Too Precious to Waste

Stitched tea bags/ old doily "tea lights" - Wilma Simmons

More than a year ago, a decision was made. The annual exhibition of NCEATA ( Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists) 2015-2016 will have the theme "Mottainai".

Mottainai in Japanese refers to more than just physical waste (resources). It is even used to refer to thought patterns that give rise to wasteful action. Grammatically, it can be used in Japanese as an exclamation ("mottainai!") or as an adjective phrase ("it feels mottainai"). There is no plural form. The collection of mottainai things could be called mottainai koto (もったいない事^?).

As an exclamation ("mottainai!") it means roughly "what a waste!" or "Don't waste."^[2] A simple English equivalent is the saying "waste not, want not." A more elaborate meaning conveys a sense of value and worthiness and may be translated as "do not destroy (or lay waste to) that which is worthy."^{[ from Wikipedia.}^{So recycling and upcycling - respectful reuse}^-^{became the inspiration}

Stitched tea bags "tea lights" - Wilma Simmons

In my usual way, I kept putting off what to make although as I love to work with tea bags, it was always going to be tea bags.... so at the last minute (literally) I made some little tea bag vessels, which look great as tea light holders. These are very simply made - stitch pieces of tea bag paper together (of course, dry and empty used tea bags first) and then stiffen with fabric stiffener or a similar medium like "Mod Podge".

I added motif snippets from old doilies to some, and this gave a more interesting effect and seemed to fit with the theme too. Of course, the little tea light candles have no flames - they are battery operated, and are able to illuminate these tea bag vessels safely. These tea bag vessels sit beside some amazingly creative work in the exhibition by fellow NCEATA members.

1. Tea bag "tea lights" - Wilma Simmons 2. Altered book - Sue Shute ; 3 Stitched fragments - Ruth Spence 4. Recycled copper wire necklace by Mary Hedges

1. embroidery by Ruth Spence; 2 stitched books - Maija Maiou 3 dorset buttons - Doris Gordon
4. doily collars - Barbara Sherlock

1. life jacket and CD tree - Sandra Cooke; 2 stitched and pieced jacket - Maria Rofe; 3 free form stitching/applique (1/10 pieces in the series) - Judi Nikoleski ; 4. free form embroidery/applique- Ruth Spence

The Opening - capacity crowd - 3 January 2016.

The exhibition is open until 17 January at Timeless Textiles Gallery, 90 Hunter Street, Newcastle East (NSW, Australia) Wednesdays - Saturdays 10am - 4pm and Sundays 10am - 2pm . Each day, there will be a NCEATA member in attendance to discuss the art works and various techniques. Hope to see you there - these photos are mere glimpses of the fantastic work on display!

Bilby Infatuation

Wrapped wire and fabric bilby sculpture : Wilma Simmons 2016 Over the years I have been fascinated with the plight of the bilby and it has inspired quite a few of my cloth creations... With long pinkish-coloured ears and silky, blue-grey fur, the Bilby has become Australia’s version of the Easter Bunny. Unlike the rabbit, bilby numbers are falling rapidly. There were originally two species but the Greater Bilby is now commonly referred to simply as ‘the Bilby’ as the Lesser Bilby (Macrotis leucura) is thought to have become extinct in the early 1950s... Bilbies are nocturnal, emerging after dark to forage for food. Using their long snouts, they dig out bulbs, tubers, spiders, termites, witchetty grubs and fungi. They use their tongues to lick up grass seeds. Bilbies have poor sight and rely on good hearing and a keen sense of smell. To minimise threats from predators they’ll mostly stay within 250m of their burrows, but sometimes roam further afield depending on the food...

"Temari Or Not Temari?" Tutorial

Background Information: Temari (literally translated “hand ball”) is a Japanese folk craft that is alleged to have originated in China and was introduced to Japan five or six hundred years ago. Traditionally, the balls were constructed from wrapped kimono fabric remnants and silk threads. They were made by mothers and grandmothers for children to play with. Nowadays, decorative embroidered temari represent a highly valued and cherished gift symbolizing friendship and loyalty. Recently I've wondered if your don't use traditional techniques whether you should call what you create "temari". That is an ongoing debate but today I share what I do to make a "non-traditional temari".... 1.I start with a polystrene ball ( traditionally the balls were wound silk scraps or other organic materials) and begin to wrap with approx 4 ply wool, turning the ball as I wrap. 2. I then wrap another layer of wool in a similar fashion , this time a 3 or 2 ...

Non-Committal Collage Anything Goes

Have you heard of non-committal collage? I hadn't until one of the other participants of the 100 Day Project started doing this each day and showing the results.... Here are Peggy's rules : 1. S elect 9 scraps of paper from collage box/stash 2. Make three different compositions using each scrap at least once. (some pieces can be used more than once) 3. Do not alter the scraps of paper in any way. 4.Do not use glue. 5.Take photo, disassemble and return scraps to box. I thought this would be a fun and quick exercise to do for Tag Tuesday's theme , Anything Goes... so here are my "non-committal collage" tags.... Did you spot the nine pieces? Would you like to suggest some titles? And I repeated the exercise before putting back the 9 scraps of paper, so these are different items. Hope you will try this exercise - it is lots of...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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