Art That's Felt

Dyeing on Easter

2011-04-25T07:10:00.000-04:00

I've been quiet as I've had lots of stuff going on in the background. Spring is one of my favorite times of the year. After the cold and quiet time of winter I start to get anxious to be outside. Yesterday was a glorious day of warm temps and light.

I managed to clean part of the studio after some construction. I now have a Dye Station.

It's not quite organized yet but doable. Those 3 crockpots had onion skins, eucalyptus and acorn baths left from last Fall. Under the mold scum was some delicious looking broth. I dipped some silk in, turned them on and simmered. In the morning I got these:

Pleased with my success, and goaded by the lovely weather I declined the usual Sunday ride with my DH and instead set up the Turkey Cooker....AKA The *BIG* Dye Pot.

I had a delightful supervisor.

With his excellent assistance we came up with this:

I now have enough silk yardage to continue with the Felted Flower Quilt edges.

Hope everyone enjoyed their Sunday as much as I did. The windows of the house were open and the renewal of Spring was invited in.

I started one side of the quilt skirt....but that is for the next post.

Fini

2011-03-27T20:03:00.000-04:00

I decided on beads. Lots of beads for the little red dots that are on the manuscript.

I also decided I didn't really like to true yellow in the hair of the man. It needed to be "knocked back" as they say. I had no other yellow in the piece and it drew too much attention.

So here it goes.

He his also surrounded by gold, rose and blue beads. Different than the little red ones.

They, the red ones, added more than the pictures show, they sparkle but only a bit.

All in all, I'm OK with the finished product.

Now on to the next project.

I've been playing with beasts and quilting for now.

I've signed up for Jude's
cloth whispering and I hope to work on my felt quilt as well as an embroidered quilt.

Two Weeks ketchup

2011-03-21T18:07:00.000-04:00

As it gets closer to *real* Spring weather I do more and more outside. The swamp is changing and showing signs (sooner than my yard) and one of the first are these.

Blending colors of winter and spring they are the harbingers of the change to me. I love looking for Skunk Cabbage. They hide in plain sight and are everywhere, but you have to look to find them.

The Swamp itself has changed, the ice and snow are gone and it's waters begin to reflect and enhance what lies above the tall trees....blue skies.

And the little stream begins to move faster and saturates the ground around it.

I didn't spend every day walking in the swampy woods. I was the awkward assistant to my friend Diane as she taught a felted landscape class to some first time wet felters. She has enormous patience and such a gentle way with people. A fantastic teacher. She moves people with kindness and praise toward their best work, not her ideas but only her technique to express their ideas.

I also added more stitch to my creation piece.

It is getting closer to Fini

I think all I need to add now is the red dots. Beads or thread? Or both?

Quick Peek

2011-03-04T09:29:00.000-05:00

I'm off to visit my friend, Diane, this weekend. She is teaching a class and has kindly asked me to assist. So before I go, since I didn't post last weekend, a short picture show of new elements before I started the embroidery. I didn't make the due date for the pictures, I'm not finished. I just ponder so much over the process I have a hard time with deadlines.

It is all about the process. I know for sure it is.

Next.... the embroidery.

Needlefelting

2011-02-21T19:39:00.000-05:00

Is not my favorite, but I was concerned that the elements wouldn't stay and rather than cause myself lots of frustration I needled. I've made a fair amount of progress because I had four days set aside to walk the dogs and work on felt.

I'm not finished.....but I am getting closer. This element was added.

And this language

And so it moves a bit forward. Not ready for the 28th for pictures....but closer.

I made circles with Celtic designs today but they are not attached yet.

I really needed some time outside and so when it quit snowing I took the dogs for a walk.

This is the swamp....mostly frozen but for this

A lovely weekend and much accomplished.

Several Steps

2011-02-13T19:16:00.001-05:00

forward and a couple steps back. I have re-arranged parts of the piece again. I made some elements and then decided I didn't like them. And then looked again at this

decided it needed more curves and knots and movement.

So I worked on this

It added more of the flavor I wanted. But looking at the original again I went for animals and came up with this

So once I added them together I was happier.

But still.... I want the script on the bottom and part of illuminated manuscripts theme is the ornate first letters. This needs to be IN. So I again went back to the original and came up with this.

I feel like I am back on track now. Lots of ideas of hand embroidery and beads are floating around in my head whispering whispering....
try me...try me.

Elemental

2011-02-07T07:09:00.000-05:00

I made several elements for the Illuminated work this weekend, besides another piece of felt.

I played with silk versus wool side up and made little color/idea elements, as I call them.

This is nuno needle felted to nuno with some machine embroidery. It was the final 'idea element' and several will appear on the left side.

This is now the working layout. Not sure about the knot on the right. I may decide on another element that I haven't tried yet.

This is two different color threads and a patched piece of nuno. Don't think I like the swirly bits in this....yet it needs tiny detail to carry the theme.

The elements that have made the cut, so far. The only stitching is the decorative marks on the little squares. Not much progress for all the time spent in the studio, but lots of rehearsals and decisions.

Weather Report:

The drive way is glazed with ice and makes traveling from the studio to the house where my sewing machine is a bit treacherous but the temps got to the low 40F. I think there is more snow in store for us before the weeks end.

Bits and Pieces

2011-01-30T20:05:00.000-05:00

I did little felting this weekend. I think the snow has started to put me into hibernation.

I read quite a bit and did lots of household chores. But after my test, that DH states looks like a slab of bacon, I decided white was not the background color.

I needed to go for the gold with greens, oranges and a punch of red. So I made the background and some smaller pieces for the designs.

A red, more maroon, for some of the circles.

The deep indigo, this one I wasn't sure at first because it was so dark with the black wool.

And a green. I've been having trouble with yellow washing out of green so thought I would use gold with lots of yellow in the wool.

This is probably the 'parchment' or the main body of the page. A bit more red than I really wanted, but they seem to work together.

The red in the center is much richer. So from here I will probably make a few more bits of color then start putting it together. All of these are only partially felted. Very soft. I hoping to felt them as a total piece....but we shall see.

Testing Testing

2011-01-23T20:23:00.000-05:00

So much figuring out and testing before the actual felting on nuno pieces. Because I actually want it to look like something, I draw out an idea.

Then I work an actual true to size "pattern"

Not sure about the b in verbum. I've tried 3 different ways. Still looking at Celtic and other fonts. This is one I've done myself and I think it will work.

Then I tried a paint program to see what kind of colors I liked. This was a Big Waste of Time for me. I'm not well versed in the paint program and the time it took for me to chose colors was way to much of a learning curve this weekend.

I then decided to just try for the background.

The one of the left is a 'parchment color with colored silks. The left is more hopeful. Five strips of silk with four different mixed of wool behind. I am much happier with this. Sorry the picture is so awful. It was taken in unnatural light.

Sure doesn't look like I did much this weekend! HA!

Next weekend I may make more satisfying progress.

In The Beginning

2011-01-17T11:36:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was spent doing lots of research. Our Guild is doing a show with the theme Creation Stories or Myths. I have always wanted to do a piece of illuminated manuscript. The Book of Kells is one of the most beautiful examples of this. So I have been immersing myself in the pictures and stories of this book. It is said to be so wondrous that it must have been created by Angels. There are Celtic Knots that have 158 turns within a single square inch. I don't plan or aspire to that kind of detail. But only wish to give that impression.

Here is my first idea.

The page is from the Gospel of John and literally says (in Latin)

In principio erat verbum

So after the sketch I did some dyeing. Rust, eucalyptus and iron w/ oak galls. I was looking for the yellowed vellum color and a rich but muted gold.

I think I have found it.

Today I am off to the studio for sample making. Silk, wool, locks, thread and although the Book of Kells has no actual gold or metallics, I am tempted. It is my interpretation after all.

A Weekend of Felt

2011-01-09T21:17:00.000-05:00

I was off this weekend to Diane's for some serious fun and felt. I got my usual room at the D&D B&B.

(I just *love* this bedroom)

It is a lovely old ranch house that offers breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for invited guests only. There is a fabulous felting table and my most wonderful friend who is an excellent felter that lives there.

I have been hankering over doing some landscape felting with Diane's Art Expertise to help me understand the magic of light she manages in her work.

I started with a picture of the swamp behind my house.

Diane talked about ways to look a picture that I've never thought about before. Lights and darks foreground and background were discussed. Then she tempted me with tubs of color....Oh My! How do you choose?

But I chose neutrals and greens. Lots of greens and some blues actually.

And on it went for a whole day. Until I had this:

But the swamp is twiggy...with lots of branches....and more darks.

This is after wet felting and before the final touches.

More shadows and dark on the water were added after this. Then after 2 nights of wine and staying up until after midnight I had to head home.

Thanks Diane. I had the most wonderful time and came home with a gorgeous piece to hang in my living room. I learned wonderful things that will help me look at scenery a whole new way.

Welcome 2011

2011-01-02T19:54:00.000-05:00

It is now a New Year, by someones calendar. I lived through Christmas, phew. I cooked, hosted and worked. But today (and yesterday) I felted. A good sign for the New Year.

I am going to be in a show at Davey Jones Gallery, in Albany, New York. This is a result of the Hyuck Preserve Retreat I did in August. We hiked, took photographs, listen to lectures by mycologists and made felt. It was a wonderful experience. I made small pieces of mushrooms. When I came home, still under the influence of the Retreat, I made more sketches, researched more mushrooms, looked more closely at fungi than I had previously. I felted more pieces of mushrooms and the heron. Here are my latest.

These are before felting.

We shall see what happens after I finish.

I now have several ideas about Creation Stories. This is a show my Guild is doing this year. I hope to do a piece entitled: In The Beginning Was The Word.

I have wanted for some time to do something with illuminated manuscripts. They are so beautiful and the Book of Kells inspires me. I'll need to do some serious research to tackle this.

And so on into the New Year.

December Is The Busiest Time

2010-12-19T22:15:00.000-05:00

I haven't been visiting blog land much, except to view and occasionally leave a comment.

I've been felting and hand stitching .... but I can't show too much. Most are gifts for family.

I did manage to take the dog to the beach.

It was quite cold but no frost. Beezer ran up and down near but avoiding the surf. He chased seaweed as it blew across the sand. I counted starfish and threw the live ones back in.

I got my boots wet

And then went home. It was a great way to clear the mind, breath fresh air and remember that the Season is more than the Mall.

I'd like to see the Lunar Eclipse on the Winter Solstice. But it looks like it might snow.

I got a little package from Heike last week. She offered to do a swap.

Will be doing some hand stitching and more felting after the Holiday. And I will be sure to include some of this.

Merry Solstice.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

2010-11-27T20:14:00.000-05:00

Especially in my studio. I have been busy making gifts.

First I have a Honey (read Spouse) that is an English Motorcycle Freak-O. And his very favorite is his 1958 BSA GoldStar. He polishes it and rides it and sometimes just looks at it with serious love in his eyes. So I made him a banner for the wall above his work bench.

I think he'll be very happy .... it's pretty close to the actual emblem. Next time it will be a Norton.

Then I needed more black....next to the skin soft black. So I ordered some Black and White from Margaret at Crystal Creek Fibers. She has the most *wonderful* Rambouillet. It is constantly high quality, high micro, clean clean and clean. Felts like magic.

This gorgeously soft black Merino was meant for another Christmas project.

I have wanted for some time to take a class from Jean Gauger to learn how to make her fabulous butterfly shawls. Unfortunately my schedule has not allowed this. So I decided to try on my own.

My initial sketch eventually resulted in this.

And, of course, the back.

I also bought some Icelandic batts to make slippers. These arrived in the mail, too.

These batts are so different than the Rambo and Merino. They are soft and light but the micron is larger. The test I did showed they felted up like a dream!
I also have to make some scarves. They are on the agenda for tomorrow.

Short Break

2010-11-14T19:54:00.000-05:00

I've been on an unscheduled break from blogging. I've been busy with a visit from my sister and her friend, a visit from my friend Diane, a trip to Boston and just the day to day stuff. I even took a nap one day! Not much time left to do anything felty.

However, I've managed to spend a little time in the studio.

Diane and I had a wonderful weekend. I made two pair of slippers. One for me....and one I can't show as it will be a Christmas present. Diane made wonderful MaryJane slippers. She knows that stretching is an important part of making hard felt.

We tried a resist to make two layers of different colors.

Oh, just ignore that wine....it was one of the libations to the felting muse. It is also a most important part of making good felt.

Diane took her slippers home to fill in the little moons near the toe. Mine fit me like a glove.

I have also worked on other projects. The quilt has made a comeback to the priority list. I made more of the green for the sections between the flowers then basted them to make the top a single piece.

Now I have a small emergency. Because I have been working on this 'as I go along' and not as a planned out project, I have run out of the prefelt. I'm on a search to find one of the colors I have used in the background. I think I've used too many colors on the top to add another on the edge.

