March 2017!

2017 comes with wings! I can't believe how fast it flew by this year. After I got over Christmas and New Year holidays I went back in my treehouse studio to pick-up and work on some of my UFOs. I got the Yellow Crumb quilt top finished which was a relief. At the same time I was hand stitching the Indigo moons block for the Quilty 365 challenge which I started in 2016. I didn't get to 365 blocks, but with a clever setting, I might get enough to make a queen size quilt. 

We have had a sad event in our family. My beloved Mother-in-law passed away in late Feb. My family and I made a short trip to the funeral in Auckland, NZ. My MIL was a lovely and supporting lady for all of us. I know we will all miss her. 

My colleagues and friends at work gave me a lovely bouquet of flowers on my return, so I decided to use them in the dye bundles in memory of my MIL. I also did more dyeing using my usual eucalyptus leaves. There lot of photos here so please enjoy...

Desert Cactus flower from my garden

Sympathy flowers into bundle 

Eucalyptus leave dyed. 

More Eucalyptus dyed

First piece from the bouquet 

Second piece of the bouquet

I read somewhere in social media about the Asia Gallery Warehouse in Auckland. On my last day there I thought I would look it up and what I found was WOW! It was an amazing hidden gem of a warehouse. I got talking to one of the ladies there and found that her husband worked most of his life in Japan. Although retired, he keeps going back there and brings all the gorgeous textiles and vintage artefacts back to Auckland. It happened that he married a lovely Thai lady so he is now importing vintage textiles from northern Thailand as well. I spent a few good hours there enjoying all the displays. I imagined I was back in Japan and Thailand! Naturally, I bought some gorgeous fabric from there! 

BORO indigo Yukatas

Silk for dyeing and indigo fabric

The stash I brought home

The two lovely ladies I met there.

The Japanese wooden doll (Kokeshi doll)
to add to my collection.

Some quilts I'm working on recently: The Indigo Moon is the Quilty 365 block challenge in 2016. It started off very well. I kept it going for most of 2016.

I completed the Yellow Crumb quilt I started with my friend Myra when she visited in October. I got really motivated and got it done over the Christmas holidays. I have just sent it off to the machine quilter and I can't wait to get it back! Out of the blue I started another quilt in January. It's a quilt from the Cultural Fusion Quilts book by Sujata. My favourite thing about starting all these quilts is, I have all the fabric I need for all of them! I'm a true quilter in the sense that I thrive on reusing and re-purposing what I have. I even go as far as getting new clothes with fabric that can be use for quilting in the future!  

Setting I've chosen for Indigo Moon Quilt

Original setting, but it will need more blocks!

Yellow Crumb Quilt

Some blocks from the Cultural Fusion Quilts book

Lucky Find: I haven't posted lucky find for awhile because everything I find these days is a lucky find! But today I'd like to share with you my lucky, lucky find. A vintage Ralph Lauren, RL Polo bag. I found it at a cool vintage store in Bangkok. It's a perfect little bag to carry a wallet and a phone around. I love love using it!

Hope everyone in North America is coping well with the cold weather you have been getting lately. You are supposed to be getting into Spring aren't you? Please keep safe and warm. 

I don't have any overseas travel planned this year, but I'm planning a big trip to the Tokyo International Quilt Festival in Jan. 2018 so I am saving everything for that. You can't just go to Japan without seeing more of the country so we will fit in Kyoto and maybe the south which we have not ventured into. For 2017 we will make mini trips to the outback or a trip to Sydney later on in the year.

My lovely friend Janet Wright is complaining that I don't update my blog enough! Sorry Janet, but I really haven't done much to blog about! I can assure you that I have been physically active exercising most days. 

Until next time

Nat 

Mid of March 2015

You all know without me saying how fast time is flying by this year! Mid March already? It has been a good year for me so far! I have been busy doing everything from work stuff, creative stuff, physical stuff, planning stuff and all the life stuff! Life is beautiful (some of us says booful)! 

So with the colourful expression in my life at the moment. I'm going to post something lively and colourful for you here! 

My colourful stuff!

Colourful vintage Japanese silk I have stashed away.

A bit of creative blue stuff I have been working on lately is this Furoshiki cloth for my bag. I posted about here. It's not much closer to being finished, but I do pick it up and add a few stitches every so often. I've also bound a handmade book for a colleague who's leaving us this week. During the week Mr Notjustnat and I went to see Richard Thomson in concert at the Recital Centre in Melbourne.

Three red hearts and indigo moon for
Furoshiki cloth.

Stash of vintage indigo cotton. 

Coptic stitch binding.

Recycled book covers and cords.

Melbourne city

Also this week I finished another Scallop basket. I used the canes I dyed with coffee that I posted in February.

I finished it with a coat of vanish. 

Attaching the handle 

Last Saturday I helped my friends moving house. I didn't have to do much except driving back and forth between the old and the new house 6 times! He is a collector of vinyl records and he had so many of them to be moved. For a treat we had a lovely coffee at Market Lane Coffee, Prahran Market, Melbourne. 

Single estate Costa Rican 'rapadura' sugar
is best for coffee

The end of the move treat was green tea and cake

I found a wild fig growing at my Campus. It has plenty of figs if you get there before the birds. I was lucky to walk past it when the figs were just ready to pick. I got enough for a batch of jam.

Chopped, soaked in sugar and sat overnight

Next day boiled and bottled

An interesting ending for this post is this handsome vintage vehicle. Don't ask me what make it is. I stopped at the traffic next to this gorgeous looking red truck. I had my camera right by me so I took a shot of it. The driver was so happy that I took notice of his vehicle.

