found, stitched and dyed

from Jenni Worth in Goolwa, South Australia

2012-02-25T18:03:00.000-08:00

someone recently gave me these old knickers

detail of worn elastic & label which reads

100% RAYON 3 Trudy

l can't remember who it was but l do recall they had belonged

to her mum & been lovingly saved for many years

there were tears as she handed them to me

saying she trusted l would treasure & honour them

l have for quite some time....

then

recently at ' riverstitch ' a 5 day workshop in goolwa

south australia india's lovely daughter miss violette showed

our fortunate group her beautiful cut lace work

l have since handstitched 'lace' around the holes in

-my favourite woollen cardigan

-a lovely old badly damaged white linen runner l'd turned

into a bag

-the old wool singlet top on the frock l created during the

workshop

it did have several holes but l'm now snipping more

& more & more

this morning the hol-e-y knickers turned up in a pile of treasures

as a seriously committed dyed in the wool devotee of

found-stitched-dyed philosophy & practice l now have a dilemma

to stitch or not to stitch

methinks perhaps l'm too old to begin this task

Jenni also added

ps anyone know where dyed-in-the-wool expression originated?

so as editor i shall add my tuppence ha'penny worth

dyed-in-the-wool, so far as i am aware, refers to the wool being dyed in fleece form prior to being spun and woven

as opposed to being woven into cloth

and then dyed

a dyed-in-the-wool product was considered superior simply because all of the fibres would be thoroughly coated in dye as opposed to merely colouring the outer surface of the cloth.

“Home is where the lines are straight”

2012-01-24T15:15:00.000-08:00

from Janet Crowe [mostly] in Geneva

This line is from an essay by Stephan Hall from the book “ You are here- personal geographies and other maps of the imagination” by Katharine Harmon. I came to read it a few years ago - a time in my life when I felt afloat and out to sea. His words rang so true to me. In a few lines, he had found a way to express what I was feeling.

Home is a place we know; it is a ring of protection and security. Home can be family, the place where we were born and grew up and it can also be an oasis of order that we carry with us wherever we go.

What does this have to do with Found, stitched and dyed, you ask?

My grandparents immigrated to the US from Scotland in the early 1920’s. Among their few belongings, my grandmother packed a damask tablecloth and napkins embroidered with thistles and scenes of her homeland. My mother remembers it being on their table every Sunday afternoon when fellow Scots would gather to eat, play music and sing songs from home. When my grandmother died, it was one of the few things that my mother kept to remember her by. Although stained and worn thin from use, I remember it as well on our family table every Thanksgiving and Christmas. I loved looking at all the designs hidden in the weave and would feel somehow that on these special days my grandparents, who I never met, were joining us for dinner.

When my mother passed away this precious tablecloth and napkins came to me. It made another transatlantic journey- this time in the opposite direction. Like my grandmother, I too left home when I was a young woman and changed continents. The cloth has gone full circle.

I decided it was time to give this cloth some tender loving care and have begun a long- term project to mend it. Some of the napkins will be used to patch the very transparent bits- a few others will be used stitching conversations of home with my mother and grandmother.

I am very happy to have started this. Thank you India for your inspiration.

mood blue

2012-01-20T18:25:00.000-08:00

the trouble with indigo is

that it's terribly seductive

and you begin to sling everything within reach

that isn't nailed down

into the pot

it loves to turn skin blue

and likes to stick to silver

Dragon Tree

2012-01-16T15:35:00.000-08:00

new work by Marti Weisbrich

in the absence of other news

2012-01-14T16:50:00.000-08:00

in the absence of other news i thought i'd share a picture of one of the tables in my workroom

looking unusually ordered

about to become rather more chaotic as i'm gathering materials and sorting treasure for upcoming workshops 'riverstitch' quite close to home in South Australia and 'the talisman dress' in Melbourne. the latter has a follow on in the form of an exhibition, part of the L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival's Cultural Program

and following on from Dorothy Caldwell in May

2012-01-09T02:42:00.001-08:00

an adventure in bio regional dyeing

with some gentle stitching time

in the subtropics

we'll be working in the delightful 2.5 acre garden where the 2010 Fieldwork class was held. [it's on the north western outskirts of Brisbane approx 20 kms from the city centre]

covering an introduction to ecologically sustainable dyeing, the composition of the optimum eucalyptus dyebath and of course ecoprint bundle dyeing...

we'll gather windfalls and weeds, observe the effects of various found metals on colour outcomes and stitch together the samples as they dry to form a beautiful composite cloth which will offer possibilities for ongoing stitching and embellishment

this is a three-day intensive class suitable for all textile lovers; the only skill you really need is the ability to thread a needle.

dates : 11,12,13 May 2012

for more information or to reserve a place, please contact workshop host Roz Hawker

this is a bit special...

2011-12-13T20:06:00.000-08:00

i don't usually encourage advertising on this blog but i think this workshop may well be of interest to the gatherers, dyers and stitchers who congregate here.
and it's not often that you hear of Dorothy Caldwell teaching in a private garden in balmy Queensland!

so here's the story.

Canadian textile artist Dorothy Caldwell's class 'Human Marks ' will be run over 4 days ..... 3,4,5 and 6 May 2012 .
This class will take place in a private garden in Bunya, on the north western outskirts of Brisbane.
It is an excellent opportunity to work with Dorothy to investigate and broaden your personal visual vocabulary and to create richly activated surfaces using your intuitive mark making style.Stitching , drawing, painting and more unconventional marks such as burning, piercing and mending will be explored.
Quickly fully booked when first advertised ,a few spots are now available in this class due to cancellations.
Please email rozhawker09@gmail.com for further information.

to see better images of Dorothy's work than I was able to achieve with my batfone in October please visit the website of the David Kaye Gallery

embroidery and pourses.

2011-10-07T13:54:00.000-07:00

I have started to made things out of my Eco-dyed mass of material. This first image is a piece of wool dyed with Eucalyptus leaves and then embroidered . l added a piece of eco-dyed silk to it, which was also dyed with the same leaves, embroidered and added to the wool. This finished piece has since been added to a large collaged piece which is being turned into a skirt/jacket...not sure yet!

This piece had been original part of a vintage top which was almost past saving. Cut out the o.k bits and saved them.

The next images are of wool which had been saved from the Land Fill, l dyed it with Eucalyptus leaves and then l made them into these two purses. Never done this before but thought l would give it a try...now l am hooked on making purses and bags........!

Front

Back

2nd one

SO ENJOYED MAKING THESE WHOLE PURSES FROM START TO FINISH....LOVE SLOW SEWING!

2011-10-04T14:49:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Almost finished, lots of embellishing to do yet

The middle bit's are from a workshop in Bussy sur Moudon with India Flint earlier this year, around it the frame & the outside, all from plants/trees on my Bendigo property............sewn onto an old blanket

I still have to do lots of embellishing on the individual pieces, that's where the bowl of wool came in, I needed the colours to do the stitching...........

A bit like my life I suppose, looking at it now, seem your formative years will colour the rest of your life, no matter where you end up!

An interesting tapestry of life, still ongoing of course, I can add for years to come...........

Have this in my hallway:

2011-10-03T17:20:00.000-07:00

Just have to show this off!

Doing a lot of embroidery & embellishments on my eco dyes stuff, I am always chasing the right colours, until it occurred to me to add wool/silk/cotton skeins to my plant dye pots, and here is the result, don't you love it!

I keep it in the hallway, and walking past makes me smile!

Thanks India for your teaching and the new book "second skin", deelishes

Landscape

2011-09-16T12:55:00.000-07:00

Last year flying from California to our home in Tennessee, I repeatedly glanced out the plane and looked at the land. Missing my children and my grandchildren, I mused about creating the landscape between California and Tennessee on cloth. A friend had given me a large old cotton panel, part of a sliding glass door curtain, needing a few mends. I cut the panels into several large lengths, patching them up as best I could. What if I used one of the cloth pieces as the backdrop for piecing my vision of landscape? I had done a lot of natural dying using a variety of vines, grasses, flowers, fruits, berries from the nearby fields plus scraps from my vegetable and flower garden, leaves from our crab apple trees, old rusty bits, nails, and gifts from another friend of madder and henna.

Over winter, the piece began to take shape with pinning, unpinning, ripping, a bit of re-dye and then the stitching began; so many pieces, so many stitches. Things got busy and the landscape cloth was rolled up and put in a drawer.

This September, I returned from spending 3 1/2 months in California with my children and grandchildren. The first thing after unpacking was to unroll the landscape cloth and continue stitching. It is now finished, hung on a pruned crab apple branch, on the wall between our kitchen and living room. When I look at this cloth, distance doesn't seem to matter when looking at a landscape of the heart.