In the meantime, ha!, I've been getting ready to make some Christmas presents.

When Diane and I attended the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool festival we bought an Icelandic lamb fleece. During our weekend visit we washed it and another merino fleece I had. Today I put the lamb fleece through my carder. It took me all afternoon.

My carder has medium grade pins and the lamb is very fine. It is not the best combination but my little batts turned out well. My Honey needs slippers for Christmas and I think this will be perfect.

I plan on working quite a bit in the studio prior to the Holidays. I think there are mostly handmade gifts on Santas list so I'd best be cracking.

Time to Felt 2

2010-10-11T20:28:00.000-04:00

I spent the day mostly in the studio. Of course, the dogs and I did go for a walk. It was 73 degrees and so so wonderful outside. I opened the windows of the studio and let the air in. So much more enjoyable than the basement. Sigh.

I got the second piece done. They are very close to being the same size. Laying out was quite the process. I've not done anything so large in 2 pieces previously. I was pleased that I had very even wool on the back side without any plain silk. The light will filter through well.

Almost 3/4 done with the second piece.

Left and right side. Colors are close...for 2 dye pots...I'll take it.

Now to decide if I want clips a rod or tabs at the top.
Decisions.

I'm considering this a success and am ready to try a larger size. Look out bedroom windows you are about to be "treated".

Time to Felt

2010-10-10T20:27:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted much because I haven't felted much. I've been busy with the garden mostly. But also the dogs. I planted almost 200 bulbs and 1/2 pound of wildflower seeds. Plus I've pulled weeds and put down mulch. I'm hoping it pays off next Spring.

Fall is always a very busy time for me. We still ride on Sundays so the studio has felt neglected. Walks with the dogs took me to the woods where the mushrooms are popping out all over.

This is stink squid.

A Russula type..they may be green, gray, red, pink, or peach color.

I saw lots more mushrooms...but this blog is about felt.

I have several projects I would like to complete before winter. Drapes for the large living room windows are one. I've been trying some experimental dying for color. These have been mostly onion skins with different mordants or an over dye with indigo. Before I invest in the yardage for such a huge project I needed to see if I could even make drapes at all.

So, first I made a sample of 10 square inches.

I figured out it was 40% shrinkage and did some math.

I covered my tables, spread out plastic and then laid down my silk.

I weighed out the wool. My sample was 5 grams per 10" square.

I figured out the total wool, divided it into quarters, laid it out and then added water.

Today I played patty-cake.....rollie rollie, pattie pattie ... put it in the dryer. Then it was rolled again, tossed again, heated with hot water, stretched then rolled some more.

The first panel is done. The second is now lying on the table with 1/4 of the wool laid out. Tomorrow is a holiday for me. The studio will be filled with music while I make the second panel.

The Studio Is Open

2010-09-19T19:51:00.000-04:00

My friend, Jane came over this weekend for a Felt-A-Thon. We have done this several times and it always ends up pretty intensive as far as what gets done. This time was no different.

I walked up and down these stairs more than 20 times getting things (tubs of wool, silk, ironing board, books!, pens, pencils, etc...you get the picture) moved in and *somewhat* organized.

But eventually I was ready .... or at least, semi-ready .... to work in the studio.

We had fun and we made a mess!

From this

To This!

Not quite zero to 60 in 2 sec....but it was pretty incredible.

Jane was very productive. And although her work is abstract and very different than mine, I enjoyed watching and talking to her about her thought processes as she worked.

She did 2 pieces about walks in the woods through dappled light and over roots of large trees.

She also completed number three in a series called Hole In The Tree. She has these slated for a show, so I'm not revealing them.

I did one piece that I am not sure about. It is called the Watcher in the Lake.
This was influenced by my retreat at the Huyck Preserve and is a very large piece for me. It ended by about 21" x 49". And although I'm not over the top happy....I'm always so critical of my work....I learned lots and lots about larger pieces and my nuno felt technique.

He is now drying and I'll do a minimum amount of stitching to fix his eye.
The background was green and green-yellows, green-blues and it seems all the yellow washed away!

I will sleep on it and see if this is The One...or I need another attempt.
Hope you had as much fun this weekend.

Oh, and I did pick up the studio when Jane left. But it has been broken in.

Huyck Retreat

2010-09-06T21:23:00.001-04:00

I returned last night from upstate New York. It was a most astounding adventure. My friend Diane and I slept in an old horse stall.

But we still heard the barred owl hoot hoot hootoo at night and listen to the rustles of the night movers. During the day we heard lectures by mycologists, the songs of birds, the lapping of the pond waters and the laughter of felting friends.

Though we ate, hiked, felted and laughed together, we each interpreted the shared experience of Huyck's nature differently.

We shared and talked and listened and supported each others explorations in felt.

It was the most wonderful experience I've had with felting friends.

I will not ever be able to write about the exchange that happened, I can show you a bit of the work.

I was inspired by the mushrooms. We did mushroom dyeing and mushroom picking and I felted mushroom pictures.

This is laid out and ready to felt. I made small pieces but there are also banners and pods. At the end of the week there was a small exhibit.

And felting workshops.

But all good things come to an end and we had to say goodbye.

Diane Christian, me, Sharon Costello, Kris Sandoy, Linda VanAlstyne, Carol Ingram, Lynn Ocone, Sharon Janda, Renate Maile-Moskowitz and Marianne DuBois.

Until we meet again....

Quick Post to Share

2010-08-28T16:43:00.000-04:00

I found these old shoes this morning....over 12 years old. Since I was going to paint I needed something comfy but I wouldn't mind if they got paint on them. Unfortunately where the sole meet the top at the stitching it gave way and pretty soon my toes were hanging out the end. So what is a girl's best friend (besides fiber, I mean)

It worked, too! I could call these my 'PreFelt' shoes as they were used in the studio before felting began. Sorry, I just couldn't resist. Oh, there I go again.

I'm going to whine a bit now. It was absolutely stunning outside today....the sun, the breeze, the temp..I only took a lunch break and a short walk with the dogs.

These are cinnamon ferns on the edge of the swamp. I also noticed lots of these.

Can it be possible? It is only August....well, almost September. When I woke up this morning it was 47degreesF outside! The Season's Change is upon us. I love the colors of Fall. It inspired me to try a little experiment....Felt background and a little color on the top.

I have several ideas as to where this can go and I leave tomorrow for a Felting Retreat in New York. I'll be back in a week. But...I'll be taking the camera and the computer...so I may have some pictures from the project.

Now, I'm off for a dose of ibuprofen after all that painting of the ceiling ooooooohhh, my neck. I may have to have a glass (or two) of wine to relax those painting shoulders.

Still Stuck in the Dye Pot

2010-08-14T21:07:00.001-04:00

I returned from Vermont with Diane after a wonderful trip to attend the Guild's Meeting. Jennifer Hoag of Northeast Fiber Arts Center gave our workshop. If you want to see much better pictures and a synopsis of our trip skip over to Diane's blog. She did a great job.

We had a wonderful time and returned safely. We went for a walk and picked several different leaves and a few berries. I put the berries and flowers into the freezer and let the leaves sit over the week.

Yesterday I started 5 pots for dyeing.

One to soak silk in alum.

One to soak silk in tin (pot).

One to simmer wrapped sticks and a wrapped iron pipe (courtesy of Diane's Dad, Dean).

One to soak rhododendrons in water.

And One refurbished indigo vat.

This vat was the same I used in February. It had sat in the basement, undisturbed for 6 months. I checked the pH which was 10 and when I added more indigo crystals and thiox it's smell was definitely of fermentation.

Results...oh, yes, the results.

This was a piece of brown silk I dyed that would wash out with felting leaving a pale beige. Even if the brown washes out now (which it didn't with soap and hot water in the indigo final rinse) I'm sure it will be a lovely blue.

The wrapped pieces came out of the dye pot and sat on the deck to cool.

The pipe wrapping gave this wonderful grey and orange piece.

Sumac buds gave me this lovely pink. Next it needs to be light and wash tested....but I'm letting it cure right now. Sumac leaves make lovely marks, too. I have hopes for sumac...it grows wild and in abundance here.

Onion skins with St John's wort, daylilies and sumac leaves gave me this. The actual color is really more orange than peach.

While the Rhododendron leaves have simmered for about 3 hours. The liquid has been divided in half and part placed in a tin pot and the other with the alum and tannin soaked silks. These were simmered for a while and now are left to cool overnight.

Tomorrow is the Brit Jam...a motorcycle show and we plan on riding most of the day through Southern Connecticut. I won't be able to rinse my silks until later Sunday evening.

The Weekend's Results

2010-08-02T21:15:00.000-04:00

So little time....so many things to try. But I did try some more experiments with the iron/rust dyed cloth and some garden leaves and eucalyptus. I also used some rust dust that was in the corner of a cast iron skillet and sprinkled it on some of the squares.

Here they are steaming from the pot.

Drying on the felting table

There are 12 silk and prefelt squares and 2 felted only squares. They stayed within the color scheme of the previous group....a little Daylily here and there for a bit of purple...some green from Dandelion...and a little Ragweed.

Lots of lovelies for the landskin quilts' extension

Complex cloth...for sure.

But these leaves on the rust are my favorite.

A few Pictures of Natural Dyeing

2010-07-31T17:13:00.000-04:00

Have felt pretty time pressured lately. Grooming dogs, trying to plant and water the garden, working on finishing the studio and just doing the general errands, laundry, shopping....you know. I did do some dyeing last weekend...here are some of the results.

These were all done with paj on the back side and then pieces of silk (various weights) and some sheer cottons on the front. Some pieces were previously dyed with rust and turned dark with various responses from the leaves...especially the eucalyptus. Below is one of my favorites. The veins in the tiny leaves....and the silly dog in the corner.

Some had small sections of weaving ... a technique from Jude's cloth to cloth class...that I also like very much.

One interesting bit I learned....well, two....

First...sometimes the backside is just as yummy as the front...

And the wool takes all the dyes (but especially the eucalyptus) deeper.

I'd really like to do more of these...but tomorrow is Sunday and I promised DH I would do a long ride with him through CT starting down in Mystic and ending almost in Mass. I'm always torn...leaving the studio with so many ideas swimming around *and* next week will be the Guild Meeting in Vermont. I can't believe how fast the time flies. Can it really be 3 months since the last one? We will be learning tips and techniques on how to blend wool...and I just *happen* to have a small drum carder that I would love to learn more about.

Now I'm off to make an art card of nuno to trade at the meeting.

It's Too Hot To Do Much

2010-07-25T22:28:00.000-04:00

I've been busy... doing those summer things...riding my bike...and trying to stay cool. Seems that working with wool doesn't have as much appeal for me during the summer. I have made a little progress on the quilt...but not too much. Seems that working in the garden or trying to organize the studio has been more of a priority. It now looks like this with the studio helper:

The air conditioning has been installed and we all find it much cooler to work here...if not actually optimum

I had to put this picture up as I really want to remember where I tried to sew...Ha!

I have been working on more natural dyeing on prefelt squares that I plan on felting together and adding to the quilt I made in India's class.

Lots of soft colors and wonderful textures.

Today I found out about different types of Eucalyptus...and how they react to rust dyed silk....

Wonderful!!

The Quilt Continues

2010-07-02T09:35:00.000-04:00

Before I rushed off to NC then TN I did a little work on the quilt. Having finished the squares I laid them out on the floor in the living room. (The studio floor being very dusty yet....but more on that later)

The color is not good....but the idea is emerging. The gray spaces are actually my carpet of soft teal green. They will be filled in with felt of green with leaves both nuno and stitched.

The glare is from the skylight shinning and try as I might I couldn't get a complete picture without it. I've trimmed off the curly bits of the sides (thinking Jude Hill weaving with silk strips I've saved them all) and re arranged the composition again.

It is now pinned and ready to baste. Whew...I have my first Friday off today (I decreased the time at my Day Job to Mon thru Thur....life is short don't you know!) but have several irons in the fire. Not the least is the Studio. The floor has been covered again with plywood to make it more rigid, sanded and now has it's primer coat of paint. DH has been working steadily to move it forward. We hope to get the waterproof flooring down this long weekend. Wish me luck. And enjoy your 4th of July if you celebrate.

A Class with India

2010-06-27T22:58:00.001-04:00

I have returned from my journey to Tennessee. In a small rural town 90 miles outside of Nashville I attended a 5 day long class with India Flint. (My piece is featured on her mosaic of the class...upper left). We learned to felt her way and dye with local plants. She speaks so softly this tall woman with browned tattooed hands. But she freely gives of her extensive knowledge that includes Latin names and chemical reactions. Mostly she encourages you to find your own way while stepping softly on the earth.

We made a simple scarf from a tube that was felted after sewing bits and bobs of silk and some cotton.

