A Week to Remember!

Where to begin- it's been a week of excitement that is for sure, even though not as much work as planned got done, even though I have been working long days!

First of all my book on the Travellers' Blankets is written- done and dusted apart from what the editor may require further. I drew little map diagrams for each of the circles in the Travellers' Blanket with circles- that took longer than expected as I got a bit carried away, but all to the good . The title of the book in French will be Plaids Nomades: Piques Main . I am not sure when it will actually be published but I think it must be sooner rather than later ( originally it was going to be September)

And seeing I am talking about the  Travellers Blanket I have had quite a few requests  for information of when I am running this on-line class again. So I have decided to run it again starting April 3. I think it will be the only time this year I run it because  the second half of this year goes incredibly pear shaped and madly busy.  The course costs $60 AUS ( I will add a Paypal button to make things easier). The class consists of instructions for dyeing your fabric and ideas for encapsulating stories in your blanket and stitching  ideas. The blanket is all about catching moments and memories and adding detail and zest! If interested but you want more  information I do have an information sheet just email me

 

I can now confirm that the Aussie Bush Project will definitely be shown in France in 2018 at Quilts en Beaujolais. So that means it will be going to Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra. Hamilton and Wellington in New Zealand,  Adelaide and Brisbane. There is still time to join the project, and I still have panels available for purchase here with me. Just check out the Aussie Bush Project page. It has details of what is required . I have been asked why there is a joining fee, but with the amount of travel that it is doing, and the insurance that is  now required by organisations and the return of the pieces to the makers , you can well imagine that there are costs involved, and when you compare the fee to some other entry fees I think it is very reasonable. All works that are submitted will travel. This is open to everyone  not just Australians!

So I have been desperately trying to make new work for my exhibition in Chartres which starts at the end of next week, but there has been so many things happening that I feel as if I am not achieving much. So if you are in the area please do come and visit, I will be there ( and anyone who has any suggestions for budget budget accommodation it would be much appreciated, and I do have a car so it can be out of Chartres))

And then in amongst all this I was approached by a Womens Co-operative in Timor Leste to submit a proposal for doing a residency there- it all came through my blog- so there you are ,there is a reason to blog! I had very little time to submit a proposal and to my great delight I had an answer very quickly. So I am very excited- am going to Timor Leste ( South East Asia's newest nation ) for 8 weeks at the end of the year for a residency which will consist largely of  helping upskill the already very talented women and teaching them some new skills at Boneca de Atauro.  It is a wonderful project which is running self sufficiently at the present and is about  creating work for women so that their families came have better lives- the project is also about educating and teaching skills to the younger women. I think I will have to learn some Tetun- the local language and a friend has already given me the name of someone in Melbourne who does teach Tetun.

I shall leave you with an image of the latest piece I am working on- I seem to be in tree mode again, maybe because there is so much growing going on!

Back in France

The last week has flown by in a blur I must admit. Firstly we celebrated my mothers 80th birthday early (i won't be there for her actual birthday) so we invited some of her friends from over the years ( not much family as we were immigrants and most of them are still in Europe) and I made all the food. Thankfully the weather obliged by not being too hot! Was trying to sew up a storm, but fell behind a plan I have to make an installation piece for ChArtres in early March, but I am determined to get there by hook or crook. Taught some classes at Open Drawer in Camberwell which were a lot of fun and then caught the plane to Geneva where I arrived yesterday to teach a class with a group near the Swiss French border. The snow was a bit of a shock to the system after the heat of the day when I left!

One of the workshops I taught at Open Drawer was stitching for the Aussie Bush Project ( and yes you can still order prints as I have brought them all with me- just order through my shop- though I could not fit the actual linocuts in the suitcase). This lovely piece was commenced by Robyn Steel-Stickland- I love the soft variegations in the thread used to create the banksia flower- it seems just right!

After my mothers party ( and I was house sitting for some friends also) it was back to Gelli and pack up everything for my trip - everything I wanted to bring would not fit in my suitcase.... I think I just need a home in France! My flowering gum just broke into flower the last days of being in Gelli- they are so pretty when they are in flower and this one is in my favourite colour!

The photo is the view from the back of my block-it dawned kind of misty but turned into a 34 degrees centigrade day.

And now in a small village in France near the Swiss border in the  Haute Savoie, staying with  my friend Chantal Guillermet a talented french textile artist and teaching with her group Saturday and then another group  to which another talented friend Caroline Higgs belongs on Monday and then off to Le Triadou for some house sitting and intensive stitching. Nesta the dog will keep me moving with daily walks, but I really have to sew like the fury and write like the fury- so if I am quiet here you will know why!

Chantal and I went for a little walk yesterday- it was good to stretch my legs after 23 hours of flying and we walked up to the ruins of a medieval castle- not much left and my goodness is nature just so strong- how it even overwhelms  massive stone walls!

The last image is a piece of traditional Bretonne embroidery that belonged to Chantal's grandfather family who came form around Quimper. The embroidery from Bretonne is different than embroidery in other parts of France and is distinctive for it's dense stitching and distinctive designs. The piece in the photo was executed on wool. We also talked about a wonderful workshop she did with Pascale Jaoeun who has taken Bretonne embroidery to another level adapting it into haute couture. I think I might  do some exploring when I go to Nantes in April for Pour l'Amour du Fil.