Hidden Joy

A few days ago I made a little fiber bowl for Dotty....similar to the very first bowl I made years ago.

They're not the most useful bowls....but they can hold a little joy.

And this particular little bowl....has a little hidden joy....and here's how I made it:

1. I arranged a few fibers on a piece of water soluble fabric.

2. I covered it with another piece of fabric and stretched it in a hoop.

3. I stitched a little JOY in the center because I knew Dotty would appreciate the hidden message.

4. I free motion stitched swirls over the whole thing making sure the lines interconnected to hold everything together. I wanted a wispy irregular edge so I stitched some random pointy lines going off the edge. 

5. I cut off the extra fabric...and held it up to the light just for fun....this is an important step. 😉

6. I dissolved the soluble fabric in warm water....but didn't rinse it completely so it could be shaped and become stiff when dry.

It sat in the sun for most of a day drying over a small bowl. I kept moving it around the condo...following the direct sunlight all day long. 

Following the light was a bonus!

Drip by Drip

I was quite taken with the icicles hanging over my neighbors garage. 

We've been really cold....but the warmth of the sun helped create these beautiful structures.

It started with one drip...then drip by drip these long beautiful icicles formed.

While I'm focused on my studio project and other everyday distractions...I'm going to revisit a few creative projects from the past. This will also help me figure out what's in my future. I do know that I'll be working with water soluble fabric again....I haven't even scratched the surface on what's possible. I'd actually love to teach a class on this!

I just came across this piece that I made with fuzzy fibers and decorative stitching. Usually grid stitching (going both ways) is required to hold everything together after you dissolve the fabric.

But I learned that if the fibers are fuzzy...they catch in the next row of stitching and are enough to hold it together. I wrote about this project here: 

I also love this one! 

I used fusible fabric strips...fibers...and decorative stitching. 

I put it in a frame and am going to find a spot in the studio for it. 

Unless someone wants it....? It's much prettier in person.

 I made this bowl out of yarn scraps.

This may be my favorite bowl.

SO SWEET!

I've been intrigued by Roben-Marie Smith's 100 day project where she's been taking scrappy bits of this and that and stitching them together using water soluble fabric. 

Roben-Margie Smith

She's been using a combination of things including paper scraps...bits of artwork....fabrics and lace. They're oddly interesting...like little stitched stories.

You can check them out on her Instagram page: 

https://www.instagram.com/robenmarie/

I came across a small tray of tiny bits of a vintage quilt I deconstructed for an art class a while back and I just couldn't bear to throw them away. They seemed perfect for a little Roben-Marie inspired experiment. 

Isn't this tomato tray from Janice SO SWEET! I've got several...and use them all the time. 

The quilt scraps are fragile and tattered.......and that's why I love them so much.

They have a history....a story...and I love to imagine what that might be.

I arranged a few scraps on a small piece of water soluble fabric....

then put another piece on top and stitched a grid.

I rinsed away the soluble fabric in warm water....leaving a bit of the residue to give the piece a little stiffness when it dried.

I could have rinsed all the soluble out so it would feel more fabric like again...but I wanted some structure.  It's like a starched shirt.

Taking my cue from the tomato box...I think it's SO SWEET!

I think this could be interesting on a card or in a collage...but I think this one may end up in my art journal.

#fabricrecipes

Jayne Emerson is one of my textile heros.

I took her "Water Soluble Magic" course last year....I LOVED it....and hope to revisit the skills learned in new projects.  I'm signed up for her "No Rules Patchwork"course....but I've barely started.  I have unlimited access to it....and it just got put on the back burner.  My back burner...by the way....is pretty darn full.

For the month of February Jayne is once again sponsoring a challenge on Instagram called "February Fabric Recipes." Each day there is a prompt where she encourages us to share a past or current textile project honoring the day's theme. Inspiration abounds!

I'm trying to play along....and it's giving me a chance to look back at some of my past work....and my hope is to actually make some new ones.   https://www.instagram.com/joyfulputtering/

Today the day 6 prompt was "print"...and although most people shared images where they actually printed on fabric....I chose to revisit my cathedral window quilt celebrating 900 little "print" swatches as the inserts.  It's the focal point in my studio.