They were dried but not dyed.

We then made a sample piece of botanical dyed silk. She has us lay them out on the floor....they were wonderful.

We went on a walk with a naturalist and India to discuss local flora and how to identify plants and those most likely to give colors. Oak leaves were the primary source for the silk strips above.

The class then embroidered and sewed pieces that were dyed then felted together.

Our dye pots were always full with everyone waiting excitedly to open their bundles.

Many of us worked until the wee hours of the night.....arranging and piecing our landskin quilt.

India cobbled a piece together for us to follow her process. I think overall we did well.

Thank you India. It truly was an amazing experience.

Here and There

2010-06-18T07:01:00.000-04:00

I had a most wonderful vacation. I drove through States I'd not seen before and arrived at Sylva North Carolina with smiles and excitement. We had the Great Smokey Mountains off the deck and watched the sun spread it's rays through the leaves and spaces of the trees every morning.

We had great meals, thanks to our companion, Jimmy, who likes to cook and the wonderful hospitality of the people in the small but great restaurants where we ate.

We hiked to waterfalls and scenic views. We even rode under a waterfall. The wild flowers bloomed so the butterflies had places to rest and the birds sang everyday ... even in the rain.

The sun shone most of the time and when the torrential rains came we were having lunch viewing a lake and the owner encouraged us to stay until the storm passed.

I took lots of pictures...but I have none to show. Sigh...I left my camera in a non-waterproof pocket of my jacket and when we returned after our longest ride in the rain it took it's revenge by peeing on my foot. It hasn't been the same since.

So now I wait for a new camera ... hoping it arrives tomorrow before I leave for my next summer adventure. My friend Diane and I will be flying to Tennessee to attend a class with India Flint. Boy, are we excited! Walking in the woods with India, then dyeing with our found treasures. I'll have pictures then. I leave you with a snap of a hydrangea ... they grew wild along the roads in NC .. but this is from my yard.

Short Post Before I Go

2010-06-03T07:10:00.000-04:00

I'll be leaving for vacation tomorrow... early.... very early...like before the sun gets up. But we are headed to North Carolina and the Smokey Mountains and want to find the house before dark. We are headed down with 2 other couples and the bikes. We plan on riding around for several days and lazing around on the deck telling stories. I may even drink a few glasses of wine. I hope to sneak in some project time but not felting. I have been taking Jude Hill's class on Cloth to Cloth. This is a What If class and my first experiments were following her simple ideas of weaving scraps of cloth into squares.

These are mostly scraps of left over hand dyed silks with some old curtains and cross stitch fabric left overs from years ago.

She also talked about weaving within the weave.

After trying the scraps I went on to use silk on prefelt then did my own thing.

The two yellow colored squares are my hand dyed paj. The green colored squares are some polyester sheer left over from a long ago project. I was pretty happy with the results and have several other What Ifs in my head.

That's it for now. I'm off to work then On Vacation. I will be without internet (unless I find a cafe) for two whole weeks! HA! I'm pretty sure I'll survive but will have to catch up on everyone's blogs later.

Flowers and Weaving

2010-05-30T17:29:00.001-04:00

I've been working in the garden and while I did I also walked behind the perennial bed and found 20 ... yes, twenty of these:

Too bad I didn't have this live model for my quilt square. It looks a little different.

I also finished another Spring ephemeral. The elusive Calypso.

I like it a bit better.

Then...believe it or not...I finished the last of the squares. The simple sunflower.

The style of this is different from the others because it was an early piece and an adaptation of a picture in a motif book. But I like it and I may need a few "extras" to fill up the quilt.

I also flew to California, rented a car and attended my granddaughter's High School graduation. She was an honor student and is such fun. I was very proud to see her on stage.

The on-line class with Jude Hill, called Cloth to Cloth, has been fun. So many of my class mates have finished several squares and have posted. So, I have been weaving silk, cotton and some synthetics....mostly scraps left over from previous dye experiments or old curtains, sheets. After a few practice pieces I decided to felt some. They are in the dryer....yes, the dryer...fulling. Tomorrow...new squares developed from Jude's class.

Spring Flowers

2010-05-15T23:04:00.000-04:00

I've been doing lots of gardening. Lots and lots of gardening. I've pulled weeds that have grown exponentially and planted things from the expanded driveway back into the flower beds. I am still not finished...nor will I be soon.

I spent a weekend with my friend, Diane.

We have volunteered to work on our Guild's garland of felt flowers.

I haven't felted in so long. It was a good project for me to feel wool in my fingers again.

We need to make a gazillion more.

The next morning, despite our ideas of up early, we started a bit late but kept at it.

First we thickening some dye and I did some stenciling then some free-form painting.

We also made some pots of horsetail ... or at least Diane made a pot full and I threw in a piece of silk.

We also made a pot of eucalyptus leaves and simmered some silk in that too.

These are my results from the crock pots. The yellow-green is the horsetail. The soft taupe is from the eucalyptus. I'm signed up for a class with Jude Hill of Spirit Cloth and I think these may go into one of my pieces. I have some rust dyed silk I did last year that will go perfect with these colors.

Tomorrow is a long ride on the bikes. It's off to bed for me tonight.

Not Much Felt

2010-05-03T21:06:00.000-04:00

Well, Spring is here and I find that I'm called to the outside rather than the basement studio. The weather over the last week has been perfect. Few clouds, temps in the 70s and a little breeze. The DH and I have been riding .... after work and on the weekends. When not riding the garden has been calling. On Saturday...after bathing and grooming two large poodles I went out to the yard. While planting bulbs and pulling weeds I looked at the lovely flowering cherry. It's soft pink blossoms drooping downwards and new leaves reaching upwards. And, what was that white thing in the branches. OH! The erosion project! How could I have forgotten? I cut it down and brought it in. Today, after work, I unwrapped it. I admit I really had forgotten all about it...and have not looked at very many bundles being unwrapped. Mine did not look very impressive...it was still mostly white.

I did wrap an all natural fiber bundle but it seems even with the floods of Biblical proportions little action was seen in my cherry tree.

Pretty boring, I must admit.

It really did sit out in the rain and the snow...as you can see one of the acorns actually sprouted. But little else magic happened.

The oak leaves refused to render up their tannins.

The thin silk being the only bit of color from onion skins in the overall packet. Sigh. I guess I needed more foresight in what should be in the bundle. The lace is cotton but did not take.

So instead I decided to read and look for inspiration for the Northeast Feltmakers Guild Exhibit in 2011 called The Creation Myth.

I've started with this:

And looking very carefully at things like this:

I just love the colors and line in these swamp maples seeds.

In the meantime...I will be seen with this....my only bit of felt...my new backpack:

Big Happenings

2010-04-20T20:31:00.001-04:00

This weekly post is a bit late as I was gone all weekend. I went to the Northeast Feltmakers Guild Meeting. We had a very large turnout for both our workshop and our business meeting. Our hostess were Carol and Roz and they did a fabulous job of organizing over 30 people. They came from Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Mass, Conn, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey. We had several new members and lots of the 'regulars'.

Our workshop consisted of mini coats. It was an exercise on how to make a 3D project with collar, lapels and an overlapping front. They were so cute. And I think all of us enjoyed the 'making'.

Roz was our instructor. She did a terrific job and as usual was very realistic about how to 'solve' glitches and giving people options to try.

Lots of smiles!

Lots of thinking....

Lots..

and...

lots of felters!

With lots of colored mini coats at the end.

And there was fantastic food!

And there was 'Show and Tell"

WOW!! Some of the "New" felters made some pretty impressive stuff! But then there was unexpected and expected felt from some of the "Usuals".

Well, that's it for this week. A **lot** of pictures because I had a **lot** of fun. Thanks so much to everyone that worked so hard to make a fun and a special thanks to my friend Linda Vielleux who made this:

That I decided I couldn't live without =-)

Oh...and one more special Thank You to Diane...my dear friend who put me up at her house, fixed me a fresh egg quiche from her 'ladies', made me Creme Brulee for dessert and made me laugh. Oh, and her dad...who is delightful and has a great sense of humor.

2010-04-12T12:40:00.000-04:00

It seems every time I went to post this weekend, I got distracted. Bloggers are posting every day! And their work and Spring is my downfall. I love looking at other peoples workand it always gives me a boost. I live in a fairly rural area and have nature to inspire most of my work. I love spending time outside...rain or snow or sun....but Spring is always so nice...but so is the first snow...or a deep snow...or the patter of rain on the windows...or the colors of autumn....or..... I guess what I'm saying is I seem to enjoy all of it. And not just the weather....I find lots of lovelies....like this little nest of a mallard by the swamp.

It makes me think of the wonder of life...beginning...ending...starting out. The little miracles that sometimes I take for granted.

But I digress. I have done a little felting. And my first project was almost a direct copy.

I fell in love with another felter's slippers. She has pictures on her blog and it is called Jurga Jurdita. You can find it here and the slippers on her Fliker page here. She is from Lithuania. I fell in love with a brown pair with roses at the toe. I tried to buy them.....but she had none left. Sigh. About a week later my daughter called and asked if I could make some slippers for a very special friend. She wanted something made out of natural fibers in a natural color. So here is my version of Jurga's wonderful slippers.

A bit girlish....but my daughter said they were just right. They are made from the natural colored Icelandic wool I bought while visiting a local sheep farm. The roses are silk dyed ever so lightly with walnut stain. Just enough color to take away the optic white.

I did work on the quilt a little. I'm finished with two more squares. I worked a lot in the garden this weekend and had very little time 'left over'.

First Cyclamen or Shooting Stars. These may or may not make the final cut for several reasons. The square is an odd size and botonically they are not correct.

I also did the Indian Paintbrush which made me happier even though I favor Shooting Stars over them

I also have been dreaming and thinking about my new studio. Right now I share my studio with *everything* in the basement. You know...the paint cans, gardening tools, washer, dryer, stuff you no long use. But a while back I made a deal with the DH and traded for the upstairs of our new garage.

This will be MINE...all MINE!!

The floor will be made water proof and floor cushions for moving around. The wall are to be painted and full spectrum lights will go up. It is getting close and I am starting to get very excited. It was postponed for a while because of some 'technical' difficulties but now I'm ready. Any suggestions from you there about what makes up your dream studio....let me know. There are times when I am sooo overwhelmed at the thought I can't believe it is real. I never thought this would ever be possible.

Now I'm off to get ready for my Other Work....the one that will pay for my studio.

April Flowers

2010-04-03T19:44:00.000-04:00

Well the showers came in March and everything started to bloom in my yard. I, fortunately, did not have any flooding...either at home or my work. My DH's shop was spared but only by the width of the door.

So now after the torrential rains have watered my gardens and swollen the wetlands I need to get to work. My DH finished the hoop house today and I planted lettuce. I'm sure you don't want pictures of piles of pine cones I raked up or plain dirt with tiny seeds. So instead.....

Summer blooms of Bee Balm.

I had a large population of these in the west facing bed. But as the trees around the house got larger and the shade extended there are less and less. It's wonderful to watch the hummingbirds work these blooms.

But I do have shade loving plants in the east garden bed. Mostly ferns...OMG ... do I have ferns. But I went to a Native Plant Sale and bought one of these at an auction.

Jack in the Pulpit hides its bloom under the three large leaves. My original plant has had multiple offspring and I now enjoy a small colony.

I have found Wake Robin or Trillium in the wild but have never been successful in growing them in the yard. I will try again this year.

Trillium are so magical when you find them. They seem to be a secret that has left for you and when you find them......shhhhh...........don't tell anyone.

Cool outside....Spring Blooms inside

2010-03-28T22:34:00.000-04:00

This weekend was pretty cold here. Never got above 41F. I took the dogs for the required walk and found green...Spring is coming but in little bits here.

I loved this piece of moss on a tree.....it looks like a tiny bonsai that has been done by Nature.

Then we went to check on the rock tripe....they no longer look dry and grey with bits all over the ground. But there are lots more! And they are turning green. This is with what I used to make fuschia dye last year.

Once we were back I started on the quilt. I got involved in listening to my book on tape and got a lot done!

First Wild Ginger. The flowers are very small, a maroon that is almost brown and mostly hidden under large leaves.

The color in the above picture did not turn out well and is too washed out....

Then I worked on Mexican Hats. They don't hide under their leaves but push their tops toward the sun.

Next I worked on Blue Eyed Grass. These are not much as far as the flowers go....but I love the leaves that look like grass......the way they twist in the wind and and wave the flowers on their stocks.

So that's it for tonight...I now go to dream of flowers.

Spring is Here

2010-03-21T18:01:00.000-04:00

Well, officially we are now past the vernal equinox. Spring is actually starting in my microclimate yard. My house is placed as the last house down a tiny road and we are always several degrees cooler and a week behind everyone else on the road.....as far as what's blooming.

