hexies on my mind

i've gone hexie mad! i've got over 200 winter holiday hexies, 200 dotted hexies, 60 animal initial hexies, 100 reclaimed cloth hexies, and 400 (and counting) halloween hexies on my basting table.

that's not counting the over 200 coffin hexies that i just finished basting for my coffin hexie swap on instagram. there are over 7,300 coffin hexies on their way to my door to be sorted and sent back to the swap participants!

i've resisted the hexie craze for years. until now. now i see hexies. hexies, hexies, hexies everywhere!

namaste'

creating rust

"i'm not the black sheep,

i'm the rust-dyed one!"

a lot of rust-dyeing and rust-printing has been going on around the studio these days.  i've been creating new techniques and exploring old ones further.  you'd think it would be a simple task, and perhaps it is. at it's core. but there are so many alternative options and nuances to be discovered here. things that go far beyond simply wrapping a rusty object in wet cloth.

for instance, in the photo above, i have what i have come to call a "dye plate" in use.  for me, a dye plate is any flat rusty object that can be used to print or dye rust onto fabric or paper.  this is different from dimensional rusty objects in that you are more able to control the pattern it creates.  my dye plates range from identifiable images (like the grizzly bear above) cut from raw steel with a plasma cutter, to flat panels of raw steel used for overall dyeing and in contact shibori dyeing (which i also refer to as "nouveau shibori" or "guerrilla shibori"), to cast iron objects with flat or low-relief designs.

the process is more involved than simply wrapping the rusty object in wet cloth and leaving it alone for a bit.  you have to monitor it. coax it. feed it.  the cloth must be kept wet. for even prints, sometimes parts of the cloth must be allowed to dry while other parts are kept wet longer.  the "dye blooms", which are what i refer to the bleeding or running bursts of migrating rust marks, need to be manipulated to create pleasing backgrounds.  this is done by saturating some areas heavier than other with vinegar water, by covering the cloth in plastic to encourage condensation, and other techniques.  a single print takes anywhere from 48 to 72 hours to mature.  more complex prints, with overprinted and axillary images can take a week, or even a month, to create.

i will be going more in depth into some of these, and other developing techniques, here in the blog as time progresses.  it has been a fascinating journey and i am eager to share it with you.

until next time...

namaste'

use. reuse. and fanboy surprise.

"nothing lasts forever.

but the thing is,

you can reuse some."

-rick riordan, leo's mother, the lost hero

nestled in the bottom of community's work basket are tons of almost forgotten scraps. slumbering peacefully away. until now.  i can't let them find their way to the waste basket...or lay idle for too long.  so i have embarked upon a new quilt journey.  while being comprised of cast off scraps from community, i think it will need its own name. it's own story. i'm not sure what that will be as yet. perhaps they will begin to whisper more clearly as more blocks are created.

these diminutive blocks are a mere 4" and are based upon a block from Quilted Moose.  one of several in Louise's garden sew-along. i fell in love with this one block, however, and have decided to create an entire quilt out of it...with 3/4" sashing and corner blocks between each.  it will pull solely from scraps from community.  

instead of sequestering myself in the sewing studio at my treadle, as is my usual behavior, i wanted to watch some television programs while i stitched, so i pulled out my "new" 1965 Bernina 730 Record Zig Zag machine. i found this machine (born the same year i was, so it's not that terrible old. ha!) languishing away on a sale table in a local charity shop with a meager $22.50 price tag. 

this lovely old machine came with all of its original papers (including bill of sale), all of its original accessories, several extra accessories, sewing deck, an immaculate case (original) and two original keys!

after brushing the dust away and giving the machine a good oiling, i set it up to begin to sew...and then i realized: there's no foot control pedal! ack!  so before putting it away and getting out my other "new" machine (the brother i talked about in an earlier post), i went looking online for a replacement foot control. then it hit me: this machine has no foot control.  it is a dedicated knee control machine!  i'd heard about these knee control bernina's before, but being a die-hard pfaff fanboy (at least, when it comes to new new machines) i never gave it much thought.  always figured they were talking about a knee lift bar.  ha! you learn something new everyday! after a little playtime, i'm rather fascinated by this knee control.  it's especially nice when sitting on the davenport and sewing on my antique fold away table. no foot pedal to migrate away and be chased after! so i guess i can't pooh-pooh bernina's anymore...now that i own one and actually really like it!  though, don't expect to see me replacing my computerized pfaff anytime soon, cuz i'm still a pfaff fanboy!

namaste'

"we do not live an equal life,

but one of contrasts and patchwork;

now a little joy, then a sorrow,

now a sin, then a generous

or brave action."

