My One True’s Gift

https://youtu.be/fLlttedKNlo

I would do anything for you

I would climb mountains 

I would swim all the oceans blue

I would walk a thousand miles

Reveal my secrets

More than enough for me to share

I would put roses round our door

Sit in the garden

Growing potatoes by the score…

Survived another stint at the Melbourne Show. Sore neck/back/feet...
Again, the little children were the biggest participants... although there were loads of grown-ups wanting to try rug making or chat about crafts in general. It's very warming and the best conduit for friendliness. It's good to share a passion, a history, an addiction (and a benevolent one at that).
Young George spent some time experimenting with his methods, grinning all the while. I handed out a few ready-cut scraps which got scrunched up in his warm fist and shoved in his pocket with probably some string and a frog. Soo cute.
At least two grandfathers/husband's had their internal woodworking hats on and casually accepted the task of making frames or turning tools for their wimmin. So easy-peasy they could just spit on the ground to prove it. Ha ha ha!
One of my earliest childhood friends came by (Rhonda Looney) and it was so nice to see her I could have cried! I think we had little tears in the corners of our eyes. Ronnie wants to come to rug group, which will be a pleasure all round. Can't wait.
Big love to Betty La, Jon and my own Gumbo who all helped loads, morally and physically. Except when the One True got lost because he Can't See For ****ing Looking!

I Just Never Get To The Camera

 But I keep busy... Claire's Birthday Pants Man. Finished at last! I was pretty happy with it and so was she! xoxoxox My little girl all grown up...

Trousers in Ceylon stitch.

I'm So Excited!

There is an article in the latest Quilter's Newsletter, about my quilt! It's very exciting as, I (alone in the whole Pacific!) discovered this magazine in the late 70's before the quilting craze made it all available here (in Oz). Pretty sure I was the first in my neck of the woods at least!
That's what comes of growing up with 'McCall's Needlework & Craft Magazine', you see all of this great stuff. The ads were as good as the articles, with all of that modern American bling you could buy.
So when I came to putting my crazy patches together with the fans, and saw it to be way too busy, I dug out the old QNM's and saw one with a border that I employed to seperate the two sections. In fact the whole of this quilt is familiar, even though I came at mine (in the beginning) as a Grandmother's Fans quilt and added the crazy centre. It's an appealing medium, the crazy.
Thank You, wonderful anonymous embroiderer extroirdinaire of 1884!
The article on the link is great too, and all of the pictures. My copy is old and tattered and extremely well loved.

AND:

So, Kim at l'uccello's is putting my new classes up on her blog on Wednesday or Thursday (16th-17th May), so if you're interested in being terribly pampered while taking some classes, have a look at her blog or pop into the shop. luccello's a pure hit of visual and tactile delight and I'm really pleased as punch to be teaching there. It's great fun.
I'll post more too. There will be a few options...

Details of Claire's Ceylon Stitch Pants Man, a secret birthday pressie.

Onward & Upward With The Finishing Off Thing

I am adding this text to Claire's drawing. It needed something other, and this will work well.

My eldest daughter wrote this note for her grandparents, maybe aged 8-10? I realised the other day, that I would NEVER EVER have presumed my grandparents, or parents, or anyone else for that matter, to be wrong and then magnanimously forgiven them and not held it against them like this! I would have forgiven them of course, being tender hearted, but it would not have occured to me to see any wrongness! Such a self-aware little girl!

Forgot This One

Working Drawings For New Rugs

I originally thought to do a tea cosy, but a rug is better.
These are cowgirls. I've done the whole pic, this is just a detail.

I will not allow myself to begin these until a few other things are out of the way. I don't mean 'out of the way' as if they were bothersome, because it's all just so much fun you can't imagine! I love doing all of this stuff. Lerve it. I can't WAIT to get to these though... won't be long. I have to have train trip projects you see.

I'm very happy if you want to use the patterns, really really happy, but of course they're for personal use only... you know the drill.

The Nice Girls, Wilhemina and Xue

Pencil, watercolour and oil pastel on rag paper.

Dress for Monozygotic Twin. Still Unfinished Remember

The Cat Dress.

Back view with peek in sleeve and side opening, as yet unbuttoned and edge unfinished..

Looking toward the neck hole. Up. Inside.

Peeking up the skirt. The hem will be finished with a nice crocheted edge.

Nice fabric on the chaise huh? I went stupid and had it covered in hand loomed silk, French no less. It's such a beautiful piece, it deserved it.

Sneak Preview. Inside The Cat Dress

If I wasn't busy with bean bag and now reeling with temperature and sinus and headache and blah, it'd be finished. In fact it is, excepting for the edges (picot, maybe?) and the buttons. It's for real, for someone to model. I doubt I'd find a dycephilys twin to model the other dress.

I need to find some five year old twins, though I haven't started the other dress yet. Anyone out there?

The Good Girls. Finished, But Not Mounted Etc.

