Octagon quilt progress...

On a recent rainy morning I completed a job I've been avoiding - trying to finalise the layout of octagons for my friend's quilt. I wanted it to contain no duplicates in a row - but whilst this worked horizontally, it didn't work vertically in all cases and became quite complicated because more than anything I was trying to avoid major clashes in colours and patterns.

So, here is what I have come up with and having walked around it and photographed it from all sides....I think I've finally settled on this! And really, if it's going to be loved and used as a cosy cover-up, does it matter that there's a purple Oriental pattern next to a purple-wash cotton?....

Here's how the layout is looking.....

 The rows are now numbered and stacked in a box, and over the next few weeks I will sew together a row at a time.

 The small interconnecting squares are being basted between other jobs.....

 .......so considering that this is to be a Christmas present, work is progressing nicely and on target - always a good feeling.

Posted by Stephanie

Once upon a time by Karen Fox

These image were taken with a fairy tale theme in mind. I used the Dandelion as when I was a child we called the seeds fairies. I wanted to capture the delicate form of the Dandelion seed structure which we normally see floating in the breeze.

When the seed are still attached to the seed head they have an amazing strength, they are able to support  water droplets spayed across the feathery like wings forming an almost jewel encrusted surface.

I used coloured acetate to give some colour to the background and colour to the reflection in the water droplets. Overall this project has made me think more about light and what affect controlled light has on a subject. Maybe I will explore some more possibilities using feathers or different seed heads.

My Favourite Story by Kaylie

My favourite story as a child, and adult is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I have numerous copies of the book and many different copies of peoples interpretations of the story into film. 

The reason why I love this story, is no matter how many time you read/watch/listen to it, there is always something else to discover and interpret. I wanted to stay away from the surreal and scary nature of the story in my work, although they have come out quite scary, as I feel this is a path which many artists go down. 

Having become obsessed recently with the theatre company 'The Wrong Crowd', I decided I would try out one of their techniques for puppet making for this project. Using masking tape and bin bags to create exciting and funny looking characters from the book. I attempted to make Alice, The March Hare, and The Mad Hatter, some of the most iconic characters from the story.

Unfortunately, although the method of making these puppets seemed easy, to actually created the intended characters was actually really difficult. So here are the 3rd attempt at making these characters! and they are still not quite how I imagined them to look.

I feel this is going to become an ongoing project for myself, to try and make different characters using this method, and attempting to animate them. I will keep posting over time how this idea develops. 

My Favourite Book by Stephanie

For this project, I chose Wuthering heights by Emily Bronte, a novel I studied years ago for 'A' Level English Literature, and which has had a hold over me since.
It is an incredibly complex, multi-layered book full of passions and high emotions, yet frustrations and sterility. What I love most though is the importance of nature within the novel and the centrality it has to much of the action and characters. Paramount to this of course are the moors - wild, bleak, and the root of the bond between Catherine and Heathcliff.
It was the moorland which I decided to use as a guide for my piece of work and so I created a textile landscape. I did not want a lush, green portrayal, but rather a more earthy, limited colour range to try to capture some of the bleakness of the place. I wanted the sky to be a foreboding, intense one, and quite heavy in feel.

 I used felt, wool, cottons, ribbons, lace and a variety of threads to build up layers and blocks.

 I deliberately left ragged edges to fabrics and I wanted the stitches to be visible and a central part of the piece.

Overall I am very happy with the outcome of the piece. I love the colours and the textures.

Once upon a time-May project-harrietalicefox

May's theme was 'Once upon a time/My favourite book'.
I originally loved the idea of this theme, however the more I thought about it, the harder it was to decide upon my favourite book. So I chose to work on once upon a time. 

 

I headed straight for the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale book I have, flicking through the illustrations and stories for inspiration, and began the first of many sketches. 

Initially I tried drawing the character Little Red Riding Hood, but I was never happy with the end result.

Then I began to draw the iconic items within these stories that immediately makes me think of them.

I've combined several stories within this illustration, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Snow White.

I hope you like it!

- Harriet -