One World One Heart 2011

Hello and a very warm welcome to "brushes and cloth".

First, thank you to Lisa Swifka of "A Whimsical Bohemian" for creating and hostng what seems like a huge undertaking to me.

I have quiet corner of the world, so please feel free to look around and stay a while ... I do love to create with paint, canvas, textile, wool and just about anything else. And I do love to hear from vistors and welcome thoughts and ideas.

For the "One World One Heart Giveaway, the winner will recieve the hand knit scarf pictured below.

Please leave a comment on this post to be eligible for the give-away. The winner will be announced on February 18.

I wish you a great time wandering through this event and the wonderful world of blogs ... enjoy!

Very best wishes,

Barbara

the butterfly and my machine

Since I have been working on my hand-stitched version ~ a few have asked for me to post the machine stitched butterfly that came along as a side and experimental piece.
So, this is all the same base fabrics and threads but has been free motioned with out reserve! It was a lot of fun to work on ~ so now more learning in free-motion work is ahead, I am sure.

Have a wonderful weekend and week ahead!

next stage of the butterfly project

This is where this is going ~ I have finished the perimeter in soft cream and white varigated, 12 wt. cotton Sulky, the extremities could suggest paths and wanderings. The next and final stage is a sheer layer but I am still (of course) working on the sketches and on paper cut-outs before I actually use the fabric.

Now that I can see the end stages of this work ~ my mind has been straying to my next piece ~ I am thinking landscape ...

Wishing you all a great and happy week

January's Full Wolf Moon

Of course, last night was too cloudy with flurries to see the full moon but this is from my front porch this morning when I awoke. January's full moon is known as the Wolf Moon ! From the Algonquin, it speaks of cold and deep snows when wolf packs howled hungrily ... it has also be known as the "Moon after Yule" in pairing with December's "Moon before Yule".

Without a doubt, I love full moons perhaps some day ... I shall see a "blue moon"!

Very best wishes,

Barbara

Butterfly project

Well, it has a temporary name ... and here are some of photos as to how it is going. This batch of photos turned out much better than the last in terms of the light ~ so the colours are so much more acurately depicted. The last detail photo above shows the final point of this piece ~ the female form. This is for a juried show and the ideas are still coming together but it will be a statement and contrast of the female image and self image. I am still avoiding the sewing-machine but I do have a sister piece completed by myself and my daughter with all free-motion, when I take my next batch of photgraphs ... I will include it. ~wishing you well ~

new work ~ progress

Hello ~ on this snowy evening, the winds are up and the snow is blowing, who knows what it will look like in the morning. Beautiful, I am sure ...

I am so excited about where this is going, it is a slow process but I love every twist and turn and stitch. My debate was if I should take it to my machine or keep working by hand ... for now I am keeping my hand to my work. I find I have more control by hand ... so I worked on a similiar piece strictly by machine ... I love it too but they have different personalities.

This piece will have a final sheer vintage fabric over the top that will let the image peek through, it may not be that far away!

A Shiny, Happy New Year

A very Happy New Year and I wish everyone all that is bright in 2011. It has a been a rollercoaster type couple of weeks mixed in with all sorts of things ... celebrations, laughs, family and friends ... tossed in with some unwanted flu symptoms. It never fails me ...

So, now my fibre to-do list is being re-vamped and I am anxious to show you where my new piece is going. So, to everyone a happy and satisfying creative year!

Happy 2011 ~ Barbara