OCEAN DREAMS

I always have so many projects going on at the same time and already my mind is conjuring up the next - for the past couple of evenings, I have been taking a little break from stitching my AC dress and began working on my 30 x 24 large felt piece 'Ocean Dreams' for an upcoming show at the Digital Corridor in Beaufort, SC, which will run from October through December - you cannot tell from the photographs but there are tiny clear glass beads stitched along the horizon (oh my poor eyes but it is so worth it!)  I plan on adding lots more beads/embroidery and have begun outlining some of the waves too.  I indulged myself by using some of my very special first cut kid mohair curls to add a frothy look.  Perhaps it is the weather forecast, but if I wanted to, I could see a storm brewing out in the Atlantic but I'm sticking to my dreams of willing the storm away as I am so looking forward to teaching at Coastal Art Supply this Friday and Saturday.

SO MANY CHOICES

Since I retired five years ago, I'm so fortunate to be able to focus on what I want.  The only thing is that I enjoy so many crafts that it is difficult to decide sometimes just what is the priority.  Somehow my creativity is given a push when I have a deadline such as a class or a show - the creative juices really get going then but the same problem exists (how fortunate to have this for a problem!) so I have resorted to 'mapping'  rather than just prioritizing.  Writing down my thought process helps clear my mind and helps me bring one or two projects to the surface.  I like to think of it is as cream rising to the top.

I met my friend Laura for lunch several months ago and mentioned that I wanted to start making my own clothes; she said she had thoughts along the same lines.  Maybe it is my age or knowing that so many beautiful textiles are discarded and are piling up all over the world.- so I have deemed myself a 'textile saver.'  In fact, there is a very special local resale shop and I talked to Beth, the owner, about my idea of forming a group to be associated with her lovely wares; she agreed that it was a good idea and I get to come up with a plan for her to approve!  so now to convince friends and determine exactly what we can proceed!  PS:  I am amazed that Laura has created many AC projects while I am still working on this one!  

So for the past few months, I have been taking several online workshops and also creating a dress from the Alabama Chanin books.  Before we moved to SC, while I still worked, I purchased a Natalie Chanin class (jacket pattern came with the class) which I never made;  AC wasn't so popular then and I was still trying to juggle work during the week and felting, dyeing and all the other things I love to do on the weekends, including our priority - being with the family.

In any event, I have been working on this Alabama Chanin dress and although it still has a way to go, I find it a lovely soothing way to end the day, watching a program with my husband while stitching.

The bottom layer is a medium weight cotton knit dipped in indigo, the top is lightweight cotton knit stenciled with pearlescent grey.  The pattern came from one of the AC books and I took it to have it enlarged.  I also had the stencil enlarged and cut it out of pennant felt - took me two weeks off and on, not my favorite thing to do!  My first attempt at stenciling was a disaster as the air gun kept getting clogged and the felt became saturated underneath - you can imagine the disappointing outcome.  Next, I had to dye another top layer and stencil all over again.   I used a sponge which worked much better.  So here we are at the point where all of the main stitching is complete and I am enjoying the embellishment.  The great thing is that when I need to move on to the next evening project, I can finish the dress and still work on it later!  Oh, forgot to mention that I am going to add a ruffle to the bottom.

The other workshops that I have been taking are from India Flint - the true guru of not only eco printing but of creative design. She has the most amazing creative ability and she has helped me think outside of the box. 

The first class was the Japanese bag and I was an eager participant.  This large bag was all hand stitched boro style and I loved it so much; however, at an event attended, someone fell in love with it and had to have it  - she was a very special talented musician and she loved it so I couldn't say no - so it went to a good home and I had all the fun of putting it together!

 

Next was the alchemist apron, created using a men's shirt - again, I never would have dared tackle this without direction.  At the moment I can't locate the full picture, but I expecially love the trinket line, the lace collar and the special hankie addition from my friend Becky Becker!

 The trinket line with some special words embroidered, a smocked pocket (smocked by me) I hope to put this to good use soon!

 The hemline with a little girl swinging all her troubles away!

This is the back.

The latest workshop is named Conscious Clothing and as time permits, I've been working along on that.  The idea is to use thrift clothing, cutting things up, redesigning according to India's gentle instruction bundling them and simmering in her 'magic' brew.  So far I have made a cardi and a dress made a dress recycling an eco dyed silk dress and a knit top which when dyed together helps the colors all meld together.

 The cardi was done first - top cut up the front and back, velvet stitched down the center back, avocado dyed Japanese silk panels added to the front, silk cowl from a blouse added as a collar and chiffon ties.