Yesterday we went for a motorcycle ride....it was perfect weather outside. Not too cold nor too hot. Birds were singing, cows were grazing, farmers were tuning tractors for spring work. The barns we passed were warm enough to send clouds of manure smells drifting across the road....I just love riding this time of the year. Can you guess we are motorcycles nuts? I'll just take this pearl white one.

I also worked in the garden some. The cover on the hoop house had shredded last year and we have most of the new siding up. I will plant lettuce soon. And also start some veggies in the basement.

But I have been working on the quilt....just not as much with so many distractions.

When I lived in California Bull Thistles were considered a nuisance. I love their relatives, the artichoke, and fix them for dinner often. The thistles have large stickers on them and will scratch or poke a serious hole in skin or clothes. I was surpirsed when I moved to the East Coast that people planted them as ornamentals.

There is not as much contrast as I would like.....but I was happy with how the flowers came out with the stitching.

The color of this last close up is adjusted because I used the flash. Not so true as those above.

The second flower I did this weekend is one that I looked for for almost 4 years. I finally found it....it was an early bloomer and very very specific where it liked to live. The common name is Twin Flower but it's botonical name, Linnaea borealis, was in honor of Carl Linnaeus who was the 'father' of botanical nomenclature. It is said it was his favorite flower.

It is so dainty.

I have taken some liberty with the color of these....they are so pale pink, in real life, as to be almost white with lovely pink blush.

That's it for today. Off to cook dinner for the evening....and have a well deserved glass of wine.

Rain Not Needed

2010-03-11T20:18:00.000-05:00

We are forecasted for rain starting tomorrow. It did sprinkle a bit this morning. The top of the ground is starting to be dry. I am ready for Spring showers....my vegetable seeds came today and I'm thinking I can start them in the basement pretty soon. I will also be repairing the hoop house to grow lettuce for an extended season. I try to grow lettuce from March until December was unable to do so this last year. The hoop house was done in last winter and I never repaired it. I hope to do so this year.

These flowers don't need any water to help them bloom.

Mission Bells are a type of fritillary that come in a deep purple...almost chocolate with tiny green checkers on them. Hence, the name Chocolate Checker Lilies.

I planted these all over the garden as wonderful little surprises for Spring. They also come in white....but I like the checkers.

When I lived in California I spent many summers tracking down different wildflowers. I had several camping trips to a small place called Butterfly Valley in the Sierra that became my favorite spot. Not just because of the bogs that supported all the carnivorous plants but the magic that seemed to be in the air. I would read and paint and just be for a week or two at a time. It was wonderful.

The California Pitcher Plant .... my favorite....and I'm pretty happy with how it's turned out.

That's it for todays post .... Now I go to dream about Spring Flowers.....and perhaps listen to rain that may arrive tonight.

Spring's First Delight

2010-03-07T22:01:00.001-05:00

Mother Nature finally started to think about Spring this week. The temps got to over 50F today I took the first motorcycle ride of the season. It was cold at first...just barely over 50 but as the day progressed it was closer to 60. Such a delight....the sounds and smells of Spring. There were bird calls, swans swimming in a little pond, turkeys that flew across the road and the smell of earth. When I got back I decided it was time to check on the Erosion Project. It is still hanging in the Cherry tree by it's thin silk threads.

Unfortunately, it was still very white and pristine looking until I looked on the bottom.

Ah, that's better.....and a visitor, too. It was dry but we expect rain by the end of the week. It is cheating if I water it?

I also looked at the tree house. Although this was originally hung as a *bird* house there has never been a bird here.

However, there is at least one resident.....a flying squirrel. Last year he shared the house with a small toad. Go figure. The squirrel is back, I'm not sure about the toad.

There were also these signs of Spring....

Daffies push up the earliest in my garden. This is the north side of the garden with the most sun and always the first to awaken in Spring.

Eventually I returned indoors and worked on The Quilt.

First I have Mariposa Lilies. These are not found here on the East Coast/New England, at least I've not found them here. But are plentiful in California especially in the Sierras.

Yes, I did use blue silk with green felt and was not happy with the overall effect. Too washed out.

But they are rather lacey and are easily overlooked when in singles or tiny groups. They are dainty three petaled summer blooms that come in several colors.

Next are Lupines. I dearly love them and have planted several varieties in the yard. The large deep violet one are the only ones that return year after year.

These were difficult as the thread kept breaking. I think the rayon thread was not wound well on the spool. I changed the needle. the bobbin and the tension. The white is mostly sewers pencil. Even though these were set out petal by petal, it was hard to see where they needed to be defined while I sewed.

I have two more....but I will save them for another post. I need to be off to bed. I counted how many squares were embroidered today.....15. It's getting close to half way.

Surprise Midweek Post

2010-03-03T07:03:00.000-05:00

I actually got several quilt squares done last weekend. Enough that I started thinking about how I was going to put them together. Green sashing or lattice between the squares is what I've been thinking about. And I'm drawing little sketches trying to figure out how to sew different sized large blocks together in a quilt. Adjusting the size of the sashing width seems to be the answer.
But first more squares....or flowers...

Chicory remind me of Pentz Road from Paradise to Oroville in California. It was my daily commute when I lived in Paradise. The Chicory and Scotch Broom bloomed along the roadway. The Scotch Broom's perfume was wonderful especially when I rode the motorcycle.

These were fun to do with their little fringed tips.

My Solomon's Seal leaves are too small....but I like it anyway.

They almost remind me of Lady Tress Orchids...so maybe I'll think of them that way. I found so many of these in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California near the little town of Quincy. I would camp there several times a year and paint the wildflowers.

Lastly...at least for today....is Blanket Flower. So much color .... these were fussy cut...one of the last squares I felted. I think I needed more contrast for the leaf outline...but each one is an experiment. The color in the cones of the center had washed out of the silk when I felted it so they needed something to give them life.

Not sure this is done....I still think it needs more color on the cone section. Perhaps I'll use a thickened dye or paint just on the cone. I don't want to change the drape of it....but it is a small area and already stiffened a bit with the thread detail. I'll think on it while I do the next blocks.

So much for a surprise post in mid week....Now I'm off to work.

Onions and Spring

2010-02-28T20:00:00.005-05:00

It has been a very busy weekend for me. I managed to get the usual suspects (laundry, checkbook, shopping, cleaning...blah de blah) done and got lots done on the quilt. I also couldn't stand it any more and opened the onion stained silk. It has been sitting in the Mason jar for over 4 weeks now and India's book said to leave as looooong as you could. Well, I can forget the erosion package because I don't see it hanging in the Weeping Cherry outside. But the jar....well, I walk by it several times a week. So without further ado,

These are three different pieces of silk. The one on top is the onion skins wrapped in silk, sprayed with vinegar then stored in the Mason jar. The middle silk was in the crockpot with oak galls and simmered for about 2 hours. It was then put in the crockpot with onion skins that had already dyed the lowest piece of silk. These are for drapes that will grace my livingroom in the future.

This is the onion skins silk from the Mason jar. The colors are subtle but rich. I'm thrilled with these pieces.

I'm not as excited with the next group. But I do like the little pieces....I just haven't decided how or what I want to use them for.

These were the little bundles of leaves, silk and felt that I steamed in the crockpot. The colors are soft and earthy. A different color than tea stained that I have done previously. I will wait for inspiration.

The quilt. The quilt. The quilt.

Each square has been revisited and as I develop technique each square develops. How to choose colors, how to do soft corners, sharp corners, speed, curves and stops. Each of these decisions is influenced by each individual square. Each square reminds me of summers spent among flowers, meadows, mountains and bogs.

Blue Dicks. Shining in the tall grass.

Tiny blue trumpet flowers waving gracefully.

Snow Drops...on tumeric background....that needed some definition...

I can hardly wait for these Spring Lovelies to show up.

The dog walk today revealed a defrosted swamp and mostly bare ground....but no swamp cabbage or snow drops. No Christmas Rose or tulips poking their tips up and out into the overcast sky.

But...there was very little snow. Spring can't be too far away.

Dogs and Roses

2010-02-21T20:34:00.002-05:00

This weekend included Doggie Chores. Beez needed a bath and a haircut.... and before you can do that he has to be combed. Beez is a big boy who weighs in over 60# with a very thick coat. It took several hours to comb him and then wet and bath him. When that part was done I had this:

Mr. Clean but way shaggy for a poodle...almost sheepy looking.

Multiple cookies and new clippers in hand I ended up with this:

So then we *had* to go on a walk....for he really was a good boy and held still for me for about 2 hours while I clipped and scissored until I was happy. And *no* I don't felt his hair...and hair it is, not dog fur and it mats (read felts) but as I don't clip him looking to save his coat you can see it is very short bits.

I also managed to do a bit of sewing in the evening to work on the squares.

I'm OK with the Prairie Clover but it is not as I visualized.

The next is better...

The Bleeding Heart....the leaves were tricky but I was happy with the coloring.

I think the color is truer in the close up.

And finally ... at least for today....my favorite for this weekend...

The Beach Rose....or Rosa Rugosa.

The color is not as nice here as the real item....that is the felted item...

So, that was most of my weekend and although it is only 8:30pm here in Rhode Island....I'm headed to bed.

Is It Spring Yet?

2010-02-15T20:47:00.001-05:00

I'm seeing flowers flowers everywhere.

I worked on three squares today and finished two.

The first was another of my *not favorites*...I think because I'm still playing with the width of the stitch and contrast of colors and if I didn't like it, it could be a reject. This was Violets.

The second is wild onion. I can really tell the difference in the texture. The violets was one of the first done and the onion was one of the last. I think The Quilt will be a progression of my nuno expertise.

The contrast of light and dark of the leaves is much better than it appears in the pictures.

I've already started another. But I'll not show it until I'm done.

The anniversary of my blog will be coming up. I hadn't thought much about how long I'd do this....but I'm surprised it will be a year soon.

The Next Step

2010-02-14T20:45:00.001-05:00

After thinking and pondering and several trials I decided that machine embroidery is what needed to happen. The squares needed detail and that needed to be done before they were joined. So I first experimented. I have at least four squares that I probably won't use in the quilt and tried different weight threads, different stitches, and different types of threads.

Here is my first prototype.

I wasn't thrilled with this...but it tell tell me that lighter colored thread on dark background and probably dark thread on light background. The more contrast the better. So I started with my least favorite square.....the Water Lily.

The stitching helped this beyond what I had hoped. I don't know if this was on an earlier post but it was a disappointment when I was done and I wasn't sure it would be included in the final...but it just got moved up to most probably.

I have also been dyeing (of course!) and ground up some oakgalls in an old coffee grinder. Then I put them in the crockpot and cooked them.

I also tried a steam wrap of some oak, maple and poplar leaves. These I wrapped tight with silk on one side and white felt on the other.

I'm also waiting for the onion skin jar to see what happens.

I shall see what these bring over the next week. But tomorrow.... I will be doing more machine embroidery to go forward with The Quilt.

New Look

2010-02-07T10:04:00.001-05:00

I think I like the New Look. Tiny Bees ...Not done yet...I have some Felted and embroidered Bees...(are you surprized?) to add to the header....I hope to eventually figure out how to add my own designs to the side bars. But for now, this will do. Thanks to The Background Fairy for the design and to my Bloggy Friend Carolyn Saxby (whose blog always looks festive) for being my inspiration.

And now, because we all love eye candy...a little tiny piece I am working on...a needle case because my needles are always getting lost in this....Mom's hand quilted pin cushion. With her white topped pins.

So I'll keep the pins in it but store the needles in an actual needle case. It's kinda funky as I had never done hand applique previously....but it will work as the base is felt and heavy enough to hold needles but thin enough that they don't disappear. A WIP... a learning piece...

I learned a bit while doing this...including silk frays!!! And my next applique practice piece is turn needle type ... the edges will probably hold on this if it is not punished too much.

This is obviously a Valentine Piece but inspired by a post here. Heart of Gold has been running over and over in my head. No felt so far thinking about lace around the edges. Not sure what to do with this when done. It will probably languish in a pile of samples....unless I trade it for something.

So now it is back to washing and trimming a felted (read matted ... badly) poodle ... I do hope to get some felting done this weekend so only one poodle gets dunked and dematted this weekend. I have some ideas about oak leaves and galls with silk, wool and felt that I want to try. I had decided to start with the machine embroidery work on the quilt, too. Soooo much to do....soooo little time.

Now What Do I Do?

2010-01-31T22:13:00.000-05:00

My friend Diane came by this weekend. We played with the dye pots and did a little felting. We had a delightful time. I ground up some cochineal and we let it soak all night and came up a bright fushia dye pot. And we also renewed the idigo vat.

A Little of this was done:

(Can you tell we've not used these shiny implements in the dye pot before? They were well initiated by the time we were done.) Then into the pots they went.

