Walnut dye on bamboo burlap and linen

Walnut dye on bamboo burlap and linen, originally uploaded by jckirner.

All pieces after rinsing and drying. Very subtle effects, and a few spots of the dark blotches to work with later.

I'm continuing with the process of "doing" in LoLE (Lots of Little Efforts) and getting out of the paralysis of over-thinking, over-researching, and non-activity.

I'm discovering that each day of something 'little' gives me multiple avenues to explore the next day.

walnut pallette

walnut pallette, originally uploaded by jckirner.

The button batch came out in intriguing ways. I didn't bother to pre-separate out the buttons, just grabbed a handful of light colored ones and tossed them in the pot with the walnut.


Cracks have been enhanced in a wonderful way! And I've dyed a bigger swatch of muslin which resulted in a warm mushroom tone with random darker spots. Love the darker spots and will wrap a walnut directly to see if i can achieve more dark spots on the fabric.

Currently in the pot - a swatch of burlap and one of Irish linen...

after/before walnut dye

after/before walnut dye, originally uploaded by jckirner.

Experiments continue.

Color catcher and the embroidered cotton left in the cold walnut dye pot for 5 hours yesterday.

Today - back to the simmering pot. The embroidered swatch is back in as well as some muslin and batting.

Simple

No clockwatching

No schedule

Eat when it's ready

slow down

observe

Looking forward to and enjoying these four days of simple...

Enjoy your Thanksgiving, folks!!

A mild panic set-in...

A mild panic set-in, originally uploaded by jckirner.

...as I set to play with the sewing machine. A thunderclap and the touch screen stopped responding. (don't panic, don't panic...) I turned it off and on again - no response. (rising panic...)

Remembering the yahoo group Janome9000 I logged on and searched for help in calibrating the touch screen - something tickling my memory from problems past...YES! there it was in the files section. 2 tries and maybe 2 minutes later - we're back functioning again. PHEW!! My 10+ year old machine has had overheating problems in the past which requires a recalibration. I do admit to inadvertently leaving it powered up under the machine cover!!

Quilts presented as art

Video from the Rooted in Tradition exhibit in St. Petersburg, FL.

It is such a joy to see quilts presented on gallery walls with tweaked lighting as opposed to the multitudes of quilts hung on drape-n-poles with general lighting of the otherwise fantastic World Quilt Show earlier this month.

After walnut dye

After walnut dye, originally uploaded by jckirner.

Such intriguing results from the walnut dye experiment.

Color catcher darkened to resemble leather, the bamboo batting absorbed far more dye than I expected, the cotton print came out iffy, and the embroidered fine cotton took on a beautiful tone.



5 hours in the pot for everything but the color catcher and embroidered cotton which had just 30 minutes.

Velvet and cheesecloth

Velvet and cheesecloth, originally uploaded by jckirner.

MMmmm, some lovely colors there!

A new quilt show came to town and I had a long and wonderful day browsing with 5 other friends a week or so ago. The World Quilt show http://www.quiltfest.com/ included 400 quilts and 80 vendors. We had tired feet and happy, yet numb, brains after 5 hours of viewing. Talk about overload. And yet, if that's 400 quilts, what does it feel like to view the multitudes at Houston's IQF?? A goal one day to find out, that's for sure!

My only purchase was the batch of hand-dyed fabrics above, some cheesecloth, some velvet and a square of organza from http://www.sunnybunnydesigns.com/ in Tampa, FL who had a booth in the show.

Mostly, I took inspiration away from the day. Amazement at the incredible technical skill of the exhibitors, and yet awareness that simplicity can be just as amazing. Gina at http://www.claynfiber.blogspot.com/ has started to share some images from that day. I'm still processing everything I saw!

Meanwhile, I have started my own dye experiments with the black walnuts generously sent to me by Suzan at http://www.suzanmorgan.com/. A little gecko was staring in at me as I setup the pot on the back patio...see him at top center of this picture?

Make up work

Make up work, originally uploaded by jckirner.

Been busy. Missed a night of drawing class with feeling under the weather.

Make up work was a self-portrait...

For all those drawing class folks out there, my friend Gina passed on this link - woman. Thanks, Gina!