BirdBrain Designs

hooking in the March sunlight

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It’s still cold in southern Ontario but we have had more than a week of straight sun. Marvellous. And I’ve had the chance to get back to hooking after a long while. It’s a wonderous thing, alone in the studio, listening to a good podcast, feeling the sun on my shoulder and enjoying the texture of the hand-dyed wool strips as I pull them through the taut linen. I’m working on a small piece where I’m trying out some new ideas in preparation for a larger table runner. So there is no pressure here. It’s a test piece, and I can listen to an interview with the author of the book I’m currently reading  (Jennifer Egan of Manhattan Beach) while still thinking about shape, design and colour. It’s a nice blend of listening and wandering. 

So here is the piece on Saturday as I started…

and again today. I’m working with strips and small pieces from my endless boxes of leftovers from other projects. So I have a mix of cuts from #4 to #6 and I’m working it out as I go. I’ll post again soon with some progress shots.

a new travel tote in paprika leather

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Here is a new travel tote in a beautiful leather with both character and strength.  The tote has carry handles and a removable and adjustable shoulder strap. Outside there is a large zipper pocket and inside there is another zip/slip pocket as well as a large canvas pocket–so lots of ways to organize your travel things. It has a double leather bottom, brass hardware and durable metal zippers. This will fit under the seat in an airplane and just as easily carry books to the library or rug hooking to your meeting. It’s a great versatile bag in a beautiful colour. Dimensions: 17″ tall, 15″ wide and 5.5″ deep. Shoulder straps have 12″ drop.

welcoming spring with two new bags cobalt dot leather

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This fabulous piece of leather is a remnant which I found in Savannah at Measure. It turned out to be wonderful– colour, texture and quality–and there was enough for a cross-body bag and a wrist pouch, each with outside pockets. The shoulder bag has a zipper pocket inside as well as a slip pocket; the pouch has a small pocket inside for credit cards, subway tokens etc. Both are the colour that welcomes spring! Check in the online store. today There is just one of each.

an update and a scribbly sketch

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I sat in the window of a local cafe and sketched this scribbly fragment of a great old building. It’s sunny, but still very cold in my part of the world and it’s much nicer to sketch from the warmth of a cafe sipping a hot drink. I was fresh from a visit to the dentist and it felt good to let the freezing thaw out while I traced the lines of the limestone and brick. I haven’t been sketching very much for one reason and another–but I’ve taken on a small project which will have me sketching local buildings in the next few weeks. This is just a start–but with sun in the forecast for the next few days, I hope to post some more. 

some new things–finally

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It has been a busy month and I haven’t been in the studio very much. But it’s been happy news that has kept me away–a new granddaughter and a little holiday. And now I’m home and back in the groove.

Here finally, are some new things. Most of these are orders, but if you see something you like, let me know. There may be enough leather to make another. This first is another version of this convertible backpack.  This one is in a great colour combination of smoky grey-green and black. Like the first one, this backpack converts to a cross-body bag.

And here are a few large pouches. This first one has a wristlet and the following two are waiting for shoulder straps. The blue leather is a small piece I found in Savannah at Measure and I am delighted at its weight and texture. Check in the next few days for a bigger bag out of this great leather… and some new things. I plan to update the shop and have some sale items available by the end of the month. 

houses on the brain

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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. 

 

geometric village #2 finished

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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. 

light and shadow

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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. 

painting and stamping pouches

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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…

notes from Savannah and the coast

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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…