SAQA Auction piece finished

I finished and mailed in my SAQA Auction piece last week. I used four prints of the blueprinted mimosa leaf and lots of hand stitching, over fourteen hours worth of hand stitching.

I was able to do lots of hand stitching because I'm still keeping the foot up a lot. I did get to see the Podiatrist and he has given me a larger boot to wear.

The one on the left is the original that I got in ER, the beast on the right is the one I'll be wearing for the next three weeks. Then I will have more X-rays done to see if it's healing well enough so that I can avoid surgery.

I did get out to studio b for a short time yesterday and played just a bit. Lisa gave me a new stamp for my birthday so I had to try it out.

I also printed a leaf for next week.

The Weekly Leaf
This weeks leaf was done a few weeks ago when I was playing with flour paste. I cut a leaf out of freezer paper, then ironed the background piece , not the leaf to a piece of rust hand dyed fabric.
Below is the freezer paper ironed on with the flour paste scraped over the cut out, and veins drawn in with a skewer.

Next shows the freezer paper removed and cleanser with bleach painted over the whole piece.

After washing and neutralizing the bleach.

Week #13, yr2

Daily Stitching updates

Silk Fragments #83-#89

Sari Ribbon #11-#17

Linked to "Off the Wall Friday"

New Daily Stitching Project

I started my newest daily stitching project on the 14th (my Birthday!). This one will be using some Sari ribbon that I purchased a few years ago from Darn Good Yarn. Like many other purchases it has been sitting in the studio unused.

I have a skein of silk chiffon and one of heavier weight silk.  The fabric has been ripped into strips and twisted to make the yarn. I've been untwisting it, pressing it flat and cutting it into 4 inch pieces.

The background fabric is a natural colored basketweave silk noil, something else I've had for a long time. I'm stitching the ribbon down the center of each four inch square of silk noil. My only "rule" is that each one has to have a least one french knot.

Sari Ribbon #1-#10

My fractured toes are still causing a great deal of discomfort, so I'm spending way more time sitting than I normally do. Since I'm sitting I've been keeping my hands busy stitching. I've stitched a piece for the SAQA Spotlight Auction that will be held at the SAQA Conference in Portland the end of next month. I'll actually be going for the very first time. I used one of the pieces that had been blueprinted last fall.

There were four more pieces of the same leaf print and I've got them together for the SAQA benefit auction. I'm still stitching on this one.

The Weekly Leaf
This weeks leaf is a leftover print from last year, getting out to the studio to print a new one was more than my foot could handle.

Week #12,year2

Daily Stitching updates
Silk Fragments #77-#82

Linked to "Off the Wall Friday"

The Daily Paper Finished

My life slowed down drastically this week. I'm generally the high energy productive type, so I kept going even though I had a bad cold. Last tue. night I went to bed a bit feverish, then got chills which continued on into the night. I got up around 3am to go to the bathroom, felt dizzy but thought I could make it back to bed - WRONG. I passed out in the hallway. The results and final diagnosis after five hours in ER, was that I had pneumonia and was dehydrated. I also had a large gash on my head that required seven staples and three fractured toes on my left foot. It was a day of firsts, my first EKG, first chest x-ray, my first CAT scan and my first time to be stapled together. I have definitely had a much slower week than normal.

My birthday was on Saturday, a very quiet day. Then on Sunday a good friend had arranged a large celebration in a hall with all my daily and weekly quilts and five of my large black and white pieces. I managed to talk about them for a while, but I was far from 100percent. I took a few pictures that look blurry and off balance, probably because I was. Here are the two big circles, sorry about the picture.

I do know that friends took pictures. It was fun, everyones response to the work was very validating, but it wiped me out and I went straight to bed when I got home. Update, go to Lisa's blog for better pictures.

I did get a picture of the finished weekly leaf from last year.

The Weekly Leaf

2014

The Weekly Leaf, year2

Early last week I took advantage of a very warm sunny day and used Solar Fast to print a few of the ginko leaves that I pressed last fall. This is how it looked when I put it out in the sun.

After about 12 min.

After the leaves removed.

After washing.

Week #11, year2

Daily Stitching updates

The Daily Paper #362-#365

 The finished piece

The Daily Paper

3-14-14 to 3-13-15

I have started another daily and will share that next time.

Silk Fragments #69-#76

The first four rows

I'm really loving this one.

The black and white gelli prints are on hold for the time being, I have eleven of each right now. Maybe by next week I'll feel up to spending time printing again.

Linked to "Off the Wall Friday"

Soy Wax Play day

We had our first play day of the year on Friday, a sunny warm day. I did get some pictures of work in progress, but none of the finished pieces.

Trische watching Kathleen stamp wax on with a sponge.

 Barbaras pieces with wax waiting to be discharged.

Trische contemplating, she has one with paint on it and she' deciding what to do next with them.

 One of Kathleen's pieces with wax, I think she was going to discharge part and over dye.

 A piece of Sue's with dye over the wax.

 Barbara and Kathleen discharging outside

We had a great day and it was so much fun catching up after our winter hiatus.

The Weekly Leaf

This week I did my leaf with flour paste resist. I've worked with flour paste as a resist many times in the past, but it was always with at least a yard or two of fabric, so doing six inch squares was a bit different. The paste mixture is approximately half water half flour, and it is spread over the fabric with a squeegee. I did four pieces, each a bit different.

The top one has the fabric completely covered with the paste and I've drawn a leaf into the paste with a wooden skewer. The bottom three were done with a leaf shape cut out of a piece of freezer paper, the freezer paper ironed onto the fabric and then the paste scraped into the leaf shape opening and then the veins added with the wooden skewer. The flour paste dries and when manipulated develops cracks.

I applied textile paint to all but the one on rust colored fabric. When applying the paint I try to push it into the cracks. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture with the paint on it. The rust colored sample got comet cleanser with bleach brushed on it for discharge. I'm using the one that got completely covered with paste, but the others are in the pile for possible future use.

Weekly Leaf #10,year2

Daily stitching updates 

Silk Fragments #62-#68

The Daily Paper #355-#361 , only 4 more to go!!!

Black and white round gelli prints. I decided to do both black and white, so I'm doing two a day. So far I'm a bit underwhelmed with them, but I'm liking them more each day.

Here's all nine days stuck up on the design wall.

The last six days worth.

I'm using Versatex Printing Ink to do them. Each pair will be textured with the same tools but they aren't exactly the same. So my big decision each day is what do I  use to texture the plate before printing.

Linked to "Off the Wall Friday"