Indigo and Shibori with the Fiber Junkies

Fiber Junkies ( my fiber group of 6) met at my home this past week for a day of Shibori and Indigo. I made 2 pots of Indigo the day before and always hold my breath when it's time to see if it was successful or not. Often you can tell by the flower that's on top. I don't know why it's call a flower as it looks like a large bunch of bubbles but it is where the live and most concentrated part of the Indigo is.

And this is a good flower so I know my Indigo will be good and strong. You can fix your fabrics anyway you want - just dunking or folding and clamping or using other types of resists. Once your fabrics are fixed, it's necessary to soak them in a bucket of water, opening the pores of the fabric to make them more receptive to the Indigo dye. (left) You also have to remove the flower from the top and keep it covered tightly as oxygen will weaken it. (on right.... before covering)

Your fabric should stay in the Indigo bucket for at least 10 - 15 mins. When it is first removed it is an ugly yellow - green and hard to get a picture as it starts to turn so quickly. Oxygen is what turns it blue...so above is fabric halfway there and below is a piece of fabric already turned completely blue.

Most of us hung them without undoing the resists. You can go either way as the oxygen will only react with those areas that have Indigo on them.

Kate had some pretty plexiglass pieces she purchased for this technique. She folded her fabric until it was the size of a small square, put a template on top and bottom, clamped them in place and put in Indigo.

 Beautiful results and so sorry I didn't get a picture of the clamped fabric before it was dunked.

Indigo reacts differently on different fibers; I have tried all natural fibers and have had good results. The one piece on top that is predominently white, was scrunched inside of an old stocking so much of the fabric wouldn't be touched by Indigo. I like having some with white in it.

This was our working station with buckets of water, Indigo and other things.

Hmmmm ....what shall I do next....

Sue and Kate...I think Kates shirt was put in Indigo; she uses it as a work shirt.

We had 2 lines which we used every inch of...

Mary looking very happy.

I don't know whose piece this is but thought it turned out extra pretty.

Gen just taking a moment to relax...Where's your wine?...It was a great day, the weather although hot cooperated by not bringing us rain...always fun with my FJ friends.

Stay tuned for part 2...Since the buckets were at my house, I got to use them again which I did the next day and have some fun things to share.

PTA - August 2019

Our August gathering of PTA was at Lindas' home where good conversation, lots of laughs, great show and tell and home made flower pots seem to rule the day.

We have such a creative and very prolific group of gals. A few months back we all went on a mini field trip to the new open studio/store of Folkwear. Some of us bought patterns - 3 of the one above. I've yet to make mine but Mareen made hers in a beautiful what looked to be a rayon, cotton blend. The fabric was soft, thin and had a beautiful hand to it, which was effective in this particular style. The fabric was striped with a fringe; the left side has a sleeve, the right just a piece that comes over to the left which is very pretty.

Mareen also showed us a top she completed. She recently was an assistant to a workshop that Georgia B was teaching at John Campbell Folk Art School and this was the project...soooo

 she had to make one for herself. The wide border (above) was perfect with the other fabrics she chose for the quilt.

Marene also showed her mini challenge piece the 2 of us decided to do after hearing Susan Cleveland's lecture. We made a small piece using the teeny tiny piping as well as Prairie points...They both look so different but feature the same techniques.

Dort's brother in law has a favorite kimona he wears - fabric pattern of a Sumo wrestler (below right). It ripped across the neckline and she was asked to repair it but had none of the same fabric....sooooo, she improvised with a mermaid applique and little "pasties" and as an extra little laugh, look what happens when you lift the little tassel (on left, red line). Too cute!

Lynne is a member of the Modern Art Quilt Guild and recently took part in a challenge - "Color Your Negative Space". A large bag held lots of crayons, each member was to reach in (no peeking!) and pick out 3 colors, then color those crayons on the challenge sheet (above left)....and then create a piece using just the 3 colors + white. A great idea for a challenge.

Lynne also shared with us her new quilting pattern which seemed to work better with the tensions of her machine.

 Georgia is working on a skirt from the Folkwear Pattern series, it will be lovely when finished.

Linda makes the most amazing pots using 4 different types of materials. They are very organic looking. Some have patterning which she creates by pressing clear wrap and then wire etc. into them as they are drying (like the one below). They all have drainage and her plants are thriving.

It was a feast for the eyes and even more fun...

we all took some home!

 Mary showed us 3 new pieces...think I may have shown before but worth seeing again...the top, lots of thread painting with appliqued trees on top. The lower left a detail of a piece using deconstructive screen printed fabric as a background and on the right - a cozy up quilt for Mary when she watches TV or reads at night.

Linda is a big Boston Terrier person and has always had them, fostered them etc....these are her children. "Charlie" (Charlene) is the granddaughter of my favorite one of her doggies - Libby who died a couple of years back....but little Charlie lives on and decided to join us for the meeting. I must say she was very well behaved and quite content to spend the day with us. 

We had a wonderful meeting and came home full of inspiration, food and wine.

My Own Personal Challenge

Our guild had Nationally known quilter Susan Cleveland a few months back to present a lecture and workshop. I loved all the techniques she showed us and wrote an extensive blog on it. I decided I wanted to try some of the cute tricks she used on her quilts and make a smaller version for myself.. Although her style is so different from mine, I can see myself using many of her techniques altered to suit my tastes.

This was to be a VERY small piece - just a learning piece. I wanted a pieced background with a little bit of interest which I added with some stamps. Once I had the background, it was onto trying some of the fun techniques.

First up, was the piping - one of the things I loved the most was the very teeny, tiny piping she used. I have always been a fan of piping, have used it for years in both quilts and clothing construction. I've also always made my own rather than use the limited colors and coarse quality fabric of store bought...BUT nothing this thin. I love it. I have it laying between a pencil and a large sewing needle to give you an idea of how thin it is.

I thought it might be a little tedious to make because it is so thin but no......it's really quite easy. First,  cut a strip of fabric the length of what you need + 2 ", cut the width @ 1 1/4" wide. This does not have to be perfect. Wrap the strip around the piping so lengthwise edges on both sides match up. Sew as close as you can to the piping without actually stitching on it; most people find a zipper foot to work well. If you have a BERNINA, a #3 foot works like a charm. You can enclose the piping, lay it so it fits into one of the grooves on underneath side, with the side to be sewn to fall under the needle.

Here's Sue's  handy little tool - Piping Hot Binding for cutting the piping evenly and making the placement of it on the edge the perfect distance at every point. The tool has a groove which holds the piping, the excess fabric hangs out beyond the edge and is cut with a rotary cutter. You have your choice of 1/4" seam allowance or 1/2" as you can see if you look carefully at the tool. I've always trimmed my own piping and thought "Why do I need this"....well think again, this simple little tool is wonderful, a time saver and makes such a professional piping. I love piping and will be using this lots and lots.

 You can see how much the piping adds to the above seam.

This was not one of Susan's tricks but I happen to love machine buttonhole stitching and thought this piece lent itself well to it. I must add that I used a size 12 cotton thread and a topstitch needle # 100/16. Top stitching needles have the largest eye and will handle more thicker threads.

The other thing Susan cleverly uses is the Prairie point. I've also used many of them and think they are so neat but Susan uses more than one fabric, adds stitching and other doo-dads ....so here is my version. I was fresh out of "doo-dads" but think they look cute anyway. I mentioned before you can also hand stitch with this heavier thread (below) which I also love to do. I bought some of Susan's thread and realized when I got home I had quite a bit from Sulky who also makes a very nice #12 cotton thread (both on right)

My friend Marene, took up the challenge with me to make a small piece using the very tiny binding....and revealed it at our meeting yesterday. It was a nice surpise as much time had gone by and thought she might have forgotten. Mareen's is on the left.

And here's mine.........I will probably not use it for anything but it will serve as a nice reference and also a nice day of memories with Susan. 

How Clever

While sitting at a recent quilt guild meeting, I was admiring and wondering about something my friend and fellow quilter - Katie Winchell was knitting. I'm always impressed when someone can knit like crazy without ever looking at their hands...this was Katie...knitting like there was no tomorrow.

Curiosity got the best of me and I asked in a puzzled tone...what is it exactly that you are making (looked a little weird to me, too big for a hat) and she told me it was a carrier to bring to the supermarket......

for carrying heavy things. It is ultra strong and super easy to use...Well, Wow, with my love for watermelon and the huge struggle to bring it home and up the stairs....

And then she said, I'm almost done with this one...and it's yours!

So thank you Katie....I love and have used this handy little carrier over and over again...so glad we sat next to each other at guild...I never would have known about it otherwise.

New Kid on the Block

My son Michael is an artist, working mostly in oils and drawings. He was in Woolworth Walk many years ago and is back!  Woolworth is an historical landmark, even has a working soda fountain inside. The rest of the space is divided into cubicles for artists who pay a monthly fee and a small percentage of sales. Woolworth is on Haywood Street (our version of Main Street) in downtown Asheville, NC. It's a wonderful place to see new and well known local artists and also have the opportunity to purchase their work.

This is my son's booth filled with beautiful paintings, drawings and cards...His booth is downstairs in the center aisle towards the back....# 219.

Hope you can stop by and see Mike's work as well as the work of other artists.

Asheville in the summer is always bustling with fun, tourists and a fun place to be and Woolworth is always at the top of the list to see.

Here'e Mike...the maker of all this beautiful work.....I wish him good luck with this new venture and hope for many lookers and sales...Good Job Mike!