 During the dress designing process - hmmm not sure where we are going yet, but trusting in the instruction.

 After simmering with leaves in the magic brew - the pink ended up matching the Japanese silk front panels on the cardi

 The skirt wasn't quite full enough at the sides and a little boring in front, so the class gave me enough confidence to cut up the sides and add other silk panels as well as a V-shaped felted portion below the waist

Once it was all dyed, it was amazing how the colors all melded and came together.  So pleased!

A FLYING FLOWER

The Butterfly is a flying flower. The flower a tethered butterfly.- Ponce Denis


PLEASE JOIN IN THE FUN AS WE CREATE FLYING FLOWERS!!!

FLY!!!

Butterflies abound - a new workshop to teach how to outline, shade and add details!  Once this technique is mastered, it can be used for any image you like.

Class will take place at Coastal Art Supply in Beaufort, SC, on September 14 & 15.  All materials including hand dyed silk chiffon will be provided and I will teach you an easy modern way to felt.  No bubble wrap, no noodle just enjoy the transformation to a gorgeous nuno felted scarf with little effort.  You will have plenty of time to design your butterfly and the surrounding flowers.

Snacks and lunch will be provided with perhaps with afternoon 'sip' and chocolate from the famous Beaufort Chocolate Tree!

Supply list will be provided upon registration.  Limited seating so make your reservation soon!

Cost for this two day experience including lunch:  150.

Contact me for more information:

email:  hermajestymargo@aol.com

cell:      301-325-3225

Planning Ahead

An experiment  that I'm in love with - it will be perfect in the cooler months as it will be quite warm!  I love the colors and how the rayon embroidery thread, stitched before felting, stands out and gives it a wonderful texture.  Post dyeing and little stitching was done after the fact, just because . . .  I do love to hand stitch!  I will try this again in a lighter weight!

Catching Up

Trying to play catch up - so going to post pictures of news and work for these last few months.   First let me say that I have been searching ever since we moved to Beaufort, SC, for a happy place that is a good fit for me and my fiber work.  There really are a lot of galleries in Beaufort as well as Bluffon but mostly display painting, jewelry, wood turning and ceramics -  I have tried a couple of those, but although they are really wonderful places to display art, my work was not a good fit.  

The exciting thing, is that I was invited to be part of the Maye River Gallery in Bluffton on Calhoun Street directly across from Spartina.  If you know anything about Bluffton, you will know this is the prime location as there is a ton of foot traffic always and in winter there are a lot of tourists from up North so I am hoping that my work will appeal (and sell!)  I have been very fortunate so far and have made my rent and some to spare so I am encouraged.  Not only is the location great, but the 15 members who make up the artists in the gallery are among the MOST talented artists ever and they are so very kind and supportive of one another and of me, a new member who is is learning about all of the intricacies when I have to work (everyone works two days a month, it is a real blessing to be part of their family.    http//:www.mayerivergallery.com

I think fiber lovers want to see and touch the textile - I know I do to enjoy the color and texture; this is one reason that I haven't done much with etsy although my studio was beginning to be overwhelmed with my work!  I don't mind mailing things occasionally but I don't want to be making trips to the post office when I can be in my studio

In any event, I confess to posting pictures mostly to Facebook - they make it so easy and I love sharing information and techniques with worldwide friends and learning from them as well.

Now to what I have been working on: eco printing - always!, shibori, indigo, ice dyeing, joomchi still obsessed when I have the time and of course felt making.  I have also become enthralled with Alabama Chanin so have been working on my first hand stitched dress using hand dyed fabric - bottom layer indigo, top layer logwood that has been spent but still gave a lovely creamy color.  This top layer was stenciled using a huge stencil I cut out of pennant felt - ugh not a fun job (so I bought a Cricut for next time!) and used pearly grey for the paint.  Each leaf/flower is hand stitched and then the center cut away leaving a margin (reverse applique).  Yes, it is a lot of stitching but I love doing it for a couple of hours in the evening - find it very soothing.  Two and a half panels done - one and a half to go!

Another thing I have been doing is taking a few classes from Botanical wizard, India Flint; she does possess a certain charm and her ideas are helping me immensely to think outside the box; her voice is sooo soothing, I love listening to her talk as the wind whistles, the fire for the cauldron crackles and the ocean in the background as she works.  So all of these things involve hand stitching - no machine.  I'm loving the slow stitching which is quite a movement at the moment and since I consider myself a  textile saver, loving the thrift shop searching for just the right pieces to cut up and put together again in a different form before bundling - and then! there is always the great reveal

I have taken all three (so far) of her workshops - Japanese Bags, Alchemist Apron and now Conscious Clothing - all of which are hand stitched, bundled and dyed.

