Notjustnat

Naturally Dyed Workshop

2012-01-30T19:51:00.001+11:00

I haven't had this much fun for a long time! I was at the Naturally Dyed workshop at the weekend with my dear friend Jacky. I visited the blog and fell in love with Jude Craig's work. I asked Jacky to come along and we had a fabulous time. I love going to workshops. I learned so much more about eco-dyeing and plant materials growing locally.

The workshop was at Jude's home. It's the best workshop/studio anyone could dream of having. Jude is a textile artist and natural dyer. She regularly exhibits her work in and around Melbourne. She has one coming up in March. You can visit her blog here...

Here is Jude standing next to a Miss Havisham she created using eco-dyed fabric she dyed. The object on the left is a sheet of metal she is working on for her next exhibition. I am intrigued to see what she will come up with!

Jude's designer wall is covered with pieces and work in progress. I can see so many ideas she has pined up there. Jude's studio is situated amongst eucalyptus bush. As you know eucalyptus is an essential part of our dye materials. What an ideal spot for a workshop. It is every dyer's dream!

I wondered what this piece is turning into! I was in a daze admiring all her work around her studio and the house attached to it. We were free to take photographs of all her work. I might have to have two posts to show them all to you.

Jude framed a lot of her work and displays them throughout her lovely home. I have got lot of ideas to use with my overfilling dyed fabric.

A quick demo from Jude and we all took off choosing the dye materials provided. What great choice of eucalyptus leaves, red cabbage, onion skins and I took some purple carrot (more on that later) to share.

The dyeing baths are ready and waiting for us. It didn't take everyone long to wrap up our bundles and drop them in the bath. In the morning we had eucalyptus dyed bath and later on in the afternoon we had red cabbage and onion skins baths. I did about 5 bundles in the morning and a few more in the afternoon.

We had a quick stop for lunch and then we were ready to reveal our bundles. It was sometimes confusing identifying our individual bundles. In the end everyone found their own. This is the best part of the workshop. The exciting bit!

We gathered around on the deck. The perfect spot just outside of the studio. Lots of excitement was going on while unwrapping our bundles!

Left - Jude gingery handled the bundle when talking us through the process. Right - Jude modeling one of the dyed pieces. It look fabulous on her!

Left - Jacky was unwrapping one of her bundles. Right - the pink silk fabric over dyed with plant materials.

Left - my piece filled with all kind of leaves. Some eucalyptus, prunus and eucalyptus mistletoe leaves. Right - is the result of the left photo. It is a long piece of kimono silk. I'm making it into scarf, I might add a trim to the ends.

Left - another crazy piece of mine with onion skins, wattle flowers and eucalyptus mistletoe. It's wild! Right - silk chiffon. I'm not sure what she used in it.

Jacky and I had a great day. I started brewing my own dyed bath since I came home. I'm not sure if I like the dyed bundle sitting in the liquid or over the steam! The challenge for me is to leave my bundles longer so I can decide which methods I would prefer!

Please visit our Japanese Textile Study Tour blog to read about Tokyo Quilt Festival.

Enjoy

Nat

Birthday Party in the Park & Five Minuts Miracle

2012-01-16T22:07:00.001+11:00

Driving 8-9 hours to visit DS's family is normal for us. Last weekend we did the same trip to attend DGC's birthday party. Our DGC were both born in January so the birthday party was combined while they are still little. The party was in the form of a picnic in the park. All the kids had the freedom to run around and the adults were mingled and looked after their own children at the same time.

Please scroll down to see my five minutes miracle!

Bella and Finn's birthday cakes. It was date cake in the cups. DIL did a great job on them. They not only looked fabulous they were delicious as well.

Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Bella and Finn. Happy Birthday to you. Hip hip hurray!

A scenic scene in the park where we had the picnic. Everyone enjoyed the lovely afternoon.

A healthy and colourful party spread to share!

I hung the balloons from the oak tree branches. Bella tried to catch one of her birthday balloons, but she is not tall enough this year.

There was no junk food in this party. My DIL practices healthy habits for her family. I'm proud of her and hopes she keeps it up. My grandchildren are in good hands. Good on you Bron!

When I had five minutes before leaving for work one morning I decided to roll up the bundles ready to steam when I got home in the evening. In this bundle I used a sampler of leaves on silk.

I found these leaves on the ground one morning. I had no idea what they were! I wrapped them over using a silk noil previously dyed.

More windfall eucalyptus leaves. They sure give out a pretty colour. I love them!

This piece was the result of the samplers bundle above. The leaves not only give nice imprints they seemed to be dyeing the rest of the cloth as well.

More of the eucalyptus leaves dyed, but this time I folded them in a triangle shape. The result is quite pleasing. I quite like it.

Sometimes the dyed result is only a splash of colour. I don't mind it at all. Some projects such bojagi need plain texture fabric for variety.

Wow! What mixture of colours! Do you know what I used in this bundle? I only used two types of leaves here, prunus and eucalyptus. Prunus leaves dried very quickly. I didn't want to waste them so I sprinkled them thickly over a piece of silk and added a few eucalyptus leaves on the top. The result is as you see here. Crazy colours right?

I haven't been very active with my blog lately. You might already know that I am a co-organiser of the Japanese Textile Study Tour in April. April is only around the corner and I can feel the panic coming on...!

Enjoy

Nat

A Walk in the Park & Bella's Birthday

2012-01-09T12:47:00.000+11:00

My daily routine at work is very simple, but enjoyable. The best part of my day is walking in the park full of natural native plants and trees. Seven years ago when I joined my work I was looking for plant materials for basket weaving. I looked for different kinds of plants then. Taking up eco-dyeing is a natural process for me. Working where I am on the campus with gardens and trees cannot be more perfect for eco-dyeing. I got to know most of the eucalyptus trees that are good for dyeing. Lately I dyed using windfall leaves. They give a better and more mature colour when dyeing. A walk in the park can't be more interesting when you have something to look for.

This time of the year the eucalyptus trees are shredding their barks. Bark can be used in the dye pot as well. Look at the lovely fresh new skin underneath it and that exact colour will come out in the dye.

After a windy day, leaves fall and end up at the side of the walkway. Sometimes I scoop them up or choose leaves that look inviting.

This particular tree is "Silver Mallee" (E.crucis). I know it gives excellent colour results. It's not very dense so I only collect the leaves from under it.

This giant eucalyptus tree shredded the bark completely all at once. I love the looks of bark spreading around the base of the tree leaving a clean smooth new skin. They look best after the rain.

Some leaves gathered on the ground under the tree. I love these ones because they are still fresh and lie flat and are easier to pack them into silk bundle.

Here are some of the results from the walk in the park. The leaves are from the "Powdered Gum" (pulverulenta). It was one of the several eucalyptus trees in the park. The result would have been better if I left it longer before opening the bundle. It has been very hot and humid here lately and by leaving the bundles too long it causes the mould to grow on them.

The above piece I used mixed leaves of "Powdered Gum" (E.pulverulenta) and "Blackbutt (E.pilularis). I like experimenting by mixing different leaves in one bundle.

This heart shape was a single leaf from the top photo. I posted the image on my Facebook page and surprisingly got a lot of positive comments from my friends. Thanks guys.

I just love this piece. I got a branch from young shoots growing underneath the bush. It looks very much like "Round-Leaved Mallee (E.orbifolia). I hope I'm right from the photo in the book Eucalypts Vol.1 by Stan Kelly (1969).

Never too young to start eco-dyeing! Here is my DGD opening her bundle that she dyed using rubber bands, seaweed and eucalyptus leaves sneaked in by her mom. Today is a special day for her. It's her 3rd Birthday Jan. 9th. She is 3 year old. Happy Birthday Bella. Hope you are having a lovely day. We love you very much...!

Enjoy

Nat

Happy New Year and some Holiday Activities

2011-12-31T23:16:00.001+11:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2012

I would like to wish everyone who reads my blog a Happy New Year. Thanks for your support and kind comments throughout the year. May 2012 be a good year for all.

It's all about an Australian Holiday, it's all about the beach, sun, sand and cricket games. I'm fortunate to spend my holiday with my family this year. A day at the beach was bliss!

Each year I try to come up with some unique gifts to make for my friends. My gifts tell about what I do at that time. I have been working on blue and indigo these last couple of years. So my gifts are naturally indigo related. A set of three coasters with my very own indigo dyed fabric and the Thai's indigo motifs and hand stitching lend themselves well together. I have sent most out as gifts in time for Christmas, but some are still a work in progress...!

On my last post I talked about pre Christmas eco-dyed bundles. I opened them after a few days and the result is as you can see above. They were dyed with eucalyptus leaves and rusty nails. The effect of rusty nails gave the dark purple grey patches. I'm loving this.

In the above photo is the bottom part of the linen skirt dyed as one of the Christmas bundles. I used pieces from all the bundles for this skirt.

One of the bundles was a linen skirt from an op-shop. I mordant it with alum and wrapped it generously with lots of eucalyptus leaves.

A close up of the patches in the front of the skirt. I stitched around some of the leaf imprints just to highlight it. What I need now is to find an occasion to wear it!

Every other summer our apricot tree gives us abundant fruit. This year is the same. In Australia we have big problem with birds. We tried to cover the tree with netting to keep them out, but the birds are so clever and managed to find their way under the net. We got what was leftover from the birds and bottled some of the fruit.

I blogged about the bottling method the last time we had apricots. You can read it here.

I can't take the credit for this home made production. DIL was here and did everything for me as she did two years ago. DIL is a prolific gardener and home-maker. We are so lucky to have her join our family.

Well, that was quite a lot of activities for this holiday! The weather is getting warm. It's going to be warmer in the next couple of days. Thank goodness for the air-conditioning! We got a small paddling pool on the back deck for our DGD, but this afternoon some of the adults where in there trying to cool off. I never thought I would say this, but I'm looking forward to getting back to work where I have air-conditioning!!!

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and is enjoying New Year's Eve. I'm about to get out there and join my family for a New Year drink or two.

Happy New Year everyone.

Nat

Finn's First Christmas

2011-12-26T00:30:00.000+11:00

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you are having a nice day with family and friends. Christmas is family time for us. We usually spend our Christmas with only our immediate family. This year is no different. Thank goodness our family is growing. This year we have an additional member Finn, our grandson. It's Finn's first Christmas with us this year.

We don't have our son's family with us every Christmas. We have to share them with DIL's family every other Christmas. How lucky we are to have Finn spending his first Christmas with us!

Here he is Finn, our gorgeous grandson. Finn is a pleasant little boy. He enjoys everything that happens around him. He sits and watches all the activities his sister Bella creates. Finn started to make interesting noises so it won't be long before he talks.

DGD Bella is almost three. Bella also spent her first Christmas with us, you can read about it here. This Christmas Bella totally captured the spirit of Christmas and enjoys it fully. She even got her Christmas stocking when she woke up this morning. It was an exciting event for her. She also had her Christmas photo taken with Santa this year. It was a pleasant first time experience for her and she said she likes Santa!

Bella and her Yaya (moi) on Christmas Eve. We have lot of cuddles throughout the day. I really enjoy having them visiting. They will be here until the New Year. What a joy!

My free range and organic turkey and roast vegetables turned out better than I thought. I made a non- stress Christmas dinner. It was one of those "thank you Coles, thank you Woolworth and thank you Aldi " sort of dinners, but everything turned out perfectly. What else can you wish for, for Christmas in summer!

My daughter-in-law Bron and her new pair of Singer scissors. You can guess who gave it to her! She said it was too good to cut anything with them! I know she will make good use of them. Bron is a quite an artsy lady!

Little gifts can keep children entertained for hours. A good lesson for parents is not to overload children with expensive toys that only get used for just a few minutes and then discarded. We gave both of our grandchildren their first set of DUPLO each. Bella played with them all day today including an old fashioned paper whistle she loved.

We managed to get a family photo together using the timer on the camera. It took us a few tries but in the end we got a good one. Finn was wondering what it was all about. All the above photos were taken by DS Mark who is a bit of a professional photographer.

No Australian Christmas dinner is complete without a pavlova. A Pavlova is an Australian national desert. When we lived overseas I used to make the base myself, but here in Australia you can pick them up at a supermarket and that is what I did. DIL did the topping decoration. It was very delicious with roasted almonds and home-grown raspberries.

This is a traditional family salad. Uncle Joe's salad. The recipe was so old that it was still written in Thai. My English wasn't good enough at the time so it was easier to write it down in Thai. The salad has 1 large grated carrot, 1 grated apple, 2 diced tomatoes, 3 leaves of finely chopped lettuce and 1 chopped banana. The dressing consisted of the juice of one orange and half a lemon. Salt and pepper to taste. It's a refreshing summer salad.

My Christmas dinner was so simple and stress free that I had time to bundle up a batch of eco-dyeing the night before on Christmas Eve. The second bundle from left is a linen skirt. I will blog about them when I open them.

Please share your Christmas day with us. I hope to have time to visit everyone's blog in the next few days. Enjoy the rest of your holiday. All the very best for New Year...

