The revisited stash

New work

2008-12-18T08:17:00.001-08:00

These days I was ill and couldn't work in my studio so that I began with a project I planned some time ago. I want to recycle my old stitched table cloths, doilies, etc giving them a new life.

I have wonderful tablecloths stitched by my grandmother with her own designs or designs from the early 20th century waiting for this.

This piece was a linen place mat with a flower stitchery and lace all around. It's not finished yet.

I used all I found laying around me and enjoyed the act of stitching very much (while watching some Christmas films on TV).

I think I will use more "fauna" next year, not only faces and people.

The photo is not very good because I took it in my living room and it's snowing outside...

Recycling and beginning

2008-11-10T04:03:00.001-08:00

I can see this piece also from its recycling side. There are so many forgotten materials in our stash. Some even because they are too "precious" to use. There are forgotten blocks, forgotten weaved fabrics, we forget so much. The colors of most of them - in my case - are not jewel colors or pastel ones. Most of them are from an earlier time where everything was more subdued. But they are there, they are calling for having a revival in my work. They can also be a symbol of recycling because recycling is not about following the trend but setting a trend. To make something new, perhaps pioneering into a new art era.

Dieses Stück kann man von seiner Recyclingseite auch ansehen. Es sind so viele vergesserne Materialien in unserem Lager. Manche sogar, weil sie zu "kostbar" erschienen. Es gibt vergessene Blocks, vergessene Gewebe, wir vergesser so viel. Ihre Farbe - in meinem Fall - ist nicht kräftig oder pastell. Die Meisten sind erdig, von einer Zeit wo alles war dezenter. Aber sie sind da und schreien nach einer Auferstehung. Sie können auch ein Symbol für Recycling sein, da Recycling ist auch den Trend nicht zu befolgen sondern zu setzen. Etwas Neues machen, vielleicht eine neue Kunstära andeuten.

Vest tutorial - Weste Erklärung

2008-10-28T02:43:00.001-07:00

Here I explain how to do this vest.

I had an old grey pullover, rather big because I wanted to do a poncho à la Frida Kahlo for using at my studio on top of other things when it gets real cold.

Hier erkläre ich, wie ich die Weste gemacht habe.

Ich hatte einen grauen Pullover, ziemlich groß, da ich einen Poncho à la Frida Kahlo machen wollte, so dass ich im Studio nicht friere.

I laid the pullover on a cutting mat and cut it like this:

Ich legte den Pulli auf eine Schneidematte und habe ihn so geschnitten:

As you see, I cut the sleeve to make it a rectangle. I sew the rectangle to the sides of the central piece:

Wie man sieht, habe ich die Ärmel so geschnitten, dass sie Rechtecken geworden sind. Diese habe ich auf den Seiten der Vorder- und Rückenseiten genäht:

I cut an old headscarf in 2 rectangles to use them as you see in the next picture.

I punched red wool from the back of the rectangles to give them some fullness. I appliqué flowers and stems over them and then punched them all around- overlapping them about 1/2" (1,5cm) -on top of the sleeves openings.

I also punched a square piece of headscarf on top of the head opening (without punching red wool on it!), after that I cut the round form of the collar on the top.

Ich schnitt einen alten Kopftuch in Rechtecken für die Ärmel und punchte rote Wolle auf ihrem Rücken, um dem Stoff mehr Körper zu geben. Ich applizierte Blumen und Blätter mit dem Embellisher. Ich legte das Stück - wie auf dem Bild zu sehen ist - 1,5 cm über dem Armausschnitt.

Ich punchte auch ein Rechteck vom Kopftuch auf der Halsöffnung (ohne rote Wolle!) und schnitt wieder die Form vom Halsausshnitt nach dem Punchen.

I made a felted surface out of some purple wool, cut it in stripes about 1/2" (1,5 cm) wide and punched them on top of the borders of the headscarf punched pieces.

Ich habe eine gefilzte Oberfläche in Lika gepuncht. Dann habe ich sie in Streifen von ca. 1,5 cm geschnitten und rund um die Kopftuchapplikationen gepuncht (von oben).

