Fresh Out of the Dye Pot

My yard is covered with dry Oak leaves. They have blown into the garage as well.

I was sweeping them up a month or two ago and stuffed a bunch of them in my "dye" crock pot

along with a piece of iron. There they stayed, soaking in water (I honestly don't remember adding the water) for many weeks. A couple of days ago, I bundled up some muslin and dropped it in. It took on a nice dark color right away, but I left it there for a day or two. Finally, I decided to turn the crock pot on. I "cooked" it for about an hour yesterday, then turned it off and let it sit until this morning. When I took it out and rinsed it, it was purple. Really pretty, but the purple left somewhere in the rinsing process. I was left with the piece you see on the bottom left and the upper right. Do you see the heart? There are actually two of them, but one is perfect.

Next to that fabric in the same picture, is a strip of muslin dyed in red food coloring, the professional kind. I wrapped the fabric around a stick and left it in the jar for several weeks. Look at that red!  Too cool.

Then, while I was messing around with all that, I thought I should see about the jars I have on the Solar dyeing shelf in the garage. I hadn't messed with them for a while and I was pretty sure they were empty. Surprise! An oak leaf and copper scrap one that has been there for months had a rather large piece of fabric in it. I had forgotten all about it and it was quite dark. I think it is the darkest thing I have dyed with plant dyes. It is apparently a good idea to forget about them. (I hope that bodes well for the avocado and silk I have buried in a flower pot). Anyway, this was a piece of muslin that I tied in knots on the diagonal, wrapped in bailing wire and the circle was made by tying around the plastic cap off a spice jar. If you look closely, you can see the shaker holes. I think I will change my plans for the day and do some more dyeing.

A Prize Winner

My machine embroidery, Butterfly Totem was given an award last night at the opening of the Fiber Arts show in San Antonio. I received the Warrior Award and I have already forgotten everything about it except that it is given by a private individual. I was also lucky enough to get to talk to the judge, Ilze Aviks in person and her opinions were very helpful. It was a great show with interesting work. A piece by Susie Monday took first place.

Completed Puzzle

I thought I would show you what I did with the knitted/crocheted "puzzle" pieces that I shared earlier. I thought of several things to do with them, but most of them involved making a lot more pieces and my short attention span did not find that appealing. Also, I don't really need a blanket and I wouldn't wear a sweater or have much use for another shawl. So, a scarf was a good solution. It is funky enough to appeal to me, but not too funky to wear in my small Texas town. It didn't take me very long to complete, so the pieces weren't hanging about getting dusty. I like it. I might even make another. If you would like to make one too, here is what you do:

Collect a basket full of yarns that look nice together.

Pick out a pair of knitting needles and a crochet hook that will work with most of your yarns.

(I used size 3 needles)

Put them in your basket along with some scissors.

Take the basket wherever you go.

Start making shapes. Have fun.

Put them together to make a long strip.

 (A design wall is handy for this.)

Put it around your neck and go out on the town!

I think this is the first time I have written a "tutorial". What do you think?

Oh and by the way, I joined my shapes with a crocheted zig-zag that I really liked.

Also Accepted 2011

This stitching, Terra Incognita, made it into the Fiber Arts show as well.
I went to pick it up and found them hanging it on the wall!
Hooray. Three out of five!!

New House

It is becoming a real house!

Accepted in 2011

These two pieces were accepted into the San Antonio Fiber Artists exhibition.
The one on the left is Butterfly Totem, a machine embroidery
The one on the right is Fruit of the Vine (shown here unfinished) a hand embroidered mono print.

Some New Work

Here are a couple of pieces I have been working on. I tried some things that I haven't done before and I am not sure what I think. This time next week, I will probably be cutting them up! But they are moving in a direction I want to go. The untitled piece on the left is machine embroidery on pieced, painted and collaged canvas. The pink and black piece, Terra Incognita, is quilted and embroidered monoprints, arranged in overlapping panels. Both are attached to stretched canvases.