Camera on Vacation

My camera is vacationing in the Middle East so I can't post any photos until it returns.
I finished my tzedakah (charity) box house. It turned out quite well.
I finished my January challenge "Underground" based loosely, very loosely, on the Toronto PATH system.
I made a "green" Tu B'shvat potholder set for Mindy and Yunkie from quilt trimmings -- batting and green fabrics.
So what now?
My next projects, with a February 20th deadline, are a tfilin bag for Jeremy, and a tallit bag and a tfilin bag for Yunkie. So I have a chance to use up more of my father's ties which sort of lets him "take part" in the simcha.
But other than thinking about it, I won't start until tomorrow morning when my head is clear and ideas are fresh.

And Now to Work

I am currently making another organza composition in blues. Off to stitch.

Wedding Square

And finally, a bit of fluff which was play for the sake of play. I made one of these in honour of Maggie's wedding and since I still have quite a bit of wedding gown leftovers, I decided to make another. It didn't make too much of dent in my whites stash, but it was fun.

Pomegranate Challenge

The current challenge for the Pomegranate Guild is "Jewish Symbols". Size doesn't matter but it has to be no more than two colours. Since I have a bag of kippot (yarmulkas, skullcaps) from Yunkie and Mindy's wedding, I decided to use a kippah as my symbol. I deconstructed one and used one of the six pieces as a template for a flower. I made the flower from fabric mosiacs from fabrics left over from Johanna and Warren's chuppah. The centre of the flower is a button, and a ribbon covered plastic washer from the computer disc container. So my colours and blue and magenta. I may just take another kippah and cover it with fabic mosaics as well.

And Another

Lavender fabrics left over from Alana's tallit.

I Liked the Technique of Organza

I really like the format of the 12" X 12". And while I had those fabrics out, I made another piece. This one had no restrictions of a theme, just a composition of technique, colour choice and embellishment.

On to the Next Challenge

The January challenge for FibreArts Toronto is "Graffiti". I had trouble with this one. Unless the "artwork" is commissioned or sanctioned by the property owner, I view graffiti as vandalism, no matter how artistic it may be. So my association had to be that most graffiti is the "artist" leaving his/her mark. While trying to think of a marking, I remembered a book of Yiddish stenography that belonged to my Aunt Nechama. When she had to give up her apartment in Brooklyn to move into a nursing home in Buffalo (closer to Toronto, easier to visit, long story), I went to New York and helped clean out her apartment. Since I was in my Yiddish phase at the time (i.e. studying Yiddish at U of T for my B.A. in Jewish Languages and Literature), I took all of her Yiddish books. I guess the concept of Yiddish stenography fascinated me. Anyways, I looked for symbols for words which might be appropriate and found two. In the middle square, the top squiggle is the word "mazel" (luck) and the bottom work is "bracha" (blessing). I chose these words because the words are the same in Yiddish and in Hebrew. Then for the other markings, I turned to braille (in English, although there is also Hebrew braille and perhaps also Yiddish -- I'll have to google that). From the top left hand corner, going clockwise, on the organza are my rendition of the braille for "luck", and also going clockwise from the top left hand corner, on the other fabrics are the braille for "blessing". And the overall feeling is one of softness, which contrasts the harsh feel of graffiti.

One by One

I spent my days off during the winter break in my studio, oblivious to the weather outside, listening to classical music while stitching. This was my inspiration:



It was made as the December challenge for my FibreArts Toronto group. The theme was "wash, rinse, repeat". My first association was to hair. I must admit I had the "repeat" more in mind -- I wanted to repeat the use of fabrics already in my stash and I had the colour scheme left over from my slice of the "Orwell's Corners" quilt. The background is in shades of grey (self-explanatory), the squiggles are bright browns and reds (touch ups, perhaps?), and the circles with embroidery in the round and beading using circular beads and sequins are the bubbles of "wash and rinse".