I just love this piece by Diane....but

when you look closer:

This little monkey is revealed.

Then I got this windowpane that had too much white so I overdyed it.

And I got this:

Which I really like....but I have no idea what to do with it. I think I'm addicted to dyeing.

However, I did do a little felting. I actually got two more squares done.

First, the nodding onion.

I really like the way this turned out.

Then, because Diane egged me on....I did another. The elusive Calypso.

So, after Diane left I measured the king side bed and counted up the squares.....I think I have enough.

So, now what do I do?

True confession...I've not done a quilt before. I really don't have much of an idea of what I do next. So from here on, I'll be winging it. LOL.

So while I sit back and contemplate what the next move will be...or how to join all these pieces together...check out my friend, Jane's blog. She makes lovely felt.

Onions and Lupines

2010-01-24T21:06:00.002-05:00

I've been saving onion skins for almost a year. They've been piling up in a little box drying...waiting for me to do something. So today I decided they needed to ... well...be cooked, so to speak. But then I realized that a years worth of onion skins was actually quite a bit. So first I decided to wrap a bundle. I've read about the disco challenge and last year thought about doing it for sooooo long that I never did it. Well, it came around again, on January 1, and here I am thinking about it. But...ta da...I jumped into action and wrapped a bundle and hung it in a tree.

This is a cotton hankerchief with several leaves then a piece of white felt then some lace. There is a mixture of acorns, leaves, onion skins and a few other goodies in the layers.

This is part of the Erosion Project. You can click on the link and find out all about it as well as read and link to other people making bundles.

Then I took an other piece of silk laid it out flat and sprinkled onions all over it.

I really loved the color of the red onions scattered between the yellow skins. I sprayed this with vinegar then covered it with the other half of the silk and sprayed some more.

Then I rolled it up.

Then I rolled it some more and wrapped it with rubber bands......

and finally I stuck it in a jar.

It now gets to wait for a month! This whole thing is lesson in patience. The Erosion Project doesn't get opened until April. The jar gets opened in February...the end of February.

The next project for the day was the left over onion skins.

I put them in the crock pot and added water and citric acid. I let them simmer a bit then added some silk. This I left on high in the crockpot for about 2 hours. The studio smelled like French Onion soup....yumm. But before I went to fix dinner, I also added some Acid Fast dyes to another crockpot and stuffed in some silk and citric acid. Every time the dye bath exhausted I added a different color and some more citric acid. This is for the strips between the quilt squares.

This is lighter than what the color really is. There are lots of bronze and blue tones in this. I'm happy with this although I would have liked it to be a bit darker and the leaves could be light. So I may have to overdye this later.

My last project of the day was another quilt square. This is the lupine square that I drew last week.

I'm pretty happy with the color in this...the green wool coming through the various purples is yummy.

Enough...the onion soup is cooling and I'll have a picture of the silk from the dye pot for the next post.

Blanket Flower

2010-01-21T19:24:00.006-05:00

During the Felt-A-Thon I did do some felting. Two pieces were finished to be exact. One was a flower....gasp!...for the quilt. The pieces included some brown that I had dyed last year and had not used in anything yet. They were very disappointing. The silk faded to a dull grey and was lost in the movement of my small piece and really doesn't sing with the blanket flower.

The color here is not as true as it could be...but it is obvious that the center of the bloom is not a medium brown surrounded by a lighter one.

Not sure what I should do with this. The texture in this one shows the light and dark areas that were planned. But the color is washed out and not a reflection of the Blanket Flower.

Again it looks a bit green but is actually grey.

The second piece was influenced by my friend Diane. I tried her technique of snip and and drop silk bits to draw an abstract landscape.

This lost the tree and shrub trunks as the brown washed out during the felting. Not sure if I will try to color this with a dye paint or thread to bring it back.

One last thing....but certainly not least.... my friend Diane did go home and start a blog. It is delightful and I recommend you pop over and look at her chickens and felt.

Here at Felt Inspiration

It's Blue!

2010-01-18T21:12:00.000-05:00

The Felt-A-Thon really was a Blue Day. Not that any of us were unhappy....no! We laughed and ate and drank and talked and felted and dyed. Unfortunately, I took all too few pictures...*but* both my partners in felting have taken pictures....and pledged to make blogs. More Felting Blogs for ether world.

But back to the Felt A Thon. Diane and Jane arrived on Friday and we made up the indigo vat after dinner....before we had toooo much wine.

It turned bluegreen right away and was easy to set up. The first couple of dips were green when they came out a lovely teal. Then they darkened slowly as we hung them up and let them rest. I got the "kit" from Griffin Dye Works. Bjo was very helpful by e-mail and it was as simple as she said it would be.

There is a seedling warming tray and heater under our vat to keep the temp at 92degrees F for good silk (and a little wool and a bit of cotton) dye uptake.

The 'hang out' where the pieces 'rested' before the rinse then back to the vat for another dip. And so it went....dip, rest, rinse then dip again. The silk, cotton and wool were sewn, clamped, twisted, knotted and rolled to do a gradation.

Jane did a lovely piece that she unrolled off this tube by sections. The resulting chiffon went from white to a moderate blue .... she says it too lovely for anything but a garment.

Diane unraveled several pieces that she had folded and sewn to reveal wonderful patterns. But she wanted green. So many of her pieces were overdyed with a mix of Acid Fast yellow for these lovelies:

Jane left early because of expected snow in her more Northern climes. Belately I realized I had no pictures of her placemats she felted. Suffice it to say....they were lovely.

Diane decided to do something different (hehe) and she felted a landscape. Just right out of her head. No picture, no sketch, just a bit of roving laid down then snips and bits of mostly recycled and hand dyed scraps from a bag.

And me? Well, of course I did a bit here and there. I spent most of my Friday evening sewing one piece. But I think it was worth it.

The color is much brighter than this...and although the folds flattened from the rinse and wash at the end.....I still love the pattern. It is a long strip with 5 and 1/2 of these Blue Moons (it is the year of the Blue Moon, ya know). And I did a bit of felting.

But that will wait until the next post.

The Quilt Again

2010-01-10T19:12:00.001-05:00

I haven't forgotten that this blog is mostly about felting. I have obviously have been side tracked with dyeing. And I will continue to be side tracked. I plan on doing an indigo vat next weekend. I will post the process and the results. I'm very excited as I have two friends coming to visit for a Felt-A-Thon, as we call it. Two days of felting fun.

To prepare for this I have done a few things....like buy a bucket to start my vat in. But you don't need a picture of a bucket. What I also have done is make the last four cartoons for the quilt. Because I think these will be the last quilt squares. Next I will start the leaf borders. But first the cartoons:

This is coreopsis tinctora. It is used for dyeing and that makes it a little more special to me. Besides I have seen these in California and they were lovely. Next:

This is my attempt at Lupine. I'm not especially pleased with this. But I'll see how this comes out. Sometimes felting makes things improve. Next up Wild Onion.

These beauties are a lovely shade of pink that I may have in stock....that is I have some lovely pink silk that is the perfect color. Finally:

The elusive Calypso. I searched for about 3 years before I actually found these in the Redwoods on the coast of California. Even then they were mostly finished and I returned the next year to see them and paint them. They are truly fairy-like and usually found in singles.

I have two other pieces to show. I found a large colony of California Pitcher Plants in one of the Sierra Nevada's small valleys. It was hidden away down a dirt road and I camped there for weeks at a time over a three year period. I must have taken hundreds of pictures. Here is my simple felt interpretation:

The leaves were just as ...no .. more interesting than the flower. It was always magical to visit the area and see the leaves ...they looked like little space creatures with mustachios and I always expected them to talk to me in a language I couldn't understand.

And last (but certainly not least)....a pressie as they say Down Under.

A wonderful piece by my friend Doreen, from Austtralia. I have looked at this since yesterday (when it was received) a multitude of times and cannot for the life of me figure out how this is made =-)

Perhaps with some time of adhesive...and there is lovely hand embroidery on it in Jewel colors.

Thank you Doreen....I hope you enjoy your little piece I sent to you as much.

Next week...pictures of the Felt-A-Thon and our Indigo Vat.

New Year Snow

2010-01-03T22:37:00.000-05:00

It's still snowing....and I still think it's beautiful...and the walks are lovely.

The major storm left near to two feet....but the rain washed most of it away. Then it froze and then it snowed some more. My studio assistants love the snow. Old Man of the Mountain...Mr Andy.

The pup, Beez, goes crashing into snow banks and bites the snow

But they both have to come over and put their noses in whatever I'm looking at. I usually look for tracks....but dog tracks seem to be everywhere and it's not often I get to see unspoiled prints .

These are probably the fox that lives outside our fence. He (or she) walked around the garage and checked out all the little hiding places .... probably looking for mice or shrews.

I love seeing the perfect little toe prints in the snow.

It's wonderful to listen to the silence in the woods. It rustles quietly like someone turning over in fresh sheets. And the little prints are the only clues that someone is very busy.

Laurel berries dry of most color, yet against the snow they shine. Perhaps I should try them for dyeing. Not now, of course, they are much too dry...but they do look rather pretty.

There is not to much to show, as far as felting. I'm making something I can't show...it's a present.

These are the fibers wetted out. There is a layer of green/blue silk, a layer of several colors of blue wool then thin wisps of silk roving in white, yellows, greens, and blues. I dyed the silks but with Acid Fast dye not natural dyes. I didn't have any blues in natural dyes....but I'm thinking I need to do an indigo vat.

I should be back to the quilt next weekend. I still have 2 or 3 cartoons that are ready.

More felt to come soon.

Dyeing for My Presents

2009-12-26T11:23:00.000-05:00

Before Christmas I ground up some lichens, soaked them ammonia and water for about 3 weeks then put in a little bit of embroidery thread. The color was intense and I was pleased as punch. I divided up the liquor I got from the two bottles and added some silk ... fiber, ribbon and more thread.

Yesterday I unwrapped my presents to me.

These are the results of ribbon, fiber and the previous thread. The initial thread is much darker and it came from the jar that held the rosey color on the left. The brown orange liquor produced the lovely deep violet on the right. Dividing the liquor of this jar and putting more ammonia and water in one did not make much of a difference.

The lighter shade below came from the lichen that turned red almost immediately when I added the ammonia/water mix. After the thread experiment with that jar I added a little citric acid hoping to turn it more red. I got the antique rose color.

I also have some embroidery thread from all three of these jars.

Sorry for the fuzzys...Trying to use natural light and macrolens. But the colors are lovely...even though I'm not much of a pink person.

I guess I have to decide what to use these for. Mostly I dye with a specific project in mind but this was a special experiment for me. Not sure how light fast lichens are ... so they need to be in a particular project.

Peace and Joy

2009-12-25T09:49:00.000-05:00

From Our House to Yours

May Goodness and Joy Enter Your Threshold

And Peace and Happiness Enter Your Heart

I hope you enjoy this Season

no matter how or where you celebrate

Blizzard of '09

2009-12-20T19:03:00.000-05:00

Well, it seems that everyone wanted a White Christmas and so it came. We had almost 2 feet in the yard and the DH spent most of this afternoon working the snow blower to dig out my VW. Can you find it? It's white.

My view this morning from my bedroom window was delightful. It was still snowing. I love the season change viewed every morning as I get up.

But you really can't tell how much snow we got from these pictures. You have to look down ....at the deck and it's furniture. This gives a better idea of what DH had to dig.

On Friday night, while I waited for the snow to start, I placed a skein of silk thread in one of the lichen jars. I let it sit until today. No heat or mordant. Initially it was smelly...old *strong* urine (don't ask how I know)...phew! But when it was rinsed I got this:

PURPLE!!!

Really purple! And...interestingly enough...the smell was gone and instead there was this earthy aroma that is wonderful. So now it sits and drys. I was so encouraged I divided up the two jars into 3 sections and added silk fabric, ribbon and two different weights of embroidery thread.

Stay tuned....these will be unwrapped about Christmas.

Snow and Ice

2009-12-13T20:55:00.000-05:00

There was snow fall and then it warmed. But then it got really cold. Not below zero cold but close to single digit cold. So the snow melted and then it froze into ice. On my way to work there is the only covered bridge in Rhode Island. It was a lovely drive even though the roads were not plowed well.

Then today I took the dogs for a walk before the rain began. The swamp or bog behind the house was mostly iced over but the tiny stream had crystal ice patterns on the edge that needed a close look.

I see lots of images in the ice...

Once it started raining however, I worked inside. I wrapped Christmas presents. I only need one more .. but I need it for several gifts that must be sent to California. In the meantime, I've been soaking some lichen I found on a dog walk. I let them sit for about a week then ground them up and soaked them in ammonia.