From Marti Weisbrich

Northern Sierra foothills Creating Circle

2011-09-02T15:17:00.000-07:00

I will be hosting a spinning, sewing, knitting, creating circle for the four Wednesday nights of September at the Community Market in Camptonville, CA (USA). The market is hosted by Rebel Ridge Organics, at the intersection of Highway 49 and Marysville Road, and we will be there from 5-7 PM. There are only a few more weeks of true summer weather here in the California foothills, so if you are nearby come and join us and we will determine where and when to meet over the winter!

a very slow cloth!

2011-08-24T11:39:00.000-07:00

This cloth tells the story of my life over a period of about a year.The base is re cycled old French linen, with darns, patches and many signs of hard life.I've added lace(old) naturally dyed patches, including left overs from my daughters wedding dress and anything else i come across in my travels between the UK,France and last year, Australia for the wedding.Because of all this, it is like a stitched diary, very meaningful, but only to me.It gives me enormous pleasure to feel i'm giving my life to old cloth and i will probably keep stitching over the next year too,using samples from my teaching and things given to me by friends etc.

One of my most interesting discoveries this year is avocado dye, which has previously been something of a dissapointment for me.Now we have to eat loads of them so that i can experiment with various combinations.

Eleanor McCain and the Oil Stain Series

2011-08-12T06:33:00.000-07:00

while this is not to do with nature's dyes, i felt this series to be too important NOT to mention on these pages...

some years ago i was fortunate to attend a masterclass at QSDS with Dorothy Caldwell; my journey thither generously funded by Mr and Mrs Taxpayer through ArtsSA. it was a class where the participants each brought a project in progress to work on during "a week for you to make and examine aspects of your work in a supportive environment". there were over 20 of us, so there was much work to examine while also discussing the book "Bird by Bird" by Anne Lamott.

the particularly wonderful thing about the workshop [aside from Dorothy's storytelling] were the other artists present.

one of these was Eleanor McCain, maker of extraordinary quilts whose work i had already been admiring for some time.
periodically i swing over to her website to see what's new and to gaze in rapture at her facility for managing colour, tone and pattern. there is an architectural feel to her work. there is inventive investigation of the grid and the nine patch.

the devastating oil catastrophe in the gulf has generated a new series of works. i found them overwhelming, such a contrast between the gentle beauty of the object and the sheer horror of the devastating event that inspired them. i think it's best described by Eleanor herself

..."I have been working on this series since the spill, I usually make work that keeps me happy, but somehow was so angry I had to work through this. I have started an extension of the series where the staining comes from the fabric itself, it's even less controlled, and I am really interested in what is happening"...

and by Ange Ingram [from Eleanor's website]

..."From four piece Beach, out the Bay, into the Gulf, and necessarily back to us via Marsh, the artist achingly limns the ruination of our heritage by the 2010 BP Oil Spill. To term it simply a “spill” is to imagine that it can be wiped clean, that all our sea creatures, estuaries and the Gulf itself, have recovered or can recover.
This is not so. It is stain, indelible, unnatural, permanent"...

'conscience' Eleanor McCain 2011 60" x 60"

with thanks to Eleanor for permitting the use of words and image

Elsje van Keppel

2011-08-10T05:13:00.000-07:00

there seems to be a lot of action happening on the dreaded facebook

where i initiated a found stitched dyed group

provided you can be bothered having a profile on FB

it's certainly a faster way of chatting and posting about your work

but what i really like about the blog is

that the information we post

remains the most visible part

as a nice collection of stuff you can wander through at will

FB is really very fluttery, if you get my drift

but if you haven't checked it out yet

it may be worth swinging by

just

careful

it can be a bit of a time vampire

this slightly dodgy photograph*

was shot through glass at the Powerhouse Museum

it's of a very beautiful piece called 'spinifex stitching' by

Elsje van Keppel

i never met her

but

i wish i had

John Parkes [whose work is shown in Second Skin]

wrote to me recently

mentioning that there was to be a retrospective exhibition of her work

if you live in Perth there are no excuses for missing this

i'd fly over myself

but for having to leave for the US next Thursday

*i was given permission provided no flash was used

wall art...

2011-07-25T05:37:00.001-07:00

"under the gums"

im sorry...
i just couldnt resist the temptation to fill the empty space on that wall that india provided last post!!!

my "wall art" is a little clue as to who i am and what i love...

i love trees and especially big old eucalyptus camaldulensis
i love camping and campfires

my current art practice is all about the relationship between selected flora of places of historical significance and the social history of the same place

i love textiles
i love printmaking
im learning to love to paint and draw
and i love to make colour from natural sources
i love technology
i love photography
i love writing
and i love combining them all together

im the contact point for the mornington peninsula stitch gatherers
we gather on the 3rd monday of the month
at my home in rosebud south
to share tea and something nibbly
and stories and stitches

xo
samm

more intros, perhaps?

2011-07-22T03:35:00.000-07:00

after reading Birdsong's lovely introduction i'm rather hoping that more of the gatherers will take the opportunity to tell a little more about themselves...

here's a wall just waiting to be written on...

Intro from the Sierra Nevadas of California

2011-07-14T14:46:00.000-07:00

Hi,everyone... I want to introduce myself and offer to be a contact point for a sewing circle in the Sierra foothills, northeast of Sacramento. My name is Birdsong and I am a knitter, spinner, seamstress/quilter and natural dyer, who learned as a wee child, starting with knitting and embroidery at age 5. I remember my first embroidery project was a doll's tea set from a package design that I stitched up for my closest cousin. My poor mother suffered through years of half-made gifts, wrapped for the holiday and then retrieved so that I could finish. Luckily, my children have fared better in recent years, and I have learned better planning skills.

I am also a permaculture designer, living in a rural setting on 4 acres. I started the first US natural dye plant Community Supported Agriculture farm venture on a quarter acre of our land this spring that any of my fiber contacts can locate, and have been busy planting and cutting and drying. I have started small as the winter and spring here were long and wet, hampering planting, but that makes the woods around me very lush, with much to gather and dry. I have also worked in some new experiments the past two months so that I can encourage my subscribers to branch out beyond the standard dyepot plants and processes. Here's a photo of one of my latest experiments, part of a garment project.

This piece of found machine embroidery was first solar dyed with black tea, as part of a demonstration I gave at the start of the month, then a few days ago was simmered in rusty-object water in my iron dutch oven kettle, along with fresh fennel stems, saved from the fennel I am drying for the CSA. You can find me on Facebook at Nature's Cauldron, and my personal blog is here.

darned hemp grain sack

2011-07-09T04:09:00.000-07:00

swing across to Brenna's pages for a visit

here

http://cobbledtogetherbybrenna.blogspot.com/2011/07/darned-hemp-grain-sack.html

My dyed clothes.

2011-06-15T13:25:00.000-07:00

I have just finished dyeing three pieces of clothing. Just used eucalyptus leaves and vinegar. I didn't find it very easy to wrap the leaves inside and around the clothes but it certainly stretched my patience and my knowledge! Ha! The long jacket is linen and l will be showing you this again once l have embroidered it.

this is the back of my jacket.

This is my cotton top...very pleased with this one.

This is my cotton "apron" skirt..this is the back of it.

This is the front of the skirt with pockets. Have not decided if l am going to embroider it yet, if l do it will more than likely be on the pockets.

Gaining Confidence

2011-06-13T12:22:00.000-07:00

I have always been a plants woman and pride myself on my collection, so to now use these beautiful pants combined with my silks and felts is so rewarding.

Today I was back in amongst the plants and trying to decide what to do today and decided to use some silk scraps and to try adding a mordant today, so added a bit of alum.

Was I right or wrong to do this I do not know -but I do know my silk turned out beautiful and smells good,I added rainwater to my simmering pot as well, it is a very old aluminium pot.

I have also done more stitching today after completing my section purse made with silk which has been screen-printed for the new felting book due out Christmas time.

Rain and gathering

2011-06-12T14:53:00.000-07:00

The long awaited rains came today and the land smelt sweet so I went gatheing the fallen petals of the roses and peaonies and geraniums and the clematis petals were falling too with the wind and the rain.

I had cotton square and an old piece of french linen with some beautiful history attached to it,I placed petals and leaves on top of cotton then bound them all using some lovely hardwood circles wrapped with sticks and cord and simmered in what remained of my petal water form afew weeks ago.

Now I am stitching and remembering and enjoying the colours and the faded imagery on my cloth.

finding and stitching of a different kind

2011-06-12T11:25:00.000-07:00

reading the Sunday paper in Minneapolis i was intrigued by this article

so i rummaged a little further on the net and found these links

http://www.njherald.com/story/news/13FLAG2-11

and

http://national911flag.org/

in essence, a flag salvaged from the ghastly mess of the World Trade Centre in New York has been mended with fragments of other United States flags, including a thread from the flag on which President Lincoln's head rested in his final moments

Out There at large...

2011-06-03T12:36:00.000-07:00

A while ago I posted about ‘Out There’ a project I co-ordinate and the community allotment where we grow dye plants. Last weekend we were lucky enough to exhibit the fruits of our labours at a local arts trail.

