more gridwork

I working the grid again for the moment only I'm more interested in what is not there in the spaces between. It's very satisfying taking to take a murky, unsuccessful piece of hand dyed cloth and bring it back to something with potential. I stuck these scaps down to the work table with grids of painter's tape and then paint the openings with Softscrub. And then, you wait and see what happens. Now to dig into a comfy chair and see how to organize some of these with needle and thread. This one was started with Elmer's glue as a resist, dyed and now discharged. The cotton seems to be getting stronger the more things I do to it.

Happy Birthday Jimmy

It's my GoodMan's birthday today so the cloth is taking a back seat to the party preparations.

Inspired by "night stitching"

I forgot how discharging hand dyes will reveal the various layers secrets that go into making darkness on cloth. A bit of black damask... Who knew what was hiding under there? This piece of black cotton was jammed up in my vacuum cleaner. and here's a snatch of ancient tee shirt...

restocking

I have a small cloth bag that I take to the office with me each day and when time permits, I can work on small projects. When I went into the studio this morning my intention ( I have jet Runways of intentions paved straight to the gates of hell!) was to start creating some order. Instead I started pulling bits of this and that with the brand new and more reachable intention of restocking my go bag. Back to the grid, I'm feeling, without wondering why about it. Needle and thread. Eyeball the line. Go with the grain and allow for the color this time. I am half way through the complex boogie that ensues when you commit to an overdue, full physical at my age. Happily, I talked the doc out of the MRI=shots=surgery routine she was considering when xrays of my spine recalled certain snake breeds. Instead, I will be having physical therapy lessons in a Pool. How hilarious is that? Instead of an asshat of poison and pain I get splashing around and fun!

prioritizing

The sun plans to blaze the day blue and toasty here today so that means I have to take advantage of time on deck studio. I went out to tidy up and my largest rinse tub was full of murky water so I dumped it over the side and look what fell out! These three pieces were put in for a last rinse and overlooked when I took things up to the washing machine. Now they've been painted with textile paints and once dry will be heat set and stacked away with the others waiting for their turn. Above is a piece of vintage damask. To the left, another one. And this is a large piece of that vintage feed sack cloth. This fabric is sturdy and has a course texture. Think heavy gauze or cheesecloth on steroids. The spots are metallic Jacquard textile paint in several levels of gold.