May 11, 2011

Close to my heart

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...! 



16 comments:

Queen Of The Armchair aka Dzintra Stitcheries said...

Oh Nat all so very very beautiful...especially Soft Heart...and just think, I will be able to see these in person one day!!! Enjoy your trip dearest...have fun and safe travel...Lotsa love Dzintra

Queen of the Tea Cosies said...

Wow you HAVE been busy, spreading the (heart) love around. They are gorgeous pieces. Your friends will be very pleased to receive them.
Have fun in Japan.

deanna7trees said...

your 'soft heart' is just beautiful. and i love what you did with the ginkgo leaf. have a fabulous trip.

Unknown said...

it's great that you aren't letting the Japan events stop you from going. what a lovely show of support on your part. i wish you a happy trip.

"soft heart" is gorgeous! looking forward to see the end-result!

Needled Mom said...

Your hearts are gorgeous, Nat. I love the Soft Hearts and the one for Herm is lovely.

Your Shibori ginko leave is wonderful. It will be fun to wear as a brooch when you attend the festival.

Anne-Lise at Rag, Tag, Bobtail said...

Lovely hearts - soft heart is beautiful! Enjoy your trip.

Lis Harwood said...

I adore the idea of you taking that cloth with you to Japan and adding stitches as you go. You are right, it is wonderful to be able to support Japan, I'm so glad the tour wasn't cancelled in a panic after all the tragedies there, they will make you incredibly welcome.

Nedra said...

I know you will have such a wonderful time in Japan. I pray all goes well.
and the Shibori looks a little bit like a cactus :)

Storycloth said...

I wish you the best trip Nat. I will be thinking of you and lok farward very much to hearing baout it. I SO like the Shibori leaves. Gilly

Storycloth said...

Please excuse the spelling - my fault for not doing the preview! Gilly

Terry said...

Ah the excitement. I konw you are a seasoned traveler who has been to Japan previously so your anticipation is even greater.

The heart cloths are very you with a new twist. Always something yeahhh! LOL

ENJOY

Jeannie said...

Beautiful hearts. I especially love the one for your friend. Have a wonderful trip and absorb all the wonderfulness (?) of silk and Japan. My ginko tree is just starting to leaf and I love the itty bitty first leaves.

Juliann said...

I am trying to stay focused but it is so hard with all the inspiration around - I really like the hearts. May have to take that video class after school gets out in June.

Janet said...

Your pieces are very beautiful Nat, I especially love soft heart and the ghinko leaf is very clever and I love the stitching on it.

Peggy said...

Nat, I love your soft cloth with all the heart quilting. The colors are superb -- I especially am drawn to the turquoise or robin's egg blue? that you dyed with rose leaves. I honestly have had a block about using anything other than white! My inner bell just went off when I saw and read that so thank you! Have the most wonderful time in Japan, I'll be thinking about you! xoxo

Simone de Klerk said...

Lovely hearts, Nat! Someday I think I will take that course too!
Have a wonderful time in Japan.

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