BLOG 232

BLOG 232 Sunday January 18^th 2015

What a week I have had. After completing my Blog after lunch last week I spent a couple of hours in my studio, working intensively with Batiks and Bali fabrics. By tea time, I had really bad stomach pains, so much so that I had to take pain killers and clutch a hot water bottle for relief. I naturally thought back over what I had eaten and, as both Roger and I ate the same food for breakfast and lunch, there were no clues there.

Then my mind turned to the fabrics. I have had upset systems before (though not as severe as this time round) and I have put it down to the fabrics which I don’t wash before I use. All I can think of is that when I am working with strips, I perhaps lick my fingers to separate the fabrics and transfer toxins from fabrics to fingers to mouth. I feel my lips reacting and I develop a horrid taste in my mouth which then upsets the rest of my system. I feel like I am being poisoned.

But I have never heard or read that anyone else has had the same trouble. I imagine that if there was a problem, the people in shops who handle and cut these fabrics day in and day out ought to have the same reaction. There must be thousands of sewers who use the fabulous batiks and Bali fabrics so if there was a problem it ought to have surfaced by now. My reason for mentioning all this is to ask if anyone has had the same problem or has heard of someone who has. In the meantime, I am washing and drying loads of fabric daily to try and do something positive to rectify the situation.

                                   Washed fabrics

                          Drying fabric

Remembrance

As I was incapacitated this week, I have had little time to sew but I did start half-heartedly to think about the challenge project and researched a bit of information on line. My early attempts to put ideas on paper predictably turned out to be very traditional, with the ‘Storm at Sea’ block as a background or perhaps as a border on 2 sides. The block could be coloured to give the appearance of crashing waves.

                               First ideas

As a starting point, I even drafted out the different pattern pieces for an 8” block.

                                        Storm at Sea

 

Not really knowing what I was doing, I thought then that I would try to transfer my Great Grandfather’s image onto a sheet of fusible (thank goodness it didn’t snarl up the printer!!) so I could stick it onto fabric. This was not as successful as I had hoped.

                                  Image on fusible

As another random thought, I looked around to find something already constructed and wondered if it could be utilised in the challenge project. I found a colourful background and pondered whether to use it, especially as purple is traditionally the colour of remembrance. More vibrant thought is needed and, as I am much improved, I will feel more creative this coming week.

                              Potential background?