Susan Barrett Price's Blog, page 10

Batik: Session #2 Learning

Ever since my first session with wax-resist pattern-making (see 7.27.2014), I’ve wanted to get back to it. But, as with so many things, I have to stalk it, circle around my prey till I’m ready to pounce. This time I wanted a real project, not mere doodles.

Another scarf? I ordered some silky cotton voile from DharmaTrading. I wanted material that draped nicely but with a dense enough weave to easily release the wax. When the 52″ fabric arrived, I ripped a piece 52″ long, for a square. [Continue here>>>]

 

Writing Again: from “Passion & Peril” to “Postcards & Pinot Grigio”

Roadtrips often wind up shuffling my mental deck, even short ones like 4 days in Toronto. I wound up reading an ebook I forgot I had: Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey. Of the short essays I read (each on a different writer, composer, artist, etc.), the preponderance presented successful and productive writers as disciplined larks. A typical pattern: up before dawn, totally focused on writing for 3 hours, using the rest of the day for more mundane business and social life, then early to bed. Their strict routines give them tracks to glide on so that they don’t get stuck standing around for inspiration like someone looking for a taxi in the rain. - Continued here>>>

Patchwork Scarf: Kitty Mom’s Roses — Finished!

[cont'd from 7.13.14] My rosy scarf is finished — 100% hand-stitched! Not sure why that is such an accomplishment… but accomplished I feel. After appliquéing on a few suns, I quilted the patchwork to my indigo-dyed linen-tablecloth backing with big sashiko-style stitches. (I actually bought some Japanese variegated sashiko thread from an Etsy shop — it felt right.) I folded the backing over to the front for side borders, stitching them with tiny invisible stitches worthy of haute couture, if I do say so myself. – See more at: http://madinpursuit.com/Journal2014/20140729.html#sthash.8bxBpwJ3.dpuf

Batik, or Doodling with Hot Wax

I’d been working up to this day for months. I can’t even remember what compelled me to buy the wax, wax heater and odd little djantings (the Indonesian instruments for drawing in wax). But they have been waiting for me. And I have been stalking this prey. Get some dyeing under my belt — okay, got the indigo pot going. Do some easier resists — okay, folding, clamping and tying, shibori style. I took a Craftsy course: “The Art of Cloth Dyeing.” Then I found another: “Fabric Patterning with Wax Resist,” taught by Malka Dubrawsky — perfect! She tacked fabric to a cardboard box for a frame and she used carrots and celery to make designs. I can do that! – See more at: http://madinpursuit.com/Journal2014/20140727.html#sthash.oRDJlEUD.dpuf

A Day In The Life… Studio Tour

My dedication to needle and thread is new since last fall. Most of the winter-hermitage quilting took place in the kitchen — the hearth — with our table extended to block the back door. But summer demands a change of pace — farm markets, roadtrips, and activities on the back deck. So the elves had to move the workshop upstairs. My second-floor studio has always been oriented to serious work, but was focused on the computer. Trying to add in the fabric, tool and supply hoarding that goes along with stitching — and still feel efficient… well, that was this week’s challenge. I am not one of those people whose creativity thrives on chaos. – See more at: http://madinpursuit.com/Journal2014/20140725.html#sthash.M0pkx6af.dpuf

Upcycled Sweatshirt: Inspired to Slash & Sew

It was cool yesterday morning as we headed outside to paint our little table. So I dug out an old sweatshirt. It was a thick XL 90% cotton shirt I received as a gift from Xerox Business Systems’ Learning Dept. after a tour, circa 2000. It was printed with a photo of Albert Einstein and his famous words: “A problem cannot be solved from the same conscioiusness that created it” — a reformers’ motto.

Inspiration. After the table got painted and the air warmed, I pulled off the sweatshirt and cut off the slightly stained collar, cuffs and bottom. My 5-gallon vat of indigo dye was still on the porch, so I gave my shirt a dunk.

- See more at: http://madinpursuit.com/Journal2014/20140719.html#sthash.umSAiX7s.dpuf

Patchwork Scarf: Roses and Other Mysteries (Work In Progress)

My grandmother Kitty Mom wore flowered dresses. I remember falling in love with the dark rose-filled fabric of a housedress she had delivered back in the Fifties, when she was in her sixties. I coveted it and wished she would give it to me to play with — to wrap myself in. But I stayed quiet, resigning myself to cutting pictures of roses out of her rose-bush catalogs.

Now, despite all good judgment and taste I find I keep buying floral print remnants in thrift shops — especially roses. About a week ago I decided to face this compulsion. In the mood to make something magical — a fabric book or prayer shawl — I pulled the whole flowery stash out onto my work table.

I don’t mind saying that I felt a powerful presence there. Maybe there were ghosts lingering in the previously owned fabric. Or maybe the roses attracted Kitty Mom.

- See more at: http://www.madinpursuit.com/Journal2014/20140713.html#sthash.RCigk4m1.dpuf

Mood Indigo: Traditional Dye Experiment

I bought an indigo dye kit. And I’ve been saving it for a sunny summer’s day, when we could go outside and have a project on the back deck. Wednesday was just the perfect day.

Why indigo? Beyond my simple love of blue jeans, indigo has deep roots in many cultures.

Blue in itself is a dynamic colour, both lucky and cursed: it has cooling, almost therapeutic powers, but also holds an aura of melancholy…

The epitome of the dynamism of blue is, of course, indigo. The complexity and secrecy of the dyeing process, and the mystical way in which the dyed cloth suddenly changes to blue on contact with the air, all conspire to surround indigo with ritual and superstition. Indigo cloth is considered magical in places as far apart as Indonesia, the Middle East and West Africa, and clothes made of it ward off evil spirits. Even a narrow band inserted above the hem of dresses from Hauran in Syria is enough to protect the bride from the evil eye. [Sheila Paine, Amulets: Sacred Charms of Power and Protection, Rochester VT: Inner Traditions, 2004]

- See more at: http://madinpursuit.com/Journal2014/20140711.html#sthash.j99jXz9U.dpuf

Hand-stitching practice: “Quiet Desperation”

Yes, I know it looks more like a “Starburst” but (despite my attempts to punch up the color in Lightroom) the actual colors are very muted. Not starry. Not really even summer’s day dandelion puff. - Continued>>>

Spirit Cloth 101: Finished!

[Cont'd from 6.11.14, Spirit Cloth 101 project, aka “Pocket Haven”) I’m declaring the project finished, though I could probably experiment on it till every square centimeter is filled in. But the texture seems about right for a pleasant little retreat, a hideaway for the anxious soul. – Continued here>>>