Wordless Wednesday

Ice Dyeing, Garments

In my ice dyeing that I've done over the past few days I did a few garments, too.  None of them turned out exactly as I thought, but some of them are not too bad.

This was an old linen blouse that I was ready to give away.  It's very boxy and not really my style, but I thought I could wear it as a jacket , open over a tank. I wish it didn't have that orange splotch on the left sleeve, but some of that color is on the back, too.

This was a white silk charmeuse scarf and I rather like the results. This was in the same batch as the linen shirt above. I did another pale green Thai silk that was quite ugly.

This was a cheap white T-shirt that I had purchased to do some surface design.  I never did, so I dyed it instead.  I do not like this neckline.  Maybe I'll cut it off and try to do something with it.  I did another one that I didn't like at all. They will make good gardening, dyeing, painting shirts.

This was a new pale pink shirt that I purchased at Good Will just for this purpose.  I don't know if it's too hippy-dippy for me.  I'm teaching a dyeing workshop this summer. Perhaps I'll wear it then.

Ice Dyeing

On the second Friday of the month my FiberWorks group meets at the Brookfield Craft Center where one of our members demonstrates something of interest. Last Friday Andrea showed how to ice dye.  I had done quite a bit of snow dyeing a couple of winters ago when we had an impressive amount of snow, but this was done with bags of ice from the grocery store. The technique is basically the same, the difference being that with snow dyeing your dye powders are mixed with water and put on the snow as a dye solution.  In ice dyeing you work with the dry powders.

After soaking your fabric in a soda ash solution, you put it in the bottom of a container, crumpled or twisted as you wish, then cover it with a layer of ice.  Then you sprinkle small amounts of Procion dye powders on top of the ice.  The ice acts as a resist and lets the dye hit the fabric at different times  Leave it in the bucket for 24 hours, then rinse, wash in hot water and Synthropol, dry and iron.

We had an absolutely perfect day for the project.  We had a nice room do do our fabric manipulation, then a good outdoor space to deal with the ice and dyes.  Andrea was a great teacher and everyone had a lot of fun.  I did some more on my own when I got home and then some more yesterday.

Some were more successful than others.  Here are some that I liked.

First dyed with just Bright Blue (boring), then over-dyed with Olive and Lemon/Lime

I used just Deep Purple.  All of these colors came through.

Two pieces side by side using Wine, then over-dyed with Olive and Lemon/Lime

This piece and the next were done at the workshop using Kiwi, Pale Yellow and Shrimp (I think).  There were several large and small pieces using these colors.  Parts of it were uninteresting, but I think that these two look like a flower garden.  I am going to make a small piece using these and do some stitching to emphasize the flowers and grass.

Doesn't it look like a water color?

The next three pieces were done with each one using just one black.  Who knew that all these beautiful colors were hiding in there? If I had used them as regular dyes where you mix them with water, I would have made three slightly different shades of black, because there are different concentrations of the mixing colors.  Doing it this way with dry powders, they are quite similar.

Cotton Black

Black 608

Deep Black

Fuschia and Navy

Olive, Azure Blue and I forgot the third color I used.  I should have kept records.  Maybe next time.

Detail of above.

Remembrance

I

I picked these few sprigs of Lily of the Valley this morning and it brought back so many memories.  My mother always told us that she had carried them in her bridal bouquet and my Grandma Jenny had a big patch in the garden behind her house.  I loved to pick them and bury my nose in the sublime fragrance. I still love the aroma and wish I could find a perfume just like it.  So I'm remembering my Mother and my grandmothers on this Mother's Day.

This beautiful bouquet from my son was delivered this morning. Since he lives on the other side of the country we rarely get to spend Mother's Day together, but I have fond memories of all the Mother's Days we did spend together and all the wonderful days between.

To all the mothers, stepmothers, and grandmothers out there I wish you all a Happy Mother's Day!

More Show Pictures

After those two long blogs that I did earlier in the week for my blog and the FANE blog, I needed to take a break.  Here I am going to show you some more pictures from the NSQG show.



These next three are from the Black and White Challenge at the guild show. These were hung high, so they all look out of square, which they weren't.

Carolyn Cooney, who always does the most fabulous trees.  This one, as most of her work is very three dimensional.

Cathy Billing's Chameleon in my favorite shade of lime green.

Nancy Mirman's Houses III with one of those cute polka-dot ribbons

These next are from the Deck of Cards challenge.

Here are all 52 cards in the deck.  The face cards are on the black background to the left.

Susan Osinoff's Queen of Hearts

Mayann Weinberg's Nine of Clubs

King of Clubs by Cheryl Kosarek

Next are a few of my favorites in the judged section.

Donna Chamber's "Mermaid Mariah and Her Circles of Souls".  This didn't win a ribbon, but I thought it deserved one.

Close-up of Donna's quilt.  Her attention to detail is amazing.

Mary Cannizaro won a first  prize in Bed Quilts machine quilted by maker. It was beautifully done and was perfectly flat. I think she also won Viewer's Choice.

Detail of Mary's quilt.  She machine quilted it from the back, following the design of the appliques she had done.  Stunning!

Judy Gignessi's Farmland, painted and stitched.  No ribbon here, either, but I loved it.

Joe Cunningham was a guest speaker.  I heard one of his lectures, very amusing and entertaining.  HIs work is quite unusual and striking.

Two Shows

As mentioned in the last post I had two shows this past weekend.  In the Northern Star Quilter's Guild show I had seven items  Three of them were in the judged section and I was very pleased to get three ribbons for the three quilts I had entered.

I got a first for Brown Planet, a Collaboration, the quilt on which I collaborated with Katy Loomis.  According to the show rules I had to enter it in the group quilt category. This was its maiden voyage and it has encouraged me to enter it into the big judged show in Houston this fall. I heard many favorable comments.  There is a ton of quilting on it, which doesn't show in the picture.

I got a second for Itajime Surprise, which was entered into the special Techniques category.  I was happy with the way the lighting hit it to show off all the quilting.

Emerald City was somehow entered into the Pictorial category.  I think it was my mistake, but I got a third place anyway against all those quilts that were definitely pictorial.  I thought I had entered this into Art Abstract.

My FANE group put on this fabulous display of kimono inspired quits. Here is a picture of mine, Indigo Shibori. You can see all of the kimonos and more about the exhibit at the FANE blog.  Just click here.

Here is my little quilt Fractured II from the Back and White Plus One challenge, in which I won a third place and got this cute polka dot ribbon. The ribbon came from the voting of the whole guild back in February.

And lastly is my card from the Deck of Cards exhibit.  My quilt, The Nine of Hearts, had cut-out hearts. I thought they were going to be displayed against a white background and wasn't thrilled with the way it looked against this green backdrop.

Each of the artists in this exhibit received a cute little pin to wear with their card and the room number where they were displayed. This is the way the card was meant to look.


My seventh quilt was the one that I made for the silent auction. I neglected to take a picture of that.


On Saturday we also had the opening for the SAQA show, Local Color, and I had two pieces juried into that show. It was held at the Ruth Hass Library at Western CT State University, so many of them were hung high over bookcases and things.

Here is my Of Cabbages and Kings, hanging third from the left.

I think that my triangular Hope Springs Eternal looks so good hanging next to Mickey Lawlor's piece using her scrumptious painted fabric.


Come back soon and I'll show some more pictures from both shows.

Busy, Busy Weekend

Why do things always come in bunches?  Feast or famine, as my mother used to say.  This is one of those weekends with so much going on. Tomorrow night I am part of a group that is hosting "First Friday" at the clubhouse here in the community where I love.  This is a Woman's Club event and is a strictly social affair where  members and spouses or significant others (if they have them) meet at a member's home for an evening of drinks and appetizers on the first Friday of the month.  In my community, Sterling Woods, no one has a house or townhouse big enough to hold 50 or 60 people comfortably, so 14 of us who live here (we keep saying we should have our own chapter) are pitching in together.  Since four of us had just been in Hawaii, we are having a Hawaiian theme, complete with hair flowers, leis, etc.  I'll post some pictures after the weekend. So that's Friday.

