Weave Inlay

Here are a few more weaving explorations - the last one is a photo on cotton of a painting I did interwoven with stripes - I think a different fabric would look better but it's not sewn so I can change that if I want.

Weaving Processes

I decided to combine a variety of weaving possibilities in one piece. The pale peach silk strip is from an old tie and nearly all the rest are garage sale remnants. For me, this weaving visually captures the movement from basic block weaving to expanding by using other techniques - and Jude has posted yet another variation in her online class to try, plus I have other ideas ... The bottom doily has words I've printed on organza woven in. I am reminded of a sentence I once wrote as the opening of a paper on the function of narrative in therapy and I notice that the weaving metaphor I used was years before I was doing any sewing or work with cloth: 'The words we weave both form and inform the fabric of our lives, creating colourful cloaks of security and obscurity from others and ouselves." Some parts are hidden, some rise to the top... All in all a very interesting process.

Weaving Along

Here is some more of what I'm weaving - regular and irregular shapes, curved strips and stripes woven with space between. My studio counters are heaped with fabrics as I act on idea after idea. I notice wanting to complete each piece or add it to a larger whole, as I usually work on one thing at a time. However, I think it's important to try alot of ideas so that I learn the various techniques in the workshop and then I can apply them to a finished piece. I just want to work 24 - 7!

The Wonderful World of Weaving

Out walking last night I went past an opening in the trees and my attention was grabbed by the pattern of white and red 'strips' on the door and I was thinking weaving and fibre, not wood. I am also dreaming about weaving, so you can tell what's on my mind! The block in the second photo has another type of weaving within some weaving, so now I have tried the 3 methods Jude has given us in the online class - and - I have so many more ideas. I just had to try weaving some felted wool and ribbon...

Playing With Blocks

Here's the woven piece I'm working on so far. Jude has given us several options for weaving cloth strips, including the one I"ve done in the corner above. The top photo shows my small blocks surrounding the larger centre (unsewn) and I'm going to play with them and maybe make different ones to see if I want to keep this design or make changes. I am enjoying myself and can see so many ways to take this further.

Turning A Corner

I'm pleased with how my woven corner turned out and the piece is increasing in size, with the addition of a dark purple ikat. I have 18 four inch woven blocks, now - not sewn, yet - and I've been combining them in different ways, thinking about whether I'd like to make them into two 12 inch blocks and surround the centre block with them and others - or - I could add a band of solid fabric or try more ideas for small blocks that I have. But one step at a time! I am enjoying this process, and this way of working by expanding from the inside out is a return to the very first thing I sewed when I got my machine about 3 1/2 years ago, when I knew nothing about sewing but googled 'art quilter', as I wanted to make an art quilt and was led to a book on the internet that was available quite geographically close to me - and I couldn't wait to have it: The Careless Quilter by Kristin Miller http://www.kristinmillerquilts.com/Careless_Quilter/CQexcerpts.htm . I was too impatient to get sewing to actually read far into the book, but it was an inspiration and got me started. I just took some scraps of all different kinds of fabrics and began with a square in the middle, turned it on its point and then added corners, strips, etc. I have noticed before that I prefer to start pieces from the centre and work out - or - to lay a ground quickly and then collage or stitch on top of that.

Studies

I decided to weave with a uniform small size and try out a variety of values, number of strips, orientations and fabrics, including lace. I am very interested in taking my diamond or 'x' shaped weaving further, as that is a shape that I especially like and used as part of a personal symbol I once developed for a former business. Cloth to Cloth is lively - Jude gives us a little of what she does and everyone responds with their own creating and what's really great is that she is going to develop the information she gives us in response to where we are heading - a very alive approach that I think is ideal! She is what-iffing right along with the class.

Weaving a Base

I've woven silk strips - some of it my natural dyed silk - as well as a textured cotton and a batik together as part of the learning I'm doing in the online class Cloth to Cloth. And I spent most of the day at the Victoria Quilt Guild Show, working a shift there and finishing seeing all the fine work. I notice that I am most drawn to hand quilting and texture.

Victoria Quilt Guild Show

The Victoria Guild's quilt show opened yesterday and I was there for the entire day, feasting my eyes on over 200 entries, from the large traditional variety to smaller original designs to wearables to a tablerunner challenge to community quilts to cloth dolls to fibre explorations - plus the items for sale in the store and the merchant's mall! I have two pieces hanging in the show and you can see them here: http://fibreheart.blogspot.com/2010/03/sea-change.html . 'Sea Change' (pictured above) is part of a group of seven fibre explorations hung together, each one made to uniform size, based on inspiration from another artist of any genre, and including a 'green' element. My piece is inspired by Jude Hill (Spiritcloth). Today is also the start of my online course with Jude on 'quilt weaving', and I had that in mind as I perused the merchant's mall, picking up a few silk and cotton fat quarters, here and there (okay - and a few books :)). As I was leaving, I saw a shadow quilt on the lawn - the perfect end to a delight-filled day. Thanks to everyone for all the effort involved in putting on the show, which continues all weekend.

New Moon Musings

A new moon and a new work in progress - this is not the final design but an experiment to use the strip piecing method to see what I learn and to explore further with it. It has already changed many times, just as the moon we see appears to change shape throughout the course of the month, even as the whole of it is always there, and our ability to see is actually what changes. A good mirror of the design process for me - like the final design is there already and waiting for me to see it in its final wholeness, if I persist. I also tried an experiment using crumpled wax paper ironed to paper and then painting dye over that - to see if I could get the crinkled pattern where the ironed on wax acts as a resist. The results were more successful when the paper was still wet. Once dry, the pattern faded substantially. I also tried ironing the wax paper to some interface fabric and not realizing it was the fusible kind, accidentally fused the wax paper to it. I dye painted it, too, and a faint outline appeared where the circle of wax paper was (on the opposite side of the interfacing) so I fused it down over top of the first circle imprint of the waxed paper on paper - it's the small rectangle and I used a purple pencil crayon to outline the small circle further, as well as other colours for the rays. It makes me think of the sun and moon aligning and bringing together masculine and feminine energy. I am also thinking of my work being at the intersection of a heartfelt approach combined with 'just do it' spontaneous energy. Another work in progress... Oh - and I've signed up for an online course about experimental quilt weaving called 'Cloth to Cloth' with Jude Hill, that will start in a month.