We showed a naturally-dyed wall of colour:

Tiny knitted jumpers:

And brought a plant along too...

It was a really great opportunity to meet our local community – many of whom came to see us. We talked about the dye plants at our allotment, the healing power of the outdoors, the therapeutic rhythms of stitching, and all things in-between. A really positive experience for everyone involved, and the colours from the dye pot were the stars of the show.

found but not dyed yet

2011-06-02T22:44:00.000-07:00

found by the bay in San Francisco

an unused hankie

pressed, folded, accidentally [?] dropped

and crushed underfoot [perhaps many feet]

it is machine stitched around the edges

but could do with a bit of hand work

and

of course

a wash first

found pincushion, already stitched and dyed

2011-05-31T12:07:00.000-07:00

i just wanted to share this tiny handmade and mended pincushion, dyed with age and maybe mold.

and also ask if anyone wants to share a double room at India's August workshop in NH?

may i see the back please?

2011-05-28T02:51:00.000-07:00

how often have you been asked the question
"may I see the back dear?"
it used to happen all the time
when i worked in an organisation that toured
exhibitions to remote areas
i'd be stitching away
while minding the show
and people would come in, ignore the work on display
and be more interested in the back of whatever i was working on
most
odd

this is the back
of a piece that has joined the collection at the Orange Regional Gallery
the other side has overlays of silk
the background was cloth from an old hemp kimono
the stitching used mostly fine wool
[sourced from the Victorian Tapestry Weavers left-over box]
and some of my favourite #5 thread from Beautiful Silks

i stitched it all first
then made a leap of faith
and dyed it with eucalyptus
as the hemp wasn't mordanted
it didn't pick up colour
but
the wool did [that's a very small detail in the image]

succumbing to facebook

2011-05-23T01:26:00.000-07:00

as i was having to come to terms with FaceBook for other reasons i thought it might be useful to create a group there for found stitched dyed
to make it easier for those of you who are already dancing with that particular demon
to post stories and images of your work

here's the link [i hope it works]

Stitch Circle Melbourne

2011-05-10T01:10:00.000-07:00

There will be a new circle starting this Friday at Opendrawer in Camberwell between 4and 8pm, all welcome. We hope this will continue every second friday of the month.
Because of this The Tin Shed Circle in Launceston will now be on the 4th friday of the month.
Trace Willans

connections

2011-05-01T16:22:00.000-07:00

Eva Cantin will be around for the Stroud International Textile Festival
and would love to meet up with any FS & D followers who are in the area

find her contact details in the 'gatherers' page...

Eco dyeing and embroidery

2011-04-26T13:30:00.000-07:00

This is a vintage piece of cotton ladies underwear, which l found and bought in Paris. It was very delicate and so damaged it was useless to try and mend it. So therefore l just decided to save the front and turn it into a piece of Decorative Art. This is the first time l have done any embroidery for over 25 years and l SO enjoyed it. This piece was dyed in onion skins first before it was decorated. I also dye all my cotton/silk threads or are given naturally dyed threads from friends. The buttons are either off my families clothes, charity shops, found buttons or l have been given them.

l finished this piece a few weeks ago. I found an old silk petticoat which was beyond repair but there were large areas which were useable. So this is one of the hanging l have created from it. Firstly dyed in onion skins and some rusty bottle tops then embroidered. I base my embroidery on images l have taken of tree trunks and/or landscapes. The next step for this piece is to be attached to canvas or paper. When l have done this l will show you.

I am very keen on trying to get a Dyeing and Embroidery group going. If anyone reading this lives in, near or around Putney (SW15 3TY) London please contact me. My email is elemaitch@yahoo.co.uk
Lynda

From Asa Wahlquist

2011-04-20T04:48:00.000-07:00

The Sydney Group had its second meeting last Sunday. Lucky us, Jenni Worth visited and showed us new techniques for enfolding which were then put to use in varying ways. While our wrappings simmered in an ironbark (Eucalyptus sideroxylon) dyepot we admired each other's work, stitched and knitted, chatted, jotted down notes and references, ate and drank lots of cups of tea. It was so inspiring to see what everyone is doing, and there was lots of learning from each other.

note 161 is what we brought to the meeting and 166 is our dyeing on the day.

from Marti Weisbrich

2011-04-17T20:20:00.000-07:00

In Dec. of 2010, I posted an entry about finding a piece of my clothing history, my 63 year old baby kimono, a kimono that my mother had made for me. You can read the original entry here: http://found-stitched-dyed.blogspot.com/2010/12/posted-by-marti.html

Sweet little piece of clothing but with a rip in the back that needed to be mended before it could be worn again. I hoped to be able to do just that but I have very basic sewing skills and it was a daunting task for me. I did mend the tear and all in all, it was an ok job but looked a little rough. For dyeing the found kimono, I gathered buttercups (ranunculus repens) that are just now blossoming all over the grass and fields here in Tennessee. I put the blossoms in a plastic bowl filled with filtered water, placed the kimono inside the bowl and put the entire thing into my aluminum cauldron with lid. I didn't want to heat the delicate blossoms over a flame so I let the sun do the simmering for me. After a week, the kimono was mostly evenly dyed a very soft butter yellow but the mend, now yellow, still looked pretty haphazard! Looking through my basket of eco dyed scraps of old cotton and silk, gave me an idea. I have lots of pieces dyed with assorted field materials; crab apple leaves, vinca vines, poke berry, wild Tennessee blackberries, red sumac, avocado, golden rod, buttercup, henna, madder and even arugula in a copper pot. What if I cut out hearts from all of these small scraps and used them to cover the rough mending and trail them all along the back of the kimono, maybe ending up with a few in front?

Originally the kimono was going to be handed down to future grandchildren in my family. I've changed my mind because babies like to put things in their mouths and although the kimono and the heart scraps havebeen washed, it occurred to me that some of the dyes used (buttercups, sumac, poke berry) might still have left traces of toxin in the fibers. Instead I think the best use for this little kimono might be as dress up clothing for a doll. My little granddaughter might enjoy using it in just this way when she is a little older.

Buttercups and a little trail of eco dyed hearts have transformed a little kimono that was languishing in a box of old clothes. From an article of clothing to an article for play, this generational cloth has beenfound, stitched and dyed, with love, joy and wonder.

Marti

Stitching Fun

2011-04-09T18:08:00.000-07:00

It ended up being just Jilli and I stitching in the Tin Shed on friday, but we had a lot of fun. I worked on the two little bags above. (India might just recognise the fabric!)

And I helped Jilli with the lovely frock above, though she may not have appreciated the amount of times I accidently stuck a pin in her!!!

We will most definitely be doing this again next month so if you are around we would love you to join us.

Stitching Tin Shed Style

2011-04-06T05:04:00.000-07:00

This friday, being the second friday of the month, is stitch and basket day in the Tin Shed [Launceston, Tasmania]. For a small fee of $5 to cover costs come along and join our circle. We will there Tracy Willans and/or Jilli Spencer between 10am and 4pm. Look forward to seeing some of you who said you were interested!!!.

a find

2011-03-18T00:50:00.001-07:00

i found something i wanted to share...how i found it is typical of the curious intertwinings of the pixies on the Web
somebody linked to my flickr page
intrigued, i popped over for a look
found a link to her blog
and then found the most delightful post about an old quilt
you can visit it here

http://justbeingsusan.blogspot.com/2009/10/my-patchwork-quilt.html

and as a hopeful image
i add a detail of one of my favourite 'boro' pieces
made by an unknown person in Japan, quite a while ago
a patch of blue
in a sea of grey

Out There

2011-03-17T05:04:00.000-07:00

For the past year I’ve been running a project called ‘Out There’ funded by Mind – a mental health charity – in the North of England. Research has shown that contact with green space can improve mental health and well-being. The emphasis of Out There is for participants to engage in slow, sustainable, art practices and to have as much contact as possible with the local environment.

Last spring a group of women got involved, meeting up once a week. We started working at a community allotment, growing plants for our dye bath.

We used traditional techniques and those inspired by the work of others (thank you India).

Being able to use our local green spaces for inspiration has been such a benefit. Locally produced dye-plants in the dye bath have strengthened connections to the materials we’ve been using and given us a greater appreciation of our local environment.

The group has had many quiet sessions sitting, stitching and weaving with the yarn and fibre we’ve dyed. The reaction of the group has been so great, and has taught me so much. To quote a participant, ‘I’m just enjoying making things really slowly.’

We’re just at the beginning of our growing season now and our project has funding for another two years. We can’t wait to see what else we can grow and make.

2011-03-07T19:47:00.000-08:00

And speaking of rust

Our South Orange County, CA stitch group met today. Penny Berens' post here was so timely as one of the members of our little group showed her recent foray into dyeing with rusty "stuff" she has collected. Penny is in Nova Scotia on the other side of the continent and we're all having the same kind of fun.

