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 this page photos of some of my more innovative work with a discussion about how the results were achieved.
In 2001, while trying to write poetry and my first novel, 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 eyes hurt from staring at a computer screen, I sewed. A friend joined me in sewing for orphanages in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Tibet. So already the effort had doubled. The more the better.
Crochet
Having a house in Newfoundland 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 have finished a panel to hang over the glass door in the living room to keep the late afternoon sun out of our eyes. It has become a conversation piece among the various tourists who visit the Lobster Pool restaurant next door. More than once people have come to ask if they can photograph my stained glass door. Sometimes I hear footsteps and investigate to find someone has come up on the front bridge to get a better picture.
Felting
Circa 1985 I discovered felting. I even got good enough at it to give a seminar to others who were curious about this craft. The paraphenalia for felting followed me around for years through many moves - fibreglass netting, bamboo mats, etc. It was somewhat of a relief when I finally got rid of them. No more need to feel guilty about not felting anymore.
The items I felted during those years, some of which were exhibited at a fibre arts show in Kitchener-Waterloo, are now languishing in a plastic bin in Nfld.
Many years later I crocheted an extra-extra-extra-large bag and then, using a top-loading washing machine, I felted it. Attempts to felt it in a front-loader were a waste of time. I had to wait to go to Nfld where were have a top-loader, and water as hot as I wanted, to achieve the final product. It now holds most of my rug hooking supplies.
Felted-crocheted bag
Felted-crocheted bag
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Hooking
2008: A weekend workshop Joan Foster at the Twillingate Museum, using t-shirts. I loved it. I began buying t-shirts at the thrift shops. Have not used them yet. My second venture was done using yarn. Again, I loved it. I already had a yarn stash and now another use for it.
2010: I joined the the Ottawa Olde Forge Rug Hooking group to learn what I was really doing, to watch experts at work and to enjoy the social side of hooking. I learned to use wool for hooking, invested in my own cutter and a healthy"stash".
2016: No room in our condo for storing finished hookings so I began selling at the Twillingate Museum Craft Shop in Twillingate, NL. with modest success. As of summer 2017, I began selling at Artisan Market, also in Twillingate, with even more success.
Whether selling is good for my motivation to hook remains to be seen. I have tended to hook things that are Newfoundland oriented. They do sell well.
I now need, I think, to just hook what I like, whether it's saleable or not. But what will I do with them?
Quilting
The first quilt I ever made would be the last, if you don't count a lap quilt that I did the following year. I had much help from my master quilter friend, Jo, who saw me through more than one crisis. I will never be able to repay that debt.
Because I had no sewing machine in Nfld, the lap quilt was pieced, sewn and quilted by hand. It is still in use and has not yet fallen apart so I suppose it wasn't exactly time wasted.
I envy my many friends who quilt as a way of life. They have moved on to Kaffee Fasset fabrics which are just yummy. For me, though, bending over a table cutting out the pieces is far too hard on my back. I suffer greatly. The most enjoyable part is the hand-quilting but the fingerprint on my middle finger was nearly destroyed and I just can't get the hang of a thimble. So no more quilting for me.
