Daily Fiber

Two-Day Bou-kay

Posted on April 12, 2019April 13, 2019 by Laura Kate

Okay, it’s time for me to admit the obvious. I really can’t complete a fiber object each and every day. That isn’t to say I don’t work with fiber every day. That part is true. The issue is finishing, photographing, writing and posting daily. So far, not possible. So here is a little taste of the crocheted posies I have been working on, and a brief anecdote from my fiber arts students today.

As you, my dear readers may recall, today the fiber kids were beginning to make string-pieced quilt tops. It is a stretch goal, but the students got busy, working away. Sometimes one of them sewed a seam backward or cut the fabric too short. I wanted to reassure them that mistakes were okay, just part of the learning process. I said, “Remember, we are experimenting. You know about scientists, and how they often perform experiments. What do you think they do when an experiment doesn’t work out right?” One of the boys said, ” Things get blown up?” A girl student said, “You are such a boy!” Fortunately for us, none of the quilt tops detonated.

Be back tomorrow with the latest in fiber. – Laura Kate

quilting

String me along

Posted on April 10, 2019April 11, 2019 by Laura Kate

I’m teaching myself to quilt, so that I can teach my older fiber arts students to quilt. So there is some time pressure here. While perusing The Encyclopedia of Quilting Techniques by Katharine Guerrier, I learned that the string quilt is one of the simplest of techniques. So that is what I shall make today. This method was developed to use up long strips of fabric, such as leftovers from dressmaking, and pieces of worn-out clothing and blankets. The sample I am making uses 3 inch wide strips cut or sew together from fabric fragments in order to span the width of the piece. I’m excited to be using one of the heliographed fabrics from Monday’s work.

**Here are my selected fabrics. There are six strips in total, four at 3 inches wide and two at 1/12 inches wide. My color scheme comes from the marble and rice swatch in orange.**

First I sewed the shorter pieces into the length of strips that I need. (14 in.)

**Here’s the heliographed fabric under the needle. Notice the cute red clips I just purchased. They hold the fabric while you sew it, in place of pins. Fantastic! I highly recommend.**

Next I position two strips, right sides together onto the upper half of the batting, and sew in place. The seam allowance is finger-pressed to one side.

**The top half is sewn into place. Uh oh it appears that my batting base is now uneven. I will persevere and hope that it gets sorted out in the end.**

**Here is the completed quilt top. I will have to square-up the edges with scissors.**

I’m liking what I see. Once I got into the flow, the sewing was easy and fun. I hope that this piece will inspire my students. Next week I will add the backing fabric, top stitch the quilt and sew up the edges.

sewing

For the Little Ones

Posted on April 9, 2019 by Laura Kate

It’s that moment in the week to plan for my Friday fiber arts classes. Today I am working on a small stuffed toy that might be simple enough for my six to eight year old students. I learned to make it from Brenna Maloney’s book Socks Appeal. She transforms old socks into 16 delightfully cuddly friends. I’ll be making the bunny.

**Here is a nice assortment of plain and colorful socks for the students’ consideration**

This is an old gray sock of mine that lost its mate. I start by cutting down the foot to separate the sock into two ears. I am using an old t-shirt for the arms and tail.

Here she is fully stuffed. I pushed a little stuffing into the ear cavities, just enough to make them stand away from the body a smidge.

My little bunny’s Irish eyes are smiling because she is all put together now. I think that I will have to help the little students with some of the cutting and sewing. They can probably manage to make the ears, insert the stuffing and sew the button eyes – maybe even a do little embroidery. We’ll see how it goes.

**Outside for a walk around the garden**

She hopped around outside for a while, then back in the house for bedtime.

Good night, little bunny.

colorwork

Heliographing

Posted on April 8, 2019 by Laura Kate

I have been waiting for the right weather to try my hand at heliography. In this technique, a color wash is applied to the damp fabric, and then various objects are laid on the surface and the piece left to dry in the sun. The weather must be just right – clear sky, not too cold and no wind. Today’s weather met the mark, so out I went into the garden to paint. I learned this technique from Cindy Walters, who presented this technique in a class on craftsy.com, aka Bluprint.com. https://www.mybluprint.com/ It works because the fabric under the object will dry more slowly than the fabric exposed to the sun. With Jacquard Dye-na-flow paint, the faster it dries, the darker the color. Here are the results of today’s experiments:

**A nice assortment of leaves, violas, and a few twigs**

First I determined my arrangement. Once the paint is laid on, you must work fast.

**Objects on dry fabric. I am using a square of white cotton bedsheet.**

Here is the arrangement laid on after painting:

And here is the finished fabric after drying:

My next experiment used pebbles, marbles and rice.

And lastly, I used a bunch of fallen pecan twig, with flowers attached.

This was a lot of fun, and only took me about an hour. To make the color fast, I’ll wait a few days, hand wash in cold water, and then machine dry at high heat. The fabric will then be ready for whatever technique I want to try next.

hand embroidery

And on the seventh day….

Posted on April 7, 2019September 22, 2019 by Laura Kate

I strung the flags together and installed them in the garden.

**Prayer Flag project completed 4-07-2019**

This was a good project for me. I was able to try out some new techniques. I was also able to practice hand embroidery, something I hadn’t used since childhood. In preparing each image, I spent time thinking deeply about each element, and how it benefits my life. Figuring out how to represent each element took time and effort, but I enjoyed that part of the project. Here are some closeup photos of the series: