Tour is just about to start.

We are collecting people and all will start to roll tomorrow morning- yippee I love being on tour!

 My mate Dawn arrived early so been dragging her all over Delhi as I did a bit of The Stitching Project work before the group arrive....also a chance to grab the kids and do a bit of sightseeing and hanging out.

 Fun with our boys at Humayan' s Tomb- it is all newly restored and beautiful. A World Heritage site it is looking fantastic...so squeeze a bit of history education into hanging out!

and then an outing always has an obligatory stop at India Gate...last night it was condoned off so all you get is zooming buses in the back ground....ohh well. A giggle.

 

I have just signed up to

Join the worldwide conversation on human friendly fashion this October 16th.    On 16 October bloggers around the world will come together to talk about fashion and human rights as part of Blog Action Day. Join the consortium of ethical fashion bloggers to be part of the conversation. Sign up now to be part of the Human Friendly Fashion Bloggers' Consortium.   The consortium already spans India, Australia, Canada and the UK, and hundreds more are expected to take part in Blog Action Day more widely. It is a chance to create a noise about fashion and human rights.    The Human Friendly Fashion Bloggers' invite you, whether you're a blogger, or a ethical fashion company that runs a blog, to take part. Joining the consortium is free, and there are lots of great resources to help you get involved on the day itself, including the Human Friendly Fashion Outfit Competition, which you can enter as part of the day.   All consortium members will be listed on our campaign's page, and we'll be re-tweeting as many links to blogs about human rights and fashion on the day as we can.   Sign up now to get involved and make this a Blog Action Day to remember! I got the link through The Ethical Fashion Forum who are a group with their head screwed on straight so it should be interesting....let's wait and see

 

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!

excitment yesterday

 Madly busy day, doing lots and waiting for my very good mates from Leicester to arrive....all day there was a bubble of excitment in my belly.
Hung out with Nandu for a while helping with the printing, posted this picture of my current "most favourite block" wanted to thank Julie S for the inspiration....this is on a dhoki khadi- lovely subtle texture...had thought I would add layers of colour over it but liked the simple black and white - new dress here it comes!

 Nandu's next door neighbour wanted her photo taken...everyone thinks it amazing a while woman would spend the day printing....dahhh- we are all the same, if you don't work, you don't eat! I suppose it is just that other side of the fence thinking.... other people have it easier, other people have more money....other people.... darling we are all the same- you just dress nicer!

 Working on handloom for block print fat quarters...I only do the simple prints-I leave the complex ones to the master.

 Look what happened to Baba yesterday. Sohan the young man who looks after him borrowed a razor to give him a hair cut!! First Punk Rock Camel I have seen- by the way Baba had his head cocked he thought he was really cool.

 My mate Anne, has been working on some designs using Pukka Components to make Bag Kits so last night was the first show and tell, spilling a mountain of samples out of her bag for us to paw.

 VVVVEeerrrrrrrrrryyy nice

Anne often has articles in magazines ...we keep supplying her with some of our fabrics and sparkles because I love to see what she will come up with next. She is a very clever girl.
And we have her and her husband here with us for the week!! yippeee, they are my home away from home in England and have always been a warm homely haven when I have been on the road. It is so nice to be able to welcome them here with the same warmth.
happy day to you :)

almost home again...

My lovely Dawn....so nice to hang out, we speak all the time on the phone but hanging around together is such a heart warming pleasure....here she is modelling one of the Tasty Old Chooks numbers....great to look and see how the dress takes to a body.

We were delivering work to the local gallery where I used to live, blossoming under the care of Donna Cavanaugh with lots of interesting stuff. Let me know if you want more details and I can pass her email onto you...website for them is hoped for one day....

Con Detterer delivering one of his sculptures; lovingly crafted from junk.

Had a big pow-wow with Zac- got the thumbs up on our interpretations of his artwork transfered to Tshirts and Hoodies...stay tuned Watts Wright Designs are all go. I need to tweak a few details he and everyone else noted but generally heading in the right direction.
It was rather wonderful having design session with Zac, Dawn and the gang; when the boys and I were down at my biggest boy David's place....bodies scattered all over the room, samples everywhere and patterns being measured....that is almost how they grew up- when they were all very small I supported us through making clothes...everything was all around and the boys had to paly around it....now we were all hanging together confering over where to go with Zac'd designs Praveen and I are making......such a winderful loop and such a long way we have all come from those days.

Dawn's grand daughter fishing around in bag for a present I bought for her- a camel bell, she is msot interested to meet my camel Baba and is waiting for Nana Dawn to bring her to visit one day- what a wonderful idea.....little children bought back many memories for Dawn and I ...our kids are around the same age...so we always had a gagle of her girls and my boys around...we were always making clothes for them...now they are all growing up or grown up and starting to come back with their kids in tow....so lovely to see. and here we were at Dawn's doing the first inspection of one of the kids designs....last year Cait one of Dawn's girls had her first fashion parades.....good to have things in common with your kids and see them prepared to have a go with their creative sides

My big boy David and his lovely fiance Naimh put on the most wonderful Christams spread and had the younger boys and I down to hang with them in Sydney for a few days- ssssooooo good for an old Mummy.
We dined [ yes it sounds fancy and it was!!] at Dave's workplace Toko- a rather flash Japeanes restaurant in Surry Hills- delicious and a huge over-indulgence....what fun....

and now I am stuck in Delhi for a few days.....half way between my lovely Aussies and my man....I have to get a visa for Ghana in January and so using the opportunity to do a little more textile research, try and catch up on emails, dwell on all the wonderful things that happened in a few short days and work on ideas that were generated.....life is full of such wonderuful experiences, if you let them in.....

I believe in an open arms policy :)

gentle anarchy

Life has been flowing along at warp speed even though most things seem to happen here in SSSSSLLLOOoooWW motion.....hard to get your head around- you should try living here!!

We have just had the Pushkar Camel Fair- truley amazing and so welcome to have our peaceful home just 3 km away.

Early morning and sunset ballon flights have seen some nearly land on our roof top- what a wonderful view they must have had!

 My mate Maree was visiting and this is an early morning ambush of her showing off her new shoes from Om-ji- so yummy I think I need more in this colour combination!

Been madly painting again and finally making head way on Watts Wright Designs graffitti inspired hoodies and tshirts....

 Praveen is the proud Papa to 14 little chicks and hen number 2 should hatch more in the next few days. This is such a pleasure for us....one I have spent my whole life experiencing because I have always kept chooks [chickens in non-Aussie english]..for Praveen a new pleasure as he is a city boy who has always longed for country life....at the moment I am lucky to get a quick morning kiss before he is out the door to check on his girls!

 Nandu our blockprint lady has overcome a huge nervousness to work on our non-traditional printing for Watts Wright Designs grafitti inspired works....her lovey little Radhi is always present and such a joy to all. Praveen and I still fabtacise about taking him home with us....

 Radhi quality checking on some discharge prints...nearly 15months old, starting to talk and ssssoooo gorgeous!

 Some of the travllers to the Fair had their blankets up on the railway line fence to air....rather lovely.
Our small village swelled to about half a milllion people here for the Camel Fair and important the Brahma temple festival it grew up around

 Prveiwing the new Hoodies...sooo happy with them. Available sson in Australian and via the internet world wide.

Shanti, shanti  or peace, peace be with you.

OOOHHHH and a big, big excitment for today- we have put a deposit down on our own property to house our workshop in. A place to develop for our work and a  step away of some of the workshop stresses we have been going through of late.
Really a long story !- most of the people working for us are easy to get along with...one or 2 are worth keeping but into power plays...working in OUR space will sort all that out and let us fly free-er and develop more of our ideas..... much has happened in a simple week or two....really worth a whole book in itself....
May the new week bring you expansion in your experience of the world and much joy :)

getting ready to go home :)

 Getting ready to go home...I am so excited.
It is lovely being in Oz and seeing my boys and my mates but I do sssoooo miss my new home. Praveen is giving regular garden reports and Pushkar reports but nothing like being with him and in our home....
Yesterday I was wandering around Dawn's taking pics of corners I know so well- saving up her lovely "cup of tea on the verandah" vibes until next visit or until she lands on my new verandah...

 She will rgrumble when she sees the pic but I love it; for more than 20 years we have sat in this exact location plotting and planning new ideas, talking each other towards sane-ness, even if THEY would question how effective that has been, as our kids grew up...
and still we have ideas hatching....

Stay tuned- it is in the incubator "Books and Blocks" we are calling a residential retreat at my new Studio

Dawn has been very popular with her book making classes...so why not combine travels in India with a workshop?

 A special request , based on a drawing by Ursula B...

Last night due to her bright idea - we tuned a local cafe into an Indian Kitchen, 12 fun and fabulous people joined us and we cooked up a feats  together, then a few more strolled in and  21 sat down to dinner- really enjoyable....most of the dishes you could make at home, the recipes have been on this blog, the atmosphere I wish I could bottle as it would get any dinner party off to a good start and we would be onto a great product.
It was a special treat for those who created it only....

Recipe
enthusiastic people, common interest, great venue and a willingness to all work together,

whip it all up and enjoy!!!

Funds raised for the Shakti Project will run the project for 1 month: to  feed and send at least 54 kids to school.