Busy times and a bit of navel gazing

Started my class, and then spent two very full days doing the exercises.  Didn't know that the supply list was available prior to the class starting, so had a bit of a jolt when I finally read it--about half an hour before class started.  She has asked for several yards of clear fresh colours.  Thank Goodness I knew what she meant, but that still didn't mean I had any in my stash.  Nor did I have any money to buy them.  So, I finally decided to use the stash of white cotton, and Procion dyes that I did have to create my own.  So for the last two days and still at it today, I have spent the entire day, hour by hour, dying fabric--one dye bath at a time.   I tried to be careful how much dye I used, as I always tend to use far too much and it ends up going down the drain.  As a result most of the results were far to pale to be "bright and fresh'.  Did those over again, but at least all that is costing me is my time, and a little dye.  I did have to buy some prints--a large floral, a stripe and a tartan.  The tartan was half price but still cost me $16.74/m, plus tax.   It appeared to be the only tartan in the store, but after it was cut I found a few more.  Not an issue as they were of such light weight, loosely woven fabric that they would have been useless.  But, I've ended up using the best part of a full bolt I had of the white quilting cotton.  I decided not to worry about that as it had been in the house for over two years, and I'd not used any of it before.  I didn't worry about the dyes either, as they have been around for quite awhile--well past they're shelf life.

Here are some pictures of the exercises I posted on the class site.

First working with vertical lines.

Next working with horizontal lines.

Then adding vertical lines to the horizontal lines in the second picture.  I rather like this one, and may consider working it into a pattern for a wall hanging.  I already have yellow and purple fabric ( hand dyed!)

This last one is actually a full size pattern for a potential "modern" wall hanging, to be done in white, black and red.

So, yesterday evening, after a very busy day, as I was leaving the studio, I looked around at all of the hangings that I have on the wall.  And gasped!  While each was somewhat different, the fabric they were worked on was all exactly the same value--and in slightly different shades of grey/blue.  The first word that sprang to mind was "Depression".  I'm thinking that playing with the bright clear colours opened my mind to a different way of looking at cloth, and at how I could use it.  This has bothered me ever since.

This afternoon was a meeting of the craft group I belong to, in a rural town close to where I live.  Two of the ladies are good friends, and I spoke to them about the above.  One of them then says "I've been trying to tell you that you had a problem with value for years".  I know I have a problem within my work, generally, but I think the problem I noticed yesterday, is on a whole other level.