Our group meets again on April 4th -- the first Monday of the month. http://paintspinknit.blogspot.com

from Penny Berens in Nova Scotia

2011-03-07T16:22:00.000-08:00

Been thinking for a while that it was about time I told you about this
piece I'm working on at the moment.
I love rust and have a rusty old gate leaning up against the side of
the house. I love that I have a lot of my grandmother's bed linens.
So I put the two together and managed to transfer the rusty gate
design to a length of sheet.
At the moment I am spending our cold snowy winter stitching row upon
row throughout the negative spaces of the design. As you can see from
the third photo, there will be deviations from the rows when the
shapes of the rusty areas call for it.

No darning involved in this one; but I will be darning that piece that
the animals chewed off my apple tree when I attempted to join in on
Kaite's wrapped trees!

Penny Berens
http://tanglewoodthreads.blogspot.com/

re advertising

2011-02-25T03:30:00.000-08:00

let's keep these pages for information about sewing circle gatherings and stories about stitching and dyeing rather than advertising institutional workshops, please?

warm wishes all round

india

Botanical Textile Dyeing (Eco Dyeing)

2011-02-25T01:20:00.000-08:00

Some people might be interested in this Botanical Textile Dyeing (Eco Dyeing) day at the Gordon TAFE Geelong.
http://www.gordontafe.edu.au/index.cfm?action=4&secAction=1&terAction=2&Search_Action=display&Search_courseID=1219&Search_CourseType=SC
Those in our little Geelong group I will try to organise a get together at my house shortly, just a bit snowed under at work lately.

threadlines and bloodlines

2011-02-20T12:52:00.000-08:00

Sandy Webster, who kindly drove over to Shakerag last summer to share a cup with me wrote a kind note and sent these beautiful images.
Visit her website here to see more of her work.

Recently alone at an artist's retreat I found myself remembering the times spent with my mother and grandmother doing just that....stitching, learning and visiting over coffee....always coffee. I am sending the end result of two weeks spent recalling those earlier, quieter times in their company threading needles and trying to get the stitches just the way they showed me. It is titled Threadlines and Bloodlines, made of thai kozo papers that are spun, stitched and stained with coffee and edged with an old household textile. The piece measures 18" by 72".

circling at the tin shed pottery

2011-02-15T16:35:00.000-08:00

Jilli Spencer and Tracy Willans will run a sewing circle at the Tin Shed Pottery, 13 Russell St Invermay every 2nd friday of the month between 10am and 4 pm

if you would like to join in please contact Tracy at
soewnearth@yahoo.com.au

peninsula gathering

2011-02-10T14:59:00.000-08:00

the next peninsula gathering
will be held on
monday the 21st of february

anyone in the area (even if you are a visitor)
is more than welcome!

would really appreciate an rsvp
for baking purposes!

email me (samm)
hoardersdaughter@gmail.com
or leave a comment here in response to this post...

cheers
xo

2011-02-04T07:29:00.000-08:00

Slow stitching in Southern California --

that is, stitching by hand -- and the little group we've formed will meet again on Monday, February 7th.

It is a delight to see how our group looks forward to our time together, stitching, learning, sharing, chatting, having a cup of tea/coffee -- bonding at its best -- relationships forged. [http://paintspinknit.blogspot.com]

My first wall hanging

2011-02-02T06:03:00.000-08:00

I'm really excited that I finally finished this piece! I dyed the fabric with walnut husks and the bottom of an octagonal can this summer, but then it took me months to decide to do with it.

Inspiration hit when I decided that my word for this year is Gathering. Images of gathering flitted through my head, of birds gathering twigs, of children gathering eggs, of ancient women, knowledgeable about plants and herbs who wanders, gathering what they needed, using what comes to hand to create a life for themselves and their families.

So i created this out of a burlap rice bag, which I frayed to make the nest and scraps of fabric. I carved the bird stamp and printed that on the fabric as well, and sewed on some of my favorite bits and found things that I've collected over the years.

I'm really looking forward to more gathering in the coming year, going deeper into dying with found objects and plant material, and creating a life for myself and my family.

im back!!!

2011-02-01T15:28:00.000-08:00

weeeeeeee! im back!!
to be cut off from communication for a gemini is almost as bad as losing an arm, or leg, or sight, or hearing... my absence from this blog has not been from choice, our internet has been down and has just, this morning come back!
so.... let me give you a pictorial rundown on what's been going on here in my "found, stitched and dyed" world. enjoy....

a travel blanket in the making
after our excessive rainfall, our eucalyptus trees are dropping leaves like there's no tomorrow to make way for their new growth.
perfect dye material for my $5 op shop blanket!
i borrowed a HUGE stock pot from a friend and bundled all the leaves i could rake up, along with some odd bits and pieces that had found their way from the dog bed (foil, feathers, plastic, bone bits), added rainwater and an old horseshoe for luck (and iron content)....

there are a few flashes of brilliance (ie lovely firey orange) and someone thinks the blanket is hers...

but i do plan to overdye before the blanket becomes a background for "postcards" from my journeys.

you may remember the baby dress that i posted about not long ago
since posting, it has been bundled, cooked and submerged in a jar of "turtle bean stock" for a month

the bean stock was intended as a pre mordant to dyeing (as the dress is cotton fabric) but it has left quite a nice purple/grey colour!

after the bean stock soaking...

i submerged the fabric in a jar of hot water and prunus leaves and left them to heat and cool outside for a couple of weeks...

the prunus species was not the lovely deep purple red that i have used previously, rather the more green red coloured leaves and i think, as a result, the end colour is not as vibrant.
still.... i am, as always, pleasantly surprised by the colours that nature provides (for free!!!)

and lastly, the tree wrapping that i have managed to resist undoing is coming along nicely...

xo

from Ulrike

2011-01-27T13:37:00.000-08:00

Dear India,

I think, my latest obsession falls into your category of found stitched
and dyed, even if I used some silk thread dyed with madder and some dyed
with brazilwood.

I am not good in categorizing or even artistically describing my works.
For me it is always more about the process of stitching fabric pieces
together. Stitching like this is my kind of meditation. It is something
I don't think about, don't plan, I don't tell stories, I only do. But I
can describe what I used. Some old lace from pillow cases I inherited
from a nice lady in the neighbourhood who died recently dyed in tea
leaves. The exact process was more collecting what's left of my morning
tea mingled with the lace and after a few days collecting, I poured some
hot water over it and let it sit for a week. The underground fabric is
linen, stitched with some wool thread and washed so that the wool thread
would cause some puckering. And then stitching both together with some
found buttons and the aforementioned silk thread I dyed some while ago.
Up until now, there are two bracelets, but number three is already on
the table wating to be assembled.

Maybe you think it fits into the found stitched and dyed project.

More pictures on my blog (http://www.handspindel.de) or on my flickr
account http://www.flickr.com/photos/25338804@N07/ the lace is a bit
darker in real life. But thanks to a greyish winter sky no better
pictures are possible right now.

be well and stay creative
Ulrike

--
Sometimes it is better to light a flamethrower than curse the darkness.
- Terry Pratchett (Men At Arms) -

http://www.handspindel.de

ignorat on http://www.weavolution.com

quiet work

2011-01-16T18:37:00.000-08:00

Mending time

2011-01-08T01:20:00.001-08:00

First there was the felting, then the printing with Eucalyptus. Then the moths came and then there was the mending.

by kind permission from Asa Wahlquist

2011-01-03T04:35:00.000-08:00

only a few days ago Christine Mauersberger posted about courage
today i received an email from Asa Wahlquist
that seemed to me to be very much on the same topic
i found it moving and full of hope

i asked her if she would mind me publishing her words
as i thought they would prove encouraging
[funny, it never occurred to me before
to look closely at that word] to others who might be thinking
about moving away from long-held life patterns

at first i thought to edit a bit
take out the very complimentary words that made me pink about the edges
but i realised that they were an important prelude
to the kernel of the message, which is about taking that leap
[or small first step] to make a change in how you live your life

so here it is
as Asa sent it to me, along with the image of her beautifully stitched work

Dear India,

You have been a source of great inspiration to me since I first came across you two years ago via your book Eco-Colour. The two workshops I have done with you have been absolute highlights of the past two years.

And so, dear India, you have - indirectly - been part of my decision to leave an extremely oppressive job several months ago. Most days I used to click onto your website and wonder at your adventures, your creativity and your great joy in life, and ponder the difference between your life and mine, as it was then. They'll always be different, but mine has improved mightily since breaking the shackles and spending more time wandering and playing with plants and leaves and threads and dyepot and in a state of general wonderment at this world.

I am sending you a pic of a product of my new life: found, dyed then stitched. I have lots of bits and pieces from dyeing experiments, and I have loved placing them together and stitching away. It is, most immediately, a product of a life with more time to stitch and think, to travel across cloth and in the mind. I love the rhythm of stitching, making little parallel rows that are similar but different, setting out on new little paths across the fabric with the thread revealing subtleties I hadn't seen before in the dyed cloth.

I have lived in my current house for nearly 30 years, but I am planning to move some hours away later this year. The fabric is dyed with leaves from my garden and the park where I walk every day and with some scraps of iron dug up from my backyard, so it is very much of this place. Looking at it I can remember what I was thinking, even where I was sitting, when I stitched sections of it. It is very much of this place and time, and I think I will treasure it for this.

I am working on a second piece and already I can see my style changing, loosening up a little. It is a great journey to be on, and I thank you again for helping set me on the path and sharing a little of it.

with best wishes,

Asa

thank you Asa, wishing you a gentle 'move' and lots more satisfying stitching...

Found, stitched but not dyed yet!

2010-12-31T05:52:00.000-08:00

Thought I would send this to you, not because I think its so wonderful but because it might be a catalyst to others who read the FSD blog but think making something from recycled garments and hand stitching is a bit beyond them - which is what I thought before doing the November workshop in Nelson (NZ).

I found that after the workshop, I had 3 shirt fronts left over, so what better than to make them into another wrap around skirt ................

I stitched each front to make a complete panel, adding pieces where there were gaps..............

then stitched the top of each panel to the waistband,

stitched the sides together

and finally "rounded" the bottom of the middle panel to match up to the two sides

it has been such fun - now its ready for the dyepot - thats when the real magic will happen!

I really encourage anyone who has been feeling a bit apprehensive about starting to stitch a garment to have a go

from Jo in NZ

http://nelsonecoalchemistsgroup.blogspot.com/

stitching through the festivities

2010-12-29T03:50:00.000-08:00

peninsula gathering

2010-12-22T23:17:00.000-08:00

our little circle has started small
but most enjoyably
we munched on gingernut bikkies
sipped on madam flavour white tea with rose
and stitched away on our projects
and chatted
the perfect gathering actually!

next gathering
monday 17th january at 1.30pm
email me if you plan to attend
(hoardersdaughter@gmail.com)

xo
samm

ps happy merry solstice christmas to all...

from Dorie van Dijk in the Netherlands

2010-12-19T19:10:00.000-08:00

While we were in France at the end of October this year we've visited one of the latest 'vide-greniers'. It has rained cats and dogs and we arrived around three o'clock at the market. Many people were already cleaning up their stuff. On the ground I found a suitcase full of linen and the man of the stall showed me more. He decided to give me all old clothes and as a kind of a bonus he stuffed the suitcase with a bunch of garments. At home I was able to take a closer look and concluded that this black garderobe belonged to a widow. What to do with them as black is not my favourite colour. I left it all in France. One garment I took with me, the little black dress.
This 'petite' robe noire is made of silk and selfmade. The woman who made this wanted to use the silkfabric as best as possible. You can see it at the seam, where she stitched an extra piece to make it complete. She must be very careful with her dress. At some places she made some mendings. It must be old, you can see the silk torned at the endings and stitches. I try to visualise this woman. She wasn't small, as the dress fits me very well. Maybe it was ment to be landed in my hands...
This black dress has challenged me to start with stitching. And this isn't easy for me at all when thinking about it. Which kind of thread I do need, which colour I'm gonna use, do I put on big or small pieces of fabrics, only silk fabric or also others, will I cover the whole dress, at random or in a pattern. A kind of hydrophobia not knowing what will happen if I do start. But I jumped into the black sea and hope te learn to swim. Time will learn me how and stitches will tell me what. The first stitches are made to repair the torning places in the armhole. Making those stitches I felt the french woman was smiling from above.....

--
een dag niet gecreeerd is een dag niet geleefd! a day without creating feels like a day without breathing!
my blogswww.dovadi.web-log.nl/fiberfusing
htttp//www.5fontainefleurie.blogspot.com

curious...about "stitch"

2010-12-19T18:27:00.000-08:00

has anyone out there seen this movie?
i'm very tempted to acquire it but would be delighted to read a review...

it's by Alabama Chanin

while you're there, check out their workshop pages...luscious offerings indeed!

Indigofera australis

2010-12-14T16:03:00.000-08:00

* image copied from wikipedia article on Indigofera australis

in the spirit of learning and sharing, i wonder if there is anyone within this group who has had a go at dyeing with Indigofera australis? i have some growing here, and access to a much larger plant at a friend's house and i'd really like to have a play. perhaps even a play on one of our peninsula stitchers days...

i remember reading in india's book that it is treated similarly as woad is ie fermenting and temperatures etc but am wondering if there is anything else one should know before starting to collect wee in a bucket.... any great publications, online articles, personal advice???

thanks in advance!!!

samm

here is a friendly hello from the NorthWest of Victoria, Bendigo

2010-12-11T15:16:00.000-08:00

I haven't heard from anybody, so we just have lookers here not doers???????????????????????

This is a challenge ladies, I know it's christmas mad time, but think about it for afterwards!

my work as of yesterday:

for more of the progress and details you just have to check out: my Blog

Two bigger pieces: basically I have embellished lots of recycled and collected bits and pieces, made a journey as I stitched it all onto prefelt.
I then eco dyed it, which caused a problem with the nuno felting, had to apply another layer of prefelt as the first obviously got done in in the dyeing process ............ (If you know different, please let me know)
The small piece was eco dyed prefelt onto which I stiched some silk gauze, that (funny enough) felted fine

The layers are:

recycled silk sari
prefelt/fluffy batts from fibre fusion or similar from Beautiful Silks
silk gauze layer
under the 2 bigger pieces I had to add another prefelt/fluffy batts from fibre fusion or similar from Beautiful Silks, the smaller piece without this
then work as in the photos from below and small piece

all learnt from our goddess of embellishments and eco dyeing, India Flint, mind you her writting is a pleasure too :-}

I realy had fun felting it, as it is nuno it is not so hard, and I DO NOT go to the gym, now I get to exercise for free
Hope to hear from some of you in this region,
slow down and enjoy, Madeleine

Geelong meets

2010-12-11T12:57:00.000-08:00

Chris, Jeana and I had a little gathering and sharing over tea and lemon cakes last Wednesday afternoon.
Chris shared with us some stitching and dyeing she had been doing after attending one of India's workshops.
Jeana has also been stitching and dyeing (If you email me some photos Chris and Jeana I will add them).

I have been stitching on a memory piece about my sewing muse, my maternal grandmother, who died suddenly just before my 21st birthday party. She had bought a new dress and made the cake.
My piece is made from op shop tablecloths sewn into an apron as she was a fantastic cook. I will add more bits and pieces, including photos, some of her hand written recipes, pieces of her embroidery and crochet. I began this at the Geelong Fibre forum class with Mary Crehan.

We are just making another date and will post shortly.

first peninsula circle

2010-12-08T19:45:00.000-08:00

stitching circles are forming all over the whirld so
i'm planning a sneaky, "one before christmas" gathering of peninsula stitchers on
monday 20th december
1.30 - sometime later
email me (samm) - hoardersdaughter@gmail.com for address details etc if you plan on popping in,
and so i know how many chocolate chip ginger spice bikkies to pop in the oven....
cheers

Hand Stitched Flowers

2010-12-08T15:27:00.000-08:00

There is something beautiful and ancient about creating and in the making of things...

Stitching, tying, dyeing, wrapping, drawing, painting and printing.

I feel a sense of connectedness to the traditions of my sisters, mother, Grandmothers and Aunts as far back as i can imagine.

Even just the simple act of pushing needle through fabric. The tools have evolved somewhat but the sentiment is the same...

This is a quilt i've started piecing together using my beautiful Grandmother "Vanaema's" embroidered cottons and handmade lace... She was an Estonian woman, strong, loving and the most wonderful seamstress....I dream of sitting and sewing with her in a cloud somewhere..She would sing me songs in language of little ships in harbours...

I mix it with some of my own and we all unite in stitch as family..

Peace Jemima

http://humandrattle.com

Posted by Marti

2010-12-07T14:33:00.000-08:00

The circle of women from the whirld who find and mend are inspiring to me for I am mostly a gatherer and dyer. A while back, a windfall of black walnuts in a nearby park and a bit of old cotton sliding glass door curtain was transformed by bundling and walnut dye. Looking at the markings, I decided to trace one of them with stitch; not embroidery thread for I have none yet but just plain, cotton brown thread and as I tried my hand at a bit of chain stitch, I wondered if I could one day mend an old, delicate piece of clothing and then dye it.

Getting out some boxes of Christmas decorations, I came across a container of old baby clothes. Some of mine, some of my twin daughters. Looking around, I spotted a tiny little kimono as old as I am, 63 yrs old. I had saved it all of these years even though it has a hole in its double layers.The cloth is some sort of silk I think or maybe a satiny cotton and the kimono was made by my mother for me. Both of my daughters have worn the little kimono, taking turns but it had gotten ripped so was put away and not used for my granddaughter which makes me sad. So in the new year that is coming, I am going to learn how to mend and try my very best to fix this little kimono. My granddaughter will be too big to wear it but it will be saved to pass on. In the spring, I will go out into the fields to gather buttercups because I think they will make a lovely dye for this piece of my personal history.

