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September 2026: Photography, shopping, student and teacher

September 2026: Photography, shopping, student and teacher

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The fall has started out with photography, a bit of shopping and the taking and giving of workshops. It has been busy but also fun. Would you like to join me?

We are first off to the town of Almonte. It is about 30 to 40 minutes away depending on traffic, and this year very pretty but hidden by thick fog. The drive displays more trees, a bit of swamp, a small escarpment, and rocks. The Mississippi River runs through the town. The river has cut falls in some of the rocks. When settlers arrived, some built mills (one of the cloth mills was later converted into expensive condos, and the stone building beside the mill, which held the mill office and cloth storage, was turned into a museum). Many of the houses nearby were used by mill workers but have long since lost their fibre workers. There are still lots of people who remember the mill working; my neighbour’s father worked there.

To help support itself, the museum runs Almonte Fiberfest each September on the weekend after the labour day long weekend. The local arena is filled with booths. In the hallway, many of the local guilds and fiber related groups have their displays. This year there was a local food vendor selling empanadas. I have no idea if that is spelt correctly, but the two I tried were delirious.

For a number of years I have taken pictures and sent them off to the museum to both give historical documentation, and future publicity options. I finally have a good working system to sort and organise shots. I have a small book with the booth number written in; I have a pack of Post-it notes with the names of the booths. I spend time Friday afternoon organising the booth page with the name. Then I take a picture of the page with the name, then take shots of the booth. This works until it gets very busy on Saturday morning when I try to get crowd shots. As it gets a bit quieter Saturday afternoon, I go back to booth shots and shopping vignettes. (Vignettes are shots to entice people to come shopping). I took some on Friday night, about 380 shots, so I can pull, crop and colour correct some of the best temptation shots to send to the museum to post on their social media. There were over 470 shots Saturday, and a few, 162, on Sunday while I was demoing needle felting. I still have to finish sorting them. Sorting is extra challenging this year, since I have been working on the old laptop and can’t see the tiny images clearly. (My beloved geriatric desktop computer died and the new tiny tower is not yet working). I mention the number of photos just so you can see the restraint I have shown in not showing you all of them!! OH no! Death by slide show!!!

lower 2 pictures are demoing at the OVWSG table1.1- 1.5)A few shots from Almonte fibrefest, to top up your virtual fibre horde

2.1-2.2)Felting Booths: two suppliers and 2 creators

Taking a workshop:

Before and after Fiberfest, the museum runs workshops. This year one caught my eye and I was excited to try it. How can I describe leatherworking so it sounds like a fibre art? Hmm, not sure I can stretch fibre or leather quite that far. Decades ago I made Viking booties(the leather was lightweight, so I would not say they were boots). Now I was going to try to make a cover for a small notebook or journal. This will involve stamping leather with patterns, dyeing it, then sewing it up.

It was a small class since it was a full day during the week. But we tried our best to be quality students, to make up for the lack of quantity. The teacher was great; she had everything we needed and had the leather pre-cut for us. Starting with a scrap piece, we tried out stamps (she brought a lot of options) on dampened leather. After a very difficult selection, we started on stamping the cover pieces. I chose a flurry of dragonflies across the front and back cover and up the spine. I continued with a few flying around on the inner pieces too.

stamping leather work at workshop3.1 ) Dampening and stamp-ening the unsuspecting leather

Then the box of leather dies came out, and again the choices were fabulous and a bit overwhelming. So I went from light to dark: a light golden brown, a green, then a blue. It was hard to tell when the first selection of die was dry so I could start the next colour. It was fascinating to see the die pool into the indentations of the stamps. At first the dye seemed to be just on the surface, but suddenly it was outlining the dragonflies in a darker line of the green or blue.

adding colour to leather4.1- ) Dyeing the leather

The next step was to stamp holes around the ends of the cover. To keep the leather in place, we needed to add a bit of leather glue, but just around the edge, or the notebook will not fit! We had used an adjustable tool to run around the outside edge of the cover. This was to guide the stamping of stitching holes. It is also used if you were stamping a straight border. Thinking ahead, I kept checking that the holes were clear on the back side, in hopes the stitching would be easier later. The stitching punches came in different sizes (number of points) to make it easier to turn corners. I have one of these at home; I can’t remember what I got it for, but I am pretty sure I did not use it to punch holes.

punching holes in leather5.1) hole punching for stitches

The stitching was assisted by a stand called a pony. It was so helpful to have the piece held, so you could use both hands. The thread was waxed, and the stitching required 2 needles, one on each end of the thread. (3.5 x the length needed to stitch). She showed us a cool trick to split the thread so the needle didn’t fall off the thread.

sewing leather6.1- ) pony stand, stitching and sneaky thread trick

We took quite a while to do the stitching neatly, but it was worth the careful work! I was extremely pleased with the result. There may be more leather working options next Almonte Fiberfest, if you are in the area.

finished leather note book cover7.1-) finished cover

I had a day off to finish putting together the needle-felted landscape kits, then Saturday, I was booked to teach needle felted landscape. I had all the notes (21 pages, plus 2 pages of quick notes), samples of various pictures I have done or am working on, all the supplies the students would need and a carload full of bags of various colours and types of wool for them to work from.

needle felting samples 2 pictures 2 partly 3d moose8.1) the samples of pictures and two of the moose bags

Taking a workshop allows the opportunity to learn something new or a new way of working. For new felters, it can also let them try different options. How will you know what you like to work with if you haven’t tried a few options? When you first start, you may not even know you have options. I brought them a few options to try.

For work surfaces to felt into; I have supplied them with a garden needling pad in a foam like a pool noodle (you have seen me working on one before). It has been seasonally available from the dollar store (Feb-Aug). It is not too expensive compared to the thicker wool mats. If you leave the plastic on, it reduces wool transfer. It has two sides to felt into, so it should last long enough to create a few pictures, which should let students decide if they are enjoying needle felting or not.

I also brought other surfaces for them to try;

  • -100% wool pad 1-1.5” thick (I like this one the best but not everyone does, and it’s quite expensive now.)
  • -Ann’s Woolie buddy, which is similar to the wool pad but has a different end feel: (how the needle feels as it is inserted into the work surface) (I have put it in a zip lock plastic freezer bag and like it much better, Unfortunately i still have to give it back to Ann!)
  • -the craft felt covered foam or sponge (I think I like this one the least, but someone may like it, so it’s good to let the students try it.)
  • -black packing foam, and the black foam sold for needle felting
  • -a burlap bag of rice (I like this one too, but it’s rather heavy to carry around for portable/movable felting).

