First Fire of the Season

Yesterday I broke down and turned on the heat in the family room for a few hours. Today Doug built the first fire in the family room fireplace. So, it's official. Winter is coming. 

I spent most of the day sitting in the family room with Doug, enjoying the fire, sewing, and watching old episodes of Weeds. I lead a racy life.

"When I retire I'm going to spend my evenings by the fireplace going through those boxes. There are things in there that ought to be burned." ~Richard M. Nixon 

 Understatement of the year.


 

A Bit of Stitching

The laundry piles up, the closets remain cluttered, there's work to be done that doesn't get done because Morna sits in her chair with thread and needle.  Stitch, stitch, stitch . . . . . the shapes are starting to show themselves.
 
 "The only place where housework comes before needlework is in the dictionary." 
~Mary Kurtz


Cloth Weaving Workshop Progress


Jude Hill's  workshop on making cloth from cloth has been fascinating. I love watching her process and also seeing the work of the others in the class.  This has opened an entirely new area of fiber work for me and I am pretty sure I will be experimenting with it for a long time.

This is a cloth made by weaving many pieces of other cloth together. The pieces include scraps from several old skirts; vintage kimono silks sent to me by Jody Mellenthin, a cyber-fiber-friend who blogs HERE; pieces of ribbons which I purchased from Tinsel Trading a few years ago -  it can take a very long time for something to get used, I have a hard time with letting go; the backing of an antique quilt which had fallen apart (I would never do harm to a salvageable quilt); a piece of upholstery fabric; and various other textiles. 

I plan to add much kantha stitching to this piece. It is possible that I will also add even more layers. Once I start with something like that, I tend to get obsessive about it - wanting to fill every space. Every time I add a piece to fill a space, a newly created space appears.

Below is  the beginning of a star, styled in true Jude fashion.  It is a "double weave" with the top layer entirely from a pair of Flax pants which I loved but I love even better that they became way too big for me (and no, that does not mean they stretched). The under layer is entirely from Jody's kimono silks.

I am still fiddling with it. Not sure what I might do with the center and want to do "right" with stitching.

Stay tuned. 


Cloth To Cloth

This is an example of strip weaving and shape shifting.
I'm participating in Jude Hill's Cloth To Cloth (2) Workshop and I am loving it! I wasn't sure about signing up. I wondered, would it be worth the commitment of time and money. The answer is an unequivocal yes. And I've barely just begun. So, I will be very happy the next few weeks.