Greta the very very good witch

Meet Greta the very very good witch, who has a predilection for flowery dresses. She is busy brewing a cure for every wrong in the world...wouldn't that be something? 

She is needle-felted and I sewed some clothes (flowery fabric, naturally) and a hat for her. She has her cauldron with steaming brew and her broom, of course.

Let's not disturb her further, do go on Greta!

and taking a little break: 

The ever reading boy

Here is the result of another online workshop via Textileartist.org. I enjoyed this one very much. The workshop leader was the British artist Sue Stone. I love the strip-weaving technique used for the background : it adds colour, pattern and texture in a surprising and inspiring way.

I used recycled fabric in muted colours. The embroidery is done with black thread. 

The work shows my son, when at home, sitting gloriously in my way on the kitchen floor, with a book, of course.

Castle in the clouds

Some time ago I bought an antique foot stove for a couple of euros.
I don't think anybody uses a foot stove anymore. It's basically a wooden box that is open on one side, with holes at the top. A ceramic or metal container in which glowing coals were put, was placed in the stove. And then you'd put your feet on the stove so that they would warm up.
I love the look of this thing, it's like a tiny cabinet. But the brown colour made it look old-fashioned and not in a good way. So I gave it a lick of light blue paint, and then added a small white cloud.
I once made a mini quilt with little hearts which came in handy here : I put it inside the stove, so now it is just like a cosy fairy-tale castle!

Cool Plastic, is real colour leaving us?

This third workshop from TextileArtist.org was an altogether different one from the first two... 

Susie Vickery, the workshop leader, makes wonderful art, with all kinds of materials, often found things and 'litter' items, very sustainable. She does lots of community work and her approach to her work is very meaningful, I think.

That said, I really struggled with the materials and concept : use plastic to embroider a flower. 

I cut up some green and white plastic bags, and used a sort of protective wrapping in green plastic and some broken white clothespins. I did not like the feel of the plastic; the smell bothered me too. 

I kept putting this work away and returning to it. Adding some embroidery, dyeing some fabric scraps with tea to give them a more rugged look, replacing the flowers, adding more embroidery, sewing on some very worn textile scraps... After numerous sessions, I am reasonably happy with the result and I can let it be.

What I wanted to show was (hence the title), that you can try to make something beautiful out of plastic but it will never ever come close to the real thing. And we have to realise that the treasure lies in what we already have, we have had it for ever. But is that going to be the case for much longer?

Well, let's say, it's a conversation piece.