Wool Works In Progress

Winter temperatures rekindle my dormant desire to play with yarns.  Handling wool fibers warm my hands and work stiff hand joints. My project below is presently in limbo so I thought I'd share some history in the meantime.

Machine felted wool crocheted rectangles made from needlepoint kit yarns.

My friend Ramona is a prolific, extremely accomplished hand quilter and knitter.  Years ago, her beautifully felted purses sparked my interest in wool felting. She graciously shared her felting process using a washing machine, which joyfully eliminates laborious hand felting and leads to near instant results.  Ramona gifted me with a bag full of wool yarns she scrounged from garage sale needlepoint kits, knowing I'd eventually do something with them.  This project has been evolving since then in stages.

I'm not a knitter.  Although I've attempted knitting a few times since childhood, I found crochet less frustrating, quicker and readily adaptable for the large flat items I usually make.  Imagine my delight discovering I could achieve relatively similar results with felted crochet instead of knitted wool.

Results vary according to wool fiber choices and the amount of machine washing done.  Since I'm not an expert in this field by any stretch of the imagination, all my attempts have been strictly experimental and surprisingly satisfying.  The main 'recipe' for machine felting is using 80 to 100% wool fibers (not the type that won't shrink), hot soapy water just enough to cover the wool in the machine, and high machine agitation.  Repeat as necessary to get the shrinkage required.  Hand block and air dry on a flat surface.  It truly is as simple as it sounds.

Tentative layout for a possible rug, wall hanging or perhaps a couple of throw pillows.

The rectangles were crocheted by tying short yarns end to end, then each crocheted block was edged with the same orange wool yarn prior to felting.  The orange introduced a unifying element amidst the chaos of color.  After machine felting, I hand blocked each square, scissor trimmed the knots and loose ends that didn't fully recede in the felting process, and laid all the blocks on my plastic folding table to dry.  Final results will be posted hopefully before the trees start budding!

"Time and Tide Wait For No Man"

Most of my early felted pieces were made into small purses and hand sized pouches. The foundation of the mixed media art wall hanging shown above  resulted from a failed purse attempt. It pays to never give up. Honest!  (That's a SOLD sticker on the art tag).

A small zippered pouch with button and bead embellishments.  The shoulder bag is densely constructed of double strand crochet. I used recycled silk and wool together.  I love the texture.

 Noro yarn from Japan is so luxurious. The subtle blend of color transitions occur naturally when the yarn is stitched.  If my recollection is correct, I used two different skeins which gives the purse a reversible appearance.  This purse is lined and velcro closes at the top.  The handle is a kumihimo braid with a beaded strand added in for glitz and drama.

According to my research, these Striped Flint agates are only found in Poland and are supposedly pretty rare.  I wonder? There's 7 right here on this purse. Well, I'd never seen them before I bought this strand in a local bead shop.  They were too pretty to separate.

A rosette was squeaked out of the remaining purse lining fabric. Drape a few miscellaneous fibers left from the handle and voila! A versatile look, pretty enough to dress up or down with.

Here's more felted skeins of Noro yarn in the process of becoming something wonderful, someday.  The two clutches need embellishments.

Creases are visible from folding before drying them as purse shapes.  I pinned them open for viewers to read how one skein of Noro blends so beautifully.

That's it for the winter woolies.  Hope everyone in cold country is staying warm and cozy.  If not, it's time to play with wool!

SAQA Alaska Regional Meeting

Wednesday, January 11th our Alaska Regional SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) gathering took place at Regional Rep. Cat Larrea's lovely home.  Even though my camera was fully charged, I was so involved in our fabric art/surface design experiments that I failed to snap even one photo during the meeting.  Woe is me.

Five of us, including Cat, spent an absolutely marvelous evening sharing design techniques we were familiar with or wanted to explore further as a group.  Cat was so well organized.  We began with her YUDU screen printing machine because it is a rather time intensive process done in stages: Preparing a design on a clear film transparency, burning the image on a screen print for 8 min., then soaking that exposed image in water (out of direct light) for 12 min. before washing (actually scrubbing) away the film residue which then reveals the prepared image for printing.  Back to the YUDU machine to undergo the drying stage. I think that was 20 min.???  I used a hand held blow dryer to dry mine.  The drying is necessary to harden the remaining film that acts as a resist to the fabric paint during the screen printing process.

