Look for Problems?!

I'd rather play in the leaves!

Until a little earlier this evening, I was part of a free online class that I thought would deepen my knowledge of the design process.  Alas, it was not to be.  The focus of this particular course was on creating designs of "artifacts", which were defined as items (material or conceptual or behavioural) made in order to "fill gaps" -- i.e. to solve "problems".

I knew I was in trouble when one of the assignments for Week #1 was to identify ten (count 'em!) "gaps" in my life -- gaps between what I wanted/needed and what I had.  Well.  I could only come up with three, and of those three, two of them would be easily solved if I just got off my duff and got my act together.  The third one would involve my buying a new coffee maker.  Not going to happen.

I decided that the course, while well-intended and no doubt of value to others, wasn't for me.  I decided instead to turn off, tune out and drop in to my studio.

This involved scratching a late-in-the-season itch to use some of the leaves from my ornamental crab apple trees to do some dyeing.

NOTE: this is my first attempt at natural dyeing and I'm rather lazy/casual when it comes to the dye process -- any dye process!

I began by soaking the leaves for 48 hours in some cool water.  Then I turned on the heat and simmered 'em for a couple of hours.

Leaves soaking in water - old aluminum pot

I strained the leaves off, and returned the 'elixir' to the pot.  Meanwhile, I prepped some fabric (cotton, cotton velvet, muslin) and some wool batting in warm water and vinegar, simmering it for an hour or so.  I then transferred it to the dye bath, added some salt for good measure, and let that whole thing simmer some more.

Muslin on top of wool batting just put into dye bath

Wool batting and muslin floating in dye bath

Once I got a colour I thought I'd like, I took the materials out of the dye bath, rinsed them gently in cool water, and put 'em out in the sun to dry (sorry; no photos at the moment).

I washed out the pots, and put some crab-apple bark in cool water to soak.  The experiments continue...

In betwixt and between, I kept working on The Door Quilt, the foundation of which is now finished, and measures up at 39" W x 74" long.

Door Quilt background laid out on cutting table

What remains?  The creation of the top motif -- quilted separately and appliqued onto the quilted background -- and the binding, label and sleeve.  This afternoon I began the former, using recycled clear laminate plastic to draw the design.  Tomorrow I'll transfer it to fabric, and work on the next step of quilting -- just fabric and batting -- before applying it to the quilted background.

Finishing is so close I can taste it!

Linking up to Nina Marie's Off-the-Wall Friday, in which she discusses 'Bucket Lists', after a fashion.  I won't admit to having such a list in any formal sense, either, but God willing, in the next few years -- before I turn 70 -- I'll visit Scotland again, and make it back "home" for the 40th anniversary of my graduation from McGill.  I'd also like to get to the LaConner Quilt Festival, to take a course at Asilomar and/or Alegre, and maybe brave the crowds at the IQF in Houston and one of the major fibre festivals (like Rhinebeck or the KR knitting retreat)...

One day at a time..."For I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep..." (Robert Frost).

Lest You Think I've Been Idle...

Here's some visual evidence of activity in the 3F studio:

I've been commissioned to make a pair of 'Non-felted Slippers' (the pattern, by Yuko Nakamura, is a freebie on Ravelry) -- out of alpaca (!) because the recipient can't wear wool next to her skin.  The only stuff I hand on hand (and yes, I'm using stash yarn) I bought ages ago from elann.com, once with a sweater in mind, so it's DK (double-knitting) weight.  This means I'm using 2 strands together to make these chunky-weight slippers.  Pictured is Slipper #1, almost finished, and I think it's turned out quite well.

While waiting for help from Ravelry on the pattern (short rows required were not explicitly stated in the pattern, so I am grateful to the clarification from two knitting buddies!), I worked on my Cable Rib Sock, and managed to finish the heel.   This Jawol yarn is fine -- there are 32 rows in that heel flap!

Drifting along on Orca Bay...I finally assembled 4 dozen pair of border blocks.  Here they are piled, awaiting pressing.  Today, they'll be fully assembled, and a border created!










And...in the C&G alcove of the studio, I finished Activities 12 and 13 of Module 5.  These assignments were all about contrast and scale when designing, using the example of a Star-in-a-Star block.

First, we worked some samples in our sketchbooks, using collage techniques.  Tracing the pattern for the block on the back of paper I'd created in an earlier module, and cutting out the pieces, enables the creation of a pair of blocks, thus.

Collaged Block 1

Collaged Block 2

Collaged Block 4

Collaged Block 3

Next we combined colouring with collage to create a third pair of blocks, to see the effects.

Collaged Block 5

Collaged Block 6

And finally, we were required to create a block in fabric, based on one of our collages.  My points, alas, aren't particularly sharp.  I used a very light-weight scrap from stash for the background; my green hand-dyed fabric wasn't much heavier. Both were hard to work with versus the black scrap, which was, of course, heaviest. I coped by adding Mary Ellen's Best Press and pressing fiercely!