my name is textile seahorse and i am addicted to

embroidery... i can't stop making french knots,

bullions,

web stitches and buttonhole stitches.

but especially the french knots... poor kind dog is in danger of becoming a whitework widower

karen's instructions are so good i can now do all those stitches i kept stuffing up before.  thank goodness it's work tomorrow and my needleworking fingers can have a rest

i did it!

 i am doing 3 online courses at the moment - dijanne cevaal's traveller's blanket, arlee barr's frankenstitch and karen ruane's buttons and more - all very different,  all creative and great fun and i'm learning a lot.

i've never been much good at french knots - they were always loopy or flat or didn't work at all. but after carefully watching the video that's part of karen's course i finally cracked it.

look - french knots!

more eco-dyeing

i used the same dyebath - old dupion silk this time from an op shop wedding dress. 

i scrunched up the biggest piece of fabric (about 1 metre square) and for the black rimmed circle effect used metal beer bottle caps (crown seals) loosely held in the bunched up fabric with rubber bands

a bulldog clip got this gorgeous effect.

my eco-dyeing gurus are:

• arlee barr
• india flint
• kimberly baxter packwood

i love dyeing wool and silk with eucalyptus leaves because it's so easy - no mordants, no poisons, no hovering. i use a bunch of eucalyptus leaves from the florist and just boil if up in a big cheap stockpot - i tie the fabric and bung it in and just leave it. the first lot i boiled up on friday, left it to steep over the four days we were in apollo bay and then removed the pieces and let them dry.

frankenstitching away

i'm having enormous fun at the moment - i am making my own version of dijanne cevaal's traveller's blanket with her online class (the dryad piece from an earlier post); plotting my next international quilt challenge piece and just started doing arlee barr's frankenstitch online class.

 arlee does the most amazing work - completely unique. and she does fabulous eco-dyeing too. her frankenstitch class started this week and it's huge fun.

i started my piece this evening and have been stitching away like mad. i think i may have gone a little too far though as the distortion is quite tortuous.

my first attempt at gilding cuttlefish however was not a success. here's a before shot:

no after shots yet - i'll have to be brave tomorrow and take some photos of the sorry mess. i do have gilded fingers and flakes of gold in my hair though, so not all is lost.  and the aluminum mesh gilded beautifully.

meanwhile back at the ranch....

the dye pot full of eucalyptus leaves, silk, wool/hemp blend, rubber bands, bottle caps and a bulldog clip was left to cool and look what emerged:

postcard from our seaside holiday

having a lovely time:
walking along the beach
eating oysters
seeing wildlife
and relaxing