Drought

Our Governor has officially declared us to be in drought conditions.  For some reason it took him quite a while to do this, and still there are no restrictions on water usage being imposed, at least here.  The reservoirs are quite low and not being refilled by snow in the Sierras, or by rain elsewhere.  The Central Valley is dry as a bone and our beautiful hills are brown, not green as they should be.  Yesterday, while we were at the dog park, lots of sirens went off...a fire in the hills...quickly out, thanks to our alert Fire Departments.  Today the winds are blowing.

This is (unfinished) rain cloth #2:

I decided to make small Prayers for Rain prints...to hang on trees, put in library books, give to friends, just deposit here and there...

This is a little leaf that settled on the dashboard of my car...a friend commented about how similar the shape of the raindrop is to a candle flame...for hope...for rain...

And here's Miss Gilly at the dog park, sniffing around...

xoxo, s.

Two Oh One Four

Happy New Year dear readers...

Blogger has announced to me that I've made 150 posts, and I want to celebrate by having a giveaway!  Please stay tuned for details...first I have to make the present...

Lately I've been so aware of how much we need rain here, so I've embarked on a rain cloth series...so far there is just this one...a prayer for nice wet nourishing RAIN:

Thank you all for stopping by...it makes me so happy!   I wish all the best for each of you...affection, peace, laughter and nourishment...with love from Gilly and me   xoxo,s.

Cheer!

Hello dear readers,  Although having been quite absent from our blogging village, I've been busy...this is a brief catch-up as well as a hope to be more present in the future.  On a cross country trip in November, the idea popped into my head to have a show/sale at my house; there were many stumbling blocks, but it happened, and was grand!  It was VERY lovely to have friends over and to see what everything from the past few years looked like on display. What follows is a very incomplete survey but...here's the front door.

2 of the necklaces:

(twined string, thank you Jude and India!)

5 scarves I dyed using India's techniques:

Here's the quilt for my grandson Liam that I work on on the long train trip (it was draped over a chair for the showing):

(It just needs a little more around the top and bottom edge and then QUILTING!)

An Italian cookie, with hand-made almond paste and persimmon jam between layers.  I wish you were here to each have one, or maybe two?  as they turned out to be rather tasty.

The Angel of the New Light and the Unknown.  She/he is very small but mighty, and I think is responsible for giving me the idea for this event...

And now, with a big wish for joy to you and those you love, is Miss Gilly-Marie, all freshly laundered and with newly clipped toenails...

Merry Christmas (and all holidays) to you from us...may the New Year bring you love, peace and happy inquiry... xoxo, s.

More experiments

This has turned into a big adventure.  The best dyeing results from my backyard were the nice browns that happened when I tossed apple and maple leaves into the pot, along with the bundles. 

Above is the astonishing marigold bush that grew out of a very small pot from the nursery. The flowers make a warm yellow in a bundle, but I've only tried very small amounts. That's my wondrous first ever lemon tree in the background.

So far my method is to make the bundle...it seems to work best to use moist wool, sprayed with a weak vinegar solution...boil, or simmer it for about an hour, hang it up to drip dry, then let it dry in the oven, where, due to the pilot light, it's quite warm, overnight.  Then pop out of bed and open it before breakfast.

Here are a couple drying and looking prehistoric:

This is today's bundle which is partly clamped with old pennies and round plastic shapes to see if that will yield something interesting:

This cloth was previously dyed (by me), but I'm hoping to deepen the color. It's a fine Italian wool challis or crepe. I've been rolling the cloth around PVC pipes, but this one I tried using two lengths of pipe and an overcloth.  We'll see what happens! I just took it out of the pot, so results won't be available for a couple of days.

Now, some results.  These are 4 light wool scarves (ordered from Christine Mauersburger's Hank and Spool), dyed with an assortment of leaves...the browns are from my backyard leaf fall; the wonderful orange imprint comes from local eucalyptus leaves.  (The persimmon is from the tree in the front of the house.  I haven't yet figured out how to persuade much color to come out of its leaves.) 