On Saturday there are two big events.  One is the big Northern Star Quilter's Guild show, information on the flyer below. I have three quilts in the judged show section, one in the black and white challenge, one in a FANE exhibit of kimono inspired pieces and one in the Deck of Cards exhibit. It's always a great show with a lot of quilts and vendors and speakers. If you're in the area, it's well worth seeing.

Northern Star Quilters Guild Presents: “World of Quilts XXXIV” 
Saturday May 4, 2013 and Sunday May 5, 2013

Northern Star Quilters Guild’s 34th Annual Quilt Show will be held at John F. Kennedy High School in Somers, NY.

The two day event includes an exhibition of traditional quilts and art quilts, lectures by SAQA artists Joe Cunningham and Teresa Barkley, demonstrations, quilt appraisals (by appointment), and over 30 vendors.  Raffle prizes include this gorgeous quilt made by Northern Star Quilters Guild members.

For more information including parking and directions to JFK High School in Somers, visit NSQG’s website: http://northernstarquilters.com/quiltshow/2013-quilt-show

The other big event on Saturday is the opening of the SAQA show, Local Color, an exhibition of fiber art celebrating Connecticut.  It is a juried show and I was so pleased to have two pieces accepted.  I was equally pleased to have one of my quilts chosen for the front of the postcard and for the cover of the catalog.  That's a slice of my cabbage quilt second from the right.

 So on Saturday I will go to the quilt show in the morning, then back to Danbury for the SAQA opening, then back to Somers again on Sunday to do some volunteer duty at the show and pick up my quilts at the end. I was a "quilt handler" yesterday for the quilt judging, quite an involved affair with three professional judges.  Since I was there I know if I won anything, but I'm not sharing yet.  You'll have to come back on Sunday or Monday when I will post the results with pictures.
Whew!!

Mahopac Show, part 2

I was asked to be the guest blogger for the FANE blog and I put up pictures of all the pieces in the show.  You can check it out here.

Mahopac Show

Yesterday was the opening of the FANE show at the Mahopac Libary.  It was a splendid da

y, weather-wise, and we had a nice turnout.  As I had hoped guests were able to drift onto the balcony and sip their wine and overlook the Mahopac river.  I don't think that too many libraries have a view like that.

I'm only going to  show a few pictures of my friends' work who are also members of FiberWorks, one of my other fiber groups.  All of the pictures will be up on the FANE blog soon and I will let you know when they're there.

In this show, called Poetic Fragments, each participant had to make a piece inspired by a line of poetry or song. Each piece had to consist of more than one element and that had to fit within a 14 inch square. They were all mounted on 18" square artist canvases.

NIke Cutsumpas--Blue Grass

Norma Schlager--To Time

Andrea Shedletsky--Arrangement in Gray and Black

Paula West---Leaves Compared

Barbara Drillick--Enkindled Spring

As part of my jam-packed weekend, I went into NYC to see Matilda on Saturday.  It was such a fun show, based on the children's book of the same name by Roald Dahl. 

A Host of Golden Daffodils

Alright, I admit it.  I've having so much fun with my new phone.  Yesterday I drove to a few places I had seen during the week, where I wished I had had my camera.  This time I had my phone. I'm still impressed with how high the resolution is.  I have to resize them way down for the blog.  It is also amazingly fast.  With my Sony Cybershot 14.1, I have to wait several seconds between shots.  With the phone I can shoot in rapid succession.  I know that this will come in handy.

Part of several large beds at the Newtown Library where we had our FiberWorks meeting yesterday.

Two very large beds at the Brookfield Police station parking lot.

I should have moved back farther for this one.  The huge bed went all around the sign.

More at the Municipal Center

These stunning larger-than-life sculptures, by the artist Peter Busby from Cromwall, CT, stand at the entrance to the Municipal Center in Brookfield.    They were added one at a the time.  The first year was the big male,  the next year the female and the last year the foal. At Christmas they wear big wreaths of fresh greens and big red bows.  They look different from every angle and they always make me smile.

My humble offering in front of my porch.  I like the way they look with the lime green spirea, but I have to plant more daffies next year.  They look so fabulous when planted en masse.