This was a prototype for a knitted piece I'm preparing!

Dieses war ein Prototyp für eine Strickweste, die ich gerade stricke!

What if #3 - Was wäre wenn 3

2008-09-27T09:20:00.000-07:00

This was a try on making a kind of 3D surface working flat. I noticed that if you work around a center the surface tends to curl. I will use it for a new piece. At the moment it looks more like a frog.

Dieses war ein Versuch, eine 3D Form zu erzeugen. Ich merkte, dass - wenn man in Runden arbeitet -die Fläche nachgibt und wird zu einem Hut. Ich werde dieses Stück für mein neues Werk verwenden. Momentan sieht es aus wie ein Frosch.

What if #2 - Was wäre wenn 2

2008-09-26T02:08:00.001-07:00

My second experiment was doing two crochet bands out of chain stitches to punch over the semi circle because I wanted them to protrude more than the wool strands on the background of the center piece.

Mein zweites Experiment war zwei gehäkelten Bänder rund um den Halbkreis zu punchen. Ich wollte, dass sie wichtiger als die Wollstrände vom Mittelteilhintergrund ausfallen.

What if #1 - Was wäre wenn 1

2008-09-26T01:58:00.001-07:00

In this piece I used satin stitch to appliqué the doily. It is a way of adding interest to the piece besides bonding it to the surface.

I also used a length of knitting material to cover the edge of the quilted piece. I did this with running stitches.

In diesem Stück habe ich ein Füllstich oder Satinstich zum Applizieren vom Deckchen verwendet.

Die Kante vom Patchworkstück habe ich mit Strickmaterial/wolle dekoriert, die ich mit Vorstichen appliziert habe.

New purpose on this blog - Neues auf diesem Blog

2008-09-26T01:56:00.000-07:00

Whatiffing - Technikversuche

Actually my work is a permanent whatiffing à la Jude. Yesterday I had no time to comment this but now I would like to add that there are some "what ifs" on my WOP. For instance the combination of quilting with felting and the appliqué of the doily.

Also an increased use of crazy adds of pieces on all ends of the central piece. I do this very often but this time I really thought about them as being crazy added. The necessity or tendency to embellish the borders of the seams were not as strong as in the original technique because of the melting of materials that happens with the punching.

I also used some fabrics from Jude on it and I loved this kind of intercommunication that added more meaning to the endeavor.

I like the idea of whatiffing not only about crazy quilting and I want to add a section about this to my blog. I will use my second blog "The revisited Stash" to do this. As I'm using all materials I have at home without buying new ones, included old clothes and such stuff, all my pieces are actually recycled ones and I noticed after a while that I couldn't make such a difference between the two blogs.

Whatiffing will give the second blog a new purpose.

Dieser Eintrag bezieht sich auf einen Vorschlag von Jude, eine neue Form des Stickens/Quiltens zu forschen, in der man freie Techniken ausprobiert, die man sich selber ausdenkt. Alles ist frei und offen zum Experimentieren. Es könnte der Anfang einer neue Phase des Stickens/Quiltens/Nähen...

Sie erklärt ihre Idee in ihrem Blog "What if", ich kann es nur empfehlen.

Auch in meinem laufenden Projekt, das ich gestern vorgestellt habe, habe ich neue Möglichkeiten der Arbeit ausprobiert, wie die Kombination von Patchwork und Filzen und das Appliqué vom Deckchen. Auch die Art in der ich neue Stücke von Stoff rund um das Mittelmotiv dazu gab.

Ich werde meinen zweiten Blog "The revisited Stash" dazu verwenden, diese Versuche nieder zu schreiben und Fotos davon zu zeigen.

Emily's Work - Emily's Tagebuch

2008-07-18T03:53:00.001-07:00

Emily did this wonderful diary for her friend. She used things she found in the woods.

The fasteners and the inner spine are made from parts of an old show she found, she also decorated it with 3 teeth from some animal's bones (now I will scan the woods looking for this animal because they are lovely!!), a feather,...

