On My Worktable This Week

A couple of weeks ago I saw the movie "The Second Best Marigold Hotel."  Actually I went by myself, in the daytime, while everyone else was at school/work/college!  I enjoyed the movie and all the wonderful actors in it as much as the first movie.  The movies are a visual feast, such vivid colors and interesting locations.  I haven't traveled to India but nearly 20 years ago we lived in Singapore for a year and had a great time absorbing the different cultures there.  In addition to the Chinese population in Singapore, there is a large Indian population, with their own shopping and eating districts.  We used to go to a big department store called Mustafa's where I purchased sari fabrics and an intricately worked gold bangle (priced by the ounce).  We ate really good curries at a small restaurant where banana leaves were used as plates and fingers were utensils. 

The painting in the bottom left of this mood board is by Tracy Verdugo.  You can see her work on her website.  I found this painting, and most of the other images, on Pinterest.  

Inspired by the movie and the painted elephants of India, I have been working on this pincushion.

When I start a pincushion, after I've done sketches and made the pattern pieces, I choose felt colors.  The idea of a painted elephant (you can see some in the pictures on the mood board) dictated that the colors be vibrant.  As I was researching elephants, I came across the photos of the elephants bathing and couldn't help but smile at how joyful those images are and that is where the idea of the elephant blowing flowers came from.  

When I do shows and talk to customers, I'm often asked what scissors I use for cutting felt.  These scissors cut the felt cleanly.  They are very sharp.  I got them at a local craft store, originally for scrapbooking but I bought a second pair for scrapbooking and keep these ones for felt.  They have non-stick blades (a little trickier to find than regular blades) and that seems to really help when cutting felt.  The second pair I bought, has regular blades which work better with paper.  The brand is Cutter Bee by EK Success.