October 24, 2009
Inspired by a photo in the latest issue of “Stitch” I decided to make a table runner in autumn colors. I generally followed the directions in the magazine but made it a bit longer (about 44″ – the width of the fusible fleece). I sewed the strips to the non-fusible side of the fleece in the manner of string-piecing. Rather than using my good batik for the back I sewed a batik border to another fabric, fused it to the back & brought the border around to the front to form the binding.
The article showed a coordinating coil basket and I remembers that I had purchased some coil pot cording from Helen Deighan at the Chicago IQA a few years ago. Its smaller and more rigid than the clothesline that some coil bowls/baskets are made from. I didn’t have directions but I somehow remembered Helen’s description and gave it try. What fun!
Today I received a call from the arts council asking me if I was going to participate in the holiday market. Since I have nothing to sell I declined but told them I would probably participate next year. And I plan on participating in the Leland Fiber Fest next year as well. As some of my other commitments wind down I want to schedule some time for fun sewing and building up an inventory of runners, bowls, covered journals, small evening bags, etc. The added bonus is that I can use that portion of my stash that just doesn’t fit my current work but is lovely and fun to handle.
September 28, 2009
For years I have picked dried milkweed pods for floral arrangements. I’ve photographed and sketched milkweed for a long time.
45 Degrees North: Milkweeds I 30" x 20"
Some of the pods are 3D. I used silk paper and small beads for the kapok and seeds. I enjoyed making this so much that I have started working on a second one. And am revisiting the thistle sketches I made a while back. Seeds, weeds and pods are all pretty fascinating subjects.
Milkweed pod detail
One thing I have noticed is that during summer and winter I am quite content to work with muted shades and but in the winter, one everything is gray, white and brown I crave color in my life and it finds its way into my work.
September 19, 2009
This is the 2nd piece for the Fiber Arts Coalition “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird“ Exhibit. I finished beading it just before Fabrications but life kept getting in the way of getting a halfway decent photo.
On November Winds 23" x 18"
This was the first idea that I came up with when I read the poem. I sketched it out and it was originally going to be fairly large with my hand-dyed fabric as a whole-cloth background and the branches appliqued. The blowing leaves were going to be batik and/or lutrador. But somehow I never could get going on this.
Fast-forward to the fascination with the free-piecing technique. I sized it down and finally got the nerve to cut into the hand-dyed fabric. Now I much prefer the look of the background broken up and randomly pieced. I hit a speed bump when it came time for the leaves until I remember: beads!
September 12, 2009
A week after coming home from Fabrication Retreat and a workshop with Lyric Kinard and I’m still working on the background for the piece that was supposed to be our final project. A lot of workshop time was spent drawing. I already had pages of milkweed pods in my sketchbook and wound up adding more. And some of the fabric I free cut for the small studies were the same shape as milkweed pods. So it seem like a natural subject for my composition. I knew I wanted to work large and I didn’t have the fabric I wanted go use (no matter fabric I take I always wind up needing something entirely different. So I spent the last day drawing and stitching up some squares for future project. I can always use dark green backgrounds and/or borders.
Once I came home I had a lot of other things to take care of so it was an hour here and an hour there. It took me forever to decide on the fabric to use for the background. And then it takes a while to free-piece it but its a process I really enjoy:
Background as planned
I was just about to sew the last strip on when I decided to flip it to see what would happen.
And now I can decide which way I like it better. Looks like I’ll need to give it some time. I have printed out both version and will draw the milkweed pods over each and see what happens.
August 14, 2009
Lots and lots of little doll bodies for a pin doll workshop I will be presenting one evening at Fabrications Retreat . They are all stuffed and sewn so the participants just get to have the fun of decorating them. I have sold the pins at various art fairs when I used to make dolls and they sold extremely well. I need to make those G-rated, of course, but last year the artists at Fabrications made some really wild ones. They worked well on the small bags Peg Keeney made for our ID. Its a lot of fun to see what everyone comes up with.
July 25, 2009
When I started this piece it symbolized hope. I was inspired by a photograph in Operation Migration’s Field Journal entry of July 14, 2009 of a wild-hatched whooping crane chick and its parents. The International Crane Foundation granted me permission to use the image as my inspiration.
