patch this, patch that

patch this,

patch that

patch me happy.

yep a silly mood....workshop will be closed for 2 days due to Pushkar Camel Fair traffic, so I can't be asked to come in and do something.

I will be home in my garden with dye pots and veggies.... making like a vegetable myself as the mood takes me.

yippee!!

This last week or so, I have seen some of the things my mates have been using my offcuts for, yes I am that type of friend who likes to share an addiction around- haha or pose a challenge.

Patched bags this is what I came up with...
my mate Anne made this cute, petite organizers

My staff drool over a pin case Anne made, me, the stitches are tiny and perfect, everytime we sit together and stitch they always comment on my lovely friend making me such a treasure. I know she will read this and turn a little pink at the compliment, it is genuine awe at her work on the girl's part .
and Dijanne has set off on an Indigo version of her travellers blanket. Her Traveller's Blankets are divine, to run your hand over one is such a treat....all that stitching adds a whole new dimension to them.

want to grab your own offcuts and have a go? Click

 

I know they are only offcuts, but they have too much life in them to be thrown away and I think these pieces do pose a question- how to use up leftovers creatively, they are not waste just opportunities to think in a new way.
Big question all around in the current state our world is in.
I saw Dijanne's pictures of the beach on the remote island she has a residency ...littered with trash, last time I was in Halong Bay I was gob smacked at the island to island rubbish.
We must start re-thinking things. start close to home and broaden your picture day by day.
We're going through the workshop and trying to cut the usage of plastic bags- hard when we live in a world of dirt and are trying to produce a clean product, but we have a few improvements coming along. Even our new storeroom will be better protected to keep dust out to.
What small change can you instigate today?
It gathers momentum and you might add a few tomorrow.
Compost, say no to plastic, solar power....walk not drive-oops a big one!
be creative :)
oh and I have made a vest our of dhoti patches- Well Mrs Rameshwari did a lot of the stitch for me...

We have done scarves and are now working on a jacket...it will be so cosy.

 

 We headed out on a bit of an adventure yesterday- just 30km to Pisangarh and 2 hours and many loops and circles later we arrived.

 I think it is sssosoo beautiful where we live, a bit warm at the moment [only 38'C it will pack on another 10' in the next few weeks]

 There were plenty of stops on corners to flag down a passing motorist for directions which often included looping back past where we had just been???

 It was so lovely to finally find the Mandir [temple] we were looking for and the friendly crowd of friends and relatives of Papu-ji, our production mamager. We were there to celebrate the first haircut of his lad [like a Hindu ceremony equivalent of a Christening welcoming a child to this world]

Lovely day.

In Oz and on the run

After a very quick visit with Dawn and my kids it was time to hit the road and drive, and drive and drive...Geelong first stop, staying with Dijanne, she had a day in Melbourne planned and we were lucky enough to see the new Fred Williams exhibition- what luck, one of my most favourite artists....see it if you can.

Dijannes work I love to follow via her blog and email but to hang out is even better...This is her new catalogue- I was really impressed by the quality of her photographs- fingers were actually riggling to feel the texture which i could see so clearly- good work

and then having permission to cruise the house felt like a kid peaking at everything....small sentinels...lovely she is hand stitching them for sale but I was thinking they would be wonderful kits for others to stitch into under her suggestions -email her and tell her if you are interested- she really knows her stuff the Traveller's Blankets she does are so great to look and feel.

Got to meet up with old friends and new all along the way- lunch with travelling mates in Praham...then onto Ballarat- Deb is someone I know via email it was so nice to add a cuddle and time to chat- she is as warm and gentle as my first impression. She was telling me of her son and the work he is doing with The Hunger Project- something I have read about in India as through their work and government support India was able to declare herself Polio free for the last year- a huge acheivement when some of our neighbours have increases in cases. India is now immunizing all children under 5 to leave for or arrive from Pakisthan to spread the health...

