hot summer night

We are in the 9th day of 90+ heat with no rain in sight. The cats have been testy, the wildlife a bit wilder and the thought of jockeying large pieces around to reshoot for an show entry is enough to cause a swoon and call for a two hour pool break.

I started this last night as a sampler to see how various fabrics and threads worked over a new base material that I have acres of. It's a synthetic - think light weight mattress pads.

I've always worked with W+N cotton batting but with the antique,open weave fabrics and heavy weight cotton thread, shreds of batting were getting dragged to the surface of the cloth. not nice.

This new stuff has little drape which bodes well for the some larger pirate flags in the sketchbook and it turns out to be a dream to stitch by hand or machine. I'll go on with this one and see where it takes me. So far these are vintage cotton lawn and damask  over a piece of that luxury cloth which took the dye so well.

some summer poetry

Fun From Under Your Kitchen Sink

some of these will be for sale here when they are done

When you were a kid did you love "Mr. Wizard" on TV? It was one of my favorite shows. Do cool things with stuff from the kitchen, just don't let your mother catch you. I learned some science and how to clean up a crime scene and make evidence disappear.

So here you have magic made from your common stash cloth, all those batik fat quarters that you bought to excess because you couldn't stop yourself, SoftScrub (who needs to clean the bathroom?) and Aquasafe which is sold in the pet department in the grocery store. (I'm sure there are other brands of both products)

Try starting with fabrics both wet  and dry. I use a hair dye applicator (where ever could that have come from?)and sometimes dilute the SoftScrub with water, sometimes not. Experiment with timing. Add some elements, wait a few minutes and add some others..you will see the changes quickly so don't' walk away for a smoke or a nosh or you could come back to holes depending on the cloth. Remember, the magic is in the bleach so don't do this to anything other than cottons.

When you get to the stopping place (check the backsides of the cloth) take them out on a patch of lawn you don't care much about and blast them with the hose. Then let them soak in a bucket for a while with the Aquasafe to stop the chlorine action. Wash, dry, enjoy! (the large piece on the far right is hand dyed canvas the rest are all commercial batiks mostly from my patron St.A. )

a working anniversary

Our 34th year together and we are both working today, much to be grateful for.

I rescued a few more pieces of cotton lawn and light muslin that got a little more dye than was planned on. Here they are drying poolside...they are making me dizzy!

commitment

Rather than let this one get away from me again ( I found the pieces of cloth rolled in a bundle under the sewing chair) I decided to commit to the basic construction pretty much as it was on the design wall.

My trepidations have been over technique. It happens that all three of the major units of this piece are very old and fragile; a piece of sackcloth from the thirties, an ancient, worn damask table cloth and a strip of percale.

I had to do a little hand repair on one section, nothing could be hidden.
This has made up my mind that all the stitching going forward will be done by hand. Those decisions haven't even been dreamed about yet. I'll have to find a place to hang it up in the bedroom so I can look at it before sleeping.

Of course, some folks notion of art is merely somebody else's idea of a good place to nap or wash one's nether parts undisturbed.