Healing Cloth Workshop

This weekend, I taught a new workshop at The Art League School called, Patching, Stitching, Weaving: Creating Healing Cloth.

This is a concept I've been thinking about for a while now. The act of mending cloth (patching, stitching, darning) can also mend or be healing to the maker or can serve as a means for them to create a piece that could heal another. I was inspired by two events. The first was meeting Gene and Sue Greer, a husband and wife quilting team who create memorial quilts. I was deeply moved when they told me that they work together to create special butterfly quilts for terminally ill children. A comfort for the children and then eventually for their families. The other event was designing a hamsa for my friend, Martha and after her death having the opportunity to create peace flags using her hamsa symbol. I found the act of printing and hand stitching the flags very cathartic and meaningful.

I wasn't sure that my deep connection with this idea would translate well into a class. I took a chance.

Saaraliisa Y.

I was so fortunate to have a group that was willing to take a chance with me. For two days we stitched and shared. I'm hoping that they got as much out of the experience as I did!

Susan P.

Thank you Susan, Amy, Zita, Saaraliisa and Lisa.

Zita S.

Amy J.

Amy J. (detail)

(All works are in process)

Stitching, Chopping, Baking.

Today was a day to finish up a project and an attempt to make something new.

I finished hand hemming the set of Peace flags and back stitched my initials and date.

This set of flags is for Mary Jane Dodd who initiated the Flags for Peace Project this past September. We are doing an artists' trade, something I'm very excited about.

The attempt at something new came in the form of gingersnaps! To be more specific, Miette gingersnaps. You see, these cookies are a favorite of mine. They are made by a small company out in San Francisco. My husband and I first happened upon them in October of 2009. It was love at first bite (and second and third). When we visited San Francisco again this past October, the first stop was the Miette shop at The Ferry Building.

I received a wonderful series of Hanukkah gifts from my husband this year. All the ingredients to make Miette gingersnaps along with the Miette cookbook. So today, we made our first attempt with a half batch.

My husband was a very good grater and chopper.

I did the measuring and mixing. We rolled out the cooled dough between sheets of wax paper and made a couple of attempts to cut the cookies. In the end, we had to let the rolled out dough sit for several hours in the refrigerator.

Finally we managed to get enough decent looking cookies into the oven. Even so, they were not too pretty!

Here is what the actual Miette cookies look like.

Ah well...it is a first attempt. The cookies did have that gingersnap bite...but I think I might add a hair more sugar next time.

New Year: Peace Flags

An assortment of Peace Flags in process.

 It seems that I spent the week after Christmas in a bit of studio avoidance...cleaning bathrooms, sorting through old jewelry, washing clothes... But yesterday, I was determined!

I've been wanting to finish up a set of Peace Flags, based on the ones I made this past fall. They are for an artists' trade. You can read more about the original flags here.

The backgrounds are hand painted and the hamsa hand design and Peace are printed using carved blocks.

I then went back in to paint a few details, including the whites of the eyes.

I made a number of extra flags...just in case!

Now I just have to finish stitching them up and they will be on their way...

Day 31: 2012 in Review

Salt and glue resist

 A review of 2012:
Starting with the presentation of my Conant grant project, Kitchen Resists: Using Common Household Materials as Resists on Fabric. In the end, 64 resist recipes and up to 16 application techniques per recipe! This led to several workshops and presentations throughout the year.

Fabric created by printing with recycled foam containers.

A re-focus on this blog and the birth of my free monthly online newsletter, Julie B Booth Surface Design News. The Newsletter focuses on the kitchen as a resource for surface design on fabric techniques.

Textures from the kitchen.

A year of Searching for Roy G Biv and the creation of monthly Challenge fabrics.

Sampling of some Roy G Biv Challenge fabrics.

Working on a series of weed fabrics for my group F.I.N.E.

Prints and rubbings with weeds.

Crazy about hamsas! Creating them for family members and friends.

Poppy's hamsa

Jean's hamsa

The death of my dear friend, Martha. I am missing her.

Being able to honor Martha's memory using a hamsa I designed for her to create peace flags as part of the Flags for Peace Project.

Peace flags honoring Martha.

Travels to Maine, Virginia Beach and San Francisco.

Queen Anne's Lace in Kittery Point, Maine.

Driftwood, Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Amazing view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Looking forward to 2013 and all the creative possibilities it holds!

Monoprint with uncooked wheat flour paste resist.

Hope we can all strive for more Peace this next year.

Day 27: Stitching Up Loose Ends

I meant to get some stitching done during our trip to New Jersey. I brought along a project that I've been meaning to get back to... another series of the Peace Flags based on the ones I did this past fall for International Peace Day.

