Secret Journals
Like A Child #5
I am tired of hand stitching bindings and sleeves, so I took a break and made more postcards. These are three that are finished --- a mini series for FFAC. I love the play of the colored shapes on the neutral gridded background.
This seems to be the year to spot praying mantises in our gardens. Until this month, I hadn't seen a single one in the 15 years that I've lived here, but now I've seen three. The last time I saw any praying mantises was when I was a teenager living with my Dad. He had yew bushes out front, and every year they were covered with little mantises in the spring. Since this month is the anniversary of my Dad's death, I am starting to see these mantis sightings as symbolic, and I am contemplating a new series of work based on the praying mantis.
While I have certainly been canning and freezing all sorts of vegetables and fruits from the garden, today's harvest photo is of one of the dye racks. The yellow jars are varieties of coreopsis; the orange jars are cosmos; the darker jars are logwood; and the stainless steel pot is full of goldenrod. It's still a little early in the harvest for the goldenrod, but the coreopsis and cosmos are in full bloom.
I almost never shop for commercial fabrics, but today I needed a binding for a wallhanging that is almost finished. I looked through hundreds of bolts of fabric in 6 different stores with no luck, atleast no luck for a binding fabric. On a clearance table though, I did find the deal of the week! This fabric was marked down, so I got 2 yards for $3. I love it as a background, and I can't dye or paint it myself for that price. So, the answer is no, I did not paint it --- atleast not yet.
This is the newest project on the design wall, or should I say the design floor, since that is where I am actually working today. It is a bigger piece about dialogues and communication. I am still adding pieces of cloth to it, and it will get more painted features once I get a background layout that I like. Any opinions?
The Fall issue of Quilting Arts magazine has been mailed out to subscribers and will be in the stores early in September. Beginning on page 36, there is an Artist Profile about yours truly. When Patricia Bolton (QA editor extraordinaire) first approached me about the article, I was a little apprehensive. I am very comfortable speaking about my work in person, but I wasn't sure how I would come across when a writer got done with my words. Cate Prato quickly put me at ease, and I feel like she captured the essence of my work very well. Kudos to the staff at Quilting Arts magazine!
After exchanging notes with another natural dyer, I gathered several varieties of leaves to experiment with shades of brown. Starting on the left, the top row was dyed with pear leaves, black walnut leaves, and apple leaves. The bottom row was dyed with peach leaves and locust leaves.
Today I thought I would share a photo of someone else who appreciates my cosmos garden. Picking the cosmos each morning for the dyepots is sometimes a tricky proposition. I try not to disturb the bees, but ultimately I remove their reason for being in my garden. Too bad they aren't yarn lovers --- then they would understand that the sacrifice of the flowers is for a worthwhile cause!
linen, hand painted cotton cloth
Last year we added a stone wall to our property, complete with a set of stone steps. This year I decided the steps needed an arbor, and of course, the arbor needed purple clematis on either side of it. I've never grown clematis before, so I was thrilled when it actually climbed up both sides of the arbor and BLOOMED!
Celebrate Life #7
8.25"h x 7.5"w
This year I dedicated a flower bed to growing cosmos for dyeing yarn. For those of you that don't know, I was bitten by the natural dye bug a year ago, and I thoroughly enjoy dyeing natural fibers with various plants that I gather. The photo above shows some of the colors that I have dyed this summer with cosmos from my garden.
