Painted face - Masquerade

Masquerade

For this challenge, I borrowed my younger daughter's masquerade masks. My version is applique onto black linen. The gold fabric has been bondawebbed in place since it was too fragile to stitch.

Hand Out/Handout

Hand Out / Handout

I had a lot of fun playing around with the phrase. Not being able to choose any single meaning since I just couldn't make any of them turn into pictures in my head, I resorted to messing around with words instead. 

For the background I chose one of "failed" dyed pieces. It had been put aside for overprinting. Here it represents the sometimes conflicting meanings of the word/phrase Hand out / Handout. Some have meanings which arouse strong feelings in some people - hence the bright colours. I searched for meanings in my dictionary and Thesaurus, jumbling these all together in to a sequence of words which are repeated as part of the background. The calligraphy was achieved by writing directly onto the background fabric using permanent markers. Over the top is the outline of my left hand printed onto silk, again with repeated words. The whole piece has been free-machine quilted using hand outlines in variegated thread.

Contrast

This is my "contrast" quilt. The basic design came from a workshop on "Notan" which I attended back in September 2011. I thoroughly enjoyed all the cutting out of paper we were doing at the time, but couldn't work out how to turn any of it into a textile piece. Well, not until now.
This is bondaweb applique onto an evenweave embroidery cotton from my stash. The applique fabrics were my own painted and dyed samples. Quilted, with a bias binding edging.
I was playing around with contrasts in texture and colour.

Gable ends

I am so sorry that my own piece is late.





This shows a variety of different gable ends in the area around where I live. A number of the older houses were built in the mock Tudor style fashionable around the end of the 19th century and have black and white patterned tops to their gable ends marrying this with the local red brick. Others have interesting wooden edges leading on to whitewashed walls.







The piece is made up of bondawebbed fabrics onto to a loosely woven cheesecloth base. This has then been free machine stitched with some white pieces bondawebbed on and some extra detail added using a permanent marker.

Breaking through.

My apologies for being late with this one.

A rather facetious image. The thought behind the design was a fervent wish that we could have some sunshine. This dates from the dark and windy days of early April when Spring seemed a very distant prospect. As I write this, we have a beautifully sunny and warm day here in Cheshire.

The image is a collection of dyecatchers, cut through to reveal plain blue fabric with a sheer fabric sun with bondawebbed features. Free machine embroidery added to highlight features.

The 39 steps

I must admit that I really do like the most recent of the versions of this story. The original book was written by John Buchan in 1915, and is very much of it's time. The book and the older versions (starring Robert Donat, Kenneth More and then Robert Powell) all have a weak and rather insignificant female character. The latest version with Rupert Penry-Jones, has a rather feisty female character which gives a really interesting twist to the story.

For those not familiar with the plot, the main character, Richard Hannay becomes embroiled in foiling a pre-first world war German spy ring. He is chased around the wilds of Scotland by the spies in a car. They also use an aeroplane. In the book, the phrase "39 steps" refers to an area on the coast where there are 39 steps leading down to a harbour. 

Chatting to my daughter, she pointed out the similarity of the chase by aeroplane to that portrayed in the Hitchcock film "North by Northwest". Interestingly, Alfred Hitchcock also directed the earlier 1935 version starring Robert Donat.

For my version, I used images handstitched onto sheer voiles, with bondawebbed trees and running figure made from dyed scrim. The green background is painted fabric, whilst the remaining fabrics are accidentally dyed dye-catchers.

Inspired by...........................

Inspired by the landscape paintings of Carry Ackroyd.

This particular image is based on a small section of this photo taken some time ago. One of many taken when I was lucky enough to have a ride in a hot air balloon. An experience I thoroughly enjoyed despite being rather nervous of heights.

The addition of the birds is a flight of fancy. I added them since Carry Ackroyd generally adds birds and animals to her own paintings. Techniques used: applique, free machine embroidery, with some bondaweb additions for the birds themselves.