today's offering, plus change of date and venue for the exhibition

To begin this post, I want to let you know that it has just been announced that there will be a change to the venue, and the dates, of when our collaborative artwork will be shown.

Whilst it is a little disappointing that we won't be exhibiting quite as early as we had at first thought, because the Fibrefest is now going to merge with another show...

the good news is that the dates aren't that much later in the year 

and also that Fibrefest will now be part of a large and very well established Australian show - one that runs for 5 days instead of just 3, and one that has an excellent track record of always drawing a really huge crowd very year

...so I can assure you that our piece is definitely going to be seen by many, many thousands of people throughout the course of the show.

The new dates are June 17 to 21, 2015, and the venue is now The Sydney Exhibition Centre @ Glebe Island (Sydney, Australia).

I'm afraid that the deadline for mailing your contributions will remain the same (so things will still need to be in the post and on the way by March 8 at the latest).  This is because I will be busy with other shows and things between the old dates and the new, but I imagine that I will be grateful for that little bit of extra time to finalize the joining up ;-)
 
...and now for details of of the latest pieces received, this time from:

Sandy Selander, Jacksonville, FL, USA
Daiva Houston, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Saskia Bongers-Slager, The Hague, Netherlands
Annet Spitteler, Almere, Netherlands
Lilia Kunovskaya, Minsk, Belarus
Maria Blomfield, Subiaco, WA, Australia
plus a 2nd package from
Kerry Williamson, Semaphore Park, SA, Australia


Sandy has created a large crochet mandala with a very pretty flower at the centre, all done in bright and happy colours.  This is a lovely big piece, measuring about 48cm (19") across.

Next are 2 photos of Daiva's work; she not only crocheted two bright scrumbled pieces, but she has also done a fabulous letter F for our Flower Power sign.  The scrumble with the orange section measures 18cm (7") at its widest point, and the letter F is 28cm (11") tall.

Saskia has sent 2 gorgeous and very bright scrumbles too...each of these pieces is nice and textural, and the colours positively glow.  They probably don't look quite as 3D in the photos as they actually are.  The larger of the two pieces measures about 13cm (5-and-a-bit")

Annet's work now, and she has sent 3 very pretty flowers plus an interesting heart shaped piece as well.  Only small, but beautifully crocheted, these will all make amazing filler pieces while still holding onto their own identities very nicely.  The larger red flower is 9cm (3.5") across.

This next piese is another fantastic contribution to our collaborative artwork...this time from Lilia, who has created a fantastic rainbow and flower scrumble.  The beautifully bright rainbow colours certainly offset the central white and yellow flower well.   This one measures 24cm (9.5") across.

Maria's 2 contributions are next; both very freeform, and amazingly tactile.  I love all the complex and textural stitches that she has used. The definite contrasts between them all and the variations in the colours are just terrific too.   Both these pieces are done in very fine-weight wool; the larger piece is nearly 27cm (10.5") tall.

....and to finish off for today, we have Kerry's great little neon 'nana', on her magic carpet and daydreaming of making her way to San Francisco...wearing flowers in her hair, naturally!  Most appropriate.  This is the second package that Kerry has mailed...so a special thanks to her for adding even more to our project.  The carpet is 46cm in length (18")
 

OK, I'm afraid that is it for this time...but there'll be lots more photos again very soon, I'm sure

here are the latest...

Have just found the time to sort out the photos of the latest arrivals that arrived the other day, so we can now add the following 6 names to the list:

Nanette Sarquiz, Opelika, AL, USA
Lynda Morgan, Burleson, TX, USA
Susan Ward, Covington, KY, USA
Cathy Perlmutter, South Pasadena, CA, USA
Letitia Brum, Porto Alegre, Brazil
and 
Denise Jolly, East Brunswick, Vic, Australia

and now for the pictures:

These first pieces are of the beautiful work created by Nanette, who has sent a lovely floral scrumble, 2 Irish crochet leaves and an interesting length of crochet cord.  Nanette has sent work to me for previous exhibitions; her creations are always gorgeous, and these pieces are certainly no exception.  To give you an idea of scale, the scrumbled piece is approx. 25cm (10") in length.

The next photo is of Lynda Morgan's contribution.  Lynda says that the larger of her pieces is vaguely representative of her state, Texas, often called the lone star state, and where the colours are red, white and blue (but she has depicted the star as a flower, and in yellow (an abstract yellow rose of Texas, perhaps).  Her 'flag' piece measures 28cm (11")

This next one is from Susan.  She says all her pieces can be a tree.  I'm afraid that, ducking outside to quickly photograph them between rain showers, I popped them down with the tree trunk upside down, and in this pic. they look more like a bunch of flowers...so it seems they work equally well both ways, Susan.  If they will fit into the final piece together, Susan, I will remember to position them in a more tree-like manner!  Susan's largest flower measures about 25cm (10")

Now we have Cathy's cute little flower.  Love the colours and the very abstract look that this one has.  It measures just 10cm (4"), and I'm sure there will be lots of opportunities to fit it in nicely in the finished artwork.