I have been working on many projects, but none is finished enough to blog about yet. I even got inspired lately by The Civil War Quilts newsletter that I subscribe to. The result was that I dug out the Civil War blocks I did many years ago and posted here. I hope to finish and put together a quilt top before we leave on our trip. I wanted to get it machine quilted in New Zealand by Donna while I'm away and to collect it on my way back. It's exciting to think that I will get a new quilt in 2015! I always need an incentive to complete a project! 

Until next time

Nat

Christmas Post I

Still on to Christmas, but nothing much else from me lately. I have been moving stuff into my tree-house studio but the process is not yet complete (sad face!). There are things I don't know what to do with or can't decide if I still need them (decision, decision).

As I said in my last post I'm not doing Xmas decorations in the house this Christmas. The first time in 31 years that I'm having a break from it. Not having my DGC here this Christmas gives me the excuse not to decorate. 

Building the tree-house has taken a toll on us physically. We have been at it for almost the whole of 2014. I have been enjoying it, but frustrating as well because we both have full time jobs. I have settled in and starting to create some small things in the tree-house. I love that I have all my supplies in one place. It's bright and beautiful in there. At least while everything is still tidy! It's bound to get messy. After all it's a place to create not a gallery! 

Not all is Christmas-less! I decorated just a little bit in the tree-house. I used the old step ladder on the wall to hang a few of my small Christmas quilts. I normally use a small tree with redwork decorations. Not wanting to open all the boxes just to find the redwork decorations I made do with hearts (double click to enlarge all the photos).

Christmas decorated wall in the tree-house

Fabric hearts made from
vintage doilies

Mini Xmas quilt is always out

Close up of one of the hearts with
crochet edging and embroidery

An Angel block from one of the quilts
hanging on the step ladder

I saved this one lady holding a wreath. I
gave the rest of my ornaments away. 

Christmas morning-tea table at my work

Now for the non-Christmas activities. I thought I'd show you some creations in the tree-house in the last couple of weeks. 

Bojagi cloth made with eco-dyed silk

I've left wall space in tree-house to hang my Bojagi cloth that I made last year. The wall is too narrow to open it out so I hang it from a corner. Looks quite effective! 

The bookcase is filled and baskets were
rearranged for better fit

I made a book for a dear colleague who left for
overseas. I used an Aboriginal print from
a book for the front cover and end papers

I got a seal made for me by Lucy Patterson
in one of her trips to Vietnam

BORO Furoshiki cloth and handle

BORO Furoshiki boho bag

Ayako's colourful Furoshiki bag

I must tell you about my boro Furoshiki boho bag. I got the red leather handle through my friend Ayako who got it from her Japanese friend. Ayako made one for herself using colourful Kimono fabric. When I saw it I knew what kind of Furoshiki cloth I wanted to make. I only base-stitched the cloth at this stage. I will hand stitch all the seams and will share it again once it's done. 

It's time for me to wish and thank everyone for dropping by to read my blog and leaving lovely comments. I haven't been very active on my blog lately, but you can always find me on Instagram where I post daily photos. 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone. Enjoy and be safe!

Until next time

Nat

Tree-House Studio & Dyeing

Welcome to my Tree-House studio! Viola, it's finished (only half of the outside wall unpainted). I hope it will be finished by next weekend. While the painting is going on I will oil the railings and stairs with Sikens oil. Today the reverse cycle air-conditioning was installed. The vendor came and measured the windows and door for vertical blinds last weekend and they should be installed in 2 weeks time. The final piece of furniture is the desk and cabinet units to go in the corner and along the wall. I will have to start packing all my stuff ready to move in soon. I'm not looking forward to that part because I'm not sure where everything would go in the new studio or if I will have enough room for all my stuff. I really don't want to throw anything away if I can help it.  

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I took this photo last weekend. The first day of spring and it was a perfect spring day. I could feel that famous Australian heat streaming down on us even at this time of year!

Mr Notjustnat enjoying a spring day painting the last wall of studio. It was Father's Day, but he didn't mind doing that. He likes painting he says! 

We finished putting the first Ikea double wardrobe together a couple of weeks ago. It comes with as many shelves as I need. I have chosen 5 shelves for the moment, but I can add more if I need to. 

  

I have chosen mirror sliding doors for the wardrobe. Mirrors make the room seem larger. We will have to do it all over again for the second wardrobe!

The Coptic binding journal I post here is now done and given away to a dear friend as a thank you gift for dyeing me some silk with coffee. 

Book bag I have been wanting to make for ages!
I made this from a french book cover.

Starting another journal cover/sleeve for the dye swatches. Apart from keeping the dye journal on this blog I don't actually keep swatches anywhere else. It's never too late to start! 

The wrong side of the journal cover. I used a wrapping cloth from a publishing company in India. The stamp says "Passed export (AIR) Chennai Customs. I love looking at the wrong side of stitching!

Jars stuffed and waiting for steaming process.

After steamed for an hour. 

Dyed silk from the jars.

Coffee Shibori dyed in jar

  

Close-up of coffee Shibori dyed tied
around rusty nails

I went to a natural dye workshop a couple of weekends ago that my weaving teacher Ilka White runs. It was an introduction to natural dye workshop and I know many of the methods and plants used in the workshop. I learned so much more and thoroughly enjoyed the day. 

Wool and silk dyed using Oxalis

Arashi Shibori: Left to right onion skin
and Eucalyptus Cenerea 

Arashi Shibori sitting out to dry

Dye swatches we got to take home

The natural dye workshop inspired me to do more dyeing. Jar dyeing gives me more varieties of colour using only a small amount of silk for each jar. Lately I experimented dyeing with coffee too. I was surprised how coffee gives such lovely brown. I used the recycled ground coffee not the instant coffee from the jar. I'm planning to dye more of that Shibori to make a wall hanging for the Tree-House studio. 

Until next time

Nat