Packing to Move GRRR

The last week has been pretty stressful- packing a  whole house away takes time, plus I need to keep working on my Chartres work and making more work for that. I feel like I am running short of time, but have to keep going as i can see these queens when they are all together are going to have presence. This morning I washed the outside of the house and the windows. I am trying to make sure I do something everyday including packing stuff every day. The biggest problem is my work things- you never know exactly what you may need. I am also running out of  the right coloured threads, but  non one around here sells the 28 weight Aurifil threads that I like to use.

Stitched Sentinelle panels are also starting to arrive- they look splendid- in case anyone wants to work on a panel and send it to France ( to join the project ) I found a few more panels I had stuck away whilst I was packing. Email me if you  would like to buy one.

Meanwhile here is another queen. She has extremely long braids- braids were much admired in medieval times with several writers of the time mentioning the aesthetic  beauty of perfect braids. The sculptor in any case went to long lengths to make the braids look long and perfect. The panels are awkward to photograph because they are about 180-185 cm long. The queens in the sculptures themselves have different heights.

I have been thinking I would like to make a booklet to go with them, but again the awkwardness of the length of the figures I can't quite  think about page size.















Today is Australia day- sadly it celebrates white settlement of this large continent when three boats arrived loaded with convicts. 

More Chartres

We have just had a four day spell of plus 40 degree temperatures ( 105 plus fahrenheit), and of course consequent bushfires in various parts of the state. It's always scarey when those temperatures rise, there is no question that it will result in bushfires somewhere. It is also not very conducive to quiltmaking especially when your house is not air-conditioned, thank goodness there is ceiling fans in the bedrooms. Packing is progressing slowly- I wish the packing up and moving fairy would just do it overnight whilst I was sleeping... never mind it will all eventually come together I hope! And good news, my youngest daughter got into Monash University Arts, which she is very happy about ( and her mum too I might add)

However I am behind on the work I want to make for my exhibition at MJC Palaiseau in France for the Voices of Women Festival, so I had to keep on going . The exhibition will run from  3- 22 March along with the sentinelles and all the sentinelles that have been embroidered around the world. I now have 20  stitched sentinelles at my house- and I am blown away by the inventiveness of the stitching and embellishing- it's going to look spectacular I think! Can't wait to see them all. So another Chartres doorjamb queen is just about stitched. I love  how they look in colour- they once would have been coloured in fact the whole royal portal would have been highly coloured as things were in  the middle ages.I also  finished another little face embroidery- the pile is growing!

On the left is the queen as she stand on the portal and on the right is my version of her done  with lutradur and machine stitching. the lutradur  I have used is the type used by florists, so the fibres are bigger creating a different kind of transparency.















I posted some work for sale before Christmas. I am trying to get together my airfare  to go to France late February and am prepared to consider any reasonable offers in relation to the quilts that have not sold. I am also prepared to let a travellers blanket ( the blue one that was on the cover of Quilting Arts  or the one with circles) go for less than half price. But only one these pieces are so much work  they have been the  only ones I have ever been really reluctant to sell .If you are interested please email me.

First Quilt for 2014

I  put all the names who left comments on my first blog post for 2014 into a hat and drew the winner- Chrissy. Can you please let me know how to contact you as I shall e sending you a little something.

Sentinelles:It's getting to the business end of collecting all the sentinelles that people have embroidered.If you finish them before 6 february ( which is the date I vacate this house) you can send them to me. The address is 22 Carinya Ave, Newcomb, Vic 3219. If you are overseas it's best to send them directly to France. Email me and I shall forward address details. The little embroideries will need a rod pocket, and you can finish the edge however you like.If you have any questions again just email me.I am looking forward to seeing all your work. The ones I have here already are all so different and so imaginatively stitched.

I have been working on the Chartres quilt I showed in last weeks post and I have realised that I must be mad to take on the high gothic- what was I thinking and what made me think I could do it??? And then statues as well? But I am on the road now and they are really starting to capture my imagination. They are about 170 cm long and about 40 cm wide and very densely stitched.So the first door jamb queen is finished.

Here is the full length version

Chartres and More

My days are filled with Chartres and the  images of the women in the royal portal, they look so different from different angles. And then I discovered there is  a female figure on the south entrance,  who I have only managed to partially photograph and do you think I can find an image of her anywhere? They are all from a distance so I can't see enough detail.

My little embroideries are growing in number and I am enjoying working on them in the evenings. I have to really get machine stitching   like the blazers as well, as it is not long  until we move out of this house.
Here is a lutradur image taking shape.These are elongated figures like the originals on the door jambs, so the painted image is only a portion of the whole.

A lot more stitching to do!

And the latest embroidery I have finished. I have not quite worked out how I will mount them, hopefully that will come in a dream.

I will put the names into a hat later this week and will let the winner know, and then I shall send you something!

Still time to join the Traveller's Blanket on-line class starting January 10 2014.  Just leave me a message or email me if you are interested in joining. Cost is $60AUS This will be the  last Travellers' Blanket that I do for awhile. The embroideries seem to be turning into their own blanket as I look at the collaged image.