Enjoy
Nat

Artsy Day in the Country

2011-12-14T22:05:00.000+11:00

Last Sunday I spent an artsy day in the country. The weather was cool for the first week of summer, but the sun was shining and it was beautiful (for me). My artist friend Jacky and her friends had their exhibition opening at the Lillico Glass Studio in West Gippsland near Warragal in Victoria. It was a nice drive into the country and only took an hour from our house. I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived to find the gallery was set in a lovely garden. Outside the property was a cattle farm with cows mooing along enjoying the green grass at this time of year.

The entrance into Lillico Glass Studio was through the opening in the hedge. The climbing rose was in full bloom for everyone to enjoy...

Once inside you walk through different types of paving. The owner Haydn John has his glass studio/workshop at the end of this walk. What a place for the studio!

Here is my artsy friend Jacky talking to some of the visitors. There was a big turnout that day. Finger food and beverages were plentiful for everyone to enjoy.

One of Jacky's prints the famous Sunshine Owl. I am so proud of her. Jacky sold most of her work that day. I bought some of her beautiful Christmas and greeting cards to be used this festive season.

This beautiful blue button necklace was part of the exhibition. It's such gorgeous creation from the simple buttons. I would have loved to get it, but I rarely wear jewellery, so it's no good for me!

This cheese cutter set is the work of Haydn John, the proprietor of the gallery. They are made from wine bottles pressed down on flat boards. I think it's such a cleaver design. I got one for a Christmas present.

The garden contains many interesting and artsy objects for people to enjoy, like this bench made out of cart wheels.

And this is an old Australian public phone booth. I was told that not too long ago (pre-mobile phone) you could find them everywhere in Melbourne. I am pleased to see one in this garden.

While I was walking in the garden I came across this tree. Sorry I don't know the name. It was dark purple with lovely glossy leaves. I borrowed a couple of branches (the bottom branches) for eco-dying. On the right is the result from the leaves. I love how it turned out. I might have to have one of these trees in my garden. Nothing like having your own dye plant in your backyard!

I have been indigo and eco-dyeing a lot lately. I will show them to you on my next post. I haven't spent much time on my blog lately. Life is getting in the way of blogging, so sorry if I haven't visited many blogs recently.

Enjoy

Nat

Christmas Show and Tell

2011-12-05T22:13:00.000+11:00

Lately I have been hearing "I can't believe Christmas is here already!" I have been saying the same thing too. Yes, Christmas is almost here! Without planning it, last weekend I decided to put up Christmas decorations, woo hoo, I did it! I am sure everyone has their favourite Christmas decorations. I have many of them so today I will show you some of my favourite decorations and their stories. Enjoy the Christmas season everyone!

My little silver tree in the guest room. I decided to decorate it with handmade hearts I have been making these last few years. Some of the hearts were make from old doilies. I had fun making them.

These twin Santas were a new addition since last Christmas. I was in Sydney visiting Myra and we bought them together. They will always remind me of my time with Myra in Sydney.

The tin Santas were part of my Santa collection. You will see them standing in front of my favourite Santa quilt that took me years to complete.

This hand embroidered heart on felt is my favourite. I found it at an open air market a few years ago. I love it so much and often think of the person who made it.

My white collections come out every Christmas. The collection includes glass baubles, angels and soft knitted ornaments.

Here are the three knitted angels I found at the Swedish Christmas market here in Melbourne. Don't you just adore them?

Christmas pudding made by Sue in one of the blog Christmas swaps. A lot of work and a lot of sequins go into making the pudding. Thanks Sue!

Here is my Santa collection and my Santa quilt. It's my favourite quilt. I am happy I did it even though it took forever to complete!

I made the date palm tree when we lived in Abu Dhabi. I was part of the ornament committee for my children's school. It took me two days to make this and it was sold for only $15. I had to make another one for me to keep after all that work. It always reminds me of the American Community School (ACS) in Abu Dhabi.

A baby camel was the one ornament everyone had to have when living in Abu Dhabi. I made it using a pattern from the ornament committee at ACS.

Last are these oversized baubles that are too big to go on the tree. So I just loaded them in the retro bowl and use them for table decorations.

Have you noticed there is no Christmas tree here? There is a tree in the house, but for some reason none of the photos turned out well. I will show it to you when I get a chance to take it again during the week.

I hope you enjoy my Christmas show and tell. Now it's your turn for Christmas show and tell...

Have a great one

Nat

Nature Rules...

2011-11-29T21:34:00.000+11:00

Nature does have it way of ruling everything around us. Our job is to look after nature as much as we possibly can. Last weekend we had so much rain I think there was no water left in the sky after that! We love rain and enjoyed it very much. The next day we went for a long drive trying to soak up the freshness after the rain. We didn't plan where to go, we just drove north from where we live. We came across a sign saying Yarra River Scenic Drive so we went on it heading in the direction of Warrandyte. We stopped on the bank of the Yarra River which was swollen from the rain the night before. It was lovely walking along it for a while.

We came across this warning sign to warn people that the bank falls off steeply into deep water. It is an interesting sign. In my travels I came across many fascinating signs, but didn't used to take photos of them. I will make sure I do that from now on...

The water has risen and overflown onto the path. The flow of water was quite vicious. You wouldn't want to fall into it. I love the luscious green of the vegetation after the rain. I am always looking for falling leaves for dyeing while I walk.

You can find all the beauty imaginable nature has given us. Walking along Yarra river I found falling eucalyptus leaves perfect for eco-dyeing. I had not tried these ones before and was anxious to get home and try them out.

And here is the result from the leaves above. I used pre-mordant vintage kimono silk. I mordant it with alum and let it sit overnight. I folded the silk in half with leaves stuffed inside the fold and roll up the bundle. Tied it with string and steamed for 1 hour. I should leave it for a few weeks, but this time I opened it after an overnight stand. Nature gave me this wonderful golden colour and I am more than pleased with the result.

No I don't take eucalyptus for granted. We are fortunate to have eucalyptus trees in abundance here in Australia. What you need to do is to try dyeing from different types of tree until you are happy with the results. I found this tree near our local park. If I am not mistaken it's called Curly Mallee (E. gillii).

This particular tree gave me a beautiful pale orange colour after I steamed it for a short time. Sometimes you don't always want a strong colour. I can see another bojagi cloth coming along from this piece.

Over dyeing is fun too. The above piece was dyed with fig leaves and rusty metal used to mordant it. I got this beautiful yellow and silvery gray. While I still got the indigo vat going I thought I would play with shibori stitches. I stitched up a piece of mokume (wood-grain) and dipped it in the vat. See the results below...

This is what I got after two dips in the indigo vat. I should have pulled the stitching tighter to get more of the background colour. It doesn't really matter though. I quite like it as it is.

I dyed these last weekend. From left to right. Silk eco-dyed with fig leaves. The second and fourth pieces are rose petals and leaves bundles that I did on the last post here. The third and last pieces are silk eco-dyed with olive leaves.

Wow, it's almost December already! Where has the year gone? I am happy to see the back of 2011. I think we have had more disasters in 2011 than any year I can remember! Let's hope 2012 (the water dragon year) brings happiness and safety for us all...!

Enjoy

Nat

Indigo for Dummies...

2011-11-20T21:26:00.002+11:00

I am a doer! I found I learn best when I actually get my hands dirty and do it. A bit of this and a bit of that, that I learned about indigo dye in the past year have encouraged me to get out my indigo kit I had for ages and to do it! Having read a thesis on dyeing for life dedicated to Indian indigo, I thought it was time to try my own vat. The instruction in the kit was quite straightforward. Fill the container with lukewarm water and empty the dye powder followed by the reducing agent. Stir gently in one direction and then the opposite direction until all the content is dissolved. Surely not all that hard I thought!

Frothy foam formed on the top of the mixture, yes that's right. It's supposed to do that and the smell yes, it smelt the same as the one I used in Japan. I put the lid on and did a little happy dance. I went back and did some test dyeing and it was very dark after one dip. I think my container is smaller than the one indicated on the package. It didn't matter because it saved me having to dip twice or three times.

Today I arranged to meet up with Lynda and Jacky for lunch for Lynda's birthday "Happy Birthday Lynda". For a treat I asked them to bring some fabric to dip in my indigo vat. I gave each of them a sample piece to try. We are holding the sample pieces in different stage of oxidation. My piece had been oxidised the longest then Lynda's on the left and Jacky's on the right.

Here is my indigo vat for dummies! It looks just right if you ask me. I wish you could smell that sweet indigo smell!

The container is not big enough for the three of us. I let Lynda and Jacky have a go together. They were very good students and did everything I told them. I can see how excited they both were!

I got them to do chopsticks dyeing with their cotton pieces. Chopstick dye is the blocked method (Tenugui). You can see some samples of them here. You can tell how happy Lynda was when she unfolded her piece. You always get an exciting result using the chopsticks dyeing method.

Jacky was also very happy with her piece. I didn't tell them what to expect when they started the process, but the result speaks for itself. Lynda tried dyeing some threads to use in her traveller's blanket workshop she is doing online.

This is how much I dyed in the last couple of days. Some pieces of cotton, silk and overdyed pieces. I did dye some threads too. I am so happy with how they all turned out. I will work on some shibori stitching project to dye next. So if you are a doer like me and have always wanted to try indigo dye vat, just do it. It's not all that hard. Indigo is for dummies like me...!

I had a vase full of roses that need changing. The roses weren't all bad so I thought I would bundle them up and eco-dye what was left of them. I used both leaves and petals in the bundle and even sprinkled some olive leaves on there for good measure.

Not to waste time and energy I made up two more bundles of fig and olive leaves. This is the first time I tried olive leaves. I was told that they dyed great. The bottom left bundle is with rose petals and leaves, the bottom right is olive leaves, and the top bundle is fig leaves. I steamed them for about an hour and I will leave them in the pot for a few more days before I unwrap them.

It was nice to have a couple of weeks break from blogging and the internet. I now feel that I can survive being offline for awhile. I do miss getting emails from friends, but here I am again and will catch up with everyone soon.

Enjoy

Nat

Mulberry for Pink and B for Bojagi...

2011-11-04T16:23:00.000+11:00

I am continueing to experiment with mulberry dye while the fruit is still plentiful on the tree. I only gathered from under the tree what the birds left behind. I had a big bag full the other day. I took a suggestion from friend to soak the berries to maximise the colour. I added a few balls of pearl threads and some pieces of kimono silk. The colour got darker after 24 hours of soaking. I then boiled it for an hour. The result for the silk was really pleasing, but it didn't do much for the pearl threads being 100% cotton. Now I can say I tried the soaking method!

I posted this same picture on Facebook and I just love the comments I got from it. Some said it was good enough to eat and what it needs it whipped cream on top. Power of digital photography uh?

Here are different pieces of silk from the dye bath. I scrunched the pieces and tied them with elastic bands so the inside parts didn't get direct contact with the dye. The result was a mottled effect. It's interesting to find that different kind of silks give a different colour. Being vintage silk, it's hard to know what kind of silk it is.

I started piecing the new bojagi cloth for DGD using some of the mulberry dyed silk from the first batch. I added more pieces since I took this photo. I am using the mulberry dyed silk throughout the cloth and on the border too. The bojagi cloth is very addictive. I intend to make a quilt size of it one day...!

Here is my first bojagi cloth I posted here, but look carefully at the dark patches! I have added sashiko stitching on those dark patches. It improved and added more charm to the whole cloth.

What is sashiko stitching doing on a Korean wrapping cloth? Crafts and textiles evolved and merged over the years with the migration of populations. The merging in this case is because of how I am. I like experimenting. After I added sashiko stitching on one patch I knew that this was what it needed...!

I will be away from my blog for just over a week. I will not have the Internet while I am away. Oh well, life without the Internet. Let's see how it goes! Wishing everyone a great week and be safe whatever you are doing.

Enjoy

Nat

Mulberry for Pink

2011-10-29T00:14:00.000+11:00

We have been here seven years and this is the first time I saw a mulberry tree with fruit on it! The first six years we were in drought and lived through water restrictions for all that time. This year though, we have had so much rain that everything has turned green, red, yellow and all the colour they should be.

This mulberry tree was planted on the nature strip. The fruit is free for all. They are still so sour that even the birds refuse to eat them. I just love the fresh green leaves and red berries which together remind me of a red and green quilt.

Our Greek neighbour proudly told me that he brought the tree cutting from Greece over 20 years ago. I hope he declared it at customs! We are not allowed to bring live plants into Australia without declare them.

The red and green branches would look great as a Christmas table decoration. I doubt it will last until Christmas though...

So much fruit on one tree!

I gathered some fruit that had fallen on the ground to put in a dye bath. I am sure they would be great for jam too, but for today I just dyed with them.

I laid them on a piece of kimono silk. I put another piece of white cotton over it and rolled them up together.

I had enough berries for two bundles. One bundle using kimono silk and the other bundle with linen and cotton mixed. I used the leftover berries at the bottom of the sauce pan and laid the bundles over and boiled them for about an hour.

The result is really pink! Not much difference between each piece. I quite like looking at it now! I have planned for them. I am making another bojagi cloth for DGD for her birthday in early January.

How is everyone doing this week? If you have not read the Workshop in Tsunamiland by Bryan Whitehead please do so, it's interesting to see that creative charity is just as effective as funding. A few hours of creative activity helps these people take their minds off their surroundings.

Enjoy and thanks for visiting.

Hugs Nat

Bojagi Cloth: Wealth of Resources

2011-10-23T23:51:00.000+11:00

As I have mentioned in the past, I am working at Central Services of a large university library. We even have our own Asian Studies library. When I got interested in Japanese textiles a few years ago. I was surprised to find that my library has such a wealth resources of Japanese books, videos and DVDs on textiles for me to use. I can even request items if we haven't got them in our collection. Recently I started making bojagi wrapping cloth inspired by Jean. I had no idea how I would go about making it. Then I remembered that in my library there is a Korean collection as well. The Korean Librarian is a friend of mine. I told her what I was looking for and less than 10 minutes later I got a couple of books on bojagi wrapping cloth. I do feel fortunate working there. My first bojagi wrapping is now completed. It's for a gift and I need to get it done soon.

This is my bojagi wrapping cloth I started here. I got to the border today phew! I am so happy it is done. No not quite done. I have to turn over the outer hem yet. It was amazing how quickly it went together just sewing it by hand.

I tried it out as a table topper today and it looks quite nice. It is for a house warming gift so I hope they like it!

Here are a couple of bojagi books I got out from my library. The little one on the left has so many cute projects you can make in quick time, but it is in Korean only. The Bojagi's Simple Elegance is in both English and Korean. It is a great book full of antique and modern bojagis. I have taken some photos here for you so enjoy!

I hope you have got some inspiration from these books. I do love the tone on tone pieces. The pink one would be great for my DGD. I will have to start collecting some pink. I don't have too much pink in my stash. Some of the antique pieces are great as well. I can see I will be making more of them.

How is your weekend? I have a quiet weekend to catch up on. I went to Reverse Art Truck to get mat board to use as frames for a photo exhibition I hope to have in November.

Enjoy

Nat

Artsy Weekend

2011-10-17T22:14:00.003+11:00

Today I am pleased to share with you my artsy weekend. Never too busy to visit some galleries whenever I can. I love a gallery that allows photography. It is not likely I will copy the painting from the photo! I must say I have taken a lot of photos lately with my iPhone. So much so that I am planning to put on an exhibition at the university where I work. I am only using photos I took on my daily walk at my university. First I have to go looking for a suitable venue for it. My exhibition will be entitled "EyePhone" because I used my iPhone to take the photos. Watch this space for more details.

I am glad I finished the scarf I started at the beginning of our winter, yeah! It took me long enough, but I did finish and wore it out today. I love this basket weave knitting pattern. So simple to knit, but it looks great!

I had to be in Benalla on Saturday. While I was there I visited the Benalla Art Gallery. The picture you see above is not a painting but it's a tapestry of the painting by Sydney Nolan entitled "Ned Kelly" I haven't seen the original painting before, but I just love this tapestry version of the painting.

I also saw and love this small painting calls "Beach Scene" by Ethel Carrick Fox - 1910

Today I was at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. There were a lot of exhibitions at the NGV, but I particularly enjoyed the art of the Pacific. It could be that we lived in PNG for 6 years. The above is a re-purposed jacket using tapa cloth over denim jacket, it is cool.

This year is 150 years of the Royal Botanical Garden and can you see this clock made from colourful pansies. What I like is the blue sky above it.

These are a collection of Pacific street art at the NGV. How proud the artists would be to see that their artwork is in the NGV gallery!

The Sunday Craft Market was on today too. I love craft markets and if I could afford it I would buy something to support the artists. I came across Mattt's stall selling these 100% handmade bags.The fabric he used was designed by his textile artist friends. I didn't get one today, but I would next time I go back.

Art to eat! We had Granny's Turkey pie for lunch. The pastry was made right there by the two grannies. The pie was delicious. There are many varieties you can choose from. We had lamb, spinach and feta cheese which was very yummy! I love Turkish food and I have visited Turkey twice now. I hope to go back there again soon.

On our walk back to catch the tram I met the angel. She was so pretty and kind. She sprinkled stardust over me. I hope she wished me good luck doing that. I can do with some luck these days.

Hope you enjoy my artistic weekend. Today in Melbourne we have had four season in one day. It was raining, windy, cold and sunny! In-spite of that my friend Sophia and I still had a good day out.

A couple of weekends ago I was in Sydney helping Kit to move into the shop Mini Mart she won as a grant from the Rocks Popup Project. It is going well for her and she seems to have a lot of fun with it. It's still open for another two weeks so if you are in Sydney please drop in to check it out.

Enjoy

Nat

This and That

2011-10-12T09:36:00.003+11:00

It is not that I am running out of things to blog. At the moment I am running out of time to blog. My day is packed from morning to late at night and I still have a lot of things left that I can't get done! I started piecing bojagi cloth a couple of weeks ago after seeing what Jean and Blandina had made. Bojagi is a Korean wrapping cloth. It is the same as furoshiki, the Japanese wrapping cloth. The only difference is that bojagi is pieced from many small pieces of fabric and furoshiki is one whole piece of cloth. I like bojagi because you can made it from scraps or leftover fabric from other projects.

For my first bojagi I decided to use blue, white, grey and indigo. I even found a home for my hand dyed moon cloth at the corner. Bojagi cloth doesn't need backing, but the raw edges have to be hidden inside the seams. You have to use a double seam for this. I love the process of hand piecing. There is something therapeutic about hand stitching!

This is how far I got with the piece. I asked Jean who made a few of them how big is a bojagi cloth. She said I can make it as big as I wish, so I will add a few more to make it about 80cm square for this piece.

Last week DS and his family visited. We always love to have them over to stay. My dear grand daughter is almost three. The best imaginable age for a little girl. And you know where I took them? I took DIL and DGD to Ziguzagu! I took them there when she was younger, and she remembers it well. She said that it is a good place for dressing up! Haru who works there kindly let her dress in a baby kimono. Don't you think she looks so very cute?

Can you see the lady bug? I was sitting under the light to do embroidery one night when it landed right on the piece of green velvet. It was very active, but I managed to take this shot.

This spring we are blessed with many wonderful flowers and plants in the botanical garden at my work. I am a walker. I walk whenever I can, sometimes twice a day. I take different routes to make my walk more interesting. It's a large university so there are always lot of students and staff walking around wherever you go. I love it there, thank you universe for letting me work in such a wonderful place.

Don't forget there are still places left in the Japanese Textile Study Tour; if you are interested please contact me. I hope you are all keeping well. Sorry if I have not been visiting regularly lately. I will try to drop by more often en sha la...!

Enjoy

Nat

Fibre Fun Day

2011-10-02T11:06:00.002+11:00

My friend Ayako, Lynda and I were at Geelong Fibre Forum yesterday. It was an open day at the end of a week long fibre forum. It was an exhibition day where you could see what everyone was making in their workshops during the week. I have been there before and still enjoy it every time I visit. A few workshops impressed me including the Ikat weaving by Monique van Nieuwland and Wild knitting - The Tea Cosy by Loani Proir. The trader hall is always interesting. Each year the vendors are from different fibre suppliers. Today I met David Doyle with his indigo fabric, batik and hemp from North of Thailand and a lady trading in Indian embroidery on used saris. I bought small pieces from each of these vendors.

You can also find interesting installations around the venue where the Forum is taking place. This all crocheted bicycle was park in front of the trader's hall. I would love to see DD Kit riding it for her video...

Another installation found in the garden were these two random-weave pears by Basketmakers of Victoria which I am a member of.

The button lady was there as well. She always has amazing buttons. I particularly love these giant wooden buttons. They are great adding to any basket creations. The button lady is also at Camberwell market, Melbourne every Sunday.

These scarves were the result of the Ikat weaving workshop. This is something I'm looking forward to learning on the Japanese Textile Study Tour in April 2012.

Meeting up with Loani was the highlight of my visit today. Loani and I have been blogger friends for quite sometime now. Here is Loani and Ayako posing for me with her tea cosies. For a beginner knitter Ayako did a great job and Loani gave her approval today.

Beautiful spot for a picnic after the Forum, if only it was a lovely day, but today it was cold, windy and not to mention that it rained while we were there too. Thanks to a hot cup of tea that kept Lynda and Ayako's hands warm.

This is the courtyard of Geelong Boy Grammar where the forum took place. A lovely school right on the bay. It was the school that Prince Charles studied in when he was young. He must have been a naughty boy for his parents to send him down under to Australia like they did to the convicts many years ago...!

I'm afraid there is no stitching to show you this week. I actually started on a new project, something blue ha, surprise surprise! Hopefully I might make enough of it to show you next week. Have a great week everyone and thanks again for visiting.

Enjoy

Nat

Something BORO something Blue

2011-09-24T19:00:00.002+10:00

I have posted part of this boro cloth once before, but since then I have added more stitching on different parts of the cloth. I could say this is a true boro cloth, my boro cloth. All fabric used is vintage and even the backing came from an old yukata (cotton kimono) that I ripped apart. This is my first try at boro cloth and I didn't have design in mind. I threw the fabric together and started stitching. My aim was to create a boro cloth and to re-purpose and recycle as much as possible. I believe in giving new life to old cloth - rags to riches.

The more stitches I added to it the more I liked it. I named this cloth Boro Moon because of the many moon pieces I hand dyed and used in the cloth. When I took the photos of it today I thought wow, it has already aged. That's how I wanted it!

I imagine this is how boro cloth was made in the old days. You started with a backing and added larger pieces then you layered the smaller pieces to fill the gaps or used overlapping pieces to make it interesting. I have some plain pieces on there that I stitched over with shashiko designs to make it stronger and more decorative. I will use less stitching on the pieces that already have designs on it.

Collages of stitched blocks. You can double click on the above picture for a close-up view.

Don't you just love this piece of tenugui! It was a piece of indigo fabric I received from Japan. I received a mix of indigo fabric, but this piece jumped out at me when I opened the box. It was only big enough to make a tote-bag. I didn't waste any of it; I even pieced small bits together for the handles. I turned the raw edge on the out side of the bag as a design feature. I only had just enough fabric for the handles so I used the same running stitches on them too. The fabric already has a gorgeous design on it and with some stitches it looks amazing!

Enjoy

Nat

Kit in Sydney and New Blog Found

2011-09-20T21:45:00.002+10:00

I had a quick weekend away to help my daughter Kit moving into her art shop Mini Mart at the Rocks. Kit won a grant and it comes in a form of rent free art shop. If you know Sydney you would know that the Rocks is right by Sydney harbor bridge and up from the Sydney Opera House. We spent Saturday searching for vintage furniture to use as display stands. We found a few of them and some hangers as well. We moved in on Sunday and after three car loads it was all done. I was exhausted by the time I boarded that plane home. I'm glad it is all done for Kit because she doesn't have a car and I was lucky that my friend Myra let me use her car in those two days. Thanks My, you are an Angel!

Kit moved to Sydney after graduating from ANU in Canberra. After 4 years in Sydney I think she now feels Sydney is home for her. I'm proud of Kit. Apart from working as Craft Online Producer for Better Homes and Gardens Magazine, Kit is also very active in the Sydney craft scene. Kit hosts her own Craft Club once a month for anyone interested in joining in and creating. Kit has a blog called Candy Castle

Some of Kit's décor in her apartment. Travel is in our blood so luggage is never too far away!

This is the The Rocks Popup Project Kit won as a grant. It's a shop that she can sell her handmade crafts for 6 weeks right at the Rocks, in Sydney.

Kit's main form of transport in Sydney is her bike. She is very active with Sydney Bicycle Film Festival and was part of the committee last year.

Kit's bed with my scrap quilt that I gave her last Christmas. It goes perfectly with her princes bed!

Kit and I dropped by Bookfest at Sydney University on Saturday. It was a gorgeous day (too hot for me!), but it was fun and I came away with a few vintage craft and quilt books. And I only work in a library myself ha!

Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to a new Blog: Sheila in Sydney Sheila and her family moved to Sydney 3 months ago. Sheila is a textile artist. She found Kit through the Craft Club. They have been friends ever since. Sheila invited Kit and I to dinner at her house on Saturday. It was lovely to meet a new blogger. Please join me in welcoming Sheila to Blogland.

Not many creative projects going on here. I got out of the habit of stitching since returning from Japan. Instead I got the Japanese Textile Study Tour up and running. We are pleased to announce that we only have a few spots left on the tour. If you are thinking of joining the tour please do so soon.

