Textile Art Forum Update

Day 2 of Textile Art Forum Residential at Ballyduggan Cottages:

I wanted to work on creating individual 'stones' instead of embroidering/quilting onto a whole-cloth piece as I've been doing lately. I hoped to create a more airy, lighter piece.

I used some 'colour-catcher' swatches I have been saving from my household laundry (because I hate to throw them out as they always seem to be such nice random dyed pieces!). They varied in colour from grey and blue to pink but they reminded me of my stone-walls at home when the sun hits them at different times of the day.

I joined them together by stitching through the spaces between them on water-soluble fabric.

Jan donated some light pink organza for the background, which was just what I needed for the 'floaty' effect I hoped to achieve. I added a foil moon and used the bare branches of the hedge outside my window as the inspiration for my stitched patterns.

The whole piece went into the bath to dissolve the water-soluble fabric as you can see in the photo above! Then I hung it out to dry on the line before lunch!

I like the way it floated about in the breeze, with the lovely stone cottage in the background for the photograph.

This was a satisfying experimental piece to work on.

Finding treasures at the Claregalway Indoor Market

There is a new indoor Sunday market in Claregalway Business Park. There are a good few stalls spread over two warehouse-like rooms selling new and secondhand furniture, clothing, toys, jewellery, books, household items, bric-a-brac, craft, food, etc. It's a bit cold in there, but if you wrap up well and warm up with a cup of coffee and homemade sticky bun you'll be alright!





I particularly liked 'The Dolly Tub' stall. Suzanne makes handmade soaps, bath products and candles which are all beautifully presented in delicate, vintage-inspired packages, tins and teacups. But I especially loved her bags made from felted woollen blankets and embellished with felted flowers and transferred images. Check out her website at http://www.thedollytub.com/.

I also found a stall selling cotton and silk fabrics by the metre and some vintage lace. I bought pink and purple shot-cottons for €5/mtr. And 2 reversible woven curtain fabric off-cuts for €2 each. I love the vibrant mix of colours in these: lime green/turquoise and pink/orange. I'm looking forward to including these in future projects.

Strength and decay

Here's a photo of 'Chinese Lantern' (physalis alkekengi) after it has lost its orange glow. The flower leaves have skeletanised to form a delicate 'cage' around the fruit on the inside. I was amazed at how this 'fragile' plant could withstand the harsh winter weather. So I messed about with this idea in thread and stitch for a while making shawls and framed pieces.

Working with soluble fabric is great fun. Using a variety of threads and old lace creates lovely textures and mixtures of colours. The bowls can be used for trinkets and although they look delicate they hold their shape nicely.

Love Letters

This is a photo of a wall-hanging I made some time ago. It was inspired by the fragile nature of a long-distance relationship where letters play an important role. The wall-hanging was chosen by Galway based florist Richard Haslam as a backdrop for a valentine's day floral arrangement in his book 'Flowers' (www.richardhaslam.com). The wonderful photography for the book is by David Lloyd (www.spiritoftherose.com).