I forgot the pink foam insulation (this is excellent to teach students not to stab too deeply; it screams at you with each stab). It comes in sizes up to 4’x8’ sheets, which allows for very big landscapes. I could not find my cellulose sponge (never leave a needle in this; it will rust since the sponge absorbs humidity – we are in a high humidity area in the summer).

9.1- 9.5)various surfaces to felt into, students’ pictures in progress, trying some of them

To use as a base or backing to felt their picture on, I had;

  • -a piece of 100% wool felt
  • -a thinner piece of Not-wool craft felt
  • -and a piece of 100% wool Horticultural felt, which we used to make a name tag. They can add more details or images to the name tag after the workshop. Having them felt their name is good eye-hand coordination practice before starting their picture.

I also had small samples of;

  • -100% Merino Pre-felt (because its thin it can stretch or distort as you felt into it) but it is worth trying to see how it works as a ground.
  • -hot-press craft felt (which is usually a mix of recycled fibres and glue); it can be felted on, but I do not like the feel to work with. If you don’t try options, how would you know if you hate it, are willing to work with it, or love it?

I also made sure they had a selection of needles to give them an idea of the options available and how they move more or less fibre depending on gauge and number of barbs. I gave them a reverse needle, which has the barbs positioned in the opposite direction to the other felting needles. The reverse needle is active as you remove the needle. It can loosen overworked areas, pull up under colours if you have a different core or under layer, or they are used to blend colour transitions that are too hard-edged. I also gave them a crown needle, since it has such a shallow working depth. It also is not an everyday needle but it is handy to have when you need it.

I asked them to come a bit early so we could start at 10 am, and they did, and I forgot to take pictures (my hubby forgot too, but he did carry in all the workshop bags and boxes, so he was probably tired! I know I should have been tired; I had a weird nerve irritation late Friday night, so I didn’t get much sleep, but my green caffeinated beverage kept me wide awake.)

The students mostly chose the window (Light-box) tracing option, but one tried Templating to transfer the image. She is an abstract painter and only used the image for suggestions. This time most of the students chose at least one of the two ocean scenes.

The name tags went well. Everyone seemed to enjoy needle felting but were very focused and found it more tiring than most groups. They only took a short lunch so I may have to try to get them to take a bigger lunch brake next time. A few students wanted to keep working on their pictures at home, so didn’t frame them (they did get a wooden frame with glass and a paper mat to put it in later), but half the class decided they had achieved the landscape they wanted. All seemed happy with their pieces.


10.1–10.5) students and finished or pictures in progress.

At the end of the workshop, I went through the fibre bags, sealing up ziplock bags and piling them by the door for Glenn to take to the car. I also packed up all the supplies, including the box of “Safety Fist” finger protectors and the various work surfaces (remember to give the woolbuddy back to Ann). I was wiped, and the nerve was getting irritable, so it was time to pack up and go home.

11.1-11.2) End of the workshop packing up

I will get back to working on the Blue whale. I am still not sure if it’s too long by a bout 2 inches or if it’s fine. But since we have gone through most of September I should give you a break, and we will chat about a new fiber festival just south of Smithfalls Ontario (Canada) and how that whale is coming along. I also did a bit more testing of that wool buddy that still has not returned to Ann, and I have found a modification that makes it much more appealing for me. (I will tell you about that too.)

Have fun and keep felting!

Cloth painted with diluted acrylic paint and coffee.
Painting Fabric

Painting Fabric

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My local group met recently and we tried a new painting technique for fabric. It’s very simple and creates an organic look to the fabric. I didn’t manage to take any photos during the process. We watered down instant coffee and acrylic paint, really watered down. A tiny bit of paint and lots of water. Then the fabric is scrunched up and dipped into the watered down paint. After the fabric is completely soaked with paint, scrunch the fabric up again and darker paint can be added in dabs to the outside edges and over the ball of scrunched up fabric if desired. Then let the fabric dry and iron it afterwards.

Painted and scrunched up pieces of cloth on cookie sheet drying in the sun.

Here’s all the fabric I painted scrunched and drying in the sun. It took more than two days to dry. I used fabric that had already been dyed, many of which were really bright orange and I was finding difficult to use in projects. So a bit more neutralizing was needed.

Cloth painted with diluted acrylic paint and coffee.

This is a piece of cotton that was already dyed gray and then paint added on top.

Cloth painted with diluted acrylic paint and coffee.

Here’s another piece of cotton that was orange. I added diluted blue paint and then some darker paint after it was scrunched.

Cloth painted with diluted acrylic paint and coffee.

I think this piece was white to start and the paint made the pattern and color.

Cloth painted with diluted acrylic paint and coffee.

This was medical gauze that Paula gave us. I think it will work for nuno felting, so you will probably see it again in the future.

Cloth painted with diluted acrylic paint and coffee.

These two were previously dyed cheesecloth (again orange) and then diluted paint added over the top.

Cloth painted with diluted acrylic paint and coffee.

I’m fairly certain this is silk gauze with dye and paint added. Again, another candidate for nuno felting.

Cloth painted with diluted acrylic paint and coffee.

The fossil print on this piece of fabric was done years ago. I designed the silk screen and printed a variety of fossils. Now this trilobite has a bit moodier background. More layers?

Cloth painted with diluted acrylic paint and coffee.

This piece of silk gauze started white and then had diluted paint and coffee added. I will be interested to see if the coffee holds its color with felting. I thought this might be an interesting start to a landscape.

We’re supposed to be using these fabrics for our fabric book (our year long project) but I’m not making much progress in that direction. I have three pages complete but I’m not really happy with the result. One of those projects where I’m in the middle, discouraged and can’t imagine that it’s going to end well. Hopefully, I will be inspired by these new fabric choices to use.

Landscape painted on nuno felt with watercolor paint.
Experimenting with Watercolor Landscape Techniques on Silk and Wool

Experimenting with Watercolor Landscape Techniques on Silk and Wool

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I recently wrote about using watercolors to create abstract landscapes. My purpose was to try the technique on paper and then try to translate it to silk and nuno felt. I experimented with a variety of small samples, the largest being 10″ x 13″.

My first attempt, I soaked 3mm silk in soda ash solution and placed it on white paper. I then mixed up a paste of fiber reactive dye with a bit of water and used a palette knife to apply the dye paste to the wet silk. I used dye colors pewter and daffodil. I added water with a spray bottle and with a paint brush. The photo above on the left shows the silk drying on the paper backing. The photo on the right shows the paper underneath after drying.

The picture on the left shows the silk after rinsing and the silk after nuno felting with fine white merino. It still is a landscape but I lost so much of the lovely green color. I love the paper that was underneath but the end result is a bit disappointing. I will be still using all these samples and adding further dye, paint or stitch so don’t worry, they will be improved. And I will see what other surface design techniques will give the end result I want. But I forged on trying to get a better result from the beginning.