I am doing an artist's trade that I am very excited about! I decided to make extra flags...just in case.

Needless to say, the stitching didn't quite get done over the Christmas holiday. So today, between mundane things such as a hair cut and a food shop, I got down to some stitching.

I enjoy the rhythm of hand stitching. It is a slow way to go, but somehow it makes everything more personal.

What's interesting about stitching by hand is that there is often a memory associated with it. I can look at some of my hand stitched work and I can remember a movie that I was half-watching/half listening to. Or I can pinpoint an event in my life...how old my son was when I stitched up that doll...that he had the chicken pox and was quarantined in the family room (since my husband had never had them) and I sat with him for hours just stitching away...

Autumn Roy and Winners Chosen

Isn't Autumn wonderful? At least it is here in Northern Virginia. I've had two glorious morning walks this weekend. The colors are blazing. It's one big blast of Roy G Biv!

This morning, names went into my husband's baseball cap for two different drawings.

The first was for the 200th post drawing to win this Peace Flag.

Congratulations go to Angela! Angela if you would please send your mailing address to Threadborn@gmail.com and the flag will be on its way to you soon.

The second drawing was for the Indigo Challenge fabric.

Congratulations, Lisa! You are the winner. If you wouldn't mind also sending your mailing address (I know I have it somewhere, but just can't lay my hand on it).

 Thanks to those who entered these challenges.

Studio Colors

A very Roy G Biv set of fabrics.

I have several projects in the works at the moment. Quite colorful, I must say.
Work has already begun on the Indigo Challenge fabric for the October installment of the Searching for Roy G Biv Challenge. What a tough color. I pulled out some indigo ikats for a look.

I went online to see what Indigo looks like. Seems the spectrum color and what we think of as indigo dye are a bit different. This Challenge fabric may actually turn into a real challenge!

I'm also working on another set of  Peace Flags. An artists' trade is in the works. I'm quite excited, as the artist, Mary Jane Dodd, the initiator of the Flags for Peace Project, creates amazing, thoughtful works of jewelry...or really small sculptures to wear (in my opinion).

Other projects include samples for the book proposal...a set of place mats using my kitchen fabrics and black and white and black and tan fat quarters for my gallery, Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery. The next show at the Gallery is called, Black and White. This is the first time I will be entering some of my printed fabrics. I'm curious to see how the fabrics will sell. I'm planning to submit three packages of fabric with four fat quarters each  and am trying to figure out pricing. Ersi will be happy to know that the black and tan fabrics will be dyed in coffee before being printed.

It seems that I have lost a couple of your comments. Rather than being sent to my gmail account, they have been hiding out in some secret corner of my blog. So I am sorry if you haven't seen your comment posted and will try to be more diligent about checking. One comment in particular I was sorry to miss from Susan who posted a great selection of blues at her blog: http://swightr.blogspot.com/

Also, just a reminder that I have a gift offer celebrating my 200th post. Be sure to check it out!

200th

This is my 200th post! I can hardly believe it. I started blogging just over a year ago. Looking back at those early posts, I feel like I've come a long way...especially from that first posting the day after the remnants of Hurricane Isabel hit our area. The highlight (if you want to call it that) was my photo of a dead raccoon!

I have two people to thank for getting me a bit more up to snuff in the blogging world. One is Lesley Riley, my coach and mentor, who said that I needed to get back to blogging on a very regular basis. The other, is the woman I like to call the Blogging Qu(d)een. That is none other than Jennifer. She kindly answered my often simple and sometimes bizarre technical questions. She gently reminded me about blogging etiquette. And she has continued to be a cheer leader and frequent commenter on this blog. Thanks Jennifer for all your help.

 To celebrate getting this far on my blogging journey, I am offering a little gift. It is a Peace Flag. It was one of my sample flags from the Flags for Peace Project. I hand painted the background cotton fabric, hand printed the flag and added some hand painted details. The flag is ready for hanging with a little sleeve at the top (that was hand stitched). The size of the flag is 7" x 10". For those of you new to this blog, the symbol on the flag is a hamsa (sometimes called a Hand of Fatima). It's a protective symbol. This particular hamsa has great meaning for me as it was one I designed for a good friend, who recently passed away. You can read more about it here.

To win this special little flag, all you have to do is leave a comment at this post. I will be doing a drawing for the winner on Sunday, October 14th.

Thanks to all who have been following along. I've enjoyed your comments, observations and encouragement. It's wonderful to make new friends and to share what is closest to our hearts...art!

Now back to the studio to do some more printing....