The one on the right immediately turned pinky red. The one on the left soaked up all the ammonia and turned green-brown. I added more ammonia two more times before it was slushy enough to stir. It has sat and slowly turned brown....but over the last 2 days it is more red brown.

The one on the right is now a deep red while the left one is a brown red....I hope to see a barn red. We shall see. I now go back to do a little reading and find out what I do with a stinky ammonia colored solution.

Ten More

2009-12-02T21:35:00.003-05:00

to go. I worked on three more squares over the last weekend. I also did other projects and ended up being too tired to post. Well, first I ended up watching TV until midnight. The DH turned on the 25th Anniversary of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I wasn't going to stay up and watch.....truely...but once I got to singing along, I was lost. And I didn't post.

But I had done some felting. And I took pictures.

Dowingia is a small flower that I found in the Sierra's when I used to hike there.

I also have joined the Hand Embroidery Network. Have you found this yet? I have browsed through lots of wonderful examples of embroidery. I even started in an on-line class for stumpwork. We are making Irises and Poppies. I have started my first project and will post the final pieces.

Christmas will demand some of my creative time and the quilt will most likely sit on the back burner. But I've starting to think about putting the squares together. I post one more picture....poorly taken I'm afraid....but the squares are laid out on the bed to give me an rough idea of what I've done so far.

To Tu Tumeric

2009-11-22T21:37:00.001-05:00

I manged three pieces and some silk dyeing today. I finished all my "obligations" yesterday .... well most of them. You know the list...the bills, the laundry, the dog walking, the shopping, the dinner making,.....it goes on and on .... doesn't it? But today I got to do the laundry while I did felt. YEAH!

I managed to dye some dark green silk....no pictures of that. But it is darker colored for leaves and stems rather than background. I need to start thinking about the green sections to connect the squares. But I'm not quite there yet.

I did 3 pieces ... I also did some more drawings. I came up with 3 more flowers. But I just didn't seem to do the run as last time. So I put them under the cutting board to decrease the paper curl and moved on to felting. My favorite.

This was the silk lay out ... before felting. I used the tumeric dyed silk as the background....with the green prefelt it was too much. It really overpowered the flowers. It will need some serious embroidery to save this one....and I really liked the design.

It is too green overall. I'm disappointed in how it turned out... sigh.

The next however was better. I liked the way the yellow tumeric reacted with the red background

This is the layout. Again the tumeric but this time the colors were bolder and the background was red. Making the color a bit more lively.

I'm happier with this. But with 20 to make...I'll most likely keep the washout snow

drops but the Beebalm is obviously more lively.

The last piece is a trillium. I'm afraid the color of the photograph is not a lovely as the real piece. It is much deeper and more .... I don't know.... but the color is real.. I'm happy with this piece also.

Well, that's it for this weekend. I wish you all a Happy Turkey Day....I only have Thursday off...but hope to do more felting the weekend after.

Some Progress to Show

2009-11-15T15:02:00.002-05:00

I'm back from Las Vegas. It was a trip for a conference.....and since I'm a non-gambler (rather spend my pennies on silk and dye and wool and thread...well, you know) it was mostly lecture time. I did a quick visit with my brother, his family and my youngest sister. Always wonderful to visit family. And they were wonderful as usual =-)
But, before I left I did some dyeing and some serious felting for my quilt piece. I decided it worked so well and I spent less time getting into the drawing mode...so to speak...that I just needed to set some time aside to draw several more cartoons. These are Snowdrops, Trilium and California Pitcher Plant.

I also completed four squares for the quilt. I was fairly pleased with that accomplishment. It seems once the drawing is done I do work faster.

Wild ginger...with it's tiny flowers almost hidden under big heart shaped leaves were one of my finds on a wildflower search. I would go camping with my dog and take several books, a camera and sketchpads. Many times I would be gone a week or 2 only to return home to take a shower and do laundry. The flowers were spectacular and I want the quilt to remind me of that quiet time. No TV, radio, traffic noise, or even company other than the dog, the wild birds and the breeze. I think the quilt will be a reminder to have sweet dreams.

The color turned out wonderful with the moss green prefelt and pale yellow green background silk.

Inspiration taken from one of my old Wildflower books.

Then my cartoon

I'm starting to cut most of these freehand now. But used a single petal of the Paintbrush flower to guide me on size.

The colors of the flowers are also less flat and I tried to Fussy Cut to add to their liveliness.

Twinflower...one of my favorites

Not sure about this last one. I may have to eliminate it...The petals shrunk up too much and became too small. I was on a roll so to speak...and I think I didn't plan out my shrinkage as well.

Blue-eyed Grass which is only a bit taller than the wild grasses and the flowers do look like brillant blue eyes peeping up at you.

I also had a couple of dye pots going....and came up with this:

And this

They look wonderful next to each other. I haven't cut them yet...perhaps they will fit one or two of the cartoons I have left from my whirlwind of drawing.

I've Been Busy

2009-11-02T21:54:00.001-05:00

So much has happened since my last post. I realized that I haven't done much on the quilt and that November is here. The heat is slipping away outside and although we recently has an almost 70F day here most mornings I wake up the temp is close to 40F. The trees that just a week ago were full of leaves of color and now mostly dark lines against the grey sky.

I took a dye class at ProChem. I've been dyeing for a long time....since the 1960s off and on. But I've never really spent time figuring out how it all happens. For some silly reason starting to do natural dyes has made me curious about dyes in general. I've been reading books about dyeing and even dreaming about dyeing. I'm thinking seriously about doing an indigo vat. But ...that may be a future post.

We had a wonderful time with this lady:

This is Vicki Jensen. She is the Class Coordinator and Dyer Extroidinare at ProChemical and Dye. She also happens to be a felter. I think she is delightful....and a wonderful teacher. She presented an organized class with even the math de-mystified under her tulaledge. We did immersion dyeing

Then we thickened and painted

The results were wonderful.....even in the washer...

There was a rain storm that passed outside....but we made our own rainbow and hung it near the window when the sun came out.

I came home and loaded up the dye pot and went to work on the quilt this last weekend. I had an exhausted dye bath every time!! I was soooo proud of myself...no excess dye down the drain! And I made a beautiful green background silk.

So then I finally worked on new squares for the quilt. First I made 10 drawings. It is the most time consuming part of the process. I always have trouble deciding how I can cartoon the flower yet make it look enough like the actual bloom that it could .... ahem...kinda be identified correctly. Some times I actually think I succeed. I'm hoping these two look like Itherial's Spear a type of wildflower found in the Sierra Nevada foothills during the dryer summer months. Always a treat to find hiding in the grasses.

It needs some embroidery to finish up the details. I still haven't decided if it is machine or hand embroidery I want to do. I love working by hand, but machine may hold up better to use.

I also did Prairie Clover. Driving through Texas...long ago...I remember seeing these. I loved the purple colors.

So I also sat down and tried to figure out how many 'squares' I would need to finish my quilt. OY...I have to make 40. Yep....Four Oh. It makes me a bit overwhelmed to think about it. I guess I never stopped to think of how big a king size bed quilt really is. LOL. So now I have about 18 done and 7 more drawings. I'm not sure I'll have it done for this winter...good thing we recent redid our heating system with a more efficient boiler.

Color Me Pink

2009-10-18T22:21:00.000-04:00

Well, I can't believe it's been so long since I've been able to do much on the computer. My big computer crashed and with it so many pictures and documents were lost. I can't dwell on it...
The season of riding my bike ended and the first snow fall has occurred. The wind and rain have driven me indoors and to increase my metabolism I did a little felting. .... and, of course, some dyeing.

The pokeberrie juice/dye bath was absolutely fab...a deep wine. And although it is said they are poisonous, the juice was used to color wine. I believe it. I rolled one piece of silk I had dyed with cochineal that was a lovely pale peachy color around the stems and a few berries then tied it very tight. The second piece I tried dipping and removing....to make a gradient...but...have I told you I am impatient? Well, I left it and that gorgeous color spent the night creeping forward until the entire piece of silk was fushia.

I did add some acetic acid for a mordant....and I did let the pieces dry before rinsing. But all that wonderful color went down the drain.

Pastels are what I got. That blood colored spot on one of the pink pieces is cochineal that dried overnight sitting out of the pot. The green .... and it actually is more green than yellow....is the dye pot from the black-eyed susans I picked from the back yard. The color of the initial bath was a deep gold and when I added the mordant....flash.....the color changed in the pot to a wonderful dirty yellow green. The last piece was a pure white placed in a jar with walnut ink.

My fingers retained more stain than the silk did, I'm afraid. I think I need to go back and do a little more research and experimentation with the pokeberry. I truely loved that fushia.

Felt....yes I worked on the quilt pieces. The first I was very happy with and it will for certain make a place for itself in the big quilt. It is Chicory. It grows wild everywhere I've been in the United States. It is not a native...but I dearly love it. Each flower only comes out for a day but the long thin stalks wave each bloom proudly late in the summer when other flowers are finished.

The colors of the chicory and the mottled green background played perfect in this piece.

However, the second piece I did was of a small yellow lily. I have an sketch of it from a hike once, but tried to catch it's fragility with the natural dyes. I think the pounding from the fulling rinsed most of the yellow from the background and the leaves....leaving blue. But the flower itself was a piece of the tumeric and goldenrod....it withstood the whole process well.

I am more enchanted with the colors of fall right now. They have reached their peak here in New England....and my drive to work it one of fabulous fall colors spreading from pinks, fushias, yellows, organges, reds and nutty browns set to the greens of the pines.

This is a cell phone picture on my way to work. But the colors are even more intense where I can't stop...but will be blown away after this weekends rain and wind. There is a 50% chance of snow tomorrow...

A little bit of Felt

2009-09-29T21:58:00.000-04:00

So to continue with documentation of my dyeing would let on that I've not been felting. However, I did make a new piece. A pillow. I had a small piece of deep irregular blue silk and it was calling to me. It looked like the night sky. So I did a Rabbit jumped over the moon. But...it looked more like a Poodle than a rabbit =-) A white Poodle.....with it's long ears flying behind him as he soars high into the sky.

My camera is charged...waiting for the pokeberries to finish ... I'm letting them soak for a while longer. Did you know that the Declaration of Independence was signed by Inkberry? AKA Pokeberry juice? After all these years the signatures are a faded brown.

Now... a little embroidery for detail.

Dyeing without a Computer

2009-09-27T21:54:00.000-04:00

Well, I've had the computer blues for some time now. My main computer decided it's memory bank was full and would freeze leaving me with a wild screen of rectangles of color. So instead of blogging and sharing...I took time off. I spent time in the fresh air riding my new bike:

So many temptations when the weather is so nice....but.... first I just had to take a walk and gather dye material. =-) The dogs searched and nosed around....but they couldn't tell the difference between oak galls and rocks!

But I found these.. the woods were full of acorns and oak galls this year...

I also picked lots of these....covered them with water and let them soak for a week... Don't they look cheery sitting in that pot...waiting for the hot water?

Boy oh boy did they stink when I lifted the top of the crock pot this weekend.

I also decided to try some poke berries. They stain the ground around them purple and when the birds eat them...well, the purple poopz do a number on your car paint. They are the most gorgeous color...dark and inviting....but poisonous. I love the fushia colored stems.

I also made up some walnut ink and added a pinch of iron. This went into a quart canning jar with some silk .... but I will leave that for the next set of pictures. My camera batteries have died and won't let me load up any more pictures....Ah, technology...

Goldenrod and the 3 Silks

2009-09-06T20:29:00.000-04:00

So to continue my adventure....I started with this

trimmed the leaves and put the flowers in the first pot. It was brought to a simmer for an hour then strained and silk added. As crazy as it seems I managed to leave it in the pot without looking, lifting or sneaking peak for a week. When it was done and the silk removed, I added Tumeric and made a second pot. More silk was added. But I hadn't thrown away those flowers.... all the stems and leaves were chopped, added then simmered on the stove. It never boiled....just let off steam and occasionally flipped a leaf. I then strained the leaf brew, added alum and put in some silk to make pot number three.

They simmered all night, but at 5 am this morning the Big Bear (DH) woke me up and asked if those crockpots in the basement were suppose to be cooking all night. =-) He said it smelled like hot dogs! But I got this:

The middle is butter yellow...flowers no mordant...not sure how color fast it will be. The left is flowers and tumeric...a most gorgeous gold. The right is leaves, stems, 2nd dip flowers with alum....the golden brown is where the edges peeked out from the brew.

And I was happily pleased after.

Next....I'm looking at these

Found in my wild garden.

Wild Flowers Wild Color

2009-08-29T17:17:00.000-04:00

I've been doing a bit of reading by Jenny Dean. There are no more copies of Wild Color available at a reasonable price these days.... but I found one at the library.

I also ordered a copy of Colours from Nature by her. While I've been reading and processing, several bloggers I follow have been doing some wonderful experiments and projects with natural dyes. So, of course, I had to give it a go.