The next step was to try painting the dye with the silk laid out on plastic. I covered my print board with plastic and laid wet silk soaked in soda ash on top. I used the same application with a palette knife and adding water as needed to spread the dye. The photo on the left is after applying the dry. The center photo is after the dye has dryed in the silk and the right photo is after nuno felting. This was a bit better and I can see the landscape in this result. I kept track of my results by taking photos, pasting them in my sketchbook and writing out the process for each piece. I also kept a running list of “what ifs” and further ideas to try.

Experiment number three was to nuno felt the silk first. The left photo shows the white nuno felt (a bad photo), the middle is after applying the dye and the left is after rinsing. The dye does not move very easily on the felted silk compared to plain silk. Therefore, the dye doesn’t spread as much. This is still using fiber reactive dye, so I asked myself “What about acid dye since now I have added wool to the equation?”

I think you can tell from looking at the results from left to right, there is some improvement in keeping the color in the end result.

I got a little off track here as I next decided to try felting some paper and see how that worked. I used small pieces of Kitakata handmade paper that I already had on hand. The photo on the left shows the felted paper. I got in a hurry and the paper didn’t felt in as well as I would have liked. But I decided since these are mainly samples, it didn’t matter. Forge ahead! I soaked the nuno felted paper in soda ash and then added fiber reactive dye for the landscape. I continued to use the palette knife method of dye application. The photo on the right shows the piece after rinsing and drying. My next thought was “What if I used the nuno felted paper but painted it with watercolor and didn’t rinse it out?”

I nuno felted more paper on to the merino and added the watercolor paint with the palette knife. I forgot to get a photo with the paint still wet. The photo on the right shows the dried result. The interesting thing with this one was that the water I applied above the horizon line (and none below) caused the water to seep into the dry paper moving most of the paint below the horizon line. Interesting end result though. Work upside down the next time?

3mm silk gauze pre-dyed with light blue for sky color.

 

In the middle of these experiments, I helped a friend with how to dye cotton fabric. She had not dyed before so we had a fun afternoon playing with dye. I had my pieces of silk ready for nuno felting and I thought I would dye some a very light blue for sky colors.

Silk that was light blue, painted on acid dyes and then steamed. Colors ran while steaming.

This next piece has the blue silk,  nuno felted first and then soaked in a vinegar solution to get ready for acid dyes. I applied the dyes as usual, forgot to take a photo and then steamed the piece to set the acid dye. The dye shifted all over the place and the end result looked nothing like the original application of dye. It still looks like a landscape, kept the color better but I didn’t want this much shifting of the dye.

So I tried a second one with blue sky silk and acid dyes. It’s not a good photo because of the glare but you get the idea of what it looked like after painting with dye. I picked it up, did not think to put it on a tray or flat surface and the dye came pouring out and the landscape was lost. I just rinsed the piece and you see on the right, that a slight amount of dye took without steaming. That gave a nice misty background that I decided would work for depth.

Landscape painted on nuno felt with watercolor paint.

I then added watercolor of Payne’s Gray and Quinacridone Gold Deep in the usual manner. I let the watercolors dry and didn’t rinse as this will be a wall hanging and will not be washed. This is getting a little closer to the outcome I want.

Next up was to treat the silk as if it was a silk painting. I stretched the silk over a wooden frame and used tacks to attach it to the frame. I then applied the dye with a palette knife and added water. The edges were a bit tricky as I didn’t have any gutta resist to keep the dye from spreading but again, it’s just a sample. Then I decided I could dry/heat the silk without removing it from the frame with my heat gun. Oops, I burned a hole in it. Perhaps next time, I will let it dry and then iron it. Or I could use silk paints and the proper resists. The right photo is the piece after nuno felting. Still looks like a landscape and I don’t mind the edges.

I still have quite a few ideas to tweak the process and I want to try adding more on top of the results I have shown here. I am having fun experimenting and perhaps one of these days, I will decide to make a bigger piece once I have an end result that works for me.

Dyed fabric with dark reds/black dye mixture.
Dying Background Fabric for Golden Grove

Dying Background Fabric for Golden Grove

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One of my goals for 2025 has been to finish pieces and have them ready for framing at the same time that the piece is complete. I seem to have missed this by a long shot with Golden Grove. I looked it up in my posts and I finished working on this piece in March. I didn’t have a piece of background fabric for matting so it got set aside.  Now it’s December and I have things to take to the framer so I am doing last minute dyeing, stitching and lacing to get everything ready to frame. I thought I would show you a basic dyeing method for cotton fabric using fiber reactive dyes (Procion MX).

The first step is to mix up soda ash and water to soak the cotton fabric in advance of dyeing. I used one cup of soda ash to one gallon of water. I use the soda ash water for many dye baths and it keeps well at room temperature. I let the fabric soak in the soda ash water for 30 minutes.

I am not a precise dyer. I don’t take the time to try and create a specific, repeatable dye bath. I do have some work I have done for classes where I keep track of amounts, color results etc. but I tend to add some dye to a cup of water until I get the color I want. I put down a wet paper towel, put a cup of water out and then add however much dye powder seems right to me. (Please remember to use proper safety precautions such as wearing gloves and face mask and use containers, measuring devices etc. that are only used with dyes.) I mix the powder into the water and then test the results on a clean paper towel. I used two different colors of red and a black dye. And if you’re paying attention, you will see that one of my dyes is an acid dye. I have used a combination of both fiber reactive that is used for plant fibers and acid dyes which are used with protein fibers. In my experimentation, I haven’t seen much difference between the two dyes as long as you use an acid (vinegar or acetic acid) for protein fibers and soda ash for plant fibers.

Here’s my first attempt. It helps to remember that you lose some of the dye intensity when it’s rinsed. I put a little dye on a clean paper towel and then looked at it near my completed piece. This seems a little too light so I needed to add more black.

And looking again after I added more black. The test on the right side of the paper towel was the final color.

Next up was to wring out the cotton fabric that had been soaking in the soda ash water. Then I poured the dye liquid into another container and added the fabric. You can also do this in a gallon plastic bag. I wasn’t worried about getting a solid dye on the fabric. More dye would have been needed for that.

The next step is to let the fabric “batch” or sit in the dye bath. Normally, I leave it overnight but I didn’t have time for that here so I let it sit for 4-5 hours. I didn’t go back and move the fabric around which would have given a more solid dye but I wanted some variations so I left it. Then on to rinsing. I rinse three times in cold water to get the soda ash out. You can feel it when you’re rinsing, it feels slick. Once that slick feel is gone, it’s time for textile detergent and hot water. The textile detergent is just a few drops into the hot water and then add your fabric. I usually let that soak for a couple of hours and then put it in the drain and spin cycle of the washing machine.

