Another Great Day at Marcia's Studio

Pat Pauly has her gorgeous Turkish Coat almost finished. She did a final try on to check the length and think about shoulder pads.

All she has to do now is apply the bands and its done. Inspector Suki was having another mostly inside day and needed some additional attention from Marcia.

And I continued working on the Wolf Quilt.

"Expert" Help

My cat, named Tiger of course (what else?) thinks that any tissue paper pattern is put on any and all surfaces for her amusement and enjoyment. Usually she likes to rumple them up a bit to make them more comfy.

And why sit on a sofa or chair when there is a jacket in progress on the floor which needs wrinkling up and a bit of cat hair?

Another Work Day at Marcia's Studio

Another "working" day at Marcia's terrific studio. I spent most of the day making some decisions on the wolf quilt. I had some more fabric choices which I wanted to "interview". Most of them did not make the cut. And after working all day on the quilt several other original pieces were thrown out as well. The gray wolf at the right is not making the cut and will be part of Wolf Quilt 2 if there is one.

I put borders around two of the embroideries which seems to make a huge difference in how they look. Because of the way the wolves face left or right I have limited placement choices.
Marcia continued working on her new silk jacket made from handwoven Thai silk. She is using a kimono pattern.

The red addition is a hand dyed piece from Marcia Murphy. A similar piece is going to be used for the band.

Marcia also had a couple of quilts on the wall which she has been working on.

Inspector Suki had a difficult day with limited trips outside. There was a light snow in the morning which also didn't please her. All the creatures she likes to chase seem to be holed up for the winter.

Writing With Thread: The Textile Arts of Southwest China

Writing With Thread: The Textile Arts of Southeast China is currently an exhibit at the University of Hawaii . It will be shown next year at the University of Wisconsin and at the International Folk Art Gallery in Santa Fe. There is supposed to be a large catalog published to go along with it which I can't find online. There is also an article about the exhibition in the January/February issue of Fiberarts Magazine.

A even better view is the You-Tube tour of the program.

http://www.hawaii.edu/malamalama/2008/11/writing-with-thread-chinese-textile-exhibit/

Canadian Fibre Quarterly Magazine Online

Canada has an interesting Fibre Quarterly at least part of which appears to be online.

You can find it at http://www.velvethighway.com/ It asks you to "Explore Canadian textile and fiber arts and craft history yesterday, today and tomorrow. It its spun, woven, printed or just quickly stitched up we try to give it voice. " Check it out

Christmas Cards from Nepal

Every year I receive two or three cards from people overseas. The first one was from Nima Dorjee Tamang, one of my former students from when I taught in Nepal. He keeps in touch every year and I have often visited him on my subsequent trips there. His father was a Sherpa, working with various groups of tourists. His work provided a comfortable lifestyle for the family and allowed Nima to attend school. Nima is now running the family Tour Company.

I am planning to time my next trip there to coincide with the opening of the former King's Palace in Kathmandu as a Museum. The King was dethroned in June and has packed up and gone to one of his private residences. Nepal's dramatic election in April has so far come to very little. This confounds the pessimists there and abroad who expected the Maoists to seize control and sweep radical policies into place. It has also bitterly disappointed Nepalis who expected a change of government to bring quick improvements to their lives. Thus far the Maoists have joined in and lead a coalition government that spends all of its energies bickering within and among the parties as leaders maneuver for their own gain, both political and financial. The old Nepali expression, "Different faces, same pockets," remains spot-on.

E.A.T. Group Meeting in Ithaca

Today was the monthly meeting of the E.A.T. Group in Ithaca. While we do show and tell very month after our class the December meeting is devoted to a lengthier version. June makes the most fabulous dolls. This one was a little old lady with a tiny empty jam pot.

Joanne was finishing up two small commission quilts. This one was based on a hundred year old apple barrel label for a fruit farm in New Hampshire.
This quilt almost blends into the shelves behind it. We meet at Quilters Corners and their shop is moving to a new location next month.

After all our hard work most of us adjourn to the Heights Restaurant around the corner for a bit of lunch. Mine was Atlantic Salmon in a plum sauce with parsnips and potatoes. Yum.

Call Out for Artists Who Make Wearable Art

I know nothing about this post other than that it looked interesting. See and judge for yourself:



Looking for Artists who Create Wearable Art....
View DreamWoven's blog
I've been given the wonderful opportunity of putting together a Wearable Art Market on 1000Markets. If you do not know about 1000Markets... please come take a look. http://1000Markets.comTheir concept is unique and fresh. " Markets are Communities: A market is a collection of merchants, joined together by interest, similar products, or geography. Just like a cluster of stands at an outdoor festival, a market is a gathering place. More than anything, markets are about creating community from commerce. "The site is a somewhat juried site. My gut tells me this is someplace that is going to go places and will be a benefit to those of us that sell online.I am looking for artists who create Wearable Art. Please drop me a note, either here or via email DreamWoven.gmail.com if you might be interested. There are plenty of you here that I admire, so please.... if you are looking for another avenue to show your items and would like to be a part of a new, growing environment... please let me know.Rachel/DreamWoven

Great Sunday Blog Reading

I have been a member of the Fiber Focus for awhile and highly recommend it as an online group for any type of fiber artist. They also have one of the best blogs around. I was browsing through the topics this afternoon and finally had to get off as too many hours were passing by. There is a huge range of topics (just move your cursor to the lower right side of the screen) and you will see what I mean. I just copied off a few for a sample . Try a couple of these links and see what I mean.

The address is: http://www.fiberfocus.blogspot.com/. You won't be disappointed.


