Category: Needlework

Work in Progress–Thoughts

2020 Goal

Complete all work in progress.

Completed stitching together Thoughts piece. Today I will be adding cream wool stitching around entire piece.

Thoughts

Read a couple of weaving books over the holidays and liked the idea of warp threads used to hang woven pieces.

Planning to twine jute twine vertically through the hardware cloth. Yes, I meant to use the word twine twice. Currently thinking attaching the jute warp threads to a thin metal rod. I like the visual of a couple of nail heads holding the lot on the wall.

Jute

Thoughts

Also will add a piece of jute-wrapped rope for the border. Should help to integrate the materials and nicely finish the piece.

This is the border on See a Penny.

Border See a Penny

Previous Posts on Thoughts Piece

Thoughts in Progress, Tuesday, May 14th, 2019

Thoughts in Progress, Thursday, May 16th, 2019

More wallpieces to complete.

Work in Progress

Also have a stash of small 3-D work in progress that needs to be realized.

Weaving on a Little Loom by Fiona Daly

Weaving Within Reach by Anne Weil

In the post I use the words twine and twice. The words look similar. Not just because they start and finish with the same letters, but because the figure-ground is nearly identical. I authored a CD, Appearances can be Deceiving that focuses on figure-ground relationships in a variety of customizable settings.
The CD is available for purchase through Learning Fundamentals.

Who is Left/Loss Piece in Progress

There are three wool blocks used in the piece–lightest is for spacers, tan is for dashes, and brown is for dots.

The quote is based on a Henning Mankell quote, “Who is left to connect me to my earlier life?”

Who Is Left

The removal of the safety pins is based on tap code or a 5×5 code. The code is the single word, “Loss”. An A is 1,1; L is 3,1; O is 3,4; and S is 4,3.

The image shows the removal of safety pins for the letter “S”. A single safety pin is left as a spacer between the four and three removed in the middle row.

Loss

Work in Progress–Who Is Left…

Who is Left… is a piece that has felted wool blocks stitched together with copper wire. The copper wire was removed from a mixer that caught fire.

Who Is Left

The wire replaced safety pins that I had hoped would patina green.

Who Is Left

That didn’t happen, because they weren’t bronze. They became a lovely textural brown.

Who Is Left Brown Safety Oins

Not the result I wanted, but the safety pins will find their way into a future piece.

Solution to patina pennies green
2.0 parts white vinegar
.5 parts salt (non iodized)
1.5 parts clear detergent (free of ammonia)

Solution Instructions
Spray on solution and allow to set for 1 hour. Reapply.
Allow patina to dry to green powdery finish
Patina will set permanently
Allow to set overnight.

I used Sea Salt and All Clear Free. The solution became thick and white, not a sprayable solution. I dipped the piece in the thick solution and squeezed it through the blocks.

Who Is Left

The piece was hung to drain over a plastic bin. Sprayed it multiple times with water. The detergent made a bit of foam. Suspect I will soak the piece in the morning to remove excess detergent.

Who Is Left Water Application

I wrapped the piece in plastic for the night.

Who Is Left in Plastic

Also wrapped the bin with excess solution in plastic to keep it clean for possible application tomorrow.

Now I wait.

Thoughts, Words… In Progress

Today I cut 330 plus pieces of hardware cloth for my Thoughts/Words… piece. The extra pieces are to replace blocks that are not quite right. Sometimes when trimming a block it is possible to break the joint. A broken joint can result in shredded fiber and make it difficult to bind the block. Also, the wire is sharp and can cause wounds.

Hardware Cloth

My gloves don’t appear too damaged.

Gloves

This is how I had my hand taped. I kept adding tape when areas felt a bit stingy. The clear plastic tape on my palm is a horrible product. It gets sticky and leaves a sticky residue after it is removed.

Hand Taped

The tools that I use to cut the hardware cloth and the removed tape.

Removed Tape

And a few blisters.

Hand Blisters

My palm tonight after a day working, making dinner, and washing dishes.

