Back from Paris, getting ready for Dubai

Life is a bit hectic these days. Travelling and photography is stealing time away from my textile work. Oh for more hours in the day!!

We had a very last minute week in Paris. I treat my family to either a week in New York or a week in Paris. My grandson chose Paris and what a good decision that turned out to be. The week we would have been in New York would have been torrential rain, an earthquake and a hurricane with long delays getting home. Instead we had glorious hot weather in Paris. It was hectic trying to get to all those places we see in all the photos of Paris. I could have done with a new pair of legs and feet. I climbed, yes climbed up to the second stage of the Eifel Tower. I still can't believe that I actually achieved it. I am now wading through all the images, around 800+ of them. It remains to be seen if I manage to create a project from this visit. I am still working on my Dubai project and will have lots more inspiration from Dubai when we return in October.

So, back to the Dubai project.

I have used the ornate ballistrade in the heritage village numerous times and here are a couple more pieces using this ballistrade.

I decided to do some printing onto transfer paper and this box was created using this method. The printed transfer paper panels were ironed onto fabric which were then embellished with embossing powders/crystals. I also highlighted parts of the image with metallic paints. The four panels were then free machine quilted. The lid of the box was created by embossing the design onto copper metal shim which was then highlighted with alcohol inks to add more colour to the embossed texturising. I already had some beads which fitted perfectly to make the corner ties. The box opens out and can be stored flat.

Using the same ballistrade design I ironed the transfer paper onto felt which was then free machine quilted and highlighted with gold metal powders. I used air dried clay, model magic, to make a book marker. I pressed one of the stencils I made into the clay so that it squeezed up through the design. When dry, it was painted with metallic paints and highlighted with gold guilding wax.

I colour washed tyvek sheets to line the inside of the book and drew little gold flowers in the corners of each page. there is also a stencilled motif on the inside cover.

I always use the text from a project to create pieces and so this piece used the letters from the name Dubai.

I digitised each letter and stitched it out on different coloured silks. Each was made into a small mobile edged with beads. The header used the Arabic motif from the front of our hotel which I digitised and stitched out twice. The two sides of the header were pushed apart by stitching two metal rings at the top and bottom. The very bottom motif was another smaller stitch out of the Arabic motif.

Next I printed lots of small images of Dubai onto acetate sheets. I used them to create two more pieces. The first was a hanging with little image windows. The body of the hanging was made from painted pelmet vilene covered with a gold mesh fabric. Small arched window frames were cut and satin edged. The front and back were stitched together with the acetate images as the windows. Beads and a tassel were added to finish.

The second acetate piece was an image mobile. Each acetate image was hand edges with buttonhole stitch. I used the machine to make the equally distanced holes around the edge of each image. I used kebab sticks to make the hanging frames and hung each image from twisted threads. This was the tricky bit - getting the positions and lengths right to balance and allow the images to spin.

I used the same images to make the next piece but this time they were printed onto transfer paper and ironed onto fabric. They were cut out and machined onto four sides of a small duffle bag design.
One, my favourite piece of architecture in Dubai - the Kalifa Tower - was used to make a bag tag. I used small metal curtain rings, covered with buttonhole stitch to make the pull closers for the bag. I twisted several yarns of blue wool together to make the draw strings. I managed to hide the joins of the drawstrings inside the large beads.

The final piece for this bblog was created by using the window pattern of a building which I had used previously - see an earlier blog - changed the colours and put it through a kaleidoscope filter in Paint shop pro. The resulting design was printed onto tee shirt printer paper, ironed onto white fabric and free machine quilted. I used silver decorative threads and ribbons to hightlight some of the design. It was edged with a navy blue fabric. I made a block frame, covered it with canvas, painted it with white gesso then mounted the piece onto it.

That is about it for this blog. I have a number of other pieces waiting to be mounted and photographed and hope to have them ready for the next post.

This week, while trying to decide what to take with me to Dubai (a bit early I know but it does take up time making these decisions) I finished up weeding out clothes which I no longer liked/wanted or more to the truth didn't fit anymore. I spent a whole day altering what I could to fit again and those which I didn't want I stripped, giving me some rather nice fabric stashes crying out to be made into bags and books. I can print on them, over paint them, stamp them, embellish them, quilt them and make some lovely bags, purses and books.

This may just put the Dubai project to one side for a while!! Excuse the repetition but Oh for more hours in the day!!!

Now it is a quick lunch, provided by my OH, and on, I hope, with making some block frames for the three quilted pieces waiting to be mounted.

My grandson is coming to sleep over tonight too.

Cheers for now until the next post.