Saturday, 20 November 2010

November blues

What a gloomy time of the year this is, a no where land. It is bone-chillingly damp and dull, and yet I feel it is wasteful to keep the heating on all day. The lights have to be on, but  really I could just turn them all off, curl up and hibernate.
However I haven't been hibernating and thought I would share these with you.
This is the cover of my latest little book based on Honesty seed head. I have added the seeds and covered the main 'pods' with irridescent chiffon, some more stitching and embellishment is still needed.

I have also experimented with some 'cracked paper quilts' which a learned how to do through three free videos by Carol Wiebe.

It is a sandwich of paper, fabric, felt, fabric and paper stitched together with 'cracks' cut out and then stitched back with free hand machine stitching.

This one is based on a print made on ordinary copy paper of one of my photographs made at the Walled Garden. It is a starting point for some more thinking and great fun to do.

I have also been working on lots of other projects.

I am making a couple of book covers and a purse for a friend and I am working on some mini-jounal covers for Etsy. I found a denim skirt in a charity shop and by soaking pieces of it scrunched up in household bleach for various times have managed to create several interesting shades of denim. Now I need to finish these off and get to work on the Christmas card production line, then perhaps I can hibernate.

Keep warm and cosy,
Jill

PS Blogger would only let me upload one picture at a time so I went to Dashboard and then Edit posts which was the quickest way to get round theproblem. It is about time they resolved this glitch.



18 comments:

Kathryn Zbrzezny said...

I just love your work and your blog! I too feel the gloomies come when the evenings are so dark, so early. I have to fight the darkness and the "tireds" with so little light...

Susan D said...

I'm with you I feel like hibernating until next March! and don't even mention Christmas is it just me but I'm fed up of all the ads on TV since what seems like the beginning of October.

Good luck with your Etsy shop.

Marigold Jam said...

Please don't hibernate Jill - I'd miss seeing your fabulous creations! Your artistic ability amazes me - wish I could do something like that. It's chilly and grey here today too and I am finding it my exercise is down to almost nil which doesnt help with the mood!

Take care and have a good weekend.

JAne

Leenie said...

Unusual work. I especially like the blue one.

ju-north said...

Wonderful work! Those cracked quilts look good - I'll take a look at that. Aren't people generous sharing their knowledge!

Clare Wassermann said...

wowza I love those cracked quilts especially the blue one - I obviously need to look into this (item number 358!)

WrightStuff said...

I've got the perfect cure for the November blues - a trip to the fair! Worked a treat for us.

Mind you, there's some serious blues in our house right now. Other half is an avid Arsenal fan and they lost to Spurs - at home - today. He has barely spoken since the final whistle and actually just growled...

Your creations are incredible by the way - beautiful.

LAC EMP 2020 said...

Jill,
Being the true Sagittarian that I am I actually like November a lot but have to admit it's been a bit wetter than usual this year. Surrounding yourself with colour is obviously the way to alleviate the blues... yet it seems to be your favourite colour to work with! Great stuff as ever. Lesley

flutterbycrafter said...

I love the cracked quilting, beautiful, as always you've used some stunning colours. I'm afraid I've got the heating on, life's too short to be cold, lol.

menopausalmusing said...

Wonderful stuff. I love tinkering with denim and bleach, so unpredictable!

Unknown said...

Lovely work Jill. I do know what you mean about wanting to hibernate. These lovely images add back a bit of brightness though. I particularly like the cracked paper work - very interesting. Lovely colours and textures and I like the gaps in the pieces - in a curious way they add something (is that a contradiction in terms?). Thank you so much for sharing with us. The company of friends is a great tonic against winter glooms.

Liverpool Lou (Anne) said...

All stunning but I adore the Honesty project :-)
Anne xx

LOVE STITCHING RED said...

The cracked paper quilt technique looks interesting. I adore your honesty seed!

Emma said...

Love these quilts & books - saw something on one of the Talkiing Threads segments on cracked quilts once, will investigtate your link.

I won't tell you it's been a lovely, bright if cold weekend here - we do pay for it with the odd gale ;) I can here the fire crackling enticingly next door....

Karen said...

stunning Jill. I especially love the seed heads.

Chrissie said...

All looks lovely! We're in for a really really cold snap any day now, so certainly time to snuggle up!

sea-blue-sky & abstracts said...

Some great effects here Jill, love the Honesty stitching and colours. Best wishes, Lesley

Linda Vincent said...

Beautiful, inspiring work as always Jill! I especially like the honesty book....looking forward to seeing more.