I am all fired up after our trip away. I am creating a series of Victoriana Christmas decorations. I have decided to package them as kits, so have been writing and testing the instructions. Thanks to Linda and Sue for being my guinea-pigs. After a little 'tweaking' they are ready. Each kit has all instructions and most materials need (except for stuffing). There are 5 in the series so far-a bird, wreath, boot, heart and tree. Each one is white/cream with beads, metallic cord, organza ribbon and/or lace, depending on the design chosen. Watch for these available to purchase soon.Here is a little 'taster' image.

Several years ago I was asked to be one of the artists creating a quilted 'card' for an exhibition called 'Deck of cards ,which was to travel around USA'. I was given the King of Diamonds to interpret and struggled with my design concept for a while. I have never been fond of diamonds as a stone, and therefore had a cold and icy colour range in my mind. Eventually I realised that this was what was holding me back. I then decided to base my piece on a design which reflected the strength of a Maori warrior. I created a design which featured the head of a warrior, with a mere as a sign of kingship and a taiaha(spear) with a diamond shape on its top to interpret the diamond of the card. I obtained the permission of the local 'iwi (tribe) to use the symbols and patterning on the piece. It travelled for some time and eventually found its way home again. I was very delighted to be contacted about it recently by a lady who appreciates the references and taonga of the work. The photograph is from a detail of the head.
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We had an amazing holiday -Uk, Ireland, Brussels, Amsterdam, Zurich, Praque and Singapore. My head is buzzing again with the wonderful things I saw. So much Art and lots of ideas. When I saw this wonderful box in the Reich museum I remembered that I had made several similar shaped boxes in fabric and thread. maybe this will start me off again. New classes for term four about to be advertised on the website so watch out... or check out www.creativejourneys.co.nz for ideas.
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The 2017 Changing Threads Contemporary Fibre Awards is now on at the Refinery Artspace in Halifax St. Nelson. It is looking wonderful. We are absolutely thrilled with the Award winners. Congratulations to all of you, and thank you to those who submitted work for selection. It is a really hard job selecting, but we feel we have made a good representation of work from the submissions. For a look at award winners go to www.artscouncilnelson.co.nz

For the month of January Jo Kinross and I had an exhibition at Fibre Spectrum, Nelson. We took the theme of' Creative Journeys-Exploration and Experimentation'. I continued to work with my fragments series, looking at old maps and landforms. Jo developed her love of Indigo and produced some wonderful scarves and wraps. We then collaborated on some dresses.....I stitched and appliqued and Jo dyed with organic Indigo and created beautiful Shibori work.
​Some photos of the exhibition can be seen here- http://fibrespectrum.co.nz/creative/creative.html
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