Then onto Tongala in far outer Victoria to meet up with Mandie Chandler- fun, fun, fun and lots of brain storming over - well everything!! but especially Tasty Old Chooks Clothes - website is up and coming along OK- yes more tweaks yet, lots of ideas to develop and looking for stockists but we are on the way.

I have been premiering our clothes at the Textile events I have been at and it has been so pleasing to hear the cackles as women hear the name, also the interest our work is receieving- very pleasing...more coming. Looking for stockists now.

Mandie is recently a biker girl- her new baby along with her others- great family- much fun to hang out with...

Heading back up to Sydney meant an early moring start...hard going but worth it for the magnificent Australian countryside....

and along the Hune Highway- lovely elegant wind turbines, can't help myself photgraphing them and admiring their waving, creating good clean energy....we need many more.

More pictures to share on facebook, I am now at TAFTA's Context Art in the Blue Mountains- once again a pleasure....more picyures to come....
love being in Oz and at the same time counting down the days to get home to my man...
ohh life!

same old, same old

Same old, same old...I do say that with a sort of brag thrown in.

We are working at a crazy pace packing and sending things to me for the Australia trip in April, as well as topping up stock for Mandie our Tasty Old Chooks partner in Australia. Madly working on the new website for Tasty as well soon I will be asking you to take a squizz and point out all my typos!!

I do feel a little frazzled but then notice what it is we are playing with- yummy textiles and the people we work with are fabulous- although we have our difficult moments by and large they are a great gang to be working with.

 First sample of a bag for Watts Wright Designs- logo needs to be made bigger but the bag will be a goer....we are patchworking all our scraps for the outside- enviromentally friendly or what almost no fleece will go to the cotton re-cyclers....everything will be utilized! Yeh and once we sort the logo will look fabulous.

 I have an order for a queen size bed quilt in our stitched panels- great ....[sorry these pictures look am little blurry- they were OK on the file] we are at the stage of discussing stiytch patterns, we know it is going to be all types of reds. This will be a treat to make.

Here is a whole batch of pics of some of our ladies when we picked up the Lightning skirts...this group is always very chatty and laughing but clammed up when the camera came out- so I was at the side being silly trying to get them to crack up. This Vimla with the teal,

 Pooja with tan

 Om with cherry red

 and Suman with purple, by the time we got to Kishan and her granddaughters we had fits of giggles as well. This group have been an excellent group to work with, they have got the point about quality from the start, are quick with getting onto things or let us know if they will have a distraction like a wedding or something and so be slow, always pleasnt to deal with which makes us very grateful.

Same day and running over to Nandu's as well working on lycra for new Tasty Old Chooks tops. Nandu has one of the biggest smiles and warmest hearts, we love her.

That makes me think of Gillian Travis she has some beautiful pictures from her recent travels in India- do take a look at the men's page and the women's page, Nandu is in there.
Gillian, Praveen and I are in the thick of plots and plans....some you will see at her stall at the Festical of Quilts this year in Birmingham, some you will read about on her website soon [sneak preview -she is bringing a textile group to India next Feb, we think, and will be spending a few days with us] and another will turn upon Creative Arts Safaris sooner or later- definite daydreams happening in the Bucharest to Budapest area....much work to do first though.

Same old, same old and we are blessed;  may you fill your time with work that brings light to your heart

new friends

Just occasionally I feel I live a long way away.....I miss my boys and I miss my best friend Dawn but mostly I am quite content here. I have always been happy with my own company, the telephone gets a good workout and Praveen is my man...what more do I need?

A pleasure of living a long way away is that people will just drop in on you. Louise was a student of mine a few years ago in New Zealand, and she did quiely mention she might like to visit India one day so of course I said pop in....well last January she did, spending a few weeks hanging out in Pushkar and we spent quite a lot of time together, a little sight seeing, a lot of  tagging along with my Stitching work -patient lady some of that was a bit of a soap opera at the time, trying to extract work from the tailor I had already paid to deliver,  she said better than TV.