This next one is from Denise, and she has sent a beautiful scrumble in fabulous colours and surrounded by a couple of rounds of crochet that will really help to show her piece up in the finished artwork.  Denise says she is still working on getting freeform concepts into her head...but by the look of this piece, I would definitely say that she already has! This one is 25cm (10") at its widest point.

and finally for today, Letitia has sent the piece in the next photo, and she has created a scrumble consisting of a lovely bright floral motif joined to three freeform spirals.  I have coordinated a few other collaborative projects in the past, and this is the first piece that I have ever received from Brazil, so it's really great to see some crochet from that part of the world.  This one also measures 25cm (10") across.

 
Many thanks to you all for contributing.

That's it for today....wonder what will be next?

 

13 is definitely not an unlucky number

13 packages arrived in the last delivery, coming in from:

Mary Myers from Drake, CO, USA
Margaret Barry, Syracuse, NY, USA
Gillian Walker, Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia
Yolanda Madsen, Southampton, MA, USA
Susan Campbell-Wright, Point Cook, Vic, Australia
Tracy O'Brien, Isle of Wight, UK
Karen Stevens, Malanda, Qld, Australia
Karen Lynch, Kureelpa, Qld, Australia
Alison Raybould, Birmingham, UK
Natalie Coates, Totnes, Devon, UK
Lynn Hall, Glass House Mountains, Qld, Australia
Janice Neal, Kambah, ACT, Australia
Ming Zaleski, Springfield, VA, USA

and here are the photos:

This first one is of Mary's work; she and Margaret (whose photo is next) tell me that they are old friends who only recently discovered each other again through their mutual interest in crochet, so it was a nice coincidence that their pieces arrived together even though they live in different parts of the USA.  I am going to join their pieces together in the artwork, too. Mary's textural piece is beautiful, with it's stylised sun, sparkly yarns and added beads.  It is about 36cm (14") wide.

This next one is Margaret's work.  It is a large and lacy piece, measuring about 70cm (30") across.  Margaret has added beadwork to her crochet motifs, both on the surface and for all of the 'bars' connecting the pieces,  an unusual and fantastic way to do the joining (and because all the detail isn't going to show up particularly well in the main photo, I am also adding a closeup of one of Margaret's beaded motifs).

 

 

The next photo is of the beautiful scrumble sent by Gillian.  She has added an assortment of interesting freeform crochet flowers onto a knitted section to create a most gorgeous garden.  I love the bullions, particularly those done in silk, and the tiny peace sign, too.  A very pretty piece, this one measures 30cm (12") across.

Yolanda's piece is next, and she has crocheted a beautiful sprial flower.  It has lots of surface interest in the centre, created with crochet crab stitch, and around the border she has added a most interesting freeform edging.  This piece measures 28cm (11") across.

Susan has crocheted some great freeform motifs (3 large and 3 small), and then surrounded with detatched buttonhole stitch bars to create a really beautiful and very lacy piece.  Like any of the other really open pieces, this one will be earmarked to go low down in the finished artwork, where it doesn't have to support too much weight.  It is about 38cm (14") at its widest point.

Today we have pieces from 2 different Karens, and this next photo is of Karen Stevens work.   She has made some small scrumbles, plus a very floral letter 'W' for our flower power sign.   It is going to look fabulous with the other letters that have arrived so far.  I can't wait to see the words eventually spelled out in these freeform letters.   The W is about 25cm (10") tall.

And now we have Karen Lynch's work.  She made a lot of floral motifs, 10 in all, but was concerned that her pieces might be a bit too stiff and heavy  because she has crocheted most of them using off-cuts of stretchy lycra fabric...but I love the effect and think they will be great to use near the top of the piece, to help support the weight of everything else.  To give you an idea of scale, the rectangular piece at the top measures about 25x18cm (10"x7").

Tracy's lovely sunny yellow peace sign is next.  I think that Tracy probably has a yarn stash that rivals my own, as about 8 or 9 years years ago when she was living in London I gave workshops at the yarn shop near Heathrow that she and her partner Jo owned.  This is a beautifully textured scrumble, the sort you just have to pat! It's mostly crochet with a little bit of knitting, and measures 23cm (9") across.