 Rust colored fabric paint stenciled on a commercial batik.

Soft irridescent peach fabric paint for a subtle background image.

The following pieces are various surface printing techniques with fabric paint.

Here, I applied yellow acrylic paint with a brayer onto a Gelli Arts printing plate.  With a rubber stamp pad I was able to lift the paint from the gel plate and press it onto white flannel.  I then hand pressed a dark cotton fabric on top of the gel plate to get the look below.  This exercise creates two fabrics with a positive and negative print.

Printing with Knox gelatin refrigerated molds makes fabulous prints also but the gelatin eventually breaks down, whereas the Gelli arts product is reusable and transportable.

 These prints are a result of using a plastic place mat instead of a rubber stamp to lift the paint from the gel plate and then print fabric with both the place mat and the gel plate.

Here are the remainder of the nights experiments.

Onion bag netting used as a template/stamp. Brush marks show on the gel plate.

Sponge fabric paint through a plastic stencil. Blue paint is applied using a foam stamp over the top of the stencil design.

Red paint is applied using a foam stamp onto flannel, purple is applied using the end of a toilet roll , and the lines were printed using corrugated cardboard.

Aside from the artful experiments which I'm certain I'll put to good use somewhere in my creative future, I thoroughly enjoyed this evening of great fellowship and a delectable meal thanks to Cat's warm hospitality.  This one is permanently logged in memory bank!

2012 Sketchbook Challenge

Last night I stumbled upon the 2012 Sketchbook Challenge on a fellow artists blog and felt like I'd slipped down Alice's rabbit hole to find a personalized creative opportunity flashing at me like a neon sign on a pitch black night.  I'll explain...

With the best of intentions, I'd planned to journal fabric art techniques on a weekly basis last year. Well, that never materialized (no pun intended), but hope was reborn after reading about this wonderful art journal challenge offered Internationally and Free to all those interested in regularly journaling with their chosen art mediums.  The rules are enticingly simple, relatively unrestrictive, and perfectly adaptable to anyone's personal goals and interests.

At last I can link my art journal goals with like minded people across the globe, be inspired by others and share my own experiences with a larger audience.  An added bonus is a free monthly prize drawing for everyone who posts ONE challenge piece to the Flickr group connected to the Sketchbook Challenge.  The internet is such a marvelous gift when used to benefit the masses!

So here is my first submission as a member of the 2012 Sketchbook Challenge.

SAQA Doodle

The theme for January is Doodling and it just so happens that I had been exploring pen and ink doodling last year and just this past week at our SAQA Alaska Regional meeting, I doodled this design on film transparency which I then burned into a EZScreenPrint screen using a friends YUDU machine.  More about that session in a future post.

The doodle was screen printed with a rust colored fabric paint onto a commercial batik fabric background.  This is not a finished piece ~ just an experiment with surface and fabric art design techniques.  Most likely it will end up in a finished piece at some point in time since I seldom discard anything.

This post is all about sharing my latest art related commitment for 2012 and spreading the word to others who may be interested in accepting this Sketchbook Challenge for themselves.  Currently my posting and art activity is a bit erratic as I sort out my schedule this month, but one way or the other, it will all get recorded here on my blog and specific progress will be grouped according to Labels in the sidebar.

Material Maven's 'south' Challenge

"South Bound" by Judy Wedemeyer (12"X12")

As the newest (14th member) of the Material Maven's international group of art quilters, this is my first piece submitted for 2012.  Each member, on a rotational basis, will choose a theme on which all of the group members will individually interpret the theme and create a 12" square art quilt.  The January theme is 'south'.  Readers can follow the entire groups submissions and creative descriptions on the Material Maven's blog.  Catch up on older posts to learn about our members.  Some members have their own blog links listed on the Maven's home page, in addition to others of interest to art quilters.

