Thinking Too Much?

Sometimes my blog post are simple journal entries sharing what I've been doing in my life with my family, my everyday life, my textile life or my globetrotting life. Sometimes they respond to something another blogger has posted. Just once in a while they get all philosophical, this is one of those occasions.

My last post showed photographs of my progress on the embroidery piece I started in a workshop last week. Local Julie, Julie in Japan, Blandina and Queenie all commented on the post which contrasted that embroidery with the stitching on the prayer flags I have been making. Their comments, in praise of one style of stitching or the other set me thinking. I was working on the intricate embroidery this morning, hoping to get this flower finished before it got too warm and muggy to sew and wondering why I wasn't enjoying it, even though it was going well….

My friends and family would describe me, in degrees ranging from affection to exasperation, as “a leader”, “OCD”, “a control freak”, “rigid”, “controlling”, “an organiser”, “bossy”; you get the idea!!

This view of me seems to contrast completely with the projects I am currently enjoying in textiles, the eco-dyeing, the prayer flags, the boro-style pieces, and would rather seem to suit the accurate, precise embroidery project.

But I love the prayer flags and am not enjoying the embroidery.

If the embroidery was going badly I can imagine that I would dismiss it as “not for me”. By declaring it not my thing I would avoid having to admit that I wasn't very good at it, that, heaven forbid, I had “failed”.

If I could conjure precise colours and designs from the eco-dyeing cauldron (oh, how I wish I had a cauldron, but the preserving pan is doing the job) and if I made the prayer flags and boro pieces geometrically accurate then I think they would suit my controlling character trait.

I don't want predictable colours, if I did I could use chemical Procion dyes.

I don't want mini “Round the World” or “9 Patch” design prayer flags and quilts in indigo, all accurate squares and nice, neat seams all meeting at the right place.

I don't want embroidery stitches that look as if they could have been done on a machine (okay, so I'm not THAT good).

So, the conclusion I reached, while doing those tiny chain stitches, is that textiles are probably my safety valve.  I can be led by the fabric and the stitches rather than controlling them, I am surprised by the results from the natural dyes and can't regulate them and my pieces are fluid and relaxed, not rigid. The me who works with textiles is my

alter ego |ˌaltər ˈɛgəʊ, ˌɒlt-, ˈiːg-|

noun ( pl. alter egos )

a person's secondary or alternative personality.

• an intimate and trusted friend.

ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: Latin, ‘other self’.

Pretty in Pink

I love this:

 "One small flower in a room changes the atmosphere. It sits there looking pretty and peaceful and creates beauty for people. Imagine the difference a person can make."

Julie quoted this from a newspaper article on her blog, isn't it perfect?

Look at the difference my flowers have made to these fabrics, the cottons bright pink, the silks a softer, dusky rose colour.  I am delighted.

Roses To Dye For

I have a lot of beautiful roses in the garden and so thought I would try dyeing with them.  I collected the fully open blooms, I wish you could smell them.

I'm trying a selection of textiles, cotton, silk, cotton threads, some lace of unknown content.  I washed them all and then soaked them in a bowl of three parts cold water, one part white vinegar for an hour.

Meanwhile I separated the petals from the flower heads and cut them into small pieces.  I was reminded of making rose petal perfume as a small child!  The petals were covered with cold water, about twice the amount of water as petals, and brought to the boil.  I then left them to simmer on a low heat for an hour.

I gave the fabrics a good rinse and squeezed out as much water as I could.  One piece I tied up with elastic bands to see if I could get some pink and white fabric, the other pieces I left as they were.  The colour had come out of the petals, I strained the mixture into a glass bowl, squashed the petal pulp to remove any extra dye, and was delighted to see the depth of colour in the bowl.

I put all the fabric into the bowl of dye, looks pretty doesn't it?  With fingers crossed I added a plate to hold all the fabric under the dye and set the bowl aside.  I'm going to leave it overnight….

Sweet dreams.

Finished Fuji

Today I have completed my stitched wallhanging based on Mount Fuji.  

I have posted quite a lot about this already, I have enjoyed working on this project, it has been filled with memories and significance. so here are just a few photographs.  

The piece is hanging on a narrow piece of bamboo that grew in my garden.

The final details I added today are some wisteria and a suggestion of tea fields.  Sensei Bryan has his own tea fields in Fujino as do all his neighbours.  We were given some tea by Bryan's landlord to bring home.  The wisteria has a double meaning.  "Fuji" also means wisteria in Japanese and Fujino has glorious wild wisteria which follows the cherry blossom.

Fuji-san has recently been designated a World Heritage Site

Progress on Fuji-san

I've made some progress on stitching into the eco-dyed silk which I created with leaves etc found at the foot of Mount Fuji.  I am keeping the stitches limited, mainly straight and back stitch.

Meanwhile the second type of bargain tulip has come into flower as the first ones are dying down.

