Spinning returns, briefly

I've been hors de combat for a couple of days, after getting part one of the newish shingles shot. After seeking it for two years, finally the pharmacy had it in stock, and I seized the day.

Just as well I didn't have any commitments this weekend. When they say site pain and tiredness are common side effects, I am here to say, yes, yes.

My deltoid whined and complained, and I slept many hours. I suppose it means my system is working on it.

Up to now, none of the serious side effects I had  from the last flu shot, involving calls to the FDA etc. I survived and don't get flu shots any more.

I do encourage everyone else who can, to get them, though, for herd immunity. But the doctor and pharmacist both said the flu vaccine isn't similar to this one.  And a friend who has had both shingles and the shots says the shot is preferable. So there's that.

All this means I've been trying to occupy myself when awake, with something that didn't involve raising my arm or lifting stuff. Surprising how many things do require either or both.

I got desperate this morning and did a bit of spinning, very calming, felt really good. The yarn might become Izzy dolls eventually.

However spindle spinning if you sit, inevitably makes your shoulder go up as the yarn lengthens before you wind it on to the shaft. And I didn't feel too much like standing.

But I really enjoyed getting back into it. And here's the little bit I accomplished.  Much more cheerful now.

Downsizing and discoveries

One of the pitfalls of organizing art materials is that you suddenly want to work with them, right now.

It's different when you organize a kitchen. I don't feel a great urge to wash floors and scour sinks when I'm sorting there.

But, going through yarns and other fibers,  I just  realized I still had quite a bit of my lovely Goats Magosh roving, set aside when allergies struck last summer.

And oh well, there's a spindle started, and I'm just sayin'.

 I've knitted up quite a bit of my handspun making Izzy dolls. So clearly I need to keep up the supply. Don't I? Don't I?

Design by nature

Fleeting. By the time I uploaded and came in here, the shadows had changed.

The Jersey lilypad pitcher, no, not antique, the known examples are all in museums or private collections, always wonderful in morning sun. The shifting foliage, too, blurred because moving in the wind, lovely accompaniment to morning tea.

This pitcher is modern, craftsman made, using same materials and techniques as the early Jersey glass, pride of southern Jersey. I think it's Wheaton. If any blogista can correct this, please do.

High-end GOTV bumper sticker

Installed in the rear window of my car as of right now.

We vote cross-stitch completed

I just finished the get out the vote and tribute to the centennial of the US women's vote.

It's a multi purpose work. I'm not a cross-stitcher, though occasionally a cross stitcher, but this needed to be done.

Black thread on white evenweave.

Designed by Katie Woznick.

Izzy dolls, current kickline

Latest Izzy doll has joined the group of Most Wanted.

After  a few more, I'll ship a group to HPIC.  Canadian group of emergency healthcare professionals who deliver supplies and care in crisis areas and give the dolls to young children.

The embroiderers guild meeting finally didn't conflict

I made it to the embroiderers guild meeting this afternoon, after months of conflicts with art commitments, but,  finally, no other meetings today, and I got there.

The program was created and presented by Lyna, a skilled researcher and historical stitching worker. She also has an academic career aside from her fiberart life. Manages everything with aplomb.

Today was a slide lecture on blue and white Deerfield embroidery.  Linen thread, stitched on linen, to reproduce a massive collection of colonial stitchwork. Which developed into a thriving business, in the Arts and Crafts period of the nineteenth century where craftsmanship had a resurgence and a ready audience.

Google on Deerfield, to learn about the town, its crafts and collectors. William Randolph Hearst's mother was a a keen collector of the embroidered hangings and domestic artworks.

And that was the main event. But wait, there's more.

Talented young designer Katie Woznick, has created a design honoring the hundredth anniversary this year of women's getting the vote. It's also a push to get out the vote in a critical year, at the same time.  Lyna translated the image into a cross-stitch project, distributed it today, and the guild is embarking on it, different sizes, different colors.

I heard that the designer's preference is black stitching, so I'm going with that. I know this because her grandmother is a stitcher in our chapter. We have the inside track on this one!

In the interest of protecting the image, I'm giving you just a glimpse, showing that I was so excited I dashed home to rush about my partly disassembled studio for thread, needle, hoop, and got right to work. That's my V started there.

This stitching speaks to my inner Get out the Vote activist, ready for post it posse again this year, and my inner stitcher. A harmonious convergence.

We'll be showing this project at the upcoming Stitch in Public event in February, when I hope to have mine done.

And, since I hadn't been at the guild meetings for a while, my friends caught up with presents, things I'd missed out on.

 So I came home with some fun loot.

Pretty good way to spend a cold damp winter afternoon. This post didn't start out as a guild report, but it sort of wrote
itself.

Shout out to one of my knitting groups

Yesterday, a quiet moment in a pretty noisy meeting. Good noise. New members, good energy.

And completed art doll by Dina

I heart my knitting friends.

