Nov12

Toward 2050

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A long time ago and pretty far away there was a labyrinth in the desert.

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The Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona. Toward 2050 was organized by Arizona artist Ann Morton and spread across 46 states,DC and nine countries. Fiber artists were invited to send textile flags in a specific size and structure to be displayed in a labyrinth in the desert.

I sent five double sided flags cut from cotton fabric which I had eco printed with leaves from trees in my garden. We were encouraged to use what we already had in our stash. Over 5000 flags arrived to create the labyrinth.
I can’t find photos of the flags I sent but they would have been similar to this.

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The flags were collected after the installation was taken down and sorted into piles of 30 blocks to be assembled into quilt tops. Eventually the pieced tops were mailed to volunteers who added batting and a backing fabric and either hand stitched, machine stitched or tied into quilts. The quilts will be distributed in future climate events.

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This is the quilt I finished and mailed back to Ann this morning. I was quite pleased that there was a handwoven block in the corner on the bottom right. I had visions of free motion quilting … but time got away from me so simple was key to finishing.
I hand stitched the identifying tags on to the reverse of each block.

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I took photos of each block.
They may have to wait for another post …

From the Toward 2050 website:

“Makers sent the flags to the project organizers in Phoenix, to be used to build and define the pathways for the colossal labyrinth at Desert Botanical Garden. Visitors now have the opportunity to see this amazing work and appreciate nearly 5000 flag panels that have come together to create the labyrinth. Not only does this work inspire contemplation about climate and our environment, but visitors also step over thresholds as they
make their way through the labyrinth, year by year, ever closer
to the year 2050 – all combining to build awareness and
​foster responsibility.”


Mar9

new year, new goals

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Oops. This didn’t post back in January.

Time to put away the holiday decorations. Not many were brought downstairs for the last few years. This walk-in closet was a jumble and piled with stuff inefficiently. I decided to really clear out the junk, dispose of the useless stuff, bags filled for transport to charity shop and some will be at a guild meeting “junk in the trunk” event.

Mar9

orchids

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I inherited several orchids and repotted them. A couple have sent out flower stalks!

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Candidate for life in a jar.

I saw a video on just putting an orchid in a jar of water. So I tried it. Most of the mucky stuff had already been trimmed away when it was repotted.

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Just a bit more root pruning needed.
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Ready for the windowsill.

I’ll add some orchid fertilizer after a week or so. Then wait and see what happens. Hopefully a flower stalk and new leaves.

Apr2

indigo ikat

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The indigo pots are ready. The flower is beautiful! The workshop was at the guild house. Kind of inconvenient to have the pots on the floor.
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Here I am dipping my warp chains and weft bundles into the indigo.
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The left chain was braided to make a textured border on each side of the cloth. There are some all blue chains and some chains with bound areas (the ties are sticking out messily on those).
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This is one of three weft bundles. It was bound in three small areas and it was sharp and clearly defined in the outside latter but the inner layers are loose and broader. I should have “worked” and massaged the bundles to get the dye to go deeper.
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I warped the tiny Structo loom at the workshop and the bound areas lined up exactly … but I had not placed them in the right order … and one all blue chain was found on the floor after it was all wound on. Sigh.
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So I just took it home after the workshop was over and moved the warp from the Structo to my Baby Wolf. It was awkward and the bound areas no longer lined up perfectly.
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Second time threading this warp but at least it goes faster on the BW.
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Weaving at last.
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And once I got started, I just enjoyed the plain weave and playing with the placement of the weft bundles. It wasn’t ever going to recreate the design planned by the workshop leader, Marilyn Robert, so I just did my own thing.
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I helped Peg to dress her loom with her indigo warp. She wasn’t able to come to the last two days of the workshop.
I think we got hers on correctly.
I hope.
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I had also stitched some shibori on cotton tape using the donkeys teeth design. This was about two yards of tape pulled up super tight using dental floss as the stitching thread.
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Here are the finished bookmarks I made from the tape.
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And this is the first book I’ve made from the woven cloth.
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It’s small about four inches by five.
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Plenty more fabric for more books.
I do enjoy making them.
Jan23

