Diana Trout's blog

What You Can Learn from Art Quilts

Recently I attended a beautiful art quilt show. Kaffe Fassett* quilts side by side with his historic inspiration quilts. 

Lines don't need to be straight. I love that organic line that guides but doesn't trap. 

Chevron never goes out of style and great historic work always looks fresh.

Even a minimalist will agree that even though less is sometimes more, when pattern is well combined more is more (better). 

Kaffe Fassett is a fabric arts, fabric designer and extraordinary artist. For more inspiration, go look at Kaffe 's site here. His fabrics are widely available at quilt shops everywhere.

Happy Monday friends! I'm hoping that this week I start feeling more like more old self.

The Greatest Works of Art

seem tiny, inconsequential; 

metaphors for some larger thing: a change of mind

or pace.

Intention is what sprouts from the seed in a great work of art.

I pick at a bone of contention with the capital A art set. blah blah blah and yammer.

An hour or two squandered stitching a tiny bead: harbinger of change within: a precious gift of time when there is so little. I suddenly feel wealthy.

And is there so little time? Or are we all just a bit too housebroken?

And it's an auspicious start to a week when I  put a post into both Unruly and Philosophy categories. 

Happy Monday all.

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Have a fabulous weekend! xo - Diana

Stamp Stencil Stich in NYC

I'm very happy to have a new date for Stamp Stencil Stitch with Little Bird in NYC.

April 5, 10:30-5 PM
Manhatten (exact location TBA)

Shift into slow. It’s been said that when you hand stitch, the goodness flows from heart to hand. There is magic there. 

 Stamps and stencils will aid in developing imagery on linen. I’ll cover embroidery stitches and collaging with fabric with the simplicity of needle and thread. 

 Hand stitching is a slow process. As you get lost in the stitching, ideas begin to expand and the your piece will organically take shape. Today we will listen to those whispers and allow ourselves to play with this ancient art. 

I hope you’ll join me. Hand stitch has been a long and magical journey for me. I look forward to sharing it. 

Supplies to bring to class:

Embroidery Needles, asst'd sizes
Fabric for your base, such as linen: old napkins or table cloth is the weight you want, thrift shops are a perfect source. Stains/tears/wear will be covered up
Pincushion, pins
Pencils, marking tools
Pitt pen, dark gray (if you have them or other permanent markers bring them along)
Scissors
embroidery threads: DMC or similar, 8 skeins 
Embroidery Hoop, 6-8”
Fabric scraps, trims, ribbons (avoid batiks)
Stamps, not too highly detailed
Stencils
ink pads: VersaColor, VersaMagic, ColorBox
small spray bottles for use with stencils

I will supply backing fabrics, textile medium and acrylic paints for stenciling 
Fabric scraps to share 
extra needles (Chenille needles) and threads

To sign up go here (you will need to be a Meetup member, free!)
Or email me. $120 plus $7 kit fee

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stitching and unstitching

 a bit of stitching this afternoon

 and thinking.  what a luxury to have scraps of Kaffe Fasset fabrics

 tomorrow the stitches is my hand come out. another step forward.

Yellow

Next Tuesday I go in for hand surgery. I'll be splinted for one week and then the nerve damage should begin to repair itself.

The feeling should be completely back in about a year. The last three weeks have been very upside down.

In the midst of all of the sickness and injury, my daughter and her husband (I still smile when I say that) moved to Chicago. Lots of chaos but they are settling in. 

I'm thinking Yellow right now and Gray. Monochromatic (what?!). Yes. I am going to try some monochrome and see where it leads me. I need a little challenge and excitement to get me through. I had to cancel my Little Bird stitch class (heartbreak) but it will be rescheduled. I'll get up again. 

In Between-ers

In the space between running an errand that took me to Manayunk and preparing for my class tomorrow at The Ink Pad, I found a 30 minute space for a cappucino and Philadelphia Stories. Resting my back because, naturally, this is a good week to have my back acting up. 

The spaces between. Between putting together class kits, crocheting more white vessels to be dipped in dye. Between thinking, writing, researching, sketching, the odd bit of sewing and the sitting on ice pack. Negative space is a positive thing. The thought of happy students making art on Saturday pushes me on. And the man who is dropping everything to chauffeur me and my big bag to NYC because the train is out of the question right now. And I do love the train but am counting (again) my blessings.

Good weekend everyone. I'll see some of you tomorrow where real live hugs can be exchanged. 

Endless Possibility

Canopy, fort or Bedouin Tent?
(Yurt?)
Patchworked shirt or skirt or dress that flows?
Summer scarf, shawl or muumuu?
What would you do?

After Fast

Stitch this to that and let the sun shine on it

The almost-not-there

And the murmur-soft of old cloth

Rummaging in the scraps. Listening to the whispers.

A nasty little tummy virus struck late Thursday night, receded Saturday and recurred. Today is slow. 

 

Silk Scarf Dyeing Using Colorhue Dyes

After being charged with creating the silk pocket squares for The Wedding, I did a bit of digging around for the easiest  way to do this. I ordered ColorHues dyes and silk pocket squares from Dharma Trading but very little instruction was offered up on using the ColorHues.

Along came Juliann of The Sick Chick here. She also has color mixing tutes here and here. Really great information. About the ColorHues dyes: These are instant set, non-toxic dyes for silk (or other protein fibers). No heat, no boiling, no long set times. They aren't the cheapest option but they are the easiest. These would be great for a group or kids. Good summer fun.

After dyeing the pocket squares, I decided to see what I could do with a silk scarf, also from Dharma. So let's make a groovy scarf! 

I used the pumpkin, rose, goldenrod, yellow, green and turquoise dyes, mixed up in small plastic cups and used pipettes to "paint." Lay some plastic down on your work surface and have a wiping rag (another piece of silk?) at the ready.

You may want to ease up on the colors. Mine definitely looks like Gerry Garcia was here.

This was super easy. I wet and squeeze the excess water out of the scarf. Squeeze it really hard because excess water will dilute the colors. 

Take the scarf and fold it in half. Now twist it around really good and secure it with rubber bands every few inches. Simple tie dye. 

Using the pipettes, move along the scarf and squeeze color onto every section. Take your time and be mindful that you will get browns and grays if you mix rose and green in the same area. I don't mind this as I like muddy color in some areas. 

 

Your Freak Flag

Keep flipping the scarf around until everything is colored. The rubber bands will act as resist, as will the creases, giving you some white areas and distressed color. 

 

After everything has been saturated, squeeze the roll and massage gently for a couple of minutes. Dunk the roll into clear water and squeeze to discharge any unabsorbed dye. 

Now you can remove the rubber bands and unfold your creation. Hang to dry and let your freak flag fly!  

PS: I will be starting a new class called Taming the Critic in a couple of weeks. This is a reformated version of last years 21 Secrets class. Soon after that, I'll start the "very beginner" art journal class. So stay tuned.