hand made christmas

The Handy and Divine Christmas shop is popping up again soon. If you are near Midhurst, do come by and say hello!

New for this shop, eggcup pincushions (for tiny sewing projects..)

painting with fabric

I have been doing a bit of 'painting with fabric'... (this picture with a little help from photoshop)

This quilt:

http://molebags.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/ditzy-prints-updated.html

has been in the back of my mind, and the back of the cupboard, for ages, so now we've got the room re-organised, I've decided to just slap the blocks up on the wall, stop looking at the fabric neatly folded up, and cut it up! That's what its for, after all. And any bits that don't fit in here will no doubt fit in somewhere else..

Its very freeing (is freeing a word??) to allow the right side of the brain to play, taking advantage of one of my favourite things, serendipity. Bits that come together by chance are sometimes the most successful.

Thinking about Howard Hodgkin, or Matisse paper cutouts- pure blocks of colour, rather different from the muted browns in my last post.










I'm also not worrying about how I'll join it all together- in fact I'm thinking there will be some raw edges that will fray over time, no doubt influenced by the ruffle-necked tops I've been making. (A third one nearly finished- I think I'm addicted!) 

..and I have also been applying the law of serendipity to some tiny landscapes on christmas cards, which may find their way into the next pop-up shop!

russet, tan, sludge, mud, prune...

If you asked me what is my least favourite colour (after the dreaded BEIGE, of course) I would probably say brown.

But lately I seem to have developed rather a fancy for brown, although maybe I should call it more poetically russet, tan, hazel, taupe, sludge, mud, or prune...

(Which reminds me of some deeply trendy Biba eyeshadows I bought in the early seventies called Greige (a sort of greyish beige) and Poon (a dusty purple/prune colour). I wonder if anyone else remembers them?)

Do colours take on more glamour if the name is more romantic? The colours of an old watercolour paintbox- viridian green (a glittering poisonous snake), Naples yellow (chalky-faced old villas on a sun-dazzled hillside), French ultramarine (Jean Paul Gaultier looking saucy in a sailor suit), rose dore' (a hand tinted photograph of a Victorian beauty with rosy cheeks) are so much more descriptive than mere 'green, blue and yellow'.

Maybe its the lovely bright autumn weather between the showers which has revived my taste for all shades of brown? We are lucky to be able to walk straight out of our back door into the field and through the woods, and we always find inspiration in the colours of the countryside.

So on a brownish theme, I recently bought the perfect fabric in the Eternal Maker, to make another ruffle-necked top. I was so pleased with the first one I made:

http://molebags.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/ruffled.html

And now I keep spotting likely fabrics to make more. You can make this top in an afternoon, and its so versatile for layering. I love the way the ruffle frays into a lovely texture.

I've also recently bought a brown cardigan (more romantically described as 'Gingerbread' on the label). 

So brown looks like being a new part of my autumn wardrobe. It needs a bright flash of colour though, also inspired by the glorious autumn leaves.

I couldn't agree more with Marigold: 

http://marigoldjam.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/autumn.html

...that autumn and winter is the best time of year, when you don't need to feel obliged to spend all day outdoors, but can stay indoors by the fire and revel in creativity. I am so pleased with our redesigned studio space, and now can't wait to get making  again.

(I had a lot of assistance when taking these photographs, from the ever helpful Ruby. At least she's colour- coordinated!)