If I had lived in Australia we would not have had the same opportunity...here every so often I get little gems of friendships served up by the Gods and really appreciate them, and modern world of the internet you can still easily keep in touch, which is very nice.

Here is Louise at a textile event in NZ somehwere, she took a whole heap of saris and other textile things home with her and has been very popular at various textile events trading.

OH a plug!! Drum roll please

 her next Textile Trading day in NZ is "Treasures from India" at the Creative Fibre Cambridge Exhibition.

Trades Day is on Thursday 23 June at Trinity St Paul's Union Parish in Cambridge.

hours 10 am - 4pm.

She has taken a little India home with her and shares little anecdotes of NZ with me- they have cool misty mornings now....sometimes tortuous to try and imagine, other days remarkable fantasies depending how the weather here is hitting me.

When you live in the late 30s to mid 40's for weeks on end [well over 100 F old scale] you go a little loopy sometimes.

 And this week I have met Jasna, a lovely yound woman from Slovenia, initially she contacted me for a cooking class, which went very well; I took some of the left over dal to the workshop the next day to share at lunchtime and the comment was "only problem was not enough!" I took that as a real compliment as here in India no one has a problem pointing out your deficits if the cooking is notup to scratch.

 She was staying for a few days and so I suggested we visit Ajmer togther, I have been hanging out to visit the Dargah again...I like the energy there, the smell of rose petals and wanted to sort out where you put your bag. No cameras or mobile phones allowed and I knew there was a locker room somewhere but never located it before....wanted to see how it all worked so I could recomend it to visitors.
The heart of the teachings associated with this order are  interpreted  in terms of human service and  disciples are exhorted  "to develop river-like generosity, sun-like affection and earth-like hospitality." The highest form of devotion, according to this order, was "to redress the misery of those in distress – to fulfill the needs of the helpless and to feed the hungry." have a look for more info here


The Dargah is a very special Sufi Muslim shrine, a great place for people to appreciate a spiritual aspect of Islam in a nice setting, like any religion the heart of the religion is good people forming an understanding of how to live their lives. Like the heart of any religion there are many, many people who follow its creeds simply and it makes the world a good place to live. Do we associate Christianity with a hanfdul of fundamentalist nutters? no why do we do that with Islam- not fair to many good people.....yes soap box time.
Anyway a woman needs a scarf to cover their head [a man also] as Jasna did not have one they thoughtfully provided her with a hankie to tie on her head.....being India no one took a second glance at the lady with the funny hat! and we had a few laughs about it.
A wonderful place full of Muslim and Hindu people, the scent of roses, the excitment of an outing, the peace of contemplation- well worth a visit.
Yes many Hindu people visit the shine each year, for Hindu people anyone doing good in the world is an aspect of Vishnu the Preserver at work and so worthy of veneration...labels are not important. The Shrine is decicated to Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti born in 1142 who taught a belief in God was more important than agreeing on the name of him and all people are equal and looking after others [any others less fortunate] the most important thing of all....good news for anyone to hear and so a place of pilgramige for Hindus and Muslims....oh India, that is what I love about you, for a place that can be so divided there are magic momets of inclusion.... you also get quite a few Sikh people visiting here as well.

 wandering through Ajmer, the entrance to an old trader's house, can you see the succession of courtyards inside?

First shower of rain has hit, temps dropped to late 30's and first bugs to arrive....this guy was like a velvet dot...can't remeber his Hindi name but it reflects he is the first to arrive with the rains.
Lovely days when the weather drops from the stinking hot by a few degrees and and promisesof rain for the parched earth......

