Round Two and Three

More snow dyeing on silk velvet: This one reminds me of a world map:

And in a different colourway:

It's surprising how the same dye pail can yield such a variety of values, patterns and colours.

When I see this one, I can't help but think 'beets'!

Pinwheels and Pins and Needles

This contemporary boro block is basted ready for stitch. It's a mix of linens, cottons, silk and velvet. The light triangles are natural dyed, although alot of detail is lost in this photo. And today's snow dye crop - kind of like watching a pot of water, waiting for it to boil....

Immersed and Suspended

When I prepared the fabrics, I decided to put some in a bucket covered with cheesecloth so that as the snow melted, the fabric would not sit in the liquid. One bonus of this was the dyed cheesecloth! The results from the bucket without cheesecloth were not really different and just as pleasing - more linen:

Cotton close up:

Silk velvet:

Cotton:

I was up preparing more snow dyeing first thing this morning - a surprise to anticipate!

Pattern From Snow

Here are some of the snow dyeing results - I am really pleased with how the snow gives soft areas in terms of visual texture. This one is on linen and is my favourite: This one is silk:

More linen that was a grey/brown to start with:

And a close up of it:

I'll post more results in another entry.

Monochrome and Colour

I awoke this morning to a winter wonderland and immediately got dressed and was out the door with my camera before I even had a coffee! Snow was still falling and no other footprints were in sight.

This reminded me of weaving and boro, with the design and holes.

And later in the day I suddenly realized this rare occurrence of snow could provide even more fun...

Snow cones, anyone? You wouldn't want to taste these ones, of course, since the colour is dye.

I will post the snow dyeing fabric results tomorrow, but let me say that I am a convert!

Small Bits Adding Up

One more mini fragment from today's designing:

I pintucked some silk and have added pieces of it to a next contemporary boro design modelled on a traditional block. I'm leaving hems from discarded clothing in it because I like the extra interest of the stitched lines. In yesterday's Mark Marking With Machine class, we were exploring cable stitch, twin needles, and couching. I am feeling excited to discover more of my machine's capacities!

And someone in CWB had mentioned Pojagi - Korean textile wrapping of housewares - and I wanted to try stitching some transparent fabrics together just to see what it looks like. I used the machine, although I believe handstitch is the traditional method. I've laid the white and black joined fabrics over a quilted piece - so the only stitch I've done is in the purple thread.

I will do another post as I tried something unexpected, today...

Closing the Gap

The sun illuminated this holly tree outside my window and a rainbow appeared just after I completed this piece, and I noticed the parallel shape and colour. I have made cords and added them, as well as outlined shapes with stitch and added fringe to the focal point. It is about closing the gap or making the connection that is part of growth and I hope it creates a feeling of tension or uncomfortability, which is often the case when I reach a growth edge.