Textiles

Weaving - Knitting - Crochet - Felting - Paper Making -
Tie Dye - Needlework

I love textiles.
Fluffy angora. Scratchy sisal. Rustling taffeta. Snuggly wool. Luminous silk. Nubby paper.
So many things can be woven or knit or crocheted - rope, magnetic tape, wire, extruded foam, dog hair, paper.
If it can be made into a textile, then it likely also can be dyed, painted, embroidered, beaded, sculpted, moulded, matted, felted, shrunk, stretched. The possibilities are limited only by one's imagination.

While I've made my share of sweaters, pants, dresses and hats, it has been the experimentation with techniques, colour and materials that has been the most exciting. My intention is to include on these pages photos of some of my more innovative work with a discussion about how the results were achieved.

In 2001, between trying to write poetry, my first novel as well as keeping house and cooking for a family of four, I no longer had much time for indulging my love of textiles. After much debate, I sold my floor loom to a wonderful woman in Detroit who is without a doubt making very good use of it. I gave away my stash of yarn and fleece. And it was okay. I did not miss it which must have meant that I had put that part of my life behind me and moved on.

In the fall of 2001, the universe conspired to dump a large stash of fabric and yarn in my lap. After disposing of most of it in a variety of ways, including a huge sale in the living and dining rooms, I decided to use what was left over to make children's clothing for Child Haven International

So when I suffered from writer's block or my butt was sore from sitting, I sewed. A friend joined me in sewing for the orphanages in Banglades, India, Nepal, and Tibet. So already the effort had doubled. The more the better.

Quilting

Fast forward to 2011. Much you-know-what has gone down the drain since then. But the bottom line is that I'm back working with textiles again. An old friend with whom I renewed acquaintance (after over 30 years) convinced me that quilting would be something I would enjoy. She was partly right. I love the idea of making beautiful bed coverings. I like designing the quilt. I semi-enjoy cutting the pieces; my back hates it. I do not enjoy the actual piecing (sewing the pieces together); it just gets too big and unwieldy. Not fun. But I do love hand-quilting once the thing is fully assembled. Most people find a machine quilter to finish off. Not me. I can spot a machine-quilted piece from a hundred yards and it's just not the same. Hand-quilting on a cold winter's night, being kept snuggly by the quilt in my lap, feeling the zen of the needle going in and out, that's for me.

The first quilt I ever made. Now on the guest bedroom in Newfoundland.

My second quilt. A lap rug in Newfoundland. Note the fish motif.

Rug/Mat Hooking

In 2008 or thereabouts, I took a weekend workshop in hooking at the Twillingate Museum from Joan Foster. I used t-shirt material for the first mat I hooked entitled Wash Day (see picture below). My second venture was an Outhouse, smaller in size and an experiment in using wool. I think I like using wool better. Of course, since 2008, I've been collecting t-shirts (mostly buying them from second-hand shops) and have quite a collection (two large garbage bags). If I don't use them for hooking, guess I'm going to have to give them back to the Sally Ann for resale.
Summer of 2010 I visited the craft shop on Fogo. They were selling beautiful hooked rugs done with short pieces of polar fleece. Very colourful and thick. When I went back home, I experimented and the results are below at right. Don't think I'll try it again. The fleece ruined my cutting mat.

"Wash Day" 17.5"x14" - Joan Foster Design

"Outhouse". 13"x11" - Joan Foster Design

Lupin Floor Rug 36"x24" - My own design

Crochet

The Newfoundland house was an excuse for making some filet crochet window coverings. What fun that was. I designed them myself and halfway through the first one, found some software to help in that process. Since then I've made two others and am working on a panel that will hang over the glass door to keep the late afternoon sun out of our eyes at the kitchen table. As of August 2011, that is still a work in progress and may or may not be finished before we had back at the end of September.

Lupins - window panel

Iris - window panel

Pitcher Plant - window panel

Miscellaneous

I've been knitting baby clothes for the grandson of my brother- and sister-in-law. Looking forward to doing it for my own grandchildren one of these days, if I get lucky.

Jaxsen in his Hoodie

Felted Bag

Tried my hand at a felted bag. The pattern was in a book that I purchased, and the yarn was labelled "for felting". Ha. Not having my own washing machine, I had to make do with the front-loading machines available at the condo, but they just didn't cut it. Water not hot enough, and not enough agitation, I'm guessing. The thing was only marginally smaller than it was when I crocheted it, i.e. gigantic
So I brought the thing along with me summer of 2011 to Newfoundland where I do have an old-style washing machine. I threw it in with a few towels, and voila. Felted and suitably shrunken. Feels like it should.

I made a few pillows covers to match the decor in the living room here in Newfoundland. I like them a lot. Will have to make sure they continue to match even if we do repaint.

Pillows