Online Workhops, Tree House Studio and Tea Dyeing

Earlier this year I signed up for a few online workshops. One was Alchemy 2014 with Karen Ruane. I'm behind with that workshop, but made a lot of blocks ready to put together when I have spare moment. The other workshop I signed up to was Studio Journal with Sharon Boggon. The Studio Journal workshop started a couple of weeks ago. The first project I made for the workshop was the title page for my journal. 

Journal tittle page

Journal making in progress

Mark making exercise for week 1

Update on my studio: A few people are  calling my studio a Tree house. That name came to my mind too. After it went up I realised how high it really is. Higher than my apricot tree in our backyard. I think I will call it Tree house instead of just upstairs studio!

The Tree House has now got lights! We visited a lighting store last week and choose all the lights we need for it. The electrician came and installed them.

We started painting from the ceiling down. We actually finished painting the undercoat  for the whole room. This photo was taken last weekend, but I didn't get a chance to blog it. 

Recently I was introduced to tea drinking the old Chinese way. The particular tea I tried is called Pu-erh tea. Pu-erh tea is a variety of fermented dark tea produced in Yunnan province in China. I also found a traditional tea house close to where I live. It's called Milan Tea House. It's specialises in Chinese tea and tea drinking.

Milan Tea House

Clay pots at Milan Tea House

Wendy, the tea house owner is knowledgeable about Chinese teas and tea drinking ceremony. She spent a lot of time with us when we visited. The Milan Tea House doesn't just sell cups of tea. Wendy aims to educate her customers on healthy tea drinking habits. I have been back many times with my visitors. The shop has the feel of an olden day tea house in old cities in China. 

  

I was taught to make and serve tea the traditional Chinese way. The first tea Wendy recommended to me was Pu-erh tea, the black fermented tea for 7-13 years. It takes getting use to the taste, but after a couple of months of regular drinking, I quite like it now. 

Pu-erh tea is very dark and rich in tannin even after filling and refilling it many times it still leaves that dark rich colour. I put the used leaves in my pot plants the first couple of times, but now I use them in jar dyeing. 

The richness of tannin is coating the outside of the bundle very nicely. I only had a peek, but will open it this weekend. Using tea for dyeing leads me to think about dyeing with ground coffee! Waiting for a cup of coffee one day I saw waste ground coffee being discarded in the bin. I thought that's a lot of tannin wasted! 

I also wrapped and steamed more bundles and some jars last weekend. These bundles are now soaking in oak leaves bath. I hope to leave them there until spring before opening them. 

This blog is taking a back seat lately, but you can visit my Instagram page where I post daily photos. The Tree-House is taking all our spare time in our weekends. We have to schedule our time with the builder's progress. We hope to get painting done this weekend and also to finish laying the flooring as well. 

Until next time

Nat

Upstairs Studio, Dyeing, Stitching & Gift

A lot of progress these last 2 weeks for my upstairs studio. All walls, windows and the door are installed. We painted some weather boards before they were installed, but we didn't manage to do them all because we only had a weekend to do them. The last couple evenings we had to paint them in the evening to get the last few boards done. The roof is now up and the studio is finally weatherproof which was badly needed. It has been raining 5 out of 7 days since the project started. We started to get worried about the floorboards wondering if they were going to withstand the wet weather with so much rain.  

One of the rare occasions when we had a blue sky over the studio. This would be the last time I can see out of my studio on the East side. We used to have a nice view of sunset just over the garage. With the studio placed on the garage it has now blocked that view. You win some and you lose some!

This photo was taken last Friday when the studio finally became weatherproof, but there was no blue sky that day so the walls didn't show their true colour.

Last weekend we started painting the inside. We only managed to paint just over half of the wall. I really enjoyed working in there. I pictured where all my furniture would be placed. I'm looking forward to spring to see the blossoms from the apricot and plum trees outside my window.

I thought colour was the hardest thing to choose until I start thinking about lighting. It's hard to picture an empty room and to estimate how much lighting you will need. Then one has to consider all the new technology in lighting and bulbs. In a hardware store we were standing in front of a shelf full of bulbs, all kind of bulbs. I said to Mr. Notjustnat that you would need a Doctor's degree to understand them. Luckily Mr. Notjustnat is also a Dr. Notjustnat!

A few weeks ago I visited my son and his family and I did some dyeing with DIL. We did some bundles and jar dyeing. I opened a few bundles with her and brought the jars back to open this week. Here are some results.

In this jar I only used eucalyptus leaves. We gathered the leaves after a heavy storm at the local park. 

In this jar I used thin slices of turmeric and grated purple carrot. I added a few rusty nails and a couple of tablespoons of vinegar in the jar.   

And in the last jar. I used thinly slices of purple carrots and turmeric. I added a few copper pennies that DIL brought back from the UK earlier this year. 

A few photos of my cotton yukata I posted here. Even though I started working on this project more than a year ago. It's now finally finished. I'm so happy and can't wait to wear it!

As you can see in the above photos it's a reversible jacket. I used indigo dyed threads to stitch around the colour patches. The blue threads blended so well that you can't see them on the dark side of the jacket. 

I feel a bit sad that it's finished. I didn't want to stop stitching, so I added red stitching for protection on the bands of the patched side. I'm so thrilled with the jacket. It's nice not to have to meet any dateline on any of my projects. 

Do you sometimes give yourself a gift? Not a birthday gift, not a gift for any special occasion just a gift. I fell in-love with these rainbow beads necklace made from recycled skateboard. They are hand cut and polished by a talented young couple Ellie and Sam whom I met on Instagram. Ellie and Sam call their creation Deadwood Creative. Apart from these beads they also make bracelets, pendants, rings etc. All items are made from recycled skateboards. 