Dyed fabric with dark reds/black dye mixture.

Once it’s out of the washing machine, I iron it when it’s still wet and you can see I got a lot of variation. But I wanted that to look like sunlight through the trees and I was happy with the end result. Too bad most of it gets covered up.

Golden Grove stitched to background hand dyed fabric stretched over matte board.

And here’s Golden Grove stitched down to the dyed fabric and then laced on to matte board. It’s ready for framing (only 9 months behind schedule).

Have you tried dyeing? I really enjoy creating custom colors and getting a piece of fabric that is unique. If you haven’t tried it, you might want to give it a try.

Multi colored clamp dyed cotton velveteen drying over chair back
Clamp Dyeing Fabric

Clamp Dyeing Fabric

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I am happy to report that our floor is finished and we finally have all of our furniture back. I am still unpacking and rearranging but we are definitely near the end of this mammoth project. I’m happy with the new floor and perhaps at some point, I will completely forget the experience of having it done.

New floor at Ruth's house with painted and caulked trim and painted doors.

My local art group had another get together in the midst of the floor redo and we did some clamp dyeing. I didn’t take any process photos but I do have some of the finished pieces.

Assortment of clamp dyed fabric drying on patio table.

We had five pots of acid dye on the stove including bright yellow, yellow ochre, brick red, dark turquoise and purple. You can fold your fabric however you want or not, and then you clamp different objects to the fabric to create a resist for the dye. You put the clamped fabric into the lightest dye pot first. Then you can unclamp, reclamp in a different pattern and put it into a different color. You work from lighter colors to darker colors. You can dip the fabric partially or put it into soak. The variation are endless.

We used a variety of fabric too. The wool we were using was a very thick, hairy wool blanket. It really had to be clamped tightly and the results weren’t as crisp as thinner fabric.

These pieces are cotton velveteen which actually worked really well with the acid dyes. You can see that the thinner fabric took the dye differently.

Green and yellow clamp dyed fabric created with metal bird sculpture

This piece was done with two metal bird shapes that are the same. They were clamped to the folded fabric on either side.

Multi colored clamp dyed Kraftex

This is a piece of Kraftex that was folded and clamped, then dipped into various colors.

Green, blue, red, and yellow clamp dyed silk fabric

This is a piece of silk that was folded up tightly and clamped and then dipped into various colors of dye.

Two pieces of wool blanket that has been clamp dyed

Here’s a few more pieces of wool blanket.

Birdie supervising the fabric drying process

And Birdie was supervising the drying process on the porch!

We’re planning on using these fabric pieces to create fabric books. We will be working all year on creating the fabric, then the different pages with other techniques and then putting the books together.

Two Coats Colder

Two Coats Colder

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Back in April 2002, before I became infected by felt and  was still interested in woven tapestry, I plucked up courage and attended a Tapestry Weaving Course run by professional tapestry weaver Bobbie Cox.  If you live in or near Rochester in Kent you may have seen some of her work as there are four of her tapestries adorning the Lady Chapel in Rochester Cathedral.  My report of the workshop was published in the March 2003 edition of The Journal for Weavers Spinners & Dyers.  I have reproduced it here.  I’m afraid that there weren’t any photographs for me to show you as I didn’t own a camera at that time.  I have tried to produce the sketches that I made and you will see why I say that I can’t draw, except with a felting needle!

inside a cathedral showing stained glass windows with tapestries below and a tapestry on the front of an alter with 2 candles on it
Lady Chapel, Rochester Cathedral – Bobbie Cox Tapestries

“Peter Tavy, Two Coats Colder than Tavistock”

“And I wish I had known before I went!  Still this only related to the weather and was in contrast to the warmth of the welcome from the inhabitants of Peter Tavy when I joined 16 others on an ‘overflow’ course on Design & Tapestry Weaving given by Bobbie Cox at Peter Tavy Village Hall (formerly the school) in the second week in April 2002 (the original course had had such a long waiting list that Bobbie had arranged an additional one).

“Our first task was to explore the village taking in textures, colours and atmosphere, making notes, taking wax rubbings and collecting samples.

“On returning to the hall we discussed what we had found and then Bobbie told us that our theme for the course would be ‘windows’.  She showed us slides of photographs she had taken from the inside looking out, outside looking in, of misted window glass, and raindrops, of reflections and shadows.  She reminded us that windows are the eyes of a building and can be looking at us whilst we are looking at them.  (I’ll never regard a window in the same way again!)  Then she sent us out around the village again to ‘collect’ windows.  The villagers were (with one unpleasant exception) very tolerant of the students gazing at their properties in a very odd way, even the overwintering inhabitants of the sole remaining farm’s cowshed.

“The students were of mixed ability, from complete beginners (three of us – one of whom was our ‘token man’ Peter) to the quite advanced.  Bobbie showed us three ways of warping our frames, how to decide on the set of the warp and how to spread the warps appropriately.  She gave us advice and encouragement and showed us some of her many sample pieces to illustrate her points and her tips.

“After a picnic lunch beside the River Tavy, it was back to work – perfecting our designs with paint and pencil.  (I stayed up till 11.30 getting mine done.)

“Next day Bobbie set up an Indigo vat – in the back of her car!  (Well it was very cold out and much warmer inside the car which was standing in the sun, indigo vats need to be kept warm.)

“We all took turns to dip various yarns and fibres, re-dipping and over dyeing some coloured yarns for various periods during that day and also leaving some in the vat over-night.  In between times we started the actual weaving of our tapestries, all the time receiving tips and advice from Bobbie.

“She advised us to watch out for shrinkage or ‘waisting’ – the tapestry pulling in at the sides as the weaving progresses.  It is unlikely that this will be the result of poor selvedges, but more likely to be because the use of several different yarns in one pic, or ending one or more kelim slits in a single pic.  Bobbie’s suggestion was that we should insert a number of ‘guy ropes’ by sewing one end of a spare piece of warp thread near the edge of the tapestry (but not too close to it) and tying the ends to the sides of the frame.  If this is done on both sides of the tapestry, the tension will help to prevent the waisting. (I wondered what the purists would think of this, but if it’s good enough for Bobbie Cox it’s good enough for me.)

“Day 3; and after removing the yarns which had rested in the dye vat over-night, some of us tried some more in what was thought just to be the exhaust of the indigo.  In fact there was still quite a bit of life there and we dipped several skeins each.