Post-Operative Stitches

I have a couple of finishes to share today.  My toe operation was put back by a day and so I had a free day to sew on Tuesday.  I finished my Malta cloth and a little bracelet bag (a kit from EuroJapan Links).

The Malta cloth, "Going Up, Coming Down",  has been a long project.  It started with cloth weaving when I did an online workshop with Jude Hill.  Over two trips to Malta I have added the embellishments, using up cycled fabrics, buttons and embroidery and lace, ribbon and thread bought on the island.  It is finally finished and I am finally happy with it.  I find it difficult to know when a piece like this is finished.  Posts about the project is progress can be found here, here, and here.  I used the piece of eco-dyeing that I did in Malta as the backing and bordered it with a batik to represent the island being in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.  I couched a bright cord within the border to represent the many festas and the big carnival that takes place on Malta.

This little bag was quick and straightforward to make.  I bought it as a kit but I think I will be using the pattern again and again.  It's a good size for a little portable project carrier and could easily be made larger to use as a toiletries bag for example.  I didn't quilt the bag but with a plain fabric I think quilting or sashiko would be very effective.

The bracelet bag is photographed against the piece I have been working on this morning.  As well as preparing the boro cloth to stitch during my convalescence I have this lovely piece of dyed cloth to stitch into.  It is a piece of kimono silk that I eco-dyed with Nat in Fujino, using moss, leaves and bark that I collected when we visited a shrine in the foothills of Mount Fuji.

So far I have simply back stitched the outline of the mountain in various places on the cloth using silk threads.  The bottom collection of peaks are stitched in a lovely thread that Carin sent me, it is a very fine perle thread and the green is perfect with the dyed fabric.  The paler threads at the top are YLI and Daruma silks.  I shall also be using some heavier threads that Blandina gave me when we were in Fujino so this is going to be another piece that is full of memories.  I think about those people and places as I stitch.

Not that stitching is that easy.  I thought I would have lovely long days of sitting with my foot up and sewing away to my heart's content.  At the moment I am finding it very hard to concentrate for very long and need to have frequent rests.  I'm sure this will improve, especially when I can manage with fewer painkillers, they make me even more ga-ga than usual!!  Wishing you a wonderful weekend, especially if you're in UK and have three days :-)

Surfacing and Plans

It has been a while since I wrote a post.  Our trip to Malta was great but, as ever, the travelling caught up with me.  If only I could go to sleep in my hotel bed and wake the next morning in my own bed.  Now that would be an 'app' worth having.

Nat forwarded me a photograph that she took while we were shopping in Tokyo, in a shop filled with vintage fabrics.  Also in the picture are our sensei, Bryan, and my indigo sister, Janine.  The staff there described us as the "Western Ladies Bomb" and had a lot of tidying up to do once we'd finished our shopping spree.  The photo reminded me that I have not shared my shopping in Japan with you and so I shall organise that for my next post. 
I also have to share our visit to the Indigo Master, one of the most amazing days of the Japanese Textile Study Tour.  I have just seen on Bryan's blog that he is planning some indigo workshops in the Autumn.  Do have a look, I highly recommend them.  Here's the link:  Autumn 2012 Japanese Indigo Workshop and you will find all the details and costs there.  Just staying at Bryan's farmhouse is a wonderful experience, the workshops themselves will be fantastic.
I am starting to be able to organise my creative thoughts post-Japan.  More about that in a while.

PS If you're waiting for my Maltese eco-dyeing it will be a little while longer.  I took a peek and it was very pale and sort of wishy-washy so I've given it another steam and set it aside for a while longer....I need to learn patience.

Malta Cloth Finish

A finish (except for the backing and binding) - my Malta cloth is done and I am quite satisfied with it.  It is called "Going Up, Coming Down?" after the building work here. It is almost impossible to tell whether something is being constructed or demolished and Al and I try to guess.  Our general belief is that if there is a crane on site then the building is going up.

Speaking of the backing...I have decided to try some eco-dyeing while I'm here for the backing but haven't got any suitable fabric with me.  "Allie babe....", sure enough DH came up with the goods, greater love hath no man than he would hand over his brand new white cotton handkerchief to be dyed with prickly pear flowers.  Watch this space.

Speaking of flowers, I found these white strelitzia in the hotel grounds this morning, rather different from the usual vivid orange/blue version isn't it?
Today has been a lovely relaxing day.  We had a stroll this morning and then I stitched while Al sudokued (is that a verb?) and read the newspaper.  Here's a picture from yesterday's trip into Valletta, there was no way I was going down this street, look at the up to follow!  Many of the smaller streets are steps, Lord Byron referred to them without any love in his poem Farewell to Malta
Adieu, ye cursed streets of stairs!
(How surely he who mounts you swears!)

Hoping you've all had a lovely weekend - I know that England has been having some excellent weather at long last :-)