Enjoy

Nat

Blue Spring

2011-09-14T20:17:00.001+10:00

Fibre, textile, weaving, and stitching I strongly believe they are entwined. If you like one thing you like them all. Ask any textile lover if they like baskets and most of the answers will be 'yes'. I have a deep love for basket weaving because my mother was a basket weaver. Unlike today where basket weaving is a hobby or art, in my mother's generation weaving baskets was a necessity. She wove them for household use. Also bamboo was readily available and not to be wasted. She would cut, split and shave bamboo from the beginning to the end. I was very young, but I still remember her soaking long strips of shaved bamboo in the river in front of our home. She made many types of baskets, from containers for storing rice to tiny scoops. I remember she hung them above the open fire wood cooker to catch the smoke. It's supposed to seal and protect the bamboo from bugs.

I started weaving baskets when I first came to live in Victoria, Australia. I had just arrived and didn't work at the time. I was an avid golfer (still love golf, but only on sand). I went to play golf with a friend I met at a car park. Yes I pick up friends from all kinds of places. After the game I was driving out of the golf court when I spotted a sign saying Basketmakers of Victoria. I reversed back and reread it a second time. Yes Basketmakers of Victoria. I went in and a basket making session was on. It was raining and I was covered in mud from the game. I asked them excitedly if I could come along. There were very nice and said yes, but still looking at my dirty boots! For the next 3 years I took every workshop they offered. I loved it so much that I started planting plants I could use in basket weaving. I dyed the plant fibres and had baskets in exhibitions. I mainly make utility baskets. My friends around the world received baskets from me in those few years.

Basket made from recycled materials must be one of my favourite types. Really, basket weaving is a way of recycling what you grow in your garden. The above basket is called basket over a mould. You weave it over a shape made from Styrofoam. I found the strips from the Hanban book publisher in China that were used on book boxes. There was a big pile of them at my work. I found them just in time because an hour later they would have been thrown in the trash! I used red hot poker leaves for weaving. Some of the leaves had been dyed. Dyed sea grass is also used on this basket. After I completed the basket, I added a boro piece of indigo that I just received from Japan. I called this basket boro basket and it measures L-16", H-8" and W-9". It's a Christmas present for a dear friend.

I always tell myself not to have a favourite either in colour or flowers or anything. I like to keep open minded and like everything. Does anyone feel like that? It's strange I know, but that's just me! I do like Wisteria and I like it a lot. I first saw them in Crete. I was on a bus travelling across the island. I saw these beautiful blue flowers draping over an old barn with a red tiled roof. The vine didn't have leaves on it , just the blue flowers. After that moment I was drawn to everything blue. Flowers, cloth and anything that's blue.

Wisteria flowers as you know only last less than a week after it blooms, but to me it is worth it just to enjoy what you love in your garden. This year it surprised me when they bloomed. It started blooming while I was at work one day when I got home bang it hit me. It almost knocked me over with its beauty! If I'm lucky it might last until the weekend.

I would have to say that blue is my favourite colour and Wisteria is my favourite flower! I am still open minded about all the other colours and flowers too. But they will have to try hard to be another one of my favourites!

Enjoy

Nat

9 11: The Event That Changed The World

2011-09-11T12:14:00.003+10:00

9 11, the event that has had a huge impact on the world! Ten years on and it's still in everyone's memory like it happened yesterday. Seeing footage on the television brought back my memory of where I was ten years ago! We were living in the Middle East. It wasn't the best situation to be in. The expatriate community there was uneasy and worried. The school where my children went to had put up a barrack gate and there were armed guards patrolling the school. We didn't know what to think and what to do! We loved living there. I loved the desert landscape; I loved being on the Persian Gulf where the sea was a beautiful shade of turquoise. The men in their crisp white dishdasha, so crisp that you can hear the sound of the well pressed cotton rubbing together when they move, were everywhere. I miss the women with their full length black abayas moving around with no care in the world.

On 9 11 at the time world trade centre got hit I had just come home from work and my children told me that the World Trade Centre had been hit. We had world trade centre in Dubai as well so I thought right, a plane had accidently flown into the building! When I turned on the TV and saw what was really happening I was so shocked and stunned with the unbelievable, horrible, images. We were on top of those buildings only a few months previously while visiting New York on vacation. How could it be possible!

So many things happened following 9 11 and some expatriates left the Middle East fear for their safety. Some American fast food joints got bombs thrown at them. It wasn't a pleasant time, but we didn't leave. I always hoped for the best and worried about my children's education. DD was in her last year at high school and I wanted her to finish school there. Searching the Internet late one night I came upon a call for quilts to commemorate 9 11 that would be exhibited at the Houston's International Quilt Festival in November that year. I always believed in the healing power of quilts. If you are busy creating something for any event, whether it sad or happy, the process of making a quilt helps the healing process. I emailed Karey Bresenhan saying that I would like to make a quilt for it.

I was into printing images onto fabric at that time. So I decided to use the images of 911 for the setting of the quilt. I used Americana fabric I brought back from Houston a few years back as part of the blocks. I was so immersed into making these blocks that I didn't realize how many blocks I had made. The quilt ended up quite large, 77" x 63", I called it One for all and all for one. I got it finished just in time for the festival in Houston in November 2001. They were over 300 entries for that event. In 2002 these quilts travelled to Barcelona for the Europe Quilt Expo and I took my quilt there myself. Watching people viewing my quilt and what they were saying about it was so touching. Many people were in tears seeing the quilts.

A few months later Karey Bresenhan published the book America from the Heart: Quilters Remember September 11, 2001 with all the quilts made for 9 11 in it. All profits from the sale of this book are donated to the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund. 9 11 will always be a bitter sweet memory for me.

Thanks

Nat

Two Japanese Precious Books

2011-09-08T21:59:00.000+10:00

There is benefit in working in a major university library, and one with a Japanese collection is even better! Little things bring joy to my daily life at the library. I love watching the young and energetic students, their energy does rub off on me. They are international students from many countries which makes the place more interesting. My university is located in a big park where I take daily walks and enjoy the garden. I have been trying my photography skills taking photos on my walk. I'm going to share a few with you at the end of this post.

The Japanese books I want to show you today are ones I first saw at Bryan's when I visited Japan earlier this year. I was told that they were out of print. By luck my friend Ayako who was with me is a Japanese librarian. She quickly jotted down the ISBNs as you do if you are a librarian.

Yesterday an envelope landed on my desk and in it were these two books. The one on left is Tanoshii kogire fukuromono by Ueda Seiko and the right is Dogu to koromo by Ueda Seiko. The two brand new books had been catalogued ready for me to borrow them. Small things give joy to my life and this is one of them!

Although they are in Japanese, pictures say a thousand words. And if you are a sewer, a very good sewer can make anything just from looking at the photos. Inside the books are all kinds of bags and some specially made for tea containers used in the Japanese tea ceremony.

I still remember learning many things from Japanese books just by following the photographic instructions. As staff I can borrow unlimited books from the library, but I still want my own copies of some of these books. Ayako told me when I'm next in Japan just go to any good book shop and order them and they will get them for me. So I will do that when I'm there next Spring.

What else is in these books. I found instructions on how to make this sewing caddy. I already have one, but I would like to make more for gifts. As we are going to learn how to make the kumihimo cord on the tour I would be ready to reproduce this caddy easily ha!

I like the idea of using a basket as a base for the caddy. I'm also a basket weaver, so anything made from baskets I do like. Below are some photos I took on my daily walk around my university.

I hope you enjoy my photos. I took them from my iPhone4 and I think the quality is excellent. If you enjoy them please leave me a comment...

Enjoy

Nat

Birthday Giveaways Winner is...!

2011-09-05T22:46:00.000+10:00

After a few days away to visit with my son's family I am now back. It was a quick visit and a long drive, but the trip was worth every minute of it. I had lots of cuddles with my granddaughter and grandson. The most gorgeous babies in the world in Yahya's eyes!

Thanks everyone for entering my Birthday giveaways. Sorry if I didn't respond to any of you this time. I did the draw tonight the old fashion way by printing the names and cutting them up into strips. I then put the strips in this Japanese sewing caddy and got Mr Notjustnat to draw one out. And the winner is...Deanna of Eclectic-Meanderings. Deanna please email me your address so I can post the gifts off to you.

Let me say a little bit about the Japanese sewing caddy. I found this caddy at an antique shop in Kamakura town. I didn't know at the time that the cord on this caddy is called kumihimo, a handmade cord (I posted a bit about it on the above link). The Japanese use kumihimo cords for the bags that are used in the tea ceremony. We will have a chance to learn how to make kumihimo cords in the Japanese Textile Study Tour next April. I'm really looking forward to it.

These are the gifts for you Deanna, a cute bag and the New Kimono book. I hope you will get good use out of them. Thanks for being a good supporter of my blog Deanna. What's now on the blogging front? Oh, I haven't been making many things lately. I have been busy as you know. I'm a co-organizer for the Japanese Textile Study Tour with Bryan of the Japanese Textile Workshops. The tour is coming along very nicely. We only have a couple of spots to fill. Our members are truly International. They are from all over the world. I'm really excited to meet them all. If you are thinking of joining the tour please don't hesitate to contact me.

Enjoy

Nat

my friends love me: birthday giveaways

2011-08-29T19:30:00.001+10:00

I feel so blessed to have wonderful friends. Being a citizen of the world I have friends living around the world. "Good friends are hard to find" so when you find them, keep them for life. My friends love me and I love them right back. I'm a giver and I'm blessed to have wonderful friends I can give to. On my travels I keep telling myself that I'm so lucky to be able to look for just the right gifts for each of my friends. It makes the trip more enjoyable searching for special gifts.

Around my birthday which is now, I do blog-giveaways to thank the universe for another wonderful year. Another way of giving is with KIVA microfinance. I started with KIVA in September 2010 when I wanted to reduce my daily intake of coffee. My aim was to give the coffee money to something worthwhile. I discovered KIVA and it was a perfect place for me to lend my money to. I started with 2 loans and I now have 13 loans. The repayment from the 13 accounts has enabled me to make new loans to other borrowers. If some of you don't know what to do with your spare change, try KIVA...

When I was in Japan recently. I brought back a cute little tot-bag from Arimatsu Shibori Festival to share with you. It's a very cute bag with shibori patches and sashiko stitching on one side and two outside pockets for your phone and keys, or train tickets. I gave a few away as gifts when I first came back, but I kept one for this giveaway.

I bought the New Kimono book after my return from Japan. I recommended this book for the library collection. When it arrived, I had a good look and thought it would be perfect for a giveaways. My friend, the Japanese librarian told me that there are a lot of books on kimonos in Japan, but there aren't many in English. I'm very pleased that I can share it with you. To enter this giveaways, you just need to leave me a comment with a valid email address so I can get in touch with you in case you are the winner. I will post internationally so please enter.

This pile of birthday presents arrived a few weeks before my birthday. I like keeping all my presents to open on my birthday. I get excited as the pile gets bigger. My presents comes from far and wide. It's only a few more sleeps then I can open them. Christmas comes early for me!

Thanks dear friends, you know who you are. I do appreciate everyone remembering my birthday. You are the best!

Thanks also to all my blog readers. I know not all of you leave comments, but I do appreciate you dropping by. I will be away to visit my gorgeous GC next weekend, and when I get back I will do the draw. Monday 5 September is the drawing date.

Good luck and thank you for taking part.

Enjoy

Nat

Welcome to Ziguzagu: In My City

2011-08-21T12:26:00.001+10:00

Welcome to Ziguzagu here in my City of Melbourne. Even if you only have one day to spend in Melbourne a visit to Ziguzagu is a must! Kazari is the parent company of Ziguzagu. They are 3 branches in Melbourne in the Richmond area. Ziguzagu is the warehouse where you can find vintage kimono fabric both in silk and indigo cotton, floor cushions, and bolts of silk for dyeing. The other half of the warehouse is for the restoration of Japanese antique furniture. Being a newcomer to Melbourne, I stumbled onto Ziguzagu by chance when I overheard some ladies talking about it in a gallery. I have been back there so many times since. I got to know everyone who works there in both the warehouse and Ziguzagu. They are so friendly and helpful. I love how they just leave you to roam around all day if you wish. I can easily spend 2-3 hours looking around every time I go there. I rummage through the scrap bins, rolls of vintage kimono fabric and garments spread all over the giant warehouse. To me Ziguzagu has more Japanese kimono fabric under one roof than the whole of Japan. Of course if you are only a visitor to Japan you don't know where other treasures are hiding. I just love the way everything is displayed for easy reach. You have to be able to feel and touch them to appreciate them!

The lovely Kate Collum is one of the ladies who works there 3 days a week including Saturday. Kate has studied textiles at RMIT so she knows a lot about Japanese fabric and textiles. Kate has also studied indigo dyeing, shibori and natural dyes. She is so generous with her textile knowledge. I have learned a lot by just talking to her. I really do believe that textile lovers are the friendliest people. We do speak the same textile language...!

The reception area of Ziguzagu. This is where the newly arrived books and knick knacks are on display. I just realized that I didn't look at the new books when I was there today. That is an excuse to go back there again soon.

This is one of the BORO cloths hanging on the wall. There is more of a collection of BORO cloths here than anywhere else I have seen in Japan! I hope one day I will find my very own BORO cloth from one of the trip to Japan.

