Sunsets & Stitches

 

One of the things I like about living next to a church is the silhouettes you get of the old bell tower. It lights up in the sunshine during the day, contrasting against the blue sky and in the evenings it mysteriously darkens and adds drama to the nights sky, already burned red and orange by the dying sun (oo that was very poetic wasn't it!!).

 

Anywhooo, there have been mild admonishments from the Mother about the lack of university work, so here is a quick update:
We have finished most of the new technique teachings and are now putting what we learnt into practise- I have been most innovative and re-inspired by an old project from art foundation, which was about using unusual materials- here are some photos from that project:

I was using the ends of cotton buds, chopped up straws, scraps of felting fleece and food dye for the colour. I have to admit it was one of my favourite projects and I am really excited to kind of bring it back.

It was when I was looking at close up photos of bug eyes that the idea for using the cotton bud ends suddenly hit me, closely following in the footsteps of using split pins as alternative rhinestones. I have experimented with different ways of stitching the cotton buds on, but have decided that using beads to secure it is the best way forward.

 

My recycling efforts have been stepped up a notch as well- can you guess what the round plastic things are?

 



 

No? They are the holes that have been drilled out of the top of Milo's hamster cage!! Clever huh?

So basically I have just been playing around with these materials, again using food dye as a colouring and playing with straws (although I don't plan to use the straws on any samples).

I have started to prepare my materials, although this week I am travelling to London on a fabric sourcing trip (so excited!!) and will be getting more fabrics for this project there.

The camera has changed the colour of these fabrics, the blues are much greener and darker in real life. The technique is reverse appliqué and I have three layers of fabric with the yellow in the middle.Plans are to add the cotton buds and other random materials to this sample once I have finished cutting and stitching it.

Here is a sample that is a little further along, with a cut and slash technique.

I've added lots of french and colonial knots, along with the cotton buds and layered beads to add height and depth.

I haven't spoken to my tutors about this idea yet as we have had more self directed study leave this week but I really hope they like it!! My fingers are permanently blue from all the food dye and I am getting through cotton buds at a rate of knots!! All good fun though.