Silk Story

Silk paper... between silk and flowers...

I called this 'In-formed' because it formed from the inside out and the knowing inside us informs us.

Hearts Multiplying

I played a bit more with this, adding ragged edges, more silk fibres and introducing it to silk gauze and velvets: But then another heart insisted on nestling here:

And was joined by one more and a bit of silk organza ruffle on the edge. The silks are dry felted in, with a machine.

And here is the back of what has become a journal cover - my shibori rabbit moon.

Today I was finishing putting Easter decorations about and I saw this table runner I made two years ago but realized I had never quilted. So I echoed the flowers with pink and purple variegated thread and I like how the back, which is made from identical fabric, ended up with what remind me of stitched shadows, intersecting the flowers.

Heart of Hearts

A heart of silk can be a glowing heart: I dreamed of hearts in this configuration earlier in the week and thought they might work felted in amongst wool:

But I decided I prefer the felt on it's own.

So I put the silk hearts back on their original base to see what wants to happen next.

Runaway

My eyelet piece is ready for class tomorrow. While I've backed it with silk and cotton, it's not meant to be a finished piece, but will go in my stitch dictionary - unless I take it further in the future. I cleaned the studio this morning and spent the afternoon following this beast, who is in motion so I only captured it's tail end :) The piece is ready for basting if I can pin it down...

Makeovers

Pumpkin patch, nine patch, why not? Today I plucked these flowers from a box on the verandah and they embraced the silk handily.

Elm leaves turned out to be great for leaving their pattern and colour, too. The fabric they are on is a previously onion dyed silk, and I love the purples, pinks, blacks and greens this yielded. I also did one on plain white silk and the leaves left their colour pretty much as a straight transfer.

I put these salmon coloured maple leaves on pale green rayon and the result is less interesting then I had hoped, but I can improve it with more dyeing.

This daisy from my garden wanted to leave a lasting impression behind after having smiled its sunny face in my kitchen window for some time. So out came a scrap of the hydreangea dyed silk, which I sandwiched with the flower between two canning jar tops and steamed, thinking I might get an imprint of the flower. Here is the surprise I got - more colour outside the circle then within! I don't really understand why this would happen, but now that I know it's a possibility I might put it to further

experimentation. Last night I heard Inge Heuber speak at my quilt guild. She is a pioneering artist in quilt art from Germany who makes textile art with the seams on the front using many colours she hand dyes on cotton. While her work is in numerous publications, has hung in prestigious shows like Quilt National, and is in the collection of the New York Museum of Art and Design, what I will remember beyond that and the beauty of her quilts is her long term dedication to her art form even when she knew no one else quilting in Germany, when she received no recognition or money for her work and yet she knew it was what she had to do - it was not a hobby, but her life's work. You can see her interpretation of one of her beloved places into textile art here: http://www.ingehueber.de/pageID_639797.html And today is the final day of the Spiritcloth class I've been taking from Jude Hill.

As our class parts ways, I am appreciating having taken a dip into Jude's world along with others for sharing and learning.

'Patchwork Beasts' - another online class with Jude begins tomorrow and who knows what will wash ashore for me there? There's always something - maybe something I didn't even expect!

Colour Curiosity

Seeing that a lovely gift of pink hydrangea was wilted, I was going to add it to the compost, but then I wondered what colour would they dye silk?

A soft and subtle result, which will be a good contrast with a darker or brighter silk.

Or, I could overdye it with other vegetation...

Colour Shift

Roses and lavender on silk

Leave this multi-coloured patterned colour.

Today's Yield

Some applique...

Natural dyeing with Eucalyptus leaves on silk - giving a surprise of lemon colour...

More dyeing with daisies on silk velvet...

And avocado dyeing results on silk and silk velvet on the bottom - their previous colours above.