Janine's Journey - November 2025
Hi Subscriber,
Another month has raced by and Christmas is rapidly approaching...
Where has the year gone.
Today is the first day of summer in Perth and we have had a hot one at
38 C (101 F). Is this a sign of things to come?
If you are new to my newsletter we have recently done Leg 1 Portsmouth
(UK) to Punta del Este (Uruguay) via Puerto Sherry (Spain) as part of
Team Gosh on the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.
We are also doing Stage 5 Fremantle to Airlie Beach (Around Australia)
leaving on December 21 so we will have a different Christmas this year
in the Southern Ocean.
If you are interested you can follow along here
The link to Stage 5 will
appear on this page once stage 4 is complete.
As preparation I have been busy dehydrating meals and vegetables to
make meal time easier. We only have a small portable (camping)
fridge/freezer so space is of a premium and vegetables don't get a look
in!
Image 6341459
Enough on Clipper, what has been happening textile wise....
I'm pleased to report that "Windswept Wilderness" found its forever
home at the Stirling Art Show. On a similar note "Frame by Frame" which
is my Albatross piece has just returned from the Australian Quilt Show
and will be winging it's way back to Queensland.
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Canning Show
The month start with me demonstrating at the Canning Show. I agreed to
do it while we were in Uruguay but by the time we got home I was
questioning why! It was shortly after we arrived home, I hadn't looked
at my sewing machine in a couple of months and didn't have any projects
on the go so it was hard to get enthused.
Of course, once I got there I was so pleased I had made the effort.
Canning Show is such a lovely family friendly show, and to see the look
of amazement on everyone's face when they realise that the painting
they had spotted in the distance, is actually fabric and done on the
sewing machine makes it all worthwhile!
Image 6336784
Image 6336785
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GOSH fabric cards
While on the boat I had this great idea of creating a fabric card for
all the leg 4 crew as a Christmas present. The cards are only small at
6" x 4" so I thought they wouldn't take too long but somehow I always
seem to under estimate how long things take!!! So far I have only
managed to make 4 and even they haven't had the edges finished (satin
stitched).
Anyway this is what I have done so far...
Image 6336783
I started with layering strips of blue fabric on a firm interfacing to
make the background.
Next the usual fabric collage.
As these pieces are all really small I used vliesofix (paper backed
fusible web) to attach the collage to try and control the fraying.
Image 6336786
Image 6336792
Finally some thread painting to bring it to life.
There are lots of ropes on a Clipper 70!!
It was fun trying to add lots of detail to these tiny pieces.
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Boab
The background for this is something I painted last year. I wanted to
do some abstract painting but still create something that I could use
in my art so a sunset was the perfect compromise.
The Boab was something I had cut out when I was creating "In a Spin"
but it ended up being too black for that piece as it got totally lost.
It had been waiting for a suitable background and this was it.
For the quilting I went for something more structured compared with my
usual scribble. I put the walking foot on and did a radiating curve to
create a spiral effect. I'm still deciding if it need something else in
the foreground...
Image 5919153
Image 6336791
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Stitched and Bound Entry?
I have also been working on my Stitched and Bound entry.
Their blurb is "Stitched and Bound is a biennial exhibition showcasing
the innovative range of current work being produced by Western
Australian artists who challenge the usual concept of the 'quilt'
medium.
Artists are encouraged to work outside the quilt format and push the
boundaries of the medium focusing on making personal statements through
the use of unconventional materials, ideas and techniques."
Obviously I want to do something Clipper related but not a normal
Quilt....
My idea is to do something inspired by the patches we put on the sails
to repair them and the faces we draw on them to honour the GOSH (Great
Ormond Street Hospital) logo.
When we got off the boat in Uruguay our spinnakers were all in good
condition with only a few patches. I was thinking this pieces could be
a bit of a look into the future - What will our spinnaker be like at
the end of the race when it is all covered in faces?
Since then they have been racing across the Southern Ocean.... Our
middle weight spinnaker got wrapped around the forestay and was badly
damaged with over 200 small holes in it!! After 54 hours of continuous
work it was repaired and back in use. Unfortunately my mental image of
a spinnaker covered in faces has become a reality all to soon!
A patch on the main sail
A patch on the main sail
Image 6336789
I'm still not sure what this finished piece will look like but at least
I have made a start....
I wanted a fabric that would resemble a spinnaker so I have gone with
ripstop nylon for the background. I wanted the faces to be different
colours (a bit of artistic licence) so I needed a fabric that I could
dye and iron but still have the right look so it had to be a polyester
pongee.
The first step was to dye the colour for the faces. Luckily I had some
dyes that worked on synthetics so it was a fun morning dyeing small
quantities of lots of different colours.
I didn't want to just stitch the faces as that wouldn't give me a bold
enough line so I had to cut out the face outline from fabric and secure
with fusible web before stitching.
My first couple of faces looked more like teletubbies but gradually
they got better!!
The faces will be crudely hand sewn on the "spinnaker" background just
as the patches are on the sails.....yes me and hand sewing but luckily
it doesn't have to be neat!!
Now I just have to work out the spinnaker bit - do I go for something
rectangular like a normal quilt/piece of art or something more like a
spinnaker shape in which case how will it hang etc?
Decisions, decisions ....I expect I will still be pondering this on the
next leg which will only give me 2 weeks before entries close when I
get home!!
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Upcoming Events
_____
AW9
Image 5722914
AW9 is comtimuing its journey around the country:
Next stop is
* Bainz Gallery, Wangaratta, Victoria
* 3 -30th December 2025
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Upcoming Workshops
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I am delighted to be teaching in Brisbane next year...
I will be teaching three workshops in May for the Queensland Quilters
Inc
May 14 Banksia Art Quilt
May 15 Secrets of Scrappy Applique
May 16-17 Intro to Thread Painting
Click here
for
more information and to book
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Closer to home, March 20-21, I will be teaching a dyeing workshop and
the Banksia Art Quilt in Harvey. More info coming soon.
_____
Initially I had thought I would put out a December newsletter but I
have to be realistic. With the boats due in Freo in a weeks time I
won't have time to do much (if any) textile art or write a newsletter
before I go. so you wont hear from me again until January.
Wishing you a happy holiday and all the best for the year ahead
Janine x
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