Bringing the art out of people and putting people into art!

I had the privilege (and fun) of helping out a wee bit with Peg Gignoux' latest collaboration. This time it is with Newcomers School in Greensboro, North Carolina.

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Peg (at right in the photo above) is working with art teacher Victoria Wreden Sadeq (left) and her students to create a textile work that reflects the students' amazing diversity and what it is to be a newcomer to this country. Fifty-two countries are represented by the students who worked on this piece! Peg worked with the students to dye organza to create a myriad of beautiful, translucent colors. Then the students wrote down words about what the colors of that cloth meant to them. There were some powerful words that reflected the kids' rural (and in some cases, textile) backgrounds in their home countries. The students then translated those words into their native languages, made stencils and cut the words out of their hand-dyed cloth. They incorporated (and sewed and fused) canvas, world maps and their words to make a very colorful collage. But that's not where it stopped. They cut it all up! They mixed it up!!

Because of Spring Break, Peg has been hand-stitching these pieces together herself. But, once the students return from their break, they will help finish the two sections. The work under construction is being made in two sections that, once mounted, will measure 264 " wide by 56 " high.

The Community Cloth project is designed to fit into the Newcomers School library but, before its installation there, it will be included in an exhibition at Green Hill Center for North Carolina Art (who sponsored the project) in Greensboro from April 9- May 1, 2010.

Peg also teaches various workshops (one I posted about previously - so great!) and works with other community groups to develop wonderful pieces of art. Stayed tuned to hear about her workshops in France!

Felting is not for wimps!

This week is officially "Felting Week" for me. I finally figured out that, although I can multitask, I cannot multi-focus. So I set all fabric and sewing aside and set about learning a new technique with fiber. "Not too exciting", you say? Oh, I beg to differ! It's all a matter of perspective.
And lest you think this looks pretty easy to do, let me just say this was one of the tougher workouts I've had in a very long time. Hello Hamstrings! Yep, I used my hands, my arms, my back, AND my feet and legs to beat this jelly roll into submission. But I do like the results :).

On Pins and Needles...well, needles anyway

Just when I think I finally understand how to pick the right size sewing machine needle, I forget what those dang numbers stand for! But Julie at Thimble Pleasures has made it much easier to understand...and remember. Low = fine, High = heavy-duty. Here's more from their latest newsletter:

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General Needle Information
Needles range in size from very fine 60/8 to a heavy duty needle 120/19. Most needles use the two number measuring system. The higher number relates to the metric system used in foreign counties and the lower number relates to the system in the U.S. Both indicate needle shaft diameter.

For Standard Needles (Universal) - Used for woven synthetic and natural fibers

60/08 Very, very fine: for sheers, chiffon, silks

70/10 Fine : for blouse weight polyesters, silks, batiste

80/12 Most used: for cotton, rayon, blends

90/14 Mid-heavy: for bottom weight fabrics, wool, raw silks, corduroy

100/16 Heavy: for denim, duck cloth

110/18 Very heavy: for canvas, tapestry

120/19 Extremely heavy: for boat canvas, luggage handles

And, if that's not enough, there are:

• Sharp Needles - light weight needles, great for "microfibers" and silk-type fabric
• Ballpoint Needles - Used for knit fabrics
• Stretch Needles - This needle is a super ballpoint needle. It is coated blue with Teflon and is used for more difficult knit fabrics.
• Denim Needles - This needle has an extra fine, sharp point that pierces dense fabrics more easily. Also, the lighter sizes are used to achieve the "perfect" straight stitch. Teflon coated.
• Embroidery Needles - This needle is for use with metallic and Sulky threads. It minimizes the shredding of these fragile threads.
• Quilting Needles - This needle will not pull your batting through your quilt top, eliminating "pulling".
• Handicap Needles - This self-threading needle is great for teaching kids to sew and for the "visually challenged".
• Leather Needles - This needle has a special cutting point that makes it great for leather, vinyl, and plastics.
• Topstitch Needles - This needle is great for topstitching with heavier threads.

How Nice!

What a nice way to start my day: a note from Emma letting me know that she has featured me on her blog, http://noogalcreations.blogspot.com/. Please check her Etsy shop out, too - what fun feathery and oragami-inspired accessories she's made...

