winter solstice

November ended and December began,
and on the fourth . . . daughter broke her ankle
. . . . .
she had surgery last Monday.

A small misstep can have
BIG consequenses !

So time is needed for helping out,
but that's no problem
I'm glad we are still able to help.

So now I need more time to finish the dragon
I made in Yara's class
and take pictures
so that will come later.

For now an "old" Winter Solstice picture.

Sleep well everybody that has the longest night now
we're returning to the    LIGHT  !

day 31 : LAST PINK RIBBON - DAY

What better way the finish my  PINK  RIBBON Challenge
than with a bright sunny Textile Jewel !!!
I liked my new "doughnut-shape" so much
that I felted another one
with lots of yellows in it
because
I wish everybody LOTS of sunshine in their lives !

My  PINK  RIBBON  Textile Jewel
for day 31 :

a wet felted ring shaped brooch,
stitched with cotton, rayon and silk,
some sequins and seed beads
( 6,5 cm,   2.6")

Fro a donation
of at least

 € 15,- 

SOLD !

this gorgeous bit of sunshine
will make a bright joyful splash
on any garment !
You just need to send me an email at
 fiberrainbow@gmail.com 
and w will arrange the further steps.
Bank or Paypal is possible and easy !

(+ postage)

ALL your money will go to  PINK  RIBBON !

 "SUNSHINE" 

This is the LAST of my  PINK  RIBBON Textile Jewels, but

PLEASE
don't forget :

there are still a few of the older days
left for you

day  13
day  21
day  23
day  27

And of course I am STILL  WAITING for
the buyer of  DAY  9  to contact me !!!!!

day 3

Sunshine at first, but cloudy now.
Something "sunny" to stitch this morning.

Luckily I have e few felted bits to choose from :
there will be days away and some partying this month
so I had to prepare some in advance !
A national felters meeting this Saturday
and then the week after that
the big "Textiel Plus Festival"
with the textile art contest
(where I will have to bring my "Plastic Soup Sea")

But for now first the PINK RIBBON Textile Jewel
for day  3 :

a wet felted hollow brooch in bright yellow and green with some gold inside,
stitched with rayon and cotton, sequins and seed beads

(5 cm,   2")

For a donation
of (at least)

 € 15 

SOLD  !

this bit of sunshine
can brighten up your sweater or jacket.

Or you can make it into a present for someone dear.
You just need to send me an email at

  fiberrainbow@gmail.com  
or say that you'd love to have it in the comments below,
and all will be arranged !

(+postage)

Paypal is possible too and easy !

ALL your money goes to PINK RIBBON !

 "LEMON  QUEEN" 

This one already sold,
or not quite your colour ?
tomorrow there will be a new
Textile Jewel !

day 20

  20 - 10 - 20  

Today was a day that needed a bit of sunshine
Some rain . . . dry again
some rain . . . dry again
on and on all day long.

So a really good day to make something bright !
Sunshine reminds me of fields with Rapeseed or Canola
(of the Brassica family)
that brighten up spring so lovely

Here is my PINK  RIBBON  Textile 
for day 20 :

a sunny wet felted hollow brooch, with gold mesh inside,

stitched with variegated rayon and lots of seed beads
(5,5 cm)

For a donation of  at least

€ 15.-

SOLD  !

this lovely bit of continuous sunshine

can be yours, to brighten up any dreary day !
Or you can give this bit of sunshine
as a present to someone dear.

You just need to send me an email at

fiberrainbow@gmail.com

(or tell me down this post in the comments)

and we'll arrange the rest.

(Paypal is possible and easy,
mind the postage)

ALL the money goes to  PINK RIBBON !

  "BRASSICA"  

Have a bright day
and hopefully I see you again tomorrow
for another Textile Jewel !

straight lines

The Textile Artist.Org stitching challenge

continued for another week
(yeaaaah)

Christine Chester

who works mixed media, not only textiles,

had a very "strict" exercise :

repeating a "round" shape in a square (5x5cm)

defining the shape and the negative "rest-space"

in stitched straight lines

(first on paper, later in stitch)

Christine started with a wavy shape and I did that first,

but soon had other shapes too

like a full circle and a heart.

I decided to take some quiet gray as background

and why not bright yellows to go with it ?

my first "sunny" attempt

I noticed on the FB page that many stitchers

couldn't stop at four little shapes.

When you start thinking and drawing

there are so many possibilities ...

so I decided right away to make another one !

nearly there ...

still to do the outside.

