i is for iguana

I, of course, chose the improbable and amazing green iguana to illustrate my latest monogram:



This is an open edition print on Japanese kozo washi (or mulberry paper). It is available in a variety of colours! Each sheet is 14.8 cm or 5⅞ inches square.

Iguana, and um.. Geisha

Another pillow... cause it is easier (and safer) to sew than to carve when exhausted.




Oh! I almost forgot the seahorse:

I is for iguana, and insect, and indigo

This is the latest panel in my alphabet quilt-in-progress. It is a hand-block printed iguana in green ink on an old (though high thread count) cotton shirt in gray. The 'I' is printed with a vintage letterpress block. The insects were screenprinted by Smoking Lily - they sell scraps of fabric with prints they don't use in their clothing line. The insects in blue (on tee shirt material) are reverse appliqued onto the black fabric with one white fly.

What do you think? Maybe 2009 will be the year and I will actually finish this quilt.

I need to finish the 'N' and 'O' panels, which are in progress. I have to start 'Q', 'U', 'V', 'X', 'Y' and 'Z'. Then the actual quilting process can begin.

Iguana

I knew the iguana had a dewlap (the flap of skin below the lower jaws) and a row of spines running down their back to their tail. I had no idea the two species of iguana had a third eye on their head. This eye is known as the parietal eye, which looks just like a pale scale on the top of their head. Clearly this is an animal unlike any other.

This is an original, first edition, lino block print iguana in olive green on handmade mustard yellow Japanese gampi paper. It is ~11" wide and 8" tall (28 cm by 20 cm). It is one of only 6 prints in the edition. The print reflects the intense colours of the iguana's Caribbean home.

Minouette's Home For Unloved Chairs

Yesterday, I joined and for PROJECT OTTOMAN, which entailed a Dark Horse coffee-fueled treck from the east end antique shops to the west end antique shops, looking for raw material. We failed to find a single ottoman. Where have they gone, I wonder. Instead, I got a $20 damaged antique chair (as shown, complete with spring bursting out from underneath), three lamp shades and yellow stocking (haha!). Apparently, I now adopt unwanted and unloved chairs. I have yet to finish the previous set, because I want to replace the one missing wooden bar before re-finishing... but I did re-upholster them in woven silk (salvaged from the designers who work below R & F's loft).


After a lovely day with the girls, I re-wired an antique lamp, placed the lamp shades on said lamp and the wall sconces in the back room and then attacked the broken chair seat. The seat contained a lot of burlap, horsehair and an astronomical number of nails, which I painstakingly removed.



Slowly, the back room is progressing.

In other news, i is for iguana. Thought you might like to know... Here is a short run of iguana lino block prints on mustard-yellow Japanese gampi paper in olive green water-based ink, drying on the lines. I will put the iguanas on gampi in the shop and use an iguana on fabric for the interminable alpahbet quilt project.