You see, sometimes you give yourself a treat because you just can't resist something so beautiful. 

Until next time

Nat

A Couple of Updates

It has been windy and wet this last week and this weekend will be more of the same. I normally love it when it rains, but this week with the construction going on I wished it would stop and let the builders get on with the job. In spite of that, the studio is progressing quite well.

First I will show you my finished journal cover I have been making to keep a journal of the project. I really enjoyed stitching the pieces of the covers and didn't want it to end. I'm so happy how it turned out after I put them together as a journal cover.

Front and back cover 

Front cover

Back cover

Take a peek inside

On Saturday I visited my friend Mary who I met on Instagram @maryhandweaver. This was the second time I've met Mary. The first time Mary came here and I took her around my neighbourhood. This time I went to her house and we decided to visit Kazari/Ziguzagu. There was a 3 day sale on and we couldn't resist going there. 

Mary is also a textile artist. Her house is just like a textile treasure trove. She's a fantastic weaver and collects many wonderful woven pieces from around the world. This one in the above photo is an old piece of Ikat from Indonesia. 

It's always lovely to visit Kazari/Ziguzagu. Both Hanna and Haru are so friendly and welcoming. I haven't been there lately. You can now follow them on Instagram @kazariziguzagu

In the new shipment we were told that Robert (the owner) just got back from Japan with a suitcase full of boro cloths! As it happens Robert was there to share them with us. I love that piece in the above photo and might get it if I can afford it!

Mary loves that piece. She hopes to get it when she knows the price. 

This is just some of the indigo collection they have on display. I left with a bag full of fabric and empty purse, but happy! 

And here is the update on my Upstairs Studio: In spite of the interruption of the rain on and off Simon and his team did a great job on the studio. The floor is completed. The stairs are now fixed on.

The frame is up with the spaces for the door and windows in place. Each day when I get home I would find some progress on the building.  

Front view coming from the driveway. 

View from the backyard

This is the view I will lose 

The hardest thing is choosing the colours! In the end we got six different colour samples to try them out, and guess what? We didn't like any of them. We have now settled on a Dulux colour 'Oyster Linen'. I will show you on the next post.

A full view of the studio

As you imagine I'm excited and looking forward to the big day when I can move all my stuff into the studio. I have the interior plans all layed out. I even bought a couple of Ikea cabinets in readiness. I do hope it's going to be big enough for all my stuff! 

Until next time

Nat

Weekend Project and Studio Update

Time flies when you are having fun! You have all heard before. In my case I would say time flies when I'm busy! So many things are happening at the moment in my day to day life. Winter has finally set in here so the days are getting shorter and I don't seem to have enough hours in the day to do what I want to do.

As I mentioned in my previous posts about the Upstairs Studio, work began last week. It's exciting to come home each day to see what progress has been made to the building. Some photos are at the end of this post. 

Now for the weekend project. A few days into the construction I decided to keep a journal of the building project. First I will need to make a book to keep the journal in. Next is making a journal cover. The weekend project started with boro pieced and stitching.

The piece for front cover stitched and ready

The back cover is in progress

Simplicity block from last week is finished

New simplicity block pieced ready for stitching

I worked on a couple more blocks for my online workshop I'm taking with Karen Ruane. I will be putting them together to make into a cover for my new journal.

Using Palette Builder to create colour inspiration

Introducing yellow onto the blue, red and white theme

Construction on my upstairs studio started last week and here are some photos of work in progress.

Holes were dug for the vertical columns

Luckily the electrical cable was missed

Father and son building team

Every carpenter has one of these belts.

Construction is progressing very quickly. Everyday when I get home there always something new is happening. Since I took these photos there has already been a lot of progress. I hope the structure will be up by the time I put up next post.

Until next time
Nat

Dyed and Stitch Update

Sometimes I'm stuck to find the right name for the title of a blog post. I think 'dyed and stitch' will do for this post.

I finished another little block for the simplicity of a little thing series I have been working on. It's quite addictive; once one is finished you just want to start the next one straight away. I try to keep the piece roughly 6-8" in size for easy handling when stitching.

Some vintage Japanese fabric pieces were
used with eco-dyed fabric in this block

Another block pieced with stitching started.
Variety of fabric were used for this block.

I started another batch of jar dyeing during the week using some leaves I collected on my daily walk. Winter is finally here, so dyeing has to be done indoors. Jar dyeing is easily done in the kitchen. 

Opened the jars on Sunday. Jar dyeing is quite a fast process and I didn't have to wait that long for the result. Even the strings dyed beautifully in the jars. 

First jar opened. Promising!

Then each jar was opened and hung out to be
admired

The next day washed and hanged out to dry

Pressed and  now ready to be used. Happy!!!!!

An update on current projects: The first one is an online workshop Alchemy 2014 that I'm taking with Karen Kuane. The project I'm planning to do in this workshop is to make a journal cover. I started by making simple little white blocks and going on to work on the blue blocks. I'm almost done with the preparation work on these blocks. Next step is to put them together and make them into a journal cover.  

I just completed the latest block. I took a photo and used Palette Builder that I came across at Play Crafts to get a unique colour palette for the block. This is such a great way to help bring out colour for your work.

Lastly, the update on my Tree House Studio. The work didn't begin last week as planned due to a delay in obtaining the building permit. We have since got it, but unfortunately last weekend was a long weekend so the building will now start tomorrow (Tuesday). In the meantime the heavy steel beams and columns have arrived and are waiting on the lawn. 

Until next time

Nat