I h a t e the part where you have to pick the couching thread out. (There's that word again, I might get in trouble), and they're not pressed or stretched or anything, but you get the idea. I have two more to do in this series.

I Don't Really H A T E Them

I've never been one to maintain my rage.

Thing is, on reflection... and Shules, don't think I'm succumbing to the man or anything... but, on reflection I think I may not have offered a very good picture of what I want to do. I so completely hate the wankiness and whilst I might struggle to formulate a cohesive 'body' of work myself, I kind of expected them to trust me to get it together rather than convinced them of it. And I will have a good grouping, don't worry about that. I'm too flip when I describe the plan, and I try to fit their criteria instead of sticking to mine.

I have very strong opinions about the crafts and my place in its history and evolution.

Next time I'm letting someone else write it.

And can you believe it, someone flagged my blog as being objectionable. Huh?? What's that about? It's my blog and I'll cry if I want to.

(I see... You're not allowed to say 'hate'. Oooooh!)

I Feel Better Now

After all, there's so much stitching to do. I love the newest dress so much and I love to stitch! Some girls at my state school had each a skirt I coveted A LOT (you know who you are). They were 1950's fabric and style skirts (after all, this was early 60's) and had either dogs or cats around them in a 1950's painterly style. I thought they must have been rich to have such beautiful skirts. They, as it happened, thought we were rich because we had new clothes all of the time, which was actually the result of having a tailor for a grandmother and coming from a long line of milliners and tailors and so on who set the pace for splendid fashion.

Anyway, now I'm making my new twin dresses even better than those coveted skirts. At least just as desirable and moving. It takes me back to that big sighing love I felt at state school. Pics to follow soon!

P.S. Thanks Shula, for the rant and the pat on the back and the you're better than they are and the general friendship. It's not so bad really.

Do Sour Grapes Make Good Wine?

Ok Ok Ok... I didn't get a spot at Craft Vic. And I'm a not so good loser ( I'm a dreadfully gracious winner though). My concept needs developing, as it happens. The thing is, I agree that my concept (as required in 100 words or less) was weak and vague and at best a 'perhaps' because I don't know nor care what my psychology is and was stabbing at a possible cause for my interest in conjoined bunnies. And who am I to say. AND, I don't care.

I like making things. If my gut tells me it's right, I do it and I feel strongly about it too, like a real artist. Damn having to explain myself.

I love the history and development of techniques in (needle) craft. You can only respect those (mostly) women who made beautiful things to wear or to make their homes pretty, and then thought of even more interesting things to do with the orange plastic net bags you buy oranges in. Things that look like actual flowers when they're on top of the fridge and you're over the other side of the room. I think such an ironic conceptualisation of the natural evolution of plastics in a post-modern world is brilliant and I want to further their cause.

So I'm terribly shitty. Terribly, terribly, really annoyed that the "Art World" continues with the myth that Art is neccessarily defined by Concept. In fact, the Art is in the Concept. The medium and imagery, the skill and graphic workability is not secondary, but unimportant. The importance of the object is relevant only as seen through it's justification.

Not that I'm so brilliant. But, anyone's work should speak for itself. And I intensley dislike the need to spin. And now I have to apply myself to spinning even more, and I wanted it to be over and done so I could get on with the work.

On another note:

I saw Myrtle Corbin's photo in a movie yesterday... 'Fur'. Nicole Kidman played the part of Diane Arbus, the woman who photographed people who lived on the fringe of society. Nicole acted limply. Like a wet, thoughtful snail. Gratuitously condescending, contemplating the 'freaks' of humanity with maternal affection (as seen by the tilt of head and kind smile playing at the corner of her mouth) and long, ponderous looks with pooling blue eyes. What could have been a good story was, you guessed right, turned into a Hollywood romance/tragedy. When she shaved the hairy man I wanted to snatch the razor from her insipid, caring hand and get the frikkin' job done! Pronto!

BUT, the colours were beautiful. I like the apartments a lot. I had a dream where we lived in those colours. I used to have coloured walls and it was so nice.

Oh... Myrtle Bunny is over here.

Anyway, thanks for listening.

This Is What I've Been Doing Lately

Just put in an application for exhibition space at Craft Victoria. Wouldn't be until late next year even if I do get a possie. Give me time to complete the list. Here's the first dress though. I've been holding out on you... you know... 'Do I show the work for the show or do I keep it under wraps?' But it's just my gals looking here. It's not the general public, just specific friendly, nice types.

I was making this while I looked after Mum and after.

I'm making a life sized wedding dress, so if anyone's divorced and wants to donate their wedding cards (not for irony's sake, but you'll want to keep them otherwise)... let me know and I'll gladly pay for postage and your effort. A woman at work gave me these birth cards from her daughters and son. This is all from one of them, one of the daughters, with children's book illustrations featured on each panel and bits of the story to make stripes. Inside is the poems from the cards and bits from the books. Size 5 for dicephalys twins.

One down, three more to go!

P.S. Don't tell huh? I should be keeping a little mystery...
Update HERE.