I have been very busy putting together this set of dishes for 12.
So much planning goes into a project like this: simply selecting the dish types with the client is very important and takes tremendous concentration and some application of logic.This particular client was very helpful and clear on what she wanted, so the process went smoothly, but it still took a lot of focus!


Another exciting aspect to this was project was the debut of a new kiln I am now using. It's really big, much bigger than my old friend the Old Kiln (sic),and it took a bit of formal wiring and engineering to get it powered correctly, and more testing from me to make sure it was all OK, before submitting this important dish project to it.
Of course, getting the dishes planned and painted has also taken a certain amount of fore thought and mental organisation....
I had to pay a lot of attention to keep track of what I was doing, each step, to keep the consistency in the design for each group.
The cat is always particularly helpful at this time. (?)
All the pieces are specifically designed to match in sets...Lots of variation between sets, but also clear repetition of the design within the set.





The bowls are more generic, so they can work with sweet or savoury foods.


The bowls also sit prettily on the plates, for a nice table setting.


The backs of the plates reflect the vine theme on the bowls.




















It was very heavy all wet! And when the fabric is wet, it becomes delicate. The paint can soften after a while when wet, and its VERY IMPORTANT not to scrape, twist or otherwise disturb the paint on the surface of the fabric when its wet. When its dry its almost
It was a cloudy stormy looking day. I was eager to get the fabric finished off and delivered the next day, the day before it had rained a lot....






The piece is oriented sideways on the table. The unpainted area
Here is the chalk drawing for this next section.






It was important to maintain the impact of the central floral which will pretty much fill up the centre of the top of the bed...the sides will be the 





The project is for a hand painted one-off piece with a central, radiating design, to cover a Queen sized bed, with a 2 foot drop on 3 sides. The fabric will subsequently be machine quilted with a star pattern, and lined to fashion a lightweight bedspread for a large, beautiful 

With extra allowance for whatever shrinkage will occur (usually 1-2 inches, depending which way the weave is), I 

Its such a big piece, but I know from experience that finding the centre, and doing a lot of measuring and thinking at this stage pays off later, and it will probably all turn out OK.


Although I have followed the pattern fro the rug pretty faithfully, I am certainly going to make it my own, and also , since its not a wool tufted thing, but a
Making the transition from the centre floral to the field of flowers goes through a couple of versions, and we finally smooth out the kinks in the design, and work out the details for the rest of the piece. 










I broke this one.
Time to take a "break" (hahahaha!) from ceramics.













