dye batch # 5

I guess I'd better start sewing.

dye batch # 4

dye batch # 3

And the next round of hand-dyed fabrics. Since I still can't handle the ziplocs very well, I bought plastic containers to throw in my fabrics. And now I'm kind of wondering why I ever bothered with those plastic baggies.

dye batch # 2

And again, all of these came out of the same bucket.

out of the dye pot

They all came out of the same bucket. Thank you to Terri Stegmiller for her fabulous tutorial. I'm so very happy that I can dye fabric again. Up until now I felt that my left arm and hand were too (stroke-)weak to do a good dye job. And I still feel too clumsy to do it my usual way, which involves ziploc baggies. But I felt brave enough to face my dye powders with one of Terri's methods.

checking in

It seems that I'm not only extremely introverted and shy IRL (even more so after the stroke), but that it transcends to my online life too.

I have been quilting over the last two months. I'm no longer interested in commercially printed fabric, so I used up the stash that I accumulated in the '90s. Since I'm in Europe and buying fabric here is quite expensive (I imported my stash from the USA, since it used to be less expensive than buying fabric from the few local quilt shops), and I used to quilt a lot earlier in my life, the stash I had left wasn't too big anymore. I managed to strip piece/cut/strip piece/cut/etc. nine quilts (I pieced front and back) in the style of the one in the photo below. I didn't even bother to take photos of them all (and four were already given as gifts). All that I have left now is a small stash of batiks, which I'll probably mix in with my hand dyed fabric until it's used up. And then it will be hand dyed fabric only, plus maybe some solids thrown in, or recycled clothing. For now at least.

The second picture is a table runner that "happened" during the strip piecing process. Back in the '80s I hand quilted *1* quilt, everthing else I've done since then was machine quilted. This is the first piece I hand quilted again. Since I'm doing it for my own pleasure and gifts only, I hand quilt without a care in the world. No tiny or evenly sized stitches here, and I still love the resulting look. The Quilt Police can bite me!

hand embroidery

john and fanny - a tender courtship

cotton, silk, linen, embroidery floss; hand sewing, hand embroidery

hand embroidery

unforgiven

dyed cottons, batiks, embroidery floss; hand sewing, hand embroidery
has yet to be finished in some way

and a new background to stitch on

stitching and drawing

Inspired by one of Jude Hill's classes, I've been handstitching, now drawing eyes mostly with Inktense pencils, then wetting them to make them permanent. What a trip for this "if I can't do it by machine, I won't do it at all" woman.

good mail day

16 meters of linen and cotton goodness, for dyeing and stitching and who knows what else. I want to take a bath in it.

stroked

I feel my focus shifting, a strong need to pet fabric emerged, instead of painting on paper and canvas.

In about three weeks the first "anniversary" of the stroke comes up. Some things have dramatically changed for the better, mostly physical. And though I expect to recover even more, I have to get used to the fact that I will never recover to my pre-stroke status. But then again, my real problem is my mental and emotional state. Depression, anxiety, panic attacks, PTSD, no driving, not being able to care for my autistic son anymore (but "people" seem to expect me to), a daughter who isn't well, etc., etc.

Anyway, this is the backside of a thread painting piece I had sitting here (never liked it). It's about 21,5 cm x 27 cm / ~ 8,5 x 10,5". It was machine quilted and today I grabbed it and started drawing and hand stitching on it. Acrylic, ink, Copic markers and embroidery floss. I'm not sure if it's finished.

silkmood and color

swedish therapy