-ralph waldo emerson

contrasts and patchwork. a fitting description for my life of late. and so i continue to stitch to distract my mind. digging deep into the stash of vintage fragments. the smaller ones especially. all i needed is an inch of each.  a thousand tiny stitches while the treadle rocks rhythmically beneath my foot. needle chanting in its own right. not as simple as when working completely by hand, but meditative just the same. 

now a dive into my stash of neutrals and whites to fine a border and a back. some more needle chanting, a little tying, and then a leisurely dunk in tea dye pot and a romp in the dryer.

hindsight being what it is, i'm wondering if i should have embroidered vines and flowers on the border. perhaps even a scattering of blossoms across the tiny 1/2 inch squares...  that could be an entertainment for another day.  i hear we are expecting 4 1/2 inches of snow on tuesday...

namaste'

the birds and the bees

"my father told me 

all about the birds and the bees,

 the liar - i went steady

 with a woodpecker

 till I was twenty-one."

-bob hope

the urge for a change of scenery...for the hands as well as the eyes...found me puttering about in the wood shed these past couple evenings. reacquainting myself with the various array of power tools which reside there in.  exploring a back story for a character i've been contemplating. 

from scraps of discarded "waste" this bird house began to arise. it all began when a cast out board "marred" by a gaping knot hole whispered stories of shelter from the fire pile. shifted from there to my truck bed, and then along to my wood shed, it began to whisper in earnest.  buzz. buzz. bang. bang. the foundation of a home arose. blue pine, gifted with the happy happenstance of a large knot hole (the perfect door), needed little coaxing to take form. now to dig into the pile of scrapped cedar cut offs in search of shake shingles to roof this little house (ok...so it's not so little at 23 inches tall). and then....who knows what else will find its way home?

i shall have to begin work on its future inhabitant soon...

namasté

twang deep...twang darkly

what does a creative mind with a musical bent do with 130 year old coffin-style violin case? re-purpose it into a mountain dulcimer, of course! i have purchased a couple others in the past and turned them into sewing boxes for my slow cloth fragments, but this one had something entirely different in mind... having housed music for so long, this time it wanted to make it's own music!

very little was done to the box itself, aside from removing the side panels on the two curved shoulders at the top to create a surprisingly resonant sound chamber after removing felt linings and dividing walls. add to that a hand-cut, scrolled headed fret board made of oak, stained to compliment, and...twang! instant dulcimer! okay, so maybe it wasn't quite *instant*...but you get the idea. given its dimensions, this unique beauty has a lovely, dark bass timbre. why don't you pour a little of its magic into your ear?

namaste'

vintage french linens

there is nothing quite like stitching on vintage french linen! it is so soft yet has a wonderful body to it. with the new year finally here, i am looking forward to more hand work. more time. and great changes! i do so hope you will join me in their discovery!

namaste'

a day of shopping

 with the heat finally abating for a few days, it seemed the perfect day to hop on the old kawasaki and get in a little exploratory shopping... there is nothing quite like a partially cloudy day in the mid 70's for a spontaneous bike trip into town.

at my first stop, the montana rescue mission thrift shop, i found some wonderful men's shirts that were just begging to be de-constructed and re-imagined!

also hiding in a little corner was a box of old thread spools filled with wonderfully neutral colored threads! a quick burn test revealed them to be cotton so they will be perfect for over-dyeing...

stopping next at st. vincent de paul's yielded a large bag of wine corks. several years ago, a friend of mine and i embarked upon a carving odyssey for stamping in art journals. i don't know whatever happened to all those wonderful stamps....but i'm thinking these will be perfect for carving new ones to experiment with mark making on cloth!