Jacky and Lee were searching for just the right piece. You do carry around a few rolls with you while looking. Jacky didn't actually get much this time. You are very restrained today Jacky. The fabric on display is colour coordinated in these lovely baskets as well.

This basket is full of indigo and shibori fabric. I would have happily brought home everything in there (sigh)....!

There is quite a selection of vintage kimonos and yukatas for you to choose from. I did all my kimono shopping a few years ago. I bought a couple of hoaries which I wear often over my jeans.

Trust Lee our stylist interior decorator spotted a set of three framed pieces of vintage indigo fabric. Before we were even halfway through our search she was already walking back to the car with them. Lee even has a wall waiting at home for them. It's handy having a clever builder as a husband.

As you enter the warehouse there is an information table on the left and on there the lovely Kate has kindly displayed the Japanese Textile Study Tour brochures for us. Thanks Kate your help is really appreciated here. BTW Kate, you look cool in that outfit. The indigoish blue scarf looks great on you!

After a couple of hours at Ziguzagu we headed to Kazari Cafe only 5 mins drive from there. I had made a booking for Jacky, Lee and I to have a delicious Japanese lunch. We have heard that there is a new chef, Toshio Aihara with 20 years experience in Japanese cuisine, so we couldn't wait to try his food. I will have to continue about Kazari Cafe in the next post. Thanks for visiting and I would love to hear from you.

Enjoy!

Nat

Felting Workshop and PO Bags Trading

2011-08-14T12:30:00.001+10:00

I had a fabulous time at felting workshop today with Elizabeth Armstrong at the Studionfelter I had felted before years ago and love the feel of felt. Today we did nuno felting. Nuno felting is a technique worked over cloth. I used a piece of silk I found in a bargain bin at the Geelong Fibre forum years ago. I'm glad I've finally got to use it.

I didn't have a preconception of what I was going to make today. I just let the day take me. I knew I wanted to use the whole piece of silk and to use the wool I already have. I started putting in some stitches around the motives. I hope to do all of them. This is not a scarf, it's large enough to use as shawl. I'm glad because I don't actually own a shawl. It's still cold here so I might get to use it this year!

I would like to show you the reverse side of it. It's a piece of silk and it's now married to the wool and felted together into one. It's magic how felting works. Love it, love it...!

This is the wall of Studiofelter. What delicious colours on the wall and all the gorgeous felted pieces on the shelf next to it. Elizabeth does beautiful work using felting technique. I now remembered where I've seen her work before. Her work had been published regularly on Cloth Paper Scissors and Quilting Arts magazines.

Here is Elizabeth and Jacky posing just for me. Sorry Dot your photo didn't turned out well and I hate posting bad photo. I will make it up to you Dot (with more indigo fabric, maybe!). Ladies, thanks for a great day! I think I'm hooked and I will be back!

Here is Jacky with her masterpiece. Jacky worked on a more precise patterns on hers scarf. I would try something like this on my next piece. The result was stunning. You have to check her blog for photos of the finished pieces.

Now for my post bag trading. You know social networks work wonders for me. Yes, I know I spend far too much time posting, chatting and sharing on the world wide web, but I just love meeting people from all walks of life. On my blog post about Japanese parcel bags a friend on Facebook commented that she has two Dutch post bags. I have two Japanese post bags too! So I asked if she would be happy to trade one with me. She took a photo of her bags and had already seen mine on my blog. We agreed, and the trading took place.

These are her two bags. I even had a choice which one I would like. I choose number 87 because it has the three colour bands across it. My bags (yes I send her an extra surprise) arrived and she was happy with the bags and a piece of indigo fabric from Japan that I dyed myself.

Not all is lost on social networks. I even feel that it will take over blogging eventually. On social networks you don't have to spend hours writing, uploading photos and continually coping with how to use new features of the software that Blogger and other blogging providers adopt from time to time, often without warning. Social networking software on the other hand is simple to use, fast and fun...Lately I have been enjoying the forums put out by different art and craft groups that are just as interesting as following blogs. So let's wait and see which one will survive longer out there in the world wide web!

Please visit: Japanese Textile Study Tour blog!

Turn Passion into Life

2011-08-08T21:01:00.000+10:00

After returning from my first trip to Japan in 2010. I was rambling about Japan here for a long time. My friend Kaite said "you should take a tour to Japan". She also said "you turn passion into life". She was so right and she planted a seed in my head about taking a tour to Japan ever since.

As you know I went back to Japan earlier this year. While I was there the seed that Kaite planted sprouted (it must be indigo seed!). I met Bryan the owner of the Japanese Textile Workshops. From that meeting we agreed to join forces and offer the tour Japanese Textile Study Tour in Spring, 2012. I won't bother you with all the tour details here, instead I've set up a tour blog called Japanese Textile Study Tour. The tour brochure is also being launched today as well. If you want to know more please visit the blog by clicking on the link above or the tour banner below:

This is a unique one-of-a-kind tour. There are only 10 places in the tour and 3 are already taken so if you are interested don't hesitate to contact me, or leave me a comment with a valid email address, and I will get back to you...!

Handmade and Homemade

2011-08-06T17:14:00.003+10:00

The question I get asked often about my eco-dye fabric is, what are you going make with it? People with the same passion about eco and natural dyes understand that, it's not the fabric we want, it's the challenge of what colour we get from certain plants that drive us to experiment with the different plants. The excitement and participation before you unwrap the bundles is nearly as good as having Belgium chocolate melt in your mouth! Dyeing my own fabric has always been my passion. Years ago I started dyeing with Procion reactive dyes and that got me hooked to dyeing. Since I discovered eco dyeing I would never go back to using chemical dyes again. Of course natural dyes don't give you the bright pinks, yellows or reds. Instead you get the colour of the desert dunes with brown, golden, sand, silvery gray and pale yellow. I'm now content with the colour and patterns I get from natural dyes and I love it...!

I signed up for another of Jude Hill's online workshop 'magic diaries'. I have been very busy lately so I haven't been following the lessons as closely as I should. The idea of magic diaries is to build on what you already started. I have two small cloths I made earlier. With those two cloths I added dyed fabrics and built up to a large cloth. I have used invisible basting ready for quilting. The colour and patterns on the cloth are made by me. I called this cloth "I Heart Nature".

A weekend at home dyeing. On my daily walk I try my hardest not to pick any plants along the way, but sometimes I just can't resist. I have two favorite eucalyptus trees that I keep an eye on to make sure that the gardeners don't accidentally cut them down. That day I only picked a few bottom branches. I threw in a few oak leaves for good measure.

These bundles are a family. Can you see father, mother, the twins and the grandmother in front? They are all dressed up ready for bed.

And this is the family sleep-over. I have to wait to next week to unwrap the bundles and see what colour the family bundles give us!

The result are here after a week of family sleeping over! I really agree with India that the result of the dyed had a lot to do with the water you used. We have had so much rain this year that all the moisture the tree absorbed translate into brilliant colour! Thanks Mr Rain, come again any day!

The whole family got unwrapped and rinsed. They are now hanging together to dry. They are so red I need sunglasses to look them straight! I did experiment with scrunching them instead of rolled in this batch. The effected is interesting!

Now for something homemade! When I got back from Japan my so called ornamental olive tree was full of olives. It is only three years old, but it produced so many olives that all the branches were droopy because of the weight of the fruit. I love all types of olives, but had never preserved them myself. To have my own home grown olives I thought it was time I learned to preserved them. I got a good instructions from Youtube. I looked at a few different methods and combined them into one.

After a couple of weeks in the brine the olives were ready to bottle. I picked them twice, the first time when they were still green. After a few weeks they turned darker. I have used different herbs in each jars. Some with only a piece of lemon, some with chilli, and some with thyme and bay leaves.

I have got more than a dozen jars of preserved olives from one single tree. I'm so thrilled. I have given some away to friends who I know love olives. Some will be taking to DGD, I know she loves olive just like her Yah Ya...!

I don't know where the days have gone since I came back from my trip to Japan. Before the trip I was counting so much for it to happen, but when I got there I wanted the time to just stay still so I could stay longer. It's now August, the month of my birthday and the month I do blog giveaways. I got something for you that I brought back from Japan. So come and enter on the last week of August. There will be an exciting announcement in my next post so please come back for that as well....!

Do you have FAD (Facebook Addiction Dependency!)? I don't know if I got it or not!!!

Japanese Parcel Post

2011-07-30T12:42:00.006+10:00

It took a bit of time for me to get out of writing about my Japan journey. Thanks for your lovely comments. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I keep remembering things I didn't include in the journal, but there is always a next time.

I haven't done much in terms of stitching. I did make a couple bags for gifts. For those of you who have been reading my blog for a while would know that I'm a rag-to-riches, re-purpose, recycling person, and most of all a hoarder! The bags I'm showing you today are close to my heart. I made them from a recycled Japanese parcel post bag.

For years I have saved this Japanese parcel post bag to make something! That 'something' opportunity arrived a few weeks ago when I was looking to make a few gifts. One for DS's birthday, and the other one is for a dear friend who appreciates something boro and handmade.

Japanese books come in cardboard boxes and the box goes in this parcel post sack when they are shipped to us. It's a very strong sack with double layers on the bottom part of the sack. It's in military green colour. It has very strong leather belt to go around the neck. Loving anything old, boro and vintage these bags are ready to turn into something!

And here they are, the two postman bags made from the sack. I didn't wash the sack before I cut it up. I like the boro (old and used) look about them. The sack had been carrying around parcels who knows for how long before it got to me!

One bag by itself showing the little bit of lining.

Both bags hanging from the long handles. The handles are long enough to go across the shoulders. The way a postman carries it. They are very strong bags made for men. The logo on the left bag is the Japanese Post Office official logo. The C on the right bag could mean copyright ha!

The lining made from woolen suit fabric found in a thrift store. It's brown with white pin stripes. I made the inside pocket with the same fabric. There is also printing under the flap.

This is the back view of the bag with the word Japanese on it. There are some tears that need fixing. I did the darning before I gave them away. I still have a few more sacks left to make bags for myself or more gifts.

One sack is big enough for two bags with flaps and one tote-bag. I tried to keep the printing on both bags. I'm so thrilled to be able to re-purpose something that otherwise would be discarded.

There are lots of advantages working in a library. I learned book binding there because I didn't like seeing dust jackets get thrown away. I dyed twines that had been wrapped around some books that were sent from India.

There are a whole lot of books coming through everyday on every subject especially Japanese craft and art books. If I did not work there I would have missed out a whole lot of good books.

What I'm saying here is, it doesn't matter what you do, do it with passion. My latest passion has to be photography with my iPhone4. I take a daily walk at the campus where I work. Apart from listening to great walking music. I challenge myself to capture the artistic images through my lens. I have post them up on my FB page and the responses from friends are very encouraging, thank you!

Japanese Hospitality

2011-07-23T17:35:00.001+10:00

This is my last Japan Journal. It's going to be a little sad for me to stop writing about my wonderful trip to Japan. I cannot leave without telling you about Japanese hospitality. The Japanese take hospitality very seriously and they do it to perfection. I was totally humbled to get treated so well and looked after by everyone I visited. I read a little bit about Japanese hospitality in the journal Nipponia before I went this time so I took care to notice the way they go about doing things to serve you. I had the advantage to travel with Ayako, my student and friend. I asked her many questions about their culture in the two weeks we were together.

Japan is a nation of gift giving. Giving is a strong part of Japanese culture. The history of giving goes back a long way in Japanese history. The art of Japanese wrapping and packaging we see and admire today is part of their giving culture. The gift giving culture is so strong that when you go shopping for gifts the shop assistant would packs extra bags with your purchase so when the time comes for you to give the gifts away you would have a fresh bag to put them in! I always admire my Japanese friends with their brand new bags and I thought, how do they keep the bags so fresh looking? Now I know! On the flip side of this I thought they must use so much raw material to produce so much gift packaging and bags, but the Japanese recycling system is the best in the world. More on Japanese recycling some other time...!

Sorry I went of subject here, but I feel that the art of giving is part of the Japanese hospitality. In this post I would like to pay tribute to my host families for taking care of me, feeding me, taking me places and teaching me their crafts.

If you stay at a Ryokan (Japanese Inn) you will be welcomed by the O-kami (Japanese Inn landlady) with a gracious smile. The moment the O-kami sees you she will be calculating your size in her head so she can give you the right yukata to use while you are staying there.

This is an old Japanese home built from wood and paper lining. Japanese houses don't always have walls around them, but this one was quite close to town, and I think the walls help keep the passers by at bay. I just love the trees and bushes in Japan. Back at home I would have to visit a Japanese garden to see these trees, but here Japanese gardens are everywhere!

Once inside the genkan you must remove your shoes. It is best to arrange them with the toes facing the door. Most shoes were facing the right direction in the photo above. It pays to wear slip-on shoes when visiting Japanese homes.