 


Alison has created fantasticly freeform flower which she says she made from 'mishsapen' motifs that she once thought didn't quite make the grade.  But that was before she became a freeformer and realized that things in nature and art don't always need to be perfect and symmetrical.  I am so glad Alison hung on to these pieces; they have certainly found their niche as the petals in her new and pretty creation.  It is 20cm (8") across.

Natalie tells me that the piece she has sent is her first ever scrumble, but I can tell you that seeing it up close you would hardly believe it.  She has done a fabulous job.  Great colours, interesting stitches, and a very good balance to the design.  It will make a really nice addition to the artwork.  Natalie's piece is close to 33cm (13") across.

Lynn has made another peace sign, a big bright one, together with a fluoro flower and a few other little freeform crochet shapes that are sure to come in handy when I am looking for a few gap-fillers.  The green leaf-like pieces have been crocheted from cut fabric.  The larger piece is about 40xm (16") across.  

Janice's contribution is an interesting mix of fine-weight wools and mesh novelty yarns, some of which she has knotted on the surface.  A very tactile piece with an unusual combination of both colours and textures.  I like the addition of the little star beads too.  This one is just over 40cm (16") wide.

 

and the final piece this time has been sent by Ming Zaleski.  I have long admired Ming's work, ever since I first saw some of her crocheted full-size figure sculptures on the net.  She has sent a dozen fantasy freeform flowers, all twists and curlicues.  Just great.  The largest of the yellow ones is about just over 17cm (7") long.

OK, that was a bit of a marathon post, but perhaps only the first of many. 

I just want to add that lots of people have been putting little 'flower power appropriate' bits and pieces on their packages, such as stickers and brightly coloured tape.  

I most definitely appreciate the trouble everyone has gone to (and I'm sure you have put a smile on the faces of a lot of postal workers too), but I decided at the start that unfortunately I wouldn't have time to document all these little extras...

...but I am going to make an exception, and finish today's post with just one, because I feel it is another interesting coincidence, arriving hot on the heels of Gabrielle's 'Janis' flower motif from yesterday...so here is a bonus photo, of one of the stickers that was on Margaret's envelope.

 

3 more deliveries

Here are the latest arrivals.  These are from:


Gabrielle Rauner, Füssen,Germany
Myra Wood, Sherman Oaks, CA, USA
and Pam Birchley, Innisfail, Qld, Australia

The first photo is of Gabrielle's work.  She has sent 5 lovely flowers, and the largest has Janis Joplin in the centre!  How fantastic...I'm sure Janis will be happy in the finished artwork, surrounded by so much psychedelic goodness.  Gabrielle's 'Janis' flower measures 14cm (5½").

These next pieces are from Myra, who has sent two absolutely gorgeous scrumbles, plus a piece of matching rainbow-coloured webbing which she thought I might be able to find a use for.  I will either incorporate it somewhere, or perhaps I will use it as part of a 'frame' for the sign with all of the contributors names; we'll see.  Myra's largest scrumble measures about 23cm (9") across.

and finally for this batch, but certainly not least, these next 3 photos are all from Pam, who has sent a wonderful collection of lacy floral pieces (and she tells me she is still working on more, in a different colour scheme). The first picture shows the 3 smaller pieces, the largest of which is 20cm (8") wide, but keep scanning down...

  here is another even larger...

...and the biggest piece, in this final picture, measures 40cm (about 16") across.

I'm really loving the diversity of all of the pieces that are coming in, and hope you are enjoying the daily updates.  We freeformers certainly are a creative lot.  Wonder what the next post will bring!

2 this morning...but there may be more

Just collected 2 more packages, but there was a lot of other stuff in the box too plus a note to say other things to pick up from inside...but it was too early for the post office to actually be open.  So here are photos of the two received, and hopefully there might be time to visit the post office again later to see what else may have arrived.

This morning's pieces are from:

Kristín Björg Dahl from Odense in Denmark

and 

Pauline Fitzpatrick who lives near Derby in the UK

Kristín has sent a pink toned wool scrumble, bordered in bright lime.  I love the puffy flower and circle, and also the way she has knotted the ends of her yarns and brought them to the front, creating texture with lots of little tufts.  This scrumble is nearly 20cm across (about 8").

Pauline's piece has a 3D flower surrounded by hot pink cotton 'fairy wings' and lovely loops for 'leaves', and she has used more 'fairy wing/lazy J' stitches and crab stitch to create a lovely rippled rainbow effect on the side.  This piece is just a little wider than Kristín's, measuring in at 23cm (9").

That's it for now, but hopefully I will be back tonight to show you a few more.

I know there are a lot more packages on the way, so thanks again to all the contributors for the great response worldwide to this collaborative effort...I'm sure that the finished piece will be positively spectacular!