A Rug Weaving Adventure

Last Saturday, I took an online rug weaving workshop with Aneesa Shami.

[Aneesa's photo]

So. Much. Fun!

First I needed to clear some space in a location where I could prop up my iPad

I used 6/12 ply poly/cotton for my warp [which in retrospect, is too heavy] on the Purl & Loop loom that I got last year at a workshop with Brittany Wittman McLaughlin at Craft in America.

For my rug ties, I wanted to use fabric scraps. 

I cut an assortment, using Frau Fiber's yarn-from-teeshirt technique for the tie dye tee. 

I tore strips for the wovens.

Decidedupon an indigo + hot red combination

OK! I'm ready for class!

Starting with plain weave

then adding knots

Knotting is super relaxing

[apologies for the dirty thumbnail and ragged cuticles]

Finished piece!

I really enjoyed this workshop and Aneesa is a great instructor.
When she offers the class as a taped eCourse, I'll add the link.

Speaking of links, I'm linking with

Michelle's Creative Compulsions Linky Party

Shelbee's On the Edge of the Week

Creative Fever

I've been using the COVID-19 stay-at-home mandate as a stay-at-home art retreat.
For me, couldn't have come at a better time!

Three things I've been working on:
Stitching the World
My massive embroidery project. Dare I say my stitching is near completion? I've been showing the details, country by country, during the A-Z Blogging Challenge over on my Pattern Blog. Go check it out!
Better yet, answer the Four Questions for Stitching the World 2!

This is the back side of the Los Angeles region, after I stitched my [possibly] final LA French knot.

The giant blob of Los Angeles French knots. Will be doing a tally on Sunday.

Detritus Paper Weavings
I've been doing these on and off since January 2019. Originally, I was using reject printouts from the money job. Now that I'm working-from-home, I'm using ephemera at hand. This is a set done with junk mail and a random Chinese medicine book:

Call and Response art collaborations

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Introducing: Call and Response v2 with @izzoimages Day 7 The project premise: Artist no1 will create a piece of art within 24 hours and send a digital version of it to Artist no2. This can be anything. It can be poetry, it can be photography or video. It can be painting or drawing, collage or sculpture. It is about sitting down and being creative and interacting with someone. Artist no2 will then have 24 hours to create a response to it in any medium and with any tools available to them. They will in turn send a digital version of it back to Artist no1 who will create a new work in response. There can be up to 28 pieces to your collaboration. And that is ok!! “Call and Response” is a project organized by Kristine Schomaker and her team at Shoebox PR: Sheli Silverio, Emily Wiseman, Susan T Kurland and S. Vollie Osborn @shoebox_pr @artandcakela @kristineschomaker #shoeboxcallandresponse #collaborationatadistance #annembray #isolationcreation

A post shared by anne m bray (@annembray.art) on Apr 23, 2020 at 9:54pm PDT

This is a COVID project dreamed up by Kristine Schomaker and her team at Shoebox PR. I'm in the middle of Round 2 and have signed up for Round 3. Here is a link to all the projects from Round 1.

I just signed up for an online weaving course with Brittany McLaughlin.
Tactile adventures await!

Linking up with
Creative Compulsions
Shelbee's On the Edge of the Week
Grammy's Grid

Make It Yourself March, Week 2: Sustainable Making

This week's MIY March subjects are Sharing and Caring:
• Sustainable sewing tips
• Material sourcing
• Our most treasured textiles

I'm going to reminisce on some of my own workshop experiences that fall in the "sustainable" category. These also might give you some ideas for sourcing fabrics, fibers, and even art materials.
The boldface type will link to individual posts.

Slow Clothing and Mending at #CAFAM July 24, 2017
I mentioned Ruth Katzenstein Souza in the previous post. She is the goddess of sustainable practice and mending.
Read her "Original Call to Mending" from 2014!

Seeing these amulets, formed from saved bits of thread ends, fabric scraps, etc sparked my imagination.

