I'm going to step away from the internet for a while.  See you soon!

Recently I used these

To dye this

A small piece of felt, some badly spun (and scratchy) wool and merino top.  I included the undyed white wool to show the 'before and after'.  I don't really like the colour but for a first go I can't complain.

I was inspired to try dying with eucalyptus after reading Eco Colour by India Flint.  Who happened to comment on my last post which is pretty cool if you ask me!

One of the attractive things with eucalyptus is that you don't need a mordant when dyeing wool, so it seems a lot more spontaneous.  I once knew a lady who would do a lot of dyeing when camping.  All she had to carry with her was a pot and some wool.  

And to balance things out.  I dyed up about 10m of cotton this weekend using man made dyes.

I had a hankering after some secondary colours!  Orange, green and purple YAY!

Chris found a Sand Dollar yesterday.

I had never seen one before despite spending the majority of my life on the coast. Perhaps these critters don't like the cold Tasmanian waters.

A few weeks ago Chris went to Brisbane for work and I decided to join him for part of the time. I visited the new Gallery of Modern Art (but the majority of exhibition space was closed Hmmm) and the Queensland Art Gallery where I saw an exhibition of a watercolour landscapes by Kenneth McQueen (who I had never heard of before). I especially loved his cloud paintings.

I bought some books too, the most relevant here being India Flint's book Eco Colour. A lovely book to flick through and then go back and read (I bought it and enjoyed it in spite of the ho hum review in Vogue Living). I was even inspired to dye up some wool with eucalyptus leaves - I'll reserve that for a seperate post I think.

I made a new bag on a whim before I went and it was perfect for the trip. It was quick too (just what I like!)

The last week I've been terribly sick with the flu and my spirits have been very low, with lack of sleep and tears and various trials and tribulations at work. But I'm starting to feel better now and things are looking brighter.

I LOVE quick thumbnail sketches. Many to a page. Repetion. Fiddling with line quality, scribling in some fill.

Not that I'm producing 100's of these things. My stamina for it isn't very good. 10-15 mins MAX, then I sit on it for a couple of days, or weeks.

I've been using Uni-ball fine black pens for years, manufactured by Mitsubish Pencil Co. I don't think I'd find it easy to change now so I bought up a big supply before I moved up here. But I've noticed Chris has been stealing them, hmmm.

I seem to be getting a process together now. The sketch comes first, then perhaps some colour studies which may then be finally translated to fabric. It is very exciting to have discovered this!

Hello Dolly :o)

She's temporarily dressed in scrap fabric and matching turban. Completely hand sewn (and probably will fall apart too soon as a result), this is my first ever 3d stuffed toy creation.

I really hated stuffing her. Probably because the only thing I have to use is some cut up quilt wadding (batting). But I did enjoy embroidering her face and I hope designing and making an outfit will be a bit of fun too!

I've been on an embroidery binge in the past week.

I've got grand plans for a series of triangular banners to hang in our lounge room. But mainly this is a hand project which I can fiddle with while relaxing on the couch with my darling Chris.

Lookie! Loookie!! I made a cushion.

It was developed from one of my thumbnail sketches.  Up until now, there has been no real correlation between my sketchbook and my textile work, so I'm a little chuffed and hopeful that this is the start of something good.

I had some fun with the back. The buttons are from my tiny button stash which was a very lucky find at one of those discount shops a few years ago. A beautiful and interesting selection.

I did have some hassle with the buttonholes. I can't find the manual for my sewing machine (bloody hell!!) But after 1/2 hour of crazy searching I decided to just jump in and figure it out myself. Worked first time! I LOVE my automatic buttonhole foot thingy now.

I really like the mismatched, unevenly spaced buttons :-)

Before I go, I would like to officially record here that I have finished the first bed quilt I ever started. According to my photo records I finished piecing in late 2004 (I'm sure I started it way before that).

By the time I finished piecing this quilt top I had discovered dyeing and started to have pipe dreams of creating my own designs and perhaps getting into art. I had also just started this blog and soon after learned how to spin and knit. So I sort of fell out of love with the thing.

I couldn't be bothered to quilt it myself either, so at great expense I sent it to a long arm quilter. The quilting is ok but the backing she used isn't very nice (at all!). So it sat in my cupboard waiting for binding for YEARS.

But now we are living in NT we prefer to sleep with a thin quilt and last weekend I noticed that my beloved 'Tasmania' quilt is starting to show wear... so I bit the bullet, made the bias binding (ugh!) and bound the thing!

I quite like it now.

More 'studies' for the hallway.

In the last month I have changed the way I read blogs. After ignoring the idea for yonks, and now out of necessity due to our cruddy internet access, I use an RSS feed compliler.

It has sort of revolutionised the way I spend time on the net and I can read heaps more sites much more quickly. I'm using google reader which is working out very nicely.

Some great blogs which have been added to my blog 'stable' are:

A Stitch in Dye is the blog of Malka from Texas. Beautiful dyed / batiked fabrics. I also love the quilted cushion covers. I'm really starting to become inspired and excited and will definitely get out and do some dyeing soon.

Auntie Cookie is the blog of Shannon from Melbourne . Another fabric designer who writes like I talk, I like that!! I really love the colours she uses in her work and like Malka's blog above, I liked the cusion covers she has made. Does it sound like, maybe, I should be sewing cushion covers to deal with this cushion obsession??!

And a big welcome back to Claire of Loobylu... I missed you and I'm glad you have re-entered blogland!

I love to splash paint around, all that colour, all that immediate gratification. A welcome change from the linen tablecloth I've been agonising over for weeks - which is now thrown into the back of the cupboard and will stay there for an indefinite period!

These studies are about 20x27cm each and blu-tacked up in our hallway, and I might do more and cover the whole wall!

I'm working on a second lot which have a different shape and colour theme.

I can't think too deeply about art/creativity right now, my brain can't handle it for some strange reason... I've got to ride it out an not stress too much about it. Unfortunately it doesn't make for good blogging.

This week I collected these small bits of driftwood off the beach. I'm still pinching myself that we live about 2 minutes walk from a decent beach. How lucky are we!!