She learned to knit just a couple of weeks ago and she knitted the cover making some bumps and details. She is so gifted and her imagination has no limits! She did all by hand because she didn't want to use the sewing machine.

Emily machte dieses wunderbare Tagebuch für ihr Freund. Sie benutzte Sachen, die sie im Wald gefunden hatte.

Der Verschluß und die Blätterbefestigung sind aus einem alten Lederschuh, der im Wald lag. Sie dekorierte auch das Stück mit 3 Zähnen von einem Tier (deren Knochen ich auch ab jetzt im Wald suchen werde! :-)), mit einer Feder, usw.

Sie hat gerade zum Stricken gelernt und hat den Deckel des Tagebuches mit verschiedenen Mustern gestrickt. Sie ist so begabt und hat eine tolle Fantasie!

Sie nähte alles mit der Hand!

Size of the piece - Größe des Stückes

2008-07-14T00:49:00.001-07:00

This throw is going to be about 140x200 cm (55"x 80"). You see you can work very far with 12 needles! You can imagine the size if you think that the face is as big as a human face.

Diese Decke wird ca. 140 x 200 cm sein. Man sieht, wie weit man mit 12 Nadeln geht! Man kann sich die Größe vorstellen, wenn man denkt, dass das Gesicht so groß wie ein Menschengesicht ist.

And here the sun - Und hier die Sonne

2008-07-10T09:03:00.001-07:00

This is now the sun. I could do it because I got yesterday my new embellisher with 12 needles!!
Read about it in my other blog.

The photo isn't very good because of the light.

I did the face with needle felting (one needle!) on a punched surface and I also used the Clover felting tool for some situations...

I loved the way the new Babylock punched the flowers into the fabric!

Now I must embroider the sun.

Das ist jetzt die Sonne. Ich habe sie machen können, da ich gestern meinen neuen Embellisher mit 12 Nadeln bekommen habe. Mehr dazu auf meinem anderen Blog.

Das Photo ist nicht sehr gut wegen dem Licht.

Ich habe das Gesicht mit einer Filznadel mit der Hand gemacht - auf einer gepunchte Oberfläche- und ich verwendete dazu auch das Clover Filzgerät.

Ich liebe, wie die neue Babylock die Stoffe der Blumen in die Wolle gepuncht hat.

Jetzt muß ich noch die Sonne besticken.

More details - Mehr Details

2008-07-10T08:22:00.000-07:00

I added more Details to this part of the throw. The red silk dots. A braid on the border. The wings of the birds and the saddle of the "animals".

Also I did a huge piece around the border that is going to be what I'll show in the next post.

Ich habe mehr Details zu diesem Teil der Decke dazu gegeben. Die rote Seidenpunkte. Die eingebaute Borte im Rand, die Flügel der Vögel und die Satteln der "Tiere".

Man sieht schon ein Stück des großes Stückes, dass ich auch machte, aber darüber möchte ich im nächsten Beitrag erzählen.

Sun face - Sonnengesicht

2008-07-10T00:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had much fun with my gradchildren. They stayed at my studio while thir mother and some friends took a "Pies Workshop" with my farm assistant Emily.

Now we have a second farm assistant we already knew, Magali, from France who's also a beautiful girl, well... now you only see her with the mask on the last picture but you can see her wonderful art tattoo!

The sun face is for my recycling throw and the pies are for... you can guess!! :-)

Gestern haben wir viel Spaß mit den Enkeln. Sie waren in meinem Studio während der Mutter besuchte einen "Pie Workshop" mit unserer Biopraktikantin Emily.

Jetzt habe ich eine zweite Praktikantin, die wir schon kannten, Magali aus Frankreich, die auch toll ist. Na ja... jetzt sieht man auf dem Foto nur ihre Tatöwierung, eine super künstliche!

Das Sonnengesicht ist für meine Recycling-decke und die Pies sind für... was glaubt Ihr?! :-)

Border - Rand

2008-07-09T00:03:00.000-07:00

This is not an outer border but an inner border. It is a WOP so I will work today on it.

Dieser ist ein Innenrand und nicht ein Außenrand. Ich arbeite gerade noch daran.