We're stitching in South Orange County, CA

2010-12-04T09:16:00.000-08:00

The seed has been planted. Our stitching group has begun in South Orange County, CA. Next sewing circle January 3rd. To read about our beginnings, visit Lori's December 1st blog entry at: http://paintspinknit.blogspot.com

wind rain water

2010-12-03T17:35:00.000-08:00

to see more of the treasure-snippet hinted at in this image
and to read about the story behind it
please visit T's blog here

http://herewitht.blogspot.com/2010/12/wind-water-and-rain.html

frozen

2010-12-03T10:34:00.000-08:00

Up here in the North of England it's pretty cold for the time of year. We've had a lot of snow.

In my backyard I unearthed a frozen bundle. A scrap of old silk filled with fallen leaves and found metal, collected on an autumnal walk by the local canal.

I think I unwrapped it up too soon just so I could see the frozen creases in the fabric.

from long ago

2010-12-02T04:35:00.000-08:00

After both parents had died the children wanted to sell the house.

We where invited to walk around and see if we fancied something.

In a trunk on the ceiling i found this cloth. The son told the story his mother had told so often. During the war 40-45 their house was ready but no money to furnish it. She got a bunch of old sacs, the sign on it said, lactic casein. They where send from Argentina to the Netherlands.

She made curtains out of them for the diningroom and stitched on the blanco backsides.

She has kept them all these years and now i am their keeper.

Geelong Stitchers

2010-11-28T23:53:00.000-08:00

Sorry, that should be Wednesday 8th December, was distracted while writing!! And about 1.30pm.
Cheers
Jo

truth

2010-11-28T23:46:00.001-08:00

who can resist a sign outside an op shop that declares "closing down - everything $2"?
i certainly can't

and when treasures such as this "old fashioned", flannel/brushed cotton baby outfit complete with mother of pearl buttons

and rust spots is found, what's a girl to do?

i tend to speak my truth within my art... to tell my stories
this beautiful item yells loudly to be heavily adorned with stitch and dyed bits
and to be framed in a deep box frame
with my birth certificate placed underneath.

the dilemma for me is that this was not an item of my clothing...
i'd be speaking an untruth to present it as such!

help?

xo
samm
aka
the hoarders daughter

Geelong stitchers

2010-11-28T23:45:00.000-08:00

Geelong group will be having a 'cuppa and chat' get together on Wednesday 6th December. Leave a comment if you would like to join us

karen workman and a year's worth of stitching

2010-11-27T00:46:00.000-08:00

it's always a delight to cross paths again
with people you've met [and liked!] along the way
Karen Workman is here at the retreat in the Lud Valley
[a little outside Nelson, Aotearoa New Zealand]

she showed me a wonderful piece of work
she has been stitching for the past 12 months

this is it from the back, rolled up

here is part of the front

it [a large wool blanket] has lots of different fabrics stitched to it

we talked about how she might tackling the dyeing

soak it in the sea

wrap it around some scarp iron for a while

let it sit and think about what it has done

then some time later

bundle it with leaves and things

cook it for a while

and then wait a few more days

before opening the bundle

i've asked her to send me some images

in a few months time

when that process has run its course

An old chemise

2010-11-22T09:20:00.000-08:00

For a long while this old chemise which i bought from a market in France has been waiting for me to stitch on it,or rather ,gather the courage to put needle to fabric. There is so much history there already, i hardy dare interrupt the garment's peace.Once, it belongADed to A.B.and had tucks/pleats.
Then, it belonged to AS who must have been bigger (or middle aged and married ?)

In the process of undoing all the pleats ,holes appeared in the cloth,which incidentally,is so thick nd starchy that it must have been incredibly uncomfortable to wear.Makes me wonder if it came from a convent,where comfort wasn't allowed.

Hasty unpicking has made a section where i might start my additions when i summon up the courage.Finally,someone has added godets to allow more movement options at hem level.Conjures up a picture of a more active A.S !

I come from a very 'Make do and mend' household.My mother turned collars,sides to middled sheets and made my little girl dresses from the skirts of her old dresses.I think even she would have been impressed by this unknown seamstress

Healing Sutras

2010-11-21T05:22:00.000-08:00

Healing Sutras

The Healing Sutras: the exquisite painterly embroidery of Erin Endicott

To stitch; a thread or line that holds things together – this is the literal translation of the ancient Sanskrit word “sutra”. The “Healing Sutras” grew out of years of work examining psychological wounds (mainly my own), their origins and how they insinuate themselves into our lives. I’m particularly intrigued by the concept of inherited wounds, specific patterns, behaviors, reactions, that we are born with – already seeded into our psyche at birth. So I imagine that this little ”seed” attracts negativity (like attracts like), sort of a little pearl slowly growing until we end up with a dense area of negative energy built up in our physical bodies. By bringing these dark areas into the light, by making them visible, I think we can heal these wounds. Some people talk through their issues to bring healing, some write them out to shed light on them , I choose to make them into visible, visceral objects.

All of the “Healing Sutras” are on vintage fabric that has been passed down from women in my family. My history is literally woven into these garments. The initial marks of the “wounds” are created by staining the fabric with walnut ink. I love using this natural dye for the subtle color variations and the warm earthy tones. Ink on fabric has a mind of it’s own – it takes the control away from me and does it’s own thing. It is magical to drop the ink onto damp fabric and literally watch the “wound” grow and take shape before my eyes. This has been difficult for me – the letting go of the outcome and trusting in the process – it’s quite the opposite of the degree of control I have over the stitching. The organic shapes created by the walnut ink are a sort of map for me, the variations of tone and shape setting the tone for the piece.

The stitching, the meditative process of it, is where i think the real healing comes in for me. I come from a more “Fine Art” background- drawing always being a real passion - but I was never able to truly capture the essence of what I was trying to say until I began exploring this really process oriented work. To me these are a type of drawing – REALLY slow, deliberate drawings!

I could go on forever about the symbolism of the marks – the vein/roots, the cellular/seed shapes, the metaphor of the dress as skin, etc… There are so many layers of meaning in this work. I can’t even keep it all straight in my own mind let alone verbalize it! So it comes down to the stitches. One stitch at a time, hour after hour… this is where the healing lies.

from Dorothy Caldwell in Canada

2010-11-18T20:07:00.000-08:00

Dorothy Caldwell has kindly contributed the following

Story of a Jacket

A number of years ago, a friend gifted me a “hippy” type of jacket made from an old quilt. The lining was soft plaid flannel - the kind one finds in an old sleeping bag. I wore it to walk in the woods and enjoyed its’ comfy softness. When it became too ragged (and dated!) deconstruction seemed the next logical step. Some of the quilt pieces could be selvaged and incorporated into my work. In the process of taking it apart, there was an unexpected surprise. Sandwiched between the quilt layers, was another much older quilt. This practice of using old quilts as batting had always intrigued me and I was thrilled by the discovery. Here was a textile that truly embodied the cycle of material breaking down and being reconstructed into something new.

The inner most quilt, from the early 1800’s, contained charming old prints and wool pieces that could have been fragments left from church clothes, party dresses or old coats. This was then enclosed in a new covering of pieced textiles holding their own histories. Finally, as the second quilt wore out, the good parts were re-constructed into the jacket that I so enjoyed. Since that time I have incorporated fragments of the jacket into my work.

I’ve acquired a deep respect for the way cloth behaves. It breaks down, wears out and is then repaired and reconstructed. These sensibilities resonate for me: Cloth is very powerful when it retains traces of its previous life, gathers history and becomes something new.

The images while not from the jacket, are of a similar artifact that holds a silent record of lives lived. The quilt was destroyed by an enthusiastic puppy. I was upset at first until I realized that the batting contained fragments of long underwear, pieces of beautifully crocheted baby sweaters, a hand smocked piece of an old nightgown......more interesting than the outside!

the whirlywind

2010-11-18T15:19:00.000-08:00

the whirledwide sewing circle is getting bigger and bigger. i've been thinking that rather than me hogging the airwaves and determining what/when will be published
i'm going to invite the gatherers to be contributors to these pages [this may take me a couple of days]. so there'll be a wider story catchment
and
a bit more continuity during those times that i'm away from the interpixies. only drawback is that google limits participants in blogs to the magical number of 99
so that's what there'll be.

also folks have been asking if there is a cost to participate.

the answer is no, there's no subscription [and frankly i'm no longer even sure there need be workshops run by me either, y'all are quite capable of firing up a cauldron or three without me leaning into the picture!]

but
one thing. people have also been requesting i list their [commercial] websites here.
let's keep this thing free of advertising
and just at the level of a gentle sewing community?

from Jeana-Marie

2010-11-17T01:46:00.000-08:00

At Serena's urging, and because bereavement quilting is a subject that has been on my mind as well I thought I would send you an image my mom sent to me of the completed quilt top she made from my grandpa's ties. Serena linked to the in process photos I posted a few days ago. Grandpa was a panel beater and during his retired years beautifully restored classic cars. My mom is making this quilt as a gift for my grandma who remembers quite fondly how my grandpa used to dress up on Sundays. The red centres of each block are made from cotton velvet that my mom used to make Christmas dresses for me and my sister when I was probably 6 or 7. It has taken my mom a few years since grandpa died to be able to cut into his ties - I was so happy to have been on holiday visiting her when she decided she could start. To see her, who first taught me of needle and thread begin making again after losing her dad was such a blessing.

http://www.jeanamarieblackert.com/

on quilting memories - from Serena Cook

2010-11-14T18:18:00.000-08:00

Serena Cook left a comment on the post about PassageQuilts
telling me that her mother was working on a quilt
from her grandfather's farm workshirts
so of course i asked if her mother would mind sharing some photos
of her work at some point
- they arrived almost by return mail
even better, Serena generously included the following words...

she actually asked i take a photo of her work in progress last night
(i've been working hard to catalog her quilts)
she's worked entirely by hand
since she was taught to quilt in her girlhood.
though her dad's mother quilted
an elderly neighbor spent the afternoons with her teaching her the skills of needle art and gardening.

my grandfather worked a small tobacco farm in barren county kentucky
he was also a kentucky highway engineer but farming was his passion and joy
he was a farrier and pure magic with animals
he rode horses bareback
and truly believed in a natural way.
he married my half lenape grandmother when she was just seventeen
he was her school bus driver
a job he took after returning home from wwII

my mom said that she was constructing it
with the thought of aiding the grieving process
of my grandmother and uncle both of whom helped care for him during his last years
he never saw a nursing home.
my grandfather fully believed that heaven was nature and land
and his funeral service as well as his burial reflected this.
she says she can still smell him in the fabric
and included the khaki as a reference to the tan pants he wore everyday around the farm.

on a more personal note
because my family's belief system is a bit different and more nature based

my nana believes that he returned to her in the form of a dove
that flew into his car and sat on the steering wheel the day after he was buried
to let her know he was ok
and i've had a few dreams in which i was told to leave his soul alone
that it had gone on to a higher plane and that to contact or hold on
would impede his transition.

he always complimented my mothers quilting

she also says that this is indeed a harder quilt for her to work on
and has taken a year and a half and she's only gotten pieces cut.
she senses his spirit in nature and after his long life 87 years
doesn't worry or feel him lingering

if you're interested his obituary is here. http://www.pattonfuneralhome.com/obitview.asp?obitid=311

we've also used the fabric to make christmas tree ornaments for all the grandkids
(something we did last christmas)
and i used some in a baby quilt i made for my husband's co workers first grandchild
imagine my surprise when she returned a photo of that month old baby's face
an inch from the piece of his shirt.

i've also sent pieces of the fabrics to friends
because i like to believe that when our earthly bodies die we do indeed scatter
both influencing and being remembered by many of those who never knew us physically.

just some thoughts and an attempt at sharing a life
and a project that's entirely too immense to put put into words.

include what works

much love,serena http://rowdysrumpusroom.wordpress.com/

## Serena also kindly offered another link: http://www.jeanamarieblackert.com/2010/11/mom.html

Passage Quilts-TM

2010-11-14T13:01:00.000-08:00

quilt image from the PassageQuilt website

in my manuscript 'second skin' [presently being laid out by the designer] there is a section on repurposing that talks about the making of quilts from the clothing of beloved ones who have passed on, not only as an object of remembrance but also as a means of dealing with bereavement
so i was delighted to find a link to PassageQuilts TM via Art for Housewives

my mother put aside clothing belonging to my grandmother with the intention of making a quilt for each of the seven grandchildren. Grandmother passed in the spring of 1987. those quilts have been slow in gestation. perhaps because Grandmother comes up in daily conversation and even though she's not visible, her presence is still very much felt. so maybe there's no real hurry to make quilts to remember her by...or maybe it's the mildly daunting thought of tackling seven quilts at once [maybe each of us grandchildren should be making our own!].

anyway if you're thinking of making a remembrance cloth be aware that the term 'passage quilts' [and also 'passage quilting'] has been trademarked by Sherri Lyn Wood, [who leads workshops in the making of such objects] and consider calling it something else.
Wood's workshops encompass the making of quilts not simply to express bereavement but also to deal with other life transitions. it's a wonderful professional service that is being offered, certainly better for your body and soul than [for example] having to take anti-depressant drugs as a means of working through pain.

you might also like to visit Bits and Bobbins for some further reading on the subject

from Gina Mastio in France

2010-11-13T18:50:00.000-08:00

I'm a French Australian. Australian by birth and French by immigration. I've been living in my husband's land for the last 11 years, slowly getting acquainted with its ways, so different to those of my land of birth. Two countries' histories that could almost not be more different. Rural France is a quiet country, where stories are told in whispers, behind closed doors. A place where you can live for decades yet always be considered an outsider, a foreigner, a stranger, at least to the older population. And yet the quiet isolation that one can find, especially if you choose to live on a farm outside of the village edge, is something that has given me peace of soul for many years. A safe haven for raising my kids, from toddling age to bike racing, dog chasing, tractor dodging glee. A place to grow my heritage vegetable seeds, to learn the seasons, to feed the chickens, and to rediscover the yearning artistic need for expression, that shot up out of this fertile soil after being dormant for so many long years of wintering.

Now this life is about to change rather dramatically. Our family is about to embark on an adventure where the pace of life will certainly be different. For we are about to move to Sydney, Australia in the early coming year. Crikey. The mixture of emotions is hard to formulate. An excitement, a fear, a regret, a hope, a dream, but the reality? Unknown. To be seen.

My piece I am working on for the windfalls project is hoping to capture all of this. My chosen item to work with is a humble old, thick cotton nightgown. The sort made by hand by country women, from patched together scraps of cotton, hand embroidered, darned, strong as an ox and still wearable 100 years later. All seams are “french seams”, or as the french surprisingly call them, “couture anglaise”, and even the darned moth holes are small works of art. There are more of these holes which I intend to also stitch, in my journey to join my two lives into one comfortable whole. Taking lessons from the unknown woman or womens' hands that have created this nightgown, and dyeing the fabric with the falling leaves and seed pods that are in abundance around us in our autumnal garden, as we watch the season, year and period of our lives coming to an end.

Do not mistake me, friendships dear I have found amongst the inhabitants of my small village, whilst pleasantly passing the time with other mothers outside of the small school. Wonderful women, its amazing that within such a small population, one can find such a collection of gems. My great hope is that I may find through this sewing/dyeing circle (which hopefully I will come across within the vast expanse of Sydney), one or two new gems to give life that necessary glow, which helps encourage creative splendor untold.

To be continued!

http://www.ginamastio.com/

a story from Melanie Testa

2010-10-29T20:30:00.000-07:00

"I am working on a series of 20 Common Birds in Decline. So I have been trying many mediums and sizes, so far I have made the Greater Scaup (a North American duck) in stamp, carved it in Hoku Manga woodblock and printed it on paper. These smaller studies will help me move into working with the images in larger works of art.

With this latest, I am working with painted cloth, printed and applied teabag paper, and embroidery threads. As I am new to the techniques taught in Eco Color, I have a small but growing stash of colored cloth. The 'teabag piece' (unnamed as yet) seemed a perfect fit for the glorious red eucalyptus stained silk satin. (My first attempt at India's techniques to color cloth)."