Chicago Artist (2)
Chiengora (1)
Chile (1)
China (8)
Christmas (2)
Christmas Ornaments (4)
Civil War (1)
Collage (1)
Colombia (1)
Color (1)
Colorado Artist (1)
Computer Stuff (1)
Costumes (7)
Crazy Quilts (1)
Crochet (6)
Czech Republic (1)
Day of the Dead (3)
Dolls (6)
Donna Hussain (12)
Education (3)
Embroidery (15)
Equador (1)
Eritrea (1)
Ethiopia (1)
Ethnic (39)
Ethnic Clothing (14)
Etsy (38)
Europe (1)
Exhibits/Shows (5)
Fabric (3)
Fabric Dyeing (5)
Fair Trade (15)
Family (1)
Feathers (1)
Felting (8)
Festivals (3)
Fiber Focus Group (9)
Film (1)
Five Faiths (2)
Florida Artist (1)
Folk Art (4)
food (1)
Furniture (1)
Gourds (2)

Bias Binding II

I have had a number of emails requesting more information on ordering bias binding. The address is:

Quick Bias
80 No. 5th Street
Brooklyn, N.Y., 11211

718-486-7700 Ask for Tommy

Bias Binding

A few weeks ago I made a jacket made on a Koos Design Vogue Pattern where the fabric pieces were covered with bias binding. I really liked the way the resulting pieces looked and decided to have some commercially made to use in both jackets and quilts. Ok, I have all the little gadgets to do this myself but I find the process both frustrating and very time consuming. The company listed in the Koos Book apparently is out of business but I managed to find another shop in Brooklyn which makes bias binding commercially. So I gave them a call and sent off 16 yards of mostly batiks. This is the result. I am very pleased. As far as I can figure out a yard will make about 30-35 yards of bias.

Small Orange Sample Quilt

I have been working on and off the last few days on this small sample piece. Its mostly composed of scraps left over from a larger orange quilt I made a few months ago. I added some lime green, black and white and a couple of strips from a batik jelly roll. I just love jelly rolls.

Wearable Art Jacket Class - Day Three

Inspector Suki arrived bright and early to perform her rounds of examining and perching on new fabric piles, peoples chairs they had just vacated and examining any new boxes and bags. In between her arduous tasks she frequently asked to be let in and out the studio door. I brought in materials and embroideries for a possible new quilt with a wolf motif.

Linda finished her Butterfly Jacket.

Actually all but the top stitching.

And Caren has the outside of her jacket almost finished.

Wearable Art Class - Day Two

This is unpleasant weather for Inspector Suki, who would really like to be outside. She tries going out several times during the day but really doesn't seem to like walking around in the snow. Later in the afternoon she took her nap in her nest in the studio. Linda made great progress today, having made a seminole strip last evening at home.

She has the back almost done with a few tweakings yet to accomplish.

I worked a bit on an orange quilt last evening the today and may turn it on point.

Nancy finished her quilters vest.

She's planning on working on a bog coat tomorrow.

New Wearable Art Jacket Class at Marcia's Studio

Despite the cold weather we gathered this morning in Marcia's wonderful studio to begin another jacket class. Nancy Hicks began the back of her long vest with a marvelous batik. She is supplementing it with some interesting blue batiks . Linda Bachman has some great prints of leaves and elephants and is using the "Butterfly Jacket" pattern. A favorite of mine.

I have been playing with a new orange quilt made mostly from leftover pieces from the last one.

And Caren Betlinski came in with this fabulous machine embroidery she made.

Sample from Cynthia Corbin's Class

This weekend I tried quilting in tiny rows on a sample I made in Cynthia Corbin's Class last fall. Do I like the result? My review is mixed. I like the technique of the tiny rows but it is terribly time consuming. I learned a lot about how various threads look when stitched out so that was definitely worth doing. Since this was a sample I didn't care all that much about how the result looked but I would be sure to make lots of small test samples on an important piece.

Fabulous Wearable Art Book

This is one of the best books on the history of clothing I have ever seen. From Neolithic plant-fiber skirts, Ancient Egyptian linen shifts, and Classical togas through Mongolian shanamic robes, Japanese kimonos, and Indian saris to nineteenth-century Tyrolean dirndls, contemporary African ceremonial attire and today's Middle Eastern burqas, every notable geographical region, historical period, and style of dress is covered here. There are over 1000 illustrations. 900 of them are in color.


It's not for the weak of wrist or anyone with a weak coffee table. It weighs several pounds and has 608 pages. The title which you can't totally read because of my flash is The Worldwide History of Dress.

There are a zillion ideas here for the artist who wants to incorporate ethnic influences into their wearables.

Holiday Party RAFA Meeting at Pat Pauly's House

Today was our annual RAFA Holiday Party meeting at Pat Pauly's beautiful house. The weather cooperated and we had a large turnout for show and tell and a wonderful dish to pass lunch. Pat Faulkner started Show and Tell off with a quilt she is making based on a photo from her husband's recent trip to Africa. Its going to be a stunner.
Then the bar was raised significantly with Julie Brandon's fabulous quilt of two frogs.
Marcia DeCamp displayed a small quilt she made after a workshop with Karen Echmeyer.
And another small quilt she just finished. This one from another workshop is supposedly her husband's favorite.
Donna Patrick displayed a finished jacket.
It has a beaded collar and the purple squares in the front are a shisha's piece from India.
Caren Betlinski found this piece recently when cleaning out her sewing room. It was from a Libby Lehman. It pays to clean.
Val Schults showed off this beauty from Cynthia Corbin's class.
Aren't these dolls just incredible!
They are sitting on a bug.

Nancy Hicks has been working on a square design using African fabrics. And Pat Pauly displayed a few of her recent works.