The Siren Song of Colour

These photos make my heart very, very happy.

I rolled up my sleeves on Monday and got stuck into some dyeing.  I wanted some smaller items for sale in Opua Arts gallery and so some of my dyeing was on ready made silk scarves.  

These are habotai silk that shimmer and gleam and float in the breeze and generally just look gorgeous!  I hung them up this morning after popping next door to the marine chandlery for some smooth white rope.  What do you think of my display system?

I also did some more embroidery threads.

These are a silk cotton blend, unstranded and similar to a light-weight perle cotton.

I'm going to change my dyeing habits a little.  A full day of dyeing (4-6 hours) ends up in sore feet and a sore back and another full day of rinsing, washing and pressing - phew!  Instead I aim to dye a little every day.  And I'll be posting a images of my dyeing over on Instagram with the hashtag #dyealittleeveryday.  Click on the camera over on my left sidebar to follow me on Instagram and see what I'm up to.

Lovely things

I had a birthday recently and this arrived in the post for me. What a delight! Such a yummy collection of threads, all different colours, weights, sheens. I can't wait to break them open and get started. But I don't know where to begin! Perhaps some artist trading cards? Thanks, dear sister, you know me well. Then a friend and I went to our Quilting Regional Day and had a great time. And my day got even better when I realised that Plume Art Limited had a stall there. Once I had wiped up my drool, I preceded to buy myself a little birthday present. A couple of skeins of hand dyed different threads.

Some hand dyed silk rods. I don't know what I'll do with them yet, but they were too gorgeous to resist.

Some luscious Sari Ribbons in a big thick twisted rope. Imagine how colourful our world would be if we all felt uninhibited enough to wear saris of these hues!

And then these little chunks of art are hand carved art stamps from India. They were courtesy of the Trade Aid stall. Oh, there was also some fair trade chocolate from Trade Aid to, but, um, well, I ate it all - hey, it WAS my birthday!


I'm posting pics of beautiful things today because it certainly is not beautiful outside. Rain and howlingly windy.

I was primed for six hours of child-free curtain sewing today but turned back on the way to daycare because the level of water in the ditches was making me nervous. Flooding happens on our road and I'd hate for the kids to be in one place and me in another. (Although secretly I might be gleeful if I knew their grandparents could get to them and they were safe!)

So I am stuck inside with two cherubs and I require any little glimmer of peace, beauty and joy to keep me going for the rest of the day.

Wish me luck xx