“As the sun was still shining, we decided that we would lay out on the playground the yarns which had been dried over-night so that Bobbie and those students with cameras could photograph them.  It was then that we received some exuberant visitors.  They were some of the inhabitants of the cowshed on their way through the village to alternative accommodation.  They were moving at high speed in all directions, frantically followed by the farmer.  Bobbie saw off the ones which had decided to see what the activity was at the Village Hall.  I understand that they were eventually rounded up and led of to their new abode, having left liberal donations for the rose garden in the streets.

“Before lunch, delivered to the Village Hall by Jill, the Peter Tavy Sandwich Lady, some of the students accompanied Bobbie on a walk up to Dartmoor.  Some of us, not having sufficient warm clothing, decided to stay and work on.

“During the day Bobbie showed us some more slides of windows and also some of her own work.  However the highlight of the day was a visit to Bobbie’s own studio.  She was not working on anything at the moment, being very much involved in the administration of her touring exhibition ‘Woven Water’.  She did have two of the larger pieces from this Exhibition, ‘Spring’ and ‘Autumn’, which she  hung along with some other pieces for us to see, including a recently completed commission – a large tapestry inspired by the beach at Blakeney Point in Norfolk entitled ‘Tidelines, a Woven Memory of Blakeney’.  Also on display were picture boards showing the inspiration and development of that design and some of the Woven Water tapestries as well as some smaller samples and bundles of wefts tied and dyed.  Bobbie explained the mechanics of her large high warp loom and how she works on it.

“The next day – our last – was Sunday.  Now we were all working hard trying to get as much weaving done as possible before our visitors arrived.  At Bobbie’s suggestion we had all asked our bed and breakfast hosts to morning coffee and to see what we had been doing during our stay.  This is apparently a feature of Bobbie’s courses and many villagers visit regularly.  The noise level rose dramatically as the visitors wandered around and chatted.

“Bobbie did manage to fit in a few more tips for us though:

“1        Don’t be in too much of a hurry to cut the work off the loom, live with it for a while in case you subsequently decide that you want to add to it or make some changes.  It won’t be possible after it’s off the loom.

“2        Ends of yarns are usually left hanging at the back of the work, unless it is to be viewed from both sides.  Don’t cut them too close to the weaving or they will start to work through to the right side.

“3        Darn in yarn ends which are near the selvedge or kelim slits.

“4        When you darn in, slide the needle up or down the warp thread, not across the warps – it might show.

“5        Consider the mechanics you will use to hang the finished tapestry (although this should have been thought out at the design stage).  You may need to weave further pics in the heading, for instance if you will be incorporating a metal (preferably stainless) rod or a wooden slat.

“6        Weighting the bottom of the weaving will help it to hang better.

“7        Steam press the work on the reverse side – using a cloth and pressing lightly.

“At three o’clock we started to pack up and then display our work and our design drawings so that they could all be looked at and photographed.  It was amazing what diverse designs had been achieved.  We had all learned something, particularly we three beginners.  Bobbie  had encouraged us to try our own ideas and allowed us to make our own mistakes, lessons being better learned by trial and error than by example.

“By the time that we finished at about four, we were all very tired by very happy.  One usually finds on a course like this that there is one person who spoils things for the others, but it had been noted that our group was particularly lucky in that we were not “blessed” with the student who wanted to grab all the tutor’s time, or the one who wanted to be the centre of everyone’s attention (boring or noisy or both), or the hypochondriac.  We all had a great time – thank you Bobbie.

“PS If you attend another of Bobbie’s courses in Peter Tavy, better diet before you go – the food in the local pubs is marvellous – so’s the beer!”

partly completed tapestry of the four paned window on a wooden frame loom
Window Tapestry – still on the loom I’m afraid and I don’t think it ever progressed any further.

A couple of weeks later I attended another tapestry workshop run by another professional but I’ll save my report of that one for another day.

 

Is this compost or dye material? Actually it’s both! (Part 1)

Is this compost or dye material? Actually it’s both! (Part 1)

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This particular post has been inspired by some of our regular readers so here’s a quick advance thank you. I really love it when comments lead to further exploration and sharing!

Just a few cautionary words before I go on. I dip in and out of dyeing, definitely a hobbyist and I purely play so my dyeing exploits are experimental. There are lots of great sites out there if you really want to dig deep or if, like me you sometimes just love to watch someone’s process on social media you could check out @thedogwooddyer or @sashaduerr or @joanne_green_art on Instagram. Joanne has recently published a book which I would love to get hold of – it’s all about pigments. I have Sasha Duerr’s book; Natural Palettes and although it focuses on plants grown around California, there’s plenty of botanical commonality going on. It can be hard to believe that it’s Ireland I am talking about – and yes we do have some specimen Californian Redwoods here!

Second cautionary note: please exercise caution when dyeing and keep all of your dyeing equipment separate to your cooking equipment. It’s very important. Also, just because something is natural doesn’t automatically mean it is safe to handle without gloves or a mask. We recently had to burn wood in our pit. I extracted the charcoal and made some lye as an experiment. The pH is such that if it lands on skin it will feel like soap, lovely and soft, but what is happening is that it is dissolving the outer layer of skin! But please don’t be deterred by this. Just exercise caution and common sense and all will be grand!

When I started looking around for something to play with for this blog post I found some fallen branches from one of our cedar trees. I stripped the bark and left it to soak with the intention of throwing some fibres straight into the mix as the high level of tannins in the dye lot would mean that I did not have to heat the mix for it to work. After about a week soaking the mix I made the mistake of stirring it without gloves on. The resin in the mix started irritating my skin (yes, I learned a lesson that day). So it was back to the drawing board to find something safer to extract the dye from. (I haven’t yet learned how to extract the resin from the mix!)

This time I decided to opt for something most of us have at our disposal – compost! Onion skins to be more precise. I have been collecting these for quite some time (we are talking months here – I have been storing them in a cotton bag and they kept perfectly!). I had approximately 110g of skins which I just threw in a huge stock pot (used only for dyeing). I filled it three quarters way with water – not particularly scientific, probably around 6 litres, and put it on a low heat for about 4 hours. During this time I should have checked it (oops, I forgot!) but it was fine. It came to a rolling simmer. By this time it was bed time so I just turned it off and left it overnight to cool and then drained off the skins. There still appears to be colour left in the skins so I popped them into a nylon bag and left them to dry on the washing line – I will try to extract more dye another day.

The colour was a lovely rich colour – like a golden red. So I decided to extract the pigment from 1 litre of the liquid and use the rest for sample dyeing. I will hold on to the dyeing section for my next post as otherwise this will get a little too long and boring for you to read.