Prayers for Melyssa

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This little number is my version of "prayer flags". I was inspired by the photos of prayer flags that my step-daughter showed me after her trip to Nepal and by the fun garlands that Debra Cooper over at littleblackkittyart makes. But my biggest reason for making this is that one of my very best friends (and college roommates) recently found out that she has lung cancer.

So I set about doing just about the only thing I could think of doing to give her something cheerful to look at in her already quite cheerful home. I came up with as many prayers and quotes and words as I could and scattered them across some happy fabric swatches (of which I have many!).

Now she can stand under these and let them rain down on her.One of Melyssa's passions is birds. So what more appropriate holder of the prayer flag chain than some wire birds with curly streamers flying behind them?

If any of you out there pray, would you please send a prayer up for her? I know she'll feel them...and smile.

BYOCd (Bring Your Own Casserole dish)

I have the good fortune of living in an area loaded with talented, artsy people. And a bigger blessing is that many are my friends. Last weekend, one friend provided her ample studio with sink and microwave and covered tables at the ready. She and another friend bought and brought many silk scarves that were white as snow. A friend of one of those friends brought her dyes, iron and ironing board. And off we went! Jane set to twisting, spiraling and eye-dropping, above....

Alison ironed a beautifully patterned creation ...at the food table! (I think the food tasted better for it, too. )

And I went home with these and more - my first attempt at scarf, or any kind of, dying. It was very fun, indeed.

In the fast lane!

I am a woman of few pins (and many words :)) and usually am willing to forego pins altogether if I think I can get away with it. In the case of my purse organizers, though, there are a few steps where pinning really is necessary and my patience is tested with the constant start/stop of the machine. (Yes, patience has never been my virtue.) The other day, it (finally) dawned on me that I could just put those pins in a little farther away from the outside edge and that would leave enough room for me to blow on by. I could almost feel my hair flapping in the wind as I sewed - ahhhhh!

Shopping for fabric in the comfort of your fuzzy slippers!

I'm getting more accustomed to shopping for fabric online especially since I live 20-30 mins from the local fabric stores. I love to touch fabric, see the colors, take one bolt over to the next aisle and match it with a second bolt. But there is a lot to be said for walking upstairs in my comfy clothes, dogs by my side and hot tea in hand and going on a shopping spree!

Threads Magazine just sent an e-Letter with a list of online resources for fabrics and notions. I have found a few gems , in addition to their list, that I'll share, too:

* Little Cherubs for great medium to high end fabric

* Burkholder's Fabric Store - great prices for designer cotton fabrics

* Fabric Factory - limited selection, but great prices, for upholstery weight fabrics

* Atlanta Thread - super duper prices on Gutterman thread and other notions

So put on your pink fuzzy slippers and...Happy Shopping!

Artistic Worms?!

We live on a very wooded lot in North Carolina and one of the perks for my woodworking husband is the ability to take advantage of the "standing dead or lying living" trees we have. If they are dead or close to it, he often harvests them and sets to work cutting them into manageable boards. Last year, he harvested a cedar tree, took off the outer wood and tossed it aside in our woods. The other day, he was outside and came across this piece and couldn't help but notice the transformation.

Worms have apparently been busy all year leaving their artistic trails all over this piece of cedar. It looks almost like a topographical map or a maze or something. Needless to say, it is no longer lying to rot in our woods. I don't exactly know what we'll do with it, but there just has to be a great way to enjoy it. (This is the same logic I use on just about every object I come across which makes for big problems when one is trying to tame the growing piles of "objects of great potential"!)

Ta Daaaaa!

Well, here is the last project I worked on in my "Memory Cloth" class with Peg Gignoux. During the six weeks, we had played with different techniques including stamping on fabric, sewing pieces together, then cutting those and reassembling in a different way, embellishing...and a bunch of other stuff.

The last class, we made a book (our final technique to play with). I was ambivalent. But, of course, after mine was finished, I loved making a book. I want to do more! So many fun things to do, so little time....

On some of the inside pages I sewed other pieces of paper to the plain paper pages. It made a neat treatment for both sides.

Most all of the paper that I added (that has color, etc), was from something I had done years ago and still had. I chopped it to pieces and loved adding it to the book. And so, here is my very own memory of the class and the wonderful women that were a part of it. Beam :)!