Quilt challenge results and the next theme will be revealed on the 15th of every other month.  Rather than double posting, I will post a photo of my submission here with a link to the Maven's blog, where you can read about my creative process there.  Check back frequently there until all 14 members have posted.

2012 promises to be yet another exciting year of challenge and personal growth.  I hope you are feeling the excitement as well! Have a blessed New Year!

Art Quilt "Creation Speaks" Completed

Deadlines, I'm discovering, help prod yours truly to  complete projects I might otherwise let stagnate interminably.  Such is the situation with this art quilt.

The silkscreen centerpiece was my beginning block for our 2010 Round Robin project.  As with last year, our Round Robin group is displaying the previous years quilts at our guild quilt show this weekend.  I just finished this 22.5" X 24" wall hanging today.

Search older 'Round Robin' posts on this blog to view the progression of this and other group quilts.  Click on the photos for macro details.

The mask image, dark burgandy inner border on bottom and right sides, the outer border print, machine quilting, hand embroidery and embellishments were added by myself. 

Extensive bobbin quilting in yellow radiating circles using a large stitch with size 8 perle cotton reinforced the sense of light and life radiating from the 'creative spirit' and the voice of that spirit speaking into my creative woman (symbolized by the silver charm).  The theme and fabric choices lent itself to a somewhat native influence so I chose embellishments accordingly but the silver charm and glass bead (dangling from the donut bead) were contributed during one of the group rotations.  Rounding the corners off helped soften and echo the circular shapes within.

Garden Photo Update

No commentary ~ Just photos...

Bowling Ball Bumblebee and Ladybug

A year or so before I even got on the ladybug craze I inadvertently stumbled upon a ladybug yard art piece made from a painted bowling ball.  Recently I Googled ladybug images and found this ladybug pattern as well as the adorable bumblebee pattern.  I just had to have them for my yard!  I gave the extra ladybug to my parents for their yard.

The bumblebee requires more time and fuss to make but it was worth it.  I discovered bugs aren't color blind.  They weren't attracted to the red but before I finished spraying the yellow ball, bugs were sticking to the wet paint!

I have one more bowling ball from the original seven I purchased from second hand stores.  I'd already grouted the finger holes on it so was unable to make a second bee.  That's okay.  I'll mosaic the last one and free up garage shelving space used for storing 7 bowling balls.  Hubby will be happy.

Alaska Gardening Tips

Gardening is all about being flexible with your ideas and intentions.  Drawing up a plan and seeing that plan realized often involves factors not within our control.  During my 30+ years of gardening, here are some lessons I've learned along the way:

 1.  It's good to have A plan, and a Plan B is better yet!
 2.  Local nurseries and box stores dictate supplies, unless you plant your own seeds or mail order.
 3.  A packet of seeds = a LOT of plants.  :)
 4.  Garden season is short here, but the days are long.
 5.  Weather is relentlessly unpredictable in Alaska. 
 6.  Choose the right plants for the right conditions.
 7.  Replace the dead & dying... Life is short. (see #4)
 8.  Rethink and re-purpose containers for gardening.
 9.  Add colorful yard art with a wow factor.
10. 90% perennials, 10% annuals defrays annual costs.
11. Provide healthy soil, ample water and fertilize!
12. Water hanging baskets every other day until the water flows through, fertilize every 2 or 3 weeks.
13.  Dead heading promotes flowering and improves the overall appearance of your garden investment.
14.  Photo journal your garden annually; use as a reference during winter months preseason planning.
15.  Connect with other gardeners to learn from and possibly share or trade plants with.
16.  Photograph local public gardens for ideas.
17.  Online: Google Images for plant identification.
18.  Garden catalogs are free educational resources.
19.  Inspect your gardens for pests and murder them!
20.  Learn when and how to prune for ideal growth.

In no way is this all I've learned about gardening. Undoubtedly I have much to learn with each passing season.  I consider myself as growing right alongside my plants.  The challenges and joy continue to blossom from year to year.