The Details

In addition to finishing up the first four letters of the ALAW Peace alphabet, I've been working on a couple of cloths for Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery.

At first, I thought they were going to be bread cloths. But then I realized these small square cloths could be more versatile. They could be displayed on a dining room table as part of a centerpiece or set on a small table as a decoration.

I decided to stitch some motifs on each cloth.

Since the dappled green one (the result of a couple of layers of sugar resist) reminded me of the sun coming through the leaves of trees, I decided to stitch a couple of leaf shapes.

The variegated purple one with organic circular shapes reminded me of the cherry blossoms as they float from the trees. I looked at some Japanese motifs of cherry blossoms and drew my own variation.

This my first try at putting something like this into the Gallery. I'll be interested to see what sort of feedback they receive.

Stitching Peace

The letter "a" for the Peace Alphabet

Started stitching the first four letters of the ALAW 2013 Peace Alphabet. Teeny tiny stitches under my Ott light with the magnifying glass!

I'm off to work at the Gallery today. I'm bringing along two of the bread cloths to hem. I need to design a couple of simple motifs to stitch on them for decoration.

Back to the alphabet tomorrow. I know that I'm due to post them tomorrow and will try my best!

Report from the Studio

Fabrics using sugar resist.

I can't believe a whole week has gone by since my last post. I've been in the studio doing some painting and printing.

I've also been doing a lot of thinking (not always a good thing!). Maybe it's the time of year...maybe it's feeling at loose ends about a number of things...maybe it's feeling like there's lots to get done and I'm treading water to keep afloat...

I have obligations to finish things that are not yet finished. I know that I need to nail myself down to a chair and just begin in order to clear these things out of the way and off my plate. There has been some major procrastination going on!

But I digress...I did get into the studio. I printed up the first ALAW letters (a future post) and will sit down to start a bit of stitching on them. I also decided to use my skills to make a few homey, practical items for the next juried show at Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery. I haven't done much in the practical, functional department. I expect that I will be doing more especially if my book proposal gets accepted (a loose end that is nerve wracking!). I've decided to make two to three bread cloths (to cover and keep bread or rolls warm) for the Gallery, as the theme for this upcoming jury is Hearth and Home.

I also thought I'd use a sugar resist recipe I came up with during my work on the Conant Grant project. I love how this resist looks.

As I knew that I wanted to use variations of blue and turquoise for backgrounds for my ALAW Peace alphabet, I spent a day just painting and monoprinting fabrics. I figured that I could kill two birds and make enough fabric so that I could use some for the alphabet and some for the bread cloths.

Here is one of the monoprinted pieces I decided to use for one of the bread cloths.

I did a rubbing with the sugar resist and then painted a greenish yellow over the fabric. I did a second layer of sugar resist (another rubbing) and painted with three additional colors. Here is what the fabric looked like before removing the layers of resist.

A sugar resist is so easy to dissolve in soap and water.

And here is a detail of the final piece of fabric.

It reminds me of a day in late spring when the sun is coming through the leaves.

I now have to cut it into a square and roll and stitch the edges. I imagine that I will do a simple stitched design in one or two corners as well...maybe a simple leaf shape. We shall see.