Felt making again.

The Textiles course has start up again after the Half Term and I am back making felt once more. Firstly, I shall be continuing work on that scarf first seen here:

http://crazydaisytime.blogspot.com/2007/01/new-work.html

The current size of the scarf is 35 inches long by 10 inches wide. I plan to add free-machine embroidered lace and fringing to the ends to make the scarf of a useable length. Well, we shall see if it all works out.
The second project is, or rather will be, a three dimensional object. At present it looks like someone has driven over a doughnut.

The colours you are seeing are not quite right here - I have used red, orange, deep brown, mid yellows and a bright green. The size at present is just over 13 inches at the longest point and just over 9 inches across. It has been partly felted and is currently inside out. I have absolutely no idea what it will look like when it has been turned. There is a piece of plastic inside the felt to help keep the shape and to ensure that it remains hollow. It is probably because of the plastic that I cannot get a decent photograph of the reverse side.

Tomorrow I shall get to complete felting this and turn it inside out and shape the openings. I can hardly wait. I am hoping it will turn into some kind of bowl or vase shape............... It could easily turn into a major disaster. I am only partly joking here, since without Ruth's expert support I would not be attempting anything nearly so demanding.

Just in case you haven't seen my other posts about the Textiles Course, this is a course held as an Evening Course by the local Sixth Form College. Its open to anyone over the age of 16 and the Textiles Course is run by Ruth. There is no qualification at the end of this, just the practical experience gained in trying all sorts of new techniques. But then, that's exactly why I came to join.

There are all sorts of other courses being run during the week - Caligraphy, Flower-arranging, Computer studies, etc, etc. All the sports facillities are used for different courses too.

http://www.sjd.ac.uk/

The following link takes you to work I have previously completed during the Textiles Course - Paisley 1 and 2 were done on the course, whilst Paisley 3 was a project of my own at home which progressed alongside the others.

http://crazydaisytime.blogspot.com/2007/01/those-promised-photos.html

Half Term

Well, as you will have seen from my previous Blog entry, it has been quite a creative week. Its been the Half Term holiday which has feed me to get on with all kinds of things - mostly textile-related.
I've been lucky in getting to two exhibitions this week. The first was in Manchester at the Whitworth Art Gallery. This is always worth a visit since it has Alice Kettle's "Three Caryatids" as a permanent exhibit. There is also a comprehensive textile gallery. But this time, I went to see "Indigo". This was quite interesting, especially the Shibori. Sadly, I took no photographs. I didn't like to since Indigo is notoriously fugitive in bright light.

http://www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk/

The exhibition will be moving on to Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery from the 19th May until 1st September.

www.plymouthmuseum.gov.uk

Then it will mo0ve to Brighton Museum and Art Gallery from the 29th Spetember until 6th January 2008.

www.virtualmuseum.info

The Whitworth Gallery site is wonderful in that you can visit the site and search the collections! One of my favourite pieces can be seen under "Textiles - weaving". Its a small woven panel from Peru. Part of a garment.

The gallery is part of the University of Manchester and as such is a wonderful resource for the students there.

Manchester is one of my favourite cities, with some wonderful buildings. Here are just some of them.

This strange tree greeted me as I arrived on the tram in Piccadilly Gardens, right in the centre of the city.

It has names all round the base, but I couldn't see a notice to explain the significance of it all. The sculpture is very striking. Please let me know if you can shed any light on it for me.

This amazing building is Afflecks Palace. Its a collection of small shops inside, like a market. Its clientele seem mostly to be students. A fascinating place full of clothing both old and new.

This interesting frontage was seen as I walked down towards the University on my way to the Whitworth Art Gallery.


This is one of the main University buildings as seen from Oxford Road. I loved the towers and the roof shapes. The older buildings here are surrounded by some very modern architecture. A wonderful mix of textures.


Finally, my favourite. The red brick building in the centre used to be known as the Refuge Building. It had been built by the Refuge Assurance Company. Today it is a prestigious hotel known as the Palace. The detail on it is wonderful. I only wish my photos could do it justice.

Yesterday, I went to Voirrey for threads.

www.voirrey.com

I got to see an enchanting exhibition of Jenny Dunlop's work.
http://www.artinliverpool.com

Do add the following to see Jenny's wonderful work:

/blog/blogarch/2007/02/artwork_of_the_day_jenny_dunlo.php
Its gorgeous. So bright and gently humorous. Thanks Jenny. I really wish I could have met you.

Blue Shirt Quilt.

It has taken most of the week to complete, but the Shirt Quilt is now finished. It has also been claimed by its new owner.

You will remember that I recently posted about my WISPs (Works in Slow Progress). This quilt was the one nearest completion.

http://crazydaisytime.blogspot.com/2007/01/wisps.html

The first two photos show the completed top and a close-up of the quilting.

The next photo shows the reverse.

And now, the proud owner.

Yes, its Coco. She just would not leave the quilt alone. Whenever I left to do something else, she would sneak back and lie down for a nap.

Amaryllis

I have these two wonderful Amaryllis flowering in my kitchen. I thought you might like to see them. They are such a bright and cheerful sight.

The last two photos are of Felix. He is very loving whilst managing to panic whenever I drop anything. You may have seen photos of his sister Coco (they were from the same litter) in an earlier post.

http://crazydaisytime.blogspot.com/2007/01/those-promised-photos.html

Cobwebs

This morning I just had to rush out and take photos of the cobwebs in the garden. The frost was just beginning to melt away and the fog of the previous day was lifting. The shapes made by the webs were so beautiful, the frost really made them stand out.

As I write this, the sun is brighter and the cobwebs have all but disappeared. The frost has gone.

Leaves

I have finally rinsed the dissolvable fabric off the circular piece. At the moment I have given it the working name of "Leaves". Not quite sure what I shall do with it next, so it will sit on my board for a few days.
Anyway, this is what it now looks like.



The next photograph just shows a close-up of the stitching.