Last minute preparations

 As usual a bit busy here, slowly the fields are turning golden and we will have a good harvest this year...although today with a covering of clouds some will be worried...the coolness is welcome but rain would really mess up harvesting...damp and mould might come....
we will see.

 At home there is nothing like to activity before groups arrive- and a nagging wife- 3 years he has been a going to do this or that....so like every year at this time a bit of gentle encouragement- or big stick!! and a little more happens.
We are hosting a group of students from UTS in Sydney for 2 weeks of workshops and in between / at the same time have a group of teachers doing a cultural studies programme travelling around Rajasthan- Creative Arts Safaris Private Trips are firing !!
We were a bit embarrassed a few weeks ago- 2 young Brits found us and were looking for things to stock their shop back home...we are madly in progress for the next Trade Show but when I came to being able to show things now, and a product list and a price list we were floundering....so wait for it- we almost have all the lists and things priced and a display A POP UP SHOP- how up to date - it will be at home...it will be so organized [well hopefully all organized....] we have a huge amount of people visit during tourists season...so fingers crossed. Also looking forward to useful feedback on what we are making- comments and ideas always appreciated.

 This had been a bit of a carrot for us...our old car is literally falling to bits.....I have been snarly- fix it , fix it....but really we need a new reliable one and one where windows close, doors open and AC works!! so we are putting an order in and will pick it up just before Diwali when the Goddess of Prosperity is most kind.

 Cleaning the house like crazy I found this under the dust on the bookshelf.....

and when all over come with things to do, decisions to make.....nothing like a bit of bling to lighten the load.
happy, happy.
Our next tour is only weeks away- can't wait- we have a good crowd lined up, we are going to great places, and we get to run away from home for a few weeks- yippee.

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

unexpected visitors and ...

 We have been blessed with unexpected visitors of late....John and Jane from England found us through an ex-student of mine in the UK and dropped in for chai when they were in Pushkar....they tagged along with us on a village visit and then we went out to see our shoes' guy .We really had a lovely time meeting them.
Here they are modeeling some of our jackets- I think John epitamises the conecpt of a dapper English gentleman in the one above. He has a handloom khadi shirt on underneath and one of our stitched Diamond jackets on top- reaaly cool.

 Not to be out done his wife Jane looks just as nice. It is so good to see our clothes on people to get an idea of how they fit, what effect they produce and we are greatful to be able to nab passing people as models and appreciate the oppotunity.

 We had a long awaited finishing party for our staff last Sunday....we just finished a big order for Blackwattle Designs of Canberra Australia and this year our new workshop brought a wonderful quality to the work. It is so great now we have our own workshop- we can control quality, know what is happening with production and so get the results we want. Our guys really derserve the treat of mutton curry and a drink.

 Yoga Mary has swirled into town with a group of beautiful girlies on a yoga retreat. I say girlies because everyone got along so nicely and there was such a good atmosphere when hanging out with everyone it reminded me of my students on school camp....lots of good fun.
In betweeen their yoga we had time to take some of the ladies out for shoes at Om-ji's, everyone printed their own scarves at Nandu's our block print lady and they all came to our place for cooking class and camel meeting. And we played dress ups with Tasty Old Chooks range of clothes- great to see them on people.

 Chapiti king Praveen with our visitors

 Look what was sitting on my desk at work this morning- absoluetly yummy silks, patchworked together and soon to be hand stitched and then assembled into kimonos.

 Here is the sample, I have snatched it and am wearing it before it even gets handstitch....never mind it feels fabulous....production numbers will be 2" longer otherwise about the same. should they have a pocket on them? Useful isn't it? Pukka Desirables will have another lovely item in their range.

 And finally after a lot of fiddling around, me staying hidden so the price does not go up and Praveen having to run this way and that greasing palms we have finally been able to buy our own workshop space and it is FANTASTIC!!. a big yard with lovely neem tree, 4 big rooms and a small kitchen....needs a spot of work but not too much and we will be able to start working from here in a week or so.
Will ease a lot of the problems we have had at the present place with lack of space and difficult neighbours.

 Isn't the gate fabulous- Praveen will be itching to get rid of it I am sure but i hope we can some how use the saw blades in the new gate.