Hand This Evening

Not as annoying as a month after hand surgery. Apparently, when you are told to work as much as you feel up to, they really mean an hour a day, not 6-8 hours per day.

Blue Hand

The result was the inability to work for nearly two months. And certain activities are still challenging. Last week I had a steroid injection to break up the scar tissue. After the bruise and sting went away, my hand is behaving more like a healthy hand.

I really should have spread out the repetitive cutting of hardware. Funny how when you get in the zone, you just keep working.

So, tomorrow I will spend part of the day cutting and perforating 330 pieces of roofing felt. Maybe begin assembling the blocks.

2019 Anniversary Piece

Each year I make an anniversary piece, somewhat of a 3-D greeting card.

2019 Anniversary Piece

2″ x 5.25″ x .75″
1/4″ Hardware Cloth, Wool, Metal Washers, Pennies

2019 Anniversary Code Blocks

Hardware Cloth .25″ X 1.5″ x .25″
Undyed Wool–Brown Dots, Tan Dashes, Cream Spacers.

The background pieces make the code 0527.

0 is 5 Dashes; 5 is 5 Dots; 2 is 2 Dots and 3 Dashes; and 7 is 2 Dashes and 3 Dots.
3 Spacers are placed between each component of the date. Two vertical lengths of cream yarn were inserted through the blocks and bound into the frame.

This is the first time that I stacked code pieces. I really like the result. What if instead of a piece that can be held in your hand, the scale is 5 or 6 feet? Could use my stash of rope in place of yarn. Something to think about.

1983 Penny

2019 Penny

Watch Yourself and Salt Residue

I was rearranging my studio and ran across a beautiful salt residue from a patina used on metal bits.

Salt

Salt

Salt

I used the salt solution on metal bits from a broken veg steamer that I planned to use in the piece Watch Yourself.

Watch Yourself Parts

Why Watch Yourself? Steamers in use are too hot to touch, so be careful. Also the addition of mirror gives the viewer a peek at what they are doing.

The code on used in the piece is based on a combination of Morse and Celtic Tree Code that I used in a previous piece.

Watch Yourself Code

A salt solution was used to add some rust.

Watch Yourself Patina

Watch Yourself Patina

Watch Yourself Patina

Watch Yourself Patina

The other materials in the piece are mirror, linen, and jump rings.

Watch Yourself Patina

To Complete–application of wax, build a cedar box, nail the assembled piece inside the box using existing steamer holes.

Who is left to connect me… Patina

I decided to assemble Who Is Left… and then patina the bronze safety pins and welding rod. I am hoping for the addition of a weeping green, but the wool limits what I can use.

The patina is a solution of dissolved kosher salt in white vinegar.

I folded and rolled the piece in the solution. Then hung it to drip dry.

Who Is Left Vinegar and Salt Patina

Who Is Left Vinegar and Salt Patina

Who Is Left Vinegar and Salt Patina

Who Is Left Vinegar and Salt Patina

Bronze Dagger, Vinegar and Salt Patina Used on Upper Portion

This is a fun little piece that has been on the wall of my studio for several years. It is part of my Cleanse Your Palate series.

Soap Cup

The series is based on negative words and the punishment of washing out your mouth with soap.

I made cups of dried plant materials and fiber. Made silicone molds of the cups.

A clove glycerin soap cup was pulled from each mold.

The wood used for the shelf is from an old garden swing. I carried the wood around for a decade before it found a home in the cup series. The oxidized wire was found in my dad’s shop. Perhaps I learned to save everything, just in case, for some day, from my dad.

A few pieces from the series can be seen on my website, Girl Artist.

Who Is Left to Connect Me… In Progress

Who Is Left

Safety Pins Used–263 small, 9 gourd. The knitted brown pieces are much thinner than the cream and tan pieces. Next time I should use the same stitch for all.

Who Is Left

Cut a length of bronze welding rod for hanging the piece inside box. Current Dimensions–10″ x 20″.

Next–Patina the metal and build a cedar box.