Humid weather

2008-07-06T01:10:00.001-07:00

It was very damp this night in my studio. See what happened to my throw! :-)

...just for fun.

Stitching and quilting

2008-07-05T10:44:00.001-07:00

The photos are better seen large!

I would like to show you how things develop. This is going to be a very huge piece if you think that the whole piece I have till now is about 1/15th of the whole.

This first photo is about embroidery changes to the punched ladies. I want the piece to look folkloric in some way. I'm getting more colors in it but very carefully... I think it's ging to grow more and more colorfull, a transition from earth to sky. The ladies have roots and everything's earthy here...

You can also see in the next photos how the background is coming to life. There is the self dyed thread and the stitches that bond the surface to a flannel piece. I'm going to use parcial background pieces and sew them after I quilt them. I don't like to handle huge pieces while quilting and stitching. It's too hot and my shoulders won't like it!

The inner part of the next picture really seems to glow if you see it large. The contrast of the dyed colors with the natural color of the wool is something I love.

The medaillon on the next picture is a piece of a paysley headscarf. It melted nicely into the wool.

I also enjoyed doing this kind of folk stripes in the middle of the sweater ribs. I also used the fabric for the appliqué. I'm enjoying so much that all these fabrics and materials were hidden for years in my stash!

Continuing the throw...

2008-07-04T08:52:00.001-07:00

I'm working on this because it's such a challenge to see what I do next. I now put some borders on it in order to have some line to lean on. I just couldn't resist putting the 4 ladies on one of them. The ribbed border is the bottom of a sweater. I also added a checked wool piece and an organza piece on top of it to change the structure.

I did some holes with buttonhole stitch and a kind of rib .

And these are the ladies I'm stitching on now.

I also did a circle around the sun using a kind of whipped spiders wheel stitch. I liked to do that and I'm going to use it more in the future.

I love the textures that arise and playing with possibilities. This is a huge sampler of "what ifs" like Jude says. It is going to be a keepsake.

I'm already struggling with the backing because I want it to have one. The bis question is:
at what time shall I begin with it?. There are many possibilities:

to add smaller pieces of fabric as you go and let them be bonded with the stitching (disadvantage: there is much space between the stitching due to the appliqué)
a big piece at the end and hand quilting (disadvantage: I don't like to handle big pieces, specially if it's hot)
a big piece at the end and machine quilting/stitching between the lines and appliqués (advantage: a kind of trapunto - disadvantage: once more the space bethween the trapuntos, this would made a pattern in the pattern without a concept)
??

My recycling journal

2008-07-03T10:18:00.001-07:00

This is going to be my journal about my recycling-recycled-art.

Newly I have the want to create art out of my immense stash of material. There are so many things in my storage place that want to be included in some piece.

It is the birth of a new era that began with this:

I have about 5 jars of this kind of buttons and I don't know how many of another kinds...

I am thinking already for a long time how can I work differently, without having a negative impact on the planet. The 100-300 years we all should live to use our stash (plus what you buy in all the 100-300 years so that you would need 1000 years next time, plus....) together with a little bit of common sense are also good arguments.

So I began a piece without knowing where it would take me. Now it looks like this:

I used wool, fabric rests, some wonderful fabric pieces I got today from Mary (thank you Mary for your wonderful piece and all the goodies!!), threads I bought years ago in Czeckoslovakia, a yoyo that laid there, a piece of an old jumper...

Here you see some details:

I am quite happy with the result. I got caught in the middle of the process and had to try different things. The idea in the beginning was very simple but I'm not that simple I think!
Now I'm thinking that it would be a nice fabric for a jacket...

I also tried the system in color

but I noticed it's not for me. Too many decisions to make.

I will keep it simple and continue in the colors of nature... And I think it's going to be a throw or a sheep. Why a sheep? because in the process I thought I was turning everything back to the source. I was adding wool to wool, horn buttons, thread, and making something out of them. As if you pieced something in all of it parts and then put all together again...

This is also a technique I can only recommend. Use wool to make an own fabric of memory.