Here’s a little project I’ve been working on for my dragon obsessed boyfriend. Think of it as a late Valentine’s present. It’s the most colourful piece I’ve ever embroidered and I really like how it’s turned out.
Chinese Dragon on my book shelf- Design by Aimee Ray
This is the first time I’ve stitched a pattern that wasn’t my own, but when I saw Aimee Ray’s Chinese New Years Free give away pattern I knew this Dragon would be perfect . I also embellished him with patterns from the ‘Asian Chic’ section of Aimee’s book Doodle Stitching the motifs collection. I think the fans and the cherry blossom were an ideal foil for my red lucky dragon with jade eyes! If you haven’t seen Aimee’s work before I totally recommend her Doodle stitching books, perfect for beginners with lots of really sweet woodland themed designs. She has a fab shop on Etsy too.
It’s been a great week for writing assignments, and I’ve some exciting news about my Derry & Irish fabrics which I’ll be able to share on here soon. For now I have a deadline to meet, but in the meantime I’ll just take this opportunity to flag up a really unusual quilt exhibition that is currently running at the Tower Museum Derry until the 24th March. Irene Mac William is a Northern Irish quilter who keeps journals in the form of quilts and creates engaging annual quilts depicting local and international events, almost like massive quilted comic strips! Well worth going to see. And if you can’t make it you can read all about it in the next issue of the Irish Quilting Magazine- out soon!
I made this little gift for my Lover in lieu of a valentines card, I like to think of it as ‘The Book of Love’. It’s a tiny embroidered book made of felt, only 1 x 1.5 inches big, with our initials on the front, and this pictogram message inside:
This year we combined my birthday gift with valentines and my Lovely Man took me out in Belfast to celebrate! We stayed at the Europa (very swanky), and went to a gig at ever cool Black box venue. ‘Stay Sick’ was a tribute night to the Cramps, and The Vipers and The Saberjets did not disappoint! There was some genuine rockabilly love going on, and the crowd were brilliantly odd. I’ve never been to a Cramps gig, but I’d like to think it would be just like this. There was a real mixture of ages, old and young, squares and hipsters, goths and punk rockers, femme fatales and greasers, geeks, gays, tourists and crazy ladies. It was awesome. I have never seen a dance floor like it!
Charles Burns (this was for an Iggy Pop album, but you get the idea)
It was like looking at a crazy animated Charles Burns drawing the only thing missing was somebody in a Mexican wrestling mask! There was swinging, moshing, jiving, shoe gazing, conniptions, serious 80’s dancing, violent mis-aimed lindy hopping, girls squatting and circling each other, running, shape throwing , there was even crawling at one point. It was freaking hysterical. (So glad I made it out there for the last dance!)
I’m feeling the love people. Ah, if only every weekend could be like this one!….xoxo
I was asked by a very lovely Quilter to come up with a Cherry Pie fabric for the Twin Peaks quilt she is making. I’d always intended on working the cherry pie motif into the range, but her request has somewhat expedited the process. After one or two failed attempts to create a design I was happy with I hit my stride and ended up creating a mini collection dedicated to cherry pies and incorporating the logo of the Double R Diner. (How could I not?) These fabrics are now at the proofing stage, and if the work out as well as I’m expecting I’ll make them available on Spoonflower. I’ve kept the colours as much as possible to red, white and black and the jade/turquoise colour of the Owl ring. Hope my quilter likes them!
This weekend I was busy writing book reviews but I did manage to squeeze in a little sewing time. I made this 3in retro vintage tattoo inspired valentine while watching the heartbreakingly sad ‘Never let me go’. I like the soft colours in this one and might just keep this for myself.
I was also very pleased to see lots of people checking out my Twin Peaks fabrics today as I’ve been ‘Tumblr’ed! And I’ve had lots of fun looking at the cool, crafty, kitschy and just plain random stuff on all your Tumblr albums! I’m not a Tumblr user but would like to say thanks to The Hefty Hideway and all those who have posted and reposted about my Twin Peaks collection, they are available to order on Spoonflower.com
Hexie firefly bag:sides and bottom attached, front flap folded over
You thought I’d forgotten all about it didn’t you?! Well, I’m like a proper quilter now, with some UFO’s of my own! This little bag got shelved on the run up to christmas, but I picked it up and did some sewing in front of the telly last night and got the ball rolling again. (If I were only working on this and not countless other little jobs it would probably whip up quite quickly). I’ve a funny feeling that the shoulder strap will wind up being the longest part to do….so I’ve saved that bit till last. As previously outlined I am constructing this bag from hand sewn paper pieced hexagons and is backed with felt to give it structure. (I’m kinda making it up as I go along!)
Another view, showing the inside of front flap at the top
Hopefully it won’t be too long till I’m showing you my latest progress report You can see my previous entries on this project here and here
Happy Tuesday everyone. (Sorry I’m late!) I’ve been working with some felt experiements this weekend while trying to design a ‘softie’:
I was pleased with the stitching, but I still have alot to learn where stuffing is concerned.Turning things inside out is not quite as easy as it sounds!