Who Is Left

As stated in a previous post, the quote is from Henning Mankell’s, Firewall.

Who Is Left to Connect Me to My Earlier Life?

The quote is from Firewall, part of the Wallander series written by Henning Mankell.

Tomorrow is the anniversary of my mother’s ischemic stroke. An event that changed everything.

Last year was a challenging year. My younger sister survived her third surgery for oral cancer, but while in recovery had an ischemic stroke. She did not survive.

Two months later my mother had an ischemic stroke. For a few weeks the prognosis was positive-negative, hopeful-no hope. Before summer I lost the two most important women in my life. The women who knew me when I was a child. We grew and changed together.

I am working on a memorial series. Typically I my series have 11 pieces. Several pieces are in progress but not quite completed. Partly the delay in completing work is the result of recovering from hand surgery. Still do not have my fine motor skill and manual dexterity in my dominant hand.

I using fiber to embroider on hardware cloth for my code blocks. Holding a needle for extended periods of time still causes hand and finger pain. Needed to figure out alternative ways for making things. Since I can loom knit, decided to give that a go. This will also be the first piece in a long time that does not have hardware cloth. It is a good thing to break a dependence on a material.

Who is Left…, will still have a metal component. The plan is to use safety pins to assemble the blocks. The safety pins will also add the possibility of green patina running down the piece.

Blocks
There are three colors of wool blocks: 41 tan for dashes, 51 dark brown for dots, and 52 cream for spacers. The 144 blocks will be laid out on a 9 x 16 grid.

Layout

Knit Pattern–Dash 41 Tan Wool Blocks

Cast On E-wrap
Knit E-wrap

R1 Skip, K5, Flat Knit
R2 Skip, K, S, K, S, K, Flat Knit
R3 Skip, K5, Flat Knit
R4 Skip, S, K, S, K, S, Flat Knit

Pattern rolls.

Knit Pattern–Dot 51 Dark Brown Wool Blocks

Cast On E-wrap
Knit E-wrap

R1 Skip, K, P, K, P, K, Flat Knit
R2 Skip, P, K, P, K, K, Flat Knit
R3 Skip, P, K, P, K, K, Flat Knit
R4 Skip, K, P, K, P, K, Flat Knit

Knit Pattern–Spacers 52 Cream Wool Blocks

Cast On E-wrap
Knit E-wrap
Only Knit Purl Stitches
R1 Skip, K, P, K, P, K, Flat Knit
R2 Skip, P, K, P, K, K, Flat Knit
R3 Skip, K, P, K, P, K, Flat Knit
R4 Skip, P, K, P, K, K, Flat Knit

Swatches

Knitted Swatches with Cotton Cord Separating Blocks After First Fulling

Blocks

Blocks for Code

Scraps

The scraps are random sizes, might be fun to stitch together to make letters in a different code piece.
Been thinking about learning to use my mother’s sewing machine.

Scraps

The blocks were fulled, not felted. Loops for pegs still visible.

Safety Pins
I ordered two types of bronze 3/4″ safety pins from amazon:

Household Mall 3/4-Inch Safety Pins, Bronze (1440 Pieces)

Firefly Bronze Metal Gourd Pin (1000 Pieces)

Received the Household Bronze pins. They are beautiful!

Safety Pins

Safety Pin Detail

Waiting to assemble the piece until I see the Bronze Gourd Pins.

10 April They Arrived…

Gourd Pin

Gourd Pin

The extra space in the curve of the pin might work better with the thickness of the wool blocks.

The safety pins would be lovely for use in the i-cord bowl series I am planning to make. The title is Collected Memories. Got the idea when going through my parents’ collections found in random drawers.

A few years ago I dinked around with the idea of i-cord bowls. Wasn’t the time to develop the work. Maybe I was waiting for bronze safety pins.

Brown Bowl with Safety Pins

Cream Bowl with Safety Pins

According to the email I received from amazon, I may not receive the gourd safety pins until April 12th. So, I patiently wait for the order to arrive.