Deadlines

I've decided that my focus for the year will be to trudge along and not to accept or sweat any deadlines.  A "cop out"?  Maybe, but it's what I need at this point in time.

So, I'm going to take the re-vamping of my Machine Quilting class slow and easy, but am going to start the process now, so as to have lots of time, and not end up with a panic over a deadline.  The first steps will involve lots of computer work.  Now I know that I'll go crazy without some time at the machine, so I'm going to allow myself to finish up the few current projects that are "bugging" me. But there will be no sewing after the evening meal!  Evenings will be reserved for time at the computer--and it won't be times spent on silly games!  Yes, My sister got me hooked on Candy Crush over the holidays. (Oh, I'm so embarrassed!)

One of the current projects was a charity quilt.  While cleaning out the storeroom, I found a box with about 45 4" squares that had been appliqued with a 2 1/2" squares.  I figured that 100 such squares would make a more than adequate child's quilt.  The original squares had been left over after a class several years ago given by fibre artist Iris Roundtree ( best known for her ecclesiastical work).  It was a technique class that taught us to layer the four inch squares with batting and backing, and then machine applique the smaller square on top.  Next, some of these squares were cut at various angles and the resulting triangles mixed and matched.  Then the triangles were re-assembled into squares by butting the edges together and sewing the seam with a wide satin stitch.  The unique thing about this is that the squares didn't need to be sewn together in neat rows, but could be put together in almost any configuration involving right angle corners.  

Well, I wasn't going to go that far!  But DH had been asking what I was going to do with all of the hexies that I had put together out of my scrap bin, so I simply appliqued a hexie onto each square.  Then put the squares together by butting the edges and using the wide satin stitch. Sure used a lot of thread!

Here are some of my individual squares ready to putting together. and the finished quilt ready for binding.  I quite like it, but was a little dismayed by the poor manner in which my machine did the wide satin stitch, so while I love the look of it, it will remain a charity quilt.

What to do, what to do?

This is the time of year that one hears of artists selecting a word or phrase to use as a guiding principle for their work, over the next year. This isn't an easy process for me.  Two pieces, that have been in a travelling show for the last two years, were returned to me today, and I realized that it's been more than those two years since I have entered anything in a fibre-related show. But, I really have little to show for those two years, most of which was spent recovering from various surgeries.  And my forced stash reduction activities continue to deserve a degree of priority

 Looking toward the future, my next potential show entry is more than a year away.While this means that I don't have to force my creativity, it also means that I could get away with creative laziness, should I choose.  I'm anxious to do some more work with the dyed mandalas, but shows usually have size restrictions and themes, and these concepts are not really compatible with the idea of a square, abstract mandala. A further concern is that I'm committed to teaching this spring, and want to re-vamp my class to include some of the work I've done since it was last taught. 

So, I need to find a focus for my work, but that process will have to take place prior to finding a word to guide whatever focus I come up with. ( Oh My! Confusion you say! Maybe I just need a good night's sleep!  LOL)

While this is going on, I continue to work on my charity quilts.  An opportunity to deliver them comes up in a couple of weeks, and there are two more to finish by then.

A new year, and back to work

My time off turned out to be somewhat a truly very special time in my life. Family was wonderful, and, as well, I had a really great visit with my sisters.  The three of us haven't been together in several years. At our age one never knows if we will ever see each other again, and this awareness made the visit even more special. I wouldn't trade the time for anything. But during the last couple of days,  I was getting anxious to get back into the studio.  This was a surprise to me, until I thought about it, and realized that the studio time has been an important part of my life for the last few years.  Maybe too important??  Or maybe just the least physically demanding thing I could do while enduring several surgeries.

What ever was happening, today I'm back in the studio.

New Work

It's Monday and here's the ice dyeing I've been up to over the weekend.  The first two pieces came from the first ice  dyeing bath, and the rest from a second  ice dyeing bath. This first piece amazes me.  The fine detail is unbelievable.  I have no idea what I'm going to do with it.  Maybe I'll just keep it around to look at once in awhile.

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At first glance, I just about wrote this one off, but by the time I had washed it with Synthopol, and pressed it, I realized that it was probably my second favourite of the bunch.  The delicate colour changes blow me away.

I have been experimenting with folding the fabric in four, and then, using the center of the fabric as a fulcrum, working in accordion folds, from both sides.  The next fold will be in  half, and will put the accordion folds to the outside, before finally introducing a fold of the entire piece and clamping it.  I think with this one, I made a mistake and ended up with one set of accordion folds to the inside and one out.  But the lace-like delicacy, and very intricate detail makes this piece special as well.

Here is a, not very good, detail shot.

I have no idea why this piece ended up darker on one axis.  But, again the delicacy really appeals to me.  Below it is another detail shot.

For the last one I used a slightly different technique. I started with the four-fold, and then continued to 1/8th fold, and 1/16th fold.  Then I started at the center, and used a Tesuji Shibori wrapping technique, before submitting the piece to the ice dyeing bath.I hope that some of the tying threads show a bit in the picture.  They do in the piece itself.

Now I really do have to take a couple of cays off.  Happy Holidays to everyone.

Holiday plans

It is great to have so much going on in the studio.  I almost feel like there are so many potential pieces of work pulling at me, that I'm just spinning in circles, and will soon just spin myself right into the ground.

But, as with most people the next couple of weeks will be busy.  Not only do we have Christmas coming up, but a couple of days later Dave and I will be celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary. We have made plans for a large family celebration dinner, and family is coming in from around the country, some of them staying with us, or at a local hotel and eating their meals with us.  With no apologies to anyone, this is going to have priority in my life for the next couple of weeks.  But--I drew up a couple of "to do" lists, only to find that most jobs have been done, and, now, I think I have until Monday to play.  There is a charity quilt on the machine, and the piece I showed in the last post is sandwiched and ready for hand work  ( Yep, I'm going to give it a try, even though the snow and cold arrived yesterday, with vengeance, and my hands really aren't happy)  I'm also hoping to squeeze in another dye bath, so that project doesn't loose momentum.  Wish me luck!

Look what I found!

I found this today in the washing machine!  I had thought there should be one more piece, but when I couldn't find it figured I was mistaken.  The colour isn't too good here. What appears as blue is actually a darker green, which is amazing as I didn't use any green dye in the dye bath.  This just reinforces my love of the serendipity of ice dyeing.  What appears as light dots or tiny squares is the imprint from the small heads of the clamps I used. I think they add a lot to the design.

I'm still trying to decide what to do with the pieces.  I found two 12" wrapped canvasses today, with matching frames.  The size will work fairly well with the smaller dyed pieces.  I'm considering basing a piece on that size and augment the dyed fabric with simple hand stitching.  Since the colours are so busy, I would try to match the thread colour almost exactly, and keep the stitches simple--possibly only running stitch, as used in traditional Kantha embroideries.

Time out

After playing with UFO's for the past week, I took a day off and did some ice dyeing. Over the past year, I have been exploring various dyeing techniques, looking for a method that can result in a mandala type of design.  Over the month of November the blog "...and then we set it on fire", discussed variations of ice dyeing.  Some of the techniques discussed lead me to give  thought to, not only clamping the fabric, but various ways of folding it prior to clamping , and dyeing.  All four of these pieces went through the same dye bath! While I haven't solved the "mandala" part of the problem, I'm thrilled with the pattern and colour that was achieved.  Here are my results.

The first three images are each about 22" square.  

This is a larger piece, about 45" square.

This next is a close up (bottom right hand corner--I think) of the one above it, as, in my opinion, the fine details of that piece are wonderful