The Carpet Bag Revealed, and a new quilt top assembled

I couldn't find any suitable patterns that looked like real carpet bags, so mine is a tote bag made using sumptuous furnishing fabrics.  It's big enough to hold folders and books for my classes, with extra long handles to sling over my shoulder.  The inside has 3 pockets (large, medium and cellphone) plus an elasticized band to hold my drink bottle upright.

 This week, I've focused on assembling this quilt top - I made all the blocks several years ago.  Unusually for me, I purchased ALL the fabric rather than including my hand dyes in it, as I found fabrics that worked well with the feature fabric, which is Hoffmanns "Feathers" - you can see it more clearly in the detail shot. It's the centre of the blocks and also the outer border.

It's just draped over the spare bed in this photo.  I'm happy with the size, so I'll go ahead and sandwich and quilt it.

Following on....

This is a sample photograph that I've transferred onto hand dyed fabric.  At this stage, I haven't done anything with it.  I plan to work with photographs of buildings destroyed in the Christchurch earthquake, as this has personal meaning for me.

Anyone out there done any 3 dimensional work?  I don't mean designs that look 3D, but actual dimensional and sculptural work with fabric.

Getting my mojo back

Hi everyone,

I've been struggling with my planned course of study for this year, and have decided to go back to my fabric roots.  Considering I'm majoring in Photography, this may be an odd statement.   I've accepted that my degree is not likely to lead to work but I may as well finish what I've started and made a commitment to.  As a result, I plan to work with transferring photographs onto fabric in 2013, and hopefully devise a way of integrating these into 3 dimensional fabric sculptures. There, now I've said it so I have to do it.  Talking of doing, there hasn't been much of it happening chez Goodwin.  However, I've been doing  a lot of thinking about doing, so that's a start :-)

Today, I had a lovely surprise.  Jenny Brooks, a KQ from Auckland, is down here visiting and suggested we catch up for afternoon tea (which was lovely - thanks, Jenny!) which we did at the Art Gallery/Museum cafe, and then moved out into Queen's Park when that closed.  When it was time to leave, Jenny gave me this gorgeous skein of laceweight baby alpaca - so soft and cuddly!

When I got home, I immediately went onto Ravelry to find a suitable pattern. I've found several that might suit, now to sit down and decide which to make.  Jenny and I have both knitted the Clapotis pattern - I made mine while in France and England so it has many memories of my trip.  Such a lovely thought, Jenny - I'll make something really special from this alpaca.

In NQR news, my son Cass and partner Catherine are currently tramping on Stewart Island.  No mean feat as the tracks are challenging and so is the weather.  They'll be back here on thursday for a few days so I'm looking forward to spending a bit of time with them - I haven't see Cass for a year and Catherine for 2 years.  They expect to be moving to Christchurch in April.  Here they are pictured before they set off: