dinsdag 29 mei 2012

This is the project I made in Italy

Today I finished my project. I was inspired my the mosaic on the pillars of the Duomo.
And this was how it looked at the end of the week:

And here is the finished quilt:
The colors on this picture are the real colors..


I used Japanese vintage kimonofabric and aboriginal fabric, the embroidery was done with Valdani thread.The wool is handdyed by Sue Spargo's sister. 


In the train and the plane I crocheted flowers, this yarn is so soft and has beautiful colors. I bought it here , as a kit for a crochet scarf. i never made the scarf and I don't know what to do with all those flowers. Do you have an idea? 


zondag 27 mei 2012

Look how many different aquilegia's I have in my garden

The colors in my garden are at the moment blue, rose, deep purple and dark red. I have so many aquilegia's, one of my favorite spring flowers.






In this last picture you can see my white wisteria... isn't she a beauty?.


vrijdag 25 mei 2012

My trip to Italy....Orvieto cooking class and wine tasting

This year we had a cooking class with Lorenzo, this was a lot of fun and we made a lot of food!!!!!
After cooking we eat all we made and I can tell you that was delicious but far too much.
Karen , Chris and Lorenzo are making the strawberry mousse.

Cathy and I were cutting vegetables..... 

Like last year we went to the vineyard of Palazzone with beautiful views of  the mountains.



woensdag 23 mei 2012

My trip to Italy....Orvieto and his history,

With Sue, Karen, Cathy and Sandy I went on sunday to the necropolis . The site dates from the 4th and 5th century. It is formed by tomb chambers constructed of blocks of tufa ( a variety of limestone). Each chamber is identified with the name carved above the entrance.







Wednesday afternoon we went to the pottery museum.....


To be continued....

maandag 21 mei 2012

My trip to Italy, some impressions

Saturday night I returned from my second trip to Orvieto in Italy where I had a 5-day class with Sue Spargo. And again it was a wonderful experience... Here some impressions of the market, the town and the Duomo.





Tomorrow more pictures.....


donderdag 10 mei 2012

Yoko Saito Mystery Quilt and ...I am off to Italy

I finished block 1 and block 2 of this mystery quilt, it's so fun to do.....


And tomorrow I'll take the train, the plane and another two trains and the bus to the convent in Orvieto, Italy, for the 5-day class with Sue Spargo, like I did last year!!! 
Of course I'll make pictures.... And on Sue's blog you can follow our adventures in Italy...

dinsdag 8 mei 2012

Misao Wada


My second class in Nantes was with Misao Wada, I never heard of her before. In the Quiltmania number 80 I read this:
She is a Japanese who is famous in her country both for her poetry and for her textile work.
She started working with textile when she was 20 years. From her teacher, a great japanese textile artist, she learnt how to combine the subtlety of a detail within the technique of practical raw applique by free hand cutting each piece (no templates) She only works with old kimono fabric. I show you two pages from this Quiltmania number with her work.



Here is she in Nantes looking at my work.....

And this is what i made ....

These lotusflowers were beautiful, the picture does not do it justice....



vrijdag 4 mei 2012

Do you know what is a BOUTIS?

The kitchen is almost finished and the flu has gone so back to normal with more info about my clas in Nantes.


A boutis is one of these invaluable treasures that we inherited from the Provence region of France. It is a type of embroidery made up of two layers of cotton, white according to tradition, but modern demands mean that now accessoires can be done in a variety of colours, Those two layers are stitched together by hand, with tiny stitches, following a previously drawn pattern which can be incredibly complex, it depends what the designer is hoping to create.
Once the entire stitch work is completed we gently separate the material fibres with a small and sharp wooden stick to enable us to introduce a little portion of cotton wool into the cavity created , which gives the final stuffed appearance Afterwards, using the point of a fine needle, we push into place the fibres, to hide all trace of the work that has been done.
This is to obtain a work absolutely identical on both face and riverside of the work of art. This involves of course and extremely long, painstaking and refined work demanding a high level of skill. These days the word "boutis" is often employed incorrectly to name, for example bed cover designs which are simply quilted, composed of three layers, the face, the underside and the wadding, sandwiched in between. These three elements can be quilted elaborately of simply, depending on the design..
Real "boutis" is immediately recognisable. If held up to the light, the transparency between the patterns is evident and the unstuffed pieces in between are translucent, which creates a play between the shadow and light. (source  http://www.neiges-dantan.com/en/boutis.html)

When I was in Nantes I did a boutis class. Here is the gorgeous work that my teacher made.




And here is the tiny piece that I made that day....


If you want to try it yourself, this pattern is available here.