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Archives for February 2018

houses on the brain

February 25, 2018 by Birdbrain Leave a Comment

I was uploading the last two pieces to the Rug Hooking Gallery (on the menu bar at the top of the page) and I realized that I had not added this piece done about a year ago called Houses on the Canal, based on my memories of Amsterdam. I decided to post it here as well, because it is interesting to see the evolution from this piece to the most recent two pieces. While I was at it, I thought I’d post a pouch I made using a piece of denim from my 20 year old NAF NAF coat and some coloured remnants. This vintage black denim is great. This was a chance to explore colour and shape — and just plain fun. 

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

geometric village #2 finished

February 25, 2018 by Birdbrain 1 Comment

The second larger geometric village is finished. These two pieces measure 16.5″ x 10″ and the hooking butts up to a 2″ border of wool fabric which is sewn on to the backing first. This piece is the next in a series of colour block landscapes which I first talked about a year ago, and have been thinking about for much longer.  I’m not sure why the idea has such a hold on me, but it is intriguing to work with light and shadow, bright and dull, warm and cool, vertical and horizontal–putting some parts of the landscape in secondary roles, why other parts have solos. And even after I took this picture I made some changes to the piece. 

Ineke Berlyn is a quilter whom I’ve mentioned before. She too loved the geometric villages of Ton Schulten and below is one of her pieces from her book Landscape in Contemporary Quilts.

And here is one of my favourite New Yorker covers by Lonni Sue Johnson — of course featuring houses, Manhattan apartment buildings in fact. I’ve shown this cover on the blog before but it’s worth looking at again with its gorgeous lemon sky and its lovely interplay of vertical and horizontal, dull and bright. 

Filed Under: Hooking

light and shadow

February 12, 2018 by Birdbrain Leave a Comment

I’m  back and working on another geometric village, again inspired by the paintings of Ton Schulten. I’ve always been intrigued by geometrics and these village pieces are a challenge–a great lesson in value and composition. I’m aiming for a focal point and an interesting pattern of lights and darks. This is the second in a series of pillows. 

Filed Under: Hooking

painting and stamping pouches

February 4, 2018 by Birdbrain Leave a Comment

One of the projects we worked on in a recent fibre retreat was designing pouches. Everyone got a blank pouch made of unbleached canvas and lined with unbleached cotton. The pouches had zippers inserted but were not sew up as you can see in the photos below. Stamps, fabric paint, stencils, markers, watercolour pencils, appliqé fabric and more were available. Here you can see us working away and then below some of the finished pouches. And at bottom is my first attempt at embroidery since I embroidered my name on my gym shorts in Grade 9. It’s something I hope to do more of. I found the book on my shelves to give me a hand.

Fronts…

and backs…

Filed Under: bags and purses, inspiration, sewing

notes from Savannah and the coast

February 1, 2018 by Birdbrain 1 Comment

The highlight of January was a trip to a fibre retreat in Georgia and a visit to Savannah. I especially loved the historic district and the fabric shops. Below are some of the gems of the neighbourhood where we stayed. Laneway houses are a particular favourite of mine, especially old ones. (Alas no time to sketch.)

There was lots of textile and leather inspiration at the Savannah School of Art and Design store.

And even more inspiration on the coast…

Filed Under: Uncategorized

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