well-crafted

Messes made pretty

I’ve had these old, sort of foamy/plastic-y placemets kicking around the kitchen for years. They became too gross to use for eating a very long time ago and now are meant for art projects. Just before school started, we squeezed in our traditional summer-break tie-dye session and used the backs of these as a surface for each kid to work on their shirt. While I was cleaning up, I noticed how truly gorgeous they have become. I wonder how it would look to print these photos on art paper and frame them as a grouping like small paitings.

Tiny wool ring

Lauren “doodled” this ring during an assembly at art camp this summer with a small piece of yarn. I think it’s so beautiful.

Crazy Beautiful

Wow! These felted animals by Victor Dubrovsky are unbelievably gorgeous. See the whole set here.

All images property of Victor Dubrovsky.

His new medium

 

 

 

Will has been playing around with Illustrator lately and I’m loving the results. From top: The Vampire, Untitled 6, Storm.

From Grandpa, to Grandson

My Dad makes knives. For years he has meticulously crafted these beautiful objects, mostly for fun and sometimes for profit. Kirk is the proud owner of one, as are other family members and family friends.

And now Will has his very own knife. It was a gift made especially for him on his 8th birthday last month. By special request and made to fit his smaller hands. From Grandpa to Grandson. To say Will was thrilled to receive it would be an understatement. He is very proud and enjoys telling people all about it. “My Grandpa made this knife for me. Get it? He didn’t buy it, he made it!”

I made reference in a recent post, to working on a special project with my Dad. It was this sheath, or scabbard (not sure what the difference is). Participating in this part of the gift made it that much more meaningful. And it was a blast! I learned a lot about leather working (and thus added to my ever-growing list of ‘things I want to make and do’, specifically this. But I digress!). More photos of the process and the finished but un-dyed product here.

I have been feeling really grateful to have this work of art in our home and will cherish it for many years to come. It really is a family treasure.

A note about safety: Will is never allowed to use the knife without close and proper adult supervision and we continue to teach him about about the correct way to use it. The knife is kept in a safe and secret place in mine and Kirk’s room so we always know when it’s out.

A final note: if you are interested in having a knife for yourself or someone you love, my Dad does take custom orders. We are working on getting a Big Cartel site up and running for him, but in the meantime you can let me know and I will put you in touch with him.

Update: you can see more knives here.

In my dreams and other places

A few years ago, I picked up a book about Nancy Crow and fell in love with the work she’s done using her own hand-dyed fabric. (Just try not to).

And last year, I discovered Shabd’s work and was instantly smitten. (So gorgeous it hurts).

Since then I have thought a lot about hand-dyed fabric and all the beautiful things I could make—and haven’t done a damned thing about it. Our annual summer tie-dye session last month renewed my passion and shortly thereafter I began dreaming—quite literally—about dyeing fabric. I dreamt I had a dedicated studio very much like this one, and this one. It was awesome. The next morning I started sketching a little plan for converting the former laundry space in our basement which turned into a good exercise in patience and appreciation for everything I already have…

But the tie-dying was fun! The kids—including a cousin and friend or two—did their usual T-shirts and a couple of pairs of socks (and leggings for Lauren). They are big fans of the classic spiral and bulls-eye, but I favor the more free-form scrunch method and convinced Lauren to do one of her shirts that way. Will invented his own folding technique.

After everything was set aside for the required 24-hour period (excruciating) and all the littles had moved on to other activities, I found myself alone with a generous amount of dye left over. I grabbed a few yards of grey Kona cotton and started squirting and scrunching with no plan at all in mind. While resting in its plastic bag, it looked exactly like a bag of rotten salad greens…

But look how it turned out! It's really darker than it looks here but overall very lovely. I am hoping to make Lauren a First-Day-of-School dress with it—if I can make time in the next week.

OCAC is offering a class this fall on working with natural dyes, but it’s so expensive and I’m trying to save for one of these so I don’t think I’ll be doing that.

Sigh. So many projects…

And good grief, don’t even get me started on weaving.

Kogin

I have recently become enamored with Japanese Kogin embroidery. Isn’t it gorgeous? I’d really love to get this book or one of these kits.

Photo credits clockwise from upper left: aya*studio, emma creations, sri threads.

Auction Quilt

For the last two years that Will has attended our neighborhood school, I have enjoyed working on art projects with his class for the school’s annual auction. This year we made an art quilt. The theme was about their dreams of what they wanted to be when they grow up. Each child was given a muslin block and some fabric markers, crayons and pens with which to create a self-portrait about their future. They all did such a nice job on their blocks (so colorful!) and the final product turned out so beautiful.

I can't say enough good things about the materials we used for the drawings. The fabric markers and crayons are fantastic. They do not wash out or fade at all. And they didn’t bleed into the fabric either—they made very crisp lines. I will definitely use them again for other similar projects. (we’ve already got a family art-quilt in the planning stages).

For the printed blocks with text, I did a lot of research and experimentation to find the best solution which would not wash out or fade because I wanted the type to be really sharp and readable. The final winner was this product. I ironed my pre-washed, Bubble-Jet soaked Kona cotton onto a sheet of freezer paper then trimmed it to fit my printer. Printed out my design, let it sit overnight, then peeled it off of the paper and rinsed it in Bubble Jet Rinse. After drying, the ink was set. I did several test washes without any noticeable fading. Miraculous. Get some and try it! (The weird moire here is a result of the photography. It is not part of the design).

A couple of shots of the quilt in progress:

Close-ups of some of the individual blocks:

Cowboy.

Gymnast.

Soccer player (Will’s).

Cheerleader.

Race car driver.  

Egyptologist.

Teacher.

Entertainer.

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A final note: Kirk surprised me the night of the event and placed the winning bid on the quilt—something I did not expect at all—so we got to bring it home with us! Will was super happy about it and was found spending much of the following day like this: