Inspired!

I was so inspired by the pictures I took yesterday that I had to start playing around with fabric and thread. And also because in the general rummaging around in my room I found this yucky fabric which cried out to be used. When I'd dyed it I hadn't been impressed as it was too sombre and harsh but now looking at it I could see that the colours were ideal for the rust and weed that I had in mind to create. So I cut it up with wiggly lines and re-wove it which immediately turned it into something useful and made a very good background. Then I found some chunky bits of boucle wool in the right colours and randomly couched these onto the background to represent the weed. I looked at my photos again and saw that the pebbles and stones made little pools of light amidst the mud so I made a start on some circular machine embroidery with an iridescent thread. I've had three goes at spelling that so if it isn't right too bad! Next I think I'll go mad with the beads and maybe some applique to add more texture. I tend to let myself be guided by the way a piece is going. And once I've slaked the first need to get going it could be weeks before I go back to a piece. I just let the ideas percolate. I'm very tempted to do a machine lace crab to bury in there somewhere! And I want to make the rusty chain more prominent in some way. Now is the time to get the drawing pad out and play around with some ideas. See what might work and what won't. I like cutting up paper and stuff and collaging with it to get ideas for ongoing projects. This will be a wall hanging when finished. It isn't very big. Only about 18" square, perhaps a bit more.

I have made myself a summer time-table so that I can space out my things to do list. Usually I start off with a parcel of ideas and then find I'm in a rush at the end of August trying to get everything done for the start of the teaching year. This year I am going to be very organised. And I'm going to try and clear all my UFO's! I've had to CQ armchair tidies on the go since the year dot. They are going to be finished! I've had a great idea to combine my machine embroidery with silk ribbon work so the bags I'm making will get this treatment. And then I want to use my Artista to do some cut work. So much to do and so little time! It doesn't help that I have a great lazy streak running through me that makes me sit down and read a book every now and then! And on top of this there is the regular weekly dyeing session. Gosh I feel tired already! One of the reasons for starting a blog was the thought that if I felt that what I wrote was being noted I might make more effort to stay on track. And I must thank those kind people who wrote nice things. It is very encouraging!