Crafty Memorial Day Weekend

Flying high at Fred Liske park in Cabarrus county.

 

Spinning on my Little Gem II

More eco-dyeing.

I enhanced the blues and purples by adding iron to the dye pot.

Bits of yellow from some "weeds" gathered along Fort Dobbs road. 

Rose leaf prints



Red from bits of madder root and gold from onion skins, pennies and copper pipe added to the dye pot

Deep purple from iris blooms

Blowing in the breeze. 

 

Guild Sunday

The Threads of Art and Science

A wonderful collaboration between a fabric artist and botanist.

Karen-Eve Baynes describes how accident and inspiration can result in destination and art.

Dr. Terry Ashley of Terry Ashley Botanicals describes her process of using cellular  photos to create art prints of botanical subjects.

Karen-Eve holds up fabric with  a cellular print from Spoonflower

A  small wallhanging incorporating Terry's cellular print and Karen-Eve's quilting and embellishments.

Terry used a linoleum cut to make this wonderful print on linen.

Our speakers

This table runner is another linoleum cut on linen.

Plants from Big Bloomers in the ground, coreopsis, eucalyptus, chamomile, lavender, foxglove and mint.

 

Busy Saturday

 

Reed and I drove to Sanford to visit with Ryan, Emily and Riley.  We went to Big Bloomers Flower Farm.  This is an awesome place for perennials, annuals, herbs, hostas and more!

After Big Bloomers we had lunch together and then headed our separate ways.  Reed and I went to a nearby roadway and deadheaded a hatful of poppies.

Next up, a stop at Lake Crabtree to fly kites.  The recent rain brought the lake level up considerably.  Very little field left for playing.

 

When we got home, I prepared four more bundles for eco-dyeing.

 

These bundles with the iris blooms are being wrapped around driftwood and will be placed in water with iron added to it to hopefully enhance the purple.

This pot had the poppy bundles, I used the mordanting water and added pennies and additional pieces of copper pipe.

Chapel Hill Spinners

The Chapel Hill Spinners meet at yarns etc...
This is a really lovely shop with a great selection of yarns.

This is the Three Waters Farms corner, complete with hand painted fibers and spinning tools.



A cozy corner to sit and knit.
 

Beautiful!  Mary Ann Pagano with her gorgeous threewatersfarm fiber!  Mary Ann is such a talented artist but I most appreciate her generous spirit.  She shares not only her enthusiasm for spinning but also her knowledge.  She pointed out some ergonomic mistakes I was making and how to avoid serious spinning injury.

Spinning away!

More adventures in eco-dyeing

Thursday during lunch I collected some flowers and leaves from the yard prior to a storm.  Above you can see some iris and tansy being laid out for bundling.  The stick is a piece of driftwood from Hatteras.

Four bundles wrapped tightly and ready for the pot.  Simmered at 160 degrees for one hour and left in the water for 24 hours.  I added iron to the pot in an effort to deepen the blues and purples.

Deep purple iris silk scarf.

Close up shot



This is lavender iris blooms with tansy leaves.

Close up shot

Red roses and rose leaves.

Close up shot, this scarf is 37%wool and 63% silk, it is a little heavier than the 100% silk scarves.

Purple iris blooms with yellow onion skins.

Close up shot.