Some art has been happening, too, among the recycling

Here's the current state of the silk transparent hanging. Many more pieces to add and then probably join strips in some way.

I love transparency, and I have samples of silk from Dharma Trading in here as well as squares cut from those artworks I printed out on silk. And some other random silk bits from here and there. As usual it's handstitched.

I'm making varieties of color neighbors, then we'll see if they read well when I'm further along. And I'll know better what size this will end up as. And what its destination will be. TBA.

Just so's you know I'm still at work in art, though you might not have noticed recently.

Art and organizing intersect

Going through clothes, winnowing, selecting for upcycling, found this ancient t. My artwork. But an indelible black walnut stain.

So now it's dusters and a future phone purse.

Jacket done almost. A brisk walk down memory lane.

So here's the jacket, hemmed, pockets not yet attached, waiting a day to see if I still like the idea.

 I'm a happy camper with how this came out. It involved delving into dressmaking memory to figure out a few skills I'd forgotten.

And while I was pressing it, up in the studio, I started casually shoving stuff around for future organizing.

And came upon this tiny quilt. Made 50 years ago as a bed toy for Handsome Son, from bits of the coveralls I'd made for him. The turn-back shows the stripy crib sheet I first put him on as a newborn.

He played with this for ages. Since he recognized all the patches, he got a lot of pleasure with it.

I wrote a freelance article about it, which was published in one of the many mags I used to sell to. I used to write features regularly as a second income, back when there were many print magazines to submit to. I usually had about 20 pieces in circulation at any one time.

 I taught feature writing for years too, at the yw, for women going mad at home with kids,and needing to develop new skills for themselves.

Some of them got published, too, very proud teacher. It was a lot of fun, and as usual with the arts, a great revelation to students just how hard it is. But how wonderfully satisfying too.  Very similar to later when I taught art to adults.

I could always tell who wanted to "be" a writer or artist from the people who needed to write or make art.

Then back to the quilt, after that spring-loaded jaunt into the past: over the decades, it was chewed on by various dogs. Then it became the blanket under the litter box. All in all, it's earned its keep. It used to be stuffed with a piece of blanket, long since abstracted by pets.

And now it's washed and just sitting in the fabric scrap crate. That fabric really held up under years of onslaught. So did its owner!

And I guess its maker, too.

Cool new thought

Whoever said pockets had to be one on each side?

Here's a rough draft. Poor light, terrible photo  requires forbearance, but I was excited and wanting to post this.

Jacket with hem pinned ready to stitch, no trim. Instead, trim on two pockets, placed one over the other. The pockets are all made up, ready to attach.

 I really like this, a bit different.  Pinned for now, need to try on tomorrow and see if the placement works.

Times like this it would be cool to have a dress form.

Now I'm definitely stopping.

Upcycling continued

I decided how to use the trim, and here it is, attached to the two fronts. The bottom ends are open because if I decide to trim the hem, that trim needs to go under the side trim. So I'm keeping that option open for now.

 Outside

Inside, which will show since it's an open jacket. This looks bumpy because it wasn't pressed yet.

The reason I have to finish the hem is that the ribbing pulled the sides apart, not good. So I cut it off, and may make patch pockets with it, maybe even use a bit of trim there..hm.  It works better now, as you see.

And you see the open ends, waiting till I decide how to do the hem. This one was photographed in cooler light, hence the color change. And it's steampressed, looks much more finished. Heat and steam are your friends.

I may end up doing a narrow rolled hem, since I'm not a fan of edging everything. Trim on the fronts and a bit on the pockets might work better.

Now I need to rest my hands a bit. I love to sew, and can never remember to stop in time.

Pot of tea now. Maybe a bit of YouTube in search of more trouble, I mean, great ideas which I have to do NOW.  After the piecing I'm still on.

So, upcycling is about to happen

Here's the lovely cashmere sweater that goes in the twinset.

And I find it's too warm to wear next to my skin. So it's going to be a short sleeve cardi, after I cut it up the middle and bind the cut edges. To wear over a top.

I thought about what fabric I have, for binding, and remembered this completely stitched and finished section from a silk sari. Easy to apply. Lightweight even though it's two-sided.

I just have to decide which side I like. Should both sides match? Contrast? Use the lighter colored side? The darker side? Decisions, decisions.

I haven't even got the scissors out yet. But I will end with a short sleeve jacket and a long sleeve cardigan. They don't have to go together after all.

And if one sweater is too warm, imagine two layers of cashmere together. Great for bitterly cold English stately homes, though. In one of which I don't live.

I've been watching clever young women on YouTube upcycling thrift store buys. I've been doing it for years, because you get what you want to wear, cheaply, kind to the Earth, too. And it's really fun. So I have a lot in common with them.  Except they have high end sewing machines. That's a difference. I have a range of sewing needles.

Silk window hanging in place

Done. I changed my mind about framing, decided it needed light coming through.

Another doll joins the group

So here's the latest arrival. It's hard to stop.