First the Japanese bags from India's Bagstories workshop using all sorts of fabrics and dyes.

Secondly India's Alchemist Apron workshop:

Created from linen shirts with embellishments from the heart

India's Consious Clothing workshop - great for a textile saver like me - this is just the workshop I wanted needed!  I LOVE being immersed in these delicious decisions as to what, how to combine since I had no clue otherwise!

The first picture is before the dye pot - a combination of all sorts of fabric and textures.

This is the dye pot - what will happen?

The reveal before being rinsed - I'm just thrilled with the outcome; have since rinsed and it is a bit lighter.  I will make a sleeveless dress next using the same techniques but all that work was so worth it!

In between all of this, we had some beach time at Harbor Isle, and our granddaughters visited from their farm near Gettysburg - they are grown now so they had a great time going to the dock and pool with some site-seeing and visiting thrown in as well.  We also had a dye day because I wanted them to give them some lessons on indigo as well as ice dyeing.

The girls at the Paris Market always a must visit in Savannah enjoying a lavender spritzer and macarons:

 Ice dyeing fun

Indigo - silly me forgot to take pictures and a huge box was shipped off to their home after they left!

More ice dyeing on thrift store linen shirts

Now for some willy nilly work accomplished over the past few months:

Clitoria Ternatea or Butterfly Pea Flower

I must confess - I love nothing more than to "putter."  With my love of color, fiber and fabrics it is never a problem and always provides a 'high.'   This could be looked at as a waste of time, but not to me.   Since the New Year, I feel as though I'm hibernating and haven't had the interest to begin huge new projects so in the meantime, I must do what I do; I would go mad without having a color or fiber fix.  I know from experience that this lull is a necessary restoring of energy that I think we all must do from time to time - a lot of it may have to do with all the energy expended prior to the holidays.  There are ideas germinating but I don't really have the urge to go fast forward so I've been reading - a lot - an opportunity to catch up with my books and blogs and one of the most interesting things I came across on Pinterest is the Butterfly Pea Flower (Clitoria Ternatea).  This is a flower that grows in Southeast Asia and the common name which I found fascinating is Asian Pigeon Wings belonging to the Fabascea family.  Of course, I had to have some - you can make drinks and food that change color depending on the ph. and I plan to use it for this for special drinks and desserts!  

I freeze blue flowers to use for eco painting/printing and dyeing so when I found this recently, I was excited to try using it as a dye.  It is such a pretty color, that I wondered about how it would work on paper and fabric so I tried on silk, paper and wool, mordanted and unmordanted and had a great time.

Butterfly Pea Flower is sold as a tea but can also be used to color food and drinks; there are several brands on Amazon, some more expensive than others.  I steeped the flowers in hot water but I did read that it can be more effective heating with the microwave so I tried that and didn't find much difference.

Experiment Conclusions:   
On paper:  Blue (lovely periwinkle color) using straight tea; violet when lemon is added; green when baking soda is added.  I found that painting on after eco printing has interesting effects depending on the mordant used.

On silk:  I had high hopes I could make this work by being patient and mordanting first.  The most success I had was with Uzbec silk (unmordanted) which is very fine; the results were best when dipped, left for a while then steam ironed - I washed it several times and it kept its color;however, a ph neutral soap must be used for this or the color will change.   When I tried habotai, the color didn't last.  It looked beautiful at first but faded quickly.  

On wool:  I tried a scrap of prefelt - it did not hold the color at all

Promise to Myself

I'm making a promise to myself to update my blog once a month if not more.  It is a great way to keep track of what you have been up to when looking back.  Facebook has become that, but posts and pictures tend to get lost in the shuffle and when you experiment as much as I do, it helps your efforts to become clarified - rather like making something that you are not quite sure of and leaving it for a while to come and revisit later.

Our Fiber Group had a show and sale in Bluffton in early November at SoBA - it is a wonderful location for foot traffic - both for locals as well as out of town visitors. But the space is really too small for our needs.  Although we love being there, we want to grow our fiber group; new members inject much needed inspiration, new work and new expertise which will keep us from getting stale so the need for a larger venue is one that our group spends a lot of time thinking and talking about.  The members of our group are so talented with everyone having their own approach to working with fiber.

This was created for an auction to benefit a local elementary school - it has a variety of locks, a felted flower and glittered feathers to add some 'bling.'