of more dots, I thought of Sara, who is frequently using them on her pieces of work.

I'm pleased with this sublime and still worked-upon look and will certainly return to this piece and probably integrate it with other special scraps ... next year.

"Christmas tree, very pretty ... " - Whatiffing 51-59, Xmas-trees

So I've done some more Whatiffings, this time there are Xmas trees (green wool) punched to a grey woolen cloth, embellished with fabric, yarn, ribbons and lace ...

See the Santa up right? I'm especially proud of that - it's a simple xmas gift ribbon, embellished on, of course.

Inspired by you!

Today I used the warm morning light to sit outside in the garden and carry on with my "Yggdrasil"-project. Though November already, this south-eastern part of Austria, where I'm now living, is blessed with a warm and sunny climate, so different from the north of Europe, where I come from.

Still, every country has its own charm and I was delighted by the beautiful photos of early autumn in Sweden in Hanna's blog and in Canada in Margaret's blog - both very gifted and creative women. Have a look for yourself!


Whatiffings No. 33-41 - Non-figurative skitching and No. 42-50 - Sculptural

As it's a brand new month, I can continue doing "Whatiffings à la Sara" again - and today I'm spoiling you rotten with 18 new ones!

These are the numbers 33-41, consisting of punched white or pastel coloured wool with non-figurative "skitching", using tiny fabric scraps and some sewing and darning thread (thinking of Paula!).



And here are the numbers 42-50, where i used light-grey wool mixed with a little multicoloured one. For most of the pieces, I punched them flat with the 12-needle-embellisher, then continued punching on the spot with the 7-needler until I had a "bubble" (learned it from Sara!) I cut up this bubble with sharp scissors and fastened the loose parts with a little punching. On the right photo you can see that it's quite sculptural. Number 47 is of course woven (got inspired by Jude there!).

I really enjoy doing these experiments - guess you figured that out by now! - and it's most inspiring to be a part of this textile network ...

What if - there was a face coming out of the dark ...

This is a very dark face - yet sparkling. I wanted it to "come out" of the darkness, like an illusion or imagination, a dream, a hallucination ... (hey, it's halloween, isn't it?)

Anyway, I used a gold-lurex fabric, punched it with dark red wool from the backside, put a thin layer of light pink, a little rosé, dark brown, greyish brown ... from the right side, in order to kind of "model" the face with its contours, then added some layers of black and dark red for the shadows behind . I punched it all several times from the back and the front and finally squeezed the piece with luke warm water and damp ironed it. It's approx. 11x17" (27x42 cm).

Remember the what-if pre-felt?

Do you remember the what-if pre-felt on linen I started last week? Well, today I proceeded punching small scraps onto it, then filling in on the gaps with a funny, multicoloured yarn I discovered on my trip to Vienna this weekend. Finally, I made some stitches with a red velvet ribbon I found in my stash.

Embellishing, recycling and whatiffing

Today I was quite busy, finishing this "medieval" book which I have punched with grey wool on woolen cloth, decorated with metal net, other metal details and some glass beads. It's lined with natural linen and holding a sketchbook made out of thick, handmade paper.

I also embellished a small picture for a friend's wedding book (the text says: "May love make you free") - I'm an untalented photographer, the colours and texture look a lot better "in real" ...




Furthermore, I sew a cover for my kitchen bench using a piece of blue felted cloth I had in my stash and recycling an old woolen bed-inlay I got from a neighbor. No big deal, but as this is my favourite working place to sit in the evenings, I'm both happy to have a cosy warm bottom as well as to have recycled something quite spacetaking from my stash!

And then I had to try out a little "skatching", inspired by Jude. But I'm afraid I wasn't as consequent as she is with piecing each little space extra - I cheated here and then and let the fabric slip under the next piece where I found this to be convenient ... OK, I will have another try the other day!



Later on, I wondered: "what if" I would punch small pieces of pre-felt to a sketch on linen ...? I will see where that leads tomorrow.