Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Sporting weekend

To Wellington on Sunday morning for a duathlon (5km run, 20km cycle and 2.5km run). Fortunately still in the junior section, next year will be double all the distances for each discipline.
Off to Paarl Gymnasium for rugby on Saturday morning. This is a beautiful school set in the vineyards surrounding Paarl. Unfortunately I was so busy taking photo's of the rugby, I forgot to take any pictures of the stunning autumn countryside!



Thursday, May 21, 2009

Treasury

My new cushion made it into Aimee's treasury, you can see her work here. I was thrilled to see how other people use beetles and insect in their designs. (I draw the line at spiders though!)

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Insects

Talking of insects, how about this clock from Josh Owen?

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

New cushions in my shop

bug zoo! New cushions in my shop! I've taken AGES to make these because I wanted to add in some brighter colours, either in the backing or binding. I tried red binding on the beetle, which I thought would look stunning, but somehow just didn't work so I opted for the more neutral look.
The difference in the cotton and linen doesn't show up so well in the photos and maybe next time I need to use slightly more contrasting fabrics. Anyway, I enjoyed making them, especially the embroidery, simple as it may be, and the addition of a few beads!


Saturday, May 16, 2009

bugs and beetles

Bugs, beetles, moths and butterflies have been used in design for centuries and I'm sure are second only to flowers and plants as inspiration for unusual colours and patterns. I have always been fascinated with insects and over the years have done quite a few drawings but have never really known what to do with them. After seeing the beautiful cushions made by Tara Badcock I decided to try the same concept, of printing over two different fabrics, using my 'bugs'.
I scanned my drawings, did a bit of work on them using Photoshop and then printed them on two different fabrics. I had to join them after printing because the seam can't go through the printer.


This process is very time consuming because you have to get the join exactly right but I am happy with the result.I have quilted the insect and added a few beads.

I have made cushion covers and they will be in my shop as soon as the weather improves and I can take some decent photographs. It is amazing how when you are working on something you seem to see it everywhere. Imagine my surprise when I went onto Jezze's site yesterday and saw her block printed beetle! I am so impressed by her patience in cutting out the blocks and printing each one so carefully onto tape. It adds a new meaning to my definition of 'time consuming!'








Friday, May 15, 2009

tapestry

After seeing Beryl's beautiful tapestry pincushions I am seriously thinking of cutting up this cushion cover and turning it into pincushions. As she so sweetly put it "no one is going to sit on my tapestries!" I started this years ago and, although it's very nearly complete, I somehow lost interest in it. I do vaguely remember something about running out of the teal background colour. The thing I like about this type of design is that each square is a design of it's own and is some how less intimidating than one huge surface!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Pin cushions

This is my pincushion that one of my children made for me about 10 years ago and for that reason I am reluctant to stop using it, although it is starting to look a bit worse for wear! I 've been noticing pincushion all over the place and have listed some that I like.

Unfortunately I can't remember where I found this beautiful crochet pincushion other that to say it was somewhere on etsy.These little lovelies were spotted on skinny la minx's blog and were made by a lady called Beryl.


Finally, the blue colourway of the linen crocheted pincushion from the unknown crafter on etsy! I love tapestry and crochet and these have inspired me to combine the two and make some new pincushions for myself.


Monday, May 4, 2009

Strawberry cheesecake

I made this cheesecake for dessert yesterday and as I put it out to eat, I noticed how beautiful the sunlight looked falling across the strawberries. I must add that I don't have the patience to do this type of decoration and would have plonked the whole strawberries on top in a random arrangement! This was painstakingly decorated by my son, the aspiring chef.
Talking of cooking, there are super giveaways on the good life eats.
Competition rules here.