I have been reading and re-reading India's book Eco Colour for guidance about all this, and especially about Eucalyptus, of which there is a LOT around here.  Not all of them are beloved by the local inhabitants, but by the freeway grows this tree, a Eucalyptus Pulverulenta (I think), from which I harvested windfall, yielding the results above:

And here is Miss Gilly, watching the crows circle around the persimmon tree.  The fruit on top is quite ripe and the birds are feasting regularly.  Also the raccoons.  But so far no one has bothered the ones I set out on the window sill to ripen.  What a harvest this year!

First experiments

Here is my little back porch set-up!

First results...apple leaves yielded the yellowish, and maple leaves gave off this lovely pink:

Next, concord grapes and avocado skins:

This is a little bit of the above that I rinsed and hung out in the sun for a while to see what would happen:

All of these I did in a little copper pot...boiled the bundles a little, let them sit overnight and then I dried them in the oven, which is always warm due to the pilot light.

I also made a scarf but don't have pix yet.  Next experiments will be with steaming bundles!

There was a memorial service out at my favorite farm for Barbara, the matriarch.  I will miss her.  Here are the donkeys...they weren't feeling too sociable, but I can't go there without taking a picture of them, and they kind of know that, so they didn't run off altogether.

And here is Gilly who is learning to play ball!  (sorry for the fuzzy photo) I thought that, in a way, except for her hair, and the fact that she's a dog, and a few other factors, she looks a bit like a proud penguin who has just produced an egg...

That's all for now...I'm going to the ocean for a spell.  Love to all.

Home

It was a good trip (understatement). The drive to Lopez Island was long and HOT but what a fine destination!  There are wonderful photos on India's blog,  Susan's blog here, and Christi's blog here.  I have only a few to add.  This is one of my wool bundles...I was so surprised at how the wool responded to the color...I think this might have been madrone.  (note taking is something I hope to get better at)

Here are some of the nine-patch cloths hanging in the barn (we had some rain!)

Below is my nine-patch.  Christi brought purple carrots which donated such superb color...there was a copper pipe down the middle of the two in the middle and a tea bag contributed the orange in those.  The wool pieces are top left and the three on the bottom.

After we managed to sew them all together and admired our handiwork,  India suggested we chop them up.  AACK!! (one vertical cut down the middle, and one horizontal across the middle), then rearrange the pieces to make a "disappearing nine-patch". Here's how mine turned out:

I love it that in three short days we made such a wonderful big piece (I've been making tiny things for awhile). And I loved sitting in Patsy's garden cottage stitching all together. This silky wooly cloth blows beautifully in the breeze...perhaps eventually it will turn into a lap robe.

We also learned to make string and a really nifty folded paper bag to put flat treasures in!!

Alas, we three off-islanders, who had all stayed together at Raiti's, had to wait for and board the ferry then wave goodbye to this lovely place:

We had dinner together in Anacortes, then went our separate ways.  The drive home was quite beautiful except for one monster rainstorm in which the trucks didn't slow down one bit.  So rude. But then the sun came out and Mt. Shasta was more beautiful than ever, hovering hovering, blessing the wayfarers.

And then sooner and later, I slipped into my home driveway!  The next morning I went out and bought a hot plate for cooking bundles made from very local vegetation.  So far I've made a few, and realize there is lots to learn. Today,  I carried home some eucalyptus branches that had been pruned along the path Gilly and I followed for our afternoon ramble.

Equinox, full moon and International Peace Day.  All at once.

(moon through the remaining apple leaves which are being harvested for color!)

I've had an idea.  What if I spend a year making little prayer flags using techniques from this workshop and Jude's classes?  How many could I make by the next International Peace Day? 100??  What would become of them...I could think about that later, but meanwhile I'm about to start #12, if you count all those little embroideries from before.  Hmmm....it's just a thought, a question.

Anyway, in other news, on the equinox we also had our first much needed rainstorm of the season. Here is Gilly in a state of wild-eyed ecstasy as Her Wetness nests herself into the bed.

That's all for now dear readers!  Love to you from me!

Heading home

What a wonderful workshop!  Will post photos when I'm home...am back in Ashland now.  I have eco-dyed fingernails and a happy heart.