needle case

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A new cover for a very old needle case. When I was in 4-H, we made simple sewing tools. The wool felt pages in this needle case were just three layers machine stitched down the middle.
No fancy cover. We also covered cigar boxes to be sewing kits. I made several; I wish I had saved one of those, too.
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I joined the Textile Artists Stitch Camp this month – my second time to take the free week-long on-line workshop. First step was to paint two pieces of fabric – one piece fairly lightly painted.
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The second more densely painted fabric.
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The next step was to cut up the two painted fabrics and then arrange the pieces to create a new fabric. Then cover it with stitching to make the separate pieces flow by blurring the boundaries. My favorite part of the workshop.
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I was considering making it a sculpture but then – suddenly I noticed my needle case looked good beside it so I decided to use the stitched fabric for book covers for the needle case.
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The stiffener inside is Kraft-tex and I trimmed a bit of the stitched fabric away and hand stitched the edges.
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I added another scrap to the center of the inside to hide that join.
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The wool is pretty old and the white part is a bit darkened on one side probably from sitting in a wooden box.
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I’m quite pleased that I enhanced a tool I use daily with a fun and artsy project.

I need to look for the perfect button and ribbon to make a closure as the Kraft-tex is really stiff.
Dec3

2023 journal

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A Coptic stitched book from a tutorial on the Handmade Book Club.

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Twelve signatures with three folded sheets of ivory copy paper wrapped with pages from Quiltfolk magazine.
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Some blood may have been shed but no tears. I’ve made Coptic stitched books before but the tutorial was really well done and my results are better than ever before.
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The cover was collaged and layered with maps and old book pages with a layer of paper napkin over all.
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Since I’ll be using this all year, I added monthly tabs.
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I do wish it had an elastic band for closure and a loop for my pen. May figure out how to add those after the fact.
Sep18

excursion in Cozumel

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Docking at Cozumel. The harbor is deep enough for the ship with just a long walk to the town. No need to hop in a small boat – that’s call a tender.
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We rode a bus around to the beach where the turtles come ashore to lay eggs. All along were these Beach Spider Lilies. Really. That’s it’s name and it was … on the beach.
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Just a colorful wall on our way from the parking place to the beach.
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But right there was an iguana on the wall!!!
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A lot of seaweed. The dunes here were very hilly.
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And all along the surf were mounds and cavities in the sand. Red sticks marked where the local naturalists had seen turtles digging their nests.
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We had to be careful where we walked and there were rules about how to dig for the turtle babies.
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Here’s a team working under a umbrella.
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These are my teammates working on our nest. Well, they are working. This was their second time on this excursion. They knew how to do it right. And since I didn’t want to lay down up to my armpits in the sand, they were happy to do the work.
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These are not the turtles from our nest. We found only empty shells – more than 120! You have to count them for the naturalists. They release the turtles at night when there are fewer predators. So we didn’t get to watch them on their way into the surf.
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So I borrowed one to pose with me. You have to wear gloves to handle the little cuties.
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The bus driver took pity on me and let me sit in the a/c while everyone else kept digging for turtles.
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Another beach flower. Mayhaps or Beach Morning Glories.
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Tracks of all the beach combers.
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Enjoyed this excursion. I spent my cash on a necklace of shell and black coral.
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Sep9

first day at sea

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First sunrise at sea. The sea foam was mesmerizing to watch – like lace being made by magical hands which unraveled it as fast as it was created.
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We had plenty of time to explore the shopping mall and various haunts around the ship.
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A bistró setting which made a good backdrop. Kind gentleman offered to take a photo of the two of us.
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A lighted floor which the kids loved running over. I walked on it once.
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This is more my kind of floor. Solid, and reliable.
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Some glasswork decorating one of the restaurants. Not quite up to Chihuli quality
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The Schooner Bar. No one was around to take a photo of us together – battling the elements, hanging on for dear life.
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So here we are separately and desperately saving the boat from a storm at sea …
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[… cut to wide shot of towering waves, and blowing rain … or … the calm after the storm? Wait, there was no storm. It was smooth sailing the whole trip. ]