Monthly Archives: January 2010

New Paths

     At the end of my summer and dyeing days outside, I had two pieces of fabric left and some pretty diluted dyes. I thought I would try folding, clamping and dumping the mess into a bucket of dye to see what happened. Now, I have learned since that it is called resist dyeing. I really wanted circles…my quilts are so linear but didn’t have the right equipment. This is what I ended up with:

     It ended up being a cool piece of fabric and I will try it again this summer with a higher concentration. I have found some cool pieces of plexiglass-circles- squares-fun stuff- to be ordered through Etsy that I will put under the clamps. The person who explains this well and uses this technique is  Malka Dubrawsky and it’s called itajame. The resource she uses for the plexiglass is on her blog. She is another talented artist and has a new book out that looks interesting.

     Plugging along on those feet-blanket stitching them is taking awhile-8 done today. The first eight…

   Nice to see the sun. Happy sewing, my friends.

A kind of scavenger hunt for you

     I was looking for some information on fabric dyeing and I got lost on a few sites that you might enjoy. The first brought me to a girl, Annica, who had some great info on resist dyeing. She showed some of her wonderful pieces she made at a summer workshop. The workshop was at a place called Capellagarden. Under her post dated April 2007)  I found the most beautiful pieces of fabric that were created there by their students. ( under summer workshops-images). Yes, I am sending you on a bit of a scavenger hunt. But on this cold winter day, I bet you look at the pictures more than once! The pictures of all the fabric drying on the line-wow! I want to dye fabric and have it look like that.

     I received my prize yesterday for the Project Joy challenge. It is pretty tin full of fabric along with three fat quarters of fabric, The generous prize was from Penny at sewtakeahike. I am very easily distracted but will resist this right now. It would be a good spring project.

     Enjoy your day. Happy Sewing, my friends!

My Favorite Tools

     I seem to be having a hard time getting consistent studio time in this past week. Just took my daughter back to college so maybe I’ll be able to settle in this week yet.

    As I was cleaning up yesterday, I noticed a few things around my studio that I couldn’t part with-not that I couldn’t part with but that I would miss if it was misplaced or lost. They just make me happy to work with. The first is my felted bowl. It is so soft and keeps all my thread and bobbins contained.

      I reach for it in the exact same place on my sewing desk and if it’s not there when I reach for something, I have to re-arrange so it’s right. I know you know what I mean. Don’t you have something like that in your workspace?

     The second is my antique caddy. It’s full of canning jars and everything there has it’s space too-straight pins, safety pins, pin cushion and major catch-all space. Believe me when I say that I am not neat when I sew. Organized, yes but neat, no. Which is why I was cleaning up last night!

    And my last treasures are my thimbles-each beautiful in their own way.

     They are all low tech items. Old and some even antique, I suppose. But treasured. And with all the mess and all the stuff, this is what I needed in the end to get me started today!

Happy Sewing, my friends.

Snow Dyeing

 
     I tried snow dyeing for the first time yesterday. It was a great day for it with lots of new snow. I don’t really have a great set up for it in the winter as there is no utility sink in the basement. I am not too keen on dragging all the dyeing stuff into my 2nd floor laundry. But I tried it anyway.
     I started in the garage with the mixing. Went to the basement for the actual dyeing -including dragging the snow there- back to the garage to rinse and then upstairs to wash. That was absolute insanity. I knew my results would not be solid but wanted to see what happened.

  Yes that is snow in the bucket.

I chose yellow and red

The yellow is the best but just don’t care for the others. I did mix the yellow and red together on the middle piece. I probably need to do some more reading, try it one more time and then make a judgement as to whether or not this is something I would use. I think not…I love being outdoors with the sun cooking it and me while I work.

Happy Sewing, my friends.


So it Begins

    Lest you think I have not been working very hard… I do have more than a few works in progress. Just not ready to show you some of them-need to think about them. I did make some progress yesterday piecing the background of my recycled jeans quilt. The background is about 5 x 6 and has gone easily.

 I did cut out two feet  to see what it will look like-they will be blanket-stitched on. The sewing on of the feet will be tedious and kind of boring for you. More boring for me…Even thought the auction isn’t until March, I feel like this is hanging over my head. I’ll update you on this as I make some progress.

   Project JOY: I was a drawing winner of some fat quarters and a tin. Fun.