[image source]

DIY Yarn from Old Tees with Frau Fiber April 21, 2018

That time I learned how to make "yarn" from teeshirts.

Which led to turning my old jeans into an art piece (still a WIP)

And my return to weaving.

Fiber Workshop with Carrie Burckle at Otis (no posts!) June, 2018

Experimented with various upcycling techniques, including

• Paper bags into yarn (difficult):

• Weaving warp ends that Carrie collected from Diedrek Bracken's projects that he worked on at Cal State Long Beach upcycled into my own off-loom weaving:

Original cotton, Diedrick dyed it pink.

Mock ikat with poured bits of red dye

Still sewing the squares together.

Note to self: I really need to write up a post or two about that workshop! Even if I have to predate it to get in onto the blog chronologically. 

Upcycling = lots of fun possibilities!

The Laurie Coat

Lesley came over for a jam making session and we got to talking about how we're going to use the "loot" we snagged at a yarn sale in Newberry Park on Saturday. She was talking plans for denim yardage and I mentioned a coat I'd seen and specced at an exhibition in Portland in June 2011.

click on the link above to see a detail

I sewed a version from sari fabric in 2012(?) and I don't think I ever posted it.

Here it is today:

I happened to have on this new abstracted leopard sweater and knew it'd look good with the coat.
Then, since the pattern on the sweater reminded me of the 80's Norma Kamali tights that I still have, I added those. (They're 100% nylon and no longer tolerable for daily wear).
And to finish it off, I dragged out my 80's Norma Kamali "elf" booties. (I no longer wear these either).
Voila! An olive casserole!

Linking with
Patti's Visible Monday
Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike

52 Pick-me-up: Crimson / Complacency / Daring

••• 

More Vancouver Meetup, the Crimson Fibres [Canadian spelling] edition.

A pile of scarves at Maiwa 

Meet Louisa of Damselfly's Delights:

Louisa took Pat [Project Minima] and me on a tour of some of her favorite fibre shops on Granville Island.
You can read all the places and get links in her post here.

Me, I'm going to show you pretty pictures of fibre art that is crimson colored.

More scarves from Maiwa

Felt balls at Maiwa. Not really crimson. But FELT BALLS people!
Oh. Sorry. You didn't know about this obsession of mine. Moving on...

Or natural and not yet dyed:

More Maiwa

Scarves at Silk Weaving Studio

Is it string or yarn --can't remember my weaving terminology. Silk Weaving Studio

We then took a bus back to the mainland, had some delicious lunch, and forged on to Dressew.
[I am slowly posting amusingly weird fabrics that I found over on my Pattern Recognition blog].
I became overwhelmed at Dresssew and had to go sit out front in a Husband Chair.
Pat eventually joined me. Louisa wore us out! We couldn't make it to the button shop.

Pat,  not disclosing her carbonated beverage, my sunglasses frames c/o Ditto [see sidebar]

So what's with all the textiles?
The chief subject for contemplation this week in Tori's Toolkit [where I'm getting the colors and key words, remember?] is diving down and recognizing and acknowledging dreams perhaps overlooked in the day to day grind. Have I ever got one -- getting my Masters in Textiles at RISD. There. I typed it. Whoa, I have the jitters. That's all I'll say for now.

Wearing crimson red, resisting complacency, being daring -- link and tell!

Style Guide: Portland - Laurie Herrick at the Museum of Contemporary Craft

There is an amazing exhibition of weaver Laurie Herrick's work at the Museum of Contemporary Craft.

My favorite piece is this Shawl Coat from 1970:

It consists of two rectangles, each 54 x 25" that are folded crossways at shoulder and joined in center back for approximately 75" (this causes the cocoon effect).

I can't wait to try this out with some of my own fabric! 

I see it also working in silk, for a super drapey effect.

If you're in Portland, the show is up until July 30. 

Online, selected weaving drafts by Herrick will be available at the exhibition link for artists worldwide to interpret and share via Flickr. It will be interesting to see the results.