It's Been Awhile

So begins a new series I've titled "Fields". So far the goal is 18 large pieces and 12 small pieces. I'm using earth pigments, charcoal, conte, and mixed media pm cotton and silk fabrics this time around with machine stitching as the finishing touch.

I've been dragging my feet to start on this series, as it is the first series where I won't be using natural dyes. Fabric painting begins tonight. Photos coming soon.

Fledgling A Stitched Story!

Available: Machine stitched free form style (thread drawn) fledgling bird on natural dyed silk organza fabric! Learn more here in my shop! 

WIP - Bjorkboda

Found while cleaning my sewing studio this afternoon, buried in a pile o UFO's (Unfinished Objects or in my case Projects!)

I remember now why I put it away, I started attaching stuff to the surface and then got stuck.  I may have to rip it all off now and try something different.

The techniques I used to create this piece are covered in my eBook Rust and Clay Dyeing which can be purchased here.  

Cutting Stencils

Cutting stencils, finally, with my Silhouette Cameo and it's harder than it looks.  Well it would have been easier if I had gone out to Silhouette's YouTube page first and watched a few of the beginning videos, ie like how to cut my very own designs.

So far I ended up with a ten inch pear, that was supposed to be six inches but I finally got the design board figured out, thanks to Silhouette's videos.

This would actually make a great mask on a silk screen for yardage, once it's cut out of stencil film and I may just have to do this.  See this post over at my old blog The Natural Surface on using stencils on fabric with paints, natural dyes, and more.

Stitching Again

It feels good to be stitching once again, whilest awaiting layers of drying paint to cure.  This piece is about 8x10 inches in size, machine stitched with green Aurifil thread, wool batting; I also used my Black Birds in Tree Stencil with acrylic paint onto fabric painted cotton cloth.

I shall stitch a few of the birds next, to bring them forward, and add a few beads and then this piece will be done.

WIP's - Sandstone Series

 

This Sandstone piece has been in a bucket for the past decade, every once in awhile I dig it out and stare it it on my design wall (in my case my design wall is a bookshelf).  Today's it's day, I've decided to seperate the two pieces of fabric and overdye the top piece with kutch, and maybe some kamala.

 

Detail, the reddish fabric is cochineal and rust dyed silk fabric.

Another Sandstone WIP that has been languishing in the storage bucket for the past 10+ years.  It's mostly hand stitching on the surface, tonight I have plans to add some machine stitching and possibly a few layers of constructed cloth.  This piece is small enough to experiment with pushing the surface.

Queen Anne's Crows

Queen Anne's Crow's available in my store.

Digitally printed cotton fabric, painted timtex, machine stitched.
Size 7 7/8" x 9 7/8"
Matted and framed to 11x14x2 inches

Organizing Fabric Stash Leads to Found Samples!

Believe it or not the fabric in that suitcase really is organized!  While I was searching for piece of unfinished silk fabric I found my long lost stitched sample I had been looking for late last fall. 

Due to the sample of the rights disappearance, deep into a pile of folded fabrics, I made another sample to pratice some machine stitching on.  Both sample pieces consist of cochineal dyed cotton fabrics and are machine stitched.  The left sample, however, has been surfaced further using fabric paints, oil bar, and ink.  I'm thinking the sample on the right could use a good dose of color as well.

Inspiration 122212

Fringe stitch on recycled denim.

WIP - White Elk Series

Blue Moon in progress

Painted and stitched timtex, blue moon indigo dyed silk organza net.

Practice Piece

And now with some hand stitching and fabric paint added to the surface, will add more paint and then some more hand and machine stitching later this evening.

Practice No. 2

Well since I lost my orginal practice piece I whipped up another one this evening. 
Cochineal dyed cotton fabric, machine stitched, wool quilt batting, aurifil threads.

I couched down more sisal to pratice some stitches with, this "x" shape I bobbin stitched using aurifil wool thread.  Above view is the back side of the sample that was facing upwards when stitching. 

Top side after bobbin stitching, the aurifil wool thread doesn't like to feed through the top on my 6500S so I bobbin stitch with it instead.

I've couched down more sisal since this shot was taken, now I will experiment with hand stitching over the sisal and then machine stitching over the hand stitching to see which effect I prefer.  This all in anticipation of finishing Bjorkboda.

WIP - Bjorkboda

I'm almost ready for the hand stitching, I filled in a bit more of the piece with machine stitching to reinforce it's structure.

The forgotten dye note text now dealt with which resulted in more brown scraggly stitching being added to the piece in a random manner. 

Some verticles.

I've started thinking about the cottonwoods and how stoic they look when shrouded in the ice fog of deep winter. 

WIP - Bjorkboda 081612

Now with some dark teal cotton thread.

I love the overlap of the cotton panels.

I forgot to remove the dye technique notes from the botton of the fabric panel, so now to figure out what to do with that little bit and then it's time for some hand stitching.

WIP - Queen Anne's Birds now with more stitching.
It's now cool enough I can stand to be in my studio for more than five minutes to get some work done

Experimenting 061112

Experimenting with some digitally printed silk and cotton overlays over natural dyed fabrics.

Corn No. 53

Corn No. 53 - Madder Root dyed cotton fabric, cochineal dyed silk organza net. Machine stitched.

WIP - Corn No.'s 51 and 52

Corn No. 51 (That was then.)

Corn No. 52 (Eclipse) ~ It has been awhile since I've worked in the horizontal plane. Right now I'm taking a break from the sewing machine so I my eyes can relax a bit.

Untitled WIP No. 45

Needs more stitching.  I started this piece this evening, not bad for a day with no stitching or creating blocked out the schedule!

WIP - Granary

Granary - digitally printed fabric, machine and hand stitching, aurfil threads.

I sure hope I spelled that correctly, this is part of my "ode to corn" series.  I will be stitching more of these in the coming days.