LUNARIA ANNUA

Last Friday I blogged about the start of this project.  Since then I've been putting hours and hours and hours hand stitching this half of an ice-dyed linen table runner. 

The featured botanical motif is known by several different names; its Latin name: Lunaria Annua, or Silver Dollar, Honesty Plant, Money Plant.

The stems are hand-dyed cotton strips & machine stitched to the background. The discs have been created by combining  hand-dyed cottons, fusibles, and hand-dyed crinkled polyester. Each has been appliquéd with hand embroidery.

It was understandably time consuming, however after not being able to do much handwork for nearly 4 months due to eye surgery, it was pure pleasure.

The challenge now is to figure out how to finish it. The fabric has been stabilized with Pellon's lightweight non-fusible interfacing which allowed the flimsy fabric to remain remarkably flat.  The edges aren't quite as straight as I'd like, so along with finishing the top, I'll be addressing that issue. I'm considering dyeing some lace to add to those areas.  

Creating one-of-a-kind wall art pieces with repurposed fabrics can be challenging but so rewarding!

Follow these links to see how other artists are having fun with their work this week:  Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday, Crazy Mom Quilts, Sarah's Whoop, Whoop Friday.

  

BEING A TOURIST IN MY OWN BACKYARD - PART 2

For those of you who only know me as a fiber artist......I had another life prior to picking up a needle.  I was heavily involved in cooking.  In fact my first published book was a children's cookbook.  Daily cooking isn't so much fun anymore, but special occassion or cooking for company really gears me up.

That means we've been dining well.  So well actually, that another hike was added to our activities in the hopes we'd burn off some of those extra calories.

We visited Mt. Mitchell......as you can see....the elevation is impressive. 

The views are breathtaking!!

The mountain was named after Elisha Mitchell, a scientist who died in 1857 during his quest to record its height.

My BIL stands next to the declaration that this is the highest peak East of the Mississippi at 6,684 ft.

The little brass circle set within the outline of the state of NC is the exact measurement spot used to make this place famous.

Kinda sad but appropriate......Rev. Mitchell was buried right there on his beloved mountain.

I moved to NC 10 years ago and this was my first visit to Mt. Mitchell....though 'the husband' had ridden his motorcycle to the top numerous times.  We saw two fellows on bicycles.....not an inch of fat on either of them. The trek up the mountain is not for beginners!  I bet they didn't go back home that night have have chocolate peanut butter cream cheese pie with an Oreo cookie crust like we did?? Though they could each have eaten a whole pie with all the calories they must have burned.

No matter where you live.......take a little time to get out and enjoy your surroundings.

BEING A TOURIST IN OUR OWN BACKYARD - PART 1

With family in town and perfect weather, we headed out to do the tourist thing.  This day included a picnic lunch in Dupont State Forest where the beauty of numerous waterfalls amazed us.  I visited several times before but appreciated it just as much this trip. 

After passing over the iron bridge entryway, we saw a few fading wild flowers.....surely the last of the summer.

 And then the waterfalls.....both small and grand.

 Sooty, our black lab, smelled her way throughout the 60+ minute hike.

 A band of sunlight made these ferns sparkle.

 We made two stops on our way home.....leaving Sooty in the car when we stopped at Bridal Falls....another well-known area waterfall.  She kept her eyes focused out the front window waiting for our return.

 Our last stop was the famous Sliding Rock.....a long rather flat rock where the adventurous sit in the freezing cold, fast moving water as it swooshes the person down into the pool like alcove at the end.

This fellow is about half way to the end.  It was great fun to watch.  It's a shame it takes out of town visitors for us to get out and enjoy our own backyard!

GO PACK GO!!!

YUP.....it's football season and happily the game is on TV tonight.  We'll be cheering the Green Bay Packers as they take on the Minnesota Vikings. Like most NFL teams, rivals are part of the football experience.  Wisconsin is located ajacent to Minnesota, Illinois and Michigan.....all with NFL teams.  Strong feelings abound.....it's hard to tell whether the Vikings, the Bears, or the Lions are disliked the most!!

The Vikings are starting the year with a high rating.....so hopefully the Pack will have what it takes to come home with a win.

I'll be wearing my lucky socks my friend Gen hand knitted for me......

GO PACK GO!!!!!!!

SOCIAL BUTTERFLY = VERY LITTLE SEWING TIME

September has and will continue to be a very busy month......which doesn't allow for much studio time.  However, I feel very fortunate to have so many activities that keep me engaged in life!

As my eyes slowly heal (now nearly 4 months post cataract surgery), I get more and more itchy to get back to enhancing my projects with handwork.

Early this spring, pals Kate, Judy and I enjoyed a couple of care-free days at Folly Beach to ice-dye and otherwise get messy.  With stacks of dyed cottons in my stash already, I brought some odd-ball fabrics in the hopes of getting interesting results that would kick-start new directions for me to explore.

I cut an antique linen lace embellished table runner in half and dyed each section using different colors.

This will be somewhat challenging as the linen is fairly wimpy and three sides are already finished.....leaving little opportunity to square the finished piece.

The three of us had a successful exhibit at the North Carolina Arboretum which concluded in early July.  Happily, we've already been invited to return in 2018.  I KNOW that sounds far in the future, but considering we are able to hang nearly 100 pieces, it's not too soon to start new botanical inspired pieces.

So, along with the ice-dyed brown lace-edged piece, I dug out some dyed crinkled poly and a very pale piece of dyed cotton.  I think the later may have been microwave dyed. I try to document the types of methods used when dyeing but.....well I guess I don't have to explain.....