I had a chance to visit local artists Mr and Mrs Watanabe in Shiga prefecture. The husband and wife team. Mr Watanabe is a wood artist and Mrs Watanabe is a painter. They opened the house/studio to welcome me. They showed me around and by chance I spotted the photo of Fuji-San with the moon rising from behind. I thought it was a painting she did, but no it wasn't. It was a real photo Mr Watanabe took himself on the last trip to Fuji-San. I was so entranced by that photo that I promised myself to go there and see the moon rise over Fuji-San in person one day!

You might wander what this pile of fabric is. This pile of fabric is vintage kimono silk given to me by the artist above. She had them for so long and was happy to find a home for them. She did not only invite me to her home. She gave me something she knows I love and collected.

I stayed at the Hattas in Shiga for 5 days. Every day Tomiko-san arranged for me to visit locals artists. I visited an indigo artist, an Italian cook, a graphic designer, a painter and on the fifth day we stayed home and visited Tomiko's pottery studio. Tomiko has been a potter for more than 30 years. She has exhibitions twice a year in different cities in Japan. Every two years she and her artists friends put on an exhibition at their home. When I left, Tomiko gave me 6 pieces of her pottery. They are such treasures to me...

Everyone I met opened their home to me. I had Japanese tea and a tour at this beautiful cozy home.

I had a dip in the indigo vats in this old home. I can see now that he has ten indigo vats! Sadly Someori-San doesn't have anyone to inherit the indigo business after him. The indigo business has been in his family for the last 500 years. He will have to give it up when he is too old to manage it.

I was taken to this country inn for lunch on our way to visit the Watanabe family. We had the most beautiful set meal. Only 20 sets are made per day. All the produce came from their own farm including eggs and milk. We had delicious sweet potato ice cream after lunch.

I visited the private gallery of the Masuda family who are graphic designers. This couple makes modern art. They use modern technology to produce their work. They get a lot of commission work from private business. They are both cats lovers and have many cats.

At the Japanese Textile Workshops I was shown how to wind silk yarn on the traditional wheel.

Here are Ayako (left) her sister Noriko and Katsu Noriko's husband. This young couple married two years ago. I knew them well from the wedding photos Ayako showed me. I also helped Ayako made their wedding journals. They are both very sweet. Both of them took a day off to take me out for a day. We went boating in the Tokyo river not too far from their home. The memorable experience for me would have to be the home style onsen (Japanese bath) I had every evening. Noriko here would run me a bath and just as I was about to enter the bathroom she stopped me and switched on the most relaxing music I have ever heard!

Mr Hatta took us out to a Thai dinner on my last night in Tokyo. Noriko and Katsu found the most famous Thai restaurant in Rappongi (the nightlife district). I must tell you something about Katsu. Katsu at this moment is in London. He was sent by his company to select chocolate for next Valentines Day. He works for the Matsuzakaya Department store in Tokyo. Katsu was a football star in his youth and I suppose he knows what women like in chocolate!!!

Last but not least, Tomiko and I at the sushi train restaurant. I had so much sashimi that night, they thought I would be sick the next day, but I wasn't.

I really enjoyed staying with the Hattas. They are an example of the best in Japanese hospitality. All good things have to come to the end. I have enjoyed reminiscing about my trip. Thank you so much for your comments and interest.

My blog also reached 100,000 hits this week. I must say I'm very proud to get to where I am. When I started this blog just over two years ago I wouldn't have thought that anyone would read what I write. Blogging is like an indigo vat, you have to feed it to get the best result!

Natural Dyes: Japan and After

2011-07-15T21:53:00.001+10:00

I've read somewhere on India Flint's blog about dyeing on the move. Before I left for Japan I packed some vintage kimono silk to take with me to dye. I didn't expect to have the opportunity to do much dyeing on the trip, but I took it anyway. Sometime preparing is as much fun as the trip itself. In my case I had fun before, during and after the trip! Read on and you will see some of the dyeing I did on my trip.

The first day on the tour we stopped at a small town called Kiryu in Gunma. Our guide told us about a small natural dye shop. In his opinion the shop was small, untidy and hippy-like, but when we arrived and met with the so called hippy who owns the shop I was speechless. He was so cool and full of character. In his excitement to have 18 foreigners mostly women in his small shop he told us about his natural dyeing process and how he discovered the way to stop the colour fading after it dyed. Of course we didn't understand a thing he said. We got it translated to us by the guide and I don't know how much was lost in translation!

I didn't care what he said I was mesmerized by the man and his shop! It was small and untidy as I was told, but I like untidy shops. They mean bargain-able...!

At home you would think these were spice jars. But these jars contain all kind of dye samples. Apart from the samples in the jars there were bags and bags of dyeing material all over the floor and when I had a peek behind the noren into the back room I found more bags of dye stuff there too. So cool!

This is part of his shop. He had an old weaving loom sitting right in the middle of the precious space of his shop. Lots and lots of handmade items and yarns for sale. The highlight for me would have to be the man himself! Oh, I did get some silk yarn for dyeing!

When we visited the silk museum also in Gunma we had a chance to dye. The workshop was part of the silk museum. At home I have a dye pot in the corner of my laundry, but here there was a purpose-built kitchen for dyeing. The two stainless steel tables can be adjusted to suit your height. On one end of the table there was a sink with hot and cold running water and the cookers were at the other end of the room. In the photo above the teacher was telling us what to do (in Japanese).

I was so busy dyeing during the workshop that I didn't get to take any action photos. Precious time dyeing with 17 other tour mates! Above is the result of our dyed scarves. The yellow and green one is mine. It was a two-step dyeing process. First in sappanwood (?) dye solution then shibori and dipped in iron or alum mordant to get the green or purple. We only had two choices of dyes that day. Pomegranate and sampanwood.

I had a chance to have a photo taken with the lovely ladies volunteering that day. They were so lovely and polite. They didn't pull their hair out working with the noisy tourists. I would have...!

We had lunch with them afterward. All the volunteer ladies were specialized in different dyeing techniques. They were doing a lot of batik dyeing. This lovely lady was showing us a beautiful scarf she made. She told me she dyed the silk dress she was wearing too. Very impressive.

Now for my dyeing adventure during the trip. It started off at the Narita Hilton. I used some used green tea bags provided in our room. I emptied two or three bags on the wet silk rolled up tightly with rubber bands and stored them in a Ziploc bag. All the other bundles consisted of leaves found along the way. I finally found white vinegar at a 7-eleven the following week. After that the bundle with vinegar did smell like pickles in the hotel room! These ziplock bags were in my luggage for 3 weeks and I had to unwrap and wash the silk before I left Japan.

Here are the result of my dyed silk. They weren't brilliant, but I had fun in the process. I also kept my tour mates amused looking out for dyes stuff for me. One of them risk her life and steal mulberry leaves from Tomioka Silk Mill for me! I have a feeling that next time some of them travel they would be dyeing too! Thanks India for yet another expert tip on dyeing.

These are the silks I dyed since my return to Australia. You can see I was influenced by the Japanese dyeing method shibori. I love the soft colour I got. From the left I used: privet berries, camellia flowers, more privet berries and the last one on the right is winter oak leaves with iron mordant.

The first batch I dyed after my return. I got a bit of post Japan blues when I first got back so I dived into dyeing to get over my blues and it worked. I got grays instead of blues hehe!

Mr Notjustnat was pruning the neighbor's bush coming over our wall. I didn't know what it was at the time. He told me I should try dyeing with them. I asked Mr Google what they were and got the answer right away that these are privet berries.

I packed the berries between two layers of silk and smashed the berries to pulp. Rolled and steamed them for about an hour. The result is what you see above.

The best natural dye session I did had to be indigo dyeing at the Japanese Textile Workshops. It still seemed like a dream to me that I was dyeing there. Indigo dye was the one thing I really wanted to do in Japan and my wish was granted just a few days before I left.

Apart from the beautiful roses prominently placed at either side of the front door, the indigo vat has a pride of place there as well. The same afternoon we were there one of Bryan's students was there to join in with indigo dyeing. I think she had much more fun dyeing and practicing her English with us than her usual lesson.

My Japan journal is almost coming to the end. The next post will be the last of my Japan journal and it will be on Japanese hospitality. It's something close to my heart and I want to share it with you. Blogging about it is the way to thank everyone in Japan who went to great lengths to ensure that I had a good time while visiting their country. Don't miss it!

Japan Shopping Expedition

2011-07-08T21:15:00.001+10:00

When I travel I always throw in some shopping expeditions to make the trip more interesting. Shopping is part of the fun of travelling. You get to see what is available locally. If I get a chance I like to visit local markets and supermarkets as well. I enjoy seeing what the local markets have to offer. Some markets are a real treasure trove too.

I did do a bit of homework before I went to Japan. I learned that there are markets in every city in Japan. Generally both fresh food and general markets are joined together in the same location. I went to the markets in Osaka, Kamakura, Nogoya and a few in Tokyo including Sugamo street market which the locals call the 'oldies' market, and Nippori Textile Town in Tokyo. The markets I wish to visit next time are the shrine markets at Toji and Kitano in Kyoto on the 21st and 25th of each month.

There are lot of photos to share again in this post. I will keep the writing to a minimum. Usually pictures tell all. Enjoy and thanks again for reading my Japan journal.

I was at the vintage kimono shop Komehyo in Nagoya. The shop was part of a market. There were all types of kimono there. I couldn't choose which one to get. I was looking for silk jacket (hoary) and not too expensive. I finally found one.

More full length kimonos on display. It was a hard choice to make. I had to narrow my choices by price, kind of fabric, colour and the space I had left in my luggage! They were just beautiful to look at even though I couldn't bring them all back.

You would find sweet treat and knic knack shops everywhere in Japan. This one sells old fashion candy and sweets. My friends told me she used to buy them when she was at school. I'm glad they still make the old fashion sweets instead of sweets you get these days.

A supermarket in Shiga where my friend's family shops. I spotted durian on the shelves. Durian is a famous Thai's fruit. I was surprised it is sold in Japan.

It was our last day in Osaka and Ayako and I both love markets so what better place to spend on our last day. We found nice snacks stalls and tried most of them. Having Ayako to explain what they all are helped a lot. Half of Osaka is built underground in and around train stations. It was a good thing too because it rained for most of the week I was in Osaka.

A friendly shopkeeper in Nappori. I got chatting with him and found that he came from Isfahan, Iran. I have been to Isfahan, so we got talking and reminisced about what we remember in Isfahan. His shop sells braid of every kind and leather supplies.

The antique sewing caddy made with cane base and fabric body and draw string. I have seen them before, but didn't know that they were used as a sewing caddy. I love the idea so much I bought a book on how to make them. The second book is on quilts made from recycled and vintage kimonos.

If you haven't heard of sakabukuro before this might be interesting for you. Sakabukuro is a bag used to filter out the remaining sediment of the fermented rice sake brew. The bag was first dyed with kakishibu (persimmon dye). I found a good link if you want to read further.

My friend's mother had a bag made from sakabukuro that I fell in love with. She told me what it was and that it was hard to find these days. When I was at Arimatsu Shibori Festival one of the ladies told me she had some and would bring them the next day. I got two from her and I cut one up and made two bags from it. I will keep the other one to use as display on the wall.

Shibori tote bags found at the "shotengai" in Nagoya. These are cotton bags and they are natural dyed. I could have easily bought one in every colour, but space in the luggage was the problem again!

These cute little bags were as common as paper bags. They can be used for anything like tissue napkins, glasses, cosmetics, jewelry, cameras, you name it. They are great little gifts from Japan.

The photos below are of fabric I brought back. Some of them are new, but most of them are vintage in both cotton and silk. I'm looking forward to using them in my online workshop starting next week.

Some silk products I found on the tour. I hope to make magic thread out of the cream and blue yarns, but first I have to wind them onto bobbins before I can ply them on my spinning wheel. A long process, but it shouldn't be too hard.

I really enjoyed writing about my shopping expedition today. I do miss these places and wish I was walking through them again right now! I hope I haven't bored you with my ramblings. Travelling is one big book of knowledge. To think that before this trip to Japan I didn't know anything about kakishibu, the natural dye that has been used for 100's of years. I feel that there is a right time for everything.

I'm glad to hear that you have enjoyed reading my Japan journal so far. Don't miss out my next post on natural dyes.

Arimatsu Shibori Festival

2011-06-30T22:47:00.001+10:00

Arimatsu Shibori Festival was one of the highlights of my trip to Japan. The festival happens annually on the first weekend in June. It was luck or good planning as it happens that my friend Ayako and I were on our way to Tokyo that weekend. We stopped in Nagoya which is only 25 minutes by local train to Arimatsu. We stayed for two nights in a ryokan. I thought I knew a lot about Shibori and even took a workshop on Shibori techniques, but what I saw at the festival was amazing! As soon as we stepped out from the train station we saw the street lined with every kind of Shibori from children outfits, umbrellas, hats, shirts, fabric, kimonos etc... I spent both days at the festival and enjoyed every minute of my visit there.

They were demonstrations of different Shibori techniques by the lovely ladies, the same ladies I saw on a YouTube video. It was exciting to see their work in person! For a small fee you can make Shibori yourself and dye it right there. Both indigo and natural dyes were available for us to use.