 

  • 110g of onion skins ready for dye extraction
  • Overview Yummy colour.
  • Yummy colour against the light
  • Discarded onion skins. I dried these and I will dye with them again before composting them

Let’s start with the pigment making. We are talking natural dyeing here. Extracting the pigment from the dye liquid involves introducing a few ingredients which bind the molecules to themselves and cause them to separate from the liquid. First I am using an acid (alum) (which can also be used as a mordant on fabric and fibre to prepare the surface for dyeing). Then I add an alkaline solution (soda crystals). The two chemicals react and the pigment separates and sinks to the bottom. This can fizz up so make sure there’s plenty of room in the container.  (Remember those great lava making experiments done back in the to encourage kids into science? You get my drift). The liquid is drained off then the remaining pigment is left to drain in a coffee filter. Once drained, the colour can be filtered in distilled water, dried, ground et voila! Pigment.

So, what do you need for this. As we are playing we will work in small quantities:

  • 1 litre of dye liquid (filtered to remove all the plant material)
  • Alum (potassium aluminium sulphate) You will have to check where you can source this as it differs depending on location. Like me, you may need to buy online.
  • Soda crystals (I also use these to clean my washing machine so I can buy them in homeware shops)
  • pot and cooker to heat the liquid
  • 2 Litre jug that can withstand hot liquid.
  • Glass jars (if you are patient, you will fit everything in 1 jar
  • Funnel
  • Coffee filter
  • Spoons (measuring and stirring)
  • weighing scales
  • pestle and mortar
  • boiling water
  • distilled water
  1. Heat the dye liquid but don’t let it boil
  2. Add the alum to a container then add boiling water and stir to dissolve the crystals. This may take a little while so be patient and make sure they are thoroughly dissolved. Quantities? My research has shown that this very much depends on the plant material, but a good starting point is 10% alum to liquid. I used 10 grams here.
  3. Carefully (don’t burn yourself!) pour the dye liquid into the large jug. I tend to do this at the sink. Then add the alum liquid and stir well.
  4. Now dissolve the soda crystals in boiling water. I used 5g here. Once dissolved add this to the big jug and stir. You may notice a fizzing chemical reaction.
  5. Leave the solution to cool and separate. The pigments will sink to the bottom of the jug. The liquid on top should be clear. If it is not, it means that there is some pigment left in it and you could choose to play further with this liquid, once it is drained off. (In other words, repeat the steps outlined above).
  6. Carefully pour off as much of the liquid as you can, without disturbing the pigment.
  7. Set up your glass jar: place the funnel into it and then add the coffee filter to the funnel. Make sure that the funnel is not hitting the bottom of the jar – we want the drained liquid to escape through the bottom
  8. Next slowly pour the wet pigment into the coffee filter. I find if I hurry at this, the filter can disintegrate so I let the filter soak up some of the damp as I am pouring.
  9. Leave this overnight so that the water has mostly drained off and the pigment remains.
  10. Now if you are planning to store your pigment, it is recommended that it is washed at least twice with distilled water and filtered through fresh coffee filters. This is to remove any unwanted mineral salts from the pigment. I am only playing so I did not bother with this step. I know that if this whets your appetite to find out more, you will remember this step.
  11. The next step can be done either when the pigment is completely dry or getting there, scrape it into a mortar (bowl). Once completely dry start grinding using the pestle but be sure to wear a mask for this part as the dust is quite fine.
  12. I store my pigments in tiny glass jars (yes, you guessed 1 litre doesn’t produce a lot but it makes up for it in satisfaction!).  Make sure to label and date.
  13. These can be mixed with a binding agent (note: they are insoluble in water). Here is a good article if you would like to find out more about different binding agents https://inbedwithmonalisa.com/i-pigments-a-little-bit-about-binders-and-making-your-paint/

I have put together a slide show on the process I used.

  • Materials for making pigment
  • Heating up the liquid dye
  • Dissolving the alum – be patient, it takes time
  • Alum and soda crystals are getting to work
  • The pigment has sunk to the bottom of the jug
  • I do like this colour!
  • A bit blurred but here we can see the settled pigment
  • Here’s a photo of the filtration system
  • Slowly pouring the pigment into the coffee filter
  • The filter has soaked up some of the liquid
  • Here you can see the clear liquid draining off the pigment
  • Pigment is still draining
  • Checking on the pigment as it dries
  • Opening the coffee filters before scaping them clean
  • Scraping the pigment into the bowl. This will be left to dry
  • It takes time to grind down the pigment particles, patience is needed.
  • The yield is quite small but it’s still rewarding

This is the basic process. Colours can be altered before making the pigment by introducing an acid or an alkali and if this is of interest to you, it will be worth doing a bit of research.

I have, in a way, put the cart before the horse here, as I am showing you the process of making the pigment before running through the fabulous colours I achieved with this in dye form. But a promise is a promise and I wanted to deliver so I hope on this occasion you can forgive me. The general ‘rule’ that I have found is to use 10% of the volume of the dye as the binder. So for every 1 litre of dye liquid use 10 grams of alum. Then use 5 grams of soda crystals (or similar) and let the substance perform its magic. This is a good starting point. But like all rules a bit of flexibility can be needed so these figures can change and this is where experience comes into play (knowing what adjustment is needed for different plants). Most importantly, your curiousity and willingness to play comes to the fore here. Just give it a go and have lots of fun.

Helene

A little post script before this blog is published:

Since my adventures with onion skins, I decided to experiment with the yellow Chrysanthemums flowers from a lovely bouquet that had seen better days and was destined for the compost heap. I used the same ratio of alum and soda crystals only this time I didn’t hold back some of the dye material for fabrib experimentation and I made up pigment with the full dye bath. Here is the result:

Chrysanths pigment made from the yelow flower head

I may have mentioned this last year, but we have a farmer who grows a number of acres of sunflowers every summer. It’s done for charity and it is open to the public to come along, pick the sunflowers and make a donation to the Hospice Foundation. There’s an honesty box on site. It is a form of Meitheal – part of Irish culture where people help others out. By the time I arrived last week, a lot of the sunflowers had ‘gone over’. That said, after a lot of searching I found some that had yet to open and I was very pleased. So I picked and made my donation. Once home I started cutting off the lower leaves and I cut some of the stems so that they would look better in the vase. Rather than discard the waste I decided to run a little experiment. I slowly brought them to the boil. The smell was not particularly nice so I let everything cool down outside. I found I had a lot of liquid (and plenty of dark green dye), so I reduced down the liquid by heating it up again. (I did this out doors this time!). Then I made my pigment. It’s hard to see from the photos but it is a lovely dark green. I worked with a little over 2 litres of liquid. As you can see, it doesn’t produce a lot of pigment but it is very concentrated:

Sunflower leaf and stem pigment

I have decided to treat myself to Joanne Green’s new book Natural Watercolor Paint Making. I have followed her for a long time on Instagram and love her short videos on how she makes pigment. She had followed this up with a book about the process and I could not be happier. I heard from the book store that it is on its way to me so I’m quite excited about that. Please let me know if you would like me to review it in my next post.

hugs

Helene

Experimenting with household/garden stuff …… and fibre!

