Flowers and Weaving

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

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

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: