How does the old saying go ... if you can't change it feature it? I've always found winter to be beautiful and an inspiration - the palettes of white/silver/blues, the crisp sparkle of sunshine on new winter snow. I will admit that when I lived in the north, the beauty and inspiration quickly wore thin and I had to work harder at being inspired! As the first major snowfall of the year moves in, take a moment to enjoy these fiber art pieces inspired by winter.
Russian born artist Ludmila Aristova discovered art quilting in the early 1990's and doesn't appear to have slowed down since! Her website is filled with pieces inspired by nature, light, and cities. The piece to the right is titled Winter and made with many layers of fabric and embroidery.
The gorgeous piece to the left was designed by fiber artist Carol Eaton using low immersion dying and fabric paint. I love the depth she achieved - it truly looks like leaves layered in snow and ice. Learn more about her techniques and see more pieces on her blog here.
In Sandia Mountain Winter Sunset, tapestry artist Elizabeth Buckley perfectly captures the gorgeous winter colors New Mexico. I can almost feel the frosty air! See her website for more of her work and also her teaching schedule.
And finally a non-fiber artist! Photographer Alexey Kljatov captures macro shots of actual snowflakes that are truly amazing and inspiring. Looking at them, I need to keep reminding myself these are not Swarovski ornaments! To see more and learn about his set-up (it doesn't look hard to replicate), see his blog, The Keys to December.
Happy Creating! Deborah
Merry Christmas! Hope this holiday season finds you with friends, warmth, and cheer!
See you in January! Deborah
I don't know about all of your, but I'm about spent at this point before Christmas! Everything's knitted, sewn, embroidered, and appliqued and there are actually two whole days left before the big day - this is a minor miracle in my world. So now it's time to recharge! I've found looking at mandalas to be soothing and restful - here are several from fiber artists.
This quilted mandala was created by Grace Errea. See her website for more info and beautiful quilts.
Making a crocheted mandala has been on my list for quite some time, but somehow I've never gotten around to it! This may be the pattern that gets me going. It's provided free on the website of South African artist Zelna Olivier here.
This gorgeous tie-dye mandala comes from truetiedye.com.
I used to do quite a bit of beading and this beaded mandala could get me interested in that again! It can be found in the Etsy shop of Ecuadorian artist Catalina Lasso here.
And finally, there's this beautiful silk and felt piece, Five Elements Mandala by Evita Schvallbe. Be sure to take a while to browse through her website - very inspiring!
Happy Creating! Deborah
One sweater down and one to go! This is Henry's sweater that I wrote about here. I wanted to knit Christmas sweaters for Charlie and Henry, but that's a lot of work for a couple weeks of wear! So I decided to knit sweaters and sew on an applique that can be removed when Christmas is over. You don't have to knit a sweater for this applique - any bought one will do!
Materials
*felted wool flannel - one plain tan, one patterned tan, one patterned red, and black
*size 5 perle cotton - tan, red, and black
*pattern found here
Cut one face from the solid tan, one muzzle from patterned tan, one nose from patterned red, two eyes from black, and two antlers from patterned tan.
Pin the eyes and muzzle to the face and the nose to the muzzle.
Using a blanket stitch, sew around the nose and eyes and sew the muzzle as shown. Using an outline stitch, sew a mouth.
Pin the face to the sweater front and pin the antlers under the face.
Using a blanket stitch, sew around the face and around each antler. If you'll be removing the applique, sew very loosely and don't pull the threads so tight that they stretch the sweater.
For those wondering, the yarn is Knitpicks City Tweed DK in Basil. Charlie's colorway is Rhubarb.
Happy Creating! Deborah
