And Along Came A Spider...

Well, it's finally done!  Each time I did some hand stitching on this piece, more ideas for additional hand stitching just kept popping into my head.  Ultimately, I've done way more hand work on this piece than I had initially expected to, but I just love how it turned out.  A bit of machine quilting/doodling and a few finishing touches (hanging tabs, embroidered binding and the fabric covered hanging rod), it's finally time to hang it and move on to other things.

I should tell you how it got it's name...I kept thinking it would be Indigo 'something', but nothing came to mind that made me happy.  Then one day, while looking at this section my husband said it looked like a spider web. I had done a lot of hand stitch in the darker areas, leaving the light lines created by the string or elastic bands that had bound the fabric during the indigo dyeing process.  They did indeed look a bit web like.  And then I saw the spider just sitting there (see him in the red circle?).  I did some machine stitching to further bring out the web and then hand stitched over the spider to make it pop.  So you see, one day the spider did literally just come along!                                                                                                                       

BTW, Michelle, the fabric was adhered to the hanging rod using the transparent Paverpol.  There, I've finally used some of it!

Another Journal...

As I may have mentioned in the past, my fibre art group makes journals that we donate to our local women's shelter as a way of giving something back to the community.  Each of us commits to making three journals, so that we can donate a total of 30.  I've made several journals in the last couple of months, but they keep finding homes!  And so I've had to make another one so that I have three ready to go for our deadline this month.

 I used some of my hand dyed fabric, but I wanted to add a bit more of a graphic element so I did some surface design by using Jane Lefazio's Eucalyptus stencil and some acrylic paint.

I love the added texture.  Obviously I was in a circle mood so I cut lots of circles and rings from the fabric.

         

I'm almost sorry that I used this fun piece of a wipe up rag as the lining.  the more I look at it the more I wish I'd used parts of it in a piece of art rather than as a hidden lining!  Oh well, there will be more wipe up rags...

After fusing the circles and rings to the background I did some zig zag top stitching and called it done.

And here's 'Chain Link Journal'.  May it bring hours of drawing, writing, or journalling pleasure to it's new recipient!

On-going Progress...

I had hoped by now that this indigo piece would be done, but I'm just having so much fun with the hand stitching that I keep finding more places to add it!

Having said that, I'm just about out of things to hand stitch and I do have some specific machine stitching ideas that I want to incorporate as well, so I should be getting to the machine work any day now...

On-going Hand Stitching Fun...

Here's another look at one of the pieces I'm currently working on.  My friend Heather taught me the Sorbello stitch the other day so I added a row of it to the green strip.  I've now started some hand stitch in the indigo areas.  I'm really liking how it's coming along.  Hopefully I'll be able to show you the finished piece in the next weeks or so.

What I'm Working On...

I've started a piece using my recent indigo and other hand dyed fabrics, so I thought I'd give you a little preview of what I'm up to.  The piecing has been done and I'm now adding hand stitch and some beading before I do the machine stitch/quilting on it.

 

Preparing For Indigo Dyeing...

I'm so excited that I am going to have a few of my art friends up to the cottage for a bit of a retreat.  Since it's a wonderful outdoor spot, we've decided to try our hand at indigo dyeing.  This is a first for all of us, so we've been doing a lot of reading to get ready.

I decided to get a bit of a head start on preparing the fabric, especially since my left hand is still slowing me down considerably.  This way, on the day we prepare the indigo I'll be ready to get right to the fun of putting things in the vat!

accordion folded and clamped

fabric scrunched and bound with rubber bands

machine stitched (blue thread), then bound with
rubber bands

folded and clamped

T-shirt: accordion folded and bound with rubber bands

glass floral half marbles, wrapped and bound
with thread (Is it just me and my sweet tooth or
they look like scotch mints?).

as in 6, this showing the glass
marbles and crochet thread

fabric pulled and bound with rubber bands, some
one and others with two bands.

both are accordion folded, one bound with rubber bands
at regular intervals and the other randomly wrapped
with crochet thread

skeins of cotton crochet thread, some bound
with rubber bands

After I do the indigo dyeing, I will post the resulting fabrics, linking them to the method of prep used so that you can see the effects of the different preparations. Are you as curious to see as I am?