     New books: I treated myself with some new books with my gift card. I love them all.

     Melanie Testa’s book has some great exercises to work through. The newer magazine Art Studio- I have looked at it several times already. Great challenges in it. I have been reading Jude hill’s blog spiritcloth and love the quiet intentional handwork. Check it out . The heart piece featured in the magazine is dwelling in the back of my mind. I want to being doing that instead of feet!

  Snow dyeing tomorrow if we get the snow that’s predicted. Happy sewing, my friends.

A Cherished Gift

     I need to tell you a story-it’s long but dear to my heart and fits with my Vermont home.  When we go to VT, we fly into Burlington and hire a taxi service to drive us to our home. About 4 years ago, we met the nicest guy tod who was the driver we always requested. Really nice guy who always had interesting conversation for us-no matter what time of the night it was or how late our flight was-we always enjoyed him. Two years ago at Christmas, he asked me what I did in VT if I didn’t ski and I said that I did contemporary art quilting. He handed me a card with his girlfriend’s name and two other quilters names. I still have the card. His girlfriend Paula is an artist and knew some textile artists. I took the card and put it away for a few months.

      I ran across it later and looked up the names. I was amazed and enthralled at this world of textile artists that I never knew existed.  I had taken a Nancy Crow class but didn’t know how it fit with what I did. The more I looked at others works, the more I was amazed. I wanted to be part of this wonderful world -no matter how small or insignificant-and started taking classes to take traditional quilting to a different path. The textile artist path…the beginning of something different.

   But as a thank you to my husband -for Christmas- I purchased a piece of Paula’s art-as a thank you to being inspired by three amazing women. The names on a card. It’s a beautuful vase made from a reclaimed gutter off a house in Stowe. I know he loves it- it is a piece of Stowe,  a piece of art from a new friend and a piece of thank you from me. I wanted it to be a vase as Paula intended it to be. But Marc just wants it to be- on his desk…( I put this pretty vase on the windowsill for the photo)

     Paula and tod have moved on to new and exciting things with the Phoenix Commotion. You can still find her on Etsy-her clocks are too cool. I regret not taking the time to meet her earlier. But I love that we can keep in contact via e-amil. Thanks for the inspiration, Paula.

     So, what inspired you?

     Must run to actually sew again. Happy Sewing, my friends.

Clearing the Clutter

     Just how does everything get so out of control in one month? Well I need to get rid of all the Christmas stuff and move on to sewing here soon. Another day and I should be good to go… or maybe I can’t get back into the routine….My tree is still up but hopefully tonight will be down and put away.

    I am wavering between what to do with all these quilts I generate . Since I have had requests for baby quilts,  I played with some baby quilt ideas to sell on Etsy.  Easy and they reminded me of summer.  I will quilt it, wash it and see how it looks all nice and crinkly from the quilting.

     I also made some flannel tops. So nice and soft to work with. Am undecided yet how to proceed. I am really tired today…can you tell? Or maybe just missing Vermont and vacation times.

My daughter Hope has such a hard time saying good-bye to “her” cows that she helps with. I don’t think Chilly wanted her to go either.

  Absolutely unfocused today.

I think I will have another cup of coffee before I go conquer this:

Or maybe I just need a nap! Happy Sewing, my friends!

An Amazing Vacation

   I am so glad to be home today. We had an amazing vacation at our second home in Vermont. We left the day after Christmas and came home late (very late!) last night. We have had our home there for about five years now and really cherish the week after Christmas playing. My husband and the kids ski. I stay behind and cook hot soups or stews for them, take long walks, go snow shoeing or sew. It is win, win for everyone. I love having a fire and reading or sewing at night. But I hate flying home-it’s chaos and last night we left Burlington, VT after it had just had 26 inches of snow. I  thank God that we made it out and made it safely!

     I was able to start some projects. I have had so many requests to make baby quilts and wanted a prototype to sell. Just had fun playing with that. Also, spent some time setting those goals that sometimes get accomplished. One thing I know I will be doing is picking up my journal again. So, I bought a new journal to start out the year. Seems to be one more step to the process but I always can pick up new ideas and plans through it.

  I am very glad to have internet service! I went to the library  in Stowe, VT to do the minimal posts after Christmas that I did. It took forever to download photos though. I appreciate my easy internet access here!

     Well- need groceries and errands run. Better go! Nice to be back. Happy Sewing, my friends!