Applique on gunny sack

Another attempt to do some applique work on the gunny sack.

...some fun with buttons.....

I quite like it....how about you ?

Until next project........

xxx,

Gaia

Kantha Work

Lotus Pond

Another kantha embroidery piece I just completed. I used three layers of white voile, tacked in place and drew the pattern.

To create rippling effect of water,I used two different shades of blue and a purple and did them in a kind of an overlapped shells to match the lotus leaf. Also, added yellow at the top to represent sunshine.

The bottom of the pond is in a shade of aqua.

The finished piece is about 8x14 inches and it took about two months.

Do you like my imaginary pond?

xxx,

Gaia 

Mini Quilt

This was a skirt .......

My aunt gave me this old indian skirt she had, to use in my creative work. I thought I will make some sort of a quilted throw for her sofa. [sorry I forgot to take a picture of the skirt before my adventure with it]

I separated the skirt and cut into squares that I thought would be of a suitable size. They are not all exactly the same size as I did ran out of fabric.

I found this blue satin at the thrift store which I thought would be perfect for balancing out the bright red and yellow.

Everything is hand pieced. I did not use any batting, only a cotton fabric for the backing.

and I turned into this...

How do you like this?

xxx,

Gaia

Applique on ...

Gunny sack /burlap sack/jute

My friend and I were at a fair traded organic coffee shop the other day, and we saw that the empty sacks are on sale for $2. We both purchased sacks wanting to try some form of creative work on it. I did a few  sketches and opted to try out this applique for a window panel.

I separated the sack into two by trimming the off the edges, and used one piece to create this.

blanket stitches all over......

some work with ribbon, and felt ...

summer garden

I did put the backing and the border with some blueish grey material and sewed a casing for the rod. This is my experimental project and I do like the way it turned out.  I think I will be going to the coffee shop to buy a couple of more sacks :)

And, as for this one, I will be giving away as a gift. 

xxx,

Gaia 

Darning - one picture at a time - 1

Inspiration for these projects were taken from the Stitch Magazine.
If you go here http://www.embroiderersguild.com/stitch/projects/darning/index.html you read about it.

I do like this magazine a lot, it carries various interesting projects that one can try.
This is the tutorial piece.

tutorial work 

I liked the technique,  the texture and the pattern it created. So, I tried the following as well;

cuppa tea -  I feel that in certain areas I used more tension on the thread.

lonely tree - I am pleased with all the colours that I chose to darn this little tree. The problem I came across  on this one was, that I sketched the drawing  too closer to edge of the material and I could not get my embroidery frame to fit perfectly. Finally, I took it out and did the darning. [although I could have started another]

There's room for lots of improvement. I also,could not get the finishing as smoothly as I had it in my mind.

I am thinking of putting them in frames.
There's more coming...I have too many ideas but not enough time. 

xxx,

Gaia

A Saree Quilt

Saree - six yards of cloth draped around the body in various styles are worn by many woman from the south asian region. They come in various textures, patterns, and all and more colours one can imagine.
My grand mother who's in her 90's still wears saree everyday at home. My mother wears mostly when she goes to the city or on special occasions such as weddings etc. Many women in my family wear it in a style known as Kandyan [also known as osariya]. Cotton sarees are very common for daily wear. Saree is usually worn with a jacket and a slip.

If you go http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sari here you can read and see some pictures of various styles of draping.

The quilt I made is out saree borders from my mother's cotton sarees. My mother finds that whole six yards a little too much for her as she is petite. So she would cut off some of the border, and sew it for her liking. When I visited her, she gave me a whole pile of pretty and colourful cut-offs and I thought I would try quilt.

I cut them in larger squares and pieced them. I used fine cotton batting and a soft calico for backing. I did patterns on the printed material using chain stitch [mostly], running stitch and some blanket stitch. In places where it was plain and needed more filling in I used paisley patterns. [one above]

It took about an year for me to complete the quilt as it is quite large; fits a queen size bed. I am happy with the final result. And, every time I took at it,  it brings me a warm feeling of the tropics.

Thank you for taking time to stop by,


xxx,
Gaia

Kantha Work - first attempt

This is my contemporary take on this ancient form of folk art.It roots are from the Indian state of West Bengal and Bangladesh. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakshi_Kantha  This wikipedia page provides some detailed information and also has links to read and see some very rare and unique work. 

I got interested after seeing some cushion covers that my brother brought home after visiting one of the kantha making villages in Bangladesh. He explained as to how the women were sewing. I wanted to learn more about this, so I searched the web for Indian embroidery methods and patterns. 

I used three layers of white voile; first tacked them in place and drew the pattern [which I had sketched previously] using freehand, as it is said to have done in the past. This results the work having more of an asymmetrical look. Well, I do not know how much my design have such a look.

It is also noted that the traditional colours used in kantha work are red, blue, green and black. I however, incorporated few other colours as well.  I used dark blue thread and outlined the design in 'running stitch' which is the main stitch used in kantha.  The rest is filled in using same stitch, and other colours which I thought were suitable.

 I completed this piece a couple of weeks ago, and it took about 3 months.

I still wonder, whether I should have filled in the centre which I left in white. And, I also just noticed that I have not done the little bird's legs .... Does that look incomplete?

I have started yet another piece and look forward to see how it will turn out.

xxx,
Gaia