the a quick trip out to the red barn antique shop on the outskirts of laurel brought me to this little treasure. at first i was excited to find such a wonderful little tin box (given my passion for collecting boxes of all sorts). imagine my joy to find a full set of round tin cookie cutters! of course, these will never cut cookie dough in my house since they are destined for the rust pots for making moons and suns on cloth.

a small tin box (!) full of rusty little tools were also to be had...including an old working padlock and key. these will be happily joining the cookie cutters in the rust pots.

then a quick jaunt into laurel proper to the good shepherd antique and thrift shop brought me to this marvelous stack of old 78's.  i had such a difficult time deciding which to buy for my victrola. there were big bands, blues, classical, and even a few crazy old doris day cuts!  of course, the blues won out and i now have 12 new blues albums to listen to... i'm thinking, however, that i may have to make another trip out there for some of those big bands albums!

most intriguing, however, was this large crate of rusted old door knobs. my soul ached when i decided to pass on them...mostly because i was still on the kawasaki and could only purchase what my old leather back pack could hold and it was already at capacity (if not slightly beyond). i would love to have had the entire box...but may have to settle for picking up a knob or two when i go back out there for more of the 78's.

meanwhile, it's time to settle in and get some needle chanting done tonight. i've pulled out a couple of my "mindless" projects to keep my hands busy while my elders sleep.

namaste'

frenzied feline and a new project

synchronicity is a strange thing, you know. i came across this little frenzied feline while trying to figure out how to describe this past week. he demonstrates exactly how my week has been... chasing about, trying to fit unexpected work shifts into my schedule. trying to stay ahead of everything so i don't get run over. all the while, uncertain how my little paws are actually reaching the pedals!

needless to say, i haven't done a lick of stitching this week. though i have been gathering raw materials for another project. remember that i started remodelling my studio a while back? i came across a little idea that i like so much, i'm thinking of including elements of it throughout my house!

pallets? is that seriously a stack of old pallets? yes. yes it is! i've been gathering pallets like a mad man (and i'm quite certain my neighbors have all decided that i've taken leave of my senses as they've watched me haul these buggers in by the truck load). now, before you begin nodding your noggins and agreeing with my mislead, but well-meaning neighbors, you have to see this:

the wall in this picture is constructed entirely of pallets! keeping in mind that i have been slowly but surely turning my home into a rustic getaway with barn wood, vintage artifacts, plank flooring, and the like... i think this wall treatment will be absolutely perfect to finish off the effect!  of course, it's going to take a lot of time and a lot of work...dismembering pallets, sorting slats, mixing colors, installing and so on. but i'm going to simply approach it as though i'm salvaging fabric and creating a story cloth. though, perhaps, of a much larger nature, and in this case, one slat at a time! so, if you see project updates interspersed between the cloth whispering, you'll understand...and hopefully not send those nice young men in their clean white coats to take me away in a butterfly net!

namaste'

squares here and there...

"a round man cannot

be expected to fit in

a square hole

right away.

he must have time

to modify his shape."

- mark twaine

busy week here in montana. classes. tests. needle chanting. square making. nine patching. snow removal. unexpected shifts. i did, however, manage to needle a couple nine patches together using some of my repurposed bits of cloth from old clothing. i blame jude hill for my technique on this project! using her modified english piecing method...and even tossing in some magic fringe on one of the squares by reversing half of the seam so the torn edge can reside whimsically on the face of the patch. i am also using her added technique of blind stitching down the opened seam allowances to add more texture and dimension to the cloth. unfortunately, this particular photo is not clear enough to see the tiny little row of dots this leaves behind. these little squares are finishing at 1 1/2 inches, and everything is being hand stitched, so this is not a project that will progress swiftly (my attachment is that this manifest into a queen sized quilt at some point)! but it has been immensely calming to be able to sit and mindlessly (more or less) needle chant these little bits together...

namaste'

say hello to my little friend

meet baxter. a silly little bat who decided it was time to finish becoming. made from a vintage wool mini skirt and a vintage middle eastern shirt. baxter is somewhat shy and still hasn't told me much about himself. but i'll be listening when he's ready...

namaste'