......So then I set about creating a design featuring Honesty plants. I'm not rushing the project....just trying to enjoy the process......here's what I have so far.

The discs are made by fusing Wonder-under to the w/s of the dyed cotton fabric and layering some small circular brown fabric 'seeds' on top, between the crinkled poly fabric and Misty Fuse.  The main stem is a very narrow strip of hand-dyed fabric and the smaller stems are hand embroidered.  

I had planned to machine satin stitch the discs to the background, but even with stabilizing I worried about distortion, so I'll be slowly hand blanket stitching around each one and further embellishing with simple straight stitches using brown embroidery thread.  It's a bit of a challenge since focusing is still somewhat difficult but I am improving and relieved to get my fingers on a needle!

Visit other creative artists and see what they've been working on this week.  Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday, Sarah's Whoop Whoop Friday, and Crazy Mom Sews

BLACK LAB'S MAY BE HUMAN

We are eagerly awaiting family who are coming from Wisconsin for a visit......so not much is going on in the studio this week.  Even the dog is aware of a change in our schedule.

Sooty, our rescue black lab acts human at times.  Here she is pouting after realizing she wouldn't be going in the car with us.

And here she is perking up after I had to come back inside for a forgotten item.....soon to look dismal again I'm sure!

SILENT SUNDAY - 9/11

SEA GLASS

I just returned from a late summer mini vacation to visit my brother/family in Eugene, OR. The trip was too short, made even shorter because of the limited flight schedules available at small airports.  4 flights & 15 hours of travel, door to door each way, takes a toll.  It was sure a good reminder of why I decided to retire from travel teaching!

This is not to say it was anything but totally worthwhile......face to face sure beats Facetime.

 My wonderful SIL grew up in the same town our family did.  Her family home was on the shores of Lake Michigan.  As a child she used to collect the sea glass that washed up on their beach.  She estimates these treasures have been sitting in this empty whiskey bottle for 50 years.

 We emptied it and washed the bits and pieces.  Barbara gave me free rein to take as many as I wished.

 Here's my pile....now that I'm home, I've got it soaking in some white vinegar which should hopefully brighten them up.

This is my favorite piece.....look carefully to see the twisted wire embedded in the glass.  I plan to use the sea glass to embellish my next batch of hand felted bowls.

FELTING ONLINE WORKSHOP REGISTRATION

The very informative and active Felting and Fiber Studio has just announced a new online workshop in October.  Galina Titova will lead a Felted Fantasy Fish class.  Click here to get the details and see more photos of her fabulous work.

This looks like great fun with the opportunity to learn new techniques!!

I KNEW THIS WOULD BE DIFFICULT

I had this crazy idea that I could create a fabric portrait of our now nearly 11 month old grandson.  Okay, I also KNEW it would be difficult....yet the challenge was intriguing.

I spent hours and hours and hours online researching various techniques.  Lea McComas lessons were quite helpful. By combining several approaches....here's what I did.

 It began by selecting a photo

Cropping it

 Posterizing in Photoshop - I'm not Photoshop savvy so this took some doing, of course now I see how really simple that task was! 

The photo was printed and with the aid of a light box and freezer paper, the face was traced, divided into sections.  Each was assigned a number for its value, with a total of 5 to correspond with 5 solid fabrics. 

Next, each of the marked sections of the freezer paper were cut out and pressed to pieces of Wonder-Under prepared fabric.  One needs to keep careful track because once the piece is cut it's hard to know whether it is the outline of an eye or the mouth!  As is typical in appliqué, you start from the back and work forward, adding each piece to complete what feels like working on a jigsaw puzzle. And like a jigsaw, where one often begins with the corners, I found it worked best to get the outline of the face fused first.

So....finally all the fusing was completed.  AND DRAT......regular blog readers are aware of the trouble I've had with my cataract surgery. My vision is much, much worse than pre-surgery.  AND the promise of seeing color so much better.....NOT!!  So, that's my excuse for not realizing just how dark the #3 color was.....way too dark...which contributed to making this darling little boy look like he's 5!

I kept thinking that quilting with lighter thread would lighten it up....but it didn't.

 After countless days, much hand wringing, and with the help of my fiber buddies......all possible options to rescue this piece were examined.  Finally, it became clear that I'd have to paint it.  GULP!  Thanks to my pal Kate who introduced me to Golden's Paint Medium....which helped the paint flow and blend better. 

 I did several light layers to achieve the right color.

An email from talented blog buddy Gwyned Trefethen, (written after my posting of my last project which also needed rescuing), helped to steady my hand as I painted.  She said: If anyone has courage as an artist, it is you, Mary. Lopping off the bottom of your quilt, then finding a way to make the pieces work together. Courageous and brilliant!  I'm sharing this because it meant so much to me......and it's a reminder how much we share, inspire, and encourage each other via our blogs!  

It took over two weeks to decide how to finish it.  Cropping the face, eliminating the too skinny neck seemed to make him look more his age...though still too old.  I must have pulled every piece of fabric from my stash auditioning ideas for borders.  I cut who knows how many different colors and sizes of mats and tried who knows how many frame options.  In the end, instead of lopping off the bottom of the tree as in my last project.....I lopped off his neck.  

This isn't a masterpiece and I'm not sure I'll attempt another one......yet there is a certain sense of satisfaction that comes from creating such complex piece.

Elan Stori 2016

11" x 13"

Please take the time to visit other artists to help encourage them on their journey....it does make a difference!!    Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday, Sarah's Whoop Whoop Friday.
SaveSave