Summer Projects

My summer did not go as planned. Surgery in July took longer to recover from than I expected, plus my weeks were mostly spent recovering from our busy work schedule on weekends. I did manage to do a few things during my "resting" time. So I'm way behind on finishing my art goals for the summer. Here are a few of the things I did accomplish, mostly using fabric I had already dyed.
A portable medicine wheel made in conjunction with the "Tools for Change" class with Donna Iona Drozda.

Several months ago I won some fabric samples from a Quilting Arts magazine article by Lynne Krawczyk. Her color palette is more earth tones, so I couldn't decide what to do with them until I hit on the idea of overdyeing solar style. I am intrigued by her method of piecing together different pieces of fabric onto felt with fusible webbing. Having her fabrics in the background gives this piece much more depth.

Then there was the eco-dyeing experiment from a get-together of our Artful Women group. I was amazed that I was patient enough to leave the samples outside in the sun for 1 MONTH! Patience is not in my vocabulary. When I opened the Mason jar filled with water and plant parts wrapped up in fabric bundles it smelled like vomit. Once I got past that the smell was disappointing that not much color was transferred. Perhaps it would have been more successful with a soda ash soak first. Lesson learned but I'm not sure I would try it again.

New Prayer Flags for the backyard.

"Arting" up a canvas grocery bag.

Overdyeing some unsuccessful fabric.