Cauldron bubbling………

This is turning out to be a truly slow “slow cloth” ….. However, the pure enjoyment and pleasure in the process continues.

The cauldron is now complete:

Some closer views:

Next, more work on the Wild Mother/Baba Yaga/Cailleach herself  .

Cauldron attached

at long last I can stitch again – feels good!  The cauldron is now stitched onto the cloth and I have begun the quilting/decorative stitching – I do love this process.

Again, apologies for the quality of the pictures:

this one is the closest in colour to the real thing ).

Cauldron bubbling…….

At last I have had the time and inclination to get started on the cauldron.  I am working this off cloth and will attach it to the whole once all the surface stitching has been done

Step 1:

The backing is calico.  I tie-dyed a small piece of cotton for the central yoni-shaped heart of the cauldron.

Step 2:

Looking through my stash I came across this piece of cotton with all the lovely arches which I thought would work well for the rest of the cauldron, as per my sketch.  However, the colour is definitely not right, much too light and bright – I want earth colours – so:

Step 3:

I mixed up some blue and some yellow procion dyes to get a sludgy green and painted the arches fabric to see what would happen.  It paled somewhat once dry but I am happy enough with it – once stitching has been done to the surface the look  and the colour will change again.

Step 4:

This picture was taken outside and shows the colours a little better.  It is all tacked/basted and now ready for stitching.

There is movement again.

to stir or not to stir……….

Having played with the image of the Wild Mother a little I am not going to give myself any further options as I know what will happen – nothing! I shall get lost in the land of indecision and I am in no mood for stasis.

To stir:

or not :

I am very grateful to the comments, opinions and suggestions I have received – they are helping a lot.  I have never bothered to show process before but am so pleased I have done and am doing so – the rewards are great.  The comments give me more food for thought – take me back to my original premise and allow me to explore options I may not have seen…..thank you.

Behind the scenes

After finishing the initial part of the Wild Mother herself I felt a little stuck.  Much thinking time – then plotting and planning on paper before any further commitment to cloth takes place:

First a sidetrack: playing with crow:

How to proceed:

I think I prefer the standing figure, though some adjustments to the ‘arms’ needs to take place, but this I can do when transferring the idea to the cloth before stitching.   The cauldron I shall work separately and appliqué to the cloth.

Looking at this again now I think I want to explore her pose more fully – try different options – standing definitely – but arms may be extended……don’t know yet.