I found some Goldenrod almost 5 feet tall where I was able to trim with abandon so I took a large bag and a knife and helped myself. I came home with almost a pound of flowers and top stems. I decided to simmer, soak over night then see what was revealed this morning. It's a brownish yellow....not particularly enticing as the colors on the book covers....but I know how dye can change when it strikes onto fabric. I took a big gulp and plunged in some perfectly white silk.

I'm going to try and leave it for a week...lol...me with no patience trying to teach myself not to lift, pinch, poke, twirl or otherwise mess with this for a week will be darn hard!

I also had ordered India Flint's new book: EcoColour: botanical dyes for beautiful textiles. This was a pricey investment....but worth every penny. The book is refreshing to read as she is very environmentally aware but encourages lots of experimentation. There were ideas that have left me what iffing every time I open the book. And the photos of her work are breathtaking. Oh, to have access to eucalyptus leaves .... it's just not dry enough here in the East. India will be visiting the US next year....and I plan to be at a dyeing class she is teaching.

I have not neglected my felting project either! I worked on Jack in the Pulpit. I like it very much though the background brown faded a bit during the felting process and became a subtle grey. So not two squares this weekend.....just one....as I go tomorrow to take down the What's Out Is In Guild show in New Bedford. But here is my rendition of that green brown weed that grows in the shade of ferns in my yard.

Presents and Projects

2009-08-23T22:31:00.001-04:00

A late blog to show you little presents I bought myself. I follow several blogs (don't we all?) and could not resist buying myself little pieces from two fabulous fiber artists.

The first I bought over a month ago from Jackie who does the most playful pieces that remind me of the 50s. I really wanted to see and feel the velvet she works on....in 'person' so to speak. So I bought this:

It is a small blank journal and the cover is silk paper with her machine embroidery and velvet. It is better in real life than my picture. I still haven't decided if I should use it myself or gift it to someone. I came wrapped in lovely paper with her card. So professional....yet artistic.

The next piece I bought was a hand embroidered piece by Karen. She really does some remarkable handwork. I hope some day my embroidery will be as lovely. I bought what she calls a 'scrap' and I plan on framing it.

My picture quality is not near as good as hers. I'm not satisfied with my new camera but the piece is done on white silk with white thread and some yellow (her insanely famous knots) pink and green.

Then lastly, I did do some felting for the quilt. I liked the Lady Slipper so much in the book I made for our show...yet it faded away into the background when I fulled it in the dryer. I tried again. Not as good as the first, I'm afraid....but will do for the quilt.

Some machine embroidery will fill in the details. The colors are right on the piece and the yellowish background made for a gold hue to the flower itself that I like very much.

I also took some pictures of some Indian Pipe in my yard. They are a wildflower....but a most unusual one. It does not have chlorophyll and thus does not have true leaves nor is it green. It needs a special fungus to provide food that is processed by the fungus. It is also known as Ghost Flower.

It will need a deep green background and white flowers but I have done one previous flower with a similiar color scheme so I think I can capture it.

It's so hot and humid here....80 degrees with the humidity an unbearable 70% but feels like more...I really haven't done much felting. The basement initially is cooler than the house...but I crave sunshine despite the heat and have not stuck with my "Two Blocks A Weekend" resolve. Such is life.

What's Out Is In

2009-08-15T18:46:00.015-04:00

Well, I've just returned from my day of demonstration at Artworks in New Bedford, MA. We had a lovely time. I was quite nervous and afraid I babbled but people seemed to enjoy the demo. Diane made a gorgeous calla lily of mixed pinks (wool and silk rovings) while I did the fish piece. My "fish" looks much more like a shrimp I think....but I will use him to experiment with free motion machine quilting as I get ready to quilt the Flower pieces. Diane's Calla Lily turned out *much* better....but I didn't get any pictures....sorry to say.
I did get some snaps of the show, however.....and (tooting my own horn here) my copper book about The Beetle Blues made it into the newspaper!

This fabulous piece called "Mary's Pond" was initially wet felting in the background then was needle felted details and textures....This is by demo partner....the lovely Miss Diane.

The mask below is by Cheryl Christner....this is the West Wind (I believe) The North, South and East Winds were also present. I just love the feathers, copper and wasps' nest details.

Next is a shot of one of Sharon Costello's vases. She makes tiny cuts in the felt revealing the multiple layers of color beneath.

Finally a picture of the wall above two of my books. There are two vests by Robin Blakney-Carlson and a jacket by Linda Vielleux. The green piece on the far right is by Lynn Ocone and has tiny brass tacks sticking through the felt....rather like a cactus. The other two green "objects" are my books. I'm afraid the photos are not well focused...I need to practice with my camera. I enjoyed the show and participating in it.
I now I will get to spend my Felting Time working on my quilt.

Forgotten Fish

2009-08-12T06:25:00.003-04:00

Well now....I went back to look at the blog and what do you know? No fish design. Wonder what happened to it? I thought I would put the pictures in of the silk roving and ribbon I'd dyed...but the camera batteries are dead. So....all I have is the picture of the fishNow I'm on to breakfast then work. The clinic is having it's Grand Opening of the New Dental Services today and we will be hosting a Congressman and the Attorney General for the ribbon cutting ceremony. Unfortunately, it will not be my silk ribbons. =-)

Getting Ready

2009-08-10T19:47:00.010-04:00

I've been asked to do a demonstration next Saturday at the gallery where our Guild show is. My friend Diane and I are doing "Nuno or Not"....I'm doing Nuno and she is doing Not. Diane decided to do a Calla Lily pin....it's lovely. I'm doing Nuno, of course. I'll be demonstrating a piece like those I made for my quilt. At first I tried flowers but all of them were pictures of flowers I will put in my quilt. My DH likes fish so I decided I'd do a fish. It is one from an Aegean vase...not a true original ... but a take-off. Sigh...I felt under the gun to get a simple design done and get things going. So...here is the design.... a simple fish with some space in the body to improvise in the demo. I looked at all my silks...sorted them out and decided to do some dyeing. Initially when I thought I would do a botanical piece I needed a lighter green. So I came up with with this color. I've added some silk haboti, and some silk thread and ribbon.

I thought I would do sunflowers and so I looked at wool roving and found I didn't have any brick red. So I did another pot.

Then as it sat and perked along...I came up with the fish idea. I looked through the blues and decided I didn't have any Sea Blues. So back to the third dye pot. I only have 2 white pots....I've found the white helps me with color mixing...but on to the black pot with blues.
So....again silk haboti at 4.5 mm with silk ribbon and threads I've decided to try dyeing my own threads for embroidery .... just thought it might be fun. And I like variegated threads...and with silks I just can't find what I want.

So here is my little kit to take.... The purple is the background of the fish...and the orange is the main color...the deep blue will be the eyes and the streaming fins. Not sure if I should add a 5th color for details on the fish....like scales...or something more fanciful.

So next weekend I'll take pictures of the show....so many lovely pieces.

Maine Guild Meeting

2009-08-02T19:44:00.017-04:00

So things have been very busy...very, very busy. The opening of our Guild Show "What's Out is In" was great. Unfortunately....like the ditz I am....I forgot my camera in my haste to get there with all the last minute issues. The work was wonderful...and I again felt very privileged to be included in this group. But, more about that later....I have a demonstration to do on the 15th and will bring the camera to document.

This weekend was the Guild's meeting and it was hosted by Marianne Dubois in Maine. We, my friend Diane and I arrived on Friday evening to be greeted with wine and laughs and the friendly faces of fellow felters. The next morning we went to Halcyon Yarn in Bath, Maine and had a lesson on Kumihimo braiding.

First we had a lecture then we had a go on our own. Michael (I'm afraid I don't remember his last name) was our instructor and had lots of patience and a wonderful teaching style.

We learned about marudai and two different types of braiding. It is almost a meditation.

The next day we had Show and Tell...one of the best parts of our meeting. Everyone brings pieces that they have been working on. There were fabulous pieces......

Monet was reflected on this bag by Diane (but shown here is Robin and Marianne)

This wonderful trout piece is by Linda Wright who is also a fisherwoman and obviously knows the details that make up a real fish.

Below is shy Roz.... =-) holding up one of her vests.

There were many more pieces.... Jackets and valances, purses, broaches, and..... of course.....the pieces of my quilt.

Now I have only the demostration to do at the Gallery and I can go back to working on the quilt. I have two drawings done....one a Jack in the Pulpit and the other a Trout Lily.

I hope to post more regularly as I go back to the reason why I started this thing in the first place....to document my quilt.

Hiatus

2009-07-19T09:08:00.009-04:00

And how!! I've not been able to felt much...and then when I did it was not on my quilt. My Guild has a show that I will be helping to hang next Wednesday. I've been trying to finish the 3rd book in a series on environmental awareness. Sigh. My "work" (that is paying job) has been extremely taxing on me both mentally and time wise for about a month now. And I've had little time to spend with my projects.

I did try my first fulling in the washing machine....with mixed results. I felted the book so the nuno pieces all stuck nicely then wrapped in a towel and stuffed it in the dryer with regular laundry. It was a gamble...I was a little concerned it would wonky and not maintain fairly straight edges or the silk would lift. But it did neither. However....it fulled in so well I lost much of the detail of the silk....and some of the colors faded. Will need to go back and test this...there was no color on the towel when done.
To the left is the pre felted stage

Below is how washed out it became. It sat for about 2 weeks while I mulled over what to do. This piece is called "Bee Gone" and the pages were to have less and less number of bees on each page...signifying the decreased number of bees and how nature depends on pollinators. I finally decided to embroider the left pages and have a bee on it and do nothing with the right page....Bee Gone....Flower Gone (or fading as it were). Still feel unsettled by how it has worked out. But I set up my workstation outside in the (finally!!!) sunshine.
Here is what the Shooting Star looks like now......no Bee yet. I am going to try some stumpwork without wire and apply the Bees when the embroidery is done.

And its faded neighbor ..my favorite when it was lightly felted...the Lady Slipper.

Back to embroidery work now...no more procrastination. I will try to post pictures of the show's hanging and opening...if I'm allowed. It will be at ArtWorks in New Bedford, Mass.

Off project

2009-06-28T20:46:00.015-04:00

I have to admit....I haven't been working on my quilt. I have a show through my Guild that will be in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Two of my pieces are done but the third has been an issue for me. I have had at least 3 starts on the third piece. None of which have been The One. I finally saw something in paper that spoke to me and I began all over again.

Looks simple.....doesn't it?

So the next thing was to draw the pictures.

I have to say....I'm a bit on a time line and stayed with what I know....cartoons. And, I even used some to the pictures....modified a bit....from the quilt. But overall I'm pretty satisfied with how it's turning out.

First I did my usual research.... =-)

I have lots of wildflower books and I perused them looking for ideas.

Then I began to draw my cartoons.

I suppose this looks familiar....but the size and colors have been changed.

After several ideas I settled on these:

Next I decided on colors and cut out my patterns. I needed new greens...I'd used alot on my T-Shirt in the class. So a few yards of silk in the crockpot.

And then this came out:

It wasn't dark enough...so I did another piece.....and another piece. Each had enough dark but more light....but since I only want small bits...I went with it.

Here is a close up of one section ....a bit fuzzy I'm afraid.

I also am afraid that it is almost 10pm and it's time for me to Hit the Hay as they say in the States.

That's it for this time....Not sure how much further I can take this if it is going to be in a show. .... I love when bloggers leave things undone and you must wait for the next installment. Perhaps I should make this one of those teasers.

Nighty night.... =-)

And Then Ya Felt Some More

2009-06-17T21:15:00.011-04:00

Have I tired you yet of my adventures in class? We were told the next day, by our teacher, she would push us to finish laying out and start to felt so the third day was fulling and fitting. Everyone took such a different direction in their garments. Most were jackets with double fronts...I, however, took the simple direction with a 3/4 length sleeve and a V neck T shirt.
Laying out is a long process:

Wetting down is more exciting....
Every time you open your rolled package the little adjustments and the excitement of watching it shrink by inches and runch up into the silk start to make it worthwhile. One of my classmates did a gorgeous sleeveless tunic with a V like design...this piece was beautiful when done.
Rolling seem to go on and on and on. Each of us rolled for what seemed forever....and the pieces seem to take even longer to shrink.
Linda was there at each step....helping heal tiny separations, advising on blending silk to wool and encouraging us to keep going.....But we all persisted and in the end we were rewarded. Every seamless piece reflected the personality of the felter....in colors, style and fit!!
So here is my piece....an orange and green/blue T shirt....and my stained forearms... =-)

Felt Until You Can't Stand

2009-06-09T20:35:00.019-04:00

This last weekend I attended the most wonderful class. It was held at New England Felting Supply in Easthampton, Mass. Chris White, the author of Uniquely Felt, was our hostess at her shop..... http://www.feltingsupply.com/ Our teacher, I claim as a friend, Linda Veilleux....an outstanding teacher and seamstress extraordinaire! She can make a felt garment....and it is gorgeous....and it will fit...to a T!