Another Izzy shows up

Here's a second Izzy doll, interesting hair yarn donated by Anne in knitting group.

More to come.

Surprise treasure trove

In today's mail, a wonderful surprise package of fabrics, fat quarters, precut and pinked squares, beautiful batiks, solid cottons, all just saying pick me! pick me!

Thank you so much, K, it's lovely, and now  I have to go make a pot of tea and play with my new toys and all  the ideas they suggest.

Support like this is so helpful in keeping a person going.  I often seem as if my energy is endless, but I do flag sometimes, and this kind of boost is just the ticket.

Silk appliques ready to attach, on hand dyed silk square

So after all the cogitation, I moved away from the sari fabric, and I'm using this silk square as background for the appliques.

I dyed it, among other squares, for a stitching workshop a few years ago, and it wasn't used. So here it is, ready to be part of a painting in silks.

If you peer closely you'll see that the pieces are safety pinned, ready to stitch. And the shabby edges here and there will be turned under, as I stitch, so you will see a nice regular sharp edge. This is pretty much a rough draft. In fact, I moved one piece after taking this photo.

The pic is not great, since I don't have the light and distance needed to do a better one, without getting shadows. But you get the gist.

Making these appliques was pretty challenging, since they wanted to fray and skid away, but as you see, they do lie fluidly,  as I'd hoped. You can't get this sort of movement with cotton, or with anything that isn't transparent, come to think of it.

So I'm quite pleased here.

More motifs made

It's good to be using the silk printouts finally.  I've made several using motifs from my own art, drawing, goldwork, weaving, and my frugal soul likes having another use of the pieces this way.

Daffodil drawing, which I ran a line of stitches round, then cut out and overstitched. No need for a template here.

Here I'm using a template to make another of the motifs I adapted from the Indian sari

I need four, to arrange in relation to each other. This one is a printout of a bit of weaving.

The template I made only one of, since, after each motif is stitched around, it's stable and will be appliqued, not attached to the other motifs, so I can remove the template and use it on another motif.

These are not easy to cut, fine silk being slippery and changing shape even as you cut. But the close overstitching will take care of the couple of places where it was too close.

And I thought those readers with full sewing rooms and all sorts of materials and storage methods would like to see my entire current work area

And the drawer below, with everything else.

In the studio I have about a six inch pile of fabric bits. I'm not in a welter of materials!

And I still can't find stuff.

Transparent motif in progress

I'm making a variety of motifs to applique to the hanging, using the printed out silk images.

Here's a motif from a scan of a line drawing I made years ago, in ink. Daffodil head.

I ran a running stitch around the boundary (the hoop is covered with bias binding, to protect any fragile fabric) then cut the motif out and now I'm overstitching the edge. I'm about halfway round. The interior lines will stay as is, I think.

I love the delicate lively edges and I may end up framing rather than not, so as to preserve the movement.  Better than stitching it flat on the background.

As you see, many changing ideas as I work!

First steps in the wallhanging

Here's the figure from the hanging, executed in silk chiffon. Overstitched all round the edge.  Released template in the lower pic.

The design is a printout of an artwork of mine originally made in Tyvek and beading and long since gone into a collection. Since I still have the scan, I can print more if needed.

It's not yet pressed, and I may think about whether I want to press it. It's lively this way.

And here's a look at how it might work in multiples, using the magic mirror. Here it's still on the template, and you see how different it is before it's released.

Quite a few possibilities here.

Well, that resolution lasted all of half a day

I was determined not to make art today, so as give myself time to think about it.

Then as I was reading about crafters and artists and chatting with neighbors and walking, I realized I needed to go up to the studio and cut out the wallhanging, then the motifs I wanted to apply and to get ready to make templates for the silk pieces.

So I did that, and it's starting to shape up.
The motifs will be cut in silk to apply, and will be appliqued as is, and I'll do some reverse applique using silk in the background. You see solid and silhouette cutouts lying on a piece of silk, laid on top of the hanging,just to test parts of the idea.

Now that I've cut the hanging itself I know how much spare fabric I have to work with.
I realized I can make templates in quite complex curves now that I know how to do epp in simpler pieces like the rosettes.

It's interesting to learn the design of the sari piece as I go. It's sinuous and not evident until you give it a chance.

All the pillows were a learning experience so that I can do this now.

Wheee!!!

Yellow onion dyed linen

The linen now has a lovely variegated golden color.

The heavy glass lid holds the fabric down in the dye overnight.

And after pressing, here's the output

And a shot of the pillows with the new fabric for comparison.

 No stitching today. I'm enforcing a day off, so as to let ideas percolate.

Silly pillows done

The frivolous pillows, called Confetti, are done and ready for company.

This was fun. I ended up postponing the reverse applique for another project, and did regular applique again, leaves and coins.

The back shows the shibori design more. As always, both sides are designed, because why not.

Now I'm off to dye the linen with yellow and red onionskin dye.

After I've watched The Lady in the Van, Maggie Smith, written by Alan Bennett.