Studio Tidy-up

With my new sewing machine in hospital, I hauled out my old one to continue the cord making.
No sooner had I started to sew when I smelt a burning electrical smell had heard a crackling sound coming out of the motor.
So I packed up the machine and took it off to the hospital too.

What to do without a sewing machine for '7 to 10 days'?
A studio tidy-up would be a good use of time.
For my birthday I was given this compact little 'thing' that is a speaker for music I have playing on my tablet or laptop which is in another room in my admin area. It means I can have my music playing right beside me where I am working. It also does double duty as a charger for various devices.

It also meant I could get rid of this archaic collection that I had been using as a speaker system. Nothing else works on it any longer.
This purging cleared a shelf in  my studio for storing valuable stuff nearby - exactly what is yet to be determined.

While sorting through a box of threads and haberdashery I got at an auction I found this treasure.

Just like the stereo with CD player, cassette player, and amplifier this ruler records a vocabulary most of us are no longer familiar with.
How are a firkin, barrel and hogshead related?
It is like a Trivial Pursuit question.
OK, studio is back in order. I now need my machines back.

Cord Making Project

Day 3 of this quick, in-between-projects, project.

There was lots of satisfying evidence of progress...

...including I don't know how many metres of continuous basic cord.
I can cut out sections to make thicker cords, build up braids and construct ribbons that can be couched, manipulated into 3D embellishments and used in tassels.

Then disaster struck. My new Bernina stopped working. I took it in to the 'hopspital' twice.
It turned out all it needed was a computer update.
Phew, crisis averted but I did feel for a few days there that my right arm had been cut off.
Now it is time to get into the next project.

Cord Making Project

In between projects I was clearing up the studio when I saw how big my collection of 2nd hand machine thread had grown.
I decided to make a few cords with it, before moving on to my next project.
I started by sorting the big bag full into 24 hue groups.

I collected up the ends of 20 to 30 spools....

...and put the containers of colour grouped spools on the floor under my machine.

I passed the bundle of threads through the machine to be secured with a wide, open zig zag....

Cardboard Weaving & Embellishment Workshop, Nanaimo

In conjunction with Vancouver Island SDA's exhibition, Current Threads 2014, in the Nanaimo Art Gallery, Margie Preninger will be running a fibre based, 2-day workshop.

'The workshop will be a hands-on approach to exploring colour, texture, and symbolism.'

'The simple weaving will produce a seamless vessel, which can become a purse or decorative item.
A focus will be on connecting to the heart, and exploring your relationship with the creative process'.

Margie has a BSC from the Fashion Institute of Technology New York so her class will be in good hands.
Tuesdays, January 21 & 28th, 6:30 - 9:30 pm, 2014

Synesthesia Series

Synesthesia #1 Yellow

Synesthesia #24  Golden Yellow

Synesthesia #23 Orange-yellow

These are the 3 works I am entering into Vancouver Island Surface Design Association's next exhibition, in the Nanaimo Art Gallery, January 2014.
 It is a juried show so my work may not get in.

Here is the series so far - 7 of 24 completed.

Synesthesia, #23 Orange-yellow

For the #23 Orange-yellow square I settled on a ground of layered sheers....

...then decided on the value range and intensity level of the threads.

Then wound the thick threads in the bobbin and cabled stitched them on the ground from the back.
My new Bernina has a very large bobbin that holds lots of thick thread making cable stitch such a pleasure to do.

Synesthesia #24 - Golden Yellow

Continuing the Synesthesia series.
Collecting up #24 Golden Yellow fabrics and sorting by value.

...and threads. An opportunity to use some of my many gold threads.

But sparkly wasn't right for how I feel about this colour.
So my collection of sparkly gold threads will have to wait their time for another idea.

Saint Anne's Pilgrims

Saint Anne is the oldest pilgrimage site in North America.

It all started when a builder working on the site found he didn't need his cane any more.
It was a miracle.

Since then many have travelled to Saint Anne praying for another miracle.

W alking aids strapped to the entrance pillars are evidence many more miracles have happened in Saint Anne.

 

 

'Testimony to pilgrim prayer and the healing powers associated with Saint-Anne-de-Beaupre.'

Basilique Saint-Anne-de-Beaupre, Quebec

During Articulation's study week in Quebec we visited many churches but this was my favourite.
The Christian religion and the Bible are not big on acknowledging our natural environment.
Saint Anne's is different.

The ceilings are covered in mosaics with small ecological motifs.

I added more 'Tree Of Life' motifs to my collection.

Unlike most Christian churches, females feature prominently.
 A ceiling mosaic: working in the fields during the day, sitting by the fire at night.
There are lots of images of women with birds and flowers.

Dancing with abandon - on a church floor!

The zodiac!
The triangle in the 2D repeating pattern is an ancient female symbol.

A very beautiful, subtle decoration is carved into the ends of the wooden pews.
There is that triangle again, 

Every pew has a different animal or bird and a flower in a triangle.

There must have been several hundred of them.
'Saint Anne's is the oldest pilgrimage site in North America, beginning in 1658 as a shrine to the patron saint of Quebec.'
After several fires the present building was started in 1923.
If you click on the blue name of this post you will see a short video of the interior. Thanks Orangethingy for sharing.