Bein Aliyot Finished and Presented

Please ignore the bits and pieces on my design wall.





I did two of the waves using silk ribbon in the bobbin. For some reason, each wave ended up with a different stitch, a surprisingly pleasant result. As far as I know, the only variables were speed of stitching or tension that the ribbon was wound on the bobbin. I have tried recreating the conditions but without luck. I am totally unable to duplicate or predict how the ribbon will appear. I think it may have been divine intervention...

Anyways, on to my next project.

Bein Aliyot

My aunt and uncle are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. In honour of the occasion, their children commissioned a Sefer Torah (Torah Scroll) and we are invited to a party/ceremony marking the occasion. I wanted to make something meaningful for them and so decided to make a "Bein Aliyot". Those people receiving the honour of reading from the Torah get an "aliya" (a calling up). In the Ashkenazi tradition, the Torah scroll lies flat on a table and the scroll is covered beween aliyot (pl. of aliya). "Bein Aliyot" means between callings up. Long story short, I have been working feverishly to complete it and am almost there. My most recent addition to the embellishments (other than embroidery and beading) was silk ribbon machine bobbin work. I sewed two wavy lines using the same silk ribbon, different colours, but surprisingly, the effect is totally different. I'm not sure why they're different but at this point I'm just excited that another textural element has been added. I love good surprises. I have to be finished by tomorrow afternoon -- I don't want to work on it on Shabbat -- or continue after sunset Saturday so it will be ready early Sunday morning. A photo will most definitely be posted.

In other news, at the POM meeting last night I showed the beginning of my coffee table book and my snow dyeing. Both were met with enthusiasm.

I should be getting my password for the online fabric portraits course which starts Friday. Looking forward to that.

Off to the salt mines.

Attempt #II Scrapped

I kind of liked the background and cut up pieces but not enough to continue...
I am about to go for Attempt #3. Let's hope that "third time's the charm".
Shaked was here on Thursday to pick up the wooden frames Menachem made for her. She saw my completed entry piece and suggested that I do the next one (attempt #3) bigger to maximum allowed width (70 cm) and longer (no limitation on length). So I am going to go wider and longer, using blue waves and a quotation from a Yehuda Halevy poem -- no danger of copyright infringements, I hope.
I also have made headway on my POM piece. I should have the cover substantially completed by the next meeting and a sketch/drafts for the inside pages.
Short break and then back to the salt mines.

Making Up for Lost Time

I have discovered a new game on my computer which I know is a total waste of time but still I am drawn to it. That said, I am having a productive day today. I am well on my way with the second juried show entry. I mercilessly cut up the previous attempt and used pieces of it in the new one. The former was a blue background which read dark. The new one is a mosaic of whites in various textures with blue elements on it. I like how it looks and hope it will all come together.

Hanging Sleeve and Done

I have been quiet lately probably because I haven't done all that much stitching.
Lots of projects but my get up and go has apparently gotten up and gone.
I finally finished the blue piece I intend to enter into a juried show. I just have to do the hanging sleeve and I'm done. No pics because I'm not sure I'm supposed to show it before jurying.
My next project is the POM challenge. I was initially not enamoured with the challenge -- something for the table related to family history. But then I started thinking -- they didn't say which table so I've decided to make a coffee table book. My first attempt at the book cover was not satisfactory. I'll give it another go, perhaps in different fabrics and colours. If I can get the cover done, then I'll be able to add pages when I have time so it may just turn into an ongoing project. I did want to do a family tree in fabric so I may incorporate that in it to, a fold-out book. Hmmm... That's due mid-February so I'm alternating work with another call for entry project due the end of February, also started but not happy with the result so far. I think I will scrap it and start over because I don't want to invest time in trying to "fix" something which I doubt can be fixed.
In other news, I have signed up for an online fabric portrait course through Quilt University. All I'm going to say is Mozart meets Abe...

What's Wrong with this Picture?

Other than the photos are in the wrong order...
I started with the six strips in different colours and textures. I didn't realize that there wouldn't be enough contrast with the embellishing/wording. I made several failed attempts to rectify the situation and finally decided yesterday that the only solution would be to replace the light strips with darker ones. So after removing the embroidery stitches and beading, I also removed the strips which were fused. So much for a) my fusing skills and/or b) faulty fusible and/or c) improper storage of fusible.
This morning, I redid two strips in darker hues and fused on the organza letters. The letters still seem a bit pale but since the idea is that beauty fades, I'm going to call it a desing element.

New Year

Still trying to get used to the new computer. Keep inadvertently pressing the shift lock or otherwise hitting wrong keys. Annoying to say the least.