These were my two samples. I do a very thin cross pattern as taught by Inga Bauer.....another felter of superlative qualities. My squares were 3 strips of green home dyed silks layered with commercial blue and green merino. The orange square was similiar with 3 strips again and 3 colors of commercial dyed merino.
After we were measured (no, no picture) we calculated our total pattern size. Everyone in the class groaned as we were called to do math.....but Linda not only had a formula printed on paper that we could fill in the blanks....but.....drum roll here....she has made a CD for your computer that calculates it all out and gives you the dimensions of your pattern to use over and over!!!! YEAH!!! LINDA....I will be ordering one of these to make other patterns for myself...and possibly for others....I'm thinking I still owe my sister a Birthday Present.

Then we laid out our silks....Oh! The colors people picked .... some were brought from home...but some came from Chris' store....take a gander of what we had to choose from:

Yummy Felters' Heaven!! I'd brought silk and wool from home.....but that didn't keep me from shopping!! But the class was time pressured and I was on a limited budget .... sigh..... so off to work on my T Shirt
I bought some lushious silk yardage from Chris (hummmm the computer seems to have changed to italics and I can't shift back....) the green and blue. The orange and blue was my own. This is the front laid out. I am really not that huge!!! I have lost a few pounds since my vacation...but my calculations said it would shrink almost 63%....Yipes! My silk hung over the edges of my two tables from top to bottom....and my sleeves .... which were only 3/4 length....stretched end to end.

This about it for me that first day. I met with two classmates and off we went for dinner and well deserved glasses of wine before falling exhausted (from all that math!) and aching legs and knees.... into bed....by 9:30pm! I slept like a log with visions of orange and blue dancing in my head....too much orange????? Would it all work out? Oh, I agonized over my color choices after seeing what my classmates had done.

Long Time No Felt

2009-06-01T20:53:00.014-04:00

Well, I had a most wonderful vacation. I flew to Brisbane, Australia and stayed with my son and his family in Tangolooma. We fed the dolphins, the Kookaburras, rode 4 wheelers on the sand, fed fish food to the fish then watched the cormarants eat the fish. We went tobogganing down sand dunes and ate and drank until we had to lie on the beach to recover.

The dolphins come into the cove every evening and we got to feed them. It is really a magical moment to have a dolphin lean his head over, look you in the eye and take a fish you are offering.
Here we are trekking up the sand dune to slide down on those little pieces of fiberboard. My son won the prize....a T shirt....for going the furthest.

It was a real vacation and even the weather cooperated. Although I never did any fiber work I relaxed and enjoyed myself greatly.

I go next weekend to a class at New England Felting Supply. I will take some pictures (with the instructors permission) of my project. I plan on making a nuno shirt with a v neck and 3/4 sleeves. Now to pick out my colors of silk and wool.

Arrrrrrrg the Cable

2009-05-04T16:54:00.006-04:00

Well, my cable service has only been very spotty for the last 3 weeks!!! Sometimes I would get on and be shut down and some times it would time out and I never got anywhere. Such frustration...especially as I've been trying to get ready to leave on my vacation.

This will be a short post....I leave tomorrow at 4:30am....I will try to remember to brush my teeth prior. We land in Brisbane 2 days later! I'm about ready to call my son and see if we are already there. I can't afford to lose 2 days out of what I have left!!!

Anyway, I thought I would post a few pictures of felt. I have not been felting but have the cartoon done for the next block....Jack in the Pulpit. Some of these items I no longer seem to have. Gifted or sold....but the jacket....well, it fit me to a T ... so I kept it =-)
The jacket I made in a class taught by the wonderful Inge Bauer. It is all of my hand dyed silk with Ashford wool tops inside. There are no seams but there are two pockets. It took me days after the class to face this large project and finish it. It is very light and drapes well.

The pocketbook is of very thick heavy Finnwool layers with my hand dyed Ramboillet and silk for the surface design of bamboo leaves. I may keep this if no one buys it from the gallery it's in now.

This little reciving blanket was washed in the machine after making to shrink it down and make it machine washable for a co-workers first granddaughter. The pink is handdyed silk the white is undyed Ramboillet...not sure if I've spelt that right. It is a very soft tiny micron wool that I get from a lady in Washington State. Soft enough for a new born....even after washing.

Scarf of silk roving and super fine merino. A purse with old lace and leather trim.
Well, that's my short post for today. I'm off to Down Under and hope to see some wool on the hoof....swim with the dolphins and peek at the crocs.

Distractions and Desires

2009-04-19T08:54:00.012-04:00

Well, I've had several distractions over the last 2 weeks. First unexpected company that did not allow time in the basement for working on the quilt. Sadly, despite my desire, no felting was done until last Friday.

Then with the weather becoming nice, there are other outside distractions. Plus, I am getting ready to leave for vacation. I head to Australia's East coast on May 5th. Anyone out there that can recommend a sneak away visit for wool/felt or such?

I have only 1 piece to show... a thistle. The thistles in California are considered an invasive problem. Bull thistles can grow quite large...easily 4 feet. But here in the Northeastern states people plant more domesticated forms that are lovely.

First a little inspiration from a wildflower book....a long ago gift from a friend. Then my cartoon.

This time I decided to try using freezer paper for the cutting pattern because there were so many sharp pointy edges. Quilters use freezer paper to iron on to fabric to help with applique and points and it is easily removed. Well, iron it on and cut them out worked like a charm.

But, as I pulled that thin 4.5mm silk from the freezer paper the tiny edges frayed. I decided because thistle have very ragged and hairy edges I would go forward. My reasoning being the edges would probably felt in.....or if not would look like thistle edges anyway. Here it is wetted down between two thin sheets of plastic.....ready to rub and roll.

I didn't give myself enough margin on the top. The flower is right to the edge. What I planned doing with the embroidery was to make long thin lines like the thistle down. My thought is now to extend the embroidery over the margin.....might be interesting.

The finished nuno....

Next....thinking about early spring flowers....skunk cabbage or trout lily?

Different Felt and Different Folks

2009-04-09T17:21:00.013-04:00

I'm mostly a wet felter. Several years ago I bought an Embellisher by Babylock and played around making all sorts of little pieces. But the more I researched felt, the more I wanted to do larger pieces and to do more traditional felt. I began on my kitchen counter making scarves and small purses but then found The Northeast Feltmakers Guild. They have introduced me to many facets of feltmaking.....traditional and non-traditional.

What a wonderful group this is. I cannot sing their praises enough. We meet approximately 3 times yearly for a felting and feasting. This last weekend was in upstate New York hosted by Sharon Costello of www.blacksheepdesigns.com. Sharon instructed us....more than 20 I might add...on how to make needle felted faces.

We laughed and actually had very few and minor injuries with sharp barbed needles. What fun! This is Diane...

This is Althea...

These little beauties were Linda's and mine before they were finished:

This is Rhea, Harvey and Oliver....when they were finished....I can't tell you what Harvey has on his mind.....but I'll bet it's not legal.....The Guild did a fantastic job in that afternoon .... and here is the group head shot:

Now.....did you notice the majority of this bunch has grey hair????

It's Coming Along

2009-03-29T17:36:00.007-04:00

Today it seems like early Spring. The weather has been almost 50 degrees F outside with a gentle but persistent rain. The kind that make Spring bulbs start to peek up... testing the air with little green fingers. A few crocuses, some daffies and tiny daylily greens. It's coming....Spring may make it here, yet.

The quilt blocks are coming along also. Two more bloomed for me this weekend. I love Brodiaeas. They hide in the grass waiting to surprise you. I found these frequently in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in California, as well as the grasslands of the Sacramento Valley. They look rather like wild onions but are blue or purple.

These had a hard time 'sticking' on the silk. And, if you look closely, you can see my little bits of red thread holding down tips of flower petals. They did felt in but loosely. When I do embroider these for details the threads will remind me where to carefully detail or tack them down.

My second block is of cone flowers. There were at least three different types that I remember growing in East Texas. The purple variety I liked the best....but I needed more zippy color for the quilt, so I did more of the Mexican Hat type. I like they way these turned out.

I haven't counted how many blocks I have yet....but I thought I might put them out on the felting table to see how they look together.

I couldn't get them all in at one setting. I should have got a chair. There are ruffles of silk around the blocks which are overhang on the wool of the bottom layer. Those will be clipped away I think.

I found that I was making most of them the same size. My plan is for green pieces between the blocks with vines or leaves. I think it should pull the whole together. I've not ever done such a large project.

Next weekend it's off to upstate New York for a Northeast Feltmakers Guild meeting. No working on the blocks, or blog for that matter. I will have pictures to share, members willing, when I return. They are a fantastic group. It's always hard for me to organize and travel far for only 2 days, but I'll visit with friends and be weary yet full with new ideas when I return.

Dyeing for Flowers

2009-03-22T20:03:00.009-04:00

Well, most of the weekend was spent traveling to and from New Hampshire. For some reason I forgot my camera and took no pictures. It was not much of an Art/Picture tour anyway but the view from our friends home is spectacular and looks out down the hills toward the Connecticut River. We visited and had a lovely time. I bought beads. So many beads. But I love beads.

The ground is still mostly dormant but we did see Baskin' Robins...out catching the sun. And one vulture, with it's wings so wide showing several missing feathers. When do vultures moult, I wonder?

We talked of gardens, vegetables and flowers. Then cut pussy willows for my house. We drove to a yarn shop and I bought gorgeous hand dyed yarn to make some socks.

But as always, I return to felting. I have been doing some dyeing. I needed more colors for the flowers...or so I've told myself. I love dyeing silk. The sheen and touch is like nothing else.

I hope to be inspired by these warm colors to make more sun loving wildflowers. But I love greens and did 5 different dye pots.

I also finished the violets. At first I wasn't as pleased with them...they looked too much like the periwinkles. But now....I'm not sure. I suppose I will make more than what I need for the quilt and make decisions for the final cut later.

I have also finished the Mission Bells. These flowers hold a special place in my heart. I found them on a walk one day totally unexpected. It was like finding something magic. I almost expected a fairy to come out from the tangle of leaves and scold me for staring.

Doreen, the size of the blocks range from 12 by 16 inches to 18 by 18 inches when they are done. I think I will need about 30 .... perhaps more .... as this will be for a king size bed. Speaking of which, I'm off to bed to read then sleep...then dream.

Some colors exist in dreams that are not present in the waking spectrum. ~The Quote Garden

Flowers flowers everywhere

2009-03-15T14:02:00.010-04:00

....but none in the garden. The ground is still frozen on the south side of the house. The ground uneven .... heaved to an irregular surface. I pulled some dried grass-like leaves from a daylily and did find some very tiny short green shoots...but only a few. So it is warm enough to run the dogs but not to garden. Back in the studio to dream of Spring and Summer blooms.

A common wildflower here in Rhode Island is Rosa Rugosa. It is very hardy. So frequently found in the sandy soil of the beach, it is often referred to as a Beach Rose. They come in a vibrant pink and a clear white.

The colors are not true on my monitor, but it is in the felt. I'm pleased with this one.

One of my favorite flowers is the Cyclamen. In California the Shooting Stars were sprinkled over most of my property. Here in Rhode Island, I planted some and hope to see them this year. The block is not a shooting star but a cultivated cyclamen.

I like the background of this with the mottled greens. I dye all of my silk in a crock pot and prefer the mottled result. It seems to make my cartoons less static in my eye.

Both of these will need either machine or hand embroidery to complete the details but I think they are in keeping with the theme. Back to the studio....where I will finish Checkered Lilies today and work on violets. Violets are the state flower of Rhode Island and are terribly invasive in my yard.

Spring Thaw...Again

2009-03-08T21:36:00.003-04:00

The temperatures were in the high 50s and felt like real Spring today. But the weatherman predicts rain sleet and snow for tomorrow. I think this is what you call 'unsettled weather'. A few brave daffies have poked their heads above ground in the South facing garden. The shade garden still clings to soft wet drifts of winter.

I did finish 2 more blocks but only have one picture to show. It was too nice outside to sit at the computer. I took the dogs for a run instead. We found lots of tracks, this time in the mud. The same mud they used to track up the kitchen floor when we returned.

The background of the bleeding hearts looks grey in this picture. But it is a soft teal, for the shade. The soft blue green on the edge of my garden.

I've been dreaming in greens. Spring greens and shade greens, grass greens and leaf greens. The air smelled damp today. That smell before the greens. Why is it I bemoan the passing too quickly of my time, yet want the garden to hurry to the next stage? Oh, I'm so ready for Spring.