15th Anniversary Challenge Exhibition - part two

More entries, in no particular order...

Margaret Grey, untitled:

Vicki Taiwo's  'Shibori Hanafukin' - silk kimono fabric, shibori dyed, stitched and stamped using one of our old stamps (both sides):

Vicki also contributed our only woven cloth. This was woven using antique kasuri (ikat) threads for the weft. 

Maybe our most original entry was Liz Banks'  'Hand in Glove with Housework' . There's a glove inside the cloth for easy cleaning! 

Lorise Clark's 'Journey to the Mountains',  '... the track through the fields of flowers, water and forest to the white mountains. The buttons represent the temples where we can reflect on the journey' : 

Coral Tabart, untitled (both sides) :

Isabel Hastie was suffering from a bad fall and a torn retina - so I  was very grateful to her for her lovely hexagon hanafukin! 

Lyn Rochford' 'Fun or Functional'  has fun wash day origami dresses on one side and is  a functional cleaning cloth on the other:

Barbara Saunders, 'Too special to waste!' , 'Indigo and gardena dyed vintage cotton and threads, some with original mending stitches. Repurposed int he style of 'boro' (rags) or mottainani (waste nothing)...'  and 'Coaster Scraps'  sashiko coasters made while travelling through Japan in 2015' :

Louise Rudeforth, 'Flower Power'. 'This is my first attempt at decorative sewing. I usually just sew on buttons or repair cushions or soft toys': 

Two untitled cloths by Zyta Cwalinska,. The first ones is a  beautiful -  and potentially useful  - scrubber with French knots on one side and persimmon flower hitomezashi stitching on the other. The second is made from scrap materials.

 A few more still to come.... 

15th Anniversary Challenge Exhibition - part one

I've finally got a minute to  start posting  photos from our exhibition which ended on Saturday.  Thank you so much to everyone who entered a piece  (or two) or came along to see the exhibition.  The challenge was open to all Wafu Works customers and was inspired by traditional Japanese  hanafukin cleaning cloths. Entries didn't need to be in the style of a traditional hanafukin  (though some are)  but had to be no bigger than 30cm x 30cm with most of the materials from Wafu Works. We had a wonderful variety of entries! (You can click on any of the photos to enlarge)

The first piece was the winner of  the Viewers' Choice prize. It's by Dawn Galliott and was inspired by a visit to a  lacquer umbrella shop in Kanasawa.

There were two equal runners-up. The  first one is 'Sunset over Huon Island' by Merran  Franken:

                                         

The second one is 'East MeetsWest I' by Erika Schacht.  Erika  designs wearable art and contributed two cloths: 

East Meets West II:

The rest of the entries are in no particular order. The first one is はぎれ 'Hagire' (remnants) by Connie Naotsuka  sent to us all the way from the US.

'Nageire'  by Mel Spencer. Nagire (lit. 'thrown in' is a relaxed style of ikebana:

Two pieces by Sue Beattie,  'Walled Garden' and 'Circles', experimenting with machine techniques:

Kathryn Grey ' What was old is new again' , inspired by  the precision and simple designs she saw on a recent trip to Japan:

'Colourful Cleaning'  by Aukje Boonstra,  'This is how I think a cleaning cloth would be made. Stitched together crudely and qickly using old worn materials: 

Two pieces by Nicole Parums,  'Little Window' and 'Autumn Wind'. The pinwheels represent autumn leaves being blown by the wind:

Two untitled pieces by Mahdi Chandler on  plain hemp: 

Judith Spencer, 'Time to Smell the Flowers' :

Ann Alderslade, 'Ginko Leaves': 

'Reflected Moon', by Wendy Davey, (both sides)  'Imagine the moon reflected in a rippling, shimmering pool making the shape of a flower during a bushfire' :  

Valerie Maddiford, untitled: 

I'll post the rest tomorrow....

potd - Remnant Bundles

I've been having fun making up bundles of old remnants - mostly  early-mid 20th century cotton and  a few bits of  sakabukuro and silk worm netting.