Friends are the fabric of life

I am so lucky to have some truely wonderful friends, and I do appreciate them very much.
I love to hear what is happening for them, which, thanks to the internet means I feel like I am just over the fence from [except for good old hugs!!] even though we all live many miles distant.
The first thing I wanted to do when I got our new blockprints back was to share them around and get an honest evaluation of them as well.
All very well to have a good idea- needs to be an excellent product as well.
So I asked a friend or two who are real stitchy if they would take on a challenge for me- use my fabrics in something wonderful.
Anne, who hales from England but has also spent a lot of time here in India with me was all fired up,
she is fun and perky but also very clear and truthful so I knew I would get a complete assessment from her as well.
A big thank you Anne.
These are her emails [isn't she delightful in the way she writes?- her emails always carry sunshine in them for me!]
17.5.10

Hi there Fiona


It is Monday and at eight o'clock this morning a little red van pulled up at our house. A man in a fluorescent yellow safety vest came to the door clutching in one hand a tricky little electronic machine and in the other a small parcel, carefully wrapped in cotton and sewn together. Having signed on the electronic device I was presented with the cloth cushion - a fair exchange I thought.


After carefully unpicking the seam on the cushion I found inside a carrier bag covered in magic lettering. Not being able to read the instructions printed on it and chant the appropriate mantra I risked all and opened the bag. I was in luck - the charm had been set by the sender - and out tumbled a magical rainbow of fabric.


Time was made to stand still.


I was under its spell.


No breakfast and no setting out on journeys until I had carefully hand washed and put to dry the fabric. Then time was restarted and off for a morning's chores with the promised reward of cloth ready and daring me to find the pattern hidden within to show off its beauty.


And now I can hear its silent song calling to me to gather together the tools of my craft: pencil, paper, scissors, pins, needles, thread, and go to the sewing machine and begin the adventure.
Thank you Alchemist!
God bless,
Anne
Next a request for pics of ripe mangoes and stepwells??? a mystery but I supplied them

Then a few days later these lovely pics arrived along with complete instructions.

Anne is happy for me to forward the instructions onto anyone buying our blockprint fabrics see Our Pukka Place or Etsy [I will pay her a commission for her efforts in more fabric!]

Mango Masala

The layout was inspired by Dowry Bags, and can be used flat as a wall hanging or buttoned or sewn up as a pillow cover. Note the little sparkles in the centres of the stars- very Indian touch.

Brilliant!

Stepwells

2.6.10

I was so pleased that you liked the cushion cover designs. I really enjoyed the challenge of working with a colour palette that was outside my safety zone – that was why I chose them. The ladies at the patchwork group thought they looked vibrant but complicated – they are not, well maybe the triangle border on the Mango Masala adds a little complexity but that can always be substituted by a plain band. I like designs which look complicated but when you truly analyse them you see the simplicity.

The fabric was a dream to work with.

I always hand wash in hot mild soapy water and drip dry fabric before using it (common practice) to avoid any possible shrinkage and dye bleed. There was some excess dye released but quite within the acceptable range, however I did have a few colourful puddles in the bath afterwards!

It retained enough stiffness to make cutting out easy (I use a rotary cutter and some fabric is a real pain) but yet was not a hard fabric.

Sewing was also good with even the bias behaving well. There was some build up of lint on the machine – to be expected when sewing and quilting two covers.

The colours were wonderful. The combination of shades made the finished covers glow. One suggestion, though, is to change the red that was in the red/black/gold/white pack to a shade more like the sparkles as it would have dominated the mix too much if used with the ripe mango pack.

I hope the instruction leaflets are useful to you. They are in pdf format so that you can email them to anyone who might want to buy your kits and then they can print them out at home.

 I thoroughly enjoyed the making and have now ideas for either another cushion cover or a bag using Holi colours and black in a ‘splash’ design. Where will all this inspiration end! If the designs sell commission in fabric would be an excellent pay back.

 

Aren't they brilliant? I am inspired to have a go making them myself but do suspect I will be begging or working on a swap to have some from her fair hands- just sending her more fabric as well to see what else she has up her sleeve.

I feel comfortable about our quality as I know Anne is very thorough. Thank dear friend :)