rosie helps me weave!

i have a very special friend, rosie. she is 4 and i have played a special part in her life since (before even) she was born. she's become very interested in my sewing. she has helped before. at three she would sit by my side as i sewed and her job was to take the pins out and also to use my special stork scissors to cut the thread at the end. yesterday she helped me weave a block. she chose the colors, helped rip, and placed the strips where i told her to, weaving a nine patch block. she asked if it could be a blanket for her dollies... so of course thats what it will be. good idea, rosie! i made the circle today and will make 7 more squares to make a nine patch blanket.

next two weavings

a circle weaving with little slivers from another project... they were really too pretty to throw out. thought i could do something with them but what? well..this was the perfect thing.

then i did this other one to sort of commemorate our forgotten (not really) 7th anniversary! it has a shirt from each of us and my wedding jacket fabric. the green isn't as dull as it looks...its getting dark earlier these day now that the equinox is here...

random weavings

judes class has been so engrossing that i forgot my anniversary was today! well... other things too like canning 30 jars of relish and 14 jars of plum ginger jam and pesto and vegetable stock to freeze. anyway... i did some random weavings just for the heck of it... i don't have any project in mind ... its just fun to do and the more you do the more fun it is. ... but wait til i tell you what i'm doing next! these are from hand dyed both natural and procion, silk and african hand dye. the burgundy and green one has my wedding jacket fabric in it as well as the colors of the wedding so there was something in the collective consciousness telling me that something was up! well... i'm off now. hubby and i are going out to celebrate! 7 years of wedded bliss! we are both so lucky to have found each other but thats another story...

close up

here is a close up... some in class asked for this and i posted it there. it shows the moire effect of the organza a little better. i tacked all the edges with invisible basting and i think due to the nature of the silk, i will do some more eventually. this was done with shot cotton woven with sort of an acid green and bright pink. its amazing that it turns this lovely bronze color. at the moment i am ripping and cutting up old fabric to do some more pieces. this class is great... if she ever offers it again , i recommend it.

jude's cloth to cloth 2 class

alas, i have been smitten by the goddess of generosity and mistress of the woven square. i will not let my tree piece suffer unfinished for long though. but today i did my first woven square and it has consumed my heart! i have a few more planned to do and then i will do a bit more on trees... i should be thinking of its real name but i won't divulge that until the end....

check out judes site if you don't know about her... she is fabulous. there is a lot to explore on her site...

a bit of gold

i had a few quilter friends over to see this piece today. i can't tell you how nervous i was. as much as i am making this piece for myself, its still daunting to put it up before others. its meaning is somewhat of a personal vision... cycles of growth, spiritually, emotionally...even physically to a certain extent. it was well received. we all showed our pieces that we had been working on and that was inspiring. when you see what a group of women put their hands on and bring to life, how can it be other than inspiring? after they left i worked more on the hand stitching using a bit of gold and did some invisible basting joining the light to the dark.

root growth

well i have slimmed down and added some roots. i think this is more balanced and somewhat recognizable as roots although they are not meant to be realistic. i will be quilting the little off shoots of the roots, some by hand and others by machine. i wish i could do it all by hand but my hands are arthritic and i want to get it done in this lifetime! i appreciate your comments... one of the reasons i want a blog is for feedback on works in process....

new photos

the last photo was not so straight so i have straightened it out on the design board and added some space at the top as well. sometimes when i am working i forget to add enough space all around for the binding which in this case won't show.. but i still need the seam allowance and space to square up if needed... also i've taken a closer pic of the dark area on top left. for some reason the close up seems lighter... why? but you can get the idea of what is there... i think

these show the whole piece better. i am also readjusting the photos to have one set be the reverse of the other. hopefully this time my hand stitching will be better.

details of roots

here are some close ups for details. i have used several of my own hand dyes and my photographs in this piece. the larger piece on the bottom is a commercial print by lonni rossi.

roots

this is the working title... it is still in process but the design/placement is generally in the right place. there will be handwork and more machine work. but after a week of work i am happy to be this far along. the class was great and none of the work looked like hers... i think that is the best compliment.