 Big yard, lovely tree to set painting tables under....

Door to my new office.....it will be so nice to have everything in one space....at the moment I carry things from home to workshop daily and one us is always forgetting something and our house is submerged under stuff and, and , and.... a million reasons having everything in one place.
big new beginnings to expand on where we have got ot so far.

out to the studio

I have been mulling over a new series of work for some time, had 90% of

what I wanted in my mind but just could not find the twist to make it feel right.

I was very inspired by Dixie Brown, a lady I met in San Francisco and her response to the war on terror- her bombs were very elegant but also very directly speaking of her concerns, yet they had a beauty and humor in their production.

I try to speak of the Earth in my work, my concerns for its state, the fact we all share the same back yard which is Mother Earth... after meeting Dixie I wanted to do a series that spoke more directly....
I liked the feel of the last series I did[ the pic above is a whole heap of the pieces before framing] they record places I have visited- I was trying to give an overall impression of the same but different. When we realise that about the world- WE ARE ALL THE SAME INSIDE it is just our outward circumstances that vary it is easier to think of pulling together rather than fracturing into parts.
lofty ideals, how to subtly but strongly put it into my work? the agony of trying to sort it through [ a good stretch really trying to unearth a new approach...it is so easy to stay in what you have done before]
you have to draw people in to look, think, feel. I don't think standing on a soap box and shouting is the way to get people to sit back and think and make the subtle shifts underlying the major changes we [as a whole earth] need.
yeh it is off to the studio!

textile treasures and fun

arrived home to finish off a project I have been working on with my best friend.

It is a quilt for her daughter's wedding. I have known her daughter since she was a wee small blond bombshell and now she is getting married- boy that makes me feel old.

Dawn [ my friend and I had a lovely day making the felts, and another embroidering little homilies onto the panels and then have been assembling the thing.

lovely to have something from both of us. great fun to play together at this and instil our good wishes into the piece.

this gorgeous little purse was made by one of my students from Canberra.

on the fist day the fabric was one of her samples and then she returned the next day with it transformed into the beautiful purse.

the opening is some type of spring - it came from the Canberra Needlework shop and is a great way to finish off a small purse, but I think it is Heather's embroidery that makes it extra special.

kindly she gave it to me and I am so happy I have been showing everyone my new treasure.... I was really chuffed to receive such a special pressy!!

An amazing thing- if you go to Dijanne Cevaal's site you can see a video of an exhibition in France- look at the April 2007 listing, also enjoy all the other lovely stuff she has.http://origidij.blogspot.com/

A Sense of Place

I am lucky enough to have some of my work in the exhibition curated by the dynamic Dijanne Cevaal.
Dijanne has done a lot I think using textiles to extend a friendly hand from Australia to the Middle East in the past and she has just curated a new exhibition A Sense of Place http://www.soptravels.wordpress.com/ is the blogsite for the exhibtion.
it will travel to Syria and France and showcase some fine Austalian work [ yes-some of my work is in there , please don't think me bigheaded saying that- I am talking about the other people!]

the premier of the exhibition will be in Australia in Victoria look at the link above for details and enjoy

rust dyeing

From a pot of yuk- amazing colours will emerge.
These were pieces i had painted years ago for a quilt and they weren't right. so i thought they would be great to experiment on.
as the fabric drys in the sun rich rusty colours start to emerge- the small darkest piece on the right is where the others are heading to...
Caustic sode is part of the brew so rubber gloves and great care are necessary- i felt like one of the witches out of Macbeth standing over my cauldren stirring this stuff up.
my friend has coloured me other fabric that i used to make trousers...as i was sewing it it seemed very ' metallic' and the trousers had a distict rustle as i was walking in them that that fabric does not normally have. The Tin man must have ounded like that everyday!
a great experience [ and addictive to my friend who is always searching for new shade, a new pattern] and you feel very brave using things that can eat your hands away very easily!
as you may guess i am not really a chemicals type at all!
home today and back to the studio to sew.....
and ponder- i need to plan what to do next year- always things are so far inadvence- workshops to teach, where to go? i am thinking of applying for a residency Os some where next year- who knows how it will go?