Wild 901 "Too Fragile" 24" x 29"
Unfortunately the next time the cranes were seen the chick was no longer with them. ICF reports the short life of this wild born chick:
“#W1-09 hatched on June 12 from an ICF captive egg that was substituted into the nest of #’s 12-02 & 19-04 after we determined their own eggs were infertile. The chick appeared to be doing well when it was last seen with its parents on Sunday, July 12th. When the family was next checked on Wednesday, July 15th the parents were out in the open but #W1-09 was not with them. Eva Szyszkoski, ICF’s Tracking Field Manager, watched the pair for over an hour but never saw the chick and the behavior of the adults indicated they no longer had a chick.”
And so another memorial. Please visit Operation Migration to learn about the establishment of an eastern migratory flock of the highly endangered Whooping Crane. My 2007 Journal Quilt recognized their efforts.
To Save the White Birds 22" x 17"
To Save the White Birds DETAIL
July 13, 2009
For several years loons have nested at the north end of our lake. One year they successfully raised two chicks; most years one. This year they nested early and produced one chick. I was able to observe the chick from a distance while kayaking the last weekend in June. It was about half the size of the parents, a good sign. But on July 4th we observed the loon pair out on the lake and could not see the chick. Two days later a neighbor told me that a raptor had taken the chick the previous week. I was, and still am, very sad. A couple days later I began this piece:
45 Degrees North: Lost Season (34" x 26/5")
I took a few breaks to finsh up a couple of other pieces but worked steadily on this with the studio windows open, listening for the occasional loon call.
Loon Feather Detail
I still need to hem the binding but will do that out on the dock, watching for the loons, hoping they will return and try again to raise chicks.
July 12, 2009
“The 13th Blackbird” is the working title until I come up with something better. Maybe “45 Degrees North: Winter Blackbird”? I am open to suggestions here. The piece is 27″ x 27.5″. I thought I had it square but apparently not.
Two other pieces are underway using the free piecing technique and another is on the drawing board. I find that I really enjoy playing with the colors and I don’t find it at all boring. Since I am not trying to be precise its more like play. I haven’t had this much fun in the studio in a long time.
June 27, 2009
My friend, Barb Goodfellow, commissioned me recently to create a piece based on an experience she had that involved her dog, BJ, and a couple of squirrels chasing each other in an oak tree in her back yard. In addition to BJ and the squirrels she wanted me to include her gazebo and rose garden. Initially I thought this would be a rather large piece but the space she wanted to hang it dictated a horizonal piece. I really struggled with how I woul deal with all the elements until I thought of a triptyk. So I created three related pieces that will hang just a few inches apart. The three pieces together are 48″ wide by 16″ high excluding the leaves that dangle down from the center panel.
Its a little more more pictorial than what I have been doing lately but I enjoyed the challenge. The squirrels were particularly fun to make. I’ve done a lot of birds, flowers and fish but have steered away from mammals until now. Since I’m starting my 45th North series and want to include some of the native critters, like the red fox who has a den under a nearby abandoned log cabin, I guess this is a start.
June 18, 2009
Our fiber arts study group “Northern Michigan Textile Artists” meets monthly at the Charlevoix Library. We have around 20 members and usually 12-15 members at each meeting. We’ve been meeting for 18 month and the library has asked us to exhbit our work in their gallery space and display cabinets. Our show, tentatively called “Common Threads” will open just after Labor Day and run through October. Most of the pieces will be small studies that we completed on specific themes but four of us, Kerry Bowes, Betsy Doyle, Gera Witte and I decided to make a larger collaborative piece. Gera provided the photograph:
I traced a line drawing and enlarged it to 40″ x 30″ then divided it into three strips. We each worked independently and yesterday at the meeting all four strips were pinned into place:
From left to right the panels were create by Betsy, Kerry, Gera and me. Gera will sew them together (they are already stitched) and add the connecting rope. It was a fun project and its was expecially interesting to see how each of us handled the imagery in a different way.
