another mystery item...

I love putting out these mystery items. I always learn so much from all of you. These coins/pendants were found by a friend at a garage sale. The round item looks like a chinese coin but we're not sure about the oddly shaped item. Looks like a pendant to me but I have no idea about the significance of the symbols. Anybody have any ideas???? Do tell...

UPDATE ON MYSTERY COINS:
Eva posted lots of good info on Facebook about these coins and I have done a bit further research. It is all in the comments below. They are called 'spade coins' and there's lots of info about them here.

And  a little while ago, I was the winner,  on Morna's blog, of this lovely heart pin. Thank you Morna. Can't wait to wear it.

A little bit of garden, stitch and shibori

I'm working on several things at once as usual. Some pieces are just waiting around for some more inspiration. Glennis posted the last shibori lesson but i have just done a little bit of experimenting with that. The garden is taking some of my time these days. It's been weeks since we've had any rain so I'm having to water the potted plants every evening and the yard twice a week as we are on a restricted watering schedule.

looks like this bird is in need of some straw for his nest

some 'beating hearts'. a cotton sandwich with silk shibori in between

just playing around with some ideas

not very successful shibori on cotton dyed with beet juice and liquid from seed pods soaked in water

The latest in dyeing and stitching...

I'm working on several things at once --- I know, so what else is new--- and was inspired by a fellow SEW clothmate to work in red. I've also been stitching on some of the cloth from the wrapt tree project that will be used on a small child's rocker. The image is from the Nazca Lines in Peru. Encountered something strange with the arashi shibori this week. A section of silk organza would not pick up any dye. The organza is the same I used last week and has been washed and soaked before dyeing. It's almost as if spots of the organza is coated in something that is impenetrable. Anybody else ever encounter this? Here are a few pics.

arashi shibori bound with fine linen thread. white spots resisted dye.

cloth from wrapt tree project stitched with Nazca Line hummingbird

a peek at a red heart grid inspired by a clothmate on SEW

A Little Bit of This and That...

I'm still playing with hearts along with all my fellow heart whisperers led by Jude. And Shibori class with Glennis is still in progress so there's a lot there to experiment with. I've been all over the place the past couple of days going from one project to another as you can see.

follow your heart

shibori hearts on shibori cotton dyed with onion skins

an attempt at a shibori tree on batting with onion skins

arashi shibori on tea bags

Overdyeing nature cloths, shibori and hearts...

The cloths from the wrapt tree project showed some staining but they have really been enhanced by over-dying with onion skins. I also did some shibori stitching on a couple of pieces and dropped them in the onion skin dye pot. Was happy with the results especially since the Colorhue dyes do not work on cotton. Some of these pieces will be stitched together to re-upholster a child's antique rocking chair that I've had for quite a while. I'll add some shibori hearts as an embellishment. The heart's were inspired by Jude in her Whispering Hearts series. If hearts inspire you, you might want to join us there.

you can see the markings where the cloth was tied to the tree

there's even a ready made hole for some creative embellishment

shibori tied

shibori after onion skin dyeing

shibori tied and onion skin dyed. the wool really picks up the color.

shibori hearts-green is colorhue dyed. rust is onion skin dyed.