Getting a Little Rusty

Every once in a while, I get the urge to rust some fabric....I don't use it a lot in my work but it does add a very distinct look when I do.

So a friend of mine gifted me with an unusual gift but one I went wild over. There are several of us from the Southern Highland guild that are working on pieces for our Wabi Sabi exhibit opening June 30 (more on that later). I was thinking of using some rust...so love the box ...

this wonderful heavy chain came in.

When I rust I like to use a variety of fabrics including mercerized cotton, silks like noil or crepe du Chine...organza is another favorite. I mix them all up and use a solution of half white vinegar and half water...pour it over and cover with plastic to keep it moist.

In the warm weather, it rusts quickly and within a day I was ready to rinse and iron.

So some of the results....I'm not sure which is which as far as fabric but I know I used mercerized cotton, noil, silk broadcloth and organza...and was

very happy with the results...

All fabrics worked well and were "very" rusted.

On another note, on a recent day trip to Little Switzerland which is on the Blue Ridge Parkway, I came upon this wonderful 2 seater bike....

which has been hanging on this wall forever...(we've gone to this area before)

And also this wonderful sled...

It might be fun to incorporate these photos and rusted fabrics into a small piece.

Fiber Day Fashion Show

The Southern Highland Craft Guild always has a fashion show on Fiber Weekend. This amazing event has always been organized and run by Liz Spear.

It is held in the auditorium of the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Asheville, NC.

Although the stage and surroundings are simple, the garments and accessories are not. This year 81 pieces were represented in the show.

Why is this so amazing you ask?....because each piece is either dyed, woven, deconstructed etc or a combination of many techniques. It is a feast for the eyes if you love fiber. The above top is handwoven...beautiful colors.

This jacket was a combination of techniques. The same models volunteer each year....who wouldn't want the chance to wear one of these beautiful garments, if only for a short time.

I loved these pants and they looked adorable on this model.

Annette is modeling a beautiful handwoven scarf/shawl which works beautifully with her black outfit.

This ensemble is a trademark look for Barbara Kazinski who dyes all her own silk for these outfits.

This oversized hand woven jacket could work on any figure type.

This magnificent long shibori dyed coat was lightweight and flowed beautifully.

A beautiful handwoven vest and

another scarf and top from Jude Stuecker. I love this gals work. Not only does she dye all her fabric, but creates her own designs to be made into silkscreens which she then screens on top. You can see some on the scart and near the shoulder of the jacket.

A beautiful top woven with hand dyed yarns...

and this lovely hand painted silk piece.

This piece incorporated the use of paper as one of the materials...so interesting and quite durable to my surprise.

This loosely woven jacket was interesting and very comfortable.

So this was my favorite, created and modeled by Vicki Bennett.....the left side (our left) is all eco printed using Eucolyptus leaves and yes they printed that color. They do print well but I've never seen that color print on fabric. The jacket was magnificent and had offers to buy it before Vicki had it off her body...As an eco printer myself (and a very "beginner" one at that) I'm always fascinated by the process and the many results you can get.

The grand finale...this is Liz's last year for doing the show and after 20 years it was time for a break. I told her, it's always good to go out when you're on top and on top she is! Liz is a great gal and puts her heart and soul into everything she does...Thank you Liz for 20 wonderful years.

Grovepark Inn - Birthday celebration

The Grovepark Inn in Asheville is a beautiful (and our favorite) place to go.

It's a 5 star hotel that has hosted many presidents and other well known people.

You can just go and walk around or eat in one of their restaurants...

We were celebrating a birthday so this was the choice.

This is looking out the back - the city of Asheville...

Quite breathtaking....

and the sunset. We always manage to have our wine just as the sun is going down.

myself and hubby.....who turned ______ yesterday!

and our son Mike who loves to come here too...It's always a wonderful time and even though it's not sewing related, I love for it to be in my blog book when I have it printed each year.

Making Kits

Recently our Fiber Junkies group met for an unscheduled meeting to make kits. Mary has been trying to find good homes for a pod full of fabric gifted to her from a dear friend.

 Some of the fabric would make good community quilts. This is one of the projects our PTA group does each year......sooooo.....we decided to make kits for this meeting. We had lots of tables to hold the Accu Quilt machines, places to lay fabric for color selection etc.

 Here we are spreading out and getting ready to do some cutting....

 Meetings would not be complete without a glass of bubbly.

 Denny has the strip cutter along with an electric cutting machine making our work go faster.

 So much fun to see those long strips coming out all at once...

 and Mary our ironing person.

 I think we did a good job putting fabrics together. We wound up with many different color ways which will make into some pretty quilts.

We wound up with 8 kits....a good days work and lots of fun to do with friends.

Eco Cards

The leaves are blooming again and time to get back into Eco Printing...so I managed to squeeze in a day to play with this wonderful technique. I've explained in previous blogs how to do this so today's post is just a short show and tell...

 I love doing bookmarks with all the smaller pieces left over. I didn't know how popular they would be with so many people owning kindles or listening to audio books (myself included) but...

They do well and people seem to enjoy them ........

I loved doing the large prints that make into cards - some Maple and Redbud above...

Maple and fern....

More Maple

Oakleaf Hydrangea on left and Eucalyptus on right.

All are good for printing and make into beautiful cards or book covers.

A happy camper now that the leaves are on the trees again....I look forward to doing lots this summer.