Yesterday in the studio

My time was a bit curtailed yesterday (I put in some (paid) hours at the office) but even so it felt like not much was getting done. First, an hour of hand sewing on the "night journey" travel blanket that I started yesterday ... I'm not sure about it at all. Then some more fiddling about with those porcelain bits that I really want to use somehow - to tie in with the "rickety steps" piece (the starting point of the whole show).

Here are the porcelain bits in a ladder-type of arrangement, held by black linen thread - which of course doesn't show against the dark background. I do love the individual textures of the little placques (the largest is under 4" long) -But the porcelain bits were made specially for an earlier project. To be re-used successfully, they have to fit into the idea, rather than a half-baked idea being bent to incorporate them. In a way they're a starting point, something that could be developed further -- but they also feel like an end point - though I love the fired clay aspect, I don't have access to a kiln, and what are they "for" anyway??

Now for something completely different - what are these creatures? They're the carapaces of the long quilted pieces, which fold up into these sleeves: paper covered mountboard, rather sloppily done. It takes practice to get it right -
Again, something that needs thinking harder about. Or, actually physically working on. Interestingly, the physical work (thinking with your hands) gets better results than thinking with your head; maybe that's because you're thinking with your head when your hands are working?