Week 4 in the Studio - I'm Starting to Like This....

While in the studio today, I was thinking about what to post in this blog and finding myself looking forward to it! Normally I'd be dreading what I could write about...now I'm excited by what I've done  - not much this week.

Let's see...we had a snow storm...and I forgot to take the pretty pictures!

Then a day without power, although I did a Zoom call using the hotspot on my husbands cell phone - not great, but it got done!

So just a couple days in the studio - trying things out, experimenting and testing!

First I prepped some tubes for shibori dyeing ... and no, I did not drink all of that!

and did a couple of colours....I have a mostly unused lamp that is good for drying the tubes. The fabric will have at least one more dye bath but they have to dry in between.

Then I painted some papers, getting ready to make some vessels for an upcoming show. Lots of ink and using masking fluid for lighter lines.

The papers were combined with dyed silk into a vessel, a whole new learning curve! I searched on YouTube for paper bowls but didn't find what I wanted, eventually I looked for potters cutting clay slabs into different forms and tried out one shape, similar to a Maltese Cross! I found a few other shapes by the same potter that I'm excited to try!

The corners are cut out and then the edges are overlapped and stitched in place.

The bowl is very light and delicate and provides an interesting form - well worth further explorations!

I also had a FaceTime art session with my granddaughter - do you like my puppy?

I had taken the black and white piece home (mentioned in my last blog post) and was excited to start working on some cross stitches in heavy black and white thread. After half a dozen stitches I realized that it wasn't what I wanted - darn!

So with a small square as a test piece, I stitched straight lines with invisible thread - didn't like the look of that!

I pulled out some variegated black/grey thread which turned out okay but I preferred the black/grey twist (both are poly threads) and by playing a bit I found I liked the diagonal lines that cross each other at an angle - sort of diamond shapes but the parallel lines are irregularly spaced. It's going to be a LOT of stitching! 

I want to test out the markers and see if they'll come out with water - the fabric had matte medium or gesso applied and I'm not sure if they'll be easy to remove!

And I revived the sourdough starter that had been at the back of the fridge for a very long time...I think this looks good!

A Bridge Between Equals - New Work

For the second time, I've had a piece accepted into the Sooke Fine Arts Show and I'm excited to see it hanging in the show. This wall hanging is about how we make connections between each other and my thoughts about the ideas and interactions that keep us united. I like the term "A Bridge Between Equals" because it means that we are all on a level field with no one above or below us. I like working with a white/grey/black scheme and the red is a great colour for contrast. I hope to see you there: http://sookefinearts.com/
The fabric began as white and I dye painted it:

          I then applied soy wax to preserve certain areas and overdyed a pale/medium grey:

I printed over top with several ideas of text with some Thermofax screens:

My piecing technique tends to be rather organic and shapes evolve, being added and subtracted as I work through the entire quilt.

I'm never absolutely certain how it will be until the last stitches are taken:

My quilting stitches are very different from the traditional, but I took a lot of time and tested many variations before I decided on a satin stitch variation...................

Where the Wild Fern Grows

I love seeing finished projects from my students and this picture arrived last week from Connie, who was in my class at the Minnesota Quilt Show in June. In this class students learn my layered applique technique where you can play with changing around the fabrics of the applique shapes for variety and interest.
Then they play with learning to use all those dozens of stitch choices on their machine that rarely get used. We all know about that, don't we? It's a fun filled class and best of all they get a pack with 15 spools of thread to play with!!! Perhaps your guild would like to try this class out?
I think Connie did a great job and used an interesting quilting design as well! Good job, Connie and thanks for sharing!