Experimenting with household/garden stuff …… and fibre!

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I think I might have had too much time on my hands a while ago. As we say here ‘What’s seldom is wonderful!’ So I got a little curious about some things. Fibre of course had to be involved.

We don’t drink coffee in our house – my husband was never a fan and I found myself to be allergic to it after going cold turkey in China back in the 80s. I do love the coffee aroma and I can be sometimes found near one of our oldest coffee houses in Dublin, Bewleys, just sniffing the air.  At this point, I really have to post a link to their rather famous cafe in the heart of Dublin.  It’s a haunt of mine, even though I can’t drink it.  It is worth calling in to if you are on vacation (the food is amazing).  There can be queues so it is worth going early.  Besides the food, the original works of art are breath taking.  https://bewleysgraftonstreet.com/

What has this got to do with my post – absolutely nothing – but I just had to share so you have a special spot to add to your itinerary when you visit Dublin, Ireland.

But, I digress. We drink a lot of tea in the house and while I like lots of different flavours, I tend to consume mostly an Irish brand, Barrys. It, along with an Irish brand of crisps (potato chips) called Tayto are two products most requested when visiting ex-pats. We use tea bags rather than leaf tea and we compost the remainder as the bags are now biodegradable.

My first thought during this time of being busy doing nothing was, would the tea bags (without the tea) felt into merino fibre. Before I could experiment I had to empty the tea bags and wash and dry them. I have to admit this was not a favourite job. The smell of the used bags assaulted my nostrils, so I worked quickly (every cloud, silver lining and all that!). Once dry I divided the bags into two groups and I made marks on one group with what I thought was alcohol based walnut ink and let it dry. Then I went to work laying down the ‘marked’ tea bags and adding 10g of merino fibre on top (4 layers) I finished off with the unmarked tea bags, layering them so that I could see how thick it could make them before the fibre would stop permeating them.

It was a successful experiment. The bags fully felted into the fibre and the sample shrank by 45%. The marks, however disappeared, so I will add them again. It turns out the ink was acrylic – note to self: next time, read the label before buying!   

I do like the textural finish on this piece and it is good to see that something as mundane and ordinary as a used tea bag can yield a successful result.  Here’s a very quick peak at the bags and outcome:

Marking on teabags with ink

Felted sample plain tea bag up

Felted sample mark side up – lots of the marks washed out

Recently, I’ve been doing a bit of reading up on the science behind making felt. What we usually do is add soap to water, in my own case, I use olive oil soap which has a pH of 8. The paper I read maintained that wool fibre would felt once the pH value was moved from neutral. This meant that I should be able to felt a sample by adding an acid solution to the fibre. I was keen to try it to see what would happen.

First of all, I rinsed off all my equipment, my water bowl, ball brause, bubble wrap and fulling cloth to make sure there was no soapy residue around. Then I laid out my sample (4 layers). I checked the pH of the water, which was neutral. I then added a quarter cup of vinegar to my water and checked the pH value which was now 4. The water was tepid. I wet out the sample. The first thing I noticed was that the water did not soak into the fibre as it usually does when soap is added and it took a lot more water and pushing on the fibres to encourage them to soak up the water. When I turned the sample over, there were still dry patches so even more water was needed! That (plus the smell) were the only differences I noticed. It felted easily and shrank down 47%. When it came to fulling the sample, I heated up the water/vinegar solution in the microwave. One advantage of using the acid solution is that the ‘water’ could be used for the next project. That said, I reckon it could be very hard on the hands if this was my main way of making felt. So I am going to decant it into a spray bottle and use it to clean windows, no waste!

  • Sample of layout for acid experiment
  • Checking the PH of the water before I start
  • Ph of sample during felting

We have a beautiful Norweigan Spruce tree growing in our front garden.  I like to refer to it as the gift that keeps on giving because it constantly suprises us.  For example, last year, while I was mindlessly staring into the garden, it launched a pollen bomb.  For those of us (this included myself up to this  point) unfamiliar with the term, the tree released it pollen all in one go.  So the whole tree was suddenly surrounded by a yellow haze.  In an instant, the haze lifted into the sky and was carried off in the wind.  It was truly spectacular.  I have lots of allergies and pollen would be one of my nemesis but I would put up with the discomfort to see this again.  Here’s a short Youtube video on the topic.  Our tree did it on its own while this one was shook but you will get the picture https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh2Da8Ms45M

Anyway, back to my story.  I found I had lots of fallen pine cones at the base of the tree so I gathered only some of them and put them on to boil in my dyepot.  The house was filled with a gorgeous pine scent during this process. Once I had extracted the dye from the cones, I filtered the mix through some muslin to remove the resin. The colour was absolutely stunning – a jewel red. I used it for four experiments; first of all, I extracted a litre of the liquid to make a pigment, then I used the remainder of the dyebath to dye some fibres (unfortunately I do not have a photo of the results and they are now added to my mountain of experiments (unlabelled – what was I thinking!). Experiment number three involved adding some of the leftover dye bath to citric acid to make a pigment. In the last experiment I left the liquid alone and just added the alum and soda crystals to separate the dye from the liquid base. Once separated, I filtered the liquid out of the pigment, then dried and ground all the results. So, I ended up with three different pigments and some dyed fibre experiments. I have inclluded a photo of the pigment made last summer and the result of the latest experiment in winter. There is quite a difference in the colour as you will see from the slide slow:

  • Gathered pine cones in the dye pot
  • Filtering the resin during dye extraction
  • Glorious colour from the cones!
  • Catching the dye colour in the sunshine!
  • Making pigment
  • I threw a variety of fibres into the dyepot
  • Cone pigment before it dries
  • Not sure which experiment with pine cones this photo related to
  • The filtering process with the pine cones
  • pigment comparison on pine cones: summer one is to the right winter to the left – same tree, different result
  • Pine cone – liquid extracted before using the dyebath.
  • leftover dye bath from the pine cones with citric acid added
  • pine cone pigment from leftover dye bath