YES

a fun exercise.

(especially thinking about "rest-space" !)

wordless Wednesday

solstice

Today is the  l o n g e s t  day,

at least in the Northern hemisphere,

summer solstice.

(and the longest night Down Under)

I've been felting

trying some new (in fact old) things 

and it worked out just as I intended

(which isn't always the case)

HAPPY  SOLSTICE  !

a few steps to get there ...

I will be doing some more felting

in the next few days

trying things I wanted for some time

(hope they work out just like this one)

equinox

For us it's the start of spring

for others (in the southern hemisphere)

it's the start of autumn,

day and night are of equal length

The cycle of the year

the cycle of the seasons

the cycle of life

"Equinox"

Last week's stitches that were in the TAST-challenge,

were the French knot and the pistol stitch
(=  a French knot with a tail )

and I used those in the "Cow parsley" piece

that I showed before.

This week we got no new stitch :

a "catching-up week" 

for beginners or stitchers that got behind otherwise ...

We're supposed to have FUN

and certainly not stress, when stitching !!!

So a very good reason for me to do another French knot piece

(and why not use the equinox as a starting point for that)

This time a LOT of them !

For this sun I almost ONLY used yellow (-ish) threads

from several thread nests or from some already threaded needles

that were lying around.

(yes, there are skeins and balls, no, didn't used them)

wordless Wednesday

September ...

September is already on it's way.

There was some sun,

there was a splash of rain ...

Nooo ... not as big a splash as this ...
this splash was made for the
(still on-going .... no we can't stop)
on-line felting class of Corinna Nitschman

But
the month started with a long-desired wish :

solar panels

Our roof faces south-west, so why not !

Happy now !

*

The postman brought a long-expected package from Germany !

Some months ago I got a proposal for a swap

from a German blogging-friend, Heidi

a special pendant for her and a handmade stoneware bowl for me.!

I send her the pendant and patiently waited.

She needed some time to make the bowl ...

bring it to the kiln ...

then it was holiday-time ...

so she send it the end of August.

Ahhhhh, had a fright when it arrived : a big hole in the package ...

but luckily Heidi had packed it safely in two cartons !!!

phew !

Isn't that a beauty ?

Love the design she made of the flowers I could choose :

Fritillaria and Snowdrops !

And with it came a piece of her solar-dyed fabric !

SO happy with it all !

THANKS  HEIDI  !!!

*

And on went the making of felted shells

(I must confess : it starts to look like an addiction ...)

Two new spiral ones and an "old" one,

and two more "normal" shells, but forgot to take a picture.

And, to unlearn, another pair of wrist warmers.

:-)

Thanks Jude !

Today I finished stitching on my big piece

"Sun and Moons"

103 x 49 cm

(40.5" x 19.3")

The SUN and thirteen MOONS

(and a soft blue velvet earth)

(still need to fasten the sleeve

for the aluminum strip to hang it on the wall)

The face of the sun

(with lots of sun spots)

Sun and six moons

One (grumpy) lunar moth and three more moons

A blue velvet (Jude) earth and yawning moon

(a silk, and a "magic" Jude-feather)

And finally Mrs and Mr Moon.

again : up close

"us",  soft velvet !

(with aurora borealis)

It's hard to believe now, that I started in June 2013

NO ... I really didn't work on it all this time :

it was lying dormant for quite some time !

An on-line class "sun, moon, stars" of Jude Hill

was the starting point of it all

Jude is a great textile artist

(though she doesn't call herself that)

and my all-time favorite teacher,

who, unintentionally,

gathered a worldwide stitching community around her

of people who have come to love "slow stitch"

This was the humble beginning !!!

On a background of some hand dyed open-weave cotton

came that sun and dark indigo strips of Jude on the edges.

The "double woven" piece the border strips from,

came to me through Eva

(who didn't quite know what to do with it ...)

I unpicked the it, after talking to Jude of course,

and used it as the border for this piece.

Other "in between" layers were used too.

Also little pieces of thin eco-dyed silk of Heike

There were woven strips of my own fabrics too,

pieces that are dear to me.

Slowly slowly the concept and the piece grew ...

(click on "sun and moons" in the sidebar for the history)

After the first year it was mostly "a holidays piece"

(hmmm will have to find something for next year   ;-) ...)

A LOT of time went into the stitching (kantha) of the background

so the piece is now strong and has a lovely stitched feel everywhere !

We will enjoy it many more years

on the wall.