Indigo Moon and other Quilty Fun

I have been busy having fun making and stitching indigo moon blocks that I've had to do since I joined Quilty 365 a couple of weeks ago. I am supposed to make one block a day for 365 days. Because I was late joining I had a lot to catching up to do. So far, I have made about 40 blocks and have a few more blocks made up ready for stitching. 

I was excited when I laid them down to photograph them. It's nice to see them together. I'm liking it a lot! Excuse the red moon peeking in among its blue siblings. I think red is fitting in there perfectly; what do you think? 

On top of working on the indigo moon, I have finally finished a quilt I started 20 years ago. I thought it was time to get it done. It's exciting that I actually made an antique quilt! Another one nearly finished is the Twinkle Little Stars quilt I started in 2013 with Temecula Quilt Company. It looks gorgeous with the blocks together. This will be the next one I hope to finish! 

We had our first Stitching with friends for 2016 last Saturday. It's nice to make use of the Treehouse Studio for gathering and stitching. 

Indigo Moons all in the rows.

Looking at them from the side

Remember the Full Moon blocks?
They are coming along slowly too. 

Twinkle Little Stars Quilt. The blocks are together,
but not sewn!

Antique Quilt finished

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

An extra table was installed in the Treehouse Studio for more space. Even though there are only 3 of us in a group, with the show and tell, cups of tea and our stitching we need plenty of room to spread out our work.

Stitching with friends in session

My messy corner where I stitch indigo moons!

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Bojagi cloth, work in progress

A bit of Show and Tell for you. 2015 was my 7th year of blogging. Last year, I started printing my blog posts from 2009. I have caught up this year when I printed the 2015 posts. Blogging is a journal of my creativity, travels and life as it happens. I feel good to have them all in print!

Seven blog books since 2009

Seed pods gathering

I have been collecting seed pods for the Seed Pods Art Workshop with Sophie Munns in April. I love seed pods, but didn't know what to do with them. I thought after years of looking at leaves for dyeing I would also start looking at seed pods for whatever I will need them for! 

I was happy that my friend Jacky is starting the moon project with me. She and I have been shopping for indigo fabric at Ziguzagu for years. If the indigo moons inspire you. Click here to join-in.

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

Connecting with Nature Exhibition

What a relief now that the exhibition "Connecting with Nature" had been installed. My friend Ayako, Mr Notjustnat and I worked hard installing the exhibits at the Monash Gallery of Art, here in Melbourne. It was a great help from Mr Notjustnat's long arms to reach inside the cabinets where our arms are too short to get to. Most of the exhibits are installed except some final adjustment to be done just before the opening next Saturday 9 Nov. 

We have been so lucky to have our exhibition at the Monash Gallery of Art. Even though we are not part of the photography exhibit in the main gallery. I'm very happy because I think our space is very suitable, with an abundance of the natural light. It has a good flow of visitors and library users walking through it all day. To get the use of the venue free of charge is an added bonus. Our items are not for sale so we wouldn't be able to do it if we have to pay for it...

This is the third time we exhibited here. There are ample parking spots outside of the gallery. There is a coffee-shop for visitors and library and main photography gallery are in the same building complex. 

Most of you would have already seen the work I posted on my blog. It's nice to pull together and exhibit all the different items in one place. The Indigo theme contains dyed threads, a bag and a couple of coiled baskets.

In one of the coiled baskets I put dried indigo leaves and dried flowers. To think that those green leaves produce the most beautiful indigo blue, mind bogging! 

Another display is my ecoprint fabric. Mr Notjustnat kindly built the rack as per specs for me. It works perfectly with the help of natural light coming through from the back entrance. It's a great display!

Just below the ecoprint display is an ecoprint dyeing process. I will take a better photo next time. The cloth at the back is there temporarily because I had not quite finished the slow-cloth I have been stitching the day we set up the exhibits. I have since finished it and will replace the one in the picture with it. The display is self-explanatory. It's an interesting process to display. 

A close up of the bundle partly opened to show the process. Luckily the leaves imprint works  perfectly on wool fabric. I used Eucalyptus sideroxylon (Iron bark) leaves for this one. 

In another cabinet opposite on the top shelf are paintings by Jane Rumbold. She painted a nature theme to go with our exhibition theme "Connecting with Nature". On the bottom shelf are two of my framed ecoprints on silk.