Melanie Testa

Author, Textile Designer, Fiber Artist, Teacher

Check out my book! Inspired to Quilt, Creative Experiments in Art Quilt Imagery

Look at my art! melanietesta.com

Follow my blog! melanietesta.com/mtype

from North Yorkshire

2010-10-25T06:07:00.000-07:00

Claire Wellesley-Smith has been stitching a piece of silk
to a backing of old blanket
click on this link http://clarabellacraft.blogspot.com/2010/10/button-hole-silk-twist.html
to visit her pages and read more about her work

she's also offered to be a gatherer in her region
- more folk have joined gatherers page today, too

stitch by stitch

2010-10-21T05:28:00.000-07:00

for more information about this piece
you may like to visit the blog of Patricia Powell Kessler

more gatherers

2010-10-19T06:39:00.000-07:00

i returned from a sojourn in the desert
[which happily included a small sewing circle]
more gatherers have put up their hands [see their page above]

also

Lyn Lewis has supplied a link to her work here

the [sheet sized] cloth below was found
hanging in a tree in Pichi Richi Pass [South Australia]
it's still there.

wandering threads

2010-10-08T22:11:00.000-07:00

socks

2010-10-07T06:12:00.000-07:00

along with the beautiful red stitching story
Jenni also sent a couple of photos of sock darning
thought i'd share them

and then i found a darning story over at desideratum
by Gwen Buchanan

silk stitch love - from jenni worth in south australia

2010-10-04T06:03:00.000-07:00

tears [ as in fears] not tears [ as in fares]

mending usually relates to the latter

but a few months ago my beautiful younger brother passed at 64

after 24 years living with leukaemia

his body gave up

our plan had been for me to get my aching arthritic body to byron bay

& spend the entire winter with him

but just days after arriving

l became his carer & a few weeks later he was gone

inspired by a recent workshop with dorothy caldwell

l’d packed 2 silk sarongs hoping l’d have time between playing cards

making music

picnics at the beach & the lighthouse etc to do some stitching

this piece became my constant companion/my mantra/my solace

before/during/after his blessed/dignified death

poetic quotes re the importance of the journey rather than the destination come to mind

no doubt l will make more marks as the need arises

l miss my brother so much

tear-drenched memories

joy & laughter

sadness

anger

& exhaustion

are stitched here

floating in from Haystack via Kyoto

2010-10-03T14:57:00.000-07:00

feltmaker Jorie Johnson dropped me a line just now, with an image attached

"someone recently showed me this master piece of a rain soaked mildewed bed quilt item that appeared at Haystack one year and then was further fulled and dyed and embroidered"

pootling along

2010-10-03T03:41:00.000-07:00

i love the way this virtual sewing circle is growing
blooming quite happily all by itself
it occurs to me [prompted by Christi some time ago in relation to something else]
that any one of you can transform bits of this blog
into a hard copy book any time you like
using the blog-to-book facility
[and no, i'm not profiting from advertising, merely making a suggestion]

all we need to make happen in the near future
[for the time being]
is to create meeting points for those of you
who want to gather together in person

am thinking the easiest way to make that happen
is if anyone wants to be the gatherer for their region
let me know by email
and then i'll put the list of 'gatherers' up here on the blog
and you can get in touch with each other as required...

and here's a Japanese darning fragment i found
while i was doing something else

useful hands

2010-09-27T15:17:00.000-07:00

my mother likes to mend things with her hands
sometimes she mends people [she's a reiki master]
and sometimes she mends her clothes

coming in thick and fast

2010-09-26T06:49:00.000-07:00

stories are beginning to drift in
like snow
at first gently
and then in drifts
here are some more of them

Wanted to share with you so far, what I am working on for the Found, Stitched, Dyed project. My main concentration is on the found and dyed portion as I am a dedicated seeker of nature's treasures but not much of a mender or craft woman with needle and thread. Since my sewing experience is neophyte, having only recently picked up needle and thread, my pieces are simple in design, with basic stitches. Emphasis is on learning how to recognize what I collect out in the fields to use in various ways to bring color and design to old cloth, following what I am learning about eco coloring from your book. The cloth that I am using is 40 yr old white cotton sheets and pillow cases given to us as newlywed gifts. From a loving utilitarian gift that has served us well, the cloth is now telling a new story.
I've sewn little tabs on my pieces so that they can be hung on the wall and the rod used for hanging are windfall crab apple branches that have fallen from the trees in the fields. I've stripped off the leaves and used them as well to get color; the red tipped leaves give wonderful orange reddish color when left in jars as eco bundles.
Piece # 1: Stepping Stones: (measures 9 1/2" by 17")

The design came to me as a good way to show the steps along my eco dyeing journey. Alum used as mordant on all cloths except for madder dyed cloths. In total, 12 pieces of cloth hand dyed for this project, mostly bundles left in glass canning jars out in the sun for anywhere from a week to about 10 days. Other pieces were steamed and several were over-dyed with tea and henna and madder, the last two, gifts from a friend who had traveled to Morocco. Field materials used for this cloth consisted of: gathered golden rod, catnip leaves and stems, Tennessee wild blackberry leaves, green crab apple leaves and twigs, fallen and yellowed leaves from our plumeria (Frangipani) plant, dark seeds of field dock, (Ruumexpseudonatronatus). casaba melon leaves and basil leaves. The surprise here was the color brown from the basil. The one plant that I have not been able to identify yet was the bit of field weed that I plant stamped.

Piece # 2: Madder and Windfall Cloth: (measures 18 1/4" by 19 1/4")

Madder brought back from Morocco as a gift and main color of this piece but the side panels consist of local windfall: American bittersweet field vines, red tipped green crab apple leaves, tall fescue grass, decaying tomato and green pepper leaves, and clover leaves. Astonishing to me was the amount of color from the crab apple red tipped leaves.

Added a bit of old lace from an old bed skirt, dyed in simmering madder solution. The lace gives the piece, a decadent, old world look; like an aging courtesan whose colors once wild have now muted into a softness of beauty.

Cheers,
Marti

I’ve attached some photos of a project I’ve been working on. I love rusting fabrics, and found in amongst my collection of fabrics this old sling from a first aid kit one of the services had out, many years ago. The cloth was wrapped around a gorgeous old piece of rusted iron and left, for too long I’m afraid, some of the very dark areas are so rusted that they’ve torn. I was unsure what to do, loved the patterning that ‘happened’ so didn’t want to cut up the cloth. I’ve torn some smaller pieces of rusted cloth and slow stitched them over the holed areas.. I love the effect.. and the sling is a perfect size for a scarf.. now I just need an opportunity to wear it..

Annette

and

a lovely blue patch being worked on by Christi

of the Sweetpea Path

then as well we have some contributions from Amelia
working on a baby quilt and a wagga...

found stitched and dyed - in the Netherlands and Out There

2010-09-23T23:55:00.000-07:00

Yvette has sent images of her Grandmother's flannel sheet
it's eighty years old [from 1930]
so thin that it tears if you touch it roughly
she has been lovingly mending it
adding patches and colours

and EcoOutThere have given our sewing circle a kindly mention as well

felted stitched dyed

2010-09-13T18:17:00.000-07:00

each day brings more delights in the inbox- Fabienne Rey has sent me these images, along with some words about her piece...

some pics of a "boro felted sample wrap", which has been growing organically with each new experiment from your book and other tricks I found along the way. Who said indeed that natural dyes are dull boring and only brown? Threads are vintage or eco-dyed too. It will keep growing wherever it will wanna go, but already has the size of a warm wrap... love to cuddle inside it while drinking my cup in the garden, which is now entering its letting go phase...

dearly beloved, we are gathered here today

2010-09-12T03:34:00.000-07:00

i set this project afloat thinking that things should be white/beige/greige
in order to be dyed later
how wrong i was
Louise Milne made this beautiful wrapping cloth
at the Glenbarr retreat last week
using pre-coloured fragments
as well as a few plain ones
overdyeing it on the second last day
it's like an archeological treasure

found, stitched and dyed

from Jenni Worth in Goolwa, South Australia

“Home is where the lines are straight”

mood blue

Dragon Tree

in the absence of other news

and following on from Dorothy Caldwell in May

this is a bit special...

embroidery and pourses.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Almost finished, lots of embellishing to do yet

Have this in my hallway:

Landscape

Northern Sierra foothills Creating Circle

More about this post

a very slow cloth!

Eleanor McCain and the Oil Stain Series

Elsje van Keppel

wall art...

more intros, perhaps?

Intro from the Sierra Nevadas of California

darned hemp grain sack

My dyed clothes.

Gaining Confidence

Rain and gathering

finding and stitching of a different kind

Out There at large...

found but not dyed yet

found pincushion, already stitched and dyed

may i see the back please?

succumbing to facebook

Stitch Circle Melbourne

connections

Eco dyeing and embroidery

From Asa Wahlquist

from Marti Weisbrich

Stitching Fun

Stitching Tin Shed Style

a find

Out There

from Penny Berens in Nova Scotia

re advertising

Botanical Textile Dyeing (Eco Dyeing)

threadlines and bloodlines

circling at the tin shed pottery

peninsula gathering

My first wall hanging

im back!!!

from Ulrike

quiet work

Mending time

by kind permission from Asa Wahlquist

Found, stitched but not dyed yet!

stitching through the festivities

peninsula gathering

from Dorie van Dijk in the Netherlands

curious...about "stitch"

Indigofera australis

here is a friendly hello from the NorthWest of Victoria, Bendigo

Geelong meets

first peninsula circle

Hand Stitched Flowers

Posted by Marti

We're stitching in South Orange County, CA

wind rain water

frozen

from long ago

Geelong Stitchers

truth

Geelong stitchers

karen workman and a year's worth of stitching

An old chemise

Healing Sutras

from Dorothy Caldwell in Canada

the whirlywind

from Jeana-Marie

on quilting memories - from Serena Cook

Passage Quilts-TM

from Gina Mastio in France

a story from Melanie Testa