This is an old photo....I haven't cleaned this 1/2 of the studio yet.....it's that easily sidetracked issue. I need about a dozen 8th days of the week!  I'm seeing the green grass and leaves out my studio window in the photo...and although I'm not wishing winter away....it doesn't hurt to dream a little bit about the other seasons.

I'm almost ready to get 25 Ounces of Joy in the mail.....but I'm having trouble actually committing to sealing them up.  It seems so final. It's been a fun and interesting exercise for me...and although I had all the piles sorted....I tweaked every single one of them when I filled the envelope.  

Here are a few more of YOUR JOYS:

• A walk on the beach
• A line full of clean washing blowing in the wind
• Daffodils in the backyard
• Shared art projects
• Seeing the first snowdrops
• Getting together with the boys for a birthday celebration
• Joy in the everyday
• Falling snow
• Being an integral part of grandkids lives

And Lily shared this photo of things that bring her joy.....

handmade little houses, dried artichokes and roses from Christmas....all displayed in a handmade birch bark basket. 

 I'm calling this a #joy recipe!

Sports Netting

We had another one of those sticky snows overnight. Our morning walk was just beautiful.....and it was all gone this afternoon.  March snow is like that.  

I absolutely loved the way the morning sun illuminated the snow on this fence. It took my breath away.

And....the grid of the fence is a clear nod to what I'm going to write about today.

After I wrote about Roseanne's mesh fabric yesterday I remembered another mesh material I've played around with for gelli plate printing....sports netting. It's actually plastic....so very sturdy.  I've printed with it in the past...but recently I tried something different.

During the water soluble class the Jayne demonstrated how she layered and stitched  sports netting using the soluble fabric....so I gave it a try.

Since the netting is plastic...it's a bit unruly and there is no way I could stitch right on it because it's mostly negative space. Stitching was easy when it was sandwiched between the soluble fabric.

After dissolving the fabric....I was left with the layers of netting and the stitching lines. It was cool....but I had no idea what to do with it. In the second photo it was just laying on a piece of orange fabric.

Then I tried printing with it on my gelli plate...and the outcome was pretty interesting.

The patterns look a lot like the mesh from Roseanne...

so both are going to be very useful....maybe even layered together.  Hmmmm 

  

Fuzzy Fibers

My soluble projects matched the evening sky.

I've done a few more soluble experiments. There are so many things I want to try but I'm still dabbling in the decorative stitches. 

I discovered by accident that doing decorative stitches over fuzzy yarn is enough to hold a piece together without sewing a grid the other way. Did that make sense?  The little fuzzy hairs get caught in the next row of stitches.  

Maybe this view will help. It all started thinking of ways to use the long scraps piece of soluble....and this is what it looked like in progress.

It looks delicate...but it's actually quite stable.

Next I tried a piece "Swirls of Color" style....and this time I did sew a grid in the opposite direction to make sure it would hold together.  I couldn't count on the fuzzy yarn.

It was marginally successful...and actually holds up fairly well.  I keep learning little nuggets that might lead to something. What?....I'm not sure yet. It just feels like there's potential.

I know trying some landscapes of sorts is rattling around my head. 

I absolutely adore the way the stitches knot up and go all wonky.

Hand Painted Stars

I just discovered that the hand painted background papers I made for the handwriting lessons of Fodder School make wonderful stars.  

The paper is just copy paper...but the acrylic paint gives it some body so they pinch up into fabulous stars. I wanted to see how small I could go......and the answer is pretty darn small. Three of them are just 1/4 inch.

I didn't have long runs left of papers with the writing on it...I guess I'll have to make more. They could be stars with secret messages of sorts. 

I continue to play a little almost every day with the water soluble fabric.  Yesterday some of the class members met with the instructor Jayne Emerson on Zoom and it was so much fun. Jayne lives in the Cotswolds in England.....and others were from various places around the world.  It's mind boggling that we could all see each other and share our stories in real time.

This experiment started with some fused batik fabric strips....then lots of topstitching going both ways...some of it over some wool threads.  

Once the base fabric was washed away I was left with an interesting piece of lace fabric.

It looks like like sunshine!