And then there's postcards

We can't get enough of our postcards, because they're such a great way to work out an idea or use up a sample. For some of us, it's the only creative thing that is guaranteed to happen in our busy lives!

Yvonne's postcard  was made from fabric strips and hand stitch, with a buttonhole stitch edge.

 

 

Helen's was made with fabric snippets trapped under organza, machine stitched and embellished.



 

Carol's was also made with fabric snippets machine under organza but hers were stitched to a card background in a grid, with mesh and fabric flowers added.

Nola's was another, probably the last, of her Forest series. These were all made from painted cloth, drawn lines and Inktense pencils.

The thing to notice about our postcards is that they rarely require complicated materials. Each of us works with relatively few materials and they rarely require advanced sewing skills. We swap ours, as a fun thing to do at our meetings, but they could be mounted to make wonderful cards or included in larger pieces. Why not have a go at making one too? We'd love to see what you make!

August

Our apologies, there were a few hiccups with blogging this month!

So what have we been doing since you last saw us? Well, yes, we are still continuing with our trees theme in our journals.
Nola has been making rubbings. "The council came and trimmed one of our trees, and left a slice of tree trunk behind. It had interesting markings on both sides from the circular saw." Nola used watercolour crayon, dry...

 
... Inktense pencils, dry and watercolour pencils, wet...

 

...Inktense pencils, in two colours, wet, and wet watercolour crayon with an Inktense pencil overlay. It's interesting how each medium or combination gives a different amount of detail, enhancing or obliterating the natural wood grain.



 

Maz is coming to the end of her top Australian eucalypts. This time she focuses on Silver Dollar Gum Eucalyptus cinerea, beloved by Australian eco-dyers for its brilliant orange colour; Scribbly Gum,  Eucalyptus haemastoma, which has wonderful scribble marks on its bark left by moth larvae; and Spotted Gum Corymbia maculata.

 

 Cindy made some tree drawings with watercolour pencil in her journal.  

 They'll be the basis of some wonderful work one of these days!

July postcards and other stuff

Only Helen and Nola made postcards this month - it was that kind of month.

Helen's postcard was a beautiful embroidery on canvas.

 Isn't it gorgeous?

Nola's postcard was also hand embroidered, inspired by Elizabethan/Jacobean designs, with a double picot edging.






Helen brought along her work for the Lateral Stitchers group challenge, Ancient Civilisations. She says the work was loosely inspired by the Sutton Hoo helmet.

Nola showed us some prints from impression printing plates she made with Claire the week before.

Robin was wearing a top she made with beautiful fabric from Tessutis, that source of gorgeous things.

It seemed to be a knitting day at Fibrecircle. Here's Carol knitting a headband from her own handspun yarn...

... and Robin was knitting a cardigan from a rayon-cotton blend.

Helen was knitting too but she wouldn't show what she was doing...

So now you know! See you next week.
 

July in the Emerald City

We've been quiet at Fibrecircle this month, mostly because there's so much going on. People have been coming and going so our meetings have been on the small side. We're looking forward to having at least most of us back next month!

Meanwhile, though depleted in numbers, we've been staying warm and keeping busy. Yes, we've been working on our Tree journals.

Cindy got bored with real trees and decided to move onto fantasy trees. She drew this one with black pen and Inktense pencils.

Maz is still working down her list of top ten Australian trees. This month, it was the Red Cap Gum Eucalyptus erythrocorys from Western Australia, the Salmon Gum Eucalyptus salmonofolia from Victoria and the Red Flowering Gum Corymbia ficifolia from Western Australia.

 

So many gorgeous gum trees in Australia!

 

This month, Nola was experimenting with natural dyeing. First, she painted paper with methylated spirits and clamped it with leaves from the Grey Ironbark Eucalyptus paniculata.



 











The results are quite pale and don't show up well in photos. As a technique, it leaves a lot to be desired.

She also did some with hot water and the same method, which look faintly rusty. Usually these leaves give a brilliant orange colour when boiled.

 
The gum blossoms came out much clearer.

Just a bit of fun, really.

extraTexture exhibition

Our talented Cindy will be exhibiting with the extraTexture girls in August.
This time, their theme is Flight and you can see the process of some of their works over on their blog.

When? 15th - 23rd August 2015

Saturday-Sunday 10am - 4pm
Wednesday to Friday 11am - 3pm
Closing Sunday 23rd August at 2pm

Where?
Balmain Watch House
179 Darling St
Balmain NSW

This is always a fantastic show so make time to see it!