On my second day I came across these adorable boys enjoying the icy crust on the side of the road. I asked their mother permission for a photo. You got to love them in Shibori outfits. How very cute!

The map of the Festival was posted at the beginning of the street. It's mainly one long street with lanes going off each side. You have to be so careful not to miss any of the activities that are there.

It was a very hot day and everyone seemed to be queuing to buy umbrellas. No I didn't get one even though I was so hot that day!

These are only some of the things made from Shibori fabric. The Shibori fabric used in clothing is very stylish. I love the jacket on the right.

This stall sells all natural dye items dyed by the lady next to me. I only bought the one I was wearing. I would have bought everything from that stall if I had more $$$!

Abundant Shibori fabric for sale. You have to get the whole bundle when you buy. They do not cut them per yard at this shop.

Some kimono displayed in front of a famous house that once used to be a prime Shibori producer.

I met Yoshiko Wada there. She is the author of the 'Shibori' book and the founder of World Shibori Network. She took a tour there. She is well known at the Festival. She asked if she knew me, I told her yes we are friends on 'facebook'!

Rack full of Shibori garments. I did buy a very cool hat from there. I will show it off on my next post under shopping.

These were the show pieces being displayed at the Shibori Center where all the demonstrations were taking place. They were really gorgeous up close.

I did say it was a hot day. I normally carry a hat, but silly me, I've left it in my luggage at the hotel so the Shibori scarf came in handy as a head scarf! With me is Shizuka Ayako's friend from Melbourne. Shizuka now lives in Hiroshima.

I want to show you this photo of the lovely lady tying the Shibori at the speed of lightning! Can you see how my camera couldn't focus on her hand, because her hands were moving so fast!

This little stall tucked away almost at the end of the street was the place I bought my Sakabukuro and boro pieces from. I went back to the Festival for a second day just to pick up the Sakabukuro she brought for me. I didn't have enough Japanese Yen, but she kindly accepted my Australian dollars for it.

Here is more Shibori fabric on display at the various venues on the street.

If you ask me, was the trip to Arimatsu Shibori Festival worth it? Yes, it worth every cent I spent to get there. I cannot tell you how I felt just being there! Walking among the lovely crowd of people who love the same thing as I do 'Shibori'. The Festival was well run and highly organized. Yes I will go back again next time I'm in Japan.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my Japan journal so far. I'm glad I could share it with you. Reflecting on my visit in this blog freshens up my memory of everything I did there.

I got a lovely compliment from a Japanese lady about my Japan journal. This is what she said: I read your blog. It is well organized and it made me smile since I understood a lot. I am very impressed the way you captured beauty of Japan. I'm so delighted to get such a compliment.

Don't miss the next installment of my journal. It's going to be on 'shopping in Japan'....!

Silk Study Tour

2011-06-24T20:56:00.000+10:00

Japan is still fresh in my mind! The Silk Study Tour I took at the beginning of my trip though seems further away. I spent the first 10 days of my trip with a group of ladies and a gentleman on the tour. I had a good time and met up with my friend Elizabeth Fortes whom I met in one of the online workshops. I now call her my online dating partner. I've also met two other wonderful friends, Janet Wright and Elisabeth Mclaughlin whom I hang out with on the tour. Of course there were 13 other wonderful people on the tour too.

The tour was action packed with silk related activities. As I'm not a very technically minded person, some of the facts about silk production went straight over my head. As part of the tour we spent a day with a group of talented Japanese ladies doing natural dyeing and another session with an indigo artist Sato-San. We didn't get to dip in Sato-San's indigo vat, but we did have fun shopping at her studio.

Group photo taken at Tomioka Silk Mill. Having a group photo was one of the routines we did on the tour. The lovely lady sitting down was showing us how to reel silk from the cocoons onto a spool the way they used to do in the olden days. Please take time to visit the above link and read how an effort is being made to get the Tomioka Silk Mill listed as a World Heritage site. They need our support.

A sack of silk cocoons at one of the factories. If I remember correctly they were naturally dyed. To think that silk yarn and fabric come from these cocoons is mind blowing! Each cocoon contains about 1000 meters of yarn.

The Japanese ladies sorting the cocoons for size and inspecting for imperfections before feeding them into the machine for reeling. I do love the look of the pure white cocoons. They are using the cocoons to make all kind of toys, key rings, mobile phone rings, Christmas ornaments etc...!

This is a complicated machine responsible for reeling the silk from the cocoons onto the spools. The process was explained to us in detail. Unfortunately it was too technical for me to share with you here correctly.

Spools of silk yarn removed from the machine. The yarn is shinny and fine. This is top quality silk.

These spools were from more modern machines.

The presentation and a Japanese theme evening. As part of the tour a Japanese theme dinner was put on for us. We got to dress in Yukata provided by the Ryokan (Japanese Inn). The Yukata is the cotton kimono that you can wear anywhere in the Inn. It looks very smart, but be warned to remember your friends by their faces because everyone looks exactly the same wearing one of these!

The Haori jackets were also provided by the Inn. While everyone else turned up in Yukata we opted to wear these red Haori over our black dresses instead. From left Elizabeth Fortes, Elisabeth Mclaughlin, moi and Janet Wright. I think we looked like we were ready to party! BTW, we called ourselves the 'Silk Sisters'.

On a different night Elizabeth and I were hosting a party of our own in the room. We decorated the table using the vintage fabric we bought that day. There were always some nuts and Japanese sweets left for us in the room. We really had a fun evening.

Of course don't forget the sake. This is only a tiny bottle of sake enough for one serve. I think we had green tea provided in the room for the rest of the evening.

I thought I will share the back of the jacket with you. It was worn by the nice lady who showed us how to reel the silk from the cocoons in the group photo above. She patched her jacket with boro style patches. It looked cool!

Here is the back of my boro moon jacket. I did get to wear it a few times. I got quite a bit of attention every time I wore it. It was raining that day, hence the umbrella.

This is a giant silk wall hanging I found in the hotel's foyer. I was told that the silk was naturally dyed. I think some was indigo dyed as well.

Our visit was mentioned in the local newspaper. I think we were at Tomioka Silk Mill when this photo was taken. Our guide translated into English for us. It was quite a thrill to be recognized by the local press in Japan.

Thanks for reading about my trip to Japan. I try to fit each topic into one post. I will post the rest of the photos on my Flickr. I will let you know once I've done that. The following posts from my trip will cover shopping, the Shibori festival, Japanese food, natural dyes and I might fit in onsens (Japanese bath) and Japanese hospitality . Hope you enjoy reading my journal of Japan...!

Spiritual Japan

2011-06-19T11:35:00.002+10:00

When you are in Japan you can't help but feel the spirit of the place. In the past when I traveled I either visited churches, cathedrals, temples or shrines because of their architectural beauty, or to view gardens which are also very beautiful. This time I actually wanted to visit some shrines and temples in Japan to pray and make wishes.

I visited many temples and shrines on this trip. When I entered these sacred places I just let myself relax and let all my senses absorb everything around me. As a visitor you want to do the right thing. A few things you must do is wash hands before you pray. To enter you would have to remove your shoes. In some places they provide you with a clean plastic bag to put your shoes in. You carry it with you so that your shoes do not get mixed up with others. Also if you want to exit from another door you would have your shoes with you ready to exit.

The entrance of Nezu Shrine in East Tokyo. A 300 year old Shinto shrine built using the Gongen-style architecture. You can read more about it here

There are usually bridges outside the gate of a shrine. This bridge was just outside of the gate of Nezu shrine above. Notice the beautiful garden beyond. In the water there are goldfish and baby turtles. My friend Ayako was sure there were plastic turtles until one decided to jumped from the rock!

These red Torii gates are the famous symbols of the Nezu shrine. Red means good luck in Japan so walking through these red Torii should brings us a lot of luck!

The big Buddha at Kamakura, the seaside town South of Tokyo. Kamakura is the home of our tour guide Hirata-San. It was an optional visit after the tour ended. I'm glad I went because the little town of Kamakura was really cute and of course to see the big Buddha was special.

The cloud was part of the base of the big Buddha. It is made of copper. You will see a lot of cloud images used in Japan.

The red bride was also from Kamakura. This red is a special red, if I remember it is called Chinese red (why not Japanese red!). You will see this red used in most temples or shrines in Japan.

This shrine was the local shrine where my friend and her family visit. It was only a few minutes drive from their home. She goes there every time she is back in Japan.

These are wishing tablets. You can purchase them in a small shop in every shrine or temple for only small amount. I think this one is a marriage wishing tablet. If I'm wrong please let me know...!

More of the wishing tablets are left at the shrine. My friend told me that they are like fortune cards. If it doesn't turn out well you leave them behind. I will check with her on Monday and will update this if I'm wrong.

You can also find these in every shrine and temple too. These are sake barrels. The Japanese need sake or rice wine for their ceremonies and festivals. Each barrel contains about 20 liters of sake. They are big!

Chozuya, water scoops are in every shrine and temple. You have to wash your hands when you enter shrines. You wash from left hand to right outside of the well. Just before you finish fill the scoop and wash the handle before you put it back in place. You can drink the water from the well too. Chozuya comes in many shapes and styles. These one made of copper. They normally have long handles on them.

This one is interesting. I only saw it once at my friend's local shrine. It translates as "bad luck board". It is located at the entrance of the shrine. If your age is displayed on there you have to enter the shrine and pray. You also need to get yourself something colourful to wear. If your parents found your age on this board they would give you something colourful. The board changes at the beginning of each year. My age is not on there- guess I'm lucky!

The view from the outside of the red Torii gates at Nezu shrine. I hope you enjoy reading about different aspects of shrines in Japan. It might not mean much to you now, but if you do visit Japan one day (I hope you do) you would know what to look for. Before my first visit to Japan last year I read many blogs and websites and indeed it helped me a lot. I even found the textile market in Tokyo! I went back there again this time too. Will show what I got from there in a later post.

Blue Heaven

2011-06-14T21:58:00.007+10:00

How was it, how was my trip to Japan? I can hear you are all asking! It was amazing trip. It was well worth the wait, the worry and anxiety. I'm glad I didn't cancel the trip. Many caring people were asking me how was the situation in Japan. I didn't notice anything different in the people. From what I saw on the television the people of Fukushima are well care for from the Japanese government. They are very brave and courageous people and they will come through this. Many of them were worried about me being there so soon after the disaster.

I don't know where to begin. I thought the tour was amazing, but better things were yet to come. I will just have to blog whatever come into my mind. I will be talking about my trip for a long long time so hope you wouldn't get bore hearing about it.

OK, my first post is about Blue Heaven. Blue in this case represents indigo blue. I had three chances to visit the indigo artists. First one was with the tour. The second one was arranged by my host family, and the last one I was invited.

Can you imagine a better looking sitting room? A comfy chair with an indigo cloth thrown over the back! A book in your hand and you can spend the afternoon there. This is the sitting room in the Japanese Textile Workshops studio.

These two pieces of Shibori were pre-prepared before we went to Someori-San indigo studio. I didn't know if we would get a chance for a dip in the vat (the cloth, not me), but I thought it wouldn't hurt taking a piece to try. The one on the left was mine and the right one was Ayako's (my Japanese friend).

This is my piece of Shibori after I removed the threads. The colour gets lighter after it dries.

Elizabeth (I met Elizabeth in an online workshop) and I had a chance to have our photo taken with Fumiko Sato-San. This beautiful energetic lady is a living indigo artist. We were welcome to her studio to see her dyeing in action. I was there as part of the tour.

These fashionably indigo clothing were on displayed in Sato-San's studio. I didn't get any of the clothing, even though I wanted too! I did get some indigo pieces from her scrap basket. I bet you didn't notice me crushing the bag of scraps in the above photo?

These are Sato-San indigo vats. They are her treasure. They have pride of place right in the middle of the studio! She has six of them going all the time. We were warned not to fall in. We would have been very blue if we did!

If you ask me what I did most on my trip? I would say I smiled a lot until my cheeks hurt. Ayako told me I was having a party in my sleep! Here I was wearing a real BORO jacket. It was in perfect condition and on my back was a farmer's rain coat made from hessian (I hope I'm right!). Behind me is an indigo vat. It has proud of place by the front door of the house!

Ayako is kneading an indigo piece between each dye. I have a feeling that she was every happy dyeing too!

This lady is a student of English, but that day her English lesson was playing dyeing with us. She really enjoyed herself. Wouldn't you be with a result like that!

Bryan the owner of Japanese Textile Workshops was helping us unfold our pieces. He said this is what he likes best. Seeing the result of each Shibori after it is dyed.

This one is my piece. We got to do two pieces that day. How generous of him! Each of the pieces is long enough for a scarf. I learnt how to fold this pattern that day too.

Let me tell you a bit about my experience with BORO. I have often used this word in my blog. But this term is seldom used in Japan. It's a forbidden word. BORO means rag, clothing of the very poor farmers. It reminds the Japanes of a sad past in feudal times.

