West Coast Inspiration

After a wonderful long weekend over on the West Coast of Scotland I have found yet more inspiration for my textile landscapes.
Last Spring we went to Skye for the first time and I loved all the mellow colours of a landscape only beginning to awaken from Winter. Well this trip to the west was just as inspirational with the landscape just washed clean by snow and ice and still sleepy in it's quietness due to the lack wind and very few people around.
We were blessed with bright days and starry nights, with the lochs like mirrored glass and the tops of the higher mountains still capped with snow.

I decided to have a go at painting Bondaweb for this project. I tried painting some earlier in the month using fabric paints but I only have a few colours and the result was quite muddy so this time I used watered down acrylics.

Because the Bondaweb is attached to paper, it wrinkles as it becomes wet. Ideally I should have worked so that the wrinkles were horizontal but I'll know next time. I painted quite a large piece so I wasn't going to waste it.

Above is the Bondaweb ironed onto some pale blue fleece.

I was then able to needle some toning organza onto the piece then add some free machine stitching.
It has been six weeks since I last used my Embellisher machine. I broke three needles all at once and when I went to get my replacement needles I couldn't find them. So I phoned up to order more only to discover that they had gone from £11 for 10 to £28 for 10! I didn't order them in the hope that the ones I bought last year would turn up. They didn't. I can only conclude that I used them all without realising.
So, rather than leave my poor machine lonely in the corner I bought lovely new needles for it and it is wonderful to be using it again. It really is such a fabulous piece of equipment.

So with a little cottage added and some French knot sheep, here is the finished piece.

A Reflective Moment

We are still pretty much snowed in here in Fife. The roads are treacherous so we are staying in our cosy cottage making soup and homemade bread and generally enjoying the last day of the holidays.

2009 was a very busy year here at Aileen Clarke Crafts.
It saw the birth of many new designs including a whole range of textile accessories that I hadn't even thought about this time last year.

I enjoy looking back over what I have made and deciding what to make more of and how I can improve the design or how I can interpret it in new colours and techniques.
I thought I would have plenty time in January and February to experiment but looking at the calendar, I have fairs starting in March and eight shops to stock so I will really have to start batch producing my cards and accessories and get on with making up a stock of framed pieces now.

A Selection of Fused fabric Art Work from 2009

I think I have made more felt pictures than fused fabric over the last year. I really got into using my sewing machine and love the effect of stitch on felt. I have also enjoyed creating new textures and effects by mixing sheer fabrics with fibres using the embellisher machine. I love the vibrant colours and beautiful sheen that the sheer fabrics have and I would miss using them in my work if I was only using felt.

A Selection of Felted and Needle Felted Art Work from 2009

I always have great intentions of making a range of special cards for sale but end up so busy that I only really make special ones if I am commissioned to do so. Hopefully I can add a range of baby cards to my craft stall this year and some pretty blank cards that could be used for every occasion. As I said, I like to think that January and February are quiet months for getting on with these things but in reality the time flies and there only so many things I can make at a time.

I can forsee lists being made and promptly lost beneath the piles of fabrics and fibres that accumulate around me as I work.
When I look at what I have made over the past year I wonder what on earth I will be making this time next year! Here's to lots of new inspiration.