A closer look at the framed ecoprints. This is the first time I have framed my ecoprints. There should always be a reason to do things, and this is a good reason to do it. 

Another display of my work. A Sakiori rug I wove last year and a few baskets made by plant fibres. Two more coiled baskets; one made from fancy Japanese paper and the other from scrap fabric. 

These two shelves are from Ayako and Jocelyn. On the top shelf Jocelyn made a crazy quilt evening bag, a couple of handmade books, some glass jewelry and a painting of Eucalyptus leaves. 

On the bottom shelf the exhibits by Ayako. She pieced Bojagi, the Korean wrapping cloth using remnants from her mother's Kimono. She also made two coiled baskets using Japanese paper. 

The exhibition opening is next Saturday, 9 November. I'm looking forward to it now that it's all set up except for some minor touches. I get inspired and excited every time I put on an exhibition. I really enjoy curating exhibitions. I worked full-time for 6 years in the role of events and exhibition organiser. This experience comes in handy when I organise my own exhibition!  I will blog about the opening in my next post. 

Until next time

Nat

Bojagi Finished, Start and Eco-Dye

I finally can show you the finished bojagi. I posted a photo on my Daily Life Inspiration blog for those of you visit it. I'm very happy with this bojagi cloth; so much so that I started a new one. This time I'm making one in blue, and it's for me. 

Apart from the bojagi project, I did some Eco-dyeing as well. A busy couple of weeks I say...

There was enough sunshine to shoot a few photos this weekend. A lovely lemon tree in the backyard was perfect for a prop.

A little breeze made an interesting photo. There is an exhibition at Ziguzagu/Kazari in October, and I'm putting this piece in the exhibition.

Here is the new bojagi cloth. Some pieces were already stitched together. I'm making one unit at a time. I then lay them together and fill in the missing spaces when I need to. It's going to be larger than the pink one. I do have a lot of blue fabric to play with. 

I am very happy with this batch of dye. I used a solution of oak leaves for this. I soaked the oak leaves at the beginning of atumn and when I was ready to use it, the colour was a dark and rich looking liquid. I used a few different leaves for the bundles. You can see orange areas made by eucalyptus leaves. 

Every time I open bundles I wish I had left them longer.  Well, too late now. I think they turned out okay regardless. 

If you haven't visited my photo blog 'Daily Life Inspiration' I hope you do. I have been enjoy posting a photo each day. Also enjoy photographing all sort of photos from various places. On top of everything, I'm learning a lot about taking arty photos...

Until next time

Nat

Bojagi Update

I started making this bojagi at the beginning of this year for DGD's fourth birthday. I put it away while I was busy with other stuff. After reading Lis's blog on bojagi, it inspired me to get it out and work on it again.

I got a few more books on bojagi out from my library to get inspired and to get ideas for the next piece. In these books there were antique pieces of bojagi that you can only see in museums or exhibitions in Korea. 

Some of the fabric I used in the piece were eco-dyed silk dyed using mulberries. Other fabric was from vintage kimono silk. I only have one more border to add before it is finished. 

In among the pink vintage kimono silk I came across a really fragile piece of silk with a beautiful dove. It inspired me for my next piece of bojagi. I will need more white silk to add to the fabric collection I already have for this piece. 

Here are the two books on bojagi I got out from my library. The left one was from an exhibition catalog, Natural dyed wrapping cloth exhibition, Korean Society of Asian Ethno-Forms and Korean Natural Pigments Association (1998). The right one is called Korean Costumes and Wrapping Cloths of the Choson Dynasty Profusion of Color, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, (1995).

The image above was enlarged and is displayed in the staff room in my library. It was taken from the book Bojagi's simple elegance, The Museum of Korean Embroidery, Seoul, (2004), p.247

Another image from the same book as above on p. 203. Below are more images from the above books to share with you. Enjoy...

I hope you enjoy the images of the bojagi (wrapping cloth in Korean) and they inspire you to make bojagi cloth of your own. I'm so fortunate to work in such a great library where there is an Asian section containing Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Indonesian, Thai and Cambodian collections. I have borrowed nearly every book on Japanese textiles in the collection, and the Japanese librarian is very willing to obtain any book I would like to borrow. Bojagi cloth is fun to make. You can use almost any fabric in your stash. 

Until next time

Nat