a bit of a puzzle

So far I've finished the butterfly centerpiece.

It will be in the center

at one side of the b i g project

Ha, you can still see where the last section was sewn

to the bigger part :

the seams were not yet basted down ...

Here it is pinned down on the ikat fabric

I did the outline with a running stitch

in order to know where it belongs when I'm working

on the opposite side.

This side will have an ikat bórder, the other side will have an ikat cénter

.....

( Mmmmmm the cats lóve it when there is something to play with

nothing much to do when they're chasing each other )

Now my puzzle is what sequense I should take
when stitching on the ikat parts ...

So I removed the butterflies.
They will be basted, or "glue-stitched", on some very thin fabric,
then I will add a thin batting layer,
and then I can start stitching on them.

In the meantime I will start with the stars around the moon on the other side

rainbow stars as you see

a star ... and ... a ghost star

*

Yesterday evening was our mandala group together :

the second time with the theme "earth"

And a little bit of one I'm working on for a gift

new beginnings

The "Diaries" class over at Jude's

(which isn't really a class in the normal way)

has started this September.

And now, after finishing the Wedding piece and the Warm Heart,

my hands are finally "free" to start on something new and b i g

And I mean literally b i g, like a blanket,

which is nót the size I normally prefer !

In fact I bought some lovely thick cotton ikat fabric last year.

This fabric I want to use  in a way

that you still see part of the "ïkat" on either side.

(because I also want it to be double sided) 

So I unearthed it from the back of a drawer

and the rainbow colours,

that were still pinned on around the moon,

go just fine with my latest plans for it !

On the other side there will be a lot of butterflies

of which I still had some left

from the Patchwork Beasts class, two years ago.

Lots of new butterflies are being pieced

by the machine, and than the seams basted in Jude's way,

with all the lovely tiny dimples at the right side.

moon

Full moon today

or rather tonight, though there is nothing to be seen here

because a thick layer of clouds is hiding it all !

What a pity.

That's why I thought today was an appropriate time

do to some moon stitching.

A very light "colour blanket" done all by hand

( as I do most pieces lately, thanks to Jude )

This will be the moon in the new cloth I wanted to start

for some time now, and finally did.

Just checking if there was enough "moon" already

 with a pizza form

( great template for felting too ) 

and then cutting it out.

The next step will be to "needle turn" it

on the beautiful red brown heavy cotton ikat fabric

When I saw this fabric I immediately thought of a big cloth

 I will baste on the moon first and wait a bit with other stitches

... just looking and thinking what will come next ...