There’s a back story to the last project. We have a number of fruit trees in our garden. Unfortunately we lost one of our plum trees last year. This was despite our eldest son’s (naturally green fingered which he inherited from paternal grandmother having skipped a generation) efforts to save it. Finally, there was no other option but to fell it. He also decided to remove the roots which was a big job as the tree had been there a number of years. It became the focus for my last household and garden project. I wanted to find out if the dye from plum tree bark differs from the dye from plum tree root. To find out, I decided to peel some of the bark off one of the branches. I did the same with the outer cover of the root. I soaked these in different containers for up to a week. Now, here’s what I found interesting. Whereas I needed to heat the pine cone liquid to extract the dye in my previous project, this was not needed for the bark/root projects; the dye naturally extracted sitting in its vessel and the high tannin level meant that all I needed to do was soak my fibres and fabric. It was like magic! I wanted to use the dye in some small vessels I made for the 10g challenge I spoke about in my last post. Then, I took what remained in the dye pot and made pigment from it. I found it interesting that the result from the plum bark dye yielded a lighter colour dye but a richer pigment – the root was the opposite. The fabric/fibre experiment produced is a lovely rich golden hue on the different surfaces. Also, it turned out to be another gift that kept on giving as each time I used up all the dye, I added more water to the two mixes and it kept extracting dye – I could not even notice if the dye was weaker in the second round than it was in the first. In the end I composted the bark and roots as I needed to move on with life (I got busy again!)

Here’s a quick run through in photos:

  • Paring back the plum bark
  • Paring the plum root
  • time to play with dyeing fibre plum root
  • Trying Shibori – not particularly satisfactory when opened up
  • sample of all the different fibres I played with – plum root
  • Dye -v- pigment comparison plum bark
  • dye -v- pigment comparison plum root
  • Plum root final colour when rinsed and dried – Yum!

Do you use household or garden items in your textile practice? Have they ever surprised you? I would love to hear about your experiences.

Helene x

Sunset on Little Bitterroot Lake at Kiwanis Lodge.
Annual Art Retreat

Annual Art Retreat

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I went to our annual art retreat over Labor Day weekend (Aug. 30 – Sep. 1) at the Kiwanis Lodge at Little Bitterroot Lake near Marion, MT (USA). Luckily my husband is a Kiwanian so we are able to use this lodge once a year. I got there a bit early and while waiting for the others to join me, I took a few photos and gave Edgar a swimming lesson.

Kiwanis Lodge at Little Bitterroot Lake

This is the lodge, this side faces the lake. The weather was perfect, sunny and warm, no smoke (August is usually fire season around here) but cold enough at night to need a fire in the fireplace.

View of Little Bitterroot Lake looking from shore with boat dock towards the lake and mountains in the distance.

Here’s a view of the lake. Even on a holiday weekend, the lake wasn’t busy and we even saw 8 loons swimming about. Edgar, my dog, has short legs and a very dense body. He’s not overweight but weighs fourty pounds. When he has tried to swim in the past, he had a really hard time keeping his head above water. He just sinks. So we bought him a life jacket and I took it with us to the lake. (Edgar got to go to the retreat for the first time because hubby was going to Missoula for a UM football game.)

A mixed breed dog (Edgar) wearing a life jacket and swimming in the lake with a branch in his mouth.

After a few tries, he got the hang of it and was eager to have me throw the stick so he could swim out to get it. Needless to say, Edgar had a good weekend.

Two buckets with indigo vats and one bucket with clamped fabric soaking in water.

Our main art activity this weekend was indigo dyeing. Both Paula and Louise set up an indigo pot on Friday and then we dyed various fabric, clothing etc. on Saturday. Here you can see the two indigo pots and some clamped fabric soaking in water in the pink bucket.

Louise (on left) and Paula (on right) working with indigo vats.

Louise (left) is putting her first piece of fabric into the dye vat and Paula (right) is getting rid of the “bloom” on the top of her indigo pot before dyeing. I have personally never made an indigo pot but they used the directions that are available on Dharma Trading Co.

Louise (left) holding soaked fabric about to be put into indigo pot and Sally (right) looking on.

Here Louise (left) is explaining to Sally (right) about how to use the indigo pot and getting her fabric ready to put in the vat.

Indigo dyed fabrics laying out on plastic. One piece just taken out of vat, it is green before oxidation will turn it to blue.

The coolest thing about indigo, in my opinion, is that it comes out of the dye pot green and then when it hits the air and oxidizes, it turns blue. The longer you leave the fabric in the dye bath, the more blue it will end up.

Here are a few pieces drying on the grass. The one on the right was rust dyed first and then put into the indigo.

Paula brought some clamps and different shapes of wood, which once clamped on the fabric, resist the indigo. You can see the results of some of those in the right hand photo.

Sunset on Little Bitterroot Lake at Kiwanis Lodge.

It was a wonderful weekend and we enjoyed some gorgeous sunsets while sitting out on the porch.

For those of you who wish they belonged to an art group (felting group or whatever), my suggestion is to start your own group. If you meet someone who might be interested, ask them to join a group. All the people in your group don’t have to be felt makers. You can learn so much from creative people who enjoy other media. So don’t be shy, just ask others that you know or meet and start up a group of your own. That’s what I did and now more than ten years later, we are still going strong.

Detail of ice dyed silk scarf in blues and violets.
Ice Dyed Scarves

Ice Dyed Scarves

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My dyed scarves have been selling at Northwest Handmade in Sandpoint, ID. So I needed some more since we are heading over that direction next week.

Aluminum pan filled with silk scarves, ice and powdered dye in blues and violets.

I only had 8 scarf blanks available and I knew I still had green scarves at the gallery so I decided to do four in blue/violets, 2 in orange and 2 in deep red. Since this method has an unpredictable outcome, I went with what I had. I put a wire rack in the bottom of the aluminum pan, place the soda ash soaked silk scarves on the rack and cover with ice. Then the dye powder is sprinkled on top. I was doing this outdoors as it can get messy but didn’t take the wind into account.

Aluminum pan filled with silk scarves, ice and powdered dye in reds and oranges.

Thus I ended up with some blue/violet on the right end of the red/orange pan. Oh well, we’ll see what happens. I left the pans out in the sun and the ice melted pretty quickly.

Here is one of the scarves from the blue/violet pan. I decided to call this set Perseid Meteor Shower. This is what the scarves look like after rinsing out, washing and ironing. It’s always such fun to see the patterns appear when you iron. I really don’t care for ironing but I enjoy this process much more than ironing a shirt.

This scarf is from the more orange side of the orange red pan. I decided to call these two scarves Campfire Memories.

Ice dyed silk scarf in reds and maroon.

And the last scarves were on the red + drifting blue/violet side of the pan. I decided these looked like the red rocks in Glacier National Park so that’s what those two scarves are called. I found that naming the scarves helps to sell them as it gives them a bit of a story.  Now to stock up the gallery!