Bobbin Lace - Hands ON with Anita

Eco Dye on Paper

Felting and Painting on Wool and Silk

Felted on Silk and Wool vs Eco dyed on Watercolor paper. I am having a hard time deciding which is more beautiful.


While Phyllis attended a felting class in Minneapolis with Jorie Johnson Dawn has been experimenting with Eco printing on Watercolor paper at home. Both had beautiful results to bring for our Show and Tell.

 Both were very excited about the results of their art. Dawn layered her individual sheets of paper with leaves, etc dipped in iron water placed the pile between two pieces of glass and steamed them for 2 hours.
The larger pieces were rolled up in a bundle and steamed.

Phyllis used silk and wool to create a light surface on which she used ink and paint to embellish. She also felted colored wool on the surface and felted in the Jorie Johnson's traditional rolled fashion.

Karen showed her finished purse with a matching check book cover. She used cross knit looping on the edges of the these items. Lovely fiber work from this talented non traditional basket weaver. She also announced she entered her baskets in the Northern Exposure Art 2018 show at the Bonifas Art Center in Escanaba, she received at least 5 awards. Four are featured artist awards and one an Artist Network Award which if for Art Supplies. Check out the show news. http://www.ironmountaindailynews.com/lifestyles/life/2018/11/northern-exposure-xxv-winners-announced/

Congrats to Karen for her fine work.

Happy Mittens and headband

soft mohair wool and silk hat

Mary wove 4 towels with her favorite Huck-lace Pattern for a friend but they are on the way to California. She is also knitting to use up hand spun yarn and made these Happy Mittens with a wool/silk blend of fiber and used wool fleece to make them even warmer on the inside.

Laura liked the needle case pattern we made at the retreat she sent us a picture of her new Black and White version.

needle case cover

 Jay is a new member and he has a loom but he also sews. He brought in a Bush Craft pullover he made out of reclaimed wool blankets.

Jay with his Bush Craft pullover

Anita found some more interesting vintage fiber work at the local resale shop. This one is a pillow cover dated 1926 with some finished silk embroidery. She also brought in a cordage maker or Lucet.
 A lucet is a tool used in cordmaking or braiding which is believed to date back to the Viking^[1] and Medieval^[2] periods, when it was used to create cords that were used on clothing,^[1] or to hang items from the belt.^[3] Lucet cord is square, strong, and slightly springy. It closely resembles knitted I-cord or the cord produced on a knitting spool. Lucet cord is formed by a series of loop like knots, and therefore will not unravel if cut. Unlike other braiding techniques such as kumihimo, finger-loop braiding or plaiting, where the threads are of a finite length, lucetted (or knitted) braids can be created without pre-measuring threads and so it is a technique suited for very long cords.

There was some interest in making one of these so here is the information to make your own. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/500181102336971523/?lp=true

Silk Embroidery sampler

Marilyn with her weaving all from one warp, very nice square plaids. My pictures do not do the weaving justice. Three very nice pieces.
Since I was taking notes and pictures I did not find out what the fiber was for her weaving.

Marilyn's hubby does some twinning the rugs below are his work.

 

Phyllis shared her samples from her felting class with Jorie Johnson in Minneapolis at the Textile Center. Some of these pieces are soybean soaked and painted with ink. She wet the fibers and rolled in bubble wrap to felt. Steams and presses then used suede gloves to remove and pills.

John has been weaving he has a lovely scarf on his loom that he shared a picture of. I am anxious to see the finished scarf as the pattern is very nice. here John has a rug he made out of old frayed towels. Which seem to make a nice thick rug out of something you would just throw away.

Anita is up next with the her hands on Bobbin Lace demonstration. We all got to try our hands at making a very small fish with some very sophisticated tools. 

Getting the hang of reading a pattern and following the direction of the bobbins was a bit challenging but we all survived with assistance from Anita when we got out of order with our passing over. The result was a teeny, tiny Fish made of colored lace. It helped to have the colors on the bobbins as if they were all white, oh my gosh! that would be a challenge.

Bobbin Lace tools

Books and patterns

My Lace making in progress note the colored threads

John and Karen giving it a try.

A lace Fish

Clare, John and Lyra say thank you to all who contributed to the gift certificate we sent in October. They are all doing fine and look forward to returning to the U.P.

Our next meeting will be a Holiday Luncheon at the Kangas Cafe at noon on December 17 th. We will play 'Dirty Santa' again so if you want to participate bring a gift to pass. Homemade, new or used and join in the fun. Lunch will be on your own. But come and join us in the party room. If not see you in January 21st at Gloria Dei weather permitting.