My embroidered felty bunny
It’s been a great couple of weeks for me: my Twin Peaks fabrics have been getting a lot of interest, helped greatly by being retweeted by @thatsOurWaldo I already have one lady in America making a quilt from them, and another in the UK making themed panties! (I can’t wait to see these). I’ve also been working on my first commissioned fabric too- a cherry pie design for my Twin Peaks quilter.
A little closer to home I’ve also been invited as a guest speaker at the North West Quilters Guild’s meeting in March to talk about my adventures in fabric design. Also Inis Magazine have commissioned me to do an article on long term Irish Indie comics friend Alan Nolan, who is currently working on his series of kids graphic novels by O’Brien Press.
Maybe 2012 will be the year of the Lucky Dragon after all?
I adore miniature canvases, (these little guys are just 4x4inches)and I’ve been struggling to find just the right subject matter for them until I found some inspiration in my source book of vintage tattoos. I’m not sure what it is about these designs that really draw me to them. Actually I do, it’s that they are symbolic, many traditional designs carry a meaning, and I love that such a small icon can tell a story. So here are my versions, tweeked to make them more personal. I’ve kept the colours fairly true to the limited palette of vintage tattoos, but I couldn’t help adding a little bit of sparkle. I can just imagine a whole wall of these little guys, wouldn’t that be fab?
By now you’ve probably heard of Lana Del Ray. My first encounter was online where a blogger was musing on whether they’d have embraced her music if they’d seen what she’d looked like first. That isn’t to say Ms Del Ray isn’t beautiful, quite the opposite, she’s almost impossibly so. Describing herself as a “gangsta Nancy Sinatra”, imagine a doe eyed Natalie Portman crossed with Priscilla Presley, and your almost there. In her videos she pouts and purrs, staring vacantly just beyond the camera like jail bait, but despite her tender looks at 26 Del Ray’s musical sensibilities seem surprisingly mature based in a hip melancholy nostalgia for the 60’s that never were.
Perhaps this is an ageist or misogynistic judgement, but for me it’s an issue about authenticity. Del Ray’s fame thus far hails from the internet, her first album has yet to be released, but on tour recently she’s appeared on the most prestigious variety shows, (where better to discover such an obscure artist then on Later with Jools Holland?). Yet in each performance, vulnerable and strained, she remains an enigma with most of her interviews in print rather than on T.V.
You can peruse videos for her particular brand of retro ‘sad –core’ pop on You Tube. Nothing is claimed or denied but it’s suggested that these promos are compiled using home movie footage. Yet the slick hair and makeup, consistent sepia tinting, montage elements of neon lights, tree lined boulevards, and archive film and cartoon footage, beautifully evoke the mood and tone of her Americana melodrama suggesting something altogether more directed and processed. (It seems since I wrote this full credits are now available for the archive footage sources.)
I dig further and turn up some interview clips under her pre fame name. The look is there, but she seems unsure of what she’s saying. After a false start with an album released under the name Lizzy Grant with support from her businessman father, ‘Lana Del Ray’ was created and re-launched as a Lolita in the ‘hood, cholita of the trailer park. She’s undoubtedly talented, with a voice whose expressive quality lends a bitter sweetness to the bad girl love songs of longing, self obliteration and loss. But ultimately it’s this nostalgia for a time not her own, juxtaposed against the little girl lost posturing that makes me wonder if this act was written for rather than by her.
I’m reminded of J.T LeRoy, a writer famed for his gritty style of magic realism who shot to acclaim at the age of 19 with ‘Sarah’, a semi-fictionalised account of his troubled childhood. Until it transpired that the tragically talented gender bending ex-drug addict, was in fact a character created by then unknown writer Laura Albert, and played in public by her sister-in- law in sunglasses and a wig. LeRoy gained many celebrity fans and literary endorsements, many were angry they’d been fooled, while some claimed to have always been in on the ruse.
Maybe the question should be: if the much lauded literature exists, does it matter if the author was fiction?
I wonder if I’m sewing cupcakes because I am subliminally thinking about my birthday. (Boy, I’m feeling old). It’s not far off now, and as I’m on a gluten free diet I think I’m subconsciously craving cake. Hee hee. So here’s one I could enjoy gluten and calorie free. I love making these cute little wall hangings and I’m offering this one for sale in my Etsy shop. Cupcakes are quite the popular motif these days, not just the stuff of café decoration they are appearing on tote bags, fabrics, wash bags, badges, interior design and more.
Cupcakes are so popular that last summer when I was in New York, I saw cupcake vendors in vans on the high street, where you would have expected to see ice cream vendors! And cute trendy girls eating them walking down the street. Isn’t that nuts? I couldn’t have a cupcake with out a cup of tea! Even though I can’t eat them now, I have to admit, they are so cute they make a cheery little feature. I think I might put one on a mini painting next!
You can see my previous entries on this project 