There I was proudly showing off my BORO patches on my jacket to everyone. I was looked at strangely when I did that. People who know me know that I love vintage clothing and re-purposing my clothes. Today even the Duchess of Cambridge is called a thrifty princes. I just thought I would share with you the meaning of BORO and why the Japanese do not like to use it.

The Land of the Rising Sun

2011-05-17T19:14:00.003+10:00

I came across an old Japanese calendar when we moved into a rented premises years ago. The calendar contains old prints from Katsushita Hokusai collections. We got them all framed and hung them in our home for years. The influence from those prints were my first love for Japanese crafts and textile. The Katsushita Hokusai prints below are courtesy of Google image, but some of them are the same as what we have.

I will be leaving to join The Silk Study Tour to Japan on Wednesday May 18th. and return June 12th. This blog will be unattended during that time so I thought I would leave you these great prints to enjoy....!

Beautiful Woman by Katsushita Hokusai

I hope while I'm in Japan I will see someone wearing a Kimono. I also hope to find some vintage Kimonos to bring back.

Hibiscus and Sparrow - Katsushika Hokusai

I also hope to visit some of the beautiful Japanese gardens. In my experience the whole of Japan is Japanese garden!

Tama River in Musashi Province, Edo

And see Mount Fuji from the train on my travel from Tokyo to Osaka. I had glimpse of it the last time I was in Japan. It was a breath-taking view!

Shibori Festival - Arimatsu

I know I will see lot of Shibori both on the display and in the making. Would you believe it? The annual Shibori Festival at Arimatsu will be on while I'm there. The event happens on the first weekend in June every year. We will be spending that weekend in Nagoya.

Ryogohu Bridge at Onmayagashi by Hokusai

Ryōgoku bridge at

Hokusai - from an animated sketch book

I hope to see some of these prints as well.

The great wave

BUT I do hope I'm not going see this (The great wave!)

If you want to follow this tour please go here. It has been a rough road preparing for this trip after what has happened in Japan recently. Thanks goodness the road is now clear and the bag is now packed, I'm ready to follow this silk road to the land of the rising sun!!!

Bloggers' Quilt Festival - Spring 2011

2011-05-14T16:32:00.001+10:00

I almost missed this year's Bloggers' Quilt Festival for Spring 2011. It started yesterday May 13th. Life is getting really hectic these days. I never thought anything of it until a dear colleague who reads my blog asked me one day how I manage to do so much while also working full time. She said I'm so prolific with what I do! I'm sure that was a compliment. I don't know how to live any other way. I seem to have a lot on the go at any one time. I love it!

The quilt I'm entering in BQF today is this small friendship quilt I made two of them, one for myself and one for my friend Linda (no blog) who gave me the heart fabric for the border. To me the heart fabric by itself was overpowering, but setting it around a redwork embroidery toned it down a bit. I love it much better now.

It's only 36" x 36" square. I hand embroidered and quilted it using a bow pattern. It's not a brand new quilt, but I haven't blogged it here before so I thought I would share it in this year's Bloggers' Quilt Festival. Thanks again Amy for hosting this wonderful event. I'm looking forward to visiting all the blogs and viewing all the wonderful quilts.

Close to my heart

2011-05-11T21:32:00.001+10:00

In April I took a whispering heart mini workshop with Jude Hill. It was a month-long course. It was great because we concentrated only on hearts. I'm a heart person and have been using hearts in my quilts for a long time. In this workshop I made a gift for the host family I will be staying with in Japan. I made a little heart cloth for a friend who was taken ill and I'm making a 'soft heart' cloth for myself. Yes, I did do quite a few things in this workshop.

My trip to Japan with the Silk Study Tour is only a week from today woo hoo! A lot of things happened since I booked the tour. There was an earthquake, the Tsunami, and a radiation scare, but we are still going ahead as planned. We feel that this is our way of supporting Japan.

I made this cloth for me. I will call it 'soft heart'. I'm happy to use my natural dyed silk for it. There are three different pieces of natural dyed cloths here. They were all dyed using three different types of Eucalyptus plants except the piece you can see through the hearts which was dyed with rose leaves on silk linen. It's not finished yet. I will add more stitches during my trip.

This little cloth is for Herm. Herm is a lovely lady I met in the online workshops. Herm was taken ill so all of us in whispering heart workshop are making Herm cloth with a heart on it. You can see more hearts on SEW, a blog set up by Jude as a gathering place for all her past and present students to share the works they are making in her workshop.

If you remember I took a Shibori workshop with Glennis a couple of months ago. It was so much fun and I learned a lot about Shibori from it. I love Shibori, but now I treasure and appreciate it even more! Deanna sent me some photos she found in an old copy of Piecework magazine of ginkgo leaf patterns done in Shibori. I haven't got time to make a whole cloth, but managed to stitch up just one using a piece of indigo backed with felt. I can wear it as a brooch when I attend Shibori Festival in Arimatsu. More on that in my next post...!

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-07T22:13:00.001+10:00

How lucky I am to have a kind, loving and creative mother. I am twice as lucky to have a wonderful, kind and loving Mother-in-law as well. Today I would like to honor my Mother-in-law Soula Lymbery. I wish her a Happy Mother's Day and happiness always. I also like to thank her for the kindness and love she has given to my family and I for almost 40 years.

Soula Lymbery 16 years old

At the age of just 17 Soula got married and had my husband when she was 18. In 1954 her family migrated to New Zealand from her birth country, Greece. Her children were young and the journey to NZ took 7 days by air and ship. Not speaking a word of English she not only had to look after her young children, but she had to try to adjust to a new life in a foreign land. She was desperately home sick and missing her father and brother. In the days of not having easy access to telephone and mail, communication could take months. I cannot imagine how hard life must have been for her. Soula was strong and for the sake of the children's future she had to make it in her new life and new country.

Make it she did. It's now more than 50 years since she moved to New Zealand. She is still living there and calls it home. I thank her for bringing her family to this part of the world where I've met and married my husband and started a family of our own.

Soula has been kind to me ever since we met. She has never said one word to upset me. She is always there to give support. She's a mother of three, a grandmother of five and a great grandmother of three, two of them being my grandchildren. Soula and I are meant to connect and I'm glad and lucky. Thanks Mum, I love you.

Coastal Natural Dyes

2011-05-03T22:30:00.004+10:00

Searching for dyeing materials started as soon as we took off on our Easter holiday trip. We had a long drive to get to DS and his family. We enjoyed the drive and regularly make this trip to visit them. We made a few stops on our way. At each stop I would be looking for something I can use for dyeing. I gathered some autumn leaves at each stop.

After an overnight stay at DS we all took off together to Kioloa Beach, South Coast of NSW. The Kioloa Beach Cottage is only 3 minutes walk from the beautiful sandy beach where we had a few swims. On one of the bush walks at Bowley Point I collected some Spotted gum bark and some lichen for dyeing. My DIL and the two year old DGD were my assistants in searching for dyeing material. Everything is for Lady Yahya (that's me) said DGD...!

At the cottage I set up a dye station using the table on the back patio. I took my dye pot with me from home. The bark is brewing in rain water. The silk was soaking overnight in sea water. Sea water acts as mordant. I had steamed the first batch the night before. You can see them in zip-lock bag on the table.

I bundled up silk with a variety of plants like Eucalyptus leaves, sea weed, lichen, pin oak leaves and liquid amber leaves. I brewed them in a spotted gum dye bath for 45 minutes and then left it over night before unwrapping.

These are the bundles that I steamed the first day we got there. I stored them in zip-lock bags and left them out in the sun for a day before unwrapping. You can see the imprints of the Eucalyptus leaves showing through in some of the bundles.

Here they are revealed in all their glorious colour in all shades and designs. DIL and I had so much fun unwrapping them. We were supposed to leave them for another day, but with both DGC asleep the short amount of free time was too good to miss!

The closed up photos of the Eucalyptus leaves imprints on silk. Aren't they gorgeous? Almost good enough to eat...!

Another dye I did was Shibori dyed. I wanted to try the lichen I gathered from a fallen log I picked up on our walk. I didn't know anything about lichen, but DIL told me she remembers her mother used to dye yarns with lichen. Instead of putting plain silk in the dye bath I decided to do stitched Shibori (Kamasu) to the silk before I dyed it. I used wood ash as mordant for this piece. I found wood ash in the wood BBQ in the yard. I filled up a jar to bring some home as well.

You can see the Shibori pieces snugged in with the lichen over the stove. The colour shows up after a few minutes of boiling. I was so excited to see the bright orange given out by the lichen.

We were due to leave later that day, and I should have really left it for at least overnight before unwrapping it. I transferred the whole content of the dye bath into a zip-lock bag and took it back with us. We couldn't wait until the next day when we unwrapped them that evening. The results are as you see in the above and below photos.

This piece was DIL's. She wanted to try the shibori technique. This one was quite easy. I just drew half a circle on the folded fabric, stitched and tied it. It is called Karamatsu Shibori.

Another Shibori piece showing a pattern that I accidentally discovered how to make. It was late at night and I wanted to get all the silk that had been soaked in sea water overnight into the dye pot. I wanted to give the pattern some texture, so I fan folded the fabric lengthwise and folded it into triangles. I roughly tied two long ends of the triangles with elastic bands and the result is as you see above. This piece was dyed in the bark bath.

Royal Wedding

2011-04-29T23:34:00.005+10:00

Congratulations to the Royal couple Kate Middleton and Prince William on their wedding day this afternoon. We spent three hours watching the Royal wedding on the television. The scene ended on the balcony of Buckingham Palace where the couple kissed twice. One up on his parents Princes Diana and Prince Charles in 1981. There is something about this couple that I feel they will be happy ever after together.

Photo courtesy of BBC UK

Here is the hot photo of Kate and William kissing in front of thousands outside Buckingham Palace. Aren't they cute!

At the end of the of the three hours Mr Notjustnat and I had our toast for them too. Cheers to Kate and William; we wish them all the very best in their marriage. More photos here for you...

Civil War Quilts Block 13 - 16

2011-04-28T21:41:00.000+10:00

Hope everyone enjoyed the Easter break. We had been away for a week visiting DS's family and lot of hugs and kisses with our DGC. I discovered so many new plants on the Sth. Coast to use in natural dyeing. I will post about that in the next few posts. Today though I would show you the CWB blocks that I completed before Easter.

All four Civil War Quilts blocks are together in this post. I have been making them every week when a new pattern comes out. I'm looking forward to it each Sunday when the new pattern gets posted on CWQ Blog. Because of the time zone differences between Australia and North America some of the blocks are made by the time I get up in the morning. I do like it that way because I can see some finished blocks posted on Flickr before I even thought about what fabric to use in each block. It helps a lot to see what colours are being used in the block. Thanks Dustin for providing us the Flickr page.

Block 13: Little blue basket. I love this block, I love blue and basket so there is nothing better than combining them in one block. I found a place for my 'F' (red) fabric here as well. The original pattern doesn't have handle, but I like the handle on my basket.

Block 14: Fox and geese. I get to use yellow in this block to brighten up the overall quilt. I have been thinking about using that brown and blue fabric for the corner stones. I have got a lot of that fabric. I will see how it goes once I cut the sashings. It's fun to plan the quilt as I go!

Block 15: Fort Sumter. A great block to feature the fabric you like in the center piece. Each block does not need a lot of fabric which is good because I only have little bit of some of this fabric.

Block 16: White House. I like the name of this block. The white pinwheel represents the White House and the stars are the FBI, hehe! I have been collecting Americana fabric since I went to Houston Quilt Festival 10 years ago. I'm glad I got to use some of this fabric in this quilt. There are stories behind each of these blocks so if you are interested please hop over to CWQ Blog to read all about them. I hope you have been enjoying my Civil War block of the week. I'm having fun making and sharing them with you.

Handmade Books and Journal

2011-04-20T22:15:00.000+10:00

I haven't made books for ages. Too busy with other things as you can see! Handmade books are good for gifts. They take less time to make than quilting or gifts that involve stitching. Some handmade books do have stitching on them, but not as much as quilting. My book binding sessions I started at my work are still going strong. We are now into our third year. The members are now into stitching as well. Our joke is that we are supposed to be a book binding group, but most of the time we are stitching! That's okay as long as we create something.
I made these books to take with me on my trip to Japan as gifts. One of them is my journal and the other two are for gifts.

The reason I started making books is because there was so much wasted paper at the library where I work. Until today I'm still using recycled papers to make my books. The covers for the top two books came from scrap Japanese paper given to my friends. She passed it on to me. They were only small pieces and I joined them together as covers. The cover of the bottom one came from an old folder someone found at the back of the State Library of Victoria. I cut it up and only used part of it for this book.

This is a handmade journal given to me by Herm (no blog) from Oregon. Herm made it for me to use on my trip to Japan. Herm also gave me the blue fabric and the acid-free and photo-safe glue. I'm so lucky to receive such treasures. Thanks so much Herm you are so generous. I love the journal so much I have decided to take an online workshop on journal making after I return from Japan.

Happy Easter everyone. Hope Easter bunny brings you plenty of chocolate eggs! We are spending Easter with DS and his family. Can hardly wait to see my grandchildren!