3/30

I haven't posted in a while.... first, I'd changed gears from bags to books... then I went to Idaho skiing, which was wonderful, but I came back with a torn ACL (ouch!)... and since I have been felting felting felting... I nuno felted this little beauty yesterday evening... from hand dyed roving in warm chili pepper colors. This one is really sheer and I think suitable for spring weather.I had some green silk sheer that forms the internal body for this green and white scarf... Silk and pure merino wool make this one light as a feather and soft as well

Here these two are hanging from a door... I love the little bits of felted wool I tossed in for texture...

this is my personal favorite.... probably because it looks so good on me... pale blues and soft grays, sheer crepe inlays for added strength, color, and interest...

And another green... for this one I used four different colors of roving and intermingled them with sheer silk strips... really turned out beautifully.

Again, this is a longer view of the two above... all these scarves are a bit smaller than what I had made a year ago... this time around 10x60... I think I like them smaller... there is less bulk and they seem to drape better.

Now the books... G-son W. decorated the paper for the cover of this one... he ironed the brown paper for the pages as well...

even though I am the one who sewed the whole thing together and added the button... this book is really his. measures 5 and a half by 8

A bigger book - 7x9 - covered in a leather look and feel upholstery fabric - and ties with a leather thong.

lots of creamy colored pages

and a really nice paper to for the inside cover

another book.... whoops, didn't put in the front cover, which is painted... this is Katie's favorite in the bunch measures 6x8

and this one is my favorite... covered in a leather look upholstery fabric - embellished with a stitched on, stamped copper rectangle and

loaded with two tone papers.... this one is soft and flexible and leaves plenty of space to write... measures 5 1/2 by 8

and last... another faux leather and copper book.... with a leather thong to hold it closed

80 lb white paper make this a great drawing book. 7 1/2 x 6

5 bags

I have made it through almost every recycled sweater I have on hand... the only one left is a white cable... beautiful and soft... think it might like being something other than a bag. Some of these bags were beginning to go south and I just let go a little more and did some experimenting and brought them back....
I wore this sweater for years and finally decided it was too short-too tight and so I sacrificed it to the hot water and the heavy duty load and it has been re-born as this nifty maroon felted wool bag. 15 inches wide and 9 deep, this bag has all the room it needs to stash all your things.... and a front pocket, too. (My dad, and honestly, who made him an authority on woman's bags, says all purses should have pockets) So here is a pocket for my dad. Oh, and the "flower" safety pinned on so it can be moved or removed for laundering.

This one was a Goodwill find... an XXL men's size... and it shrunk to this beautiful dense fabric that will stands up to anything you'd want to toss into it. The flower with the asymmetric button center softens the sporty stripes. It measures 15 deep and 10 wide. No pocket, sorry dad.

oh, here is a close up of one of my flowers.... the flowers change everything.

and here is the whole bag... another stripe. I was worried this one would not work as a bag, but I wore it out the other day and had positive comments and the girl at the hardware store told me I ought to sell them.... 10 deep, 13 wide. The stripes are navy, yellow and creamy white

and this one, another Goodwill, half price sale find. The color has some definite cranberry tones but there is a tiny bit of bright orange in the heathered yarn. this one felted quite densely.... something I really like in a bag. The pocket has been machine stitched and then had sewn onto the bag body. The flower is a combo of left over sweater scraps, felted wool, some orange dyed chiffon and a novelty button. Measurements: 9 high, 12 wide.

and I know you have already seen this one, but I couldn't help but include it again.... 10 high, 13 wide.

I have put the sewing machine away, saved every minuscule bit of scrap(a problem, I know), and cleaned off my dining room table and kitchen bar... Shortly the paper will be hauled out, the board and the glue, the waxed linen and it will be bookmaking time. I'll show you those in a couple of days.

Oh, and it is 85 here. Really a bit too warm, but must admit I am loving it.

Movement

Several years ago, on a different blog, I wrote that there had been "no movement to speak of" in me. While I didn't feel stuck, I felt still... and probably a bit uncertain.

I was digging in a bin a few weeks ago and found a collage I'd done probably two years ago... that says, Patience grows thin, jump whispers the voice.... and in another spot, "the other side of stillness is joy".

Anyway, I finally did jump and since that moment the movement in my life has been gaining momentum, finding clear direction... and in the past month I feel it has gone from a nice sedate 30 MPH to probably 5 miles above the legal limit.... I have a class coming up, a workshop scheduled, a teaching gig in the future, an arts fair to prepare for, an adult class I'm leading at church, a community garden I have been gently pulling for beginning to take form.... honestly, I'm having some trouble getting my foot firmly planted on the ground!
Liz got me this subscription as a Christmas gift... it fills my head with ideas big and small, it has sent me on searches looking for books recommended, media not yet experienced... it is developing my vocabulary. It feeds my creative energy and makes me become impatient to get to work.My kitchen counter/dining room table are covered with scissors and scrap, ribbon and pens, needles and pins.... since last week I have been in bag making mode. Snipping, stitching, ripping out, felting a bit more, stitch, play..... pushing enough aside to have a square of counter to eat on... joy.

Using this old reliable sewing machine... my grandmother's. She made the most beautiful curtains on this machine and I have all the pleat attachments she used. I have been thinking about a new machine.... one that zig-zags, one that might embroider... one with a tension that is not fussy (like my unused newer machine that is too frustrating to use)... but I love the look and feel of this beauty... I love the smell when the motor is working.... I love that I can sit down, thread it and it works every single time, whether I am sewing through leather or sheer fabrics without changing a needle or adjusting the tension.

Here are the two re-purposed sweaters into bags I've been making. They are nearing completion and I've told myself they will be done by end of day Wednesday... the rest of the week pulls me somewhere else.....

I finished Hannah Coulter Sunday night. I did not want it to be done, it has been my still space for the last week. It is part of a series by Wendell Berry on the residents of Port William (Kentucky?). A beautiful, spiritual account of a woman's life, the community that surrounded and nurtured her, and the land that sustained them all. Makes me long for all we have lost and determined to reinvent here in this sprawling city.