bodner052

And better than nail biting... This one will last me a while. cotton batik remnants wrapped around clothesline. I like the lip on it. Playing with the 5x7 idea in preparation for gift exchange at Fiber Art Fusion : Paper rust dyed, stenciled, and hand-stitched together Paper dip-dyed in black walnut juice. I'll do this again. Silk leaf sewn by hand to fabric fused onto heavy interfacing and attached to navy blue paper

These colors give me joy. This, too: And the Christmas cactus is about to burst with red blooms

Madrid is a beautiful city, clean, open, modern. And it contains some of the best examples of Picaso's later work. So inspiring and even disturbing during his blue period. the two sides, black on top of blue The fabric I used to make this Madrid shirt (The Sewing Workshop) is black on one side, deep navy on the other side. I purchased it at The Sewing Workshop in Topeka KS about 18 months ago. The navy side is so dark that it looks black until you compare it to the black side. It is 100% wool, something I questioned until I steam-pressed it. It is a fine double-weave, so fine that it has a glimmer like silk. And it is crinkly. It was mostly fun to sew and I love how it feels. Initially I thought I'd make up the Madrid in a window-pane black and white plaid. In the process of planning that I realized that the curved seams in the front and in the back are design-only. So if I do make it up in something requiring matching, I'll just overlap the curved back pieces and cut as on...

Trying to re-center myself. Turning my brain to OFF. Feeling anxious. They look so hopeful. I do not feel hopeful.

Tuesday night at Fiber Art Fusion , Lynn guided us through the construction of a rope vase, a wrapped rope vase. I have had a great time making naked rope bowls. I still find that to be meditative. Lynn's tips for wrapped rope vases led to great fun and new directions in these sculptural makes. My rope is wrapped with batik strips about 3/4 inch wide (a good activity for watching the news, if you can stand it). I used three different pieces of batik from the stash. There is one red linen strip in the bottom. A glue stick is used to secure the edges at the transitions and then when you zig-zag over it, it becomes very secure. The first surprise was that when the direction of the curve changes, people-who-know-what-they-are-doing make a separate piece. Then the pieces are sewn together by hand! In the above picture, I'm making the upper section of the vase, the part where the vase opens. So this piece has two sections that are sewn together where they meet. I like that it created...