Susan Barrett Price's Blog, page 7

Red Project #1

I’ve been slowly accumulating some interesting stitched panels done in a red/orange/purple palette. I thought I might make a quilt, but decided I’d get more fun out of it if I made a large square shawl — the kind you fold into a triangle, looking all Victorian-romantic. - See more at: http://madinpursuit.com/Journal2015/20150107.html

A thought on 2015

I’m getting off to a slow start, art-wise. I seem to prefer stocking up on smoothie ingredients and educating myself about good plant-based nutrition. I spent some time updating my “power” diagram from last year. I put more emphasis on an all-encompassing “source,” which I am thankful for and responsible to. God? My muse? My ancestors? All of the above?

What I need to do is to name two or three projects and get to work. We have about 10 weeks of dark winter days ahead and I want something to show for it. I need to make a plan… without overthinking it.

That’s all I’m going to say for now.

- See more at: http://madinpursuit.com/Journal2015/20150103.html#sthash.vhxmr5Ch.dpuf

Year In Review

It was my year of learning about cloth. Learning. Exploring. More about process than product. A meander through books, online courses and my own imagination. Continued here>>> http://madinpursuit.com/Journal2014/20141231.html

Also check out Of Doodads and Pocket Saints (12/30/2014).

The Geranium Experiment, Continued: Part 3, Transformation

Maybe I’m missing something, but my geranium-dyed cloth was ugly (photo below). I haven’t quite developed the grunge or sewage treatment plant aesthetic. Call me middle-brow; call me midwestern. Since this fragment of tablecloth was not in fact rescued from a post-Katrina demolition, any story it has to tell will be fiction. My disappointment with my darling experiment could only be met with continuing experiment. – Continued here>>>

The Geranium Experiment, Continued

My problem with learning from books is that some very good books are so advanced that they assume I have some basic skills that I don’t. So… I just need to try some things out. – Continued here>>>

Dyeing for Cranberries

Learning by doing. Bag of cranberries in back of freezer from last year. Use them for color? Why not. I did find a web page that gave me some basic instruction. This is one of those “fun for the holidays” projects you can do with kids, age 4-8. – Continue here>>>

Alchemy + botany

I thought dyeing with indigo was alchemy because of its witch’s-brew froth and magical emergence of blue from lime green. Then I thought that dyeing cloth with Procion MX dyes was alchemy because of the “secret” formulas and unpredicable results… that only came with patient waiting. But now I know that dyeing with natural botanicals is where the true mystic chemistry resides. I’ve been consulting India Flint’s Eco-Colour: Botanical Dyes for Beautiful Textiles and Sasha Duerr’s Handbook of Natural Plant Dyesas well as numerous websites. It is chemistry, yes, in that plant color bonds with fiber, usually with the help of “mordants” like iron, aluminum, copper, etc. But it seems to be chemistry for people who love the unpredictable… people who believe that the mysteries of the unpredictable are gold. I am realizing that books and articles are guides only… read them, then go with your instincts. – Continued here>>>

Stitching: Shaped Cloth-Weaving + Pocket Saint

Made a new “pocket saint,” this time flat. She is layered with batting and a cotton backing and embroidered. She is very watchful — so much to worry about in this world, so much to warn against. – Continued here>>>

Stitching: Shaped Cloth-Weaving Experiment

I’m going with the flow in this between time twixt roadtrips. Maybe I should label this road-intensive autumn as “inspiration” and “regeneration” time, rather than “production” time. The photo shows yesterday’s experiment in “shaped cloth weaving,” from another of my Jude Hill courses: Cloth to Cloth (Basic Quilt Weaving). – Continued here>>>

Stitching: Trusting the Process…?

Sometimes I come home from a trip and launch into a surprising new project with jet-propelled